“Beatrice Varanger, you must do my will. I order you to open the door
of the tabernacle, to take out what is within and to throw it to the
ground!” Her voice rang clearly through the church. “And may the crime
be on your soul for ever and ever,” she added in a low voice.
A third time the figure moved. A strange flash of light played for a
moment upon the tabernacle, the effect, Unorna thought, of the golden
door being suddenly opened.
But she was wrong. The figure moved, indeed, and stretched out a hand
and moved again. A sudden crash of something very heavy, falling upon
stone, broke the great stillness--the dark form tottered, reeled and
fell to its length upon the great altar. Unorna saw that the golden door
was still closed, and that Beatrice had fallen. Unable to move or act by
her own free judgment, and compelled by Unorna’s determined command, she
had made a desperate effort to obey. Unorna had forgotten that there was
a raised step upon the altar itself, and that there were other obstacles
in the way, including heavy candlesticks and the framed Canon of the
Mass, all of which are usually set aside before the tabernacle is opened
by the priest. In attempting to do as she was told, the sleeping woman
had stumbled, had overbalanced herself, had clutched one of the great
silver candlesticks so that it fell heavily beside her, and then, having
no further support, she had fallen herself.
Unorna sprang to her feet and hastily opened the gate of the railing. In
a moment she was standing by the altar at Beatrice’s head. She could see
that the dark eyes were open now. The great shock had recalled her to
consciousness.
“Where am I?” she asked in great distress, seeing nothing in the
darkness now, and groping with her hands.
“Sleep--be silent and sleep!” said Unorna in low, firm tones, pressing
her palm upon the forehead.
“No--no!” cried the startled woman in a voice of horror. “No--I will not
sleep--no, do not touch me! Oh, where am I--help! Help!”
She was not hurt. With one strong, lithe movement, she sprang to the
ground and stood with her back to the altar, her hands stretched out to
defend herself from Unorna. But Unorna knew what extreme danger she was
in if Beatrice left the church awake and conscious of what had happened.
She seized the moving arms and tried to hold them down, pressing her
face forward so as to look into the dark eyes she could but faintly
distinguish. It was no easy matter, however, for Beatrice was young and
strong and active. Then all at once she began to see Unorna’s eyes, as
Unorna could see hers, and she felt the terrible influence stealing over
her again.
“No--no--no!” she cried, struggling desperately. “You shall not make me
sleep. I will not--I will not!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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