opagita," and begged him at once not to ask me to play it. He
rallied me lightly on my fears, and said it would much please him to
play it, as he had not heard the pianoforte part since he had left
Oxford three months ago. I saw that he was eager to perform it, and
being loath to disoblige so kind a brother during the last week of his
stay at home, I at length overcame my scruples and set out to play it.
But I was so alarmed at the possibility of any evil consequences
ensuing, that when we commenced the _Gagliarda_ I could scarcely find
my notes. Nothing in any way unusual, however, occurred; and being
reassured by this, and feeling an irresistible charm in the music, I
finished the suite with more appearance of ease. My brother, however,
was, I fear, not satisfied with my performance, and compared it, very
possibly, with that of Mr. Gaskell, to which it was necessarily much
inferior, both through weakness of execution and from my insufficient
knowledge of the principles of the _basso continuo_. We stopped playing,
and John stood looking out of the window across the sea, where the sky
was clearing low down under the clouds. The sun went down behind
Portland in a fiery glow which cheered us after a long day's rain. I had
taken the copy of Graziani's suites off the desk, and was holding it on
my lap turning over the old foxed and yellow pages. As I closed it a
streak of evening sunlight fell across the room and lighted up a coat
of arms stamped in gilt on the cover. It was much faded and would
ordinarily have been hard to make out; but the ray of strong light
illumined it, and in an instant I recognised the same shield which Mr.
Gaskell had pictured to himself as hanging on the musicians' gallery of
his phantasmal dancing-room. My brother had often recounted to me this
effort of his friend's imagination, and here I saw before me the same
florid foreign blazon, a cherub's head blowing on three lilies on a gold
field. This discovery was not only of interest, but afforded me much
actual relief; for it accounted rationally for at least one item of the
strange story. Mr. Gaskell had no doubt noticed at some time this shield
stamped on the outside of the book, and bearing the impression of it
unconsciously in his mind, had reproduced it in his imagined revels.
I said as much to my brother, and he was greatly interested, and after
examining the shield agreed that this was certainly a probable solution
of that part of the mystery.