A Bloodsmoor Romance (107 page)

In any case, the confus'd episode transpired in this way: Deirdre believed she had, at last, located the crucial sheet of foolscap; in her zeal to ascertain whether this was so, she brought it very close to the singed globe of the lamp; whereupon, by her own testimony,
a spirit hand of near-miniature proportions, possessing prehensile fingers, and o'erlong nails not unlike claws, grasped hold of her wrist, and forced the paper down inside the glass, and into the flame!
—with the immediate consequence, that it burst into greedy licking flames, and so terrified the young woman, that she dropped the lamp, and caused a larger conflagration to ensue, amidst the swirls and eddies of J.Q.Z.'s valuable debris!

Yet, such was Deirdre's courage, and moral fibre, that, after her initial panic, she summoned the rational strength—I know not from whence!—
to stamp out the spreading flames,
with her pretty kidskin boots: and so to save the greater part of the workshop, encompassing most of the machines, from destruction.

This she did, panting the while, and sobbing aloud, with fright, and, doubtless, with consternation, for the outrage that had transpired: and, it may have been, she felt some healthsome anger as well, that any spirit—even that, she guessed, of a furry, mischievous little imp!—should dare to touch
her,
in her new position as mistress of Kidde­master Hall.

So the fire was extinguished; and the laboratory saved, for posterity; but, unfortunately, the critical sheet of foolscap was destroyed—a heartrending loss which, I hope I am not intrusive in saying, did not affect J.Q.Z.'s fate, or hasten the speed of his demise, since, it is estimated, the unhappy man expired,
at the very moment of the conflagration.

But Deirdre did not know that, of course, as, shaken, and rueful, and strangely exhilarated (whether as a result of the drunkard pumping of her blood, or the bracing midnight air), she contemplated the smoking disorder about her, and racked her imagination, as to how she might hope to explain the loss to her invalid father. That it was
irreparable,
and
tragic,
she could not doubt; that it would not do for her to say, that another inventor might one day duplicate the formula, she certainly knew.

“And, should it
not
be duplicated,” the excited young woman declared, “—will I not then have
saved the world?
Spared us, from the madman's dream?”—tho' in the next breath she chided herself, and bit her lip, for having uttered so blasphemous a statement.

EIGHTY-FOUR

T
he history of the remarkable Zinn family thus closes, upon the very stroke of midnight, of an eve long past: the death of Bloodsmoor's most eminent personage sadly upon us, and the unseemly
exhilaration,
in the very heart of
blasphemy,
of our heroine Deirdre.

Beyond this I cannot—indeed, I do not wish—to venture, for the Twentieth Century is not my concern. That thankless task I leave to the young, and to those yet unborn!—for whom, it grieves me to say, these immortal lines of Mr. Longfellow may constitute more a
riddle,
than a gladsome
certitude
—

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.

NOVELS BY JOYCE CAROL OATES

With Shuddering Fall
(1964)

A Garden of Earthly Delights
(1967)

Expensive People
(1968)

them
(1969)

Wonderland
(1971)

Do with Me What You Will
(1973)

The Assassins
(1975)

Childwold
(1976)

Son of the Morning
(1978)

Unholy Loves
(1979)

Bellefleur
(1980)

Angel of Light
(1981)

A Bloodsmoor Romance
(1982)

Mysteries of Winterthurn
(1984)

Solstice
(1985)

Marya: A Life
(1986)

You Must Remember This
(1987)

American Appetites
(1989)

Because It Is Bitter, and Because It Is My Heart
(1990)

Black Water
(1992)

Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang
(1993)

What I Lived For
(1994)

Zombie
(1995)

We Were the Mulvaneys
(1996)

Man Crazy
(1997)

My Heart Laid Bare
(1998)

Broke Heart Blues
(1999)

Blonde
(2000)

Middle Age: A Romance
(2001)

I'll Take You There
(2002)

The Tattooed Girl
(2003)

The Falls
(2004)

Missing Mom
(2005)

Black Girl / White Girl
(2006)

The Gravedigger's Daughter
(2007)

My Sister, My Love
(2008)

Little Bird of Heaven
(2009)

Mudwoman
(2012)

The Accursed
(2013)