That which is frequently termed coincidence is, as everyone knows, seldom an isolated event; it is the fact that two or more events, neither of them, perhaps, of any precise and definite importance, occur simultaneously, each event having some particular bearing on the other. If the events should chance to be more than two, the coincidence is termed extraordinary; and if they should chance to be several, and, also, individually of some importance—well, then I pity the man who narrates them to an unsympathetic audience. If he isn’t branded a liar out and out, he will, at least, be thought to be possessed of an imagination which is first cousin to one. If he isn’t despised, he will be pitied,—pitied, too, with a patronizing commiseration which will make his blood boil. Asseveration of the truth of his statement will be worse than useless. It will merely call forth a [Pg 310]smile, a kindly condescending smile, which says plainer than spoken words:
“Oh, yes, we know you believe it to be true. But these things don’t happen.”
And if, in the face of that exasperating smile he should venture on protest, he will at once receive the gently amazed reply:
“My dear fellow, I never said I doubted your word.”
A reply which will leave him helpless, though fuming.
Of course it is foolish to care. Truth is truth, and there’s the end on’t. But he does care. He knows his statement has been marvellous, incredulous; he knows, too, that he has probably been a fool to mention it. But having done so, he wants belief. The man who will remark with inner conviction, “Truth is stranger than fiction,” would be a godsend to him at the moment. But the man who will say that of another’s narrative is a rara avis. He reserves it as the Amen to his own.
Yet, in spite of knowing all this, it is my lot to narrate certain extraordinary coincidences in the forthcoming pages. Therefore I can only trust that my audience will be a trifle less incredulous than the majority of audiences. Perhaps if it weren’t for one of the events, which certainly smacks of the miraculous, I might have more hope.
However, to proceed.
You have been given one event in the preceding chapter.
The second concerns Antony.