human
I am glad, Calbot, I began,
gpt
Calbot shook his head gloomily.
human
Well, well, resumed I,
gpt
Where?
human
That will appear later. I must first ask you whether, in the old family documents you spoke of, the personal appearance of this Archibald Armstrong was particularly delineated?
gpt
I hardly know; I have no recollection of any especial passage--and yet I fancy it must have been given with some fulness; because when I saw the hobgoblin, its costume and aspect seemed curiously familiar.
human
And had I seen it, there is little doubt in my mind that I should have recognised it also.
gpt
Indeed! exclaimed Calbot, sitting upright in his chair,
human
Wait a moment, I am merely collecting evidence. Now, have you any reason to suppose that a connection of any sort--friendly, business, or other--subsisted between your unhappy ancestor and this Armstrong previous to the former's marriage?
gpt
Do you mean whether he was under any obligations to Armstrong?
human
Yes.
gpt
He may have been--but the idea is new to me. How----
human
I am not done yet. Now, did it never occur to you--or, I should say, does it not seem probable--that the locket which you had found hidden away in your mother's jewel-box was in some way connected with the family tragedy you told me of?
gpt
I have thought of it, Drayton; there is no difficulty in imagining such a thing; the trouble is, we haven't the slightest evidence of it.
human
I was about to say, I rejoined,
gpt
Drayton!
human
That woman deceived him, and eloped on the eve of her marriage with a protégé of his. He professed forgiveness, and sent the locket as a pledge of it.
gpt
Odd!
human
He died in 1698, and his last recorded words were a curse invoked upon those whom he had before professed to pardon--upon them and their posterity.
gpt
But, Drayton--what----
human
It is my opinion that his forgiveness was merely a cloak to his deadly and unrelenting hatred. It is my opinion, Calbot, that the pledge he gave was poisonous with evil and malicious influences. The locket was made of tourmaline, which has mysterious properties. No doubt he believed it a veritable witch's talisman; and from the sufferings which afterwards befell his enemies (not to speak of your own experience), one might almost fancy witchcraft to be not entirely a delusion after all.
gpt
One might, indeed! But if, as you seem to imply, this locket enabled Armstrong to persecute Calbot and his wife, why did not they send it back or destroy it?
human
Simply because they were not aware of its evil nature, and fancied that Armstrong's (if it were his) profession of forgiveness had been genuine. Very likely Mrs. Calbot habitually wore it on her bosom, as Miss Burleigh did again yesterday, more than a century later. The persecutor must have been a devil incarnate, from the time he learnt his lady's faithlessness until his death; and after that----
gpt
A plain devil. But to come to the point, you think that the locket was the sole medium of his power over them?
human
Undoubtedly. Then, after their death, it remained in the family, but never happened to be used again: it is not a jewel to catch the eye by any means. It remained perdu until you fished it out for Miss Burleigh, and thereby stirred up the old hobgoblin to play his devilish tricks once more. But by a lucky combination of accidents you parted with her in time; she returned you the locket, thus freeing _herself_ from the spectre; and you, by throwing it in the Thames, have secured him against ever being able to make his appearance again.
gpt
It may be so, Drayton, cried Calbot in great excitement.
human
I remember, too, that when I gave her the locket she promised fealty _to the giver_! Now, in fact, not I but this cursed Armstrong was the real giver; and so Edna was actually surrendering herself to his power. But, supposing your explanation correct, why may not Edna and I come together again?
gpt
Well, my dear fellow, replied I, as I lit another Cabana,
human
Drayton, I'm afraid to believe this true! Tell me how you came upon your evidence, and what degree of reliance may be placed upon it.
gpt
The only lame point about the matter, I added,
human
There, it may be only a coincidence after all!
gpt
Nonsense! a coincidence indeed! If you have credulity enough to believe in such a 'coincidence' as that, you have certainly mistaken your profession.
human
If you were a lawyer, returned he,
gpt
It is there on the table, at your elbow.
human
How's this--it's wet, soaking wet! he exclaimed.
gpt
Drayton, I'm afraid I must have cracked that old vase of yours. It has been leaking, and the table is flooded.