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husband and child for his home as where she was quite unknown a justification or a condemnation of her step according as you view it was seen when not long after she received a note from her former husband it was a hasty and tender and perhaps it was fortunate that it arrived during the temporary absence of lord his worthless wife said had just died in he had gone there to ascertain particulars and had seen the unfortunate woman buried he now was hastening to england to repair the wrong he had done his maria he asked her to meet him at his port of arrival which she need be in no fear of doing as he had changed his name and was almost absolutely unknown a group of noble i in europe he would her immediately and live with her in any part of the continent as they had originally intended where for the great love he still bore her he would devote himself to her service for the rest of his days lady self possessed as it was her nature to be was yet much disturbed at this news and set off to meet him as soon as she heard that the ship was in sight as soon as they stood face to face she found that she still possessed all her old influence over him though his power to her had quite departed in his sorrow for his offence against her he had become a man of strict religious habits self denying as a saint though formerly he had been a free and joyous liver having first got him to swear to make her any amends she should choose which he was imagining must be by a true marriage she informed him that she had already wedded another husband an excellent man of ancient family and possessions who had given her a title in which she much rejoiced at this the countenance of the poor foreign gentleman became cold as clay and his heart withered within him for as it had been her beauty and bearing which had led him to sin to obtain her so now that her beauty was in fuller bloom and her manner more haughty by her success did he feel her fascination to be almost more than he could bear nevertheless having sworn his word he undertook to obey her commands which were simply a renewal of her old request that he would depart for some foreign country and never reveal his existence to her friends or husband or any person in england never trouble her more a group of noble seeing how great a harm it would do her in the high position which she at present occupied he bowed his head and the child our child he said he is well says she quite well with this the unhappy gentleman departed much in his heart than on his voyage to england for it had never occurred to him that a woman who her honour so highly as maria had done and who was the mother of a child of his would have adopted such means as this for the restoration of that honour and at so early a date he had fully calculated on making her his wife in law and truth and of living in cheerful unity with her and his offspring for whom he felt a deep and growing tenderness though he had never once seen the child the lady returned to her mansion beyond and told nothing of the interview to her noble husband who had fortunately gone that day to do a little and out by and knew nothing of her movements she had dismissed her poor enough yet she would often after this look in the face of the child of her to discover what and how many traits of his father were to be seen in his for this she had ample opportunity during the following autumn and winter months her husband being a matter of fact nobleman who spent the greater part of his time in field sports and one winter day when he had started for a meet of the hounds a long way from the house it being his custom to hunt three or four times a week at this a group of noble season of the year she had walked into the sunshine upon the terrace before the windows where there fell at her feet some httle white object that had come over a boundary wall hard by it proved to be a tiny note wrapped round a stone lady opened it and read it and immediately no doubt with a stem of her countenance walked hastily along the terrace and through the door into the whence the note had come the man who had first married her stood under the bushes e her it was plain firom his appearance that something had gone wrong with him you notice a change in me my best beloved he said yes maria i have lost all the wealth i once possessed mainly by reckless gambling in the continental to which you banished me but one thing in the world remains to me the child and it is for him that i have here don t fear me darling i shall not inconvenience you long i love you too well but i think of the boy day and night i cannot help it i cannot keep my feeling for him down and i long to see him and speak a word to him once in my lifetime but your oath says she you promised never to reveal by word or sign i will reveal nothing only let me see the child i know what i have sworn to you cruel mistress and i respect my oath otherwise i might have seen him by some but i preferred the frank course of asking | 45 |
your permission she with the haughty severity which had grown part of her character and which her elevation to a group of noble the rank of a had rather than diminished she said that she would consider and would give him an answer the day after the next at the same hour and place when her husband would again be absent with his pack of hounds the gentleman waited patiently lady who had now no conscious love left for him well considered the matter and felt that it would be advisable not to push to extremes a man of so passionate a heart on the day and hour she met him as she had promised to do you shall see him she said of course on the strict condition that you do not reveal yourself and hence though you see him he must not see you or your manner might betray you and me i will lull him into a nap in the afternoon and then i will come to you here and fetch you indoors by a private way the unfortunate father whose had upon his own head in a way he could not have foreseen promised to to her instructions and waited in the till the moment when she should call him this she duly did about three o clock that day leading him in by a garden door and upstairs to the nursery where the child lay he was in his little cot breathing calmly his arm thrown over his head and his silken curls crushed into the pillow his father now almost to be pitied bent over him and a tear from his eye the she held up a warning finger as he lowered to the lips of the boy but oh why not implored he a group of noble very well then said she but as gently as possible he kissed the child without waking him turned gave him a last look and followed her out of the chamber when she conducted him off the premises by the way he had come but this remedy for his sadness of heart at being a stranger to his own son had the effect of the malady for while originally not knowing or having ever seen the boy he had loved him vaguely and only he now became attached to him in flesh and bone as any parent might and the feeling that he could at best only see his child at the and most moments if at all drove him into a state of distraction which threatened to overthrow his promise to the bo s mother to keep out of his sight but such was his respect for lady and his regret at having ever deceived her that he his poor heart into submission owing to his loneliness all the of which he was and that was much flowed now in the channel of parental and love for a child who did not know him and a woman who had ceased to love him at length this singular punishment became such a torture to the poor foreigner that he resolved to lessen it at all with care for the name of the lady his former wife to whom his attachment seemed to increase in proportion to her treatment of him at one time of his life he had taken great interest in culture as well as in general an the ruin of his fortunes and bis a group of noble arrival in england he had made of his knowledge a precarious income in the hot houses of and others with the new idea in his head he applied himself to the business till he acquired in a few months great skill in waiting till the noble lord his lady s husband had room for an under gardener of a general sort he offered himself for the place and was engaged immediately by reason of his civility and intelligence before lady knew anything of the matter much therefore did he surprise her when she found him in the of her mansion a week or two after his arrival the punishment of instant dismissal with which at first she threatened him my lady thought fit on reflection not to enforce while he served her thus she knew he would not harm her by a word while if he were might induce him to reveal in a moment of what kind treatment would assist him to conceal so he was allowed to remain on the premises and had for his residence a little cottage by the garden wall which had been the of some of his in the same occupation here he lived absolutely alone and spent much of his leisure in reading but the greater part in watching the windows and of his lady s house for glimpses of the form of the child it was for that child s sake that he abandoned the of the roman catholic church in which he had been reared and became the most regular attendant at the services in the parish place of worship hard by where sitting behind the of my lady my lord and his the gardener could study the traits a group of noble l and movements of the at only a few feet distance without suspicion or he filled his post for more than two years with a pleasure to himself which though mournful was soothing his lady never him or allowing him to be anything more than the gardener to her child though once or twice the boy said that gardener s eyes are so sad why does he look so sadly at me he himself in her as if it were love and his ears drank in her as though they were of strangely enough the coldness with which she treated her foreigner began to be the conduct of lord towards herself it was a matter of great anxiety to him that there should | 45 |
be a successor to the title yet no sign of that successor appeared one day he complained to her quite roughly of his fate all will go to that of a cousin he cried sooner see my name and place at the bottom of the sea the lady soothed him and fell into thought and did not but one day soon after she went down to the cottage of the gardener to inquire how he was getting on for he had been of late though as was supposed not seriously though she often visited the poor she had never entered her under gardener s home before and was much surprised even grieved and dismayed to find that he was too ill to rise from his bed she went back to her mansion and returned with some delicate soup that she might have a reason for seeing him his condition was so feeble and alarming an his a group of noble a of noble face so thin that it quite shocked her softening heart and gazing upon him she said you must get well you must have been hard with you i know it i will not be so again the sick and dying man for he was dying indeed took her hand and pressed it to his lips too late my darling too late he murmured but you not die oh you must not she said and on an impulse she bent down and whispered some words to him blushing as she had blushed in her maiden days he replied by a faint wan smile time was but that s past he said i must die and die he did a few days later as the sun was going down behind the garden wall her seemed to come home to her then and she exclaimed against herself in secret and alone her one desire now was to erect some tribute to his memory without its being recognized as her in the completion of this scheme there arrived a few months later a handsome stained glass window for the church and when it was and in course of lord strolled into the building with his wife erected to his memory by his widow he said reading the legend on the glass i didn t know that he had a wife never seen her oh yes you must have only you forget replied his lady but she didn t live with him and was seldom seen visiting him because there were differences between them which as is usually the case makes her all the more sorry now a of noble i and go herself by this expensive glass design she is not poor they say as lord grew older he became and and whenever he set eyes on his wife s boy by her other husband he would burst out saying tis a very odd thing my lady that you could oblige your first husband and couldn t oblige me ah if i had only thought of it sooner she murmured what said he nothing dearest replied lady the colonel was the first to comment upon the s tale by saying that the fate of the poor fellow was rather a hard one the gentleman could not see that his fate was at all too hard for him he was nothing to her and he had served her if he had been really her husband it would have stood differently the remarked that lord seemed to have been a very man with which view a fat member with a crimson face agreed it was true his wife was a very close mouthed personage which made a difference if she had spoken out her lord might have been suspicious enough as in the case of that lady who lived at park in their great grandfather s time though there to be sure considerations arose which made her husband view matters with much philosophy a few of the members doubted the possibility of this l a group op noble the crimson man who was a retired of comfortable means and short in stature cleared his throat blew off his superfluous breath and proceeded to give the instance before alluded to of such possibility first for his heroine s lack of a title it never having been his good fortune to know many of the nobility to his style of narrative the following is only an dame the sixth squire s lady by the crimson dame the sixth squire s lady by the folk who are at all acquainted with the traditions of park will not need to be told that in the middle of the last century it was owned by that of whose skill in gaining possession of fair estates by sums of money on their title deeds has seldom if ever been equalled in our part of england was a lawyer by profession and agent to several by which means his special line of business became opened to him by a sort of revelation it is said that a relative of his a very deep who afterwards had the misfortune to be transported for life for mistaken notions on the of a will taught him considerable legal lore which he resolved never to throw away for the benefit of other people but to reserve it entirely for his own however i have nothing in particular to say about his early and active days but rather of the time when an old man he had become the owner of vast estates by the means i have signified among them the great a group of noble of on which he lived in the splendid old mansion now pulled down likewise estates at estates near nearly all the of and many properties near indeed i can t call to mind half his landed possessions and i don t know that it matters much at this time of day | 45 |
seeing that he s been dead and gone many years it is said that when he bought an estate he would not decide to pay the price till he had walked over every single acre with his own two feet and the soil at every point with his own to test its quality which if we regard the extent of his properties must have been a business for him at the time i am speaking of he was a man over eighty and his son was dead but he had two the eldest of whom his was married and was shortly expecting issue just then the grandfather was taken ill for death as it seemed considering his age by his will the old man had created an as i believe the lawyers call it the whole of the estates to his elder and his issue male failing which to his younger and his issue male failing which to relatives who need not be mentioned now while old was lying ill his elder s wife gave birth to her expected child who as fortune would have it was a son her husband though sprung of a family was no great himself he was the single one of the then living whose heart had ever been greatly moved by sentiments which did not run in a group of noble i the of ambition and on this account he had not married well as the saying is his wife having been the daughter of a family of no better than his own that is to say her father was a country of the professional class but she was a very pretty woman by all accounts and her husband had seen and married her in a high tide of after a very short acquaintance and with very little knowledge of her heart s history he had never found reason to regret his choice as yet and his anxiety for her recovery was great she was supposed to be out of danger and herself and the child well when there was a change for the worse and she sank so rapidly that she was soon given over when she felt that she was about to leave him sent for her husband and on his speedy entry and assurance that they were alone she made him solemnly vow to give the child every care in any circumstances that might arise if it should please heaven to take her this of course he readily promised then after some hesitation she told him that she could not die with a falsehood upon her soul and dire deceit in her life she must make a terrible confession to him before her lips were sealed for ever she thereupon related an incident concerning the baby s which was not as he supposed though a quick feeling man was not of a sort to show nerves outwardly and he bore himself as as he possibly could do in this trying moment of his life that same night his wife died and while she lay dead and before her a group of noble he hastened to the bedside of his sick grandfather and revealed to him all that had happened the baby s birth his wife s confession and her death the aged man as he loved him to himself now at the hour and alter his will so as to dish the intruder old seeing matters in the same light as his required no urging against allowing anything to stand in the way of legitimate inheritance he executed another will the to his for life and his male thereafter to be bom after them to his other edward and edward s thus the newly born infant who had been the centre of so many hopes was cut off and scorned as none of the elect the old lived but a short time after this the excitement of the discovery having told upon him considerably and he was gathered to his fathers like the most charitable man in his neighbourhood both wife and being buried settled down to his usual life as well as he was able mentally satisfied that he had by prompt action defeated the consequences of such dire domestic treachery as had been shown towards him and to marry a second time as soon as he could satisfy himself in the choice of a wife but men do not always know themselves the state of s mind bred in him by degrees such a hatred and of that though several specimens of high came under his eyes he could not bring himself to the point of proposing marriage he dreaded to take up a group of the position of husband a second time a trap in every and a of in possible what has happened once when all seemed so fair may happen again he said to himself fu risk my name no more so he from marriage and overcame his wish for a to follow him in the of had scarcely noticed the unfortunate child that his wife had borne after arranging for a meagre fulfilment of his promise to her to take care of the boy by having him brought up in his house occasionally remembering this promise he went and glanced at the child saw that he was doing well gave a few special directions and again went his solitary way thus he and the child lived on in the mansion house till two or three years had passed by one day he was walking in the garden and by some accident left his snuff box on a bench when he came back to find it he saw the little boy standing there he had escaped his nurse and was making a of the box in spite of the which the game brought in its train then the man with the heart became interested in the little fellow s in his play under such he looked | 45 |
in the child s face saw there his wife s countenance though he did not see his own and fell into thought on the of childhood particularly of despised and rejected childhood like this before him from that hour try as he would to the feeling the human necessity to love something or other a group of noble got the better of what he had called his wisdom and shaped itself in a tender anxiety for the this name had been given him by his dying mother when at her request the child was in her chamber lest he should not survive for public and her husband had never thought of it as a name of any significance till about this time he learnt by accident that it was the name of the young of son of the duke of for whom had cherished warm feelings before her marriage some wandering phrases in his wife s last words which he had not understood at the time he perceived at last that this was the person to whom she had alluded when affording him a clue to httle s history he would sit in silence for hours with the child being no great speaker at the best of times but the boy on his part was too ready with his tongue for any break in discourse to arise because had nothing to say after away his mornings in this manner would go to his own room and swear in long loud whispers and walk up and down calling himself the most ridiculous that ever lived and declaring that he would never go near the little fellow again to which resolve he would for the space perhaps of a day such cases are happily not new to human nature but there never was a case in which a man completely his former self than in this as the child grew up s attachment to him grew deeper till became almost the sole object a group of noble for which he lived there had been enough of the family ambition latent in him for to feel a little envy when some time before this date his brother edward had been accepted by the honourable daughter of the second of that name and title but having discovered as i have before stated the of his boy to in even a higher of society those envious feelings speedily dispersed indeed the more he reflected after his brother s aristocratic marriage the more content did he become his late wife took softer outline in his memory as he thought of the lofty taste she had displayed though only a plain s daughter and the justification for his weakness in loving the child the justification that he had longed for was afforded now in the knowledge that the boy was by nature if not by name a representative of one of the noblest houses in england she was a woman of grand instincts after all he said to himself proudly to fix her choice upon the immediate successor in that line it was finely conceived had he been of low blood like myself or my relations she would scarce have deserved the harsh measure that i have dealt out to her and her offspring how much less then when such tastes were farthest from her the man loved was noble and my boy is noble in spite of me the was inevitable and it soon came so far he reasoned from cutting off this child from inheritance of my estates as i have done i should have i go a group of noble rejoiced in the possession of him he is of pure stock on one side at least whilst in the ordinary run of affairs he would have been a to the bone being a man whatever his faults of good old in the divinity of kings and those about em the more he the case in this light the more strongly did his poor wife s conduct in improving the blood and breed of the family win his heart he considered what ugly idle hard drinking many of his own relations had been the miserable and that he had numbered among his forefathers and the probability that some of their bad qualities would have come out in a merely child to give him sorrow in his old age turn his black hairs gray his gray hairs white cut down every stick of timber and heaven knows what all had he not like a skilful gardener minded his and changed the sort till at length this right minded man fell down on his knees every night and morning and thanked god that he was not as other descended fathers in such matters it was in the peculiar disposition of the family that the satisfaction which ultimately settled in s breast found nourishment the had adored the nobility and plucked them at the same time that excellent man s feelings about fish were much akin to those of old and of his descendants in a lesser degree concerning the landed aristocracy to torture and to love a group of noble is a proceeding strange to reason but possible to practice as these instances show hence when s brother edward said one day that s son was well enough but that he had nothing but shops and offices in his backward perspective while his own children should he have any would be far different in possessing such a mother as the honourable felt a bound of triumph within him at the power he possessed of that statement if he chose so much was he interested in his boy in this new aspect that he now began to read up of the illustrious house as the of from their very beginning in the glories of the restoration of the blessed charles till the year of his own time he mentally noted their gifts from of | 45 |
lands purchases and buildings more particularly their political and military achievements which had been great and their performances in art and letters which had been by no means contemptible he studied prints of the portraits of that family and then like a watching a began to examine young s face for the of those historic curves and shades that the painters and had on canvas when the boy reached the most fascinating age of childhood and his shouts of laughter ran through house from end to end the remorse that oppressed knew no bounds of all people in the world this was the on whom he could have a group of noble wished the estates to yet by s own desperate at the time of his birth had been from all inheritance of them and since he did not mean to the would pass to his brother and his brother s children who would be nothing to him whose boasted on one side would be nothing to his s had he only left the first will of his grandfather alone his mind ran on the wills continually both of which were in existence and the first the one in his own possession night after night when the servants were all and the click of safety locks sounded as loud as a crash he looked at that first will and wished it had been the second and not the first the crisis came at last one night after having enjoyed the bo s company for hours he could no longer bear that his beloved should be and he committed the deed of the date of the earlier will to a fortnight later which made its execution appear subsequent to the date of the second will already proved he then boldly the first will as the second his brother edward submitted to what appeared to be not only fact but a far more likely disposition of old s property for like many others he had been much surprised at the defined in the other will having no clue to their cause he joined his brother in setting aside the hitherto accepted document and matters went on in their usual a group of noble course there being no dispositions in the will from those in the other except such as related to a which had not yet arrived the years moved on had not yet revealed the anxiously expected historic which should the political abilities of the family when it happened on a certain day that made the acquaintance of a well known physician of who had been the medical adviser and friend of the late mrs s family for many years though after s marriage and consequent removal to he had seen no more of her the neighbouring who attended the having then become her doctor as a matter of course was impressed by the insight and knowledge disclosed in the conversation of the physician and the acquaintance to intimacy the physician alluded to a form of to which s mother and grandmother had been subject that of believing in certain dreams as he inquired if had ever noticed anything of the sort in his wife during her lifetime he the physician had fancied that he discerned of the same in when he attended her in her one explanation another till the was persuaded in his own mind that s confession to him had been based on a delusion you look down in the mouth said the doctor pausing a group of noble group of noble a bit tis unexpected like sighed but he could hardly believe it possible and thinking it best to be frank with the doctor told him the whole story which till now he had never related to living man save his dying grandfather to his surprise the physician informed him that such a form of delusion was precisely what he would have expected from s at such a physical crisis in her hfe his inquiries elsewhere and the of his labours was briefly that a comparison of dates and places showed that his poor wife s assertion could not possibly have foundation in fact the young of her tender passion a highly moral and bright minded nobleman had gone abroad the year before s marriage and had not returned till after her death the young girl s love for him had been a delicate ideal dream no more went home and the boy ran out to meet him whereupon a strangely dismal feeling of discontent took possession of his soul after all then there was nothing but blood in the veins of the heir to his name and estates he was not to be succeeded by a noble natured line to be sure was his son but that glory and he believed him to have inherited from the ages that of his brother s children had departed from s brow for ever he could no longer read history in the boy s face and centuries of in his eyes his manner towards his son grew colder and colder a group of noble from that day forward and it was with bitterness of heart that he discerned the characteristic features of the themselves by degrees instead of the elegant knife edged nose so typical of the of south there began to appear on his face the broad and hollow bridge of his grandfather no illustrious line of was promised a in that blue eye for it was acquiring the expression of the of a particularly objectionable cousin of his own and instead of the which had thrilled in speeches now bound in calf in every well ordered library there was the bull lip of that very of his who had had the misfortune with the signature of a gentleman s will and had been transported for ufe in consequence to think how he himself too had in this same matter of a will for | 45 |
this mere of a wretched old uncle whose very name he wished to forget the boy s christian name even was an and an irony for it hereditary force and brilliancy to which he plainly would never attain the consolation of real was always left him certainly but he could n ot help groaning to himself why cannot a son be one s own and somebody else s the was shortly afterwards in the neighbourhood of and met him and eyed his noble countenance the next day when was in his study somebody knocked at the door a grow op noble who s there i ll thee you young say only a poor commonplace his father why didn t you have a voice like the s i saw yesterday he continued as the lad came in why haven t you his looks and a way of commanding as if you d done it for centuries hey why how can you expect it father when i m not related to him then you ought to be growled his father as the paused the surgeon the colonel the historian the spark and others exclaimed that such subtle and instructive studies as this now that was so much in demand were precisely the tales they desired as members of a scientific club and begged the master to tell another curious mental delusion the shook his head and feared he was not genteel enough to tell another story with a sufficiently moral tone in it to suit the club he would prefer to leave the next to a better man the colonel had fallen into reflection true it was he observed that the more dreamy and impulsive nature of woman within her fancies which often started her on strange tracks only to abandon them in sharp at the of her common sense sometimes with ludicrous effect events which had caused a lady s action to set in a particular a group of noble tion might continue to enforce the same line of conduct while she like a would start on a sudden in a contrary course and end where she began the vice president laughed and applauded the colonel adding that there surely a story somewhere behind that sentiment if he were not much mistaken the colonel fixed his face to a good narrative pose and went on without further dame the seventh lady by colonel dame the seventh lady by the colonel it was in the time of the great civil war if i should not rather as a loyal subject call it with the great rebellion it was i say at that unhappy period of our history that towards the autumn of a particular year the parliament forces sat down before castle with over seven thousand foot and four pieces of cannon the castle as we all know was in that century owned and occupied by one of the of and for his assistance by a certain noble who commanded the king s troops in these parts the said earl as well as the young lord his eldest son were away from home just now raising forces for the king elsewhere but there were present in the castle when the arrived before it the son s fair wife lady and her servants together with some friends and near relatives of her husband and the defence was so good and well considered that they anticipated no great danger the forces were also commanded hy a group of noble a noble lord for the nobility were by no means at this stage of the war all on the king s side and it had been observed during his approach in the night time and in the morning when the took place that he appeared sad and much depressed the truth was that by a strange of destiny it had come to pass that the he was set to reduce was the home of his own sister whom he had tenderly loved during her and whom he loved now in spite of the which had resulted from with her husband s family he believed too that notwithstanding this cruel division she still was sincerely attached to him his hesitation to point his at the walls was inexplicable to those who were strangers to his family history he remained in the field on the north side of the castle called by his name to this day because of his there till it occurred to him to send a messenger to his sister with a letter in which he earnestly requested her as she valued her life to steal out of the place by the little gate to the south and make away in that direction to the residence of some friends shortly after he saw to his great surprise coming from the front of the castle walls a lady on horseback with a single attendant she rode straight forward into the field and up the slope to where his army and tents were spread it was not till she got quite near that he discerned her to be his sister and much was he alarmed that she should have run such risk as to sally out in the face of his forces without knowledge of their proceedings when at any moment their first discharge a group op noble might have burst forth to her own destruction in such exposure she dismounted before she was quite close to him and he saw that her familiar face though pale was not at all tearful as it would have been in their younger days indeed if the particulars as handed down are to be believed he was in a more tearful state than she in his anxiety about her he called her into his tent out of the gaze of those around for though many of the soldiers were honest and serious minded men he could not bear that she who had been his | 45 |
dear companion in childhood should be exposed to curious observation in this her great grief when they were alone in the tent he clasped her in his arms for he had not seen her since those happier days when at the commencement of the war her husband and himself had been of the same mind about the arbitrary conduct of the king and had little that they would not go to extremes together she was the of the two it is said and was the first to speak william i have come to you said she but not to save myself as you suppose why oh why do you persist in supporting this cause and us so say not that he replied hastily if truth hides at the bottom of a well why should you suppose justice to be in high places i am for the right at any price leave the castle you are my sister come away my dear and save thy life never says she do you plan to carry out this attack and level the castle indeed a group of noble most certainly i do says he what this army around us if not so then you will find the bones of your sister buried in the ruins you cause said she and without another word she turned and left him abide with me he entreated blood is thicker than water and what is there in common between you and your husband now but she shook her head and would not hear him and hastening out mounted her horse and returned towards the castle as she had come ay man s the time when i have been riding to hounds across that field that i have thought of that scene when she had quite gone down the field and over the intervening ground and round the so that he could no longer even see the tip of her mare s white tail he was much more deeply moved by emotions concerning her and her welfare than he had been while she was before him he wildly reproached himself that he had not detained her by force for her own good so that come what might she would be under his protection and not under that of her husband whose impulsive nature rendered him too open to impressions and sudden changes of plan he was now acting in this cause and now in that and lacked the cool judgment necessary for the protection of a woman in these troubled times her brother thought of her words again and again and sighed and even considered if a sister were not of more value than a principle and if he would not have acted more naturally in throwing in his lot with hers the delay of the in attacking the castle was a group of noble said to be entirely owing to this distraction on the part of their leader who remained on the spot attempting some operations and with the then in command with far inferior forces within the castle it never occurred to him that in the meantime the young lady his sister was in much the same mood as himself her brother s familiar voice and eyes much worn and fatigued by keeping the field and by family on account of this unhappy rose upon her vision all the afternoon and as day she grew more and more in her principles though the only arguments which had addressed themselves to her were those of family ties her husband general lord had been expected to return all the day from his excursion into the east of the county a message having been sent to him informing him of what had happened at home and in the evening he arrived with in unexpected numbers her brother retreated before these to a hill near four or five miles off to afford the men and himself some repose lord duly placed his forces and there was no longer any immediate danger by this time lady s feelings were more than ever and in her fancy the countenance of her brother beaten back by her husband seemed to reproach her for when her husband entered her apartment ruddy and boisterous and full of hope she received him but sadly and upon his casually uttering some words about her brother s which seemed to convey an upon his courage she them a id a group of noble retorted that he lord himself had been against the court party at first where it would be much more to his credit if he were at present and showing her brother s of opinion instead of supporting the lying of the king as she called it for the sake of a barren principle of loyalty which was but an empty expression when a king was not at one with his people the grew bitter between them reaching to little less than a hot quarrel both being souls lord was weary with his long day s march and other and soon retired to bed his lady followed some time after her husband slept profoundly but not so she she sat brooding by the and lifting the curtain looked forth upon the hills without in the silence between the of the she could hear faint sounds of her brother s camp on the hills where the had hardly settled as yet into their since their evening s retreat the first of autumn had touched the grass and the more delicate leaves of the and she thought of william sleeping on the chilly ground under the strain of these hardships tears her eyes as she returned to her husband s upon his courage as if there could be any doubt of lord william s courage after what he had done in the past days lord s long and in his comfortable bed vexed her now and she came to a determination on an impulse hastily lighting a | 45 |
the building is much reduced from its original grand proportions it has moreover been of the fair estate which once to its lord with the exception of a few acres of park land immediately the mansion this was formerly the seat of the ancient and family of the or now extinct in the male line whose name according to the local was interpreted to mean miles though certain members of the family were averse to the latter and a was fought by one of them on that account as is well known with this however we are not now concerned in the early part of the reign of the first king james there was visiting near this place of the a a group of noble lady of noble family and extraordinary beauty she was of the purest descent ah there s seldom such blood nowadays as hers she possessed no great wealth it was said but was sufficiently endowed her beauty was so perfect and her manner so that seemed to spring out of the ground wherever she went a sufficient cause of anxiety to the her mother her only living parent of these there were three in whom neither her mother s complaints of nor the ready of the maiden herself could effectually put off the said were a certain sir john gale a sir william and the sir george one of the family before mentioned they had curiously enough all been equally honoured with the distinction of and their schemes for seeing her were manifold each fearing that one of the others would steal a march over himself not content with calling on every imaginable excuse at the house of the relative with whom she they her in rides and in walks and if any one of them chanced to surprise another in the act of paying her marked attentions the encounter often ended in an of great violence so heated and impassioned indeed would they become that the lady hardly felt herself safe in their company at such times notwithstanding that she was a brave and not easily put out and with a daring spirit of humour in her composition if not of at one of these which had place in her relative s grounds and was unusually bitter threatening to result in a she found it necessary to assert her a group of noble self turning upon the pair of she declared that whichever should be the first to break the peace between them no matter what the provocation that man should never be admitted to her presence again and thus would she effectually the by making the promotion of a quarrel a distinct bar to its object while the two knights were wearing rather a appearance at her the third never far off came upon the scene and she repeated her to him also seeing then how great was the concern of all at her mood the lady s manner softened and she said with a smile have patience have patience you foolish men only bide your time quietly and in faith i will marry you all in turn they laughed heartily at this sally all three together as though they were the best of friends at which she blushed and showed some embarrassment not having that her arch jest would have sounded so strange when uttered the meeting which resulted thus however had its good effect in checking the bitterness of their and they repeated her speech to their relatives and acquaintance with a and that the lady little divined or she might have blushed and felt more embarrassment still in the course of time the position resolved itself and the lady as she was called made up her mind her choice being the eldest of the three knights sir george owner of the mansion which thereupon became her home and her husband being a pleasant man and his family l a group of noble though not so noble of as good as her own all things seemed to show that she had reckoned wisely in him with her preference but what may lie behind the still and silent veil of the future none can in the course of a few months the husband of her choice died of his as if indeed to bear out his name and the lady was left alone as mistress of his house by this time she had apparently quite forgotten her careless declaration to her lovers but the lovers themselves had not forgotten it and as she would now be free to take a second one of them sir john gale appeared at her door as early in her as it was proper and to do so she gave him little encouragement for of the two remaining her best beloved was sir william of whom if the truth must be told she had often thought during her short married life but he had not yet reappeared her heart began to be so much with him now that she contrived to convey to him by hints through his friends that she would not be displeased by a renewal of his former attentions sir william however her gentle and from excellent though mistaken motives of delicacy delayed to intrude himself upon her for a long time meanwhile sir john now created a was and she began to grow somewhat at the of him she secretly desired to be forward never mind her friends said to her knowing of her humorous remark as everybody did that she would marry them all three if they would have a group of noble patience never mind why hesitate upon the order of them take em as they come this vexed her still more and deeply as she had often done that such a careless speech should ever have passed her lips she fairly broke down under sir john s and accepted his hand they were married on a fine spring morning | 45 |
about the very time at which the unfortunate sir william discovered her preference for him and was beginning to hasten home from a foreign court to declare his devotion to her on his arrival in england he learnt the sad truth if sir william suffered at her under what she had deemed his neglect the lady herself suffered more she had not long been the wife of sir john gale before he showed a disposition to upon her for the trouble and delay she had put him to in winning her with increasing he would tell her that as far as he could perceive she was an article not worth such labour as he had bestowed in obtaining it and such as he had taken from his rivals on the same account these and other cruel things he repeated till he made the lady weep sorely and broke her spirit though she had formerly been such a dame by degrees it became perceptible to all her friends that her life was a very unhappy one and the fate of the fair woman seemed yet the harder in that it was her own stately mansion left to her sole use by her first husband which her second had entered into and was enjoying his being but a mean and meagre but such is the of friends that when she l a group of noble met them and secretly confided her grief to their ears they would say cheerily lord never mind my dear there s a third to come yet at which remark she would show much indignation and tell them they should know better than to trifle on so solemn a theme yet that the poor lady would have been only too happy to be the wife of the third instead of sir john whom she had taken was painfully obvious and much she was blamed for her by some people sir william however had returned to foreign cities on learning the news of her marriage and had never been heard of since two or three years of suffering were passed by lady as the despised and wife of this man sir john amid regrets that she had so greatly mistaken him and sighs for one whom she thought never to see again till it chanced that her husband fell sick of some slight one day after this when she was sitting in his room looking from the window upon the expanse in front she beheld approaching the house on foot a form she seemed to know well lady withdrew silently from the and descended to the hall whence through the doorway she saw entering between the two towers which at that time the sir william as she had but looking thin and travel worn she advanced into the to meet him i was passing through he said with faltering deference and i walked out to ask after your s health i felt that i could do no less and of course to pay my respects to your good husband a group of noble iq my heretofore acquaintance but oh th st look sick and sorry i am that s all said she they could see in each other an emotion which neither wished to express and they stood thus a long time with tears in their eyes he does not treat ee well i hear said sir william in a low voice may god in heaven forgive him but it is asking a great deal hush hush said she hastily nay but i will speak what i may honestly say he answered i am not under your roof and my tongue is free why not wait for me or send to me a more letter i would have travelled night and day to come too late william you must not ask it said she endeavouring to quiet him as in old times my husband just now is he will grow better in a day or two maybe you must call again and see him before you leave as she said this their eyes met each was thinking of her words about taking the three men in turn each thought that two thirds of that promise had been fulfilled but as if it were unpleasant to her that this recollection should have arisen she spoke again quickly come again in a day or two when my husband will be well enough to see you sir william departed without entering the house and she returned to sir john s chamber he rising from his pillow said to whom hast been talking wife in the i heard voices there a group of noble she hesitated and he repeated the question more impatiently i do not wish to tell you now said she but i wool know said he then she answered sir william by g i thought as much cried sir john drops of perspiration standing on his white face a villain a sick man s ears are keen my lady i heard that they were lover like tones and he called ee by your christian name these be your my lady when i am off my legs awhile on my honour cried she you do me a wrong i swear i did not know of his coming swear as you will said sir john i don t believe ee and with this he her and worked himself into a greater passion which much increased his illness his lady sat still brooding there was tliat upon her face which had seldom been there since her marriage and she seemed to think anew of what she had so said in the days of her freedom when her three lovers were one and all her hand i began at the wrong end of them she murmured my god that did i what said he a trifle said she i spoke to myself only it was somewhat strange that after this day | 45 |
so thick in the atmosphere around her actually reached the lady s ears but that they did reach her there is no doubt it was impossible that they should not the district with them they in the air like night birds of evil omen then a reason for her husband s departure occurred to her appalled mind and a loss of health became quickly apparent she thin in the face and the veins in her temples could all be distinctly traced an inner fire seemed to be withering her away her rings fell off her fingers and her arms hung like the of the though they had till lately so round and so elastic she to her husband repeatedly begging him to return to her but he being in extreme and wretched doubt moreover knowing nothing of her a group of noble ill health and never suspecting that the had reached her also deemed absence best and postponed his return awhile giving various good reasons for his delay at length however when the lady had given birth to a still bom child her mother the addressed a letter to sir william him to come back to her if he wished to see her alive since she was wasting away of some mysterious disease which seemed to be rather mental than physical it was evident that his mother in law knew nothing of the secret for she lived at a distance but sir william promptly hastened home and stood beside the bed of his now d wife believe me william she said when they were alone i am innocent innocent of what said he heaven forbid that i should accuse you of anything but you do accuse me silently she gasped i could not write and ask you to hear me it was too much too degrading but would that i had been less proud they suspect me of him william but oh my dear husband i am innocent of that wicked crime he died naturally i loved you too soon but that was all nothing availed to save her the worm had too far into her heart before sir william s return for anything to be now and in a few weeks she breathed her last after her death the people spoke louder and her conduct became a subject of public discussion a uttle later on the physician who had a of noble a group of noble attended the late sir john heard the rumour and came down from the place near london to which he had retired with the express purpose of calling upon sir william now staying in he stated that at the request of a relative of sir john s who wished to be assured on the matter by reason of its suddenness he had with th assistance of a surgeon made a private examination of sir john s body immediately after his and found that it had from purely natural causes nobody at this time had breathed a suspicion of foul play and therefore nothing was said which might afterwards have established her innocence it being thus placed beyond doubt that this beautiful and noble lady had been done to death by a vile scandal that was wholly her husband was stung with a dreadful remorse at the share he had taken in her misfortunes and left the country anew this time never to return alive he survived her but a few years and his body was brought home and buried beside his wife s under the tomb which is still visible in the parish church until lately there was a good portrait of her in weeds for her first husband with a cross in her hand at the seat of her family where she was much pitied as she deserved to be yet there were some severe enough to say and these not unjust persons in other respects that though unquestionably innocent of the crime to her she had shown an in three marriages in such rapid succession that the suspicion might have been ordered by providence who often a group of noble works indirectly as a punishment for self indulgence upon that point i have no opinion to offer the reverend the vice president however the tale being ended offered as his opinion that her fate ought to be quite clearly recognized as a punishment so thought the and also the quiet gentleman sitting near the latter knew many other instances in point one of which could be in a few words is dame the ninth the of by the quiet gentleman dame the ninth the of by the quiet gentleman some fifty years ago the then duke of fifth of that title was the head man in his county and particularly in the neighbourhood of he came of the ancient and loyal family of which before its had numbered many and in its male line it would have occupied a county historian a whole afternoon to take of the numerous and devices to their memory on the and altar in the aisle of the parish church the duke himself however was a man little attracted by ancient in stone and metal even when they concerned his own he allowed his mind to linger by preference on the many and pleasures which his position placed at his command he could on occasion dose the mouths of his by a good oath and he argued the parson on the virtues of cock fighting and the bull this nobleman s personal appearance was somewhat a group of noble impressive his complexion was that of the tree his frame was though slightly stooping his mouth was large and he carried an as his walking stick except when he carried a for cutting up any he encountered on his walks his castle stood in the midst of a park surrounded by dusky elms except to the southward and when the moon shone | 45 |
out the gleaming stone backed by heavy boughs was visible from the distant high road as a white spot on the surface of darkness though called a castle the building was little fortified and had been erected with greater eye to internal convenience than those places of defence to which the name strictly it was a mansion as regular as a on its ground plan ornamented with make believe and behind which were of chimneys on still mornings at the fire lighting when ghostly stalk the and thin streaks of light through the lend startling and smiles to ancestors on canvas twelve or fifteen thin stems of blue smoke upwards from these chimney tops and spread into a flat on high around the site stretched ten thousand acres of good fat soil plentiful in and wherever visible from the castle windows and in homely where fi om the too curious eye by contrived some way behind the owner of all this came the second man in the parish the the honourable and reverend mr a over stiff and stem for a clergyman whose severe white a group of noble well kept gray hair and right lined face none of those sympathetic traits whereon depends so much of a parson s power to do good among his fellow creatures the last far removed man of the series altogether the of these local was the mr hill he was a handsome young with curly hair dreamy eyes so dreamy that to look long into them was like ascending and floating among summer clouds a complexion as fresh as a flower and a chin absolutely though his age was about twenty five he looked not much over nineteen the had a daughter called of so sweet and simple a nature that her beauty was discovered measured and by almost everybody in that part of the country before it was suspected by herself to exist she had been bred in comparative solitude a with men troubled and confused her whenever a strange visitor came to her father s house she slipped into the orchard and remained till he was gone her weakness in but unable to overcome it her virtues lay in no force of character but in a natural for evil things which to her were as as joints of flesh to a creature her charms of person manner and mind had been clear for some time to the in orders and no less so to the duke who though ignorant of dainty phrases ever showing a clumsy manner towards the sex and in short not at all a lady s man took fire to a degree that was terrible at sudden sight of a short time after she was turned seventeen it occurred one afternoon at the corner of a j a of between the castle and the where the duke was standing to watch the heaving of a when the fair girl brushed past at a distance of a few yards in the full light of the sun and without hat or bonnet the duke went home like a man who had seen a spirit he ascended to the picture gallery of his castle and there passed some time in staring at the beauties of his line as if he had never before considered what an important part those specimens of had played in the of the race he dined alone drank rather freely and declared to himself that must be his meanwhile there had unfortunately arisen between the and this girl some sweet and secret understanding particulars of the attachment remained unknown then and always but it was plainly not approved of by her father his was cold hard and inexorable soon the disappeared from the parish almost suddenly after bitter and hard words had been heard to pass between him and the one evening in the garden with which like the cries of the dying in the din of battle were the sobs of a woman not long after this it was announced that a marriage between the duke and miss was to be at a early date the wedding day came and passed and she was a nobody seemed to think of the man during the day or else those who thought of him concealed their meditations some of the less ones were disposed to speak in a manner of the august husband and wife others to make correct and a group of noble pretty speeches about them according as their sex and nature dictated but in the evening the in the with whom m had been a favourite their minds a little concerning the gentle young man and the possible regrets of the woman he had loved don t you see something wrong in it all said the third bell as he wiped his face i know well enough where she would have liked to stable her horses tonight when they have done their journey that is you would know if you could tell where young mr hill is living which is known to none in the parish except to the lady that this ring o is in honour of yet these friendly were at this time far from suspecting the real dimensions of s misery nor was it clear even to those who came into much closer communion with her than they so well had she concealed her heart sickness but bride and bridegroom had not long been home at the castle when the young wife s became plainly enough perceptible her maids and men said that she was in the habit of turning to the and shedding stupid tears at a time when a right minded lady would have been her wardrobe she prayed earnestly in the great church where she sat lonely and insignificant as a mouse in a cell instead of counting her rings falling asleep or amusing herself in silent laughter at the queer old people in the | 45 |
