vampire 1

IT happened that in the midst of the dissipations attendant upon a

London winter, there appeared at the various parties of the leaders of

the ton a nobleman, more remarkable for his singularities, than his

rank. He gazed upon the mirth around him, as if he could not

participate therein. Apparently, the light laughter of the fair only

attracted his attention, that he might by a look quell it, and throw

fear into those breasts where thoughtlessness reigned. Those who felt

this sensation of awe, could not explain whence it arose: some

attributed it to the dead grey eye, which, fixing upon the object's face,

did not seem to penetrate, and at one glance to pierce through to the

inward workings of the heart; but fell upon the cheek with a leaden

ray that weighed upon the skin it could not pass. His peculiarities

caused him to be invited to every house; all wished to see him, and

those who had been accustomed to violent excitement, and now felt

the weight of ennui, were pleased at having something in their

presence capable of engaging their attention. In spite of the deadly

hue of his face, which never gained a warmer tint, either from the blush of modesty, or from the strong emotion of passion, though its

form and outline were beautiful, many of the female hunters after

notoriety attempted to win his attentions, and gain, at least, some

marks of what they might term affection: Lady Mercer, who had been

the mockery of every monster shewn in drawing-rooms since her

marriage, threw herself in his way, and did all but put on the dress of

a mountebank,44 to attract his notice:--though in vain:-- when she

stood before him, though his eyes were apparently fixed upon her's,

still it seemed as if they were unperceived; --even her unappalled

impudence was baffled, and she left, the field. But though the

common adultress could not influence even the guidance of his eyes,

it was not that the female sex was indifferent to him: yet such was the

apparent caution with which he spoke to the virtuous wife and

innocent daughter, that few knew he ever addressed himself to

females. He had, however, the reputation of a winning tongue; and

whether it was that it even overcame the dread of his singular

character, or that they were moved by his apparent hatred of vice, he

was as often among those females who form the boast of their sex

from their domestic virtues, as among those who sully it by their

vices.

About the same time, there came to London a young gentleman of

the name of Aubrey: he was an orphan left with an only sister in the

possession of great wealth, by parents who died while he was yet in

childhood. Left also to himself by guardians, who thought it their

duty merely to take care of his fortune, while they relinquished the

more important charge of his mind to the care of mercenary

subalterns,45 he cultivated more his imagination than his judgment.

He had, hence, that high romantic feeling of honour and candour,

which daily ruins so many milliners'46 apprentices. He believed all to

sympathise with virtue, and thought that vice was thrown in by

Providence merely for the picturesque effect of the scene, as we see in

romances: he thought that the misery of a cottage merely consisted in

the vesting of clothes, which were as warm, but which were better

adapted to the painter's eye by their irregular folds and various

coloured patches. He thought, in fine, that the dreams of poets were

the realities of life. He was handsome, frank, and rich: for these

reasons, upon his entering into the gay circles, many mothers

surrounded him, striving which should describe with least truth their languishing or romping

favourites: the daughters at the same time, by their brightening

countenances when he approached, and by their sparkling eyes, when

he opened his lips, soon led him into false notions of his talents and

his merit. Attached as lie was to the romance of his solitary hours, he

was startled at finding, that, except in the tallow47 and wax candles

that flickered, not from the presence of a ghost, but from want of

snuffing, there was no foundation in real life for any of that congeries

of pleasing pictures and descriptions contained in those volumes,

from which he had formed his study. Finding, however, some

compensation in his gratified vanity, he was about to relinquish his

dreams, when the extraordinary being we have above described,

crossed him in his career.

He watched him; and the very impossibility of forming an idea of the

character of a man entirely absorbed in himself, who gave few other

signs of his observation of external objects, than the tacit assent to

their existence, implied by the avoidance of their contact: allowing his

imagination to picture every thing that flattered its propensity to

extravagant ideas, he soon formed this object into the hero of a

romance48, and determined to observe the offspring of his fancy,

rather than the person before him. He became acquainted with him,

paid him attentions, and so far advanced upon his notice, that his

presence was always recognised. He gradually learnt that Lord

Ruthven's affairs were embarrassed, and soon found, from the notes

of preparation in ---- Street, that he was about to travel. Desirous of

gaining some information respecting this singular character, who, till

now, had only whetted his curiosity, he hinted to his guardians, that

it was time for him to perform the tour, which for many generations

has been thought necessary to enable the young to take some rapid

steps in the career of vice towards putting themselves upon an

equality with the aged, and not allowing them to appear as if fallen

from the skies, whenever scandalous intrigues are mentioned as the

subjects of pleasantry or of praise, according to the degree of skill

shewn 49 in carrying them on. They consented: and Aubrey

immediately mentioning his intentions to Lord Ruthven,