Ardath, Marie Corelli [e ink ebook reader txt] 📗

“I have seen nothing,” he replied hurriedly, “I have made it a point to look at no papers, lest I should chance on my own name coupled, as it has been before, with the languid abuse common to criticism in this country. Not that I should have cared,—NOW! …”

and a slight smile played on his lips.. “In fact I have ceased to care. Moreover, as I know modern success in literature is chiefly commanded by the praise of a ‘clique,’ or the services of ‘log-rollers,’ and as I am not included in any of the journalistic rings, I have neither hoped nor expected any particular favor or recognition from the public.”

“Then,” said Villiers excitedly, seizing him by the hand, “let me be the first to congratulate you! It is often the way that when we no longer specially crave a thing, that thing is suddenly thrust upon us whether we will or no,—and so it has happened in YOUR

case. Learn, therefore, my dear fellow, that your poem, which you sent to me from Tiflis, and which was published under my supervision about four months ago, has already run through six editions, and is now in its seventh. Seven editions of a poem,–a POEM, mark you!—in four months, isn’t bad, . . moreover, the demand continues, and the long and the short of it is, that your name is actually at the present moment the most celebrated in all London, —in fact, you are very generally acknowledged the greatest poet of the day! And,” continued Villiers, wringing his friend’s hand with uncommon fervor.. “I say, God bless you, old boy! If ever a man deserved success, YOU do! ‘Nourhalma’ is magnificent!—such a genius as yours will raise the literature of the age to a higher standard than it has known since the death of Adonais [Footnote: Keats.] You can’t imagine how sincerely I rejoice at your triumph!”

Alwyn was silent,—he returned his companion’s cordial hand-pressure almost unconsciously. He stood, leaning against the mantelpiece, and looking gravely down into the fire. His first emotion was one of repugnance,—of rejection, . . what did he need of this will-o’-the-wisp called Fame, dancing again across his path,—this transitory torch of world-approval! Fame in London!

… What was it, what COULD it be, compared to the brilliancy of the fame he had once enjoyed as Laureate of Al-Kyris! As this thought passed across his mind, he gave a quick interrogative glance at Villiers, who was observing him with much wondering intentness, and his handsome face lighted with sudden laughter.

“Dear old boy!” he said, with a very tender inflection in his mellow, mirthful voice—“You are the best of good fellows, and I thank you heartily for your news, which, if it seems satisfactory to you, ought certainly to be satisfactory to me! But tell me frankly, if I am as famous as you say, how did I become so? …

how was it worked up?”

“Worked up!” Villiers was completely taken back by the oddity of this question.

“Come!” continued Alwyn persuasively, his fine eyes sparkling with mischievous good-humor.. “You can’t make me believe that ‘All England’ took to me suddenly of its own accord,—it is not so romantic, so poetry-loving, so independent, or so generous as THAT! How was my ‘celebrity’ first started? If my book,—which has all the disadvantage of being a poem instead of a novel,—has so suddenly leaped into high favor and renown, why, then, some leading critic or other must have thought that I myself was dead!”

The whimsical merriment of his face seemed to reflect itself on that of Villiers.

“You’re too quick-witted, Alwyn, positively you are!” he remonstrated with a frankly humorous smile.. “But as it happens, you’re perfectly right! Not ONE critic, but THREE,—three of our most influential men, too—thought you WERE dead!—and that ‘Nourhalma’ was a posthumous work of PERISHED GENIUS!”

CHAPTER XXXII.

ZABASTESISM AND PAULISM.

The delighted air of triumphant conviction with which Alwyn received this candid statement was irresistible, and Villiers’s attempt at equanimity entirely gave way before it. He broke into a roar of laughter,—laughter in which his friend joined,—and for a minute or two the room rang with the echoes of their mutual mirth.

“It wasn’t MY doing,” said Villiers at last, when he could control himself a little,—“and even now I don’t in the least know how the misconception arose! ‘Nourhalma’ was published, according to your instructions, as rapidly as it could be got through the press, and I had no preliminary ‘puffs’ or announcements of any kind circulated in the papers. I merely advertised it with a notable simplicity, thus: ‘Nourhalma. A Love-Legend of the Past. A Poem.

By Theos Alwyn.’ That was all. Well, when it came out, copies of it were sent, according to custom, round to all the leading newspaper offices, and for about three weeks after its publication I saw not a word concerning it anywhere. Meanwhile I went on advertising. One day at the Constitutional Club, while glancing over the Parthenon, I suddenly spied in it a long review, occupying four columns, and headed ‘A Wonder-Poem’; and just out of curiosity, I began to read it. I remember—in fact I shall never forget,—its opening sentence, . . it was so original!” and he laughed again. “It commenced thus: ‘It has been truly said that those whom the gods love die young!’ and then on it went, dragging in memories of Chatterton and Shelley and Keats, till I found myself yawning and wondering what the deuce the writer was driving at. Presently, about the end of the second column, I came to the assertion that ‘the posthumous poem of “Nourhalma” must be admitted as one of the most glorious productions in the English language.’ This woke me up considerably, and I read on, groping my way through all sorts of wordy phrases and used-up arguments, till my mind gradually grasped the fact that the critic of the Parthenon had evidently never heard of Theos Alwyn before, and being astonished, and perhaps perplexed, by the original beauty and glowing style of ‘Nourhalma,’ had jumped, without warrant, to the conclusion that its author must be dead. The wind-up of his lengthy dissertation was, as far as I can recollect, as follows: “‘It is a thousand pities this gifted poet is no more. Splendid as the work of his youthful genius is, there is no doubt but that, had he lived, he would have endowed the world anew with an inheritance of thought worthy of the grandest master-minds.’ Well, when I had fully realized the situation, I began to think to myself, Shall I enlighten this Sir Oracle of the Press, and tell him the ‘DEAD’ author he so enthusiastically eulogizes, is alive and well, or was so, at any rate, the last time I heard from him?

I debated the question seriously, and, after much cogitation, decided to leave him, for the present, in ignorance. First of all, because critics like to consider themselves the wisest men in the world, and hate to be told anything,—secondly, because I rather enjoyed the fun. The publisher of ‘Nourhalma’—a very excellent fellow—sent me the critique, and wrote asking me whether it was true that the author of the poem was really dead, and if not, whether he should contradict the report. I waited a bit before answering that letter, and while I waited two more critiques appeared in two of the most assertively pompous and dictatorial journals of the day, echoing the eulogies of the Parthenon, declaring ‘this dead poet’ worthy ‘to rank with the highest of the Immortals,’ and a number of other similar grandiose declarations.

One reviewer took an infinite deal of pains to prove ‘that if the genius of Theos Alwyn had only been spared to England, he must have infallibly been elected Poet Laureate as soon as the post became vacant, and that too, without a single dissentient voice, save such as were raised in envy or malice. But, being dead ‘—

continued this estimable scribe—‘all we can say is that he yet speaketh, and that “Nourhalma” is a poem of which the literary world cannot be otherwise than justly proud. Let the tears that we shed for this gifted singer’s untimely decease be mingled with gratitude for the priceless value of the work his creative genius has bequeathed to us!’”

Here Villiers paused, his blue eyes sparkling with inward amusement, and looked at Alwyn, whose face, though perfectly serene, had now the faintest, softest shadow of a grave pathos hovering about it.

“By this time,” he continued.. “I thought we had had about enough sport, so I wrote off to the publisher to at once contradict the erroneous rumor. But now that publisher had HIS story to tell. He called upon me, and with a blandly persuasive air, said, that as ‘Nourhalma’ was having an extraordinary sale, was it worth while to deny the statement of your death just yet? … He was very anxious, . . but I was firm, . . and lest he should waver, I wrote several letters myself to the leading journals, to establish the certainty, so far as I was aware, of your being in the land of the living. And then what do you think happened?”

Alwyn met his bright, satirical glance with a look that was half-questioning, half-wistful, but said nothing.

“It was the most laughable, and at the same time the most beautifully instructive, lesson ever taught by the whole annals of journalism! The Press turned round like a weathercock with the wind, and exhausted every epithet of abuse they could find in the dictionaries. ‘Nourhalma’ was a ‘poor, ill-conceived work,’—‘an outrage to intellectual perception,’—‘a good idea, spoilt in the treatment; an amazingly obscure attempt at sublimity’—et cetera, . . but there! you can yourself peruse all the criticisms, both favorable and adverse, for I have acted the part of the fond granny to you in the careful cutting out and pasting of everything I could find written concerning you and your work in a book devoted to the purpose, . . and I believe I’ve missed nothing. Mark you, however, the Parthenon never reversed its judgment, nor did the other two leading journals of literary opinion,—it wouldn’t do for such bigwigs to confess they had blundered, you know! …

and the vituperation of the smaller fry was just the other weight in the balance which made the thing equal. The sale of ‘Nourhalma’

grew fast and furious; all expenses were cleared three times over, and at the present moment the publisher is getting conscientiously anxious (for some publishers are more conscientious than some authors will admit!) to hand you over a nice little check for an amount which is not to be despised in this workaday world, I assure you!”

“I did not write for money,”—interrupted Alwyn quietly.. “Nor shall I ever do so.”

“Of course not,” assented Villiers promptly. “No poet, and indeed no author whatsoever, who lays claim to a fraction of conscience, writes for money ONLY. Those with whom money is the first consideration debase their Art into a coarse huckstering trade, and are no better than contentious bakers and cheesemongers, who jostle each other in a vulgar struggle as to which shall sell perishable goods at the highest profit. None of the lasting works of the world were written so. Nevertheless, if the public voluntarily choose to lavish what they can of their best on the author who imparts to them inspired thoughts and noble teachings, then that author must not be churlish, or slow to accept the gratitude implied. I think the most appropriate maxim for a poet to address to his readers is, ‘Freely ye have received, freely give.’”

There was a moment’s silence. Alwyn resumed his seat in the chair near the fire, and Villiers, leaning