congregation as previous beauties of the family had done in their time she seemed to care no more for eating and drinking out of crystal and silver than from a service of vessels a group of noble her head was in truth full of something else and that such was the case was only too obvious to the duke her husband at first he would only her for her folly in thinking of that milk and water parson but as time went on his charges took a more positive shape he would not believe her assurance that she had in no way communicated with her former lover nor he with her since their parting in the presence of her father this led to some strange scenes between them which need not be detailed their result was soon to take a shape one dark quiet evening about two months after the marriage a man entered the gate admitting from the highway to the park and avenue which ran up to the house he arrived within two hundred yards of the walls when he left the drive and drew near to the castle by a path leading into a here he stood still in a few minutes the strokes of the castle clock and then a female figure entered the same secluded nook from an opposite direction there the two indistinct persons together hke a pair of on a leaf and then they stood apart facing each other the woman looking down you begged me to come and here i am heaven forgive me said the man hoarsely you are going to she said in broken accents i have heard of it you sail firom in three days in the western glory yes i can in england no longer life is as death to me here says he my life is even worse worse than death death would not have driven me to this extremity listen a group of noble i have sent for you to beg to go with you or at least to be near you to do anything so that it be not to stay here to go away with me he said in a startled tone yes yes or under your direction or by your help in some way don t be at me you must bear with me whilst i it nothing short of cruelty would have driven me to this i could have borne my doom in silence had i been left but he me and i shall soon be in the grave if i cannot escape to his shocked inquiry how her husband tortured her the said that it was by jealousy he tries to from me concerning you she said and will not believe that i have not communicated with you since my engagement to him was settled by my father and i was forced to agree to it the poor said that this was the heaviest news of all he has not personally ill used you he asked yes she whispered what has he done she looked fearfully around and said sobbing in trying to make me confess to what i have never done he plans i dare not describe for me into a weak state so that i may own to anything i resolved to write to you as i had no other friend she added with dreary irony i thought i would give him some ground for his suspicion so as not to disgrace his judgment do you really mean he inquired that you that you want to fly with me a group of noble can you think that i would act otherwise than in earnest at such a time as this he was silent for a minute or more you must not go with me he said why it would be sin it cannot be sin for i have never wanted to commit sin in my life and it isn t likely i would begin now when i pray every day to die and be sent to heaven out of my misery but it is wrong all the same is it wrong to run away from the fire that you it would look wrong at any rate in this case take me i you she burst out it is not right in general i know but it is such an exceptional instance this why has such a severe strain been put upon me i was doing no harm no one helping many people and expecting happiness yet trouble came can it be that god holds me in derision i had no i gave way and now my life is a burden and a shame to me oh if you only knew how much to me this request to you is how my life is wrapped up in it you could not deny me this is almost beyond endurance heaven support us he groaned you are the of the duke of s wife you must not go with me and am i then refused oh am i refused she cried do you say it indeed to me a group of noble yes i do dear tender heart i do most sadly say it you must not go forgive me for there is no alternative but refusal though i die though you die we must not fly together it is forbidden in god s law good bye for always and ever he tore himself away hastened from the and vanished among the trees three days after this meeting and farewell his soft handsome features stamped with a haggard hardness that ten years of ordinary wear and tear in the world could scarcely have produced sailed from on a morning in the passenger ship western glory when the land had faded behind him he mechanically endeavoured to school himself into a frame of mind his attempt backed up by the strong moral power | 45 |
that had enabled him to resist the passionate temptation to which in her reckless had exposed him was rewarded by a certain kind of success though the murmuring stretch of waters whereon he gazed day after day too often seemed to be to him in tones of her well remembered voice he framed i his journey rules of conduct for to mild proportions the feverish regrets which would occasionally arise and him when he indulged in visions of what might have been had he not to the whispers of conscience he fixed his thoughts for so many hours a day on philosophical passages in the volumes he had brought with him allowing himself now and then a few minutes thought of with the strict yet reluctant of an the rank drinks that a group of noble cause his malady the voyage was marked by the usual incidents of a sailing passage in those days a storm a calm a man overboard a birth and a funeral the latter sad event being one in which he as the only clergyman on board reading the service ordained for the purpose the ship duly arrived at boston early in the month following and thence he proceeded to providence to seek out a distant relative after a short stay at providence he returned again to boston and by applying himself to a serious occupation made good progress in shaking off the dreary melancholy which enveloped him even now distracted and weakened in his by his recent experiences he decided that he could not for a time fill the office of a minister of religion and applied for the of a school some given him before starting were useful now and he became known as a respectable scholar and gentleman to the of one of the this ultimately led to his retirement from the school and in the college as professor of and here and thus he lived on himself solely because of a conscientious determination to do his duty he passed his winter evenings in turning and often giving his thoughts voice in lines to an unfortunate lady while his summer leisure at the same hour would be spent in watching the shadows from his window and comparing them with the shades of his own life if he walked he mentally inquired which was the eastern quarter of the landscape and thought of two thousand miles of water that way and of what was beyond it in a word he a group of noble was at all spare times dreaming of her who was only a memory to him and would probably never be more nine years passed by and under their wear and tear hill s face lost a great many of the attractive characteristics which had formerly distinguished it he was kind to his pupils and to all who came in contact with him but the of his life his secret was kept as shut up as though he had been dumb in talking to his acquaintances of england and his life there he omitted the episode of castle and as if it had no existence in his at all though of towering importance to himself it had filled but a short and small fragment of time an season which would have been even to him at this distance but for the incident it one day at this date when glancing over an old english newspaper he observed a paragraph which short as it was contained for him whole of thrilling information rung with more passion stirring than the collected of all the poets it was an announcement of the death of the duke of leaving behind him a widow but no children the current of s thoughts now completely changed on looking again at the newspaper he found it to be one that was sent him long ago and had been carelessly thrown aside but for an accidental of the waste journals in his study he might not have known of the event for years at this moment of reading the duke had already been dead seven months could now no longer bind himself a group of noble a group of noble down to machine made and climax being full of spontaneous specimens of all these forms which he dared not utter who shall wonder that his mind in dreams of a sweet possibility now laid open for the first time these many years for was to him now as ever the one dear thing in all the world the issue of his silent was that he resolved to return to her at the very earliest moment but he could not abandon his professional work on the instant he did not get really quite free from engagements till four months later but though suffering of impatience continually he said to himself every day if she has continued to love me nine years she will love me ten she will think the more tenderly of me when her present hours of solitude shall have done their proper work old times will revive with the of her recent experience and every day will favour my return the enforced interval soon passed and he duly arrived in england reaching the village of on a certain winter day between twelve and thirteen months subsequent to the time of the duke s death it was evening yet such was s impatience that he could not forbear taking this very night one look at the castle which had entered as unhappy mistress ten years before he the park trees gazed in passing at well known outlines which rose against the dim sky and was soon interested in observing that lively country people in parties of two and three were walking before and behind him up the avenue to the castle knowing him a group of noble self to be safe from recognition inquired of one of these what was going on her grace gives | 45 |
her a ball to night to keep up the old custom of the duke and his father before him which she does not wish to change indeed has she lived here entirely alone since the duke s death quite alone but though she doesn t receive company herself she likes the village people to enjoy themselves and often has em here kind hearted as rs thought on reaching the castle he found that the great gates at the s entrance were thrown back against the wall as if they were never to be closed again that the passages and rooms in that wing were brilliantly lighted up some of the numerous candles down over the green leaves which decorated them and upon the silk dresses of the happy farmers wives as they passed beneath each on her husband s arm foimd no difficulty in marching in along with the rest the castle being liberty hall to night he stood unobserved in a comer of the large apartment where dancing was about to begin her grace though hardly out of mourning will be sure to come down and lead off the dance with neighbour said one who is neighbour asked an old man she respects much the oldest of her tenant farmers he was seventy eight his last birthday ah to be sure said at his ease i remember i a group of noble the dancers formed in line and waited a door opened at the farther end of the hall and a lady in black silk came forth she bowed smiled and proceeded to the top of the dance who is that lady said in a puzzled tone i thought you told me that the of that is the said his but there is another no there is no other but she is not the of who used to s tongue stuck to his mouth he could get no farther what s the matter said his acquaintance had retired and was supporting himself against the wall the wretched murmured something about a in his side from walking then the music struck up the dance went on and his neighbour became so interested in watching the movements of this strange through its as to forget for a while it gave him an opportunity to brace himself up he was a man who had suffered and he could again how came that person to be your he asked in a firm distinct voice when he had attained complete self command where is her other grace of there certainly was another i know it oh the previous one yes yes she ran away years and years ago with the young mr hill was the young man s name if i recollect a group of noble no she never did what do you mean by that he said yes she certainly ran away she met the in the about a couple of months after her marriage with the duke there were folks who saw the meeting and heard some words of their talk they arranged to go and she sailed from with him a day or two afterward that s not true then tis the lie ever told by man her father believed and knew to his dying day that she went with him and so did the duke and everybody about here ay there was a fine upset about it at the time the duke traced her to traced her to he traced her to and set on his and they found that she went to the shipping office and inquired if mr hill had entered his name as passenger by the western glory and when she found that he had she herself for the same ship but not in her real name when the vessel had sailed a letter reached the duke from her telling him what she had done she never came back here again his grace lived by himself a number of years and married this lady only twelve months before he died was iii a state of indescribable bewilderment but as he was he called the next day on the to him of at first she was alarmed at his statement then cold then she was won over by his condition to give confidence for confidence she showed him a letter which had been found among the papers of the late duke a group of noble what s had it was from bearing the date at which the western glory sailed and briefly stated that she had by that ship to america himself body and mind to the remainder of the mystery the story repeated to him was always the same she ran away with the a strangely piece of intelligence was added to this when he had pushed his inquiries a little further there was given him the name of a at who had come forward at the time that she was missed and sought for by her husband and had stated that he put her on board the western glory at dusk one evening before that vessel sailed several da rs of search about the and of during which these impossible words she ran off with the became on his brain found this important he was positive as to the truth of his story still remembering the incident well and he described in detail the lady s dress as he had long ago described it to her husband which description in every particular with the dress worn by on the evening of their parting before proceeding to the other side of the atlantic to continue his inquiries there the puzzled and distracted set himself to ascertain the address of captain who had commanded the western glory in the year of s voyage out and immediately wrote a letter to him on the subject the only circumstances which the sailor could le a group of noble collect or discover from his papers in connection with such | 45 |
a were that a woman bearing the name which had mentioned as certainly did come aboard for a voyage he made about that time that she took a common berth among the poorest that she died on the voyage out at about five days sail from that she seemed a lady in manners and education why she had not applied for a first class passage why she had no trunks they could not guess for though she had little money in her pocket she had that about her which would have fetched it we buried her at sea continued the captain a young parson one of the cabin passengers read the burial service over her i remember well the whole scene and proceedings darted upon s recollection in a moment it was a fine morning on that long past voyage out and he had been told that they were running at the rate of a hundred and odd miles a day the news went round that one of the poor young women in the other part of the vessel was ill of fever and the tidings caused no little alarm among all the passengers for the conditions of the ship were anything but satisfactory shortly after this the doctor announced that she had died then had learnt that she was laid out for burial in great haste because of the danger that would have been incurred by delay and next the funeral scene rose before him and the prominent part that he had taken in that solemn ceremony the captain had come to him him to as there was no on board this he had agreed to do and as the sun went down with a blaze in his face he read a group of noble amidst them all assembled we therefore commit her body to the deep to be turned into corruption looking for the of the body when the sea shall give up her dead the captain also forwarded the addresses of the ship s matron and of other persons who had been engaged on board at the date to these went in the course of time a description of the clothes of the dead the colour of her hair and other things extinguished for ever all hope of a mistake in identity at last then the course of events had become clear on that unhappy evening when he left in the forbidding her to follow him because it would be a sin she must have she must have followed at his heels silently through the darkness like a poor pet animal that will not be driven back she could have accumulated nothing for the journey more than she might have carried in her hand and thus poorly provided she must have embarked her intention had doubtless been to make her presence on board known to him as soon as she could muster courage to do so thus the ten years chapter of romance wound itself up under his eyes that the poor young woman in the had been the young of was never publicly disclosed hill had no longer any reason for remaining in england and soon after left its shores with no intention to return previous to his departure he confided his story to an old friend from his native town grandfather of the person who now relates it to you a group of noble a few members including the seemed to be impressed by the quiet gentleman s tale but the member we have called the spark who by the way was getting somewhat tinged with the light of other days and owned to eight and thirty walked about the room instead of sitting down by the fire with the majority and said that for his part he preferred something more lively than the last story something in which such long separated lovers were ultimately united he also liked stories that were more modern in their date of action than those he had heard to day members immediately requested him to give them a specimen to which the spark replied that he didn t mind as far as that went and though the vice president the man of family the colonel and others looked at their watches and said they must soon retire to their respective quarters in the hotel adjoining they all decided to sit out the spark s story dame the tenth the honourable by the spark dame the tenth the honourable by the spark it was a cold and gloomy christmas eve the mass of cloud overhead was almost to such daylight as still lingered on the snow lay several inches deep upon the ground and the which still went on threatened to considerably increase its thickness before the morning the prospect hotel a building standing near the wild north coast of lower looked so lonely and so useless at such a time as this that a passing would have been led to forget summer possibilities and to wonder at the commercial courage which could invest capital on the basis of the popular taste for the picturesque in a country subject to such dreary phases that the district was alive with visitors in august seemed but a dim tradition in weather so totally opposed to all that mankind from home however there the hotel stood immovable and the cliffs and which were the attractions of the spot rising in full view on the opposite side of the valley were now but stem outlines while the in front was tinged over with a a group of noble ness rather than the gray that in summer lent such beauty to its appearance within the hotel commanding this outlook the landlord walked idly about with his hands in his pockets not in the least expectant of a visitor and yet unable to settle down to any occupation which should in some degree for the losses that winter idleness on his regular | 45 |
profession so little indeed was anybody expected that the coffee room waiter a genteel boy whose buttons in summer were as close together upon the front of his short jacket as peas in a now appeared in the back yard into the shape of a rough country lad in and boots sweeping the snow away and talking the local dialect in all its purity quite of the new polite accent he had learned in the hot weather from the well behaved visitors the front door was closed and as if to express still more fully the sealed and state of the a sand bag was placed at the bottom to keep out the the wind setting in directly from that quarter the landlord entering his own parlour walked to the large fire which it was absolutely necessary to keep up for his comfort no such blaze burning in the coffee room or elsewhere and after giving it a stir returned to a table in the whereon lay the visitors book now closed and pushed back against the wall he carelessly opened it not a name had been entered there since the th of the previous november and that was only the name of a man who had arrived on a who indeed had not been asked to enter at all a group of noble while he was engaged thus the evening grew darker but before it was as yet too dark to distinguish objects upon the road winding round the back of the cliffs the landlord perceived a black spot on the distant white which speedily enlarged itself and drew near the were that this vehicle for a vehicle of some sort it seemed to be would pass by and pursue its way to the nearest railway town as others had done but contrary to the landlord s expectation as he stood it through the yet windows the solitary object on reaching the comer turned into the hotel front and drove up to the door it was a conveyance particularly to such a season and weather being nothing more substantial than an open basket carriage drawn by a single horse within sat two persons of different sexes as could soon be discerned in spite of their muffled attire the man held the reins and the lady had got some shelter from the storm by clinging close to his side the landlord rang the s bell to attract the attention of the for the approach of the visitors had been to by the snow and when the had come to the horse s head the gentleman and lady alighted the landlord meeting them in the hall the male stranger was a foreign looking individual of about eight and twenty he was close shaven excepting a moustache his features being good and even handsome the lady who stood timidly behind him seemed to be much younger possibly not more than eighteen though it was difficult to judge either of her age or appearance in her present the gentleman expressed his wish to stay till the a group of noble morning explaining somewhat considering that the house was an inn that they had been unexpectedly on their drive such a welcome being given them as can give in dull times the latter ordered fires in the drawing and rooms and went to the boy in the yard who soon himself up dragged his jacket from its box polished the buttons with his sleeve and appeared civilized in the hall the lady was shown into a room where she could take off her snow garments which she sent down to be dried her companion meanwhile putting a couple of sovereigns on the table as if anxious to make ever smooth and comfortable at starting and that a private sitting room might be got ready the landlord assured him that the best upstairs parlour usually public should be kept private this evening and sent the maid to light the candles dinner was prepared for them and at the gentleman s desire served in the same apartment where the young lady having joined him they were left to the rest and refreshment they seemed to need that something was peculiar in the relations of the pair had more than once struck the landlord though wherein that peculiarity lay it was hard to decide but that his guest was one who paid his way readily had been proved by his conduct and conjectures he turned to practical affairs about nine o clock he re the hall and ever being done for the day again walked up and down occasionally gazing through the glass door at the prospect without to ascertain how the weather was contrary to snow had ceased a group op noble j falling and with the rising of the moon the sky had partially cleared light of cloud drifting across the silvery there was every sign that a frost was going to set in later on for these reasons the distant rising road was even more distinct now between its high banks than it had been in the declining daylight not a track or broke the virgin surface of the white mantle that lay along it all marks left by the lately arrived travellers having been speedily by the falling at the time and now the landlord beheld by the light of the moon a sight very similar to that he had seen by the light of day again a black spot was advancing down the road that the coast he was in a moment or two enabled to perceive that the present vehicle moved onward at a more headlong pace than the little carriage which had preceded it next that it was a drawn by two powerful horses next that this carriage like the former one was bound for the this desirable feature of resemblance caused the landlord to once more withdraw the sand bag and | 45 |
a man to learn i have married her uncle as i said answered james coolly the deed is done and can t be undone by talking here where were you married at st mary s when on the th of september during the time she was visiting there who married you i don t know one of the we were quite strangers to the place so instead of my assisting you to recover her you may as well assist me never never said lord madam and sir i beg to tell you that i wash my hands of the whole affair if you are man and wife as it seems you are get reconciled as t you may i have no more to say or do with either of you i leave you in the hands of your husband and much joy may you a group op noble bring him though the situation i own is not encouraging this the indignant speaker pushed back his chair against the table with such force that the rocked on their and left the room s wet eyes from one of the young men to the other who now stood glaring face to face and being much frightened at their aspect slipped out of the room after her father him however she could hear going out of the front door and not knowing where to take shelter she crept into the darkness of an adjoining bedroom and there awaited events with a heart meanwhile the two men remaining in the drew nearer to each other and the opera singer broke the silence by saying how could you insult me in the way you did calling me a fellow and me of her mind toward you when you knew very well i was as ignorant of your relation to her as an babe oh yes you were quite ignorant i can believe that readily sneered s husband i here call heaven to witness that i never knew the excellent and the tone well sustained is it likely that any man could win the confidence of a young fool her age and not get that out of her preposterous tell it to the most improved new pit captain your are as as your wretched person cried the losing all patience and springing forward he the captain in the face with the palm of his hand a but slightly and calmly using his handkerchief to learn if his nose was bleeding said i quite expected this insult so i came prepared and he drew forth from a black which he carried in his hand a small case of pistols the started at the unexpected sight but recovering from his surprise said very well as you will though perhaps his tone showed a slight want of confidence now continued the husband quite we want no parade no nonsense you know therefore we ll dispense with seconds the slightly nodded do you know this part of the country well cousin james went on in the same cool and still manner if you don t i do quite at the bottom of the rocks out there just beyond the stream which falls over them to the shore is a smooth sandy space not so much shut in as to be out of the moonlight and the way down to it from this side is over steps cut in the cliff and we can find our way down without trouble we we two will find our way down but only one of us will find his way up you understand quite then suppose we start the sooner it is over the better we can order supper before we go out supper for two for though we are three at present three yes you and i and she oh yes we shall be only two by and by so that as i say we will order supper for two for the lady and a a group of noble gentleman whichever comes back alive will tap at her door and call her in to share the with him she s not off the premises but we must not alarm her now and above all things we must not let the see us go out it would look so odd for two to go out and only one come in ha ha ha ha exactly are you ready quite then i ll lead the way he went softly to the door and downstairs ordering supper to be ready in an hour as he had said then making a of returning to the room again he beckoned to the singer and together they slipped out of the house by a side door the sky was now quite clear and the of the which had borne away s father lord remained distinctly visible soon the verge of the down was reached the captain leading the way and the following silently casting glances at his companion and beyond him at the scene ahead in due course they arrived at the chasm in the cliff which formed the the outlook here was wild and picturesque in the extreme and fully justified the many praises paintings and views to which the spot had given birth what in summer was green and gray was now rendered weird and fantastic by the snow from their feet the plunged downward almost to a depth of eighty or a hundred feet before a group of noble finally losing itself in the sand and though the stream was but small its upon rocks in its descent divided it into a hundred and that sent up a mist into the upper air a few had been frozen into but the centre flowed on the artist looked down as he halted but his thoughts were plainly not of the beauty of the scene his companion with the pistols was immediately in front of him and there was no on the | 45 |
the horse a few minutes rest and if you find out no change in the direction we will this lane and take the other turning the expedient seemed a good one in the circumstances especially when recommended by the singular eagerness of her voice and placing the reins in her hands a quite unnecessary precaution considering the state of their hack he stepped out and went forward through the snow till she could see no more of him no sooner was he gone than with a rapidity which contrasted strangely with her previous stillness made fast the reins to the comer of tiie and slipping out on the opposite side ran back with all her might down the hill till coming to an opening in the fence she scrambled through it and plunged into the which bordered this portion of the lane here she stood in hiding under one of the large bushes clinging so closely to its as to seem but a portion of its mass and listening intently for the faintest sound of pursuit but nothing disturbed the stillness save the occasional slipping of gathered snow from the boughs or the rustle of some wild animal over the crisp at length apparently convinced that her former companion was either unable to find her or not anxious to do so in the present strange state of affairs she crept out from the bushes and in less than an hour found herself again approaching the door of the prospect hotel a group of a group of noble as she drew near could see that far from being wrapped in darkness as she might have expected there were ample signs that all the tenants were on the alert lights moving about the open space in front satisfaction was expressed in her face when she discerned that no of her and his pony carriage was causing this sensation but it speedily gave way to grief and dismay when she saw by the lights the form of a man borne on a by two others into the porch of the hotel i have caused all this she murmured between her quivering lips he has murdered him running forward to the door she hastily asked of the first person she met if the man on the was dead no miss said the addressed her up and down as an unexpected apparition he is still alive they say but not sensible he either fell or was pushed over the tis he was pushed he is the gentleman who came here just now with the old lord and went out afterward as is with a stranger who had come a little earlier anyhow that s as i had it entered the house and acknowledging without the least reserve that she was the injured man s wife had soon herself as head nurse by the bed on which he lay when the two who had been sent for arrived she learned from them that his wounds were so severe as to leave but a slender hope of recovery it being httle short of miraculous that he was not killed on the spot which his enemy had evidently reckoned to be the case she knew who that enemy was and shuddered a group of noble watched all night but her husband knew nothing of her presence during the next day he slightly recognized her and in the evening was able to speak he informed the that as was he had been pushed over the by but he communicated nothing to her who nursed him not even replying to her remarks he nodded courteously at any act of attention she rendered and that was all in a day or two it was declared that everything favoured his recovery notwithstanding the severity of his injuries full search was made for but as yet there was no intelligence of his whereabouts though the communicated all she knew as far as could be judged he had come back to the carriage after searching out the way and finding the young lady missing had looked about for her till he was tired then had driven on to cliff martin sold the horse and carriage next morning and disappeared probably by one of the departing which ran thence to the nearest station the only difference from his original programme being that he had gone alone during the days and weeks of that long and tedious recovery watched by her husband s bedside with a zeal and which would have considerably any fault save one of such magnitude as hers that her husband did not forgive her was soon obvious nothing that she could do in the way of pillows his position shifting or draughts could win from him more a group of noble than a few measured words of such as he would probably have uttered to any other woman on earth who had performed these particular services for him dear dear james she said one day bending her face upon the bed in an excess of emotion how you have suffered it has been too cruel i am more glad you are getting better than i can say i have prayed for it and i am sorry for what i have done i am innocent of the worst and i hope you will not think me so very bad james oh no on the contrary i shall think you very good as a nurse he answered the severity of his tone being apparent through its weakness let fall two or three silent tears and said no more that day somehow or other seemed to be making good his escape it that he had not taken a passage in either of the suspected though he had certainly got out of the county altogether the chance of finding him was not only did captain survive his injuries but it soon appeared that in the course of a few weeks he | 45 |
would find himself little if any the worse for the catastrophe it could also be seen that while secretly hoping for her husband s forgiveness for a piece of folly of which she saw the more clearly every day was in great doubt as to what her relations with him would be moreover to add to the whilst she as a wife was by her husband she and her husband as a run a group of noble away couple were by her father who had never once communicated with either of them since his departure from the inn but her immediate anxiety to win the pardon of her husband who possibly might be bearing in mind as he lay upon his couch the familiar words of she has deceived her father and may thee matters went on thus till captain was able to walk about he then removed with his wife to quiet apartments on the south coast and here his recovery was rapid walking up the cliffs one day supporting him by her arm as usual she said to him simply james if i go on as i am going now and always attend to your smallest want and never think of anything but devotion to you will you try to like me a little it is a thing i must carefully consider he said with the same gloomy which all his words to her now when i have considered i will tell you he did not tell her that evening though she lingered long at her routine work of making his bedroom comfortable putting the light so that it would not shine into his eyes seeing him fall asleep and then retiring noiselessly to her own chamber when they met in the morning at breakfast and she had asked him as usual how he had passed the night she added timidly in the silence which followed his reply have you considered no i have not considered sufficiently to give you an answer sighed but to no purpose and the day wore a group of noble on with intense to her and the of strength gained to him the next morning she put the same question and looked up in his face as though her whole life hung upon his reply yes i have considered he said ah we must part o james i cannot forgive you no man would enough is settled upon you to keep you in comfort whatever your father may do i shall sell out and disappear from this you have absolutely decided she asked miserably i have nobody now to c c care for i have absolutely decided he shortly returned we had better part here you will go back to your father there is no reason why i should accompany you since my presence would only stand in the way of the forgiveness he will probably grant you if you appear before him alone w e will say farewell to each other in three days from this time i have calculated on being ready to go on that day bowed down with trouble she withdrew to her room and the three days were passed by her husband in writing letters and attending to other business matters saying hardly a word to her the while the morning of departure came but before the horses had been put in to take the severed twain in different directions out of sight of each other possibly for ever the arrived with the morning letters a group of noble there was one for the captain none for her there were never any for her however on this occasion something was enclosed for her in his which he handed her she read it and looked up helpless my dear father is dead she said in a few moments she added in a whisper i must go to the to bury him will you go with me james he looked out of the window i suppose it is an awkward and melancholy undertaking for a woman alone he said coldly well well my poor uncle yes fu go with you and see you through the business so they went off together instead of asunder as planned it is unnecessary to record the details of the journey or of the sad week which followed it at her father s house lord s seat was a fine old mansion standing in its own park and there were plenty of opportunities for husband and wife either to avoid each other or to get reconciled if they were so minded which one of them was at least captain was not present at the reading of the will she came to him afterward and found him packing up his papers intending to start next morning now that he had seen her through the turmoil occasioned by her father s death he has left me everything that he could she said to her husband james will you forgive me now and stay i cannot stay why not i cannot stay he repeated a group of noble but why i don t like you he acted up to his word when she came downstairs the next morning she was told that he had gone bore her double as best she could the vast mansion in which she had hitherto lived with all its historic contents had gone to her father s successor in the title but her own was no one around lay the park studded with trees a dozen times her own age beyond it the wood beyond the wood the farms all this fair and quiet scene was hers she nevertheless remained a lonely depressed being who would have given the greater part of everything she possessed to the presence and affection of that husband whose very and qualities that had formerly led to the between them seemed now to be features in his character she hoped | 45 |
and hoped again but all to no purpose captain did not alter his mind and return he was quite a different sort of man from one who altered his mind that she was at last forced to admit and then she left off hoping and settled down to a mechanical routine of existence which in some measure her grief but at the expense of all her natural animation and the which had once charmed those who knew her though it was perhaps all the while a in the production of her a group of noble to say that her beauty quite departed as the years rolled on would be to the truth time is not a merciful master as we all know and he was not likely to act in the case of a woman who had mental troubles to bear in addition to the ordinary weight of years be this as it may eleven other came and went and remained the lonely mistress of house and lands without once hearing of her husband every probability seemed to favour the assumption that he had died in some foreign land and offers for her hand were not few as the probability on certainty with the long lapse of time but the idea of seemed never to have entered her head for a moment whether she continued to hope even now for his return could not be distinctly ascertained at all events she lived a life in the slightest degree from that of the first six months of his absence this twelfth year of s loneliness and the of her life drew on and the season approached that had seen the unhappy adventure for which she so long had suffered christmas promised to be rather wet than cold and the trees on the outskirts of s estate from day to day upon the road which bordered them on an in this week between three and four o clock a hired fly might have been seen driving along the highway at this point and on reaching the top of the hill it stopped a gentleman of middle age alighted from the vehicle you need drive no farther he said to the coach a group of noble man the rain seems to have nearly ceased ill stroll a little way and return on foot to the inn by dinner time the touched his hat turned the horse and drove back as directed when he was out of sight the gentleman walked on but he had not gone far before the rain again came down though of this the took little heed going leisurely onward till he reached s park gate which he passed through the clouds were thick and the days were short so that by the time he stood in front of the mansion it was dark in addition to this his appearance which on from the carriage had been partook now of the character of a not too well blessed with this world s goods he halted for no more than a moment at the front entrance and going round to the servants quarter as if he had a purpose in so doing there rang the bell when a page came to him he inquired if they would kindly allow him to dry himself by the kitchen fire the page retired and after a murmured returned with the cook who informed the wet and muddy man that though it was not her custom to admit strangers she should have no particular objection to his drying himself the night being so damp and gloomy therefore the entered and sat down by the fire the owner of this house is a very rich gentleman no doubt he asked as he watched the meat turning on the spit a group op noble tis not a gentleman but a lady said the cook a widow i presume a sort of widow poor soul her husband is gone abroad and has never been heard of for many years she sees plenty of company no doubt to make up for his absence no indeed hardly a soul service here is as bad as being in a in short the who had at first been so coldly received contrived by his frank and engaging manner to draw the ladies of the kitchen into a most confidential conversation in which s history was detailed from the day of her husband s departure to the present the feature in all their discourse was her devotion to his memory having apparently learned all that he wanted to know among other things that she was at this moment as always alone the traveller said he was quite dry and thanking the servants for their kindness departed as he had come on emerging into the darkness he did not however go down the avenue by which he had arrived he simply walked round to the front door there he rang and the door was opened to him by a man servant whom he had not seen during his at the other end of the house in answer to the servant s inquiry for his name he said will you tell the honourable mrs that the man she nursed many years ago after a frightful accident has called to thank her the footman retreated and it was rather a long a group of noble time before any further signs of attention were apparent then he was shown into the drawing room and the door closed behind him on the couch was trembling and pale she parted her lips and held out her hands to him but could not speak but he did not require speech and in a moment they were in each other s arms strange news through that mansion and the neighbouring town on the next and following days but the world has a way of getting used to things and the intelligence of the return of the honourable mrs | 45 |
s long ago the last century having run but little more than a third of its length north south and west not a was not a curtain eastward one window on the upper floor was open and a girl of twelve or thirteen was leaning over the sill that she had not taken up the position for purposes of observation was apparent at a glance for she kept her eyes covered with her hands the room occupied by the girl was an inner one of a to be reached only by passing through a large adjoining from this apartment voices in were audible everything else in the building being so still it was to avoid listening to these voices that the girl had left her little cot thrown a cloak round her head and shoulders and stretched into the night air but she could not escape the conversation try as she would the words reached her in all their one sentence in masculine tones those of her father being repeated many times i tell ee there shall be no such i tell ee there sha n t a child like her she knew the subject of dispute to be herself a cool feminine voice her mother s replied have done with you and be wise he is willing to wait a good five or six years before the marriage takes place and there s not a man in the county to compare with him thb first of it shall not be he is over thirty it is wickedness he is just thirty and the best and finest man alive a perfect match for her he is poor but his father and elder brothers are made much of at court none so constantly at the palace as they and with her fortune who knows he may be able to get a i believe you are in love with en yourself how can you insult me so thomas and is it not monstrous for you to talk of my wickedness when you have a like scheme in your own head you know you have some of your own choosing some petty gentleman who lives down at that place of yours falls park one of your pot companions sons there was an outburst of on the part of her husband in of further argument as soon as he could utter a connected sentence he said you crow and you mistress because you are general here you are in your own house you are on your own land but let me tell ee that if i did come here to you instead of taking you to me it was done at the of convenience merely h i m no beggar ha n t i a place of my own ha n t i an avenue as long as thine ha n t i that will more than match thy oaks i should have lived in my own quiet house and land contented if you had not called me off with your a of noble airs and graces faith i ll go back there i ll not stay with thee longer if it had not been for our i should have gone long ago after this there were no more words but presently hearing the sound of a door opening and shutting below the girl again looked from the window footsteps on the gravel walk and a shape in a great coat easily as her father withdrew from the house he moved to the left and she watched him down the long east front till he had turned the corner and vanished he must have gone round to the stables she closed the window and shrank into bed where she cried herself to sleep this child their only one beloved by her mother and with by her father was frequently made wretched by such as this though she was too young to care very deeply for her own sake whether her mother her to the gentleman discussed or not the squire had often gone out of the house in this manner declaring that he would never return but he had always reappeared in the morning the present occasion however was different in the issue next day she was told that her father had ridden to his estate at falls park early in the morning on business with his agent and might not come back for some days the of falls park was over twenty miles s court and was altogether a more modest centre piece to a more modest possession than the latter but as squire came in view of it that february morning he thought that he had been a fool ever to leave it though it was for the sake of the greatest in its classic front of the period of the second charles derived from its regular features a dignity which the great mansion of his wife could not altogether he was sick at heart and the gloom which the park threw over the scene did not tend to remove the depression of this man of eight and forty who sat so heavily upon his the child his darling there lay the root of his trouble he was unhappy when near his wife he was unhappy when away from his little girl and from this there was no practicable escape as a consequence he indulged rather freely in the pleasures of the table became what was called a three bottle man and in his wife s estimation less and less to her polite friends from town he was received by the two or three old servants who were in charge of the lonely place where a few rooms only were kept for his use or that of his friends when hunting and during the morning he was made more comfortable by the arrival of his faithful servant from king s but after a day or two | 45 |
spent a group of here in solitude be began to feel tbat be bad made a mistake in coming by leaving king s in bis anger be bad away bis best opportunity of bis wife s preposterous notion of promising bis poor little s band to a man bad seen to protect ber from a bargain be remained on the spot he felt it almost as a misfortune tbat the child would inherit so much wealth would be a mark for all the in the kingdom had been only the to bis own little place at falls bow much better would have been ber chances of happiness his wife bad divined truly when tbat be himself bad a lover in view for this pet child the son of a dear deceased friend of bis who lived not two miles from where the squire now was a lad a couple of years bis daughter s senior seemed in ber father s opinion the one person in the world likely to make her happy but as to breathing such a scheme to either of the young people with the haste tbat bis wife bad shown be would not dream of it years hence would be soon enough for that they bad already seen each other and the squire fancied that be noticed a tenderness on the youth s part which promised well he was strongly tempted to profit by bis wife s example and ber match making by throwing the two young people together there at falls the girl though mar the first op in the views of those days was too young to be in love but the lad was fifteen and already felt an interest in her still better than keeping watch over her at king s where she was necessarily much under her mother s influence would it be to get the child to stay with him at falls for a time under his exclusive control but how accomplish this without using main force the only possible chance was that his wife might for appearance sake as she had done before consent to paying him a day s visit when he might find means of her until the whom his wife favored had gone abroad which he was expected to do the following week squire determined to return to king s and attempt the enterprise if he were refused it was almost in him to pick up bodily and carry her off the journey back vague and as were his intentions was performed with a far lighter heart than his setting forth he would see and talk to her come what might of his plan so he rode along the dead level which stretches between the hills falls park and those bounding the town of trotted through that and out by the king s highway till passing the village he entered the drive through the park to the court the drive being open without an avenue the squire could discern the north front and door of the a b up of noble court a long way off and was himself visible from the windows on that side for which reason he hoped that might perceive him coming as she sometimes did on his return from an and run to the door or wave her handkerchief but there was no sign he inquired for his wife as soon as he set foot to earth mistress is away she was called to london sir and mistress said the squire gone likewise sir for a little change mistress has left a letter for you the note explained nothing merely stating that she had posted to london on her own affairs and had taken the child to give her a holiday on the fly leaf were some words from herself to the same effect evidently written in a state of high at the idea of her squire murmured a few and submitted to his disappointment how long his wife meant to stay in town she did not say but on investigation he found that the carriage had been packed with sufficient luggage for a of two or three weeks king s court was in consequence as gloomy as falls park had been he had lost all zest for hunting of late and had hardly attended a meet that season read and s and hunted up some other such notes of hers to look over this seeming to be the the first op only pleasure there was left for him that they were really in london he learned in a few days by another letter from mrs in which she explained that they hoped to be home in about a week and that she had had no idea he was coming back to king s so soon or she would not have gone away without telling him squire wondered if in going or returning it had been her plan to call at the place near through which city their journey lay it was possible that she might do this in of her project and the sense that his own might become the losing game was he did not know how to dispose of himself till it occurred to him that to get rid of his intolerable he would invite some friends to dinner and drown his cares in and wine no sooner was the decided upon than he put it in hand those invited being mostly neighboring all smaller men than himself members of the hunt also the doctor from and the like some of them blades whose presence his wife would not have had she been at home when the cat s away said the squire they arrived and there were indications in their manner that they meant to make a night of it of castle was late and they waited a quarter of an hour for him he being one of the of s friends without a of whose presence | 45 |
