The Law of the North

Summary

Beneath a sky the colour of tarnished pewter, a ramshackle outpost of empire clings to the permafrost like a splinter in the paw of a sleeping leviathan; here Lieutenant Graham, frost-bitten custodian of a parchment-thin civilisation, receives word that his London-bred daughter Edith will soon step off the dog-sled into this cathedral of silence. Around the palisade, trapper Pierre Beaubin and his sister Marie—half-wild, half-angelic—negotiate the brittle etiquette of a world where a single misread glance can freeze into a death-sentence. Marie, luminous against the snow, fends off the reeking courtship of Batiste, whisky-smuggler and métis wolf, only to be lured by the tailored velvet of Reginald Annesley, Hudson’s Bay factor whose smile could sell absolution to a priest. Edith arrives wrapped in city light; Corporal Emerson, all starch and unvoiced poems, sees in her the mirage of elsewhere, while Annesley calculates her as the final jewel in his crown of acquisitions. Marie, cornered between the man she desires and the man who owns her nights, offers Emerson the map to Batiste’s hidden cache of fire-water; the corporal burns the sled-trail, claps the half-breed in irons, and believes honour satisfied. But Marie’s womb has already signed a darker contract: she confronts Annesley with the ultimatum—marriage or mortality—only to be met with a laugh cold enough to crack lake-ice. Emerson’s warning, “A broken promise means death up here,” hangs like frosted breath, unheeded. Batiste bursts his cage; Marie, hunting absolution, straps on snowshoes and treks into white nullity where Annesley’s dagger waits. He leaves her corpse as still as a carved saint, plants Emerson’s monogrammed handkerchief beside her, and lets the blizzard finish the forgery. Pierre, discovering the tableau, hauls his grief to the fort; Emerson, returning triumphant with Batiste re-shackled, is instead shackled himself, condemned by linen. Days later, Edith—now sleuth as well as belle—uncovers a photograph and a baby shoe in the snow, relics that whisper a different gospel. She summons Annesley to her cabin, uncorks brandy, and with every candle-flutter draws from him a confession soaked in lust and terror. Outside, Pierre’s shadow lengthens; a single rifle-crack perforates the night, answering the ancient ledger of blood for blood. Dawn finds Emerson’s cuffs struck off, Edith’s hand in his, while a rough cross of blackened pine marks Annesley’s resting place—the Law of the North carved deeper than any statute London ever inked.

Synopsis

Lieutenant Robert Graham, commanding the Northwest Mounted Police at an obscure post, announces to his young friend, Corporal Emerson, of the Mounted, that his daughter, Edith, is coming from London to join him. Marie Beaubin and her brother, Pierre, a trapper, live on the outskirts of the post. Marie repulses the advances of Batiste, a whiskey runner, but falls easy prey to Reginald Annesley, the prepossessing factor of the trading post. Edith comes, and Emerson and Annesley become rivals for her favor. Marie determines to end the repulsive advances of Batiste, and proposes to lead Emerson to the scene of his illegal liquor traffic. Emerson captures the half-breed and locks him in a cell. Marie visits Annesley and confesses her predicament, "I die if you do not marry me." Annesley laughs. Emerson learns of the truth and warns the factor, "Look out for the Law of the North. A broken promise means death up here." Annesley scornfully bids him mind his business. Batiste escapes from prison, and Emerson again searches for him, aided by Marie. Annesley sees his chance, and persuades Edith that the frequent meetings between the corporal and the girl can have but one meaning. seeing the two together, and realizing that Marie is aiding in the search for him. hastens to Pierre and tells him that Emerson is trifling with his sister's love. Pierre swears vengeance. Marie informs Annesley that she will tell Edith of his perfidy, and fearing that she will keep her threat, he kills her, placing a handkerchief with Emerson's initials near the body. Pierre finds his sister's frozen corpse and goes to the post to demand justice, presenting the handkerchief as evidence that Emerson is guilty. Emerson once more captures Batiste and brings him to the post, where he himself is placed under arrest. Visiting the scene of the crime some days later, Edith finds a photograph of Annesley and a baby shoe. With her father's permission, she invites Annesley to her cabin and there proceeds to entertain him. She plies him with wine, and under its influence, Annesley flings caution to the winds. He makes love to her, and in a burst of passion, confesses the murder of Marie as proof of his devotion. A shot rings out. Pierre, thirsting for vengeance, has been watching the cabin, hoping for a sight of Emerson, and has overheard Annesley's confession. Edith and the corporal are later married, while over Annesley's grave, an inscription tells that Marie's death has been avenged by "The Law of the North."