The Isle of Life

Summary

In the opulent, decaying grandeur of pre-war Rome, Sebastian Maure exists as a literary specter—a man whose intellect has outpaced his empathy, finding a perverse solace in the trepidation his presence inspires. He is a predator of the mind until he encounters Ghirlaine Bellamy, an American ingénue whose spirit remains untouched by the continental cynicism Maure radiates. When Ghirlaine pledges herself to the dutiful Vincent Pamfort and prepares to flee the Roman heat for England, Maure’s fascination curdles into a desperate, atavistic compulsion. In a maneuver of breathtaking audacity and cruelty, he infiltrates her voyage, lures her to the moonlit deck under the guise of a mutual friend, and plunges both of them into the Stygian depths of the Mediterranean. This act of social and physical suicide transports them to a primitive purgatory: an isolated island of superstitious fisherfolk. Amidst the crumbling stone of a 'haunted' villa and the visceral reality of a burgeoning cholera epidemic, Maure’s solipsistic world is dismantled. The narrative pivots from a tale of abduction to a harrowing chronicle of spiritual alchemy, as the man who once sought to dominate the girl finds himself kneeling before the altar of her humanity, eventually trading his ego for the grueling labor of a healer amidst the dying.

Synopsis

Sebastian Maure has never known the influence of a good woman's love. He is the type of man who takes a keen delight in knowing that he is held in awe and extends that feeling still further by his daring books. Ghirlaine Bellamy, a young American girl, with her aunt, Mrs. Bellamy, is visiting Rome. She is being courted by Vincent Pamfort, a young English officer of good standing. He is called to England, but before he goes be receives Ghirlaine's promise to marry him. Ghirlaine exerts a new influence over Maure. When he learns that she and her aunt are returning to England on account of the latter's health, he manages to be a passenger on the same vessel. His desire for the girl gets the better of him. Under the name of their mutual friend, Ernesto Sangallo, he asks her to meet him on the deck the first night out, and then he picks her up bodily and drops her overboard. They are picked up by Ilario, a fisherman, and are taken to a small island where dwell fisherfolk. The girl is cared for by the housekeeper of the native priest, and when she is somewhat recovered, Maure arranges for her removal to a certain haunted villa. It seems that Fannia, the daughter of Ilario, was in love with Annibale. Her father wanted her to wed the schoolmaster, so Annibale took the girl and they established themselves in the villa at the top of the cliff, where he guarded her day and night. The superstition of the natives kept them from coming near. But this does not in the least deter Maure from engaging the villa, and thence Ghirlaine is removed and placed under the care of Fannia, who is about to become a mother. An epidemic of cholera breaks out in the village, and the natives credit Maure with producing the plague. With his strong personality he dissuades them from their belief, and he does all he can to alleviate the sufferings of the stricken ones. Eventually he finds a cure for them. Meantime, the child has been born to Fannia and the motherly devotion displayed by Ghirlaine arouses for the first time in the heart of Maure a desire to become a better man. He goes on his way without thought of self, aiding the poor natives and becoming to them almost a god. Then one day in the harbor a yacht is sighted, just as Maure is stricken with the dread disease. On the boat are Vincent Pamfort and Ernesto Sangallo, who has come in search of Ghirlaine. At first Vincent is angry, but he finally is calmed and the three leave. But weeks later, when Maure has recovered from his illness though the efforts of the kind priest, and at last has stricken from his soul all of the evil and has become a man true to his better and higher self, Ghirlaine returns to him, as she has discovered that she loves him more than anyone in the whole world.