no such dinner as this would be considered complete and it may be added with whose presence no dinner which included both sexes could be conducted with strict propriety he had just returned from london and the squire was anxious to talk to him for no definite reason but he had lately breathed the atmosphere in which was at length they heard driving up to the door whereupon the host and the rest of his guests crossed over to the dining room in a moment came hastily in at their heels for his i only came back last night you know he said and the truth o t is i had as much as i could carry he turned to the squire well so cunning has stolen your little lamb ha ha what said squire across the dining table round which they were all standing the cold march sunlight streaming in upon his full clean shaven face surely th st know what all the town knows you ve had a letter by this time that has married your daughter yes as i m a living man it was a thing they parted at once and are not to meet for five or six years but lord you must know a on the floor was the only reply of the squire they quickly turned he had fallen the st of we sex down like a log behind the table and lay motionless on the oak boards those at hand hastily bent over him and the whole group were in confusion they found him to be quite unconscious though puffing and panting like a blacksmith s his face was livid his veins swollen and beads of perspiration stood upon his brow what s happened to him said several an fit said the doctor from gravely he was only called in at the court for small as a rule and felt the importance of the situation he lifted the squire s head loosened his and clothing and rang for the servants who took the squire up stairs there he lay as if in a sleep the surgeon drew a of blood from him but it was nearly six o clock before he came to himself the dinner was completely and some had gone home long ago but two or three remained bless my soul kept repeating i didn t know things had come to this pass between and his lady i thought the feast he was spreading to day was in honor of the event though privately kept for the present his little maid married without his knowledge as soon as the squire recovered consciousness he gasped tis tis a capital he can be hung where is i a group op noble am very well now what have ye heard the bearer of the news was extremely unwilling to further and would say little more at first but an hour after when the squire had partially recovered and was sitting up told as much as he knew the most important particular being that s mother was present at the marriage and showed every mark of approval everything appeared to have been done so regularly that i of course thought you knew all about it he said i knew no more than the dead that such a step was in the wind i a child not yet thirteen how sue hath me i did go up to on with em d ye know i can t say all i know is that your lady and daughter were walking along the street with the footman behind era that they entered a s shop where was standing and that there in the presence o the and your man who was called in on purpose your said to so the story goes my soul i don t for the truth of it she said will you marry me or i want to marry you will you have me now or never she said what she said means nothing murmured the squire with wet eyes her mother put the words into her mouth to avoid the serious consequences that would attach to any suspicion of force the words be not the child s she didn t tub first op dream of marriage how should she poor little maid go on well be that as it will they were all agreed apparently they bought the ring on the spot and the marriage took place at the nearest church within half an hour a day or two later there came a letter from mrs to her husband written before she knew of his stroke she related the circumstances of the marriage in the manner and gave reasons and excuses for to the premature union which was now an accomplished fact indeed she had no idea till sudden pressure was put upon her that the contract was expected to be carried out so soon but being taken half unawares she had consented having learned that now their son in law was becoming a great favorite at court and that he would in all have a title granted him before long no harm could come to their dear daughter by this early marriage contract seeing that her life would be continued under their own eyes exactly as before for some years in fine she had felt that no other such fair opportunity for a good marriage with a shrewd and wise man of the world who was at the same time noted for his excellent personal qualities was within the range of probability owing to the lives they led at king s hence she had yielded to s and hoped a group of noble her husband would forgive her she wrote in short like a woman who having had her way as to the deed is prepared to make any concession as to words and subsequent behavior all this took at its true | 45 |
value or rather perhaps at less than its true value as his life depended on his not getting into a passion he controlled his emotions as well as he was able going about the house sadly and utterly unlike his former self he took every precaution to prevent his wife knowing of the incidents of his sudden illness from a sense of shame at having a heart so tender a ridiculous quality no doubt in her eyes now that she had become so with town ideas but of his somehow reached her and she let him know that she was about to return to nurse him he thereupon packed up and went off to his own place at falls park here he lived the life of a for some time he was still too to entertain company or to ride to hounds or but more than this his aversion to the faces of strangers and acquaintances who knew by that time of the trick his wife had played him to hold him aloof nothing could influence him to censure for her share in the he never once believed that she had acted voluntarily anxious to know how she was getting on he despatched the servant to village tub of w s to king s took his journey that he should reach the place under cover of dark the arrived without notice being out of livery and took a seat in the of the sow and the conversation of the in was always of the nine days wonder the recent marriage the smoking listener learned that mrs and a group of noble the girl had returned to king s for a day or two that had set out for the continent and that had since been packed off to school she did not realize her position as s child wife so the story went and though somewhat awe stricken at first by the ceremony she had soon recovered her spirits on finding that her freedom was in no way to be interfered with after that formal messages began to pass between and his wife the latter being now as persistently as she was formerly but her rustic simple husband still held personally aloof her wish to be reconciled to win his forgiveness for her moreover a genuine tenderness and desire to soothe his sorrow which up in her at times brought her at last to his door at falls park one day they had not met since that night of before her departure for london and his subsequent illness she was shocked at the change in him his face had become as blank as that of a and what troubled her still more was that she found him living in one room and indulging freely in in absolute to the physician s order the fact was obvious that he could no longer be allowed to live thus so she and begged his pardon and but though after this date there was no longer such a complete as the first of before they only occasionally saw each other for the most part making falls his still three or four years passed thus then she came one day with more animation in her manner and at once moved him by the simple statement that s had ended she had returned and was grieved because he was away she had sent a message to him in these words ask father to come home to his dear ah i then she is very unhappy i said squire his wife was silent tis that accursed marriage continued the squire still his wife would not dispute with him she is outside in the carriage said mrs gently yes why didn t you tell me rushed out and there was the girl awaiting his forgiveness for she supposed herself no less than her mother to be under his displeasure yes had left school and had returned to king s she was nearly seventeen and had developed to quite a young woman she looked not less a member of the household for her early marriage contract which she seemed indeed to have almost forgotten it was like a a of noble dream to her that clear cold march day the london church with its gorgeous and and the great organ in the west gallery so different from their own little church in the of king s court the man of thirty to whose face she had looked up with so much awe and with a sense that he was rather ugly and formidable the man whom though they politely she had never seen since one to whose existence she was now so indifferent that if informed of his death and that she would never see him more she would merely have replied indeed s passions as yet still slept hast heard from thy husband lately said squire when they were in doors with an laugh of fondness which demanded no answer the girl and he noticed that his wife looked at him as the conversation went on and there were signs that would express sentiments that might do harm to a position which they could not alter mrs suggested that should leave the room till her father and herself had finished their private conversation and this did renewed his freely did you see how the sound of his name frightened her he presently added if you didn t i did what a future is in store for that poor little unfortunate o mine i tell ee the of sue twas not a marriage at all in morality and if i were a woman in such a position i shouldn t feel it as one she might without a sign of sin love a man of her choice as well now as if she were chained up to no other at all there that s my mind and i can t help | 45 |
it ah sue my man was best i he d ha suited her i don t believe it she replied you should see him then you would he s growing up a fine fellow i can tell ee hush not so loud she answered rising from her seat and going to the door of the next room whither her daughter had herself to mrs s alarm there sat in a reverie her round eyes fixed on musing so deeply that she did not perceive her mother s entrance she had heard every word and was the new knowledge her mother felt that falls park was dangerous ground for a young girl of the susceptible age and in s peculiar position while talked and reasoned thus she called to her and they took leave the squire would not clearly promise to return and make king s court his permanent abode but s presence there as at former times was sufficient to make him agree to pay them a visit soon all the way home remained and silent it was too plain to her anxious mother that squire s free views had been a sort of awakening to the girl a of noble the interval before his pledge to come and see them was unexpectedly short he arrived one morning about twelve o clock driving his own pair of black in the with yellow and red wheels just as he had used to do and his faithful old on horseback behind a young man sat beside the squire in the carriage and mrs consternation could scarcely be concealed when abruptly entering with his companion the squire announced him as his friend of elm passed on to in the background and tenderly kissed her sting your mother s conscience my maid he whispered sting her conscience by pretending you are struck with and would ha loved him as your old father s choice much more than him she has forced upon ee the simple speaker fondly imagined that it was entirely in obedience to this direction that s eyes stole interested glances at the frank and impulsive that day at dinner and he laughed grimly within himself to see how this joke of his as he imagined it to be was disturbing the peace of mind of the lady of the house now sue sees what a mistake she has made said he mrs was verily greatly alarmed and as soon as she could speak a word with him alone she him you ought not to have brought the first op him here oh thomas how could you be so thoughtless lord don t you see dear that what is done cannot be undone and how all this her happiness with her husband until you interfered and spoke in her hearing about this she was as patient and as willing as a lamb and looked forward to mr s return with real pleasure since her visit to falls park she has been monstrous close mouthed and busy with her own thoughts what mischief will you do how will it end own then that my man was best suited to her i only brought him to convince you yes yes i do admit it but oh i do take him back again at once don t keep him here i i fear she is even attracted by him already nonsense sue tis only a little trick to ee nevertheless her eye was not so likely to be deceived as his and if were really only playing at being love struck that day she played it with the perfection of a and would have deceived the best professors into a belief that it was no the squire having obtained his victory was quite ready to take back the too attractive youth and early in the afternoon they set out on their return journey a silent figure who rode behind them was as interested as in that day s experiment it was the who with his eyes a b up of noble on the squire s and young s backs thought how well the latter would have suited and how greatly the former had changed for the worse during these last two or three years he cursed his mistress as the cause of the change after this memorable visit to prove his point the lives of the couple flowed on quietly enough for the space of a the squire for the most part remaining at falls and passing and between them now and then once or twice alarming her mother by not driving home from her father s house till midnight the repose of king s was broken by the arrival of a special messenger squire had had an access of so violent as to be serious he wished to see again why had she not come for so long mrs was extremely reluctant to take in that direction too frequently but the girl was so anxious to go her interests seeming to be so entirely bound up in falls park and its neighborhood that there was nothing to be done but to let her set out and accompany her squire had been impatiently awaiting her arrival they found him very ill and irritable it had been his habit to take powerful to drive away his enemy and they had failed in their effect on this occasion the presence of his daughter as usual the first of him much even while as usual too it him for he could never forget that she had disposed of herself for life in opposition to his wishes though she had secretly assured him that she would never have consented had she been as old as she was now as on a former occasion his wife wished to speak to him alone about the girl s future the time now drawing nigh at which was expected to come and claim her he would have done so already but he had | 45 |
been put off by the earnest request of the young woman herself which accorded with that of her parents on the score of her youth had submitted to their wishes in this respect the understanding between them having been that he would not visit her before she was eighteen except by the mutual consent of all parties but this could not go on much longer and there was no doubt from the tenor of his last letter that he would soon take possession of her whether or no to be out of the sound of this delicate discussion was accordingly sent down stairs and they soon saw her walking away into the looking very pretty in her sweeping green gown and flapping broad hat with a feather on returning to the subject mrs found her husband s reluctance to reply in the affirmative to s letter to be as great as ever she is three months short of eighteen he ex a group of claimed tis too soon i won t hear of it i if i have to keep him off sword in hand he shall not have her yet but my dear thomas she consider if anything should happen to you or to me how much better it would be that she should be settled in her home with him i i say it is too soon he argued the veins of his forehead beginning to swell if he gets her this side o i ll challenge en i u take my oath on t i i ll be back at king s in two or three days and i ll not lose sight of her day or night she feared to him further and gave way assuring him in obedience to his demand that if should write again before he got back to fix a time for joining she would put the letter in her husband s hands and he should do as he chose this was all that required discussion privately and mrs went to call in hoping that she had not heard her father s loud tones she had certainly not done so this time mrs followed the path along which she had seen wandering but went a considerable distance without perceiving anything of her the squire s wife then turned round to proceed to the other side of the house by a short cut across the grass when to her surprise and consternation she beheld the object of her search sitting on the bough of a beside her being a the first of young man whose arm was round her waist he moved a little and she recognized him as young alas then she was right the so called love was real what mrs called her husband at that moment for his folly in originally throwing the young people together it is not necessary to mention she decided in a moment not to let the lovers know that she had seen them she accordingly retreated reached the front of the house by another route and called at the top of her voice from a window for the first time since her marriage of the child doubted the wisdom of that step her husband had as it were been assisted by destiny to make his objection originally trivial a one she saw the outlines of trouble in the future why had interfered why had he insisted upon producing his man this then accounted for s pleading for whenever the subject of her husband s return was this accounted for her attachment to falls park possibly this very meeting that she had witnessed had been arranged by letter perhaps the girl s thoughts would never have strayed for a moment if her father had not filled her head with ideas of to her early union on the ground that she had been into it before she knew her own mind and she a group of might have rushed to meet her husband with open arms on the appointed day at length appeared in the distance in answer to the call and came up pale but looking innocent of having seen a living soul mrs groaned in spirit at such in the child of her bosom this was the simple creature for whose development into womanhood they had all been so tenderly waiting a forward old enough not only to have a lover but to conceal his existence as as any woman of the world i bitterly did the squire s lady regret that had not been allowed to come to claim her at the time he first proposed the two sat beside each other almost in silence on their journey back to king s such words as were spoken came mainly from and their formality indicated how much her mind and heart were occupied with other things mrs was far too a mother to openly attack on the matter that would be only flame the indispensable course seemed to her to be that of keeping the treacherous girl under lock and key till her husband came to take her off her mother s hands that he would disregard s opposition and come soon was her devout wish it seemed therefore a fortunate coincidence that on her arrival at king s a letter from was put into mrs s hands it was addressed to both her and her husband and the first op courteously informed them that the writer had landed at and proposed to come on to king s in a few days at last to meet and carry off his darling if she and her parents saw no objection had also received a letter of the same tenor her mother had only to look at her face to see how the girl received the information she was as pale as a sheet you must do your best to welcome him this time my dear her mother said gently i you are a woman | 45 |
now added her mother severely and these must come to an end but my father oh i am sure he will not allow this i i am not ready if he could only wait a year longer if he could only wait a few months longer i oh i wish i wish my dear father were here i i will send to him instantly she broke off abruptly and falling upon her mother s neck burst into tears saying o my mother have mercy upon me i do not love this man my husband i the appeal went too straight to mrs s heart for her to hear it unmoved yet things having come to this pass what could she do she was distracted and for a moment was on s side her original thought had been to write an affirmative reply to allow him to come on to king s and keep her a group op noble husband in ignorance of the whole proceeding till he should arrive from falls on some fine day after his recovery and find everything settled and and living together in harmony but the events of the day and her daughter s sudden outburst of feeling had this intention was sure to do as she had threatened and communicate instantly with her father possibly attempt to fly to him moreover s letter was addressed to mr and herself and she could not in conscience keep it from her husband i will send the letter on to your father instantly she replied soothingly he shall act entirely as he chooses and you know that will not be in opposition to your wishes he would ruin you rather than you i only hope he may be well enough to bear the agitation of this news do you agree to this poor agreed on condition that she should actually witness the despatch of the letter her mother had no objection to offer to this but as soon as the had down the drive towards the highway mrs s sympathy with s began to die out the girl s secret affection for young could not possibly be might communicate with him might even try to reach him ruin lay that way must be speedily in his proper place by s side the first op she sat down and a private letter to which threw light upon her plan it is necessary that i should now tell you she said what i have never mentioned before indeed i may have signified the contrary that her father s objection to your joining her has not as yet been overcome as i personally wish to delay you no longer am indeed as anxious for your arrival as you can be yourself having the good of my daughter at heart no course is left open to me but to assist your cause without my husband s knowledge he i am sorry to say is at present ill at falls park but i felt it my duty to forward him your letter he will therefore be like to reply with a command to you to go back again for some months whence you came till the time he originally has expired my advice is if you get such a letter to take no notice of it but to come on hither as you had proposed letting me know the day and hour after dark if possible at which we may expect you dear is with me and i warrant ye that she shall be in the house when you arrive mrs having sent away this of anybody next took steps to prevent her daughter leaving the court avoiding if possible to excite the girl s suspicions that she was under restraint but as if by a of noble had seemed to read the husband s approach in the aspect of her mother s face he is coming i exclaimed the maiden not for a week her mother assured her he is then for certain well yes hastily retired to her room and would not be seen to lock her up and hand over the key to when he should appear in the hall was a plan charming m its simplicity till hei mother found on trying the door of the girl s chamber softly that had already locked and bolted it on the inside and had given directions to have her meals served where she was by leaving them on a outside the door thereupon mrs noiselessly sat down in her which as well as her bed chamber was a passage room to the girl s apartment and she resolved not to her post night or day till her daughter s husband should appear to which end she too arranged to breakfast dine and sup on the spot it was impossible now that should escape without her knowledge even if she had wished there being no other door to the chamber except one admitting to a small inner dressing room inaccessible by any second way but it was plain that the young girl had no thought of escape her ideas ran rather in the direction of she was prepared to stand a siege but scorned flight this at any the of rate rendered her secure as to how would contrive a meeting with her daughter while in such a humor that thought her mother must be left to his own ingenuity to discover had looked so wild and pale at the announcement of her husband s approaching visit that mrs somewhat uneasy could not leave her to herself she peeped through the an hour later lay on the sofa staring at the ceiling you are looking ill child cried her mother you ve not taken the air lately come with me for a drive made no objection soon they drove through the park towards the village the daughter still in the strained strung up | 45 |
silence that had fallen upon her they left the park to return by another route and on the open road passed a cottage s eye fell upon the cottage window within it she saw a young girl about her own age whom she knew by sight sitting in a chair and propped by a pillow the girl s face was covered with scales which in the sun she was a from small a disease whose at that period was a terror of which we at present can hardly form a conception an idea suddenly s features she glanced at her mother mrs had been looking in the opposite direction a group op noble said that she wished to go back to the cottage for a moment to speak to a girl in whom she took an interest mrs appeared suspicious but observing that the cottage had no back door and that could not escape without being seen she allowed the carriage to be stopped ran back and entered the cottage emerging again in about a minute and her seat in the carriage as they drove on she fixed her eyes upon her mother and said there i have done it now her pale face was stormy and her eyes full of waiting tears what have you done said mrs is sick of the small and i saw her at the window and i went in and kissed her so that i might take it and now i shall have it and lie won t be able to come near me wicked girl i cries her mother oh what am i to do what bring a on yourself and the sacred of god because you can t the man you ve wedded the alarmed woman gave orders to drive home as rapidly as possible and on arriving who was by this time also somewhat frightened at her own was put into a bath and and treated in every way that could be thought of to ward off the dreadful malady that in a rash moment she had tried to acquire there was now a double reason for the rebellious daughter and wife in her own chamber and there she accordingly remained for first op the rest of the day and the days that followed till no ill results seemed likely to arise from her meanwhile the first letter from announcing to mrs and her husband that he was coming in a few days had sped on its way to falls park it was directed under cover to the confidential servant with instructions not to put it into his master s hands till he had been refreshed by a good long sleep much regretted his commission letters sent in this way always disturbing the squire but that it would be infinitely worse in the end to withhold the news than to reveal it he chose his time which was early the next morning and delivered the the utmost effect that mrs had anticipated from the message was a order from her husband to to hold aloof a few months longer what the squire really did was to declare that he would go himself and at and have it out with him there by word of mouth but master said you can t you cannot get out of bed you leave the room and don t say can t before me have in an hour the long tried thought his employer so utterly helpless was his appearance a op noble just then and he went out reluctantly no sooner was he gone than the squire with great difficulty stretched himself over to a cabinet by the bedside unlocked it and took out a small bottle it contained a specific against whose use he had been repeatedly warned by his regular physician but whose warning he now cast to the he took a double dose and waited half an hour it seemed to produce no effect he then poured out a dose swallowed it leaned back on his pillow and waited the miracle he anticipated had been worked at last it seemed as though the second draught had not only with its own strength but had kindled into power the latent forces of the first he put away the bottle and rang up less than an hour later one of the house maids who of course was quite aware that the squire s illness was serious was surprised to hear a bold and decided step descending the stairs from the direction of mr s room accompanied by the humming of a tune she knew that the doctor had not paid a visit that morning and that it was too heavy to be the or any other looking up she saw squire fully dressed descending towards her in his riding coat and boots with the swinging easy movement of his prime her face expressed her amazement what the devil looking at said the the first op squire did you never see a man walk out of bis house before his humming which was of a defiant sort he proceeded to the library rang the bell asked if the horses were ready and directed them to be brought round ten minutes later he rode away in the direction of behind him trembling at what these movements might they rode on through the pleasant and the monotonous straight lanes at an equal pace the distance traversed might have been about fifteen miles when could perceive that the squire was getting tired as weary as he would have been after riding three times the distance ten years before however they reached without any and put up at the squire s accustomed inn almost immediately proceeded on foot to the inn which had given as his address it being now about four o clock had already dined for people dined early then and he was staying in doors he had already received | 45 |
mrs s reply to his letter but before acting upon her advice and starting for king s he made up his mind to wait another day that s father might at least have time to write to him if so minded the returned traveller much desired to obtain the squire s assent as well as his wife s to the proposed visit to his bride that nothing might seem a of noble harsh or forced in his method of taking his position as one of the family but though he anticipated some sort of objection from his father in consequence of mrs s warning he was surprised at the announcement of the squire in person formed the of possible to as they stood each other in the best parlor of the tavern the squire hot tempered impulsive generous reckless the younger man pale tall self possessed a man of the world fully bearing out at least one in his still in king s church which places in the of his good qualities engaging manners cultivated mind adorn d by letters and in courts d he was at this time about five and thirty though careful living and an even temperament caused him to look much younger than his years squire plunged into his errand without much ceremony or preface i am your humble servant sir he said i have read your letter writ to my wife and myself and considered that the best way to answer it would be to do so in person i am vastly honored by your visit sir said mr bowing well what s done can t be undone said the op though it was mighty early and was no doing of mine she s your wife and there s an end on t but in brief sir she s too young for you to claim yet we mustn t reckon by years we must reckon by nature she s still a girl tis of ee to come yet next year will be full soon enough for you to take her to you now courteous as could be he was a little obstinate when his resolution had once been formed she had been promised him by her birthday at latest sooner if she were in robust health her mother had fixed the time on her own judgment without a word of interference on his part he had been hanging about foreign courts till he was weary was now a woman if she would ever be one and there was not in his mind the shadow of an excuse for putting him off longer therefore fortified as he was by the support of her mother he but firmly told the squire that he had been willing to his rights out of deference to her parents to any reasonable extent but must now in justice to himself and her insist on maintaining them he therefore since she had not come to meet him should proceed to king s in a few days to fetch her this announcement in spite of the with which it was delivered set in a passion oh sir you talk about rights you do after stealing her away a mere child against a of noble my will and knowledge if we d begged and prayed ee to take her you could say no more upon my honor your charge is quite sir said his son in law you must know by this time or if you do not it has been a monstrous cruel injustice to me that i should have been allowed to remain in your mind with such a stain upon my character you must know that i used no or temptation of any kind her mother assented she assented i took them at their word that you were really opposed to the marriage was not known to me till afterwards professed to believe not a word of it you sha n t have her till she s full no maid ought to be married till she s and my daughter sha n t be treated out of so he on till who had been listening in the next room entered suddenly declaring to that his master s life was in danger if the interview were prolonged he being subject to strokes at these immediately said that he would be the last to wish to injure squire and left the room and as soon as the squire had recovered breath and he went out of the inn leaning on the arm of was for sleeping in that night but whose energy seemed as invincible as it was sudden insisted upon mounting and getting back as far as falls park to continue the journey the first op to king s on the following day at five they started and took the southern road towards the hills the evening was dry and windy and excepting that the sun did not shine strongly reminded of the evening of that march month nearly five years earlier when news had been brought to king s court of the child s marriage in london news which had produced upon such a marked effect for the worse ever since and indirectly upon the household of which he was the head before that time the were lively at falls park as well as at king s although the squire had ceased to make it his regular residence hunting guests and shooting guests came and went and open house was kept disliked the clever who had put a stop to this by taking away from the squire the only treasure he valued it grew darker with their progress along the lanes and discovered from mr s manner of riding that his strength was giving way and his own horse close alongside he asked him how he felt oh bad d bad i can hardly keep my seat i shall never be any better i | 45 |
fear have we passed three man yet not yet by a long ways sir i wish we had i can hardly hold on the squire could not repress a groan now and then and knew he was in great pain i a group op noble wish i was that s the place for such fools as i i d gladly be there if it were not for mistress he s coming on to king s to morrow he won t put it off any longer he ll set out and reach there to morrow night without stopping at falls and he ll take her unawares and i want to be there before him i hope you may be well enough to do it sir but i i you don t know what my trouble is it is not so much that she is married to this man without my agreeing for after all there s nothing to say against him so far as i know but that she don t take to him at all seems to fear him in fact cares nothing about him and if he comes forcing himself into the house upon her why be rank cruelty would to the lord something would happen to prevent him i how they reached home that night hardly knew the squire was in such pain that he was obliged to upon his horse and was afraid every moment lest he would fall into the road but they did reach home at last and mr was instantly assisted to bed next morning it was obvious that he could not possibly go to king s for several days at least and there on the bed he lay cursing his in the first of ability to proceed on an errand so personal and so delicate that no could perform it what he wished to do was to ascertain from s own lips if her aversion to was so strong that his presence would be positively distasteful to her were that the case he would have borne her away bodily on the saddle behind him but all that was now and he repeated a hundred times in s hearing and in that of the nurse and other servants i wish to god something would happen to him this sentiment by the squire as he tossed in the agony induced by the powerful of the day before entered sharply into the soul of and of all who were attached to the house of as distinct from the house of his wife at king s who was an man was hardly less by the thought of s return than the squire himself was as the week drew on and the afternoon advanced at which would in all probability be passing near falls on his way to the court the squire s feelings became and the could hardly bear to come near him having left him in the hands of the doctor the former went out upon the lawn for he could hardly breathe in the of excitement caught from the employer who had made him his he had lived with the from his boyhood had been born under the shadow of their walls a group of his whole life was and to the life of the family in a degree which has no in these latter days he was summoned in doors and learned that it had been decided to send for mrs her husband was in great danger there were two or three who could have acted as messenger but wished to go the reason showing itself when being ready to start squire summoned him to his chamber and leaned down so that he could whisper in his ear put along smart and get there before him you know before him this is the day he fixed he has not passed falls yet if you can do that you will be able to get to come d ye see after her mother has started she ll have a reason for not waiting for him bring her by the lower road he ll go by the upper tour business is to make em miss each other d ye see but that s a thing i couldn t write down five minutes after was the horse and on his way the way he had followed so many times since his master a young had first gone to king s court as soon as he had crossed the hills in the immediate neighborhood of the the road lay over a plain where it ran in long straight stretches for several miles in the best of times when all had been gay in the united the first of houses that part of the road had seemed tedious it was gloomy in the extreme now that he pursued it at night and alone on such an errand he rode and if the squire were to die he would be alone in the world and for he was no favorite with mrs and to find himself baffled after all in what he had set his mind on would probably kill the squire thinking thus stopped his horse every now and then and listened for the coming husband the time was drawing on to the moment when might be expected to pass along this very route he had watched the road well during the afternoon and had inquired of the tavern as he came up to each and he was convinced that the premature descent of the stranger husband upon his young mistress had not been made by this highway as yet besides the girl s mother was the only member of the household who suspected s tender feelings towards young so unhappily on her return from school and he could therefore imagine even better than her fond father what would be her emotions on the sudden announcement of s advent | 45 |
that evening at king s court so he rode and rode and hopeful by turns he felt assured that unless in the unfortunate event of the almost immediate arrival of her son in law at his own heels mrs a group of would not be able to hinder s departure for her father s bedside it was about nine o clock that having put twenty miles of country behind him he turned in at the lodge gate nearest to and king s village and pursued the long north drive itself much like a road which led thence through the park to the court though there were so many trees in king s park few bordered the carriage he could see it stretching ahead in the pale night light like an deal presently the irregular of the house came in view of great extent but low except where it rose into the outlines of a broad square tower as approached he rode aside upon the grass to make sure if possible that he was the first comer before letting his presence be known the court was dark and sleepy in no respect as if a bridegroom were about to arrive while pausing he distinctly heard the tread of a horse upon the track behind him and for a moment of arriving in time here surely was i pulling up closer to the tree at hand he waited and found he had retreated none too soon for the second rider avoided the gravel also and passed quite close to him in the he recognized young before could think what to do had gone on but not to the door of the the first of house to the left he passed round to the east angle where as knew were situated s apartments he left the horse to a hanging bough and walked on to the house suddenly his eye caught sight of an object which explained the position immediately it was a ladder stretching from beneath the trees which there came pretty close to the house up to a first floor window one which lighted miss s rooms yes it was s chamber he knew every room in the house well the young who had passed him having evidently left his somewhere under the trees also was perceptible at the top of the ladder immediately outside s window while watched a female figure stepped timidly over the sill and the two cautiously descended one before the other the young man s arms the young woman between his grasp of the ladder so that she could not fall as soon as they reached the bottom young quickly removed the ladder and hid it under the bushes the pair disappeared till in a few minutes could discern a horse emerging from a part of the the horse carried double the girl being on a behind her lover hardly knew what to do or think yet though this was not exactly the kind of flight that had been intended she had certainly escaped a group of he went back to his own animal and rode round to the servants door where he delivered the letter for mrs to leave a verbal message for was now impossible the court servants desired him to stay over the night but he would not do so desiring to get back to the squire as soon as possible and tell what he had seen whether he ought not to have the young people and carried off himself to her father he did not know however it was too late to think of that now and without his lips or a turned his back upon king s court it was not till he had advanced a considerable distance on his way homeward that halting under the lantern of a road side inn while the horse was watered there came a traveller from the opposite direction in a hired coach the lantern lit the stranger s face as he passed along and dropped into the shade for the moment though he could hardly have justified his exultation the traveller was and another had stepped in before him you may now be willing to know of the fortunes of miss left much to herself through the intervening days she had ample time to brood over her desperate attempt at the of apparently by her mother s in what other way to gain time she could not think thus drew on the the first of day and the hour of the evening on which her husband was expected to announce himself at some period after dark when she could not tell a tap at the window twice and thrice repeated became audible it caused her to start up for the only in her mind was the one whose advances she had so feared as to risk health and life to them she crept to the window and heard a whisper without it is i said the voice s face fired with excitement she had begun to doubt her admirer s his love to be going off in mere attentions which neither committed him nor herself very deeply she opened the window saying in a joyous whisper oh i thought you had deserted me quite he assured her he had not done that and that he had a horse in waiting if she would ride off with him you must come quickly he said for s on the way to throw a cloak round herself was the work of a moment and assuring herself that her door was locked against a surprise she climbed over the window sill and descended with him as we have seen her mother meanwhile having received s note found the news of her husband s illness so serious as to her thoughts of the coming son in law and she hastened to tell her daughter of the squire s dangerous condition a group of it | 45 |
lonely and solitary length of the old roman road now called long ash lane by this time they were rather alarmed at their own performance for they were both young and inexperienced hence they proceeded almost in silence till they came to a mean road side inn which was not yet closed when who had held on to him with much all this while felt dreadfully and said she thought she would like to get down they accordingly dismounted from the animal that had brought them and were shown into a small dark parlor where they stood side by side awkwardly like the they were a light was brought and when they were left alone threw off the cloak which had enveloped her no sooner did young see her face than he uttered an alarmed exclamation why lord lord you are sickening for the small i he cried i forgot faltered and then she informed him that on hearing of her the op band s approach the week before in a desperate attempt to keep him from her side she had tried to the an act which till this moment she had supposed to have been ineffectual imagining her to be the result of her excitement the effect of this discovery upon young was overwhelming better men than he would not have been proof against it and he was only a little over her own age and you ve been holding on to me he said and suppose you get worse and we both have it what shall we do won t you be a fright in a month or two poor poor in his horror he attempted to laugh but the laugh ended in a weakly she was more woman than girl by this time and realized his feeling what in trying to keep off him i keep off you she said miserably do you hate me because i am going to be ugly and ill oh no no he said soothingly but i i am thinking if it is quite right for us to do this you see dear if you was not married it would be different you are not in honor married to him we ve often said still you are his by law and you can t be mine while he s alive and with this terrible sickness coming on perhaps you had better let me take you back and climb in at the window again is this your love said reproachfully a group of noble oh if you was sickening for the plague itself and going to be as ugly as the in the church i wouldn t no no you mistake upon my soul but with a swollen heart had re wrapped herself and gone out of the door the horse was still standing there she mounted by the help of the stock and when he had followed her she said do not come near me but please lead the horse so that if you ve not caught anything already you ll not catch it going back after all what keeps off you may keep off him now onward he did not resist her command and back they went by the way they had come shedding bitter tears at the she had already brought upon herself for though she had reproached she was enough not to blame him in her secret heart for showing that his love was only skin deep the horse was stopped in the plantation and they walked silently to the lawn reaching the bushes wherein the ladder still lay will you put it up for me she asked mournfully he re erected the ladder without a word but when she approached to ascend he said good bye said she and involuntarily turned her face towards his he hung back from the expected kiss at which started the first op as if she had received a wound she moved away so suddenly that he hardly had time to follow her up the ladder to prevent her falling tell your mother to get the doctor at once he said anxiously she stepped in without looking behind he descended withdrew the ladder and went away alone in her chamber flung herself upon her face on the bed and burst into shaking sobs yet she would not admit to herself that her lover s conduct was unreasonable only that her rash act of the previous week had been wrong no one had heard her enter and she was too worn out in body and mind to think or care about medical aid in an hour or so she felt yet more positively ill and nobody coming to her at the usual she looked towards the door marks of the lock having been forced were visible and this made her of a servant she opened the door cautiously and forth down stairs in the dining parlor as it was called the now sick and sorry was startled to see at that late hour not her mother but a man sitting calmly finishing his supper there was no servant in the room he turned and she recognized her husband where s my mamma she demanded without preface gone to your father s is that he stopped aghast a group of noble yes sir this spotted object is your wife i ve done it because i don t want you to come near me he was sixteen years her senior old enough to be compassionate my poor child you must get to bed directly don t be afraid of me i ll carry you up stairs and send for a doctor instantly ah you don t know what i am she cried i had a lover once but now he s gone t i who deserted him he has deserted me because i am ill he wouldn t kiss me though i wanted him to wouldn | 45 |
her kindness forbearance even had forgiven her for an passion which he might with some reason have notwithstanding her cruel position as a child into marriage ere able to understand its bearings her mother in her grief and remorse for the life she had led with her rough though open hearted husband made now a creed of his merest whim and continued to insist that out of respect to his known desire her son in law should not reside with till the girl s father had been dead a year at least at which time the girl would still be under nineteen letters must suffice for till then it is rather long for him to wait hesitatingly said one day the of what said her mother from not to respect your dear father of course it is quite proper said hastily i don t it i was but thinking that that in the long slow months of the interval her mother tended and trained carefully for her duties fully awake now to the many virtues of her dear departed one she among other acts of pious devotion to his memory the church of king s village and established valuable in all the villages of that name as far as to little several miles eastward in these works particularly that of the church building her daughter was her constant companion and the incidents of their execution were doubtless not without a soothing effect upon the young creature s heart she had sprung from girl to woman by a sudden bound and few would have recognized in the thoughtful face of now the same person who the year before had seemed to have absolutely no idea whatever of responsibility moral or other time passed thus till the squire had been nearly a year in his vault and mrs was duly asked by letter by the patient if she were willing for him to come soon he did not wish to take away if her mother s sense of loneliness would be too great but would willingly live at king s a while with them a group of noble before the widow had replied to this communication she one day happened to observe walking on the south terrace in the full sunlight without hat or mantle and was struck by her child s figure mrs called her in and said suddenly have you seen your husband since the time of your poor father s death well yes mamma says what against my wishes and those of your dear father i am shocked at your but my father said eighteen ma am and you made it much longer why of course out of consideration for you when have ye seen him well stammered in the course of his letters to me he said that i belonged to him and if nobody knew that we met it would make no difference and that i need not hurt your feelings by telling you well so i went to that time you went to london about five months ago and met him there when did you come back dear mamma it grew very late and he said it was safer not to go back till next day as the roads were bad and as you were away from home i don t want to hear any i this is your respect for your father s groaned the widow when did you meet him again the first of oh not for more than a fortnight a fortnight how many times have ye seen him altogether fm sure mamma i ve not seen him altogether a dozen times a dozen and eighteen and a half years old barely twice we met by accident pleaded once at s and another time at the red lion oh thou girl cried mrs an accident took you to the red lion while i was staying at the white i i remember you came in at twelve o clock at night and said you d been to see the cathedral by the light o the moon my ever honored mamma so i had i only went to the red lion with him afterwards oh that my child should have deceived me even in my days but my dearest mamma you made me marry him says with spirit and of course i ve to obey him more than you now mrs sighed all i have to say is that you d better get your husband to join you as soon as possible she remarked to go on playing the maiden like this i m ashamed to see you she wrote instantly to i wash my hands of the whole matter as between you two though i should advise you to openly a group of noble join each other as soon as you can if you wish to avoid scandal he came though not till the promised title had been granted and he could call my lady people said in after years that she and her husband were very happy however that may be they had a numerous family and she became in due course of as he had foretold the little white frock in which she had been married to him at the tender age of twelve was carefully preserved among the relics at king s court where it may still be seen by the curious a pathetic testimony to the small count taken of the happiness of an innocent child in the social of those days which might have led but did not lead to great when the earl died wrote him an in which she described him as the best of husbands fathers and friends and called herself his widow such is woman or rather not to give offence by so sweeping an assertion such was it was at a meeting of one of the field and clubs | 45 |
that the foregoing story partly told partly read from a manuscript was made to do duty for the papers on the first op ox horns and such like that usually occupied the more serious attention of the members this club was of an and character to a degree indeed remarkable for the part of england in which it had its being dear delightful whose are even now only just beginning to feel the shaking of the new and strange spirit without like that which ended the lonely valley of s vision and made the dry bones move where the honest clerks and people still praise the lord with one voice for his best of all possible worlds the present meeting which was to extend over two days had opened its proceedings at the museum of the town whose buildings and were to be visited by the members lunch had ended and the afternoon excursion had been about to be undertaken when the rain came down in an obstinate which revealed no sign of as the members waited they grew chilly although it was only autumn and a fire was lighted which threw a cheerful shine upon the coats of mail weapons and animated the and while the dead eyes of the stuffed birds those never absent in such though murdered to out of doors flashed as they had flashed to the rising sun above the neighboring a group of noble on the fatal morning when the was pulled which ended their little flight it was then that the historian produced his manuscript which he had prepared he said with a view to publication his delivery of the story having concluded as the speaker expressed his hope that the of the weather and the of more scientific papers would excuse any in his subject several members observed that a storm bound club could not presume to be and they were all very much obliged to him for such a curious chapter from the domestic histories of the county the president looked gloomily from the window at the descending rain and broke a short silence by saying that though the club had met there seemed little probability of its being able to visit the objects of interest set down among the the observed that they had at least a roof over their heads and they had also a second day before them a sentimental member leaning back in his chair declared that he was in no hurry to go out and that nothing would please him so much as another county story with or without manuscript the colonel added that the subject should be a lady like the former to which a gentleman known as the spark said hear hear though these had spoken in jest a rural dean the first op who was present observed that there was no lack of materials many indeed were the legends and traditions of gentle and noble renowned in times past in that part of england whose actions and passions were now but for men s memories buried under the brief inscription on a tomb or an entry of dates in a dry another member an old surgeon a somewhat grim though personage was quite of the speaker s opinion and felt sure that the memory of the reverend gentleman must abound with such curious tales of fair of their loves and hates their joys and their misfortunes their beauty and their fate the parson a trifle confused retorted that their friend the surgeon the son of a surgeon seemed to him as a man who had seen much and heard more during the long course of his own and his father s practice the member of all others most likely to be acquainted with such lore the the colonel the historian the vice president the the two the gentleman the sentimental member the crimson the quiet gentleman the man of family the spark and several others quite agreed and begged that he would recall something of the kind the old surgeon said that though a meeting of the mid field and club was the last place at which he should have expected to be called upon in this a group of noble way he had no objection and the parson said he would come next the surgeon then reflected and decided to relate the history of a lady named who lived towards the end of the last century for his tale as being perhaps a little too professional the crimson winked to the spark at hearing the nature of the apology and the surgeon began dame the second of tbe of by the old surgeon it was apparently an idea rather than a passion that inspired lord resolve to win her nobody ever knew when he formed it or whence he got his assurance of success in the face of her manifest dislike of him possibly not until after that first important act of her life which i shall presently mention his and cynical at the age of nineteen when impulse mostly rules calculation was remarkable and might have owed its existence as much to his succession to the and its accompanying local honors in childhood as to the family character an elevation which jerked him into maturity so to speak without his having known he had only reached his twelfth year when his father the fourth earl died after a course of the bath waters nevertheless the family character had a great deal to do with it determination was hereditary a group of noble in the of that sometimes for good sometimes for evil the seats of the two families were about ten miles apart the way between them lying along the now old then new road connecting and with the city of a road which though only a branch from what was known as the great western highway is probably even at present as it has been for the | 45 |
the young lady had never laid down at all the bed being circumstances seemed to prove that the girl had feigned to get an excuse for leaving the ball room and that she had left the house within ten minutes during the first dance after supper i saw her go said lord the devil you did says sir john yes and he mentioned the retreating carriage lights and how he was assured by lady that no guest had departed surely that was it i said the father but she s not gone alone d ye know i ah who is the young man op the house op i can on y guess my worst fear is my most likely guess i ll say no more i thought yet i would not believe it possible that you was the sinner would that you had been but tis t other tis t other by g i must e en up and after em whom do you suspect sir john would not give a name and rather than agitated lord accompanied him back to he again asked upon whom were the s suspicions directed and the impulsive sir john was no match for the of he said at length i fear tis who s he a young fellow of a widow woman s son the other told him and explained that s father or grandfather was the last of the old glass painters in that place where as you may know the art lingered on when it had died out in every other part of england by g that s bad mighty bad said lord throwing himself back in the chaise in despair they despatched in all directions one by the road another by another but the lovers had a ten hours start and it was apparent that sound judgment had been ex a group of in choosing as their time of flight the particular night when the movements of a strange carriage would not be noticed either in the park or on the neighboring highway owing to the general press of the chaise which had been seen waiting at inn was no doubt the one they had escaped in and the pair of heads which had planned so cleverly thus far had probably contrived marriage ere now the fears of her parents were realized a letter sent by special messenger from on the evening of that day briefly informed them that her lover and herself were on the way to london and before this communication reached her home they would be united as husband and wife she had taken this extreme step because she loved her dear as she could love no other man and because she had seen closing round her the doom of marriage with lord unless she put that threatened fate out of possibility by doing as she had done she had well considered the step beforehand and was prepared to live like any other country s wife if her father her for her action d her i said lord as he drove homeward that night d her for a fool which shows the kind of love he bore her well sir john had already started in pursuit of them as a matter of duty driving like a wild man to and thence by the direct highway to the capital but he soon saw that he was of the house op acting to no purpose and by and by discovering that the marriage had actually taken place he all attempts to them in the city and returned and sat down with his lady to the event as best they could to proceed against this for the of our was possibly in their power yet when they considered the now facts they refrained from violent some six weeks passed during which time s parents though they keenly felt her loss held no communication with the either for reproach or they continued to think of the disgrace she had brought upon herself for though the young man was an honest fellow and the son of an honest father the latter had died so early and his widow had had such struggles to maintain herself that the son was very imperfectly educated moreover his blood was as far as they knew of no distinction whatever while hers through her mother was of the best of ancient containing of and and and and and and and york and and god knows what besides which it was a thousand to throw away the father and mother sat by the fireplace that was by the four arch bearing the family on its and groaned aloud the lady more than sir john a of noble to think this should have come upon us in our old age said he speak for yourself she snapped through her sobs i am only one and f why didn t ye ride faster and overtake em in the mean time the young married lovers caring no more about their blood than about were intensely happy happy that is in the descending scale which as we all know heaven in its wisdom has ordained for such rash cases that is to say the first week they were in the seventh heaven the second in the sixth the third week temperate the fourth and so on a lover s heart after possession being to the earth in its stages as described to us sometimes by our worthy president first a hot coal then a warm one then a then chilly the shall be pursued no further the long and the short of it was that one day a letter sealed with their daughter s own little seal came into sir john and lady s hands and on opening it they found it to contain an appeal from the young couple to sir john to forgive them for what they had done and | 45 |
they would fall on their naked knees and be most dutiful children for then sir john and his lady sat down again by the fireplace with the four arch and consulted and the letter sir john if the truth must be told loved his daughter s happiness far more poor man than he loved his op the house op name and he recalled to his mind all her little ways gave vent to a sigh and by this time to the idea of the marriage said that what was done could not be undone and that he supposed they must not be too harsh with her perhaps and her husband were in actual need and how could they let their only child starve a slight consolation had come to them in an unexpected manner they had been informed that an of was once honored with with a of the aristocracy who had gone to the dogs in short such is the foolishness of distinguished parents and sometimes of others also that they wrote that very day to the address had given them informing her that she might return home and bring her husband with her they would not object to see him would not reproach her and would endeavor to welcome both and to discuss with them what could best be arranged for their future in three or four days a rather shabby drew up at the door of house at sound of which the tender hearted and his wife ran out as if to welcome a prince and princess of the blood they were to see their spoilt child return safe and sound though she was only mrs wife of of nowhere burst into tears and both husband and wife were a of noble enough as well they might be considering that they had not a guinea to call their own when the four had themselves and not a word of had been uttered to the pair they discussed the position young sitting in the background with great modesty till invited forward by lady in no tone how handsome he is she said to herself i don t wonder at s for him lie was indeed one of the men who ever set his lips on a maid s a blue coat waistcoat and breeches of set off a figure that could scarcely be surpassed he had large dark eyes anxious now as they glanced from to her parents and tenderly back again to her observing whom even now in her one could see why the sang of lord had been raised to more than her fair young face according to the tale handed down by old women looked out from under a gray hat trimmed with white feathers and her little toes peeped from a worn under a gown her features were not regular they were almost as you may see from in possession of the family her mouth showing much and one could be sure that her faults would not lie on the side of bad temper unless for urgent reasons well they discussed their state as became them of the house of and the desire of the young couple to gain the good will of those upon whom they were literally dependent for everything induced them to agree to any measure that was not too irksome therefore having been nearly two months united they did not oppose sir john s proposal that he should furnish with funds sufficient for him to travel a year on the continent in the company of a the young man undertaking to lend himself with the utmost diligence to the s instructions till he became polished outwardly and inwardly to the degree required in the husband of such a lady as he was to apply himself to the study of languages manners history society ruins and everything else that came under his eyes till he should return to take his place without blushing by s side and by that time said worthy sir john i ll get my little place out at ready for you and to occupy on your return the house is small and out of the way but it will do for a young couple for a while if no bigger than a summer house it would do says if no bigger than a chair i says and the more lonely the better we can put up with the loneliness said with less zest some friends will come no doubt all this being laid down a travelled was a group of noble called in a man of many gifts and great experience and on a fine morning away and pupil went a great reason urged against accompanying her youthful husband was that his attentions to her would naturally be such as to prevent his applying every hour of his time to learning and seeing an argument of wise and regular days for letter writing were fixed and her exchanged their last kisses at the door and the chaise swept under the into the drive he wrote to her from le as soon as he reached that port which was not for seven days on account of adverse winds he wrote from and from paris described to her his sight of the king and court at and the wonderful marble work and in that palace wrote next from then after a comparatively long interval from his fearful adventures in crossing on and how he was overtaken with a terrific snow storm which had been the end of him and his and his guides then he wrote of italy and could see the development of her husband s mind reflected in his letters month by month and she much admired the of her father in suggesting this education for yet she sighed sometimes her husband being no longer in evidence to her in her choice of him and of thb house of timidly dreaded | 45 |
might be in store for her by reason of this she went out very little for on the one or two occasions on which she had shown herself to former friends she noticed a distinct difference in their manner as though they should say ah my happy s wife you re caught s letters were as affectionate as ever even more affectionate after a while than hers were to him observed this growing coolness in herself and like a good and honest lady was and grieved since her only wish was to act faithfully and it troubled her so much that she prayed for a warmer heart and at last wrote to her husband to beg him now that he was in the land of art to send her his portrait ever so small that she might look at it all day and every day and never for a moment forget his features was nothing and replied that he would do more than she wished he had made friends with a in who was much interested in him and his history and he had this artist to make a bust of himself in marble which when finished he would send her what had wanted was something immediate but she expressed no objection to the delay and in his next communication told her that the of his own choice had decided to increase the bust to a full length statue so anxious was he to get a specimen of his a of noble skill introduced to the notice of the english aristocracy it was well and rapidly meanwhile s attention began to be occupied at home with lodge the house that her kind hearted father was preparing for her residence when her husband returned it was a small place on the plan of a large one a cottage built in the form of a mansion having a central hall with a wooden gallery running round it and rooms no bigger than to follow this introduction it stood on a slope so solitary and surrounded by trees so dense that the birds who inhabited the boughs sang at strange hours as if they hardly could distinguish night from day during the progress of at this bower frequently visited it though so secluded by the dense growth it was near the and one day while looking over the fence she saw lord riding past he saluted her courteously yet with mechanical and did not halt went home and continued to pray that she might never cease to love her husband after that she and did not come out of doors again for a long time the year of education had extended to fourteen months and the house was in order for s return to take up his abode there with when instead of the accustomed letter for her came one to sir john in the handwriting of the said informing him of a terrible catastrophe that had occurred to them at of thb of b mr and himself had attended the theatre one night during the of the preceding week to witness the italian comedy when owing to the carelessness of one of the the theatre had caught fire and been burned to the ground few persons had lost their lives owing to the exertions of some of the audience in getting out the senseless and among them all he who had risked his own life the most was mr in re entering for the fifth time to save his some fiery beams had fallen upon him and he had been given up for lost he was however by the blessing of providence recovered with the life still in him though he was fearfully burned and by almost a miracle he seemed likely to survive his constitution being sound he was of se unable to write but he was receiving the attention of several skilful further report would be made by the next mail or by private hand the said nothing in detail of poor s sufferings but as soon as the news was broken to she realized how intense they must have been and her immediate instinct was to rush to his side though on consideration the journey seemed impossible to her her health was by no means what it had been and to post across europe at that season of the year or to the bay of in a sailing craft was an undertaking that would hardly be justified by a group op noble the result but she was anxious to go till on reading to the end of the letter her husband s was found to hint very strongly against such a step if it should be contemplated this being also the opinion of the and though s comrade refrained from giving his reasons they disclosed themselves plainly enough in the the truth was that the worst of the wounds from the fire had occurred to his head and face that handsome face which had won her heart from her and both the and the knew that for a sensitive young woman to see him before his wounds had healed would cause more misery to her by the shock than happiness to him by her lady out what sir john and had thought but had had too much delicacy to express sure tis mighty hard for you poor that the one little gift he had to justify your rash choice of his wonderful good looks should be taken away like this to leave ee no excuse at all for your conduct in the world s eyes well i wish you d married t other that do and the lady sighed he ll soon get right again said her father soothingly such remarks as the above were not often made but they were frequent enough to cause an uneasy sense of self she of thb of determined to hear them no longer and the house | 45 |
at being ready and furnished she withdrew thither with her maids where for the first time she could feel mistress of a home that would be hers and her husband s exclusively when he came after long weeks had recovered sufficiently to be able to write himself and slowly and tenderly he enlightened her upon the full extent of his injuries it was a mercy he said that he had not lost his sight entirely but he was thankful to say that he still retained full vision in one eye though the other was dark forever the manner in which he out particulars of his condition told how appalling had been his experience he was grateful for her assurance that nothing could change her but feared that she did not fully realize that he was so sadly as to make it doubtful if she would recognize him however in spite of all his heart was as true to her as it ever had been saw from his anxiety how much lay behind she replied that she submitted to the of fate and would welcome him in any shape as soon as he could come she told him of the pretty retreat in which she had taken up her abode their joint occupation of it and did not reveal how much she had sighed over the information that all his good looks were gone still less did she say that she felt a certain strangeness in awaiting him the weeks they had a group of noble lived together having been so short by comparison with the length of his absence slowly drew on the time when found himself well enough to come home he landed at and posted thence towards arranged to go out to meet him as far as inn the spot between the forest and the chase at which he had waited for night on the evening of their thither she drove at the appointed hour in a little presented her by her father on her birthday for her especial use in her new house which vehicle she sent back on arriving at the inn the plan agreed upon being that she should perform the return journey with her husband in his hired coach there was not much accommodation for a lady at this way side tavern but as it was a fine evening in early summer she did not mind walking about outside and straining her eyes along the highway for the expected one but each cloud of dust that enlarged in the distance and drew near was found to disclose a conveyance other than his post chaise remained till the appointment was two hours passed and then began to fear that owing to some adverse wind in the channel he was not coming that night while waiting she was conscious of a curious that was not entirely solicitude and did not amount to dread her tense state of bordered both on disappointment and of the house of on relief she had lived six or seven weeks with an imperfectly educated yet handsome husband whom now she had not seen for seventeen months and who was so changed physically by an accident that she was assured she would hardly know him can we wonder at her compound state of mind but her immediate difficulty was to get away from inn for her situation was becoming embarrassing like too many of s actions this drive had been undertaken without much reflection expecting to wait no more than a few minutes for her husband in his post chaise and to enter it with him she had not hesitated to herself by sending back her own little vehicle she now found that being so well known in this neighborhood her excursion to meet her long absent husband was exciting great interest she was conscious that more eyes were watching her from the inn windows than met her own gaze had decided to get home by whatever kind of conveyance the tavern afforded when straining her eyes for the last time over the now darkening highway she perceived yet another dust cloud drawing near she paused a chariot ascended to the inn and would have passed had not its caught sight of her standing the horses were checked on the instant you here and alone my dear mrs said lord whose carriage it was a group of noble she explained what had brought her into this lonely situation and as he was going in the direction of her own home she accepted his offer of a seat beside him their conversation was embarrassed and at first but when they had driven a mile or two she was surprised to find herself talking earnestly and warmly to him her was in truth but the natural consequence of her late existence a somewhat desolate one by reason of the strange marriage she had made and there is no more mood than that of a woman surprised into talk who has long been imposing upon herself a policy of reserve therefore her heart rose with a bound into her throat when in response to his leading questions or rather hints she allowed her troubles to out of her lord took her quite to her own door although he had driven three miles out of his way to do so and in handing her down she heard from him a whisper of stem reproach it need not have been thus if you had listened to me i she made no reply and went in doors there as the evening wore away she regretted more and more that she had been so friendly with lord but he had launched himself upon her so unexpectedly if she had only foreseen the meeting with him what a careful line of conduct she would have marked out broke into a perspiration of when she thought of her and in self of thb of ment resolved to | 45 |
can you bear such a thing of the house near you judge for yourself your your man has come to this the poor lady stood beside him motionless save for the restlessness of her eyes all her natural sentiments of affection and pity were driven clean out of her by a sort of panic she had just the same sense of dismay and f that she would have had in the presence of an apparition she could fancy this to be her chosen one the man she had loved he was to a specimen of another species i do not you she said with trembling but i am so so overcome let me recover myself will you sup now and while you do so may i go to my room to regain my old feeling for you i will try if i may leave you a while yes i will try r without waiting for an answer from him and keeping her gaze carefully averted the frightened woman crept to the door and out of the room she heard him sit down to the table as if to begin supper though heaven knows his appetite was slight enough after a reception which had a of noble confirmed his worst when had ascended the stairs and arrived in her chamber she sank down and buried her face in the of the bed thus she remained for some time the was over the dining room and presently as she knelt heard thrust back his chair and rise to go into the hall in five minutes that figure would probably come up the stairs and her again it this new and terrible form that was not her husband s in the loneliness of this night with neither maid nor friend beside her she lost all self control and at the first sound of his footstep on the stairs without so much as flinging a cloak round her she flew from the room ran along the gallery to the back staircase which she descended and the back door let herself out she scarcely was aware what she had done till she found herself in the crouching on a flower stand here she remained her great timid eyes strained through the glass upon the garden without and her skirts gathered up in fear of the which sometimes came there every moment she dreaded to hear footsteps which she ought by law to have longed for and a voice that should have been as music to her soul but came not that way the nights were getting short at this season and soon the dawn appeared and the first rays of the sun of the of by daylight she had less fear than in the dark she thought she could meet him and herself to the spectacle so the much tried young woman the door of the hot house and went back by the way she had emerged a few hours ago her poor husband was probably in bed and asleep his journey having been long and she made as little noise as possible in her entry the house was just as she had left it and she looked about in the hall for his cloak and hat but she could not see them nor did she perceive the small trunk which had been all that he brought with him his heavier baggage having been left at for the road wagon she summoned courage to mount the stairs the bedroom door was open as she had left it she fearfully peeped round the bed had not been pressed perhaps he had laid down on the dining room sofa she descended and entered he was not there on the table beside his plate lay a note hastily written on the leaf of a pocket book it was something like this my beloved wife the effect that my forbidding appearance has produced upon you was one which i foresaw as quite possible i hoped against it but foolishly so i was aware that no human love could survive such a catastrophe i confess i thought yours divine but after so long an absence there could not be left a group of sufficient warmth to overcome the too natural first aversion it was an experiment and it has failed i do not blame you perhaps even it is better so good bye i leave england for one year you will see me again at the of that time if i live then i will ascertain your true feeling and if it be against me go away forever e w on recovering from her surprise s remorse was such that she felt herself absolutely she should have regarded him as an afflicted being and not have been this slave to mere like a child to follow him and entreat him to return was her first thought but on making inquiries she found that nobody had seen him he had silently disappeared more than this to undo the scene of last night was impossible her terror had been too plain and he was a man unlikely to be back by her efforts to do her duty she went and confessed to her parents all that had occurred which indeed soon became known to more sons than those of her own family the year passed and he did not return and it was doubted if he were alive s for her was now such that she longed to build a church aisle or erect a monument and devote herself to deeds of charity for the remainder of her days to that end she made inquiry of the excellent parson un of the house of der whom she sat on sundays at a distance of twenty feet but he could only his wig and tap his for such was the state of religion in those days that not an aisle porch east window ten board lion and or | 45 |
brass was required anywhere at all in the neighborhood as a offering from a distracted soul the last century greatly in this respect with the happy times in which we live when urgent appeals for to such objects pour in by every morning s post and nearly all churches have been made to look like new as the poor lady could not ease her conscience this way she determined at least to be charitable and soon had the satisfaction of finding her porch thronged every morning by the most drunken and worthless in but human hearts are as prone to change as the leaves of the on the wall and in the course of time hearing nothing of her husband could sit unmoved while her mother and friends said in her hearing well what has happened is for the best she began to think so herself for even now she could not summon up that and form without a shiver though whenever her mind flew back to her early wedded days and the man who had stood beside her then a thrill of tenderness moved her which if quickened by his living presence might have a group of noble become strong she was young and inexperienced and had hardly on his late return grown out of the capricious fancies of but he did not come again and when she thought of his word that he would return once more if living and how unlikely he was to break his word she gave him up for dead so did her parents so also did another person that man of silence of irresistible of still countenance who was as awake as seven when he seemed to be as sound asleep as the figures on his family monument lord though not yet thirty had chuckled like a of when he heard of s terror and flight at her husband s return and of the latter s prompt departure he felt pretty sure however that despite his hurt feelings would have reappeared to claim his bright eyed property if he had been alive at the end of the twelve months as there was no husband to live with her had the house prepared for them by her father and taken up her abode anew at as in the days of her by degrees the episode with seemed but a dream and as the months grew to years lord friendship with the people at which had somewhat cooled s revived considerably and he again became a frequent visitor there he could not make the most trivial al of the house of or improvement at hall where he lived without riding off to consult with his friend sir john at and thus putting himself frequently under her eyes grew accustomed to him and talked to him as freely as to a brother she even began to look up to him as a person of authority judgment and prudence and though his severity on the bench towards and was matter of she trusted that much of what was said might be thus they lived on till her husband s absence had stretched to years and there could be no longer any doubt of his death a manner of his addresses seemed no longer out of place in lord did not love him but hers was essentially one of those sweet or with wind natures which require a of fibre than its own to hang upon and bloom now too she was older and admitted to herself that a man whose had run scores of through and through in fighting for the site of the holy was a more desirable husband considered than one who could only claim with certainty to know that his father and grandfather were respectable sir john took occasion to inform her that she might consider herself a widow and in brief lord carried his point with her and she married him though he could never a of get her to own that she loved him as she had loved in my childhood i knew an old lady whose mother saw the wedding and she said that when lord and lady drove away from her father s house in the evening it was in a coach and four and that my lady was dressed in green and silver and wore the hat and feather that ever were seen though whether it was that the green did not suit her complexion or otherwise the looked pale and the reverse of blooming after their marriage her husband took her to london and she saw the of a season there then they returned to hall and thus a year passed away before their marriage her husband had seemed to care but little about her inability to love him passionately only let me win you he had said and i will submit to all that but now her lack of warmth seemed to him and he conducted himself towards her with a which led to her passing many hours with him in painful silence the heir to the title was a remote relative whom lord did not from the dislike he entertained towards many persons and things besides and he had set his mind upon a successor he blamed her much that there was no promise of this and asked her what she was good for on a particular day in her gloomy life a letter of the house op addressed to her as mrs reached lady from an unexpected quarter a in knowing nothing of her second marriage informed her that the long delayed statue of mr which when her husband left that city he had been directed to retain till it was sent for was still in his as his commission had not wholly been paid and the statue was taking up room he could ill spare he should be very glad to have the debt cleared off and directions where | 45 |
to forward the figure arriving at a time when the was beginning to have little secrets of a harmless kind it is true from her husband by reason of their growing she replied to this letter without saying a word to lord sending off the balance that was owing to the and telling him to despatch the statue to her without delay it was some weeks before it arrived at hall and by a singular coincidence during the interval she received the first absolutely tidings of her s death it had taken place years before in a foreign land about six months after their parting and had been induced by the sufferings he had already undergone coupled with much depression of spirit which had caused him to to a slight the news was sent her in a brief and formal letter from some relative of s in another part of england a group op noble her grief took the form of passionate pity for his misfortunes and of reproach to herself for never having been able to conquer her aversion to his latter image by recollection of what nature had originally made him the sad spectacle that had gone from earth had never been her at all to her oh that she could have met him as he was at first thus thought it was only a few days later that a wagon with two horses containing an immense packing case was seen at breakfast time both by and her husband to drive round to the back of the house and by and by they were informed that a case had arrived for her what can that be said lord it is the statue of poor which belongs to me but has never been sent till now she answered where are you going to put it asked he i have not decided said the anywhere so that it will not annoy you oh it won t annoy me says he when it had been in a back room of the house they went to examine it the statue was a full length figure in the purest marble representing in all his original beauty as he had stood at parting from her when about to set out on his travels a specimen of manhood almost perfect in every line and of the of the work had been carried out with absolute fidelity sure said the earl of who had never seen real or represented till now did not hear him she was standing in a sort of trance before the first husband as if she had no consciousness of the other husband at her side the features of had disappeared from her mind s eye this perfect being was really the man she loved and not that later pitiable figure in whom love and truth should have seen this image always but had not done so it was not till lord said roughly are you going to stay here all the morning him that she roused herself her husband had not till now the least suspicion that originally looked thus and he thought how deep would have been his jealousy years ago if had been known to him returning to the hall in the afternoon he found his wife in the gallery whither the statue had been brought she was lost in reverie before it just as in the morning what are you doing he asked she started and turned i am looking at my my statue to see if it is well done she stammered why should i not there s no reason why he said what are a op noble you going to do with the monstrous thing it can t stand here forever i don t wish it she said i ll find a place in her there was a deep recess and while the earl was absent from home for a few days in the following week she hired from the village who under her directions enclosed the recess with a door into the thus formed she had the statue placed the door with a lock the key of which she kept in her pocket when her husband returned he missed the statue from the gallery and concluding it had been put away out of deference to his feelings made no remark yet at moments he noticed something on his lady s face which he had never noticed there before he could not it it was a sort of silent ecstasy a reserved what had become of the statue could not divine and growing more and more curious looked about here and there for it till thinking of her private room he went towards the spot after knocking he heard the shutting of a door and the click of a key but when he entered his wife was sitting at work on what was in those days called lord eye fell upon the newly painted door where the recess had formerly been you have been in my absence then he said carelessly yes of the house of why did you go putting up such a as that the handsome arch of the i wanted more closet room and i thought that as this was my own apartment of course he returned lord knew now where the statue of young was one night or rather in the smallest hours of the morning he missed the from his side not being a man of nervous he fell asleep again before he had much considered the matter and the next morning had forgotten the incident but a few nights later the same circumstances occurred this time he fully roused himself but before he had moved to search for her she entered the chamber in her dressing gown carrying a candle which she extinguished as she approached him asleep he could discover from her breathing that she was strangely moved but not on this occasion either did | 45 |
he reveal that he had seen her presently when she had laid down affecting to wake he asked her some trivial questions yes she replied lord became convinced that she was in the habit of leaving the chamber in this queer way more frequently than he had observed and he determined to watch the next midnight he feigned deep sleep and shortly after perceived her stealthily rise and let herself out of the room a group op noble in the dark he slipped on some clothing and followed at the farther end of the corridor where the clash of flint and steel would be out of the hearing of one in the bed chamber she struck a light he stepped aside into an empty room till she had lit a and had passed on to her in a minute or two he followed arrived at the door of the he beheld the door of the private recess open and within it standing with her arms clasped tightly round the neck of her and her mouth on his the shawl which she had thrown round her had slipped from her shoulders and her long white robe and pale face lent her the appearance of a second statue embracing the first between her kisses she it in a low murmur of tenderness my only love how could i be so cruel to you my perfect one so good and true i am ever faithful to you despite my seeming i always think of you dream of you during the long hours of the day and in the oh i am always yours such words as these with sobs and streaming tears and hair to an intensity of feeling in his wife which lord had not dreamed of her possessing ha ha i says he to himself this is where we this is where my hopes of a successor in the title ha ha i this must be seen to verily i of the house of lord was a subtle man when once he set himself to though in the present instance he never thought of the simple of constant tenderness nor did he enter the room and surprise his wife as a would have done but went back to his chamber as silently as he had left it when the returned thither shaken by spent sobs and sighs he appeared to be soundly sleeping as usual the next day he began his by making inquiries as to the whereabouts of the who had travelled with his wife s first husband this gentleman he found was now master of a grammar school at no great distance from at the first convenient moment lord went thither and obtained an interview with the said gentleman the school master was much gratified by a visit from such an influential neighbor and was ready to communicate anything that his desired to know after some general conversation on the school and its progress the visitor observed that he believed the school master had once travelled a good deal with the unfortunate mr and had been with him on the occasion of his accident he lord was interested in knowing what had really happened at that time and had often thought of inquiring and then the earl not only heard by word of mouth as much as he wished to know but their chat a group of becoming more intimate the school master drew upon paper a sketch of the head explaining with breath the various details in the representation it was very strange and terrible said lord taking the sketch in his hand neither nose nor ears a poor man in the town nearest to hall who combined the art of sign painting with ingenious mechanical occupations was sent for by lord to come to the hall on a day in that week when the had gone on a short visit to her parents his employer made the man understand that the business in which his assistance was demanded was to be considered private and money the of this request the lock of the cupboard was picked and the ingenious and painter assisted by the school master s sketch which lord had put in his pocket set to work upon the countenance of the statue under my lord s direction what the fire had in the original the in the copy it was a carried out and was rendered still more shocking by being tinted to the hues of life as life had been after the wreck six hours after when the workman was gone lord looked upon the result and smiled grimly and said a statue should represent a man as he appear of th house of ill ed in life and that s as he appeared ha but tis done to good purpose and not idly he locked the door of the closet with a skeleton key and went his way to fetch the home that night she slept but he kept awake according to the tale she murmured soft words in her dream and he knew that the tender converse of her was held with one whom he had but in name at the end of her dream the of awoke and arose and then the of former nights was repeated her husband remained still and listened two strokes sounded from the clock in the without when leaving the chamber door she passed along the corridor to the other end where as usual she obtained a light so deep was the silence that he could even from his bed hear her softly blowing the to a glow after striking the steel she moved on into the and he heard or fancied he heard the turning of the key in the closet door the next moment there came from that direction a loud and prolonged shriek which to the farthest corners of the house it was repeated and there was | 45 |
the noise of a heavy fall lord sprang out of bed he hastened along the dark corridor to the door of the which stood and by the light of the candle within saw his poor young lying in a heap in her night dress on the a of noble floor of the closet when he reached her side he found that she had fainted much to the relief of his fears that matters were worse he quickly shut up and locked in the hated image which had done the mischief and lifted his wife in his arms where in a few she opened her eyes pressing her face to his without saying a word he carried her back to her room as he went to her terrors by a laugh in her ear oddly of and ho ho ho says he frightened dear one hey what a baby tis only a joke sure a splendid joke but a baby should not go to at midnight to look for the ghost of the dear departed if it do it must expect to be terrified at his aspect ho ho ho when she was in her bed chamber and had quite come to herself though her nerves were still much shaken he spoke to her more sternly now my lady answer me do you love him eh no no she faltered shuddering with her expanded eyes fixed on her husband he is too terrible no no you are sure quite sure replied the poor broken spirited but her natural asserted itself next morning he again inquired of her do you love him now she under his gaze but did not reply of the house of that means that you do still by he continued it means that i will not tell an and do not wish to incense my lord she answered with dignity then suppose we go and have another look at him as he spoke he suddenly took her by the wrist and turned as if to lead her towards the ghastly closet no no oh no she cried and her desperate out of his hand revealed that the fright of the night had left more impression upon her delicate soul than appeared another dose or two and she will be cured he said to himself it was now so generally known that the earl and were not in accord that he took no great trouble to disguise his deeds in relation to this matter during the day he ordered four men with ropes and to attend him in the when they arrived the closet was open and the upper part of the statue tied up in canvas he had it taken to the sleeping chamber what followed is more or less matter of conjecture the story as told to me goes on to say that when lady retired with him that night she saw near the foot of the heavy oak four a tall dark wardrobe which had not stood there before but she did not ask what its presence meant a group of i have had a little whim he explained when they were in the dark have you says she to erect a little shrine as it may be called a little shrine yes to one whom we both equally eh i ll show you what it contains he pulled a cord which hung covered by the bed curtains and the doors of the wardrobe slowly opened that the shelves within had been removed throughout and the interior adapted to receive the ghastly figure which stood there as it had stood in the but with a burning on each side of it to throw the and distorted features into relief she clutched him uttered a low scream and buried her head in the oh take it away please take it away she implored all in good time namely when you love me best he returned calmly you don t quite yet eh i don t know i think oh have mercy i cannot bear it oh in pity take it away nonsense one gets accustomed to anything take another gaze in short he allowed the doors to remain at the foot of the bed and the wax burning and such was the strange fascination of the exhibition that a morbid curiosity took possession of the as she lay and at his of the h u b of repeated request she did again look out from the shuddered hid her eyes and looked again all the while begging him to take it away or it would drive her out of her senses but he would not do so as yet and the wardrobe was not locked till dawn the scene was repeated the next night firm in his ferocious he continued the treatment till the nerves of the poor lady were quivering in agony under the virtuous inflicted by her lord to bring her heart back to the third night when the scene had opened as usual and she lay staring with immense wild eyes at the horrid fascination on a sudden she gave an unnatural laugh she laughed more and more staring at the image till she literally shrieked with laughter then there was silence and he found her to have become insensible he thought she had fainted but soon saw that the event was worse she was in an fit he started up dismayed by the sense that like many other subtle personages he had been too for his own interests such love as he was capable of though rather a selfish than a solicitude was into life on the instant he closed the wardrobe with the clasped her in his arms took her gently to the window and did all he could to restore her it was a long time before the came to herself | 45 |
and when she did so a considerable change of noble seemed to have taken place in her emotions she flung her arms around him and with of fear kissed him many times at last bursting into tears she had never wept in this scene before you ll take it away dearest you will she begged if you love me i oh i do and hate him and his memory yes thoroughly i cannot endure recollection of him cried the poor it fills me with shame how could i ever be so i ll never behave badly again and you will never put the hated statue again before my eyes he felt that he could promise with perfect safety never said he and then i ll love you she returned eagerly as if lest the should be applied anew and i ll never never dream of thinking a single thought that seems like to my marriage vow the strange thing now was that this love wrung from her by terror took on through mere habit of a certain quality of reality a mood of attachment to the earl became distinctly visible in her with an actual dislike for her late husband s of the of cry this mood of attachment grew and continued when the statue was removed a permanent was in her which as time wore on how fright could have effected such a change of learned alone can say but i believe such cases of instinct are not unknown the was that the cure became so permanent as to be itself a new disease she clung to him so tightly that she would not willingly be out of his sight for a moment she would have no sitting room apart from his though she could not help starting when he entered suddenly to her her eyes were always fixed upon him if he drove out she wished to go with him his slightest to other women made her jealous till at length her very fidelity became a burden to him absorbing his time and his liberty and causing him to curse and swear if he ever spoke sharply to her now she did not revenge herself by flying off to a mental world of her own all that affection for another which had provided her with a resource was now a cold black from that time the life of this scared and lady whose existence might have been developed to so much higher purpose but for the ambition of her parents and the of the time was one of towards a perverse and cruel man little personal events came to her in quick succession half a of noble a dozen eight nine ten such events in brief she bore him no less than eleven children in the eight following years but half of them came into the world or died a few days old only one a girl attained to maturity she in became the wife of the honorable mr who was created lord d as may be remembered there was no living son and heir at length completely worn out in mind and body lady was taken abroad by her husband to try the effect of a more genial climate upon her wasted frame but nothing availed to strengthen her and she died at a few months after her arrival in italy contrary to expectation the earl of did not marry again such affection as existed in him strange hard brutal as it was seemed and the title as is known passed at his death to his nephew perhaps if may not be so generally known that during the of the hall for the sixth earl while digging in the grounds for the new foundations the broken fragments of a marble statue were they were submitted to various who said that so far as the pieces would allow them to form an opinion the statue seemed to be that of a roman or if not an figure of death only one or two old inhabitants guessed whose statue those fragments had composed of the house of i should have added that shortly after the death of the an excellent sermon was preached by the dean of the subject of which though names were not mentioned was unquestionably suggested by the events he dwelt upon the folly of indulgence in love for a handsome form merely and showed that the only rational and virtuous of that affection were those based upon worth in the case of the tender but somewhat shallow lady whose life i have related there is no doubt that an for the person of young was the chief feeling that induced her to marry him which was the more deplorable in that his beauty by all tradition was the least of his every report bearing out the that he must have been a man of steadfast nature bright intelligence and promising life the company thanked the old surgeon for his story which the rural dean declared to be a far more striking one than anything he could hope to tell an elderly member of the club who was mostly called the said that a woman s natural instinct of fidelity would indeed send back her heart to a man after his death in a truly wonderful manner sometimes if anything occurred to put before her forcibly the original affection between them and his original aspect in a of noble her eyes whatever his inferiority may have been social or otherwise and then a general conversation ensued upon the power that a woman has of seeing the actual in the representation the reality in the dream a power which according to the sentimental member men have no faculty of the rural dean thought that such cases as that related by the surgeon were rather an illustration of passion back to life than of a latent true | 45 |
affection the story had suggested that he should try to to them one which he had used to hear in his youth and which afforded an instance of the latter and better kind of feeling his heroine being also a lady who had married beneath her though he feared his narrative would be of a much kind than the surgeon s the club begged him to proceed and the parson began dame the third of by the rural dean i would have you know then that a great many years ago there lived in a classical mansion with which i used to be familiar standing not a hundred miles from the city of a lady whose personal were so rare and that she was flattered and spoilt by almost all the young and gentlemen in that part of for a time these attentions pleased her well but as in the words of good robert south whose sermons might be read much more than they are the most passionate lover of sport if tied to follow his and hounds every day of his life would find the pursuit the greatest torment and calamity and would fly to the mines and for his so did this lofty and beautiful lady after a while become with the constant of what she had in its novelty enjoyed and by an almost natural turned her regards absolutely a of speaking she and passionately her affection on quite a plain looking young man of humble birth and no position at all though it is true that he was gentle and delicate in nature of good address and heart in short he was the parish clerk s son acting as assistant to the land steward of her father the earl of with the hope of becoming some day a land steward himself it should be said that perhaps the lady as she was called was a little stimulated in this passion by the discovery that a young girl of the village already loved the young man fondly and that he had paid some attentions to her though merely of a casual and good natured kind since his occupation brought him frequently to the house and its lady could make ample opportunities of seeing and speaking to him she had in s phrase all the craft of fine loving at her fingers ends and the young man being of a readily heart was quick to notice the tenderness in her eyes and voice he could not at first believe in his good fortune having no understanding of her weariness of more artificial men but a time comes when the sees in an eye the glance of his other half and it came to him who was quite the reverse of dull as he gained confidence accidental led to by design till at length when they were alone together there was no reserve on the matter they the op whispered tender words as other lovers do and were as devoted a pair as ever was seen but not a ray or symptom of this attachment was allowed to show itself to the outer world now as she became less and less scrupulous towards him under the influence of her affection and he became more and more under the influence of his and they looked the situation in the face together their condition seemed intolerable in its that she could ever ask to be allowed to marry him or could hold her tongue and quietly him was equally beyond conception they resolved upon a third course possessing neither of the of these two to wed secretly and live on in outward appearance the same as before in this they differed from the lovers of my friend s story not a soul in the parental mansion guessed when lady came coolly into the hall one day after a visit to her aunt that during that visit her lover and herself had found an opportunity of themselves till death should part them yet such was the fact the young woman who rode fine horses and drove in pony and was saluted by every one and the young man who about and directed the tree and the laying out of fish in the park were husband and wife as they had planned so they acted to the letter for the space of a month and more meeting when and where they best could a op noble do so both being happy and content to be sure towards the latter part of that month when the first wild warmth of her love had gone off the lady sometimes wondered within herself how she who might have chosen a peer of the realm knight or if serious minded a bishop or judge of the more gallant sort who prefer young wives could have brought herself to do a thing so rash as to make this marriage particularly when in their private meetings she perceived that though her young husband was full of ideas and fairly well read they had not a single social experience in common it was his custom to visit her after nightfall in her own house when he could find no opportunity for an interview elsewhere and to further this course she would contrive to leave a window on the ground floor overlooking the lawn by entering which a back staircase was accessible so that he could climb up to her apartments and gain audience of his lady when the house was still one dark midnight when he had not been able to see her during the day he made use of this secret method as he had done many times before and when they had remained in company about an hour he declared that it was time for him to descend he would have stayed longer but that the interview had been a somewhat painful one what she had said to him that night had much excited | 45 |
and him for it had revealed a change in the of st b her cold reason had come to his lofty wife she was beginning to have more anxiety about her own position and prospects than for him whether from the agitation of this perception or not he was seized with a he gasped rose and in moving towards the window for air he uttered in a short thick whisper oh my heart with his hand upon his chest he sank down to the floor before he had gone another step by the time that she had the candle which had been extinguished in case any eye in the opposite grounds should witness his she found that his poor heart had ceased to beat and there rushed upon her mind what his cottage friends had once told her that he was liable to attacks of heart disease one of which the doctor had informed them might some day carry him off accustomed as she was to the other nothing that she could effect upon him in that kind made any difference whatever and his stillness and the increasing coldness of his feet and hands disclosed too surely to the young woman that her husband was dead indeed for more than an hour however she did not abandon her efforts to restore him when she fully realized the fact that he was a corpse she bent over his body distracted and bewildered as to what step she next should take her first feelings had undoubtedly been those of passionate grief at the loss of him her second thoughts were concern at her own position as the group of noble daughter of an earl oh why why my unfortunate husband did you die in my chamber at this hour she said to the corpse why not have died in your own cottage if you would die then nobody would ever have known of our union and no syllable would have been breathed of how i myself for love of you the clock in the court yard striking the hour of one aroused lady from the stupor into which she had fallen and she stood up and went towards the door to awaken and tell her mother seemed her only way out of this terrible situation yet when she put her hand on the key to it she withdrew herself again it would be impossible to call even her mother s assistance without a revelation to all the world the servants while if she could remove the body to a distance she might suspicion of their union even now this thought of from the social consequences of her rash act of renewed freedom was a relief to her for as has been said the and of her position had begun to tell upon the lady s nerves she herself for the effort and hastily dressed herself and then dressed him tying his dead hands together with a handkerchief she laid his arms round her shoulders and bore him to the landing and down the narrow stairs reaching the bottom by the window she let his body thb of slide slowly over the sill till it lay on the ground without she then climbed over the window sill herself and leaving the open dragged him on to the lawn with a rustle not louder than the rustle of a there she took a hold and plunged with him under the trees away from the of the house she could apply herself more vigorously to her task which was a heavy one enough for her robust as she was and the exertion and fright she had already undergone began to tell upon her by the time she reached the corner of a plantation which between the house and the village here she was so nearly exhausted that she feared she might have to leave him on the spot but she on after a while and keeping upon the grass at every opportunity she stood at last opposite the poor young man s garden gate where he lived with his father the parish clerk how she accomplished the end of her task lady never quite knew but to avoid leaving traces in the road she carried him bodily across the gravel and laid him down at the door perfectly aware of his ways of coming and going she searched behind the for the cottage door key which she placed in his cold hand then she kissed his face for the last time and with silent little sobs bade him farewell lady her steps and reached the mansion without and to her great relief found the window open just as she had left a of noble it when she had climbed in she listened attentively fastened the window behind her and ascending the stairs noiselessly to her room set everything in order and returned to bed the next morning it was speedily echoed around that the amiable and gentle young had been found dead outside his father s door which he had apparently been in the act of when he fell the circumstances were sufficiently exceptional to justify an at which from heart disease was ascertained to be beyond doubt the explanation of his death and no more was said about the matter then but after the funeral it was that some man who had been returning late from a distant horse fair had seen in the gloom of night a person apparently a woman dragging a heavy body of some sort towards the cottage gate which by the light of after events would seem to have been the corpse of the young fellow his clothes were thereupon examined more particularly than at first with the result that marks of were visible upon them here and there precisely resembling such as would be left by dragging on the ground our beautiful and ingenious lady was now in great consternation and began to think that after all | 45 |
it might have been better to honestly confess the truth but having reached this stage without discovery or suspicion she determined to make another effort towards conceal the of ment and a bright idea struck her as a means of securing it i think i mentioned that before she cast eyes on the unfortunate steward s clerk he had been the beloved of a certain village the s daughter his neighbor to whom he had paid some attentions and possibly he was beloved of her still at any rate the lady s influence on the estates of her father being considerable she resolved to seek an interview with the young girl in of her plan to save her reputation about which she was now exceedingly anxious for by this time the fit being over she began to be ashamed of her mad passion for her late husband and almost wished she had never seen him in the course of her parish visiting she lighted on the young girl without much difficulty and found her looking pale and sad and wearing a simple black gown which she had put on out of respect for the young man s memory whom she had tenderly loved though he had not loved her ah you have lost your lover said lady the young woman could not repress her tears my lady he was not quite my lover she said but i was his and now he is dead i don t care to live any more can you keep a secret about him asks the lady one in which his honor is involved which is known to me alone but should be known to you a group of noble the girl readily promised and indeed could be safely trusted on such a subject so deep was her affection for the youth she mourned then meet me at his grave to night half an hour after sunset and i will tell it to you says the other in the dusk of that spring evening the two shadowy figures of the young women upon the assistant steward s newly mound and at that solemn place and hour the one of birth and beauty unfolded her tale how she had loved him and married him secretly how he had died in her chamber and how to keep her secret she had dragged him to his own door married him my lady said the rustic maiden starting back i have said so replied lady but it was a mad thing and a mistaken course he ought to have married you you were peculiarly his but you lost him yes said the poor girl and for that they laughed at me ha ha you mid love him they said but he will not love you victory over such unkind would be sweet said lady you lost him in life but you may have him in death as if you had had him in life and so turn the tables upon them how said the breathless girl the young lady then unfolded her plan which was that should go forward and declare the of that the young man had contracted a secret marriage as he truly had done that it was with her his sweetheart that he had been visiting her in her cottage on the evening of his death when on finding he was a corpse she had carried him to his house to prevent discovery by her parents and that she had meant to keep the whole matter a secret till the afloat had forced it from her and how shall i prove this said the s daughter amazed at the boldness of the proposal quite sufficiently you can say if necessary that you were married to him at the church of st michael in bath city in my name as the first that occurred to you to escape detection that was where he married me i will support you in this i don t quite if you will do so said the lady i will always be your father s friend and yours if not it will be otherwise and i will give you my wedding ring which you shall wear as yours have you worn it my lady only at night there was not much choice in the matter and consented then this noble lady took from her bosom the ring she had never been able openly to exhibit and grasping the young girl s hand slipped it upon her finger as she stood upon her lover s grave a b up of noble shivered and bowed her head saying i feel as if i had become a corpse s bride but from that moment the maiden was heart and soul in the a repose came over her spirit it seemed to her that she had secured in death him whom in life she had vainly and she was almost content after that the lady handed over to the young man s new wife all the little and he had given herself even to a containing his hair the next day the girl made her so called confession which the simple mourning she had already worn without stating for whom seemed to bear out and soon the story of the little romance spread through the village and country side almost as far as it was a curious fact that having once made the seemed possessed with a spirit of ecstasy at her position with the liberal sum of money supplied to her by lady she now purchased the garb of a widow and duly appeared at church in her weeds her simple face looking so sweet against its margin of that she was almost envied her state by the other village girls of her age and when a woman s sorrow for her beloved can her young life so obviously as it had done s there was in truth little in the case her | 45 |
explanation so well with the details of her lover s latter movements those strange and sudden return the of which had occasionally puzzled his friends that nobody supposed for a moment that the second actor in these secret was other than she the actual and whole truth would indeed have seemed a preposterous assertion beside this plausible one by reason of the lofty of the lady and the habits of the late there being no inheritance in question not a soul took the trouble to go to the city church forty miles off and search the for marriage bearing out so humble a romance in a short time caused a decent to be erected over her husband s grave whereon appeared the statement that it was placed there by his heart broken widow which considering that the payment for it came from lady and the grief from was as truthful as such usually are and only required to render it yet more nearly so the and in her character of widow took delight in going to his grave every day and indulging in sorrow which was a positive luxury to her she placed fresh flowers on his grave and so keen was her that she almost believed herself to have been his wife indeed as she walked to and fro in her garb of woe one afternoon being busily engaged in this labor of love at the grave lady passed outside the church yard wall with some of her visiting a group of noble friends who seeing there watched her actions with interest remarked upon the pathos of the scene and upon the intense affection the young man must have felt for such a tender creature as a strange light as of pain shot from the lady s eye as if for the first time she to the young girl the position she had been at such pains to transfer to her it showed that a affection for her husband still had life in lady obscured and stifled as it was by social considerations an end was put to this smooth arrangement by the sudden appearance in the church yard one day of the lady when had come there on her usual errand of laying flowers lady had been anxiously awaiting her behind the and her countenance was pale and agitated she said come here i don t know how to say to you what i am going to say i am half dead i am sorry for your says wondering give me that ring says the lady at the girl s left hand drew it quickly away i tell you give it to me repeated lady almost fiercely oh but you don t know why i am in a grief and a trouble i did not expect and lady whispered a few words to the girl the op oh my lady said the what you do you must say that your statement was a wicked lie an invention a scandal a deadly sin that i told you to make it to screen me that it was i whom he married at bath in short we must tell the truth or i am ruined body mind and reputation forever but there is a limit to the of women by this time had so grown to the idea of being one flesh with this young man of having the right to bear his name as she bore it had so thoroughly come to regard him as her husband to dream of him as her husband to speak of him as her husband that she could not him at a moment s notice no no she said desperately i cannot i will not give him up your took him away from me alive and gave him back to me only when he was dead now i will keep him i am truly his widow more truly than you my lady for i love him and mourn for him and call myself by his dear name and your does neither i do love him cries lady with flashing eyes and i cling to him and won t let him go to such as you how can i when he is the father of this poor babe that s coming to me i must have him back again can t you pity and understand me perverse girl that a group of noble you are and the miserable plight that i am in oh this it is the ruin of women why did i not consider and wait come give me back all that i have given you and assure me you will support me in the truth never never persisted with woe look at this look at my gown and bonnet of this ring listen to the name they call me by my character is worth as much to me as yours is to you after declaring my love mine myself his taking his name making his death my own particular sorrow how can i say it was not so no such for me i will you my lady and i shall be believed my story is so much the more likely that yours will be thought false but oh please my lady do not drive me to this in pity let me keep him the poor widow exhibited such anguish at a proposal which would have been truly a bitter humiliation to her that lady was warmed to pity in spite of her own condition yes i see your position she answered but think of mine what can i do without your support it would seem an invention to save me from disgrace even if i produced the register the love of scandal in the world is such that the multitude would over the fact say it was a and believe your story i do not know who were the witnesses or anything | 45 |
in a few minutes these two poor young women the of felt as so many in a strait have felt before that union was their greatest strength even now and they consulted calmly together the result of their was that went home as usual and lady also the latter that very night to the her mother of the marriage and to nobody else in the world and some time after lady and her mother went away to london where a little while later still they were joined by who was supposed to have left the village to proceed to a watering place in the north for the benefit of her health at the expense of the ladies of the who had been much interested in her state of lonely and early the next year the widow came home with an infant in her arms the family at the house having meanwhile gone abroad they did not return from their tour till the autumn by which time and the child had again departed from the cottage of her father the having attained to the dignity of dwelling in a cottage of her own many miles to the eastward of her native village a comfortable little allowance had moreover been settled on her and the child for life through the of lady and her mother two or three years passed away and the lady married a nobleman the of considerably her senior who had her long and he was not a group op noble rich but she led a placid life with him for many years though there was no child of the marriage meanwhile s boy as the was called and as herself considered him grew up and wonderfully and loved her as she deserved to be loved for her devotion to him in whom she every day traced more distinctly the of the man who had won her girlish heart and kept it even in the tomb she educated him as well as she could with the limited means at her disposal for the allowance had never been increased lady or the of as she now was seeming by degrees to care little what had become of them became extremely ambitious on the boy s account she pinched herself almost of necessaries to send him to the grammar school in the town to which they retired and at twenty he in a cavalry regiment joining it with a deliberate intent of making the army his profession and not in a of idleness his exceptional his manly bearing his steady conduct speedily won him promotion which was by the serious war in which his country was at that time engaged on his return to england after the peace he had risen to the rank of riding master and was soon after advanced another stage and made though still a young man his mother his mother that is the of heard tidings of this the op progress it her maternal instincts and filled her with pride she became keenly interested in her successful soldier son and as she grew older much wished to see him again particularly when the dying she was left a solitary and widow whether or not she would have gone to him of her own impulse i cannot say but one day when she was driving in an open carriage in the outskirts of a neighboring town the troops lying at the hard by passed her in marching order she eyed them narrowly and in the finest of the recognized her son from his likeness to her first husband this sight of him doubly the emotions which had lain in her for so many years and she wildly asked herself how she could so have neglected him had she possessed the true courage of affection she would have owned to her first marriage and have reared him as her son what would it have mattered if she had never obtained this precious of pearls and gold leaves by comparison with the gain of having the love and protection of such a noble and worthy son these and other sad reflections cut the gloomy and solitary lady to the heart and she repented of her pride in her first husband more bitterly than she had ever repented of her in marrying him her yearning was so strong that at length it seemed to her that she could not live without a group bv noble announcing herself to him as his mother come what might she would do it late as it was she would have him away from that woman whom she began to hate with the of a deserted heart for having taken her place as the mother of her only child she felt confidently enough that her son would only too gladly exchange a cottage mother for one who was a of the realm being now in her free to come and go as she chose without question from anybody lady started next day for the little town where yet lived still in hei robes of for the lost lover of her youth he is my son said the as soon as she was alone in the cottage with you must give him back to me now that i am in a position in which i can defy the world s opinion i suppose he comes to see you continually every month since he returned from the war my lady and sometimes he stays two or three days and takes me about seeing sights everywhere she spoke with quiet triumph well you will have to give him up said the calmly it shall not be the worse for you you may see him when you choose i am going to my first marriage and have him with me you forget that there are two to be reckoned with my lady not only me but himself that can be arranged you don t | 45 |
suppose the of that he wouldn t but not wishing to insult by comparing their positions she said he is my own flesh and blood not yours flesh and blood s nothing said flashing with as much scorn as a could show to a which in this case was not so little as may be supposed but i will agree to put it to him and let him settle it for himself that s all i require said lady you must ask him to come and i will meet him here the soldier was written to and the meeting took place he was not so much astonished at the disclosure of his as lady had been led to expect having known for years that there was a little mystery about his birth his manner towards the though respectful was less warm than she could have hoped the as to his choice of a mother were put before him his answer amazed and her no my lady he said thank you much but i prefer to let things be as they have been my father s name is mine in any case you see my lady you cared little for me when i was weak and helpless why should i come to you now i am strong dear devoted soul pointing to tended me from my birth watched over me nursed me when i was ill and deprived herself of many a little comfort to push me on i cannot love another mother as i love her she is a group of noble my mother and i will always be her son as he he put his manly arm around s neck and kissed her with the tenderest affection the agony of the poor was pitiable you kill me she said between her shaking sobs cannot you love me too no my lady if i must say it you were ashamed of my poor father who was a sincere and honest man therefore i am ashamed of you nothing would move him and the suffering woman at last gasped cannot oh cannot you give one kiss to me as you did to her it is not much it is all i ask all certainly he replied he kissed her coldly and the painful scene came to an end that day was the beginning of death to the unfortunate of it was in the of her human heart that his denial of her should add fuel to the fire of her craving for his love how long afterwards she lived i do not know with any but it was no great length of time that anguish that is than a serpent s tooth wore her out soon utterly reckless of the world its ways and its opinions she allowed her story to become known and when the welcome end which i grieve to say she refused to by the of religion a broken heart was the truest phrase in which to sum up its cause the op the rural dean having concluded some observations upon his tale were made in due course the sentimental member said that lady s history afforded a sad instance of how an honest human affection will become and mean under the frost of class division and social prejudices she probably deserved some pity though her offspring before he grew up to man s estate had deserved more there was no pathos like the pathos of childhood when a child found itself in a world where it was not wanted and could not understand the reason why a tale by the speaker further the same subject though with different results from the last naturally followed dame the fourth by the sentimental member op all the romantic towns in is probably the most convenient for meditative people to live in since there you have a cathedral with a so long that it affords space in which to walk and summon your moods without continually turning on your heel or seeming to do more than take an afternoon stroll under cover from the rain or sun in an course of nearly three hundred steps eastward and again nearly three hundred steps westward amid those magnificent you can for instance compare in the most leisurely way the dry which ultimately the persons of kings and with the that is usually the final shape of and others who take their last rest out of doors then if you are in love you can by in the and behind the with the bright eyed one so steep lady and mellow your ecstasy in the around that it will assume a and finer even more grateful to the understanding if not to the senses than that form of the emotion which arises from such companionship in spots where all is life and growth and it was in this solemn place whither they had withdrawn from the sight of relatives on one cold day in march that sir asked in marriage as his second wife the gentle daughter of plain squire her life had been an obscure one thus far while sir though not a rich man had a certain distinction about him so that everybody thought what a and in a word blessed match it would be for such a as she nobody thought so more than the amiable girl herself she had been smitten with such affection for him that when she walked the cathedral at his side on the before mentioned day she did not know that her feet touched hard pavement it seemed to her rather that she was floating in space was an maiden and could not understand how she had deserved to have sent to her such an illustrious lover such a travelled personage such a handsome man when he put the question it was in no clumsy language such as the ordinary county were wont to use on | 45 |
like quivering occasions but as as if he had been taught a of noble it in s speaker yet he hesitated a little for he had something to add my pretty he said she was not very pretty by the way i have you must know a little girl dependent upon me a little i found one day in a patch of wild such was this worthy s humor when i was riding home a little nameless creature whom i wish to take care of till she is old enough to take care of herself and to in a plain way she is only fifteen months old and is at present in the hands of a kind s wife in my parish will you object to give some attention to the little thing in her helplessness it need hardly be said that our innocent young lady loving him so deeply and joyfully as she did replied that she would do all she could for the nameless child and shortly afterwards the pair were married in the same cathedral that had echoed the whispers of his declaration the minister being the bishop himself a venerable and experienced man so well accomplished in people who had a mind for that sort of experiment that the couple with some sense of surprise found themselves one while they were still vaguely gazing at each other as two independent beings after this operation they went home to park and made a beginning of living happily ever after lady true to her promise was always running down to the village lady during the following weeks to see the baby whom her husband had so mysteriously lighted on during his ride home concerning which interesting discovery she had her own opinion but being so extremely amiable and affectionate that she could have loved stocks and stones if there had been no living creatures to love she uttered none of her thoughts the little thing who had been took to lady as if the s young wife had been her mother and at length grew so fond of the child that she ventured to ask her husband if she might have in her own home and bring her up carefully just as if she were her own to this he answered that though remarks might be made he had no objection a fact which was obvious sir seeming rather pleased than otherwise with the proposal after this they lived quietly and for two or three years at sir ont s residence in that part of england with as near an approach to bliss as the climate of this country allows the child had been a to for there seemed no great probability of her having one of her own and she wisely regarded the possession of as a special kindness of providence and did not worry her mind at all as to s possible origin being a tender and impulsive creature she loved her husband without criticism and and the child not much otherwise she a of watched the little as if she had been her own by nature and became a great solace to her when her husband was absent on pleasure or business and when he came home he looked pleased to see how the two had won each other s hearts sir would kiss his wife and his wife would kiss little and little would kiss sir and after this burst of affection lady would say dear me i forget she is not mine what does it matter her husband would reply providence is he has sent us this one because he is not intending to send us one by any other channel their life was of the simplest since his travels the had taken to sporting and farming while was a pattern of their pleasures were all local they retired early to rest and rose with the cart horses and whistling they knew the names of every bird and tree not uncommon and could the weather almost as well as anxious farmers and old people with one day sir received a letter which he read and laid down on the table without remark what is it dearest asked his wife glancing at the sheet oh it is from an old lawyer at bath whom i used to know he reminds me of something i lady said to him four or five years ago some little time before we were married about what about her it was a casual remark i made to him when i thought you might not take kindly to her that if he knew a lady who was anxious to adopt a child and could a good home to he was to let me know but that was when you had nobody to take care of her she said quickly how absurd of him to write now does he know you are married he must surely oh yes he handed her the letter the stated that a widow lady of position who did not at present wish her name to be disclosed had lately become a of his while taking the waters and had mentioned to him that she would like a little girl to bring up as her own if she could be certain of finding one of good and pleasing disposition and the better to this she would not wish the child to be too young for judging her qualities he had remembered sir s observation to him a long while ago and therefore brought the matter before him it would be an excellent home for the little girl of that he was positive if she had not already found such a home but it is absurd of the man to write so long after said lady with a about the back of her throat as she thought how much had become to her i suppose it a op | 45 |
noble was when you first found her that you told him this r exactly it was then he fell into thought and neither sir nor lady took the trouble to answer the lawyer s letter and so the matter ended for the time one day at dinner on their return from a short absence in town whither they had gone to see what the world was doing hear what it was saying and to make themselves generally fashionable after for so long on this occasion i say they learned from some friend who had joined them at dinner that hall the house of the estate next their own which had been offered on lease by reason of the of its owner had been taken for a term by a widow lady an italian whose name i will not mention for certain reasons which may by and by appear lady expressed her surprise and interest at the probability of having such a neighbor though if i had been born in italy i think i should have liked to remain there she said she is not italian though her husband was said sir oh you have heard about her before now yes they were talking of her at grey s the other evening she is english and then as her husband said no more about the lady the friend who was dining with them told lady lady that the s father had largely in east india stock in which immense fortunes were being made at that time through this his daughter had found herself wealthy at his death which had occurred a few weeks after the death of her husband it was supposed that the marriage of an english s daughter to a poor foreign nobleman had been matter of arrangement merely as soon as the s was a little further advanced she would no doubt be the mark of all the who came near her for she was still quite young but at present she seemed to desire quiet and avoided society and town some weeks after this time sir sat looking at his lady for many moments he said it might have been better for if the had taken her she is so wealthy in comparison with ourselves and could have ushered the girl into the great world more effectually than we ever shall be able to do the take said lady with a start what was she the lady who wished to adopt her yes she was staying at bath when lawyer wrote to me but how do yon know all this he showed a little hesitation oh i ve seen her he says yon know she drives to the a of meet sometimes though she does not ride and she has informed me that she was the lady who inquired of gay ton you have talked to her as well as seen her then oh yes several times everybody has why didn t you tell me says his lady i had quite forgotten to call upon her i ll go ow or soon but i can t think how you can say that it might have been better for to have gone to her she is so much our own now that i cannot admit any such conjectures as those even in jest her eyes reproached him so that sir did not answer lady did not hunt any more than the italian did indeed she had become so absorbed in household matters and in s well being that she had no mind to waste a minute on mere as she had said to talk coolly of what might have been the best destination in days past for a child to whom they had become so attached seemed quite barbarous and she could not understand how her husband should consider the point so for as will probably have been guessed lady long before this time if she had not done so at the very beginning divined sir s true relation to but the s wife was so meek and mild that she never told him of her and took what lady heaven had sent her without her generosity in this respect having been rewarded by the new life she found in her love for the little girl her husband to the same uncomfortable subject when a few days later they were speaking of travelling abroad he said that it was almost a pity if they thought of going that they had not fallen in with the s wish that lady had told him that she had met walking with her nurse and that she had never seen a child she liked so well what she her still how impertinent of the woman said lady she seems to do so you see dearest the advantage to would have been that the would have adopted her and have made her as her own daughter while we have not done that we are only bringing up and a poor child in charity but i ll adopt her fully make her mine cried his wife in an anxious voice how is it to be done h m he did not inform her but fell into thought and for reasons of her own his lady was restless and uneasy the very next day lady drove to hall to pay the neglected call upon her neighbor the was at home and received her graciously but poor lady s heart died within her as soon as she set a op noble eyes on her new acquaintance such wonderful beauty of the fully developed kind had never confronted her before inside the lines of a human face she seemed to shine with every light and grace that woman can possess her finished continental manners her expanded mind her ready wit composed a study that made the other poor lady sick for she and sir himself were rather | 45 |
rural in manners and she felt abashed by new sounds and ideas from without she hardly knew three words in any language but her own while this divine creature though truly english had apparently whatever she wanted in the italian and french to suit every impression which was considered a great improvement to speech in those days and indeed is by many considered as such in these how very strange it was about the little girl the said to lady in her gay tones i mean that the child the lawyer recommended should just before then have been adopted by yon who are now my neighbor how is she getting on i must come and see her do you still want her asks lady suspiciously oh i should like to have her but yon can t she s mine said the other a drooping manner appeared in the from that moment lady too was in a wretched mood lady all the way home that day the was so charming in every way that she had charmed her gentle how should it be possible that she had failed to charm sir moreover she had awakened a strange thought in s mind as soon as she reached home she rushed to the nursery and there seizing kissed her then holding her at arm she gazed with a piercing into the girl s she sighed deeply abandoned the wondering and hastened away she had seen there not only her husband s traits which she had often beheld before but others of the shade shape and expression which those of her new neighbor then this poor lady perceived the whole of things and asked herself how she could have been such a walking piece of simplicity as not to have thought of this before but she did not stay long herself for her short so overwhelmed was she with misery at the spectacle of herself as an intruder between these to be sure she could not have foreseen such a but that did not lessen her grief the woman who had been both her husband s bliss and his had reappeared free when he was no longer so and she evidently was dying to claim her own in the person of who had meanwhile grown to be to lady almost the only source of each a of noble day s happiness supplying her with something to watch over inspiring her with the sense of and so largely reflecting her husband s nature as almost to deceive her into the pleasant belief that she reflected her own also if there was a single direction in which this devoted and virtuous lady it was in the direction of over when all is said and done and the truth told men seldom show much self sacrifice in their conduct as lords and masters to helpless women bound to them for life and perhaps though i say it with all uncertainty if she had blazed up in his face like a directly he came home she might have helped herself a little but god knows whether this is a true supposition at any rate she did no such thing and waited and prayed that she might never do despite to him who she was bound to admit had always been tender and courteous towards her and hoped that little might never be taken away by degrees the two became friendly and very seldom did a week pass without their seeing something of each other try as she might and dangerous as she assumed the to be lady ont could detect no fault or flaw in her new friend it was obvious that had been the which had drawn the hither and not sir such beauty united with such understanding and brightness had never before known in one of lady her own sex and she tried to think whether she succeeded i do not know that she did not mind the since a woman so rich so fair and with such a command of could not desire to wreck the happiness of so a person as herself the season drew on when it was the custom for families of distinction to go off to the bath and sir persuaded his wife to accompany him thither with everybody of any note was there this year from their own part of england came many that they knew among the rest lord and lady the earl and of sir john the lady the old duke of the bishop of the dean of and other lesser lights of court pulpit and field thither also came the fair whom as soon as saw how much she was sought after by younger men she could not suspect of renewed designs upon sir but the had finer opportunities than ever with for lady was often and even at other times could not honestly hinder an intercourse which gave bright ideas to the child welcomed her new acquaintance with a strange and instinctive readiness that intimated the wonderful of the threads which bind flesh and flesh together at last the crisis came it was by a group of noble an accident and her nurse had gone out one day for an leaving lady alone in doors while she sat gloomily thinking that in all the would contrive to meet the child somewhere and exchange a few tender words with her sir rushed in and informed her that had just had the possible escape from death some workmen were a house to pull it down for when without warning the front wall inclined slowly outward for its fall the nurse and child passing beneath it at the same moment the fall was temporarily arrested by the while in the mean time the had witnessed their imminent danger from the other side of the street springing across she snatched from under the wall and pulled the nurse after her the middle of the way being barely reached before they | 45 |
think of who occupied her time and affection as fully as lady s were occupied by her precious boy in the course of time the doubly desired and married i believe a respectable road the same if i mistake not who repaired and improved the old highway running from south through the new forest and in the heart of this worthy man of business the poor girl found the nest which had been denied her by her own flesh and blood of higher degree several of the listeners wished to hear another story from the sentimental member after this but he said that he could recall nothing else at the moment and that it seemed to him as if his friend on the other side of the fireplace had something to say from the look of his face the member alluded to was a respectable church with a sly to one possibly the result of an accident and a regular a of noble attendant at the club meetings he replied that his looks had been mainly caused by his interest in the two ladies of the last story apparently women of strong instincts even though they were not in their tenderness the tale had brought to his mind an instance of a firmer affection of that sort on the paternal side in a nature otherwise as for telling the story his manner was much against him he feared but he would do his best if they wished here the president interposed with a suggestion that as it was getting late in the afternoon it would be as well to to their respective and lodgings for dinner after which those who cared to do so could return and resume these curious domestic traditions for the remainder of evening which might otherwise prove irksome enough the had told him that the room was at their service the church who was beginning to feel hungry himself readily and the club separated for an hour and a half then the faithful ones began to drop in again among whom were not the president neither came the rural dean nor the two though the colonel and the man of family cigars in mouth were good enough to return having found their hotel dreary the museum had no regular means of illumination and a solitary candle less powerful than the rays of the fire was placed on the table also bottles and glasses pro lady by some thoughtful member the church now thoroughly proceeded to relate in his own terms what was in substance as follows while many of his listeners smoked art after dinner dame the fifth b by the church in the reign of his most excellent majesty king george the third of the faith and of the american colonies there lived in a place so called it in his day as i have been told in one o the bits of between and the city of a young lady who resembled some ones in having many talents and exceeding great beauty with these gifts she combined a somewhat imperious temper and arbitrary mind though her experience of the world was not actually so large as her manner would have led the stranger to suppose being an orphan she resided with her uncle who though he was fairly considerate as to her welfare left her pretty much to herself now it chanced that when this lovely young lady was about nineteen she being a fearless was riding with only a young lad as an a group of noble attendant in one o the woods near her uncle s house and in trotting along her horse stumbled over the root of a tree she slipped to the ground not seriously hurt and was assisted home by a gentleman who came in view at the moment of her it turned out that this gentleman a total stranger to her was on a visit at the house of a neighboring land owner he was of dutch and occasionally came to england on business or pleasure from his in on the north coast of south america where he usually resided on this account he was naturally but little known in and was but a slight acquaintance of the gentleman at whose mansion he was a guest however the friendship between him and the as the uncle and niece were named warmed and warmed by degrees there being but few folk o note in the vicinity at that time which made a new comer if he were at all and of good credit always sure of a welcome a tender feeling as it is called by the romantic sprang up between the two young people which into intimacy the foreign gentleman was of an temperament and though he endeavored to conceal his feeling it could be seen that miss maria had impressed him rather more deeply than would be represented by a scratch upon a stone he seemed absolutely unable to free himself from her fascination and his inability to do so much the lady as he tried evidently thinking he had not the ghost of a chance with her gave her the pleasure of power though she more than when she overheard him heaving his deep drawn sighs privately to himself as he supposed after his visit by every conceivable excuse in his power he summoned courage and offered her his hand and his heart being in no way to him though not so as he and her uncle making no objection to the match she consented to share his fate for better or otherwise in the distant colony where as he assured her his rice and coffee and and timber produced him ample means a statement which was borne out by his friend her uncle s neighbor in short a day for their marriage was fixed earlier in the engagement than is usual or desirable between | 45 |
comparative strangers by reason of the necessity he was under of returning to look after his properties the wedding took place and maria left her uncle s mansion with her husband going in the first place to london and about a fortnight after sailing with him across the great ocean for their distant home which however he assured her should not be her home for long it being his intention to dispose of his interests in this part of the world as soon as the war was over and he could do so when they could come to europe and reside in some favorite capital as they advanced on the voyage she observed a group of that he grew more and more constrained and by the time they had crossed the line he was quite depressed just as he had been before proposing to her a day or two before landing at he embraced her in a very tearful and passionate manner and said he wished to make a confession it had been his misfortune he said to marry at in early life a woman whose reputation proved to be in every way bad and scandalous the discovery had nearly killed him but he had ultimately separated from her and had never seen her since he had hoped and prayed she might be dead but recently in london when they were starting on this journey he had discovered that she was still alive at first he had decided to keep this dark intelligence from her beloved ears but he had felt that he could not do it all he hoped was that such a condition of things would make no difference in her feelings for him as it need make no difference iu the course of their lives thereupon the spirit of this proud and lady showed itself in violent turmoil like the raging of a nor west thunder storm as well it might god knows but she was of too stout a nature to be broken down by his revelation as many ladies of my acquaintance would have been so far from home and right under the line in the blaze o the sun of the two indeed he was the more wretched and shattered in spirit for he loved her deeply and there being a foreign twist the lady hi in his make had been tempted to this crime by her exceeding beauty against which he had struggled day and night till he had no further resistance left in him it was she who came first to a decision as to what should be done whether a wise one i do not attempt to judge i put it to you says she when many useless self reproaches and on his part had been uttered i put it to you whether if any is left in you you ought not to do exactly what i consider the best thing for me in this strait to which you have reduced me he promised to do anything in the whole world she then requested him to allow her to return and announce him as having died of malignant immediately on their arrival at that she should consequently appear in weeds as his widow in her native place and that he would never her or come again to that part of the world during the whole course of his life a good reason for which would be that the legal consequences might be serious he readily in this as he would have in anything for the of one he adored so deeply even to the yielding of life itself to put her in an immediate state of independence he gave her in bonds and jewels a considerable sum for his worldly means had been in no way exaggerated and by the next ship she sailed again for england having travelled no farther than to at parting he declared a group op noble it to be his intention to turn all his landed possessions into personal property and to be a wanderer on the face of the earth in remorse for his conduct towards her maria duly arrived in england and immediately on landing her uncle of her return duly appearing at his house in the garb of a widow she was by all the neighbors as soon as her story was told but only to her uncle did she reveal the real state of affairs and her reason for concealing it for though she had been innocent of wrong maria s pride was of that grain which could not brook the least appearance of having been or or in her worldly aims for some time she led a quiet life with her relative and in due course a son was born to her she was much respected for her dignity and reserve and the wealth which her temporary husband had made over to her enabled her to live in comfort in a wing of the mansion without assistance from her uncle at all but knowing that she was not what she seemed to be her life was an uneasy one and she often said to herself suppose his continued existence should become known here and people should discern the pride of my motive in hiding my humiliation it would be worse than if i had been frank at first which i should have been but for the credit of this child such grave reflections as these occupied her the lady with increasing force and during their continuance she encountered a worthy man of noble birth and title lord his name whose seat was beyond quite at t other end of he being anxious to pay his addresses to her maria willingly accepted them though he was a plain man older than herself for she discerned in a a method of her position against discoveries in a few months their union took place and | 45 |
maria lifted her head as lady and left with her husband and child for his home as where she was quite unknown a justification or a condemnation of her step according as you view it was seen when not long after she received a note from her former husband it was a hasty and tender and perhaps it was fortunate that it arrived during the temporary absence of lord his worthless wife said had just died in he had gone there to ascertain particulars and had seen the unfortunate woman buried he now was hastening to england to repair the wrong he had done his maria he asked her to meet him at his port of arrival which she need be in no fear of doing as he had changed his name and was almost absolutely unknown in europe he would her immediately and live with her in any part of the continent as they had originally intended where for the great love he a group of noble still bore her he would devote himself to her service for the rest of his days lady self possessed as it was her nature to be was yet much disturbed at this news and set off to meet him as soon as she heard that the ship was in sight as soon as they stood face to face she found that she still possessed all her old influence over him though his power to her had quite departed in his sorrow for his offence against her he had become a man of strict religious habits self denying as a saint though formerly he had been a free and joyous liver having first got him to to make her any amends she should choose which he was imagining must be by a true marriage she informed him that she had already wedded another husband an excellent man of ancient family and possessions who had given her a title in which she much rejoiced at this the countenance of the poor foreign gentleman became cold as clay and his heart withered within him for as it had been her beauty and bearing which had led him to sin to obtain her so now that her beauty was in fuller bloom and her manner more haughty by her success did he feel her fascination to be almost more than he could bear nevertheless having sworn his word he undertook to obey her commands which were simply a renewal of her old request that he would depart for some foreign country and never reveal his existence to her friends or husband or the lady any person in england never trouble her more seeing how great a harm it would do her in the high position which she at present occupied he bowed his head and the child our child r he said he is well says she quite well with this the unhappy gentleman departed much in his heart than on his voyage to england for it had never occurred to him that a woman who her honor so highly as maria had done and who was the mother of a child of his would have adopted such means as this for the restoration of that honor and at so early a date he had fully calculated on making her his wife in law and truth and of living in cheerful unity with her and his offspring for whom he felt a deep and growing tenderness though he had never once seen the child the lady returned to her mansion beyond and told nothing of the interview to her noble husband who had fortunately gone that day to do a little and out by and knew nothing of her movements she had dismissed her poor enough yet she would often after this look in the face of the child of her so called to discover what and how many traits of his father were to be seen in his for this she had ample opportunity during the following autumn and winter months her husband being a matter of fact nobleman who a group of noble spent the greater part of his time in field sports and one winter day when he had started for a meet of the hounds a long way from the house it being his custom to hunt three or four times a week at this season of the year she had walked into the sunshine upon the terrace before the windows where there fell at her feet some little white object that had come over a boundary wall hard by it proved to be a tiny note wrapped round a stone lady opened it and read it and immediately no doubt with a stern of her countenance walked hastily along the terrace and through the door into the whence the note had come the man who had first married her stood under the bushes before her it was plain from his appearance that something had gone wrong with him you notice a change in me my best beloved he said yes maria i have lost all the wealth i once possessed mainly by reckless gambling in the continental to which you banished me but one thing in the world remains to me the child and it is for him that i have here don t fear me darling i shall not inconvenience you long i love you too well but i think of the boy day and night i cannot help it i cannot keep my feeling for him down and i long to see him and speak a word to him once in my lifetime but your oath says she you promised never to reveal by word or sign the lady i will reveal nothing only let me see the child i know what i have sworn to you cruel mistress and i respect my oath otherwise i might have seen | 45 |
s in his play under such he looked in the child s face saw there his wife s countenance though he did not see his own and fell into thought on the of childhood particularly of despised and rejected childhood like this before him from that hour try as he would to the feeling the human necessity to love something or other got the better of what he had called his wisdom and shaped itself in a tender anxiety for the this name had been given him by his dying mother when at her request the child was in her chamber lest he should not survive for public and her husband had never thought of it as a name of any significance till about this time he learned by accident that it was the name of the young of son of the duke of for whom had cherished warm feelings before her marriage some wandering phrases in his wife s last words which he had not understood at the time he perceived er s lady as last that this was the person to whom she had alluded when affording him a to little s history he would sit in silence for hours with the child being no great speaker at the best of but the boy on his part was too ready with his tongue for any break in discourse to arise because had nothing to say after away his mornings in this manner would go to his own room and swear in long loud whispers and walk up and down calling himself the most ridiculous that ever lived and declaring that he would never go near the little fellow again to which resolve he would for the space perhaps of a day such cases are happily not new to human nature but there never was a case in which a man more completely his former self than in this as the child grew up s attachment to him grew deeper till became almost the sole object for which he lived there had been enough of the family ambition latent in him for to feel a little envy when some time before this date his brother edward had been accepted by the honorable daughter of the second of that name and title but having discovered as i have before stated the of his boy to in even a higher of society those envious feelings speedily dispersed indeed the more he reflected after his brother s a group of noble marriage the more content did he become his late wife took softer outline in his memory as he thought of the lofty taste she had displayed though only a plain s daughter and the justification for his weakness in loving the child the justification that he had longed for was afforded now in the knowledge that the boy was by nature if not by name a representative of one of the noblest houses in england she was a woman of grand instincts after all he said to himself proudly to x her choice upon the immediate successor in that line it was finely conceived had he been of low blood like myself or my relations she would scarce have deserved the harsh measure that i have dealt out to her and her offspring how much less then when such tastes were farthest from her soul i the man loved was noble and my boy is noble in spite of me the after clap was inevitable and it soon came so far he reasoned from cutting this child from inheritance of my estates as i have done i should have rejoiced in the possession of him he is of pure stock on one side at least while in the ordinary run of affairs he would have been a to the bone being a man whatever his faults of good old in the divinity of kings and those about em the more he the case in this light the more strongly did his poor wife s conduct in improving the blood and breed of the squire s lady family win his heart he considered what ugly idle hard drinking many of his own relations had been the miserable and that he had numbered among his forefathers and the probability that some of their bad qualities would have come out in a merely child to give him sorrow in his old age turn his black hairs gray his gray hairs white cut down every stick of timber and heaven knows what all had he not like a skilful gardener minded his and changed the sort till at length this right minded man fell down on his knees every night and morning and thanked god that he was not as other descended fathers in such matters it was in the peculiar disposition of the family that the satisfaction which ultimately settled in s breast found nourishment the had adored the nobility and plucked them at the same time that excellent man s feelings about fish were much akin to those of old and of his descendants in a lesser degree concerning the landed aristocracy to torture and to love simultaneously is a proceeding strange to reason but possible to practice as these instances show hence when s brother edward said one day that s son was well enough but that he had nothing but shops and offices in his backward perspective while his own children should he have any would be far differ a of noble ent in possessing such a mother as the honorable felt a bound of triumph within him at the power he possessed of that statement if he chose so much was he interested in his boy in this new aspect that he now began to read up of the illustrious house as the of from their very beginning in the glories of the restoration of the blessed charles till the year of his own time he | 45 |
mentally noted their gifts from of lands purchases and buildings more particularly their political and military achievements which had been great and their performances in arts and letters which had been by no means contemptible he studied prints of the portrait of that family and then like a watching a began to examine young s face for the of those historic curves and shades that the painters and had on canvas when the boy reached the most fascinating age of childhood and his shouts of laughter ran through house from end to end the remorse that oppressed knew no bounds of all people in the world this was the one on whom he could have wished the estates to yet by s own desperate at the time of his birth had been from all inheritance of them and since he did not mean to the s lady would pass to his brother and his brother s children who would be nothing to him whose boasted on one side would be nothing to his s had he only left the first will of his grandfather alone his mind ran on the wills continually both of which were in existence and the first the one in his own possession night after night when the servants were all and the click of safety locks sounded as loud as a crash he looked at that first will and wished it had been the second and not the first the crisis came at last one night after having enjoyed the boy s company for hours he could no longer bear that his beloved should be and he committed the deed of the date of the earlier will to a fortnight later which made its execution appear subsequent to the date of the second will already proved he then boldly the first will as the second his brother edward submitted to what appeared to be not only fact but a far more likely disposition of old s property for like many others he had been much surprised at the defined in the other will having no to their cause he joined his brother in setting aside the hitherto accepted document and matters went on in their usual course there being no dispositions in the a group of noble will from those in the other except such as related to a future which had not yet arrived the years moved on had not yet revealed the anxiously expected historic which should the political abilities of the family when it happened on a certain day that made the acquaintance of a well known physician of who had been the medical adviser and friend of the late mrs s family for many years though after s marriage and consequent removal to he had seen no more of her the neighboring who attended the having then become her doctor as a matter of course was impressed by the insight and knowledge disclosed in the conversation of the physician and the acquaintance to intimacy the physician alluded to a form of to which s mother and grandmother had been subject that of believing in certain dreams as realities he delicately inquired if had ever noticed anything of the sort in his wife during her lifetime he the physician had fancied that he discerned of the same peculiarity in when he attended her in her one explanation another till the was persuaded in his own mind that s confession to him had been based on a delusion squire s lady you look down in the mouth said the doctor pausing a bit tis unexpected like sighed but he could hardly believe it possible and thinking it best to be frank with the doctor told him the whole story which till now he had never related to living man save his dying grandfather to his surprise the physician informed him that such a form of delusion was precisely what he would have expected from s at such a physical crisis in her life his inquiries elsewhere and the of his labors was briefly that a comparison of dates and places showed that his poor wife s assertion could not possibly have foundation in fact the young of her tender passion a highly moral and nobleman had gone abroad the year before s marriage and had not returned until after her death the young girl s love for him had been a delicate ideal dream no more went home and the boy ran out to meet him whereupon a strangely dismal feeling of discontent took possession of his soul after all then there was nothing but blood in the veins of the heir to his name and estates ho was not to be succeeded by a noble natured line to be sure was his son but that glory and he believed him to have inherited from the ages that of his brother s children a group of noble had departed from s brow forever he could no longer read history in the boy s face and centuries of in his eyes his manner towards his son grew colder and colder from that day forward and it was with bitterness of heart that he discerned the characteristic features of the themselves by degrees instead of the elegant nose so typical of the of there began to appear on his face the broad and hollow bridge of his grandfather no illustrious line of was promised a in that blue eye for it was acquiring the expression of the of a particularly objectionable cousin of his own and instead of the mouth curves which had thrilled in speeches now bound in calf in every well ordered library there was the bull lip of that very uncle of his who had had the misfortune with the signature of a gentleman s will and had been transported for life in consequence to think how he himself too had in this same matter of a will | 45 |
for this mere of a wretched old uncle whose very name he wished to forget the boy s christian name even was an and an irony for it implied hereditary force and brilliancy to which he plainly would never attain the consolation of real was always left him certainly but he could not help groaning to himself why s lady cannot a son be one s own and somebody else s likewise the was shortly afterwards in the neighborhood of and met him and eyed his noble countenance the next day when was in his study somebody knocked at the door who s there i ll thee you young say only a poor commonplace his father why didn t you have a voice like the i saw yesterday he continued as the lad came in why haven t you his looks and a way of commanding as if you d done it for centuries hey why how can you expect it father when not related to him i then you ought to be growled his father as the paused the surgeon the colonel the historian the spark and others exclaimed that such subtle and instructive studies as this now that was so much in demand were precisely the tales they desired as members of a scientific club and begged the master to tell another curious mental delusion the shook his head and feared he was not genteel enough to tell another story with a a op noble sufficiently moral tone to it to suit the club he would prefer to leave the next to a better man the colonel had fallen into reflection true it was he observed that the more dreamy and impulsive nature of woman within her fancies which often started her on strange tracks only to abandon them in sharp at the of her common sense sometimes with ludicrous events which had caused a lady s action to set in a particular direction might continue to enforce the same line of conduct while she like a would start on a sudden in a contrary course and end where she began the vice president laughed and applauded the colonel adding that there surely a story somewhere behind that sentiment if he were not much mistaken the colonel fixed his face to a good narrative pose and went on without further dame the seventh s by the colonel it was in the time of the great civil war if i should not rather as a loyal subject call it with the great rebellion it was i say at that unhappy period of our history that towards the autumn of a particular year the parliament forces sat down before castle with over seven thousand foot and four pieces of cannon the castle as we all know was in that century owned and occupied by one of the of and for his assistance by a certain noble who commanded the king s troops in these parts the said earl as well as the young lord his eldest son were away from home just now raising forces for the king elsewhere but there were present in the castle when the arrived before it the son s fair wife lady and her servants together with some friends and near relatives of her husband a group of noble and the defence was so good and well considered that they anticipated no great danger the forces were also commanded by a noble lord for the nobility were by no means at this stage of the war all on the king s side and it had been observed during his approach in the night time and in the morning when the took place that he appeared sad and much depressed the truth was that by a strange of destiny it had come to pass that the he was set to reduce was the home of his own sister whom he had tenderly loved during her and whom he loved now in spite of the which had resulted from with her husband s family he believed too that notwithstanding this cruel division she still was sincerely attached to him his hesitation to point his at the walls was inexplicable to those who were strangers to his family history he remained in the field on the north side of the castle called by his name to this day because of his there till it occurred to him to send a messenger to his sister with a letter in which he earnestly requested her as she valued her life to steal out of the place by the little gate to the south and make away in that direction to the residence of some friends shortly after he saw to his great surprise coming from the front of the castle walls a lady on horseback with a single attendant she rode lady straight forward into the field and up the slope to where his army and tents were spread it was not till she got quite near that he discerned her to be his sister and much was he alarmed that she should have run such risk as to sally out in the face of his forces without knowledge of their proceedings when at any moment their first discharge might have burst forth to her own destruction in such exposure she dismounted before she was quite close to him and he saw that her familiar face though pale was not at all tearful as it would have been in their younger days indeed if the particulars as handed down are to be believed he was in a more tearful state than she in his anxiety about her he called her into his tent out of the gaze of those around for though many of the soldiers were honest and serious minded men he could not bear that she who had been his dear companion in childhood should be exposed to curious observation in this her | 45 |
great grief when they were alone in the tent he clasped her in his arms for he had not seen her since those happier days when at the commencement of the war her husband and himself had been of the same mind about the arbitrary conduct of the king and had little dreamed that they would not go to extremes together she was the of the two it is said and was the first to speak william i have come to you said she but a of noble not to save myself as you suppose why oh why do you persist in supporting this cause and us so say not that he replied hastily if truth hides at the bottom of a well why should you suppose justice to be in high places i am for the right at any price leave the castle you are my sister come away my dear and save thy life never says she do you plan to carry out this attack and level the castle indeed most certainly i do says he what this army around us if not so then you will find the bones of your sister buried in the ruins you cause said she and without another word she turned and left him abide with me he entreated blood is thicker than water and what is there in common between you and your husband now but she shook her head and would not hear him and hastening out mounted her horse and returned towards the castle as she had come aye many s the time when i have been riding to hounds across that field have i thought of that scene i when she had quite gone down the field and over the intervening ground and round the so that he could no longer even see the tip of her mare s white tail he was much more deeply moved by emotions concerning her and her welfare than he had been while she was before him lady he wildly reproached himself that he had not detained her by force for her own good so that come what might she would be under his protection and not under that of her husband whose impulsive nature rendered him too open to impressions and sudden changes of plan he was now acting in this cause and now in that and lacked the cool judgment necessary for the protection of a woman in these troubled times her brother thought of her words again and again and sighed and even considered if a sister were not of more value than a principle and if he would not have acted more naturally in throwing in his lot with hers the delay of the in attacking the castle was said to be entirely owing to this distraction on the part of their leader who remained on the spot attempting some operations and with the then in command with far inferior forces within the castle it never occurred to him that in the mean time the young lady his sister was in much the same mood as himself her brother s familiar voice and eyes much worn and fatigued by keeping the field and by family on account of this unhappy rose upon her vision all the afternoon and as day she grew more and more in her principles though the only arguments which had addressed themselves to her were those of family ties her husband general lord had been a of noble expected to return all the day from his excursion into the east of the county a message having been sent to him informing him of what had happened at home and in the evening he arrived with in unexpected numbers her brother retreated before these to a hill near four or five miles oflf to afford the men and himself some repose lord duly placed his forces and there was no longer any immediate danger by this time lady s feelings were more than ever and in her fancy the countenance of her brother beaten back by her husband seemed to reproach her for when her husband entered her apartment ruddy and boisterous and full of hope she received him but sadly and upon his casually uttering some words about her brother s which seemed to convey an upon his courage she resented them and retorted that he lord himself had been against the court party at first where it would be much more to his credit if he were at present and showing her brother s of opinion instead of supporting the lying policy of the king as she called it for the sake of a barren principle of loyalty which was but an empty expression when a king was not at one with his people the grew bitter between them reaching to little less than a hot quarrel both being souls lord was weary with his long day s lady march and other and soon retired to bed his lady followed some time after her husband slept profoundly but not so she she sat brooding by the window and lifting the curtain looked forth upon the hills without in the silence between the of the she could hear faint sounds of her brother s camp on the distant hills where the had hardly settled as yet into their since their evening s retreat the first of autumn had touched the grass and the more delicate leaves of the and she thought of william sleeping on the chilly ground under the strain of these hardships tears her eyes as she returned to her husband s upon his courage as if there could be any doubt of lord william s courage after what he had done in the past days lord s long and in his comfortable bed vexed her now and she came to a determination on an impulse hastily lighting a she wrote on a scrap of paper is thicker than water dear | 45 |
the ancient and family of the or now extinct in the male line whose name according to the local was interpreted to mean though certain members of the family were averse to the latter and a was fought by one of them on the lady that account as is well known with this however we are not now concerned in the early part of the reign of the first king james there was visiting near this place of the a lady of noble family and extraordinary beauty she was of the purest descent ah there s seldom such blood nowadays as hers she possessed no great wealth it was said but was sufficiently endowed her beauty was so perfect and her manner so that seemed to spring out of the ground wherever she went a sufficient cause of anxiety to the her mother her only living parent of these there were three in particular whom neither her mother s complaints of nor the ready of the maiden herself could effectually put off the said were a certain sir john gale a sir william and the well known sir george one of the family before mentioned they had curiously enough all been equally honored with the distinction of and their schemes for seeing her were manifold each fearing that one of the others would steal a march over himself not content with calling on every imaginable excuse at the house of the relative with whom she they her in rides and in walks and if any one of them chanced to surprise another in the act of paying her marked attentions the encounter often ended in an of great violence so heated and impassioned in a of noble deed would they become that the lady hardly felt herself safe in their company at such times notwithstanding that she was a brave and not easily put out and with a daring spirit of humor in her composition if not of at one of these which had taken place in her relative s grounds and was unusually bitter threatening to result in a she found it necessary to assert herself turning upon the pair of she declared that whichever should be the first to break the peace between them no matter what the provocation that man should never be admitted to her presence again and thus would she effectually the by making the promotion of a quarrel a distinct bar to its object while the two knights were wearing rather a appearance at her the third never far off came upon the scene and she repeated her to him also seeing then how great was the concern of all at her mood the lady s manner softened as she said with a smile have patience have patience you foolish men only bide your time quietly and in faith i will marry you all in turn they laughed heartily this sally all three together as though they were the best of friends at which she blushed and showed some embarrassment not having realized that her arch jest would have sounded so strange when uttered the lady the meeting which resulted thus however had its good effect in checking the bitterness of their and they repeated her speech to their relatives and acquaintance with a and that the lady little divined or she might have blushed and felt more embarrassment still in the course of time the position resolved itself and the lady as she was called made up her mind her choice being the eldest of the three knights sir george owner of the mansion which thereupon became her home and her husband being a pleasant man and his family though not so noble of as good as her own all things seemed to show that she had reckoned wisely in him with her preference but what may lie behind the still and silent veil of the future none can in the course of a few months the husband of her choice died of his as if indeed to bear out his name and the lady was left alone as mistress of his house by this time she had apparently quite forgotten her careless declaration to her lovers but the lovers themselves had not forgotten it and as she would now be free to take a second one of them sir john gale appeared at her door as early in the as it was proper and to do so she gave him little encouragement for of the two remaining her best beloved was sir william a of of whom if the truth must be told she had often thought during her short married life but ho had not yet reappeared her heart began to be so much with him now that she contrived to convey to him by hints through his friends that she would not be displeased by a renewal of his former attentions sir william however her gentle and from excellent though mistaken motives of delicacy delayed to intrude himself upon her for a long time meanwhile sir john now created a was and she began to grow somewhat at the of him she secretly desired to be forward never mind her friends said to her knowing of her humorous remark as everybody did that she would marry them all three if they would have patience never mind why hesitate upon the order of them take em as they come this vexed her still more and deeply as she had often done that such a careless speech should ever have passed her lips she fairly broke down under sir john s and accepted his hand they were married on a fine spring morning about the very time at which the unfortunate sir william discovered her preference for him and was beginning to hasten home from a foreign court to declare his devotion to her on his arrival in england he learned the sad truth the lady if sir william suffered at | 45 |
her under what she had deemed his neglect the lady herself suffered more she had not long been the wife of sir john gale before he showed a disposition to upon her for the trouble and delay she had put him to in winning her with increasing he would tell her that as far as he could perceive she was an article not worth such labor as he had bestowed in obtaining it and such as he had taken from his rivals on the same account these and other cruel things he repeated till he made the lady weep sorely and broke her spirit though she had formerly been such a dame by degrees it became perceptible to all her friends that her life was a very unhappy one and the fate of the fair woman seemed yet the harder in that it was her own stately mansion left to her sole use by her first husband which her second had entered into and was enjoying his being but a mean and meagre but such is the of friends that when she met them and secretly confided her grief to their ears they would say cheerily lord never mind my dear there s a third to come yet at which remark she would show much indignation and tell them they should know better than to trifle on so solemn a theme yet that the poor lady would have been only too happy to be the wife of the third instead of sir john whom she had taken was painfully obvious and much a of she was blamed for her foolish choice by some people sir william however had returned to foreign cities on learning the news of her marriage and had never been heard of since two or three years of suffering were passed by lady as the despised and wife of this man sir john amid regrets that she had so greatly mistaken him and sighs for one whom she thought never to see again till it chanced that her husband fell sick of some slight one day after this when she was sitting in his room looking from the window upon the expanse in front she beheld approaching the house on foot a form she seemed to know well lady withdrew silently from the sick room and descended to the hall whence through the door way she saw entering between the two round towers which at that time the gate way sir william as she had but looking thin and travel worn she advanced into the to meet him i was passing through he said with faltering deference and i walked out to ask after your s health i felt that i could do no less and of course to pay my respects to your good husband my heretofore acquaintance but oh th st look sick and sorry i am heart sick that s all said she they could see in each other an emotion which neither wished to express and they stood thus a long time with tears in their eyes the lady he does not treat ee well i hear said sir william in a low voice may god in heaven forgive him but it is asking a great deal hush hush said she hastily nay but i will speak what i may honestly say he answered i am not under your roof and my tongue is free why not wait for me or send to me a more letter i would have travelled night and day to come too late william you must not ask it said she to quiet him as in old times my husband just now is he will grow better in a day or two maybe you must call again and see him before you leave as she said this their eyes met each was thinking of her words about taking the three men in turn each thought that two thirds of that promise had been fulfilled but as if it were unpleasant to her that this recollection should have arisen she spoke again quickly come again in a day or two when my husband will be well enough to see you sir william departed without entering the house and she returned to sir john s chamber he rising from his pillow said to whom hast been talking wife in the court yard i heard voices there she hesitated and he repeated the question more impatiently i do not wish to tell you now said she but i know said he a group of noble then she answered sir william by g y i thought as much cried sir john drops of perspiration standing on his white face a villain a sick man s ears are keen my lady i heard that they were lover like tones and he called ee by your christian name these be your my lady when i am off my legs a while on my honor cried she you do me a wrong i swear i did not know of his coming swear as you will said sir john i don t believe ee and with this he her and worked himself into a greater passion which much increased his illness his lady sat still brooding there was that upon her face which had seldom been there since her marriage and she seemed to think anew of what she had so lightly said in the days of her freedom when her lovers were one and all her hand i began at the wrong end of them she murmured my that did i what said he a trifle said she i spoke to myself only it was somewhat strange that after this day while she went about the house with even a face than usual her husband grew worse and what was more to the surprise of all though to the regret of few he died a fortnight later sir william had not called upon | 45 |
for her husband s departure occurred to her appalled mind and a loss of health became quickly ap the lady parent she thin in the face and the veins in her temples could all be distinctly traced an inner fire seemed to be withering her away her rings fell off her fingers and her arms hung like the of the though they had till lately been so round and so elastic she wrote to her husband repeatedly begging him to return to her but he being in extreme and wretched doubt moreover knowing nothing of her and never suspecting that the had reached her deemed absence best and postponed his return a while giving various good reasons for his delay at length however when the lady had given birth to a still born child her mother the addressed a letter to sir william him to come back to her if he wished to see her alive since she was wasting away of some mysterious disease which seemed to be rather mental than physical it was evident that his mother in law knew nothing of the secret for she lived at a distance but sir william promptly hastened home and stood beside the bed of his now dying wife believe me william she said when they were alone i am innocent innocent of what said he heaven forbid that i should accuse you of anything but you do accuse me silently she gasped i could not write and ask you to hear me it was too much too degrading but would a of that i had been less proud they suspect me of him william i but oh my dear husband i am innocent of that wicked crime he died naturally i loved you too soon but that was all nothing availed to save her the worm had too far into her heart before sir william s return for anything to be now and in a few weeks she breathed her last after her death the people spoke louder and her conduct became a subject of public discussion a little later on the physician who had attended the late sir john heard the and came down from the place near london to which he had retired with the express purpose of calling upon sir william now staying in he stated that at the request of a relative of sir john s who wished to be assured on the matter by reason of its suddenness he had with the assistance of a surgeon made a private examination of sir john s body immediately after his and found that it had resulted from purely natural causes nobody at this time had breathed a suspicion of foul play and therefore nothing was said which might afterwards have established her innocence it being thus placed beyond doubt that this beautiful and noble lady had been done to death by a vile scandal that was wholly her husband was stung with a dreadful remorse at the share he had taken in her misfortunes and left the lady the country anew this time never to return alive he survived her but a few years and his body was brought home and buried beside his wife s under the tomb which is still visible in the parish church until lately there was a good portrait of her in weeds for her first husband with a cross in her hand at the seat of her family where she was much pitied as she deserved to be yet there were some severe enough to say and these not unjust persons in other respects that though unquestionably innocent of the crime to her she had shown an in three marriages in such rapid succession that the suspicion might have been ordered by providence who often works indirectly as a punishment for her self indulgence upon that point i have no opinion to offer the reverend the vice president however the tale being ended offered as his opinion that her fate ought to be quite clearly recognized as a punishment so thought the church and also the quiet gentleman sitting near the latter knew many other instances in point one of which could be in a few words dame the ninth ot by the quiet gentleman some fifty years ago the then duke of fifth of that title was the head man in his county and particularly in the neighborhood of he came of the ancient and loyal family of which before its had numbered many and in its male line it would have occupied a county historian a whole afternoon to take of the numerous and devices to their memory on the and altar in the aisle of the parish church the duke himself however was a man little attracted by ancient in stone and metal even when they concerned his own he allowed his mind to linger by preference on the many and pleasures which his position placed at his command he could on oc the of close the mouths of his by a good like oath and he argued with the parson on the virtues of cock fighting and the bull this nobleman s personal appearance was somewhat impressive his complexion was that of the tree his frame was though slightly stooping his mouth was large and he carried an as his walking stick except when he carried a for cutting up any he encountered on his walks his castle stood in the midst of a park surrounded by dusky elms except to the southward and when the moon shone out the gleaming stone fa backed by heavy boughs was visible from the distant high road as a white spot on the surface of darkness though called a castle the building was little fortified and had been erected with greater eye to internal convenience than those places of defence to which the name strictly it was a mansion as regular as a | 45 |
her for her folly in thinking of that milk and water parson but as time went on his charges took a more positive shape he would not believe her assurance that she had in a group of no way communicated with her former lover nor he with her since their parting in the presence of her father this led to some strange scenes between them which need not be detailed their result was soon to take a shape one dark quiet evening about two months after the marriage a man entered the gate admitting from the highway to the park and avenue which ran up to the house he arrived within two hundred yards of the walls when he left the drive and drew near to the castle by a path leading into a here he stood still in a few minutes the strokes of the castle clock and then a female figure entered the same secluded nook from an opposite direction there the two indistinct persons leaped together like a pair of on a leaf and then they stood apart facing each other the woman looking down you begged me to come and here i am heaven forgive me said the man hoarsely you are going to she said in broken accents i have heard of it you sail from in three days in the western glory yes i can live in england no longer life is as death to me here says he my life is even worse worse than death death would not have driven me to this extremity listen i have sent for you to beg to go with you or at least to be near the op you to do anything so that it be not to stay here to go away with me he said in a startled tone yes yes or under your direction or by your help in some way don t be at me you must bear with me while i it nothing short of cruelty would have driven me to this i could have borne my doom in silence had i been left but he me and i shall soon be in the grave if i cannot escape to his shocked inquiry how her husband tortured her the said that it was by jealousy he tries to from me concerning you she said and will not believe that i have not communicated with you since my engagement to him was settled by my father and i was forced to agree to it the poor said that this was the heaviest news of all he has not personally ill used you he asked yes she whispered what has he done she looked fearfully around and said sobbing in trying to make me confess to what i have never done he plans i dare not describe for me into a weak state so that i may own to anything i i resolved to write to you as i had no other friend she added with dreary irony i thought i would give him some ground for his suspicion so as not to disgrace his judgment a group of noble do you really mean he inquired that you that you want to fly with me can you think that i would act otherwise than in earnest at such a time at this he was silent for a minute or more you must not go with me he said why it would be sin it cannot be sin for i have never wanted to commit sin in my life and it isn t likely i would begin now when i pray every day to die and be sent to heaven out of my misery but it is wrong all the same is it wrong to run away from the fire that you it would look wrong at any rate in this case take me i you she burst out it is not right in general i know but it is such an exceptional instance this why has such a severe strain been put upon me i was doing no harm no one helping many people and expecting happiness yet trouble came can it be that god holds me in derision i had no i gave way and now my life is a burden and a shame to me oh if you only knew how much to me this request to you is how my life is wrapped up in it you could not deny me this is almost beyond endurance heaven tub of support us he groaned you are the of the duke of s wife you must not go with me and am i then refused oh am i refused she cried do you say it indeed to me yes i do dear tender heart i do most sadly say it you must not go forgive me for there is no alternative but refusal though i die though you die we must not fly together it is forbidden in god s law good bye for always and ever he tore himself away hastened from the and vanished among the trees three days after this meeting and farewell his soft handsome features stamped with a haggard hardness that ten years of ordinary wear and tear in the world could scarcely have produced sailed from on a morning in the passenger ship glory when the land had faded behind him he mechanically endeavored to school himself into a frame of mind his attempt backed up by the strong moral staying power that had enabled him to resist the passionate temptation to which in her reckless had exposed him was rewarded by a certain kind of success though the murmuring stretch of waters whereon he gazed day after day too often seemed to be to him in tones of her well remembered voice a group of noble he framed on his journey rules of conduct | 45 |
for to mild proportions the feverish regrets which would occasionally arise and him when he indulged in visions of what might have been had he not to the whispers of conscience he fixed his thoughts for so many hours a day on philosophical passages in the volumes he had brought with him allowing himself now and then a few minutes thought of with the strict yet reluctant of an the rank drinks that cause his malady the voyage was marked by the usual incidents of a sailing passage in those days a storm a calm a man overboard a birth and a funeral the latter sad event being one in which he as the only clergyman on board reading the service ordained for the purpose the ship duly arrived at boston early in the month following and thence he proceeded to providence to seek out a distant relative after a short stay at providence he returned again to boston and by applying himself to a serious occupation made good progress in shaking off the dreary melancholy which enveloped him even now distracted and weakened in his by his recent experiences he decided that he could not for a time fill the office of a minister of religion and applied for the of a school some given him before starting were useful now and he soon became known as a respectable scholar and gentle the of man to the of one of the this ultimately led to his retirement from the school and in the college as professor of and here and thus he lived on himself solely because of a conscientious determination to do his duty he passed his winter evenings in turning and often giving his thoughts voice in lines to an unfortunate lady while his summer leisure at the same hour would be spent in watching the shadows from his window and comparing them with the shades of his own life ii he walked he mentally inquired which was the eastern quarter of the landscape and thought of the miles of water that way and of what was beyond it in a word he was at all spare times dreaming of her who was only a memory to him and would probably never be more nine years passed by and under their wear and tear hill s face lost a great many of the attractive characteristics which had formerly distinguished it he was kind to his pupils and to all who came in contact with him but the of his life his secret was kept as shut up as though he had been dumb in talking to his acquaintances of england and his life there he omitted the episode of castle and as if it had no existence in his at all though of towering importance to himself it had filled but a short and a of noble small fragment of time an season which would have been even to him at this distance but for the incident it one day at this date when glancing over an old english newspaper he observed a paragraph which short as it was contained for him whole of thrilling information rung with more passion stirring than the collected of all the poets it was an announcement of the death of the duke of leaving behind him a widow but no children the current of s thoughts now completely changed on looking again at the newspaper he found it to be one that was sent him long ago and had been carelessly thrown aside but for an accidental of the waste journals in his study he might not have known of the event for years at this moment of reading the duke had already been dead seven months could now no longer bind himself down to machine made and climax being full of spontaneous specimens of all these forms which he dared not utter who shall wonder that his mind in dreams of a sweet possibility now laid open for the first time these many years for was to him now as ever the one dear thing in all the world the issue of his silent was that he resolved to return to her at the very earliest moment the of but he could not abandon his professional work on the instant he did not get really quite free from engagements till four months later but though suffering of impatience continually he said to himself every day if she has continued to love me nine years she will love me ten she will think the more tenderly of me when her present hours of solitude shall have done their proper work old times will revive with the of her recent experience and every day will favor my return the enforced interval soon passed and he duly arrived in england reaching the village of on a certain winter day between twelve and thirteen months subsequent to the time of the duke s death it was evening yet such was s impatience that he could not forbear taking this very night one look at the castle which had entered as unhappy mistress ten years before he the park trees gazed in passing at well known outlines which rose against the dim sky and was soon interested in observing that lively country people in parties of two and three were walking before and behind him up the avenue to the castle gate way knowing himself to be safe from recognition inquired of one of these what was going on her grace gives her a ball to night to keep up the old custom of the duke and his a group of noble father before him which she does not wish to change indeed has she lived here entirely alone since the duke s death quite alone but though she doesn t receive company herself she likes the village people to enjoy themselves and often has em here kind hearted as always thought | 45 |
on reaching the castle he found that the great gates at the s entrance were thrown back against the wall as if they were never to be closed again that the passages and rooms in that wing were brilliantly lighted up some of the numerous candles down over the green leaves which decorated them and upon the silk dresses of the happy farmers wives as they passed beneath each on her husband s arm found no difficulty in marching in along with the rest the castle being liberty hall tonight he stood unobserved in a corner of the large apartment where dancing was about to begin her grace though hardly out of mourning will be sure to come down and lead off the dance with neighbor said one who is neighbor asked an old man she respects much the oldest of her tenant farmers he was seventy eight his last birthday ah to be sure said at his ease i remember the dancers formed in line and waited a the op door opened at the farther end of the hall and a lady in black silk came forth she bowed smiled and proceeded to the top of the dance who is that lady said in a puzzled tone i thought you told me that the of that is the said his but there is another no there is no other but she is not the of who used to s tongue stuck to his mouth he could get no further what s the matter said his acquaintance had retired and was supporting himself against the wall the wretched murmured something about a in his side from walking then the music struck up the dance went on and his neighbor became so interested in watching the movements of this strange through its as to forget for a while it gave him an opportunity to brace himself up he was a man who had suffered and he could suffer again how came that person to be your he asked in a firm distinct voice when he had attained complete self command where is her other grace of there certainly was another i know it oh the previous one yes yes she ran away years and years ago with the young mr hill was the young man s name if i recollect a group of noble no she never did what do you mean by that he said yes she certainly ran away she met the in the about a couple of months after her marriage with the duke there were folks who saw the meeting and heard some words of their talk they arranged to go and she sailed from with him a day or two afterwards that s not true then tis the lie ever told by man her father believed and knew to his dying day that she went with him and so did the duke and everybody about here aye there was a fine upset about it at the time the duke traced her to traced her to he traced her to and set on his and they found that she went to the shipping office and inquired if mr hill had entered his name as passenger by the western glory and when she found that he had she herself for the same ship but not in her real name when the vessel had sailed a letter reached the duke from her telling him what she had done she never came back here again his grace lived by himself a number of years and married this lady only twelve months before he died was in a state of indescribable ment but as he was he called the the of next day on the to him of at first she was alarmed at his statement then cold then she was won over by his condition to give confidence for confidence she showed him a letter which had been found among the papers of the late duke what s had detailed it was from bearing the date at which the western glory sailed and briefly stated that she had by that ship to america applied himself body and mind to the remainder of the mystery the story repeated to him was always the same she ran away with the a strangely piece of intelligence was added to this when he had pushed his inquiries a little further there was given him the name of a at who had come forward at the time that she was missed and sought for by her husband and had stated that he put her on board the western glory at dusk one evening before that vessel sailed after several days of search about the and of during which these impossible words she ran off with the became on his brain found this important he was positive as to the truth of his story still remembering the incident well and he described in detail the lady s dress as he had long ago described it to her husband which description a group op noble in every particular with the dress worn by on the evening of their parting before proceeding to the other side of the atlantic to continue his inquiries there the puzzled and distracted set himself to ascertain the address of captain who had commanded the western glory in the year of s voyage out and immediately wrote a letter to him on the subject the only circumstances which the sailor could recollect or discover from his papers in connection with such a story were that a woman bearing the name which had mentioned as certainly did come aboard for a voyage he made about that time that she took a common berth among the poorest that she died on the voyage out at about five days sail from that she seemed a lady in manners and education why she had not applied for a first class why she had | 45 |
no trunks they could not guess for though she had little money in her pocket she had that about her which would have fetched it we buried her at sea continued the captain a young parson one of the cabin passengers read the burial service over her i remember well the whole scene and proceedings darted upon s recollection in a moment it was a fine morning on that long past voyage out and he had been told that they were running at the rate of a hundred and odd miles a day the the of news went round that one of the poor young women in the other part of the vessel was ill of fever and the tidings caused no little alarm among the passengers for the conditions of the ship were anything but satisfactory shortly after this the doctor announced that she had died then had learned that she was laid out for burial in great haste because of the danger that would have been incurred by delay and next the funeral scene rose before him and the prominent part that he had taken in that solemn ceremony the captain had come to him him to as there was no on board this he had agreed to do and as the sun went down with a blaze in his face he read amid them all assembled we therefore commit her body to the deep to be turned into corruption looking for the of the body when the sea shall give up her dead the captain also forwarded the addresses of the ship s matron and of other persons who had been engaged on board at the date to these went in the course of time a description of the clothes of the dead the color of her hair and other things extinguished forever all hope of a mistake in identity at last then the course of events had become clear on that unhappy evening when he left in the forbidding her to follow him because it would be a sin she must have she must have followed at his a group of noble heels silently through the darkness like a poor pet animal that will not be driven back she could have accumulated nothing for the journey more than she might have carried in her hand and thus poorly provided she must have embarked her intention had doubtless been to make her presence on board known to him as soon as she could muster courage to do so thus the ten years chapter of hill s romance wound itself up under his eyes that the poor young woman in the had been the young of was never publicly disclosed hill had no longer any reason for remaining in england and soon after left its shores with no intention to return previous to his departure he confided his story to an old friend from his native town grandfather of the person who now relates it to you a few members including the seemed to be impressed by the quiet gentleman s tale but the member we have called the spark who by the way was getting somewhat tinged with the light of other days and owned to eight and who walked about the room instead of sitting down by the fire with the majority and said that for his part he preferred something more lively than the last story something in which such long separated lovers were ultimately united he also liked stories that were the op more modern in their date of action than those he had heard to day members immediately requested him to give them a specimen to which the spark replied that he didn t mind as far as that went and though the vice president the man of family the colonel and others looked at their watches and said they must soon retire to their respective quarters in the hotel adjoining they all decided to sit out the spark s story dame the tenth by the spark it was a cold and gloomy christmas eve the mass of cloud overhead was almost to such daylight as still lingered the snow lay several inches deep upon the ground and the which still went on threatened to considerably increase its thickness before the morning the prospect hotel a building standing near the wild north coast of lower looked so lonely and so useless at such a time as this that a passing would have been led to forget summer possibilities and to wonder at the commercial courage which could invest capital on the basis of the popular taste for the picturesque in a country subject to such dreary phases that the district was alive with visitors in august seemed but a dim tradition in weather so totally opposed to all that mankind from home however there the hotel the stood immovable and the cliffs and which were the attractions of the spot rising in full view on the opposite side of the valley were now but stern outlines while the in front was tinged over with a rather than the gray that in summer lent such beauty to its appearance within the hotel commanding this outlook the landlord walked idly about with his hands in his pockets not in the least expectant of a visitor and yet unable to settle down to any occupation which should in some degree for the losses that winter idleness on his regular profession so little indeed was anybody expected that the coffee room waiter a genteel boy whose buttons in summer were as close together upon the front of his short jacket as peas in a now appeared in the back yard into the shape of a rough country lad in and boots sweeping the snow away and talking the local dialect in all its purity quite of the new polite accent he had learned in the hot weather from the well behaved visitors | 45 |
the front door was closed and as if to express still more fully the sealed and state of the establishment a sand bag was placed at the bottom to keep out the snow drift the wind setting in directly from that quarter the landlord entering his own parlor walked a of noble to the large fire which it was absolutely necessary to keep up for his comfort no such blaze burning in the coffee room or elsewhere and after giving it a stir returned to a table in the whereon lay the visitors book now closed and pushed back against the wall he carelessly opened it not a name had been entered there since the th of the previous november and that was only the name of a man who had arrived on a who indeed had not been asked to enter at all while he was engaged thus the evening grew darker but before it was yet too dark to distinguish objects upon the road winding round the back of the cliffs the landlord perceived a black spot on the distant white which speedily enlarged itself and drew near the were that this vehicle for a vehicle of some sort it seemed to be would pass by and pursue its way to the nearest railway town as others had done but contrary to the landlord s expectation as he stood it through the yet windows the solitary object on reaching the comer turned into the hotel front and drove up to the door it was a conveyance particularly to such a season and weather being nothing more substantial than an open basket carriage drawn by a single horse within sat two persons of different sexes as could soon be discerned in spite of their muffled attire the man held the reins and the lady had got some shelter from the storm the honorable by clinging close to his side the landlord rang the s bell to attract the attention of the stable man for the approach of the visitors had been to by the snow and when the had come to the horse s head the gentleman and lady alighted the landlord meeting them in the hall the male stranger was a foreign looking individual of about eight and twenty he was close shaven excepting a his features being good and even handsome the lady who stood timidly behind him seemed to be much younger possibly not more than eighteen though it was difficult to judge either of her age or appearance in her present the gentleman expressed his wish to stay till the morning explaining somewhat considering that the house was an inn that they had been unexpectedly on their drive such a welcome being given them as can give in dull times the latter ordered fires in the drawing and coffee rooms and went ho the boy in the yard who soon himself up dragged his jacket from its box polished the buttons with his sleeve and appeared civilized in the hall the lady was shown into a room where she could take off her snow garments which she sent down to be dried her companion meanwhile putting a couple of sovereigns on the table as if anxious to make everything smooth and comfortable at starting and request a group of ing that a private sitting room might be got ready the landlord assured him that the best up stairs parlor usually public should be kept private this evening and sent the maid to light the candles dinner was prepared for them and at the gentleman s desire served in the same apartment where the young lady having joined him they were left to the rest and refreshment they seemed to need that something was peculiar in the relations of the pair had more than once struck the landlord though wherein that peculiarity lay it was hard to decide but that his guest was one who paid his way readily had been proved by his conduct and conjectures he turned to practical about nine o clock he re entered the hall and everything being done for the day again walked up and down occasionally gazing through the glass door at the prospect without to ascertain how the weather was contrary to snow had ceased falling and with the rising of the moon the sky had partially cleared light of cloud drifting across the silvery there was every sign that a frost was going to set in later on for these reasons the distant rising road was even more distinct now between its high banks than it had been in the declining daylight not a track or broke the virgin surface of the white mantle that lay along it all marks left by the lately arrived thb having been speedily by the falling at the time and now the landlord beheld by the light of the moon a sight very similar to that he had seen by the light of day again a black spot was advancing down the road that the coast he was in a moment or two enabled to perceive that the present vehicle moved onward at a more headlong pace than the little carriage which had preceded it next that it was a drawn by two powerful horses next that this carriage like the former one was bound for the hotel door this desirable feature of resemblance caused the landlord to once more withdraw the sand bag and advance into the porch an old gentleman was the first to alight he was followed by a young one and both came forward has a young lady less than nineteen years of age recently arrived here in the company of a man some years her senior asked the old gentleman in haste a man shaven for the most part having the appearance of an and calling himself we have had lately said the landlord in the tone of having had | 45 |
after all early enough to deliver you if it had not been for the of your cousin captain who on my discovering your flight this morning offered with a for which i can never sufficiently thank him to accompany me on my journey as the only male relative i have near me come do you hear put on your things we are off at once i don t want to go the young lady i dare say you don t replied her father but children never know what s best for them so come along and trust to my opinion was silent and did not move the opera gentleman looking helplessly into the fire and the lady s cousin sitting calm as the single one of the four whose position enabled him to survey the whole with the cool criticism of a comparative i say to you as the father of a daughter under age that you instantly come with me what would you compel me to use physical force to you i don t want to return again declared it is your duty to return nevertheless and at once i inform you i don t want to now dear this is what i say return with me and your cousin james quietly like a thb good and girl and nothing will be said nobody knows what has happened as yet and if we start at once we shall be home before it is light to morrow morning come i am not obliged to come at your bidding father and i would rather not now james the cousin during this dialogue might have been observed to grow somewhat restless and even impatient more than once he had parted his lips to speak but second thoughts each time held him back the moment had come however when he could keep silence no longer come madam he spoke out this farce with your father has in my opinion gone on long enough just make no more and step downstairs with us she gave herself an little twist and did not reply by the lord harry i won t stand this he said angrily come get on your things before i come and compel you there is a kind of to which this talk is child s play come madam instantly i say the old nobleman turned to his nephew and said mildly leave me to insist james it doesn t become you i can speak to her sharply enough if i choose james however did not heed his uncle and went on to the troublesome young woman you say you don t want to come indeed a pretty story to tell me that come march out of the a group of room at once and leave that fellow for me to deal witli afterwards get on quickly come and he advanced towards her as if to pull her by the hand nay nay s father much surprised at his nephew s sudden you take too much upon yourself leave her to me i won t leave her to you any longer you have no right james to address either me or her in this way so just hold your tongue come my dear i have every right insisted how do you make that out i have the right of a husband whose husband hers what she s my wife james well to cut a long story short i may say that she secretly married me in spite of your s about three months ago and i must add that though she cooled down rather quickly everything went on smoothly enough between us for some time in spite of the awkwardness of meeting only by we were only waiting for a convenient moment to break the news to you when this idle turned up and after her mind against me brought her into this disgrace here the who had sat in rather i the an abstracted and attitude till the cousin made his declaration fired up and cried i declare before heaven that till this moment i never knew she was a wife i found her in her father s house an unhappy girl unhappy as i believe because of the loneliness and of that establishment and the want of society and for nothing else whatever what this statement about her being your wife means i am quite at a loss to understand are you indeed married to him nodded from within her tearful handkerchief it was because of my position in being privately married to him she sobbed that i was unhappy at home and and i didn t like him so well as i did at first and i wished i could get out of the mess i was in and then i saw you a few times and when you said we ll run off i thought i saw a way out of it all and then i agreed to come with you oo oo well well well and is this true murmured the bewildered old nobleman staring from james to and from to james as if he fancied they might be of the imagination is this then james the secret of your kindness to your old uncle in helping him to find his daughter good heavens what further depths of are there left for a man to learn i have married her uncle as i said answered james coolly the deed is done and can t be undone by talking here where were you married a of noble at st mary s when on september during the she was there who married you i don t know one of the we were quite strangers to the place so instead of my assisting you to recover her you may as well assist me never never said lord madam and sir i beg to tell you that i wash my hands of | 45 |
