An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain Page #9

"An Adventure of Hardress Fitzgerald, a Royalist Captain" is a historical novel by Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu, set during the tumultuous times of the English Civil War. The story follows Hardress Fitzgerald, a valiant Royalist captain, as he navigates a world filled with intrigue, loyalty, and betrayal. The novel explores themes of honor and duty while depicting the struggles between royalists and parliamentarians. Le Fanu weaves a tale rich in atmospheric detail and character development, highlighting the personal and political conflicts of an era defined by its fervent loyalty and passionate disputes.

• Fiction

								

was to witness the death-struggle of one or other of us approached.

Captain Oliver stood within a yard or two of the place where I sat, or
rather lay; and folding his arms, he remained silent for a minute or
two, as if arranging in his mind how he should address me.

'Hardress Fitzgerald,' he began at length, 'are you awake? Stand up, if
you desire to hear of matters nearly touching your life or death. Get
up, I say.'

I arose doggedly, and affecting the awkward movements of one whose hands
were bound,

'Well,' said I, 'what would you of me? Is it not enough that I am thus
imprisoned without a cause, and about, as I suspect, to suffer a most
unjust and violent sentence, but must I also be disturbed during the
few moments left me for reflection and repentance by the presence of my
persecutor? What do you want of me?'

'As to your punishment, sir,' said he, 'your own deserts have no doubt
suggested the likelihood of it to your mind; but I now am with you to
let you know that whatever mitigation of your sentence you may look for,
must be earned by your compliance with my orders. You must frankly and
fully explain the contents of the packet which you endeavoured this day
to destroy; and further, you must tell all that you know of the designs
of the popish rebels.'

'And if I do this I am to expect a mitigation of my punishment--is it
not so?'

Oliver bowed.

'And what IS this mitigation to be? On the honour of a soldier, what is
it to be?' inquired I.

'When you have made the disclosure required,' he replied, 'you shall
hear. 'Tis then time to talk of indulgences.'

'Methinks it would then be too late,' answered I. 'But a chance is a
chance, and a drowning man will catch at a straw. You are an honourable
man, Captain Oliver. I must depend, I suppose, on your good faith. Well,
sir, before I make the desired communication I have one question more
to put. What is to befall me in case that I, remembering the honour of
a soldier and a gentleman, reject your infamous terms, scorn your
mitigations, and defy your utmost power?'

'In that case,' replied he, coolly, 'before half an hour you shall be a
corpse.'

'Then God have mercy on your soul!' said I; and springing forward, I
dashed the weapon which I held at his throat.

I missed my aim, but struck him full in the mouth with such force that
most of his front teeth were dislodged, and the point of the spear-head
passed out under his jaw, at the ear.

My onset was so sudden and unexpected that he reeled back to the wall,
and did not recover his equilibrium in time to prevent my dealing a
second blow, which I did with my whole force. The point unfortunately
struck the cuirass, near the neck, and glancing aside it inflicted but a
flesh wound, tearing the skin and tendons along the throat.

He now grappled with me, strange to say, without uttering any cry of
alarm; being a very powerful man, and if anything rather heavier and
more strongly built than I, he succeeded in drawing me with him to the
ground. We fell together with a heavy crash, tugging and straining in
what we were both conscious was a mortal struggle. At length I succeeded
in getting over him, and struck him twice more in the face; still he
struggled with an energy which nothing but the tremendous stake at issue
could have sustained.

I succeeded again in inflicting several more wounds upon him, any one
of which might have been mortal. While thus contending he clutched his
hands about my throat, so firmly that I felt the blood swelling the
veins of my temples and face almost to bursting. Again and again I
struck the weapon deep into his face and throat, but life seemed to
adhere in him with an almost INSECT tenacity.

My sight now nearly failed, my senses almost forsook me; I felt upon
the point of suffocation when, with one desperate effort, I struck him
another and a last blow in the face. The weapon which I wielded had
lighted upon the eye, and the point penetrated the brain; the body
quivered under me, the deadly grasp relaxed, and Oliver lay upon the
ground a corpse!

As I arose and shook the weapon and the bloody cloth from my hand, the
moon which he had foretold I should never see rise, shone bright and
broad into the room, and disclosed, with ghastly distinctness, the
mangled features of the dead soldier; the mouth, full of clotting blood
and broken teeth, lay open; the eye, close by whose lid the fatal wound
had been inflicted, was not, as might have been expected, bathed in
blood, but had started forth nearly from the socket, and gave to the
face, by its fearful unlikeness to the other glazing orb, a leer more
hideous and unearthly than fancy ever saw. The wig, with all its rich
curls, had fallen with the hat to the floor, leaving the shorn head
exposed, and in many places marked by the recent struggle; the rich lace
cravat was drenched in blood, and the gay uniform in many places soiled
with the same.

It is hard to say, with what feelings I looked upon the unsightly and
revolting mass which had so lately been a living and a comely man. I had
not any time, however, to spare for reflection; the deed was done--the
responsibility was upon me, and all was registered in the book of that
God who judges rightly.

With eager haste I removed from the body such of the military
accoutrements as were necessary for the purpose of my disguise. I
buckled on the sword, drew off the military boots, and donned them
myself, placed the brigadier wig and cocked hat upon my head, threw
on the cloak, drew it up about my face, and proceeded, with the papers
which I found as the soldier had foretold me, and the key of the outer
lobby, to the door of the guard-room; this I opened, and with a firm
and rapid tread walked through the officers, who rose as I entered, and
passed without question or interruption to the street-door. Here I was
met by the grimlooking corporal, Hewson, who, saluting me, said:

'How soon, captain, shall the file be drawn out and the prisoner
despatched?'

'In half an hour,' I replied, without raising my voice.

The man again saluted, and in two steps I reached the soldier who held
the two horses, as he had intimated.

'Is all right?' said he, eagerly.

'Ay,' said I, 'which horse am I to mount?'

He satisfied me upon this point, and I threw myself into the saddle; the
soldier mounted his horse, and dashing the spurs into the flanks of the
animal which I bestrode, we thundered along the narrow bridge. At the
far extremity a sentinel, as we approached, called out, 'Who goes there?
stand, and give the word!' Heedless of the interruption, with my heart
bounding with excitement, I dashed on, as did also the soldier who
accompanied me.

'Stand, or I fire! give the word!' cried the sentry.

'God save the king, and to hell with the prince!' shouted I, flinging
the cocked hat in his face as I galloped by.

The response was the sharp report of a carbine, accompanied by the whiz
of a bullet, which passed directly between me and my comrade, now riding
beside me.
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