the whole affair if you are man and wife as it seems you are get reconciled as best you may i have no more to say or do with either of you i leave you in the hands of your husband and much joy may you bring him though the situation i own is not encouraging saying this the indignant speaker pushed back his chair against the table with such force that the rocked on their and left the room s wet eyes from one of the young men to the other who now stood glaring face to face and being much frightened at their aspect slipped out of the room after her father him however she could hear going out of the front door and not knowing where to take shelter she crept into the darkness of an adjoining bedroom and there awaited events with a heart meanwhile the two men remaining in the sitting room drew nearer to each other and the thb honorable opera singer broke the silence by saying how could you insult me in the way you did calling me a fellow and me of her mind towards you when you knew very well i was as ignorant of your relation to her as an babe oh yes you were quite ignorant i can believe that readily sneered s husband i here call heaven to witness that i never knew the excellent and the tone well sustained is it likely that any man could win the confidence of a young fool her age and not get that out of her preposterous tell it to the most improved new pit captain your are as as your wretched person cried the losing all patience and springing forward he the captain in the face with the palm of his hand but slightly and calmly using his handkerchief to learn if his nose was bleeding said i quite expected this insult so i came prepared and he drew forth from a black which he carried in his hand a small case of pistols the started at the unexpected sight but recovering from his surprise said very well as you will though perhaps his tone showed a slight want of confidence now continued the husband quite a of noble we want no parade no nonsense you know therefore we ll dispense with seconds the slightly nodded do you know this part of the country well cousin james went on in the same cool and still manner if you don t i do quite at the bottom of the rocks out there just beyond the stream which falls over them to the shore is a smooth sandy space not so much shut in as to be out of the moonlight and the way down to it from this side is over steps cut in the cliff and we can find our way down without trouble we we two will find our way down but only one of us will find his way up you understand quite then suppose we start the sooner it is over the better we can order supper before we go out supper for two for though we are three at present three yes you and i and she oh yes we shall be only two by and by so that as i say we will order supper for two for the lady and a gentleman whichever comes back alive will tap at her door and call her in to share the with him she s not off the premises but we must not alarm her now and above all things we must not let the inn people see us go out it would look so odd for two to go out and only one come in ha ha the ha ha exactly are you ready quite then i ll lead the way he went softly to the door and down stairs ordering supper to be ready in an hour as he had said then making a of returning to the room again he beckoned to the singer and together they slipped out of the house by a side door the sky was now quite clear and the of the which had borne away s father lord remained distinctly visible soon the verge of the down was reached the captain leading the way and the following silently casting glances at his companion and beyond him at the scene ahead in due course they arrived at the chasm in the which formed the water fall the outlook here was wild and picturesque in the extreme and fully justified the many praises paintings and views to which the had given birth what in summer was green and gray was now rendered weird and fantastic by the snow from their feet the plunged downward almost to a depth of eighty or a hundred feet before finally losing itself in the sand and though the stream was but small its upon rocks in its descent divided it into a a of hundred and that sent a mist into the upper air a few had been frozen into but the centre flowed on the artist looked down as he halted but his thoughts were plainly not of the beauty of the scene his companion with the pistols was immediately in front of him and there was no hand rail on the side of the path towards the chasm obeying a quick impulse he stretched out his arm and with a thrust sent s husband over a whirling human shape downward in the moon s rays farther and farther towards a upon the projecting of rock at first louder and heavier than that of the brook and then scarcely to be distinguished from it then a then the of the stream as before and the accompanying murmur of the sea were all the incidents that disturbed the customary | 45 |
flow of the little water fall the singer waited in a fixed attitude for a few minutes then turning he rapidly his steps over the intervening towards the road and in less than a quarter of an hour was at the door of the hotel slipping quietly in as the clock struck ten he said to the landlord over the bar the bill as soon as you can let me have it including charges for the supper that was ordered though we cannot stay to eat it i am sorry to the say he added with forced the lady s father and cousin have thought better of the marriage and after quarrelling with each other have gone home well done sir said the landlord who still sided with this customer in preference to those who had given trouble and barely paid for the horses love will find out the way as the saying is wish you joy sir went up stairs and on entering the sitting room found that had crept out from the dark adjoining chamber in his absence she looked up at him with eyes red from weeping and with symptoms of alarm what is it where is he she said captain has gone back he says he will have no more to do with you and i am quite abandoned by them and they ll forget me and nobody care about me any more she began to cry afresh but it is the thing that could have happened all is just as it was before they came disturbing us but you ought to have told me about that private marriage though it is all the same now it will be dissolved of course you are a a widow it is no use to reproach me for what is past what am i to do now we go at once to cliff martin the horse has rested thoroughly these last three hours and he a group of noble will have no difficulty in doing an additional miles we shall be there before twelve and there are late in the place no doubt there we ll sell both horse and carriage to morrow morning and go by the coach to once in the train we are safe i agree to anything she said in about ten minutes the horse was put in the bill paid the lady s dried put round her and the journey resumed when about a mile on their way they saw a glimmering light in advance of them i wonder what that is said the whose manner had become nervous every sound and sight causing him to turn his head it is only a said she that light is the lamp kept burning over the door of course of course dearest how stupid i ami on reaching the gate they perceived that a man on foot had approached it apparently by some more direct path than the they pursued and was at the moment they drew up standing in conversation with the gate keeper it is quite impossible that he could fall over the cliff by accident or the will of god on such a light night as this the was saying these two children i tell you of saw two men go along the path towards the water fall and ten minutes later only one of em came back walking fast like a man who wanted to get out of the way thb because be bad done is no manner of doubt tbat be tbe man oyer and mark me it will soon cause a for tbat man tbe candle in tbe face of tbe and tbat bad arisen upon it a of glancing towards bim for a few moments observed it till tbe gate keeper swung open tbe gate ber companion drove and tbey were soon again enveloped in tbe silence her conductor bad said to just before tbat be meant to inquire tbe way at but be bad certainly not done so as soon as tbey bad gone a little tbe or not began to cause some trouble beyond tbe secluded district tbey now traversed ran tbe more frequented road progress would be easy tbe snow being probably already beaten to some extent by traffic but tbey bad not yet it and no one to guide journey began to appear less it bad done before starting tbe little lane tbey bad entered ascended bill and seemed to wind round in a direction contrary to tbe expected route to cliff martin tbe question grew serious ever since tbe conversation at tbe bad maintained a perfect silence and bad even away from tbe side of ber lover a of why don t you talk he said with forced and suggest the way we should oh yes i will she responded a curious being audible in her voice after this she uttered a few occasional sentences which seemed to persuade him that she suspected nothing at last he drew rein and the weary horse stood still we are in a fix he said she answered eagerly i ll hold the reins while you run forward to the top of the ridge and see if the road takes a favorable turn beyond it would give the horse a few minutes rest and if you find out no change in the direction we will this lane and take the other turning the expedient seemed a good one in the circumstances especially when recommended by the singular eagerness of her voice and placing the reins in her hands a quite unnecessary precaution considering the state of their hack he stepped out and went forward through the snow till she could see no more of him no sooner was he gone than with a rapidity which contrasted strangely with her previous stillness made fast the reins to the corner of the and slipping out on the opposite side ran back with all her | 45 |
might down the hill till coming to an opening in the fence she scrambled through it and plunged into the which bordered this portion of the lane here she stood the honorable in hiding under one of the large bushes clinging closely to its as to seem but a portion of its mass and listening intently for the faintest sound of pursuit but nothing disturbed the stillness save the occasional slipping of gathered snow from the boughs or the rustle of some wild animal over the crisp at length apparently convinced that her former companion was either unable to find her or not anxious to do so in the present strange state of affairs she crept out from the bushes and in less than an hour found herself again approaching the door of the prospect hotel as she drew near could see that far from being wrapped in darkness as she might have expected there were ample signs that all the tenants were on the alert lights moving about the open space in front satisfaction was expressed in her face when she discerned that no of her and his pony carriage was causing this sensation but it speedily gave way to grief and dismay when she saw by the lights the form of a man borne on a by two others into the porch of the hotel i have caused all this she murmured between her quivering lips he has murdered him running forward to the door she hastily asked of the first person she met if the man on the was dead no miss said the addressed her up and down as an unexpected apparition a group op noble he is still alive they say but not sensible he either fell or was pushed over the water fall tis he was pushed he is the gentleman who came here just now with the old lord and went out afterward as is with a stranger who had come a little earlier anyhow that s as i had it entered the house and acknowledging without the least reserve that she was the injured man s wife had soon herself as head nurse by the bed on which he lay when the two who had been sent for arrived she learned from them that his wounds were so severe as to leave but a slender hope of recovery it being little short of miraculous that he was not killed on the spot which his enemy had evidently reckoned to be the case she knew who that enemy was and shuddered watched all night but her husband knew nothing of her presence during the next day he slightly recognized her and in the evening was able to speak he informed the that as was he had been pushed over the by but he communicated nothing to her who nursed him not even replying to her remarks he nodded courteously at any act of attention she rendered and that was all in a day or two it was declared that everything favored his recovery notwithstanding the severity of his injuries full search was made for but as yet there was no intelligence of his ths whereabouts though the communicated all she knew as far as could be judged he had come back to the carriage after searching out the way and finding the young lady missing had looked about for her till he was tired then had driven on to cliff martin sold the horse and carriage next morning and disappeared probably by one of the departing which ran thence to the nearest station the only difference from his original programme being that he had gone alone during the days and weeks of that long and tedious recovery watched by her husband s bedside with a zeal and which would have considerably any fault save one of such magnitude as hers that her husband did not forgive her was soon obvious nothing that she could do in the way of pillows his position shifting or draughts could win from him more than a few measured words of such as he would probably have uttered to any other woman on earth who had performed these particular services for him dear dear james she said one day bending her face upon the bed in an excess of emotion how you have suffered it has been too cruel i am more glad you are getting better than i can say i have prayed for it and i am sorry for what i have done i am innocent of the worst a b up of and i hope you will not think me so very bad james oh no on the contrary i shall think you very good as a nurse he answered the severity of his tone being apparent through its weakness let fall two or three silent tears and said no more that day somehow or other seemed to be making good his escape it that he had not taken a passage in either of the suspected though he had certainly got out of the county altogether the chance of finding him was not only did captain survive his injuries but it soon appeared that in the course of a few weeks he would find himself little if any the worse for the catastrophe it could also be seen that while secretly hoping for her husband s forgiveness for a piece of folly of which she saw the more clearly every day was in great doubt as to what her future relations with him would be moreover to add to the while she as a wife was by her husband she and her husband as a couple were by her father who had never once communicated with either of them since his departure from the inn but her immediate anxiety was to win the pardon of her husband who possibly might be bearing in mind as he lay upon his couch the familiar | 45 |
a woman who had mental troubles to bear in addition to the ordinary weight of years be this as it may eleven other came and went and remained the lonely mistress of house and lands without once hearing of her husband every probability seemed to favor the assumption that he had died in some foreign land and offers for her hand were not few as the probability on certainty with the long lapse of time but the idea of seemed never to have entered her head for a moment whether she continued to hope even now for his return could not be distinctly ascertained at all events she lived a life in the slightest degree from that of the first six months of his absence this twelfth year of s loneliness and the of her life drew on and the season approached that had seen the unhappy adventure for which she so long suffered christmas promised to be rather wet than cold and the trees on the outskirts of s estate a of noble from day to day upon the road which bordered them on an afternoon in this week between three and four o clock a hired fly might have been seen driving along the highway at this point and on reaching the top of the hill it stopped a gentleman of middle age alighted from the vehicle you need drive no farther he said to the coachman the rain seems to have nearly ceased i ll stroll a little way and return on foot to the inn by dinner time the touched his hat turned the horse and drove back as directed when he was out of sight the gentleman walked on but he had not gone far before the rain again came down though of this the took little heed going leisurely onward till he reached s park gate which he passed through the clouds were thick and the days were short so that by the time he stood in front of the mansion it was dark in addition to this his appearance which on from the carriage had been partook now of the character of a not too well blessed with this world s goods he halted for no more than a moment at the front entrance and going round to the servants quarter as if he had a purpose in so doing there rang the bell when a page came to him he inquired if they would kindly allow him to dry himself by the kitchen fire the page retired and after a murmured the honorable returned with the cook who informed the wet and muddy man that though it was not her custom to admit strangers she should have no particular objection to his drying himself the night being so damp and gloomy therefore the entered and sat down by the fire the owner of this house is a very rich gentleman no doubt he asked as he watched the meat turning on the spit tis not a gentleman but a lady said the cook a widow i presume a sort of widow poor soul her husband is gone abroad and has never been heard of for many years she sees plenty of company no doubt to make up for his absence no indeed hardly a soul service here is as bad as being in a in short the who had at first been so coldly received contrived by his frank and engaging manner to draw the ladies of the kitchen into a most confidential conversation in which s history was detailed from the day of her husband s departure to the present the feature in all their discourse was her devotion to his memory having apparently learned all that he wanted to know among other things that she was at this moment as always alone the traveller said he was quite dry and thanking the servants for their a group of noble kindness departed as he bad come on emerging into the darkness be did not go down tbe avenue by be bad arrived he simply walked round to tbe front door there he rang and tbe door was opened to him by a man servant whom he had not seen during bis at tbe other end of the in answer to the servant s inquiry for bis name he said will you tell tbe honorable mrs that the man she nursed many years ago after a frightful accident has called to thank her the footman retreated and it was rather a long time before any further signs of attention were apparent then be was shown into the and the door closed behind him on the couch was trembling and pale she parted her lips and held out her hands to him but could not speak but he did not require speech and in a moment they were in each other s arms strange news through that mansion and the neighboring town on tbe next and following days but the world has a way of getting used to things and the intelligence of the return of the honorable mrs s long absent husband was soon received with comparative calm a few days more brought christmas and the forlorn home of blazed from to with light and cheerfulness not that the house was with visit thb bat many were present and the of a dozen years came at length to an end the animation which set in thus at the close of the old year did not on the arrival of the new and by the time its twelve months had likewise ran the course of its a son had been added to the line of the family at the conclusion of this narrative the spark was thanked with a manner of some surprise for nobody had him with a taste for though it had been resolved that this story should be the last a few of the listeners were for | 45 |
sitting on into the small hours over their pipes and glasses and up yet more of family history but the majority murmured reasons for soon getting to their lodgings it was quite dark without except in the immediate neighborhood of the feeble street lamps and before a few shop windows which had been kept open in spite of the obvious of any chance customer the muddy at that hour by one by two and by three the members of the field club rose from their seats shook hands made and dropped away to their respective quarters free or hired hoping for a fair morrow it would probably be a group op noble not until the next summer meeting months away in the future that the easy intercourse which now existed between them all would repeat itself the crimson for instance knew that on the following market day his friends the president the rural dean and the would pass him in the street if they met him with the nod of civility the president and the colonel for social reasons the for intellectual reasons and the rural dean for moral ones the latter being a dead against john the sentimental member knew that when on his he met his friend the with a pocket copy of something or other under his nose the latter would not love his companionship as he had done to day and the president the and the farmer knew that affairs political sporting domestic or agricultural would for a long time all on the characters of gone to dust for scores of years however beautiful and noble they may have been in their day the last member at length departed the attendant at the museum lowered the fire the locked up the rooms and soon there was only a single flame on the top of a single coal to make the bones of the seem to leap the stuffed birds to wink and to draw a smile from the of s by mary e a new england and other stories mo cloth ornamental a humble romance and other stories mo cloth extra only an artistic hand could have written these stories and they will make delightful reading j van e tf n y the simplicity purity and of these stories set them apart in a of distinction where they have no worlds boston the reader who this book and reads it will find his money s worth in every one of the delightful stories miss is a writer who has a gift for the rare art of creating the short story which shall be a character study and a bit of in one and all who the bright and short story will welcome this volume boston traveller the author has the unusual gift of writing a short story which is complete in itself having a real a and an end the volume is an excellent one observer j n y a gallery of striking studies in the quarters of american country life no one has dealt with this kind of life better than miss nowhere are there to be found such delicately drawn sympathetic tenderly humorous pictures iv t the charm of miss s stories is in her intimate acquaintance and comprehension of humble life and the sweet human interest she feels and makes her readers partake of in the simple common homely people she republican there is no attempt at fine writing or effect but the tender treatment of the sympathies emotions and passions of no very people gives to these little stories a pathos and human feeling quite their own n y commercial the author has given us studies real life which must be the result of a lifetime of patient sympathetic observation no one has done the same kind of work so lovingly and so boston bt brothers new york the above works by mail to any part ths united states or on receipt of thrice seven a collection of seven stories by post vo cloth ornamental a charming collection of character sketches and stories humorous pathetic and of new england country life the volume how faith came and went bay aunt s selfish and a ghost they are of the best sort of dialect stories full of humor and quaint gathered in a volume with a which is a wonderful character sketch they make one of the best to the light literature of this season n y stories told with much skill tenderness and so much so that the reader is drawn powerfully towards the poor subjects of them and soon to join the author in looking behind their peculiarities and special spiritual gifts in them n y these stories are of such originality in deep pathos and tenderness that one finds himself in perfect accord with the writer as he reads of the of these boston of a singular kind they affect us like the inhabitants of a walk of literary art in which we have had no master since the pen dropped from the faint and feeble fingers of and which seems native to mrs n y mail and express the sweetness the the taste of the forest has crept into these tales philadelphia published by brothers new york the above work will be sent by mail to any part of the united states or on receipt of the price bt f east angels mo cloth anne illustrated mo cloth for the major mo cloth castle nowhere mo cloth a new edition the keeper southern sketches mo cloth a edition there is a certain bright in miss s writing which all her characters with a mt n t miss is among onr few writers of interesting magazine stories and her skill and power are perceptible in the of her no less than in the suggestive pictures of local life n t may easily become the | 45 |
the newspaper and s other chapters more especially addressed to readers in the and the as sketches my thanks are to the and of those for me now t o piece the limbs of the novel together and print it complete as originally written two years ago i will add that the story is sent out in all sincerity of purpose as an attempt to give artistic form to a sec j of things and in respect of the book s opinions i would ask any too genteel reader who cannot endure to have said what nowadays thinks and feels to remember a well sentence of st offence come out of the truth better is it that the come than that the truth be concealed i feels to if le offence t h to the fifth edition novel one wherein the great ti of the begins after an event in her which has usually been treated as her in the aspect of at least and as the ending of her career hopes it waa quite contrary to that ihe public should welcome the hook and agree with me in riding that there was something more to be fiction had been said the shaded side nt a well known but the spirit in which of the i has been i by the i s of england find america would seem to prove that the plan of laying down a story on the lines of opinion instead of i it to square witli the merely foi of society is not altogether a wi one even when in so and partial an achievement as tlie present foe this i cannot i from expressing my thanks and my regret is that in a world where one so in vain for friendship where even not to be is felt as a kindness i shall never meet in person these readers male and female and shake them by the hand i include amongst them the by far the who have so generously welcomed the tale their words show that they like uie others have only too largely repaired my defects of by their own imaginative m nevertheless h the novel waa intended to be neither eighth american edition ft nor but in the parts to be simply and in the to be charged with impressions than with opinions there hav been both to the matter and to the rendering home of these maintain a conscientious difference sentiment concerning among other things subjects fit fo art and reveal an inability to associate the idea of the title with any but the and which has resulted to it from tjie of ci they thus not only all nature s claims all claims on the d but even the spiritual afforded by the finest side of christianity and drag in as point tlie acts of a woman in her last days of tion when all her doings lie outside her normal others on grounds wliich arc no mo than an assertion that the novel the views of ij l at the end of the nineteenth and no those of an and generation an i can only hope may be well founded let me that a novel is an impression not an argument and the matter must rest as one is reminded by a which occurs in the re of to on judge of this class they are those who seek only their own ill a representation and prize that which should be a than what is the cause of the dispute lies in the very first principles and it would be utterly in possible to come to an understanding with them again as soon as observe that any one when if representations considers anything more in than the inner necessity and truth i have don with him in the words to tlie first edition i the possible advent of the genteel person who would n t h able to endure the tone of pages that person mostly mixed up with the in another of forms he felt upset that it was ble for him to read the book through three times owing to my not made that critical effort which alone prove the salvation of such an one in another he objected to articles as the devil s a lodging d and a shame appearing in a respectable story in another place he was a gentleman who turned christian for half an hour the better to express his grief that a phrase about the should ha e been used though the same innate compelled him to excuse the author in words of pity that one be too thankful for ho does but give us of hia best i can this great critic that to exclaim against the gods singular or is not such an original sin of mine as he seems to imagine true it may have some local though if shakespeare were an authority on history which perhaps he is not i could show that the sin was introduced into as early as the itself says to otherwise king of that country h as flies to are u the gods h they kill for their the remaining two or three of f the sort whom most writers and readers would gladly professed literary who put on their for the occasion modem of of effort ever on the watch to prevent k half from becoming the whole success t plain and grow personal under the a of the great historical method however j may have causes to advance a to to keep some of which a mere tale writes down how the things of the world strike bim any whatever overlooked may bj pure have run foul of when in the least mood perhaps some passing the of a dream hour would if generally act on cause such an considerable inconvenience with j to position interests family servant ox ass neighbor or neighbor s wife | 45 |
he therefore hides his personality behind a s shutters and cries shame so is the world thronged that any shifting of positions even the best advance hurts somebody s heels such of ten begin in sentiment and sentiment sometimes begins iu a novel t h of the d the maiden i ox ru evening in the latter part of may a middle aged man walking homeward from to the village lit in the adjoining of or the pair of legs that carried him wore and was a bias in gait that inclined liim somewhat to left of a straight line he occasionally gave a t as if in of some opinion though he was pot thinking of anything in an empty egg was upon his arm the nap of his hat was bed a patch being quite worn away at its brim where b came in taking it off presently he was met by elderly parson of a gray mare who as he rode a good night t ye said the man with the basket r good night sir john said tho parson after another pace or two halted and round of the d now beg your pardon we met last di on this road about this time and i said good you made night sir john as now i did said the parson and once before that a month ago i may have then what might meaning be in calling me these different when i be plain jack i field the the parson a st p or two nearer it was only my whim lie said and after a hesitation it was on account of a discovery i made little time ago whilst i was hunting np for t new i am parson the of don t you really know i that you are the representative of the ancient i family of tlie i tl es who derive descent from sir pagan d that renowned l who came from with the appears by abbey never heard it before air well it s throw up your chin a moment so t i may catch the of your face better yes that s ti d nose and chin a little your am one of the twelve knights who assisted the i in in his conquest of branches of your family held over ru i part of england their names appear in the pipe i the time of king in the reign of king of them was rich enough to give a to the and in edward the second s time your t father was summoned to westminster to attend ti great council there you declined a little in c well s time but to no extent and in charles t second s reign you were made knights of the royal c for your loyal aye there have been i j the maiden mr you and if were like as it practically was in old times n men from father to son yon lie john now you don t say so in short concluded the parson leg with his there s such another family england my eyes and isn t there t said and here have i been knocking about year after year mm pillar to post as if i was no more than the in the parish and how long this news about pa son the clergyman explained that as far as he was await had died out of knowledge and could hardly be r to all his own had a day in the preceding spring when having been tracing the of the d family observed s on his wagon and had been led to make inquiries about his father and till he had no doubt on the subject at first i resolved not to b you with such a useless piece of said he however our impulses are too for our judgment sometimes i thought you might t something of it the while well have heard once or twice tis true that my family had seen better days before tliey came to black i r but t took no notice o t thinking it to mean that had once kept two horses where we now keep only one silver at home too and likewise a seal but lord what s a x on and seal f to think that i and these d was one that my had and didn t ni to talk of where ho came from and where do out smoke now parson make so bold i mean do we d live v of the iu es yon live anywhere you are extinct as a i family that s bad yes what tlie family call i in the male that is gone down gone under and where do wo he at sub rows and i of y i in tour with your under i and where be our family and estates you haven t any o no lands neither t none though you once had em in abundance aa i said for your family consist of numerous i this county was a seat of yours at ai i another at and another at and i at and another at and shall we over into our own again f ah that i can t u ll and what had i better do about it asked i field after a nothing nothing except yourself wi the thought of how arc the mighty fallen it is a fe of some interest to local historian and nothing more there are several families among t of this county of almost got night but turn back and have a of beer wi i ion the strength o t pa son there s a vo i in tap at the pure though to be so not so good as at s no | 45 |
thank you not this evening yon had enough already concluding thus the m i on his way with doubts as to his discretion in tl curious bit of lore he was gone walked a few steps iq the maiden reverie and down upon the grassy bv tie roadside his basket before him in ii few minutes a youth in the distance walking m the same direction as that which had been pursued by the latter on seeing him held np his hand mill the lad his and near take up that basket i want ee to go on an for me like frowned who be you then that order and call me know my name as well as i know yours do do you that s the secret that s the secret t w obey my orders and take the message i m going to e ee wi well i don t mind yon the se is that i m one of a noble rat e it been found out by ine this present afternoon p m and he made the announcement field declining ni liis sitting position stretched himself out upon the among the the lad stood before and contemplated his from crown to toe i sir d that s who i be continued the man that is if knights were be tis recorded in history all about me dost p of such a place lad as i vo there to fair the ch of that city there lie l t a city tlie place i mean t was there twas a little one eyed sort o you mind the boy that s not the question e os under the church of that parish lie my of em in coats of mail and jewels in t lead tons and tons there s not a a in county o that s got and nobler in his family than i op the ol now take up that basket and go oa to mai am i when you come to the pure drop tell em to send i i horse and l to me immediately to me i and in the bottom o the they be to put a o rum in a small bottle and it up to i and when you ve done that go on to my with th i and tell my wife to put away that washing because i she needn t finish it and wait till i come home as i h n j news to tell her as the lad stood iu a attitude i hand in his pocket and produced a one of i comparatively few that he here s for labor lad tliis made a real ence in tie young man s i tion of the position yea su john thank you any l thing else i can do for ee sir john t tell em at that i should like for supper lamb ij if they can get it and if they can t black p i and if they can t get that well will do tes sir john the boy took up the basket and as he set out the i of a brass band were heard from the direction of the i wliat d said field not on account o ii the women s sir john why i daughter is one o the members to lie sure quite forgot it in my thoughts i greater things well on to will ee an i order that carriage and maybe pi drive and ii f the the lad departed and lay waiting on i i grass and in the sun not a soul i that way for a long while and the faint notes of the were the only sounds audible within the rim c blue hills the v n the of lay amid tlie of the beautiful of or an and secluded region for the part as yet by or landscape painter though within a tour hours journey from london l b it is a whose acquaintance is best made by ht from the of the hills that surround it except during the of an into its recesses in bad weather is apt to v with its narrow and way h this fertile and sheltered tract of country in which the k fields are never brown and the springs never dry bounded on the south by the bold ridge that embraces the of hill high and down the traveller from the coast who after for a score i of miles over downs and corn lands suddenly the verge of one of these is surprised i add d to behold extended like a map beneath him a absolutely from that which ho has passed through behind him the hills open the sun i upon fields so large as to give an i to the landscape the lanes are white the hedges and the atmosphere here in the i the world seems to be constructed upon a smaller i and more delicate scale the fields arc mere so i that from this height their hedge rows appear a net work of dark green threads the paler i green of the grass the beneath is i nd is so tinged with that what artists call the mid idle also of that hue while the horizon i te of toe is of the deepest lands and limited with but slight exceptions the prospect is rich mass of grass and trees minor id within the major is t c of the district ih of historic no less than of interest the was known in former times as th forest of from a curious legend of henry the third s reign in the killing a thomas de la of a beautiful white which king had nm down and spared was made the of a heavy fine in those days | 45 |
and till recent times the country was wooded even now trace of its earlier condition are to be found in tlie old oak and irregular of timber that yet survive upon it slopes and the hollow trees that shade so many its pastures the forests have departed but some old of shades remain many however linger only in a or disguised form the may day dance for io was to be discerned on the afternoon under in the guise of the club or walking as it wai there called it was an interesting event to the younger inhabitants o though the real interest was not observed by in the ceremony its ity lay less il the fact that there was retained a i f in procession and dancing on each than tha the members were solely women in men s clubs were though less uncommon but either tho shyness of uie softer sex a on tho part of male relatives had such women s as remained if any other did of this their glory and the club of alone lived to tiie local it had walked for of years if not as club as of sort and it walked still tlie one ss in maiden a from old style days and days before the habit of taking long views reduced emotions to a average their first of themselves was in a of two and two round the parish ideal and real slightly as the sun lit up their figures against the heen hedges and la ed house fronts for though the troop wore white garments no two were alike among them some gowns were purely some had a some worn by the r had possibly lain by folded for many a year in to a tint and to style in addition to the distinction of a frock every and girl carried in her right a and in her left a of white flowers the of the former and the selection of the latter had been an operation of personal care there were a few aged and even elderly women in the train their silver hair and wrinkled faces by time and trouble ing almost a grotesque certainly a appearance in such a situation in a was more to be gathered and told of these anxious and experienced ones to whom the were drawing nigh when each should say i have no pleasure in them than of the members but let the elder be passed over here for those under whose b life quick and warm i the young girls formed indeed the majority of the and their heads of hair reflected in the y tone of gold and black and brown some i beautiful eyes others a beautiful nose others a i mouth and figure few if any had all a difficulty of their lips in this crude c to public an inability in balance their heads and to self consciousness from their were apparent them and showed that they were genuine co girls to many eyes op the d f and as each and all of them were warmed without by the son so had a private little sun for her soul to in some dream affection some at least some remote and distant hope which though perhaps tar ing to nothing still lived on as hopes will thus they were all and many of them they came round by the e drop inn and were out of the high road to pass a gate the meadows one of the women said the loi d a lord field if there n t father riding in a carriage a member of the band turned her head at the she was a fine handsome girl not than some others but her month and large innocent eyes added eloquence to color and shape she wore a red ribbon in her hair and was the one of the white company who could boast of such a a as she looked round i seen moving along the road in a belonging i the l drop driven by a headed with her gown sleeves rolled above her elbows a was the of that establishment who her part of turned groom and at times field leaning back and with his eyes closed was waving his hand above his bead and singing in a slow i ve got ft great family vault at and forefathers in lead there the except the girl called in a slow heat seemed to at sense that hei hat was making himself foolish in their eyes m he s tired that s all she said hastily and he has got lift home own horse has to to day h bless thy said her companions he s got his market b look here i won t walk another inch jf if the maiden u j tiny jokes him cried and the color cheeks spread over her face aud iii a hi r eyes grew moist and her glance dropped to the ground perceiving that they had really pained her they said no more and order again prevailed s pride would not allow her to turn lier head again to learn what her father s meaning was if he had any and thus she on witli tlie whole body to the where ere was to be dancing on the green by the time the was had recovered her and her with her and talked as usual at this time of her life was a mere v of emotion by experience the dialect was on her tongue to some despite the village school the characteristic of that dialect for this district being the i by the syllable ur as rich an utterance as any to be found in human speech the np deep red mouth to which this syllable was native had hardly as yet settled its definite shape and her lower lip had | 45 |
a way of sting the middle of her top one upward when they tt ther after a word phases of her in her ct still as s walked along to day for all her handsome you could see her twelfth year in cheeks or her ninth sparkling from her eyes and even fifth would over the curves of her mouth now and then yet few knew and still fewer considered this a small mainly strangers would look long at her in casually by and grow fascinated by her i and wonder if would ever see her again but lo she was a and country and no more nothing was seen or heard further of in his chariot under tlie conduct of the aud as v a op the d club having entered the allotted space dancing began as there were no men in the company the girls danced at first with each other but when tie for the close of labor w on the inhabitants of the village together with other and gathered round the spot and appeared inclined to for a partner among these on were three young men of a superior class carrying small to their s and stout sticks in their hands their general likeness to each other and their ages would almost have suggested that they might be what in fact they were brothers the eldest e the white tie high waistcoat and thin hat of the the second was the the appearance of the third aud youngest would hardly have been sufficient to him there was an it in his eyes and attire that he had hardly yet found the entrance to his that was a student of something and might only have been of him these three brethren i d ac that they spending their s in a walking tour the of their course from the town of on the they over the gate by the highway and to the meaning of the dance and the white the two elder of the brothers were plainly not to r more than a moment but the spectacle a of girls dancing without male partners seemed to amuse the and make him in no hurry to move on he liis it with his stick on the hedge bank and the gate are you going to do asked the eldest i am lo go and have a fling with them why not all of just for a minute or two it will not b long t the ho nonsense said the first dancing in with a troop of country i suppose we be seen come along or it will be dark before get to and there s no place we can sleep at than that besides we must get through another chapter of a to before we turn in now have taken the trouble to bring tbe book all right i ll overtake you and in five minutes don t stop i give my word that will the two elder reluctantly left him aud walked on ir brother s to relieve in aud young st the field this is a thousand he said gallantly to two or te of the girls nearest him as soon as there was a pause in the dance where are your my f they ve not left off work yet answered one of the be here by aud by till then will you ne sir certainly but what one so many better than none tis melancholy work facing and it to one of j our own sort and no and ing at all now pick aud choose s sh don t lie so for ard said a girl the young man thus invited glanced them over and j but as the group were all to him he not very well exercise it he took the first that came to hand which was not the er as she ha expected nor did it happen to be tho d did not help in life s battle as yet even to the extent of to a dancing partner over the heads of uie so much for blood by the name of the girl whatever it was has handed down but she was envied by all as the first tes op the no enjoyed the of a masculine that even was the force of that the village men who had not hastened to enter the while d intruder was in the way now dropped in and became with rustic youths to a extent till at length the woman in the club longer compelled to foot it on the masculine o figure the church clock struck when suddenly the student that he must leave be had been forgetting himself he bad to join his companions as he fell out of the dance bis eyes lighted on whose own large wore to tell the truth the faintest aspect of reproach that bo had not chosen her he too sorry then that owing i her he had not ed her and with tliat in his mind he left the pasture on account of his long delay he started in a flying ran ti the lane westward and soon passed hollow d the next rise he had not yet o ken liis but he paused to take breath and back e could see the white figures of the girls in tb en whirling about as they ha l whirled u he wait them they seemed to have forgotten him i all of perhaps one this figure stood by tlie hedge alone from her position lie knew it be the pretty maiden with whom he had not danced ling the matter was he yet instinctively felt that e was by his he wished that he had her bo wished that ho had her name she so modest so expressive she had looked so soft her thin white gown tliat be felt he bad acted however it could | 45 |
of the royal oak our real i name being don t that make your bosom i swell on thin that your father rode a the carriage not he d been drinking us supposed of that will it do us any good oh yes that great things may t no doubt a string of folk of own rank will down here in their carriages as soon as tis known t father learnt it on liis way home and been telling me the whole i of the matter where is father asked suddenly her mother gave information by way he called to see the doctor to day in it not consumption at all it seems it is fat around heart he s there it is like this fi as she spoke curved a thumb and forefinger to shape of the letter c and used the other forefinger at the present moment he sa lo the her heart is enclosed all round there and all round there tliis space is still open he says as as it meets so mrs closed her fingers into a circle complete yon go like a mr he says ton last ten years yon mid go off in ten months or ten days looked her father to go behind eternal cloud so soon notwithstanding this sudden r bnt where is father she asked mother put on a look ow don t n v e out the poor man he felt so weak ut his excitement at the news that he went up to r s half an ago he do want to get up his strength his journey to morrow with that load of i must be delivered family or no hell have to start f after twelve to night as the distance is so long get up his strength said the tears ing to her eyes my heavens go to a public e to get up his strength and yon bs well agreed as r and her mood seemed to fill the whole room l to impart a look to the furniture and candle children playing about and to her s face so said the latter i am not agreed i waiting for to bide and keep while i fetch him ii go b no you see it would be no use a did not she knew what her mother s meant moreover mi s s jacket and met were a ly hanging npon a chair by her i in for this contemplated the reason th the matron e than its t take the fm to the out house rapidly wiping her hands and the op the d the fortune an old which lay on a table at her elbow bo worn by that the had reached tlie edge of the type took it up and her mother started this going to hunt up her husband at the int one of mrs field s still i the and of children to him at s to sit for an hour or two by side and dismiss all thought and care of the children the interval made her a sort of an glow came over life then troubles and realities took on themselves a sinking to mere phenomena for quiet tion and no longer stood as pressing body and soul the not within sight seemed bright and desirable otherwise the incidents of daily life not without and in their aspect she felt a little as she had used to feel when she sat by i now in the same spot during his her eyes to of ter an i i only in his ideal a lover being left with the younger children m first to the ont house with tlie hook it into the a curious fear of ti volume on the part of her mother r allowing it to stay in the house all and it was brought back whenever it had been consulted the with her fast lumber of su folk lore dialect and and the daughter with her d national s sixth standard knowledge under an code there was a gap of two hundred years as understood when they were together the and ui ages stood returning along the path mused mother have wished to ascertain from the h this particular day aud readily guessed it to bear upon b recent discover this however she ie l with the dried during the in with her nine year old brother and her of called lu the youngest ones being pat t i bed there was an interval of r years between and the nest of family the who had filled the gap ia died in their infancy i lent her a attitude when she was e with her next in to came more girls hope and modesty then a boy of three i then the baby who hail just completed his first year ab these young souls were passenger s in tlie entirely dependent on the judgment of the two for their pleasures their necessities their even their existence if the heads of the ii household chose to sail into disaster disease degradation death thither were these dozen little under compelled to sail them six helpless ci who had never been if they wished for life on any terms much less if y wished for it on such conditions as were involved of the house of some hb hke to know whence the poet philosophy is a these days deemed as profound and as his is sweet and pure gets his authority for speaking of nature s holy plan it grew later and neither father nor mother ed t looked out of the and took a through the was shutting its v candles and lamps were being put out everywhere ii could mentally behold the and the ml hand mother s simply meant one more to fetch t t began to c that | 45 |
a man in indifferent health te s of the d who proposed to start ou a before one in the ought not to be at an at late liis blood she said presently to her do you put ou your hat you t afraid i and go a to s aud see wliat has of father i mother the boy jumped promptly from his seat and opened i door and the night swallowed him up half an passed yet a rain neither man nor child like his parents seemed to have been and caught by tlie i must go myself she said lu then went to bed and them all in started on her way up the dark and crooked lane or e not for hasty progress a street laid ont inches of land had value and when one handed s f the day i c s inn the single ale house at this end at t long aud ken village boast of only an off hence as nt could drink ou the premises t i amount of for was limited to a little board about six wide and two yard long fixed to the garden by pieces of wire so as tu form a ledge on this board thirsty l their cups as they stood iu the road and and t the on the dusty ground to the pattern of and they could have a seat inside thus the strangers but there were also local who felt the some wish j aud where there s a will way the maiden tj n a large bedroom the window of ck with a great shawl lately d by the landlady mrs were gathered ou this evening nearly a dozen all seeking all old of the nearer end of and of this retreat not only did the distance to the pure drop the fully tavern at the part of the dispersed village render its accommodation for at this end but the far more serious question the of the confirmed tlie opinion that it was to drink with in a comer of the e top than with the other landlord in wide house a gaunt four post which stood in the room sitting space for several persons ed three its sides a couple more men had ii a chest of drawers another rested on the oak another on the stool and thus all were some w seated at their ease tlie stage of mental comfort to they had at this hour was one wherein their seemed to beyond skins spreading their warmly through the room in this process b and its grew more and more and luxurious the shawl hanging at the window took upon itself the richness of the brass handles of the chest of drawers were as golden and the seemed to have some with the pillars of solomon s temple having quickly walked r from opened the front door crossed tlie s room which was in deep gloom and then i the stair door like one whose fingers knew the b of the well her ascent of the crooked stair b was a slower process and her face as it rose into the t the last stair encountered the gaze of all the y in the bedroom op the d being a few friends i ve asked in tn keep tip club walking at my expense the landlady at the sound of footsteps as as a while she peered over t ie stairs tis you mrs how you frightened me it mid be some sent by ment mrs was welcomed with glances and by the remainder of the and turned to where her husband sat he was humming to himself in a low tone i be as good as some folks here and there i ve got a great family vault at sub i and finer than any man in the county o i i vo something to tell ee that s come into my head about a grand project whispered his cheerful wife here john don t ee see me i she him while he looking through lier as through a pane went on with his hush don t ee sing so loud my good man said the landlady j in case any member of the should be passing and take away my he s told ee what s happened to us i suppose asked mrs yes in a way d ye there s any money hanging i ah that s the secret said field but tis well to lie kin to a coach even if you don t ride i in en she dropped her public voice and continued in i low tone to her husband been thinking since brought the news that there s a great rich lady out on the edge o the chase of the name d hey what s that said sir john she repeated the information that lady must be o relation she said and my project ia to send t kin the f m a lady of the name now yon mention it said pa son didn t of that but she s we a branch of us no long since king s day while this question was being discussed neither of the in their that little liad crept into the room and was awaiting an opportunity h ot asking them to return she is rich and she d be sure to take notice o the continued mrs and be a very thing i don t see why two branches of one family should not he on terms yes and we ll all claim kin said brightly from under the and we ll all go and see her when tes s has gone to live with her and we ll ride in her i and wear black clothes how do yon come here child what be | 45 |
yo liking go away and play on the stairs till father and be ready well ought to go to this other ri of our family she d bo to win the lady would and likely enough lead to some noble ing her in short know it tried her fate in the and it brought out that v ty thing you should ha seen how she t i day her skin is aa as a s says the maid herself to it t i ve not asked her she don t know there is any such lady yet but it would certainly put her in tlie way ch grand marriage and she won t say nay to going is queer h bnt she is at bottom leave her to mc though this conversation had been private of il import reached the of those around to suggest to that the had con to talk of now than common folks had and that op the i s their pretty eldest daughter had line prospects j store tes is a figure o fan as i said to my i t when i her round parish with the rest er ed one of the elderly in an must mind she don t get green r in floor it was a local phrase had a meaning and there was no reply the conversation became and presently footsteps were heard crossing the room being a few private friends asked in to night to np dull walking at my own expense the landlady i rapidly the she kept on for intrude before she recognized that the new comer was i even to her mother s gaze the girl s young feature i looked sadly out of place amid the i floated here as no medium for j age and hardly was a flash from s eyes needed to make her father and mother from t hastily sh their ale and descend the stairs b i her mrs s caution following their footsteps no please if ye ll bo so good my or j mid lose my and be and i t what all night t ye they home together holding one arm of her father and mrs the ho had in drunk little not a fourth of tlie quantity which n could carry to church on a sunday morning without a in or his but the weakness of sir s constitution mountains of his petty sins in this kind on air he was sufficiently unsteady to incline the it w if three at one moment as if they were marching to london and at another as if they were marching to bath produced a frequent enough in families fi home and like most d the maiden so comic after all the two women these forced excursions and as well as they could from their cause and from and from es j and so thej approached hy degrees their own door the head of the family bursting suddenly into his refrain a i he draw as if to his soul at sight of the of his present residence i ve got a vault at the subject by saying what was far more prominent in her own mind at uie moment than thoughts of her i am afraid father won t be to take the journey t the to morrow so early h it i shall be all right in an hour or two said it was eleven o clock before the were all in bed and two o clock next morning was the latest hour for starting with the if they were to be to in before the saturday market i an the way thither by bad roads over a distance f between twenty and miles and the horse and wagon being of the at half post one mrs into the large bedroom and all her little sisters slept tlie poor man can t go she said to her eldest r whose great eyes had opened the moment her mother s band touched the door sat up in bed lost in a vague world between a dream she had just been having and this information but somebody must go she replied to her mother it is late for the already will soon l e for the year and if we put off taking em till next v e market the call for em will be past and they ll bo on our hands of the d mrs field looked to tbe emergency some young perhaps would got one of them who were so much after with yesterday she presently d oh do i wouldn t have it for the world declared proudly and letting know the reason such a to be ashamed of i think could go if could go with die to keep me company her mother at length agreed to this little was aroused from his deep sleep in a comer of the same and made to put on his while still mentally in the other world meanwhile tc ss had hastily dressed herself and the twain lighting a lantern went out to the stable the little wagon was laden and tbe girl led out the horse prince only u degree less the vehicle the creature looked round at the night at the lantern at their two figures as if he could not believe that at that hour when every living was intended to l e at shelter and at rest he was called upon to go ont and labor they put a stock of candle ends into the lantern the latter to the off side of the road and directed the horse walking at his shoulder at first f during the up hill portion of the way in order not to an animal by no means vigorous to ch th n i selves as well as they could they made an artificial morning | 45 |
with the lantern some bread and butter and ir own conversation the real morning being far from i as ho more fully awoke for he had l in ft sort of trance ho far began to talk of the strange k by the various dark objects against tlie sky of this tree that like a raging tiger springing from ft of that which resembled a giant s head when they had passed the little town of under its brown they reached higher ground still on their left tlie tie the maiden t called or swelled into the by its from the long declined gently for a gi eat onward they mounted in front of the and grew he said in a it tone after a yes said slip f t yon glad that we ve become p particular glad yon be glad that you are going to a what said great relation will help ee to a if onr great relation we have no such relation what has put that into your head i em about it up at s when i went to find father there s a rich lady of our family out nt and mother said that if kin witli the lady she d put ee in the way of marrying a gentle his i t r became abruptly still and into n ring talked on rather for the pleasure than for audience so that his sister s was of no lie back against the es and with ned face made observations on the whose cold were beating amid the black above in serene from two of i life he asked how away those were i whether god was on the other side of them but t and his to what im s e l hit imagination even more the won ra of creation if were made rich ing a would she have money enough to buy a spy ii i so large that it would draw stars ua near to her as t op the the renewed subject which to have d tha whole family filled with impatience never mind that exclaimed did you say the stars were worlds t yes au like ours t i t know but i think so they sometimes seem to lie like the apples on tree most of them and sound a few which do we live on a splendid one or a one i a one tis very unlucky that we didn t pitch on a one when there were so many more of cm yes is it like that i said to her impressed on of this rare information how would it have been if we had pitched on a sound one i well father wouldn t have and about a ho does and t have got too to po this journey and mother wouldn t have been s n and ne er getting finished and you have been a rich lady ready made not have to be made rich by marrying a t oh don t don t talk of that any more t left to his reflections soon grew was not skilful in the management of a horse but thought that she could take upon herself the entire of the load for the and allow to ti sleep if he wished to do so she a sort of ne t in front of the in such a manner that he could w and taking the rope reins into her hands jo ni as before prince required but slight attention lacking for superfluous movements of any sort having no a to et lier fell deeply into reverie than ever ber back leaning against the tlie mute of trees and hedges became attached to fantastic scenes reality and the occasional heave of the wind the sigh of some immense sad with tlie universe iu space and history in time then examining the of events in her own life to see the vanity of her father s views tjie gentlemanly match of her mother s fancy to see him as a personage laughing at her poverty and her thing grew more and extravagant and she no longer knew how time passed a jerk shook her in her seat and awoke from sleep into which she too had fallen they were a long way further on than when she had t and the wagon stopped a hollow anything she had ever heard in her life came r i m tho front followed by a shout of there tlie lantern hanging at her wagon had gone out but was shining in her face much brighter than her vn had been something terrible happened tho waa entangled with an object which blocked the in consternation down and the dreadful truth the groan had proceeded her father s o i the morning mail cart with its two n i along these lanes like an arrow as it always did had driven into her slow and the pointed shaft of the cart had entered the t of tho unhappy prince like a sword and from the his life s blood was in a stream and fall a hiss into the road her despair sprang forward and put her hand i tlie hole with the only result became d to skirt with the crimson drops then she stood looking on prince also stood firm and motion of the d less as long as be could till lie suddenly down in a by this the cart man had her and h dragging and the hut of but he was already ad and seeing tliat nothing more could bo done ly the mai man returned to his own i am bound to go on with the mail bags he so tliat the best for you to do is to bide here with your load i ll send somebody to help you | 45 |
as soon as i can it will soon be daylight and you have nothing to he mounted and sped on bis way while stood waited the atmosphere turned pale the birds themselves in the hedges arose and showed all its white features and hers t li the huge pool of of her was the of and when i sun rose a million hues were reflected fr tin i prince lay alongside still and his eyes half tl i i hole in his chest looking scarcely enough to l out all that had animated bim tis my doing all mine the distressed girl u gazing intently at the spectacle no excuse t me none what will father and mother live on ni she shook the child who had slept the whole disaster we can t go with mi loud prince is killed realized all the of fifty were on liis young face why i danced and laughed only yesterday w i on to herself to that i was such a fool tie because we be on a star and not n one isn t it t through t ii in they waited through an r i which seemed endless at length a and un iq preaching object proved to them that the driver of tes o j the maiden had l een as good as his word a farmer s man dear came up leading a strong he was to of in the place of prince add the load on towards the evening of the same day saw the empty wagon the spot of the accident had lain there the tiie morning but the place of the blood pool was visible in the middle of the road though aud scraped over by passing all that as left of prince was now hoisted into the wagon he had hauled and with his hoofs in the air and his shining in the setting sunlight he the road to had gone in front how to break the news was than she could think it was a relief to her tongue find from the faces of her that they already of their loss though this did not lessen the self which she continued to heap upon herself for her in falling asleep but the very of the household rendered the less one to them than have a to a striving family though in the present case it ii and in the other it would only have meant in in the countenances there was thing of the red wrath that would have burnt upon the from parents more ambitious for e nobody as she blamed herself it was discovered that the and give only a very few shillings for s of his field rose to the occasion no said he i won t sell his old body we d was knights the we didn t for cat s meat let em keep their ho has served mo well in his lifetime and i won t from liim now h worked harder the next day in digging a grave for i op the d l prince in lie had worked for xi grow a crop for his family the waa ready aud his wife tied a rope round the ami liim up the path towards it the children and lu sobbed hope modesty their in loud which echoed from walls and when prince was tumbled in tbey n the grave the bread had been taken away from them what would tbey do t is he gone to heaven t between sobs then began to in the and children cried anew all except her face was dry aud pale aa though she regarded herself in the light of u l k j t v fu to i t j w tu s j ail i r k v the business which had mainly depended on j the horse became forthwith distress if n loomed in the distance waa i was a twist d fellow he had strength to work at times but the times could not be on to with the hours of and been to the regular toil of the day he was not particularly persistent when they did so i meanwhile as the one who dragged this was silently what she could do i help them out of it and then her mother h scheme wo take the wi the downs mid si and never could your high blood have been found i t at a more called for tou must try your fi the you know that there is a very rich mrs d living oil the edge of the who be our i you must go to her and claim kin and ask for some help in our trouble i shouldn t care to do tliat says if there is a lady be enough for us if she were friendly not to expect her to ns help you could win her round to do anything my dear besides perhaps there s more iu it than you know of i ve heard what i ve heard good now the oppressive sense of the harm she had done led tt ss to be more than she might otherwise have been m the maternal wish but she not understand why her mother should find such satisfaction in contemplating an enterprise of to her doubtful profit her mother mi t have made inquiries and have discovered that tliis mrs was a lady of and charity but s pride made the part of poor relation particular to her i d rather try to get work she you can settle it said his wife turning hi he sat in the background if yon say she ought to she will go don t like my en going and making themselves to strange kin ed | 45 |
he i m the head of i i noblest branch of the family and i ought to live up it his reasons tor staying away were worse to than i own objection to going well as i killed the se she said i suppose i ought to do i don t mind going and seeing her but yon leave it to me about asking for help and go g about her making a match for me it is silly very well said ed her father lo said i had such a thought t asked fancy it is iu your mind but i ll go l rising early day walked to the hill town and there took advantage of a von which ill the week ran from eastward to passing near the in which the i wild mrs d had her i toss field s route on this morning lay amid the of the in had been bom and in which her life had unfolded of was to her the world and its the races from the gates and of had looked down its length in the wondering s of infancy and what lad been to her then was not less than mystery to her now she had been from her chamber window towers villages faint white above all the town of on its height its windows shining in l the evening sun she bad hardly ever visited it a i small tract even of and its being known to ber by close inspection less had she been far the valley every of the surrounding s as to her as that of ber relatives faces but for what lay beyond her judgment was dependent on teaching of the village school where she had a leading in a high at the time of hei leaving a year or two before this date in those early days she had l een much loved by i of her oft n sex and age and had used to be seen about village as one of thi ee all nearly of the same year home from side by side being tlie middle d in a pink print of a finely worn frock had l t it original f man on long i in tight stockings which had little ladder like holes i knees torn by in the roads and banks in s of vegetable and al treasures her earth hanging like pot hooks the arms of two girls resting round the of her arms ou the ot the two s grew older to see how matters stood i i towards her mother giving her so many little sisters and brothers her mother s was that of fi happy was simply an a one and tliat not the t to her own long family of on providence became beneficent towards the small ones and to help aa much as possible she as soon as she left school to lend a hand at hay making or on neighboring farms or bj preference at or making processes which she had learnt when her father had owned cows and being it was ii kind of work at which she day seemed to throw npon her more of the burdens and that should bo tho of the at the d came as a thing of course in this it must lie that the were putting their fairest outward alighted from the van at cross and as d on foot ft hill in the direction of the district known i thi i on the borders of which as she had been mrs d s seat the slopes be it was not a home in the ordinary sense fields and and a grumbling farmer out of a living to be by the owner and his i by hook or it was more far a country built for pure and simple with not an i f land to it beyond what was for purposes and a little fancy farm m in bond by the owner and tended by a red brick lodge came first in sight up to its di dense thought this was the till passing through the side of the d some and d to a point at which the took a torn the house proper in full view of recent indeed almost new and of the s rich crimson color that formed such a contrast with of the lodge far behind the bright c of the house which rose a red s the subdued colors around the soft a of the chase a truly venerable tract of forest la of the few rt in england of date rein was still on aged oaks and where enormous trees not by the hand of man grow as they had grown when i were for bows all this antiquity ever though visible from the slopes was outside the ia of the estate thing ou this snug property was bright and well kept acres of glass houses stretched down t to the at their feet everything looked li money like the last coin issued from the the stable partly by pines and oaks i with every late were as dignified as chapel of a e and on the extensive lawn stood an ornamental tent its door being towards her simple field stood at gaze in a half attitude on the edge of the gravel sweep her foot l ii brought her onward to this point before she where she was and now all was contrary lo expectation i thought we were an old family but this is all new she said iu her girlish she v chat not fallen in so readily with her mother s plans f n kin and had endeavored to gain a nearer home the d or d as they sometimes called themselves who owned all this were a family to find in this old fashioned the m son | 45 |
i ve been what has said wearily her mother ed the up and down with approval and went on so you ve em how do you know mother i i ve had a letter then remembered that there would have been jn t time for this they say mrs d says that she wants y to look after a little poultry farm which is her but this is only her artful way of getting yon there nut raising your hopes she s going to acknowledge ee kin that s the meaning o t but i didn t see her yon somebody i suppose i saw her son and did he acknowledge well he called me an i knew it he called her cried jo to her husband well he spoke to his mother of pour and she do want ee there but i don t know that i am apt at foul said the then i don t know who is apt you ve ben bom li the business and bi np in it them s bom business always know more about it than any besides that s only just a show of something for do that you t feel dependent i don t altogether think i to po said who wrote the letter will look at it t mrs d wrote it here it is the letter was in ihe third son and briefly i o yo h id let the field that her daughter s services would be to that lady in the management of her poultry farm that a comfortable room would be provided for her if she could come and that the would be on a liberal scale if they liked her o that s all said ton couldn t expect her to throw her arms round ee au to kiss and to all at once out of the window i would rather stay here with father and yon she said bnt why t i d rather not tell you why mother indeed i don t quite know why a week afterwards she came in one evening from an search for some light occupation in the immediate neighborhood her idea had been to get together money during the summer to purchase another horse hardly had she crossed the threshold before one of the children the i saying the gentleman l here her mother hastened to explain smiles bi from every inch of her person mrs d s son had on horseback by chance in tho direction of mai he had wished to know finally in the name of his mother if could really come to i old lady s fowl or not the lad who had the birds having proved mr d says you must be a good girl t are at all as you he knows you must be t weight in gold he is very much interest ed iu to t ll b seemed for the moment really pleased to hear that won such opinion from a stranger when in had sunk so low it is very good of i think tiiat she murmured and if i was r it would be i would go any when of the d n he is ft mighty handsome man i don t ao said coldly well there s chance whether or no and i m i he wears a beautiful diamond i ing yes said little brightly from the and i seed it and it did he up ui hia mother why did our keep on putting his hand up to his f hark at that child cried mrs with admiration perhaps to show diamond ring sir john from his chair think it over said leaving the room well she s made a conquest o the junior branch of v straight off continued the matron to her husband ai i she s a fool if she don t follow it up i don t quite like my children going away from said the as the head of the family the ri ought to come to me but do let her go his wit he wi her yon can see that he called her hell marry her most likely and make a lady of her then she ll be what her forefathers was john had more conceit than health and this supposition was to him that s what young mr bi and he really may have serious thoughts improving blood by on to the old line the little rogue have she really paid em a an end as this t meanwhile was walking thoughtfully among bushes in the garden and over prince when she came in her mother her ad wi ll what be you going to dot she asked i wish i had seen mi s d tee the i you as well it then you ll see her soon enough her in his chair i t know what to answered the girl it is for you to decide i killed the old horse and sup i ought to do something to get ye a new one i t quite like mr d the who had made use of idea of being taken up by their wealthy as they imagined other family n be as a species of aft t the death of the began to cry at s reluctance and l and her for hesitating won t go and be made a la a of no she she wo o on t they with square mouths we shan t have a nice new horse and lots o golden to buy and won t look pretty in r l est no mo o ore i lier mother in to the same tune a certain way j had of making her labors in the house seem er i they were by them | 45 |
also weighed the argument her father alone preserved an attitude lit y i will go said at last her mother could not repress her consciousness of the vision ed up by the girl s consent thai s for such a pretty it is a fine chance i hope it is a chance for earning money it is no other of yon had better say of that silly rt out mrs lid not promise she was not quite that she did not feel proud after the visitor s i to say a good deal aa arranged j and the girl wi to set out on any day on which she might j il she was duly informed that mrs the os glad of her decision and that a spring cart shot be sent to meet lier and her at tlie top of the vi on the day after the morrow she must hold prepared to start mrs d s handwriting rather masculine a having at last taken her course was less and abstracted going al out her business with some se assurance in the thought of acquiring another horse for he by an occupation which would not bo had hoped to be a teacher at the school but the seemed to decide otherwise being mentally older her mother she did not regard mrs s matrimonial hopes for her in a serious for a moment the light minded woman had been discovering good matches for her daughter almost from the year of her birth ua t t t vn on the morning appointed for her departure wa awake dawn at the of the when the grove is still mute save for one sings with a clear conviction that he at least correct time of day the n st preserving as if equally convinced that he is mistaken she d upstairs packing till t time and then down in her ordinary working clothes sunday carefully folded in her her mother you will never see folks without dressing up more the that but i am going to work said well yes said mrs field adding iu a h the maiden tone at there may be a little pretence o t but i it will be wiser of ee to put your best side outward said well i suppose you know best replied indifference and to please her parent the girl put quite in s hands saying serenely do what u like me mother mrs i field was only too delighted at this first she fetched a great basin and washed s hair such that when dried and brushed it looked twice as much as at other times she tied it with a red ribbon than usual then she put upon her the white frock that had worn at the club walking the airy fulness of which her enlarged d to her developing figure an which her age and might cause her to be addressed as a woman when she was not much more than a child i declare there s a hole in my heel said t ss never mind holes in your stockings they don t speak when i was a maid so long as i had a pretty bonnet the i might ha found me in heels her mother s pride in the girl s appearance led her to step back like a painter from his and survey her work as whole you must see yourself she cried it is better you wa day the looking glass was only large enough to i a portion of s person at one time mrs a black outside the and su a large of tlie panes as it is the wont of be king to do after this she went ii who was sitting in the lower room ted ee what tis said she never have the heart not to love her but whatever do don t say too much to of his for her and she has got she is such an odd maid that it i of the d mid set her against him or against going there even if ul goes well i shall certainly be for making some to that pa at lane for us dear man however na the moment for the girl s getting ont di nigh when the first excitement of the dressing had pi a slight found place in mind it pi the matron to say that she walk i little way as far as to the point where the from ihe y began its first steep ascent to the outer world at the top was going to be met with the spring it by the d and her box had already wheeled ahead towards this summit by a lad with t o be in readiness seeing then mother put on her bonnet thi r children to go with her i do want to walk a r little ways wi now she s going to marry our i man and wear fine now said and turning i r no more o that mother how you ever put into their heads t going to work my deal s for om rich relation and help get enough money for a new horse said mrs i i good by father said with a throat good by my maid sir raising his head fi om hie as he suspended his nap induced by a ss tliis in honor of the occasion well hope my friend will like such a comely liis own blood and tell n that being reduced from our former grandeur i ll sell him the title yes it and at no e not for than a thousand cried lady tell n i ll take a thousand pound well til when come to o t he ll adorn it better the | 45 |
broken down like myself can n lie shall ii it tor a but i won t upon trifles i ll n he shall it for fit tj for twenty yes pound tiiat s the lowest family honor honor and i won t take a penny less s eyes were too and her voice too choked to the bitter reproaches that were in her ht turned and went ont so the girls and their all walked together a on each side of toss holding her hand at her from time to time as at who was to do great things her mother behind the group forming a of honest beauty by and backed by simple vanity they followed the way till they reached the beginning of the ascent on the st of which the from was to receive her this limit having been fixed to save the the labor of the slope par away behind the first hills dwellings of the of the was visible in the elevated road that skirted th i ci save the lad whom they had sent on before them the handle of the that contained all s possessions here a bit and the cart will soon come no doubt mrs i tes i see it yonder had come appearing suddenly from behind the the nearest and stopping beside the boy the her mother and the children thereupon to go no farther and bidding them a hasty good bent her steps up the hill they saw her white shape draw near to the spring cart which her l ox was already placed but l had reached it vehicle shot out from a trees on the summit round tho bend of the mad passed the cart and halted beside who turned if in great surprise op the d l her mother perceived for the first time that the vehicle was not an humble conveyance the i a and span or dog cart highly equipped the driver was a young man of one or two twenty with a cigar between his teeth m a cap jacket bi the some hue white up collar and brown gloves in short he v the handsome buck who had visited her a week or two before to get her answer about mrs clapped her hands like a she looked down and stared again could she be deceived as to the meaning of this f is the who ll make u asked the youngest child meanwhile the of could be standing still beside this whose owner was talking to her her seeming was iu fact more than it was she would the humble t the young man dismounted and appeared to urge lier to ascend she turned her down the hill to her relatives and regarded the little seemed to her to a the thought that she had killed prince she up he mounted beside her and on the horse in a moment they had passed slow cart with the box and disappeared behind the i of the directly was out of sight and the interest of tht matter as a drama was at an end little one s eyes with tears the youngest child said i wish poor te wasn t gone away to be a lady i lowering i of her lips burst out ci the new point of y and the next child did likewise and then t next till the whole row of them loud then were tears in field s eyes a turned to go home but by the time had got the b i she was trusting to the favor of however in bed that night she sighed and her asked her what was the matter o i don t know exactly she said i was thinking mt perhaps it would ha been if had not gone t ye to have thought of that before f well tis n for the maid still if the f i wouldn t let her go till i had found out gentleman is really a good hearted young man interested in her as his yes you ought perhaps to ha done that l field always managed to consolation p w ll as one of the genuine stock she ought to make t with en if she plays her card aright and e don t marry her afore he will after for that he s all p wi love for her any eye can see i what s her card her d blood you no stupid her face mounted beside her d d y along by the crest of the hill compliment i as they went tho with her box being left far an immense landscape stretched around on y behind the t valley of her birth f of which she knew nothing except from her mt to thus they reached thi of an incline down which the road stretched in a j straight descent of nearly a mile op the ever since the accident with her father s horse courageous us she naturally was l f ii timid on wheels the least of id tion startled her she began to tr t uneasy at a in her conductor s driving you will go down slowly sir i suppose she said with attempt looked round upon her ed his with the tips of his large white centre t and his lips to smile slowly of themselves why he answered after another or it isn t a brave uke you who asks that why i always go down at full gallop there s like it for raising your spirits but you need not now ah he said shaking his head there are two lu l reckoned with it is not me alone has to bi and she has a very queer temper who f why this mare i fancy she looked round at mv in n | 45 |
very grim way then didn t yon notice it don t to frighten me sir said well i don t if any li man can manage this horse i can i won t say any living man can do it but il such has the power i am he why do you have such a horse ah wi ll may you ask it il was my fate t has killed one chap and just r i bought her nearly killed me and my word for it i near killed but she s queer still very queer and life is hardly safe behind her sometimes they were just beginning tn descend and it was tliat the horse whether of her own will or of his the being the more likely knew so well the reckless perform expected of her that she hardly required a hint behind oi the down down they tlie humming like a top the dog cart rocking right and left its acquiring a set in relation to the line of progress the figure of the horse and falling in before sometimes a wheel was off tlie ground it seemed for many yards sometimes a stone was sent spinning over the and sparks from the horse s hoofs daylight the fore part of the straight road enlarged with their advance the two banks dividing like a stick and one rushed past at each shoulder the wind blew through s white muslin to her very skin and her washed hair flew out behind she was determined to show no open fear but she clutched d s arm b don t touch my arm we shall bo thrown out if you ns i hold on round my waist she grasped his waist and so they reached the bottom safe thank od in spite of your folly t said she her on fire m that s temper said d truth yon need not let go your hold of so thank the moment yon feel yourself out of danger she not considered what had been doing whether he were man or woman stick or stone in her involuntary i on him recovering her reserve she sat without dying and thus they reached the summit of another ity i now then again said d ko no said show more sense do please bnt when people find themselves on the highest the county they must get down again he retorted he rein and away they went a second time d his face to her as they rocked and said in y now then put your arms round my waist i as yon did before my beauty a of the never said holding on as could touching him let me one little kiss on those lips tes or even on that warmed cheek and i ll on my fa i wiu surprised beyond measure slid further back t oil her seat at which he urged the horse anew and i her the more will nothing else dot she cried at length in lion her large eyes staring at him like those of a wild animal this dressing her up so prettily by her mother had been to lamentable purpose nothing dear he replied don t know very well i don t mind she panted he drew rein and as they he was on the point of the desired salute when as if hardly vi i aware of her own modesty she aside his arms being occupied with reins there was ii ft him no power to prevent her u te m now damn it i ll break both oar necks swore l passionate companion so yon go fm your word like that you young witch can yon very well said poor i ll not move you l determined but i thought you would be kind to and protect me as my bo hanged now but i don t want to kiss me sir she i a big tear beginning to roll down her and i comers of her mouth trembling in her attempts not v and i wouldn t ha come if i had known he was inexorable and she sat still and d gave her the kiss of mastery no sooner had he d than she hushed with shame took out her and wiped the spot on her cheek that had been t his lips his was at the sight for the act on her part had been unconsciously done ton are mighty for a farm girl said the young man made no reply to this remark of which indeed she did not quite comprehend the drift the she bad administered by her rub upon her cheek had in fact undone the kiss as far as a thing physically possible with a dim sense that he was vexed she looked steadily ahead as they ti on till she saw to her consternation that there was yet another descent to be undergone you shall be made sorry for that he resumed his injured tone remaining as he flourished the whip anew unless that is yon agree willingly to let me do it again and no handkerchief she sighed very well sir she said o let me get my hat i at the moment of speaking her hat had blown off into the road their present speed on the l by means slow d i n pulled up and said he would g t it for her hut was down ou the other side she turned back and picked up the article you look with it off upon my soul if possible he said her over the back of the vehicle now mn ii up again what s the the was in place and tied but had not stepped no sir she said revealing the red and i f her month in defiant triumph not again if i know it what yon won | 45 |
t get up met no i shall walk tis five or six miles yet to t don t care if tis besides the cart is behind you artful now tell me didn t you make i on purpose t you did l of the d l her guarded silence liis suspicion then d and swore at her and c her thing he could think of for the trick ti tlie suddenly he tried to drive back upon her and her in between the and the hedge but he not do this short of her yon ought to be ashamed of yourself for using wicked words cried with spirit from the top of hedge into which she had scrambled don t like you at i hate and you i ll go back to mother i will d lie s bad temper cleared up at sight of and he laughed heartily well i like you all the better he bald come let there be peace i ll never do it again against your will my ufe upon it now still could not induced to she did u t however t to his keeping his alongside her in this manner at a slow pace they advanced th of from time to time d r a sort of fierce distress at the sight of the he had driven her to by his she iu truth have safely trusted now bnt he had her confidence for the and she kept on the thoughtfully as if wondering whether it would be wiser to home her resolve however had bi ii taken and it seemed even to abandon it now unless for gi reasons how could face her get hack her box and the wh scheme for the of her family ou such mental a few later the chimneys of the slopes i ui a to uie right the cottage of s destination ix e of fowls to which had been as surgeon and friend made their s in an old cottage standing in an that bad once been a garden but was now a trampled and square tlie house was over u with ivy its being by the boughs of to the aspect of a tower the lower entirely given over to the birds who walked them with a air as though the place had nm n built by for themselves and not by and for certain dusty who now lay east and west in thi d the descendants of these owners felt it almost as a slight to their family when the house which so h of their affection had so much of their father money and had been in their possession for generations before the d came and built i waa indifferently turned into a fowl house by mrs d l as soon as the property fell into hand lo law twas good enough for christians in s time they said in which of had at their r ing i ow with the tapping of in occupied spots where formerly chairs supporting the once blazing hearth was now filled with lives in which the laid their eggs while of the plots that each succeeding had idly shaped with his were torn by the in wildest fashion the in which the i was surrounded i d could only he k rough a door i te s op the if when had herself tin hour in all ing and improving the arrangements according to skilled ideas as the daughter of a professed door in the wall opened and a ant in white cap r apron entered she had come from the house mrs d wants the fowls as usual she said but perceiving that did not quite she en mis is a old lady and blind blind said almost before her at the news find to shape itself she took under her s two of the most beautiful of the in her arms and followed the maid who ha taken two to the adjacent mansion which though and ing showed marks on this side which bore out the some of its chambers could bend to the n of creatures feathers floating within of ll front and hen standing on the gross in a sitting room on the ground floor iu an arm chair with her back to the light was the o and mistress of tbe estate a whit woman of not than or even less wearing a large had tin face frequent in those whose eight has stages has been and let go rather than the mien apparent iu long or blind walked up to this with her f charges one sitting on each arm all you are the woman to look after birds t said mrs d a new ft i hope you will be kind to them my tells are quite the proper person well where are they f this is but he is hardly so lively to day is is alarmed at being handled by a stranger i too yes they are a little frightened but tliey get to yon while the old been ai he r in obedience to her gestures had the fowls in her lap and she bad felt over from heed to tail examining their their the of the their wings and their claws her touch enabled her to recognize them in u and to discover if a single feather were crippled or she handled their crops and knew what they had eaten and if ton little or too much her face a vivid of the passing in her mind the birds that the two girls had brought in were duly rt to the d and the process was repeated till all the pet and had been submitted to the old woman hai and such other ts as were in fashion then her perception of each visitor being | 45 |
seldom at fault as she received the bird upon her knees tf reminded of a confirmation in which mrs d urn was the bishop the fowls the young people and herself and the maid the parson and ite of the parish bringing them up at the end of the mrs d abruptly asked and her face into can yon il whistle ma t whistle tunes whistle like most other country girls though i accomplishment was one which she did not to pr i in el company however she admitted nt h was the fact then you will have to practise it every day i had n who did it very well but he has left i want you to to my as i cannot see them i like to and we teach em airs that way tell her where are elizabeth you must begin to morrow or mil go back in their they have been d several days te s op tee d mr d whistled to em this fu elizabeth he i the old lady s face into of ui and she made no further reply thus the reception of by her fancied terminated and the birds were taken back to their quarter the girl s surprise at mrs d a wa not great for since seeing the size of the house she h i ted no more but she was far from being aware the old lady had never heard a word of the so called ship she gathered that no great affection flowed u tlie blind woman and her son but in that too she mrs d was not the first compelled to love her offspring scornfully and to a i in e of the of the day to the fi and novelty of her new tion in the morning when the sun shone now that she waa once there and she curious to test her tlie unexpected direction asked of her so a to her chance of retaining her post accordingly so at she was alone within the walled garden hu sat down on a and seriously up her mouth for the practice it was with a dismal face tin found her former ability to have to production of a of through t and no clear note at all she remained blowing and impatient and wondering how e ie grown out of the art had come by nature till came e of a movement among tlie bough the garden wall no than the cottage that way she beheld a form springing from to the plot it was d ii g js the maiden not act eyes on since he had conducted her the day before the door of the gardener s cottage where she had ci o i my i cried he there was never before a thing in nature or art as yon look cousin cousin had a faint ring of j t have watching you from over the wall sitting l e ou a and up that pretty red mouth lo whistling shape and and and r swearing and never being able to produce a note ft hy you are cross because you can t do it i am not cross and i didn t swear ah i understand why you are trying those my mother wants you to carry on their musical education how selfish of her as if attending to these and here were not enough work for any girl i would n refuse if i were you but she wants me particularly to do it and to lie ready y to ow morning does she well then i ll give you a lesson or two oh no you won t said withdrawing towards tjie door nonsense i don t want to touch you see i ll stand h this side of the wire and you can keep on the so you may feel quite safe now look here you i i i w up your lips too harshly there tis so he suited the action to the word and whistled a line of t ike o take those sway but the allusion was lost m try said d she attempted to took ed her face put on its utmost phase of severity but how could j e be to accomplish of that sort in such he persisted in hia demand and at last to get of him she did put up her lips as directed laughing before she could succeed in op the i g a clear note and then blushing with vexation had laughed he her with try again i was quite serious painfully serious by this time and she tried ultimately and a n round the momentary pleasure of got better of her her eyes enlarged and she involuntarily smiled in his face that s it now i have started you go on there i said i would not come near yon and in spite of temptation as never before fell to mortal mon i ll ke ray word i say isn t my mother a fine i old i don t know much of her yet sir you ll find her so must be to make you to whistle to her i am out of her now but you will be quite favor if you treat well good if you meet vn h difficulties and want here t to the me it was in the economy of this that s had undertaken to fill a place her first days i si were fairly typical of those which many days a familiarity with ah e vine s presence which that young man carefully ti in her by playful dialogue and by l i cousin when they were alone removed most of her | 45 |
shyness of him without however any which could shyness of a new and but she wan more under his hands than a mi re com would have made her owing to her dependent upon his mother and through her helplessness upon him j m soon found that in d room was no such bu the he had the art for she had caught from musical mother s that suited those i a far more time than when in the garden this whistling by the l m morning by the young man s presence threw up her mouth put her tips near the bars and away in grace to the attentive mrs d slept in a large p t hung i h ht curtains and the same apartment where thi y flitted about freely at hours and made spots on the once was at the window where the were ranged i her lesson as usual she thought she heard a rustling hind the bed the old lady was not present and turning the had an impression that the toes of a pair of i t were the fi of the curtains her whistling he so that the if there were must have discovered her suspicion of his i r she searched the every morning but never found anybody within era had e thought better bis to r by an o kind i s u village has its its code of morality the levity of some of the in and about was marked and v of the choice who ruled the s l that vicinity the place had also a more hard the conversation on was on the use ss of saving money and leaning on their or i i i would enter into calculations of great to ua of the d i parish relief was a fuller provision for a man in his old age any which could fi out jt their wages during a whole lifetime the chief pleasure of these philosophers lay in every day when work was done to a decayed market town two or three miles distant and returning in small hours of the next morning to sunday in sleeping off the i the sold ut them as beer by the mn of the independent for a long time did not join in the weekly ages but under pressure fi om much than herself for marriage before means was the rule as at length consented u go her l experience of the journey afforded her more than she had expected the of the in ing quite after her monotonous tu the farm all the week she went again and again being gi and interesting standing moreover on the of womanhood her e drew down upon her by regards in thej nice though s her journey i the town was mo s d f her fellows at t have the protection of companionship homeward this had gone on for a or two when n b in early september ou which a fair and a l and the from sought nt the ou that account it was long pa and waited for the troop till she was quit weary while she stood at in they sat she heard a footstep and loo ig round saw i ed coal of a cigar was there al i he beckoned to her and she reluctantly went to him my pretty what are you doing here at u night t tee so she was so tired after her long day and her that h confided her trouble to him i have been waiting ever so long sir to have their company home because the road is rather strange to me at night but i really i will no longer do not i have a saddle horse here to day come to the de aud hire a trap and drive you home with me had never got over her original of him and with all their she to walk home with the work folk ho she answered she was much obliged to liim but on second thoughts would not trouble him i have said that i will wait for em and they will expect me to now very well silly please yourself as soon as he had re ut a cigar and walked away the villagers within began also to i collect how time waa and prepared to leave in a body their bundles and baskets were gathered up and half an hour later when the clock sounded a quarter past eleven they were straggling along the lane which led up the hill towards homes it was a three mile walk along a dry white road made to night by the light of the moon t soon perceived as she walked in the with this one sometimes with that that the fresh ht air was producing and courses the men who had too freely some of the ear less women also were wandering in their gait wit n dark car ch queen of lately a favorite of d s her sister ni the queen of diamonds and a young married who had already tumbled down yet however and their appearance just now to the mean e to the case was different op the d they followed tlie mad with a that soaring along in u supporting medium possessed of original and thoughts and nature forming an oi of which all the and each other were as sublime as the moon and stars above them and moon and were as ai as they however ha l undergone such painful iu this kind in her father s hot e that the discovery ot their spoiled the pleasure she waa beginning tn feel in moonlight journey she stuck to the part for reasons above given in the open highway they had in order but a their i was through a field gate the foremost finding | 45 |
a difficulty iu opening it thi j closed np together this leading was car the queen of v who carried a basket containing her mother s own and other purchases for week the basket being large and heavy car bad l it for of on the top of her where it rode on in balance as she walked well whatever is that down thy buck car said one of the group suddenly all looked at car her gown was a light cotton and from the back of her head a kind of could seen descending to some distance below her waist s tis her hair falling down said another no it was not her it was a black of thing from her basket and it u snake in the cold still rays of the moon tis said an observant matron it was car s old had a less for the sweet stuff honey she in plenty oat l the maiden tl own ml was what her soul desired and car had about u give n treat of surprise hastily i tlie basket the dark girl found that the the liquid had within by this time there had arisen a shout of laughter at the appearance ot car s back which irritated the k queen into getting rid of tlie by the first n means and of tjie help of the s she rushed the field they were about to cross and flinging hat on her back upon the grass to wipe her gown as well as she could by on the and dragging herself over it npon her elbows the laughter rang louder they clung to the gate to the posts rested on their in the weakness their at the spectacle of car heroine who had hitherto held her peace at this t moment could not help joining in with the i it wasn misfortune in more ways than one no sooner did the dark queen hear the richer note of those of the other work people than a long is sense of her to madness she sprang her feet and closely faced the object of her dislike how th laugh at me she cried i couldn t really help it when t others did still ab th st think th body t because th first favorite witli he now but stop a bit my lady stop a bit i m as good as two of such i look here here s at ee to s horror the dark queen began off tlie e of her gown which for the reason of its she was only too glad be five of id her plump neck s and arms in under which they looked as luminous and lis some creation in their possession of the i ti t f s of the of a country girl closed her fists and up bt indeed then i shall not fight said the latter and if i had known was of that sort wouldn t have so let myself down as to come with a as this is i the rather too brought down a torrent i of from other quarters upon fair s un i lucky head particularly from the queen of who having stood in the relations to d that car had also been suspected of united with the latter against tlie common enemy several other women also in with an which none of them would have b n w as to show but for the evening they hail thereupon finding the husbands and lovers tried to by defending her but the result of that attempt was directly to increase the war was indignant and ashamed she no longer minded the loneliness of the way and the of the hour her one object was to get away from the crew as soon as possible she knew well enough that the better among them would repent of their passion next day all now inside the field and she was about t rush off alone when a almost silently from the comer of the hedge that sa the road and d looked round upon them what the devil is all this row about work asked the explanation not readily truth he did not require any na heard their while yet some way off he had ridden ton and learned to satisfy himself was standing t from the rest near the beat over towards her jump up behind me iv and well get shot of the cats in n ki the maiden felt almost ready to faint so vivid was her sense of the crisis at almost any other moment of her life she would have refused such proffered aid and company as she had refused them several times before and now the would not of itself have forced her to do otherwise bat as the invitation did at the particular juncture when and indignation at these could l e transformed by a spring of the foot into a triumph over them she abandoned herself to her impulse put her toe upon his and leaped into the saddle behind him the pair were away into the distant gray by the time the became aware of what had happened the queen of forgot the stain on her and stood beside the queen of and the new married young woman all with a of in the in which the horse s tramp was into on mad what be ye looking at asked a man who had not ed the incident ho ho ho laughed dark car laughed the bride as she herself on the ann of her fond husband laughed dark car s mother i r as she out of the pan into the fire and then these children of the open whom even of could scarce injure permanently ii to the field path and as they went there | 45 |
moved with them around the shadow of h one s head i l of light formed by the moon s rays npon ii glistening sheet of dew each could see no il but his or her own which never deserted the head whatever its might be tn it and persistently it till the im tions seemed an inherent part of the aud the op the d of their a of the night b n and the spirit of the scene and of the moonlight a nature seemed to mingle with the the twain along for some time as she clung to still panting in her triumph i in other respects she had perceived that horse was not the d one he sometimes rode ami no on that score though her seat was she asked liim to slow the animal to a walk which accordingly did neatly done was it not dear he said by b yes she i am sure i ought to be much to yon and are she did not reply why do you always dislike my kissing i suppose because i don t love you you are quite sure t i am angry with you sometimes ah i h feared as much nevertheless di not object t he knew that anything v better than why haven t you tom me have made you t you know very well why because i cannot hi self here i haven t offended you often by love making yon have sometimes how many times yon know as ll as too many times i st i ii the maiden she was silent and the horse along for a distance till a faint luminous fog which had hang the hollows all the evening l general and i d them it seemed to hold the moonlight in i it more per than in whether ii this or from absent or from s she did not perceive that they had long o passed point at which the lane to from tjie highway and that her conductor had not taken the track she was she had i at lock every morning of tliat week had been on foot tha le of each day and on this evening had in addition the three miles to waited hours for her neighbors eating or drinking her impatience to start preventing either had then walked a of the way home and had undergone the excitement the quarrel till it was now nearly one o clock only however was she overcome by actual in moment of oblivion she sank gently against him i withdrew his feet from the turned ul ways on the saddle and enclosed her waist with his mil to support her this immediately put her on the and with one f i sudden impulses of to which she was liable in gave him a uttle push from her in his position nearly lost his balance and only just avoided rolling into the road the se though a powerful one being n the he rode that ia devilish unkind t he said i mean no harm only to keep you from falling she pondered till thinking that this might ail be true she and said quite humbly i ir your pardon sir i won t pardon yon yon show some e pie good p he burst out what am i to be ri of tub d s so by a mere like you for near three months have you with my me ai me and i won t stand it leave you to morrow sir no you will leave mo to morrow will you i a once more show your belief in me by letting me you with my arm come between us and else now we know each other well and you know tl i love you and think you are the prettiest girl in world which you are may treat you as a lover t she drew a breath of objection uneasily on her seat far ahead and l don t know i wish how can i say yea or no he settled the matter by clapping hb arm round her he desired and expressed no further negative they onward till it struck her they had been ing for an time far longer than n usually occupied by the short journey from even at this walking pace and that tliey were no longer c bard road but in a mere i why where be she exclaimed passing by a wood a wood what surely we are out of the a bit of the chase the oldest wood iu is a lovely night and why should we not our r a little how you be so treacherous said and real and getting rid of his arm i open his fingers one by one though at the r slipping off herself just when i ve been putting e trust in you and obliging yon to please you thought i had wronged you by that push set m down and let me walk home you walk home even if the air were we are miles away from if t must tell j ii in this growing fog you might wander for hours among these trees never mind that she pat me down i y iu i don t mind where it is only let me get down very well then i will on one condition having you here to this the way place i feel myself il for your safe conduct home whatever you may yourself feel it as to your getting to assist it is impossible for to tell the truth owing to this fog which so everything i don t quit i know where we arc myself now if you will to wait beside the horse while i walk through the till i | 45 |
come to some road or house and our rt i ll deposit hero willingly when i i ome i ll give you full directions and if you insist upon walking you may or you may ride at your i she accepted these terms and slid off on the near side not till he had stolen a kiss he sprang on the other side i suppose i must hold the horse said she oh no it s not necessary replied patting the i i creature he s had enough of it for to night he turned the horse s head into the bushes him ij to a l and made a sort of couch or nest for her in li deep mass of dead leaves you sit there he said that will keep away in damp just give an eye to the horse it will be quite he took a few st away from her but by the by toss father has a new to day gave it to him somebody i yon nodded oh how very good of you that is she s of the a sense of the of having to f him just then and the children have some toys i didn t know you ever sent them anything t murmured much moved i almost wish yoa had i yes almost wish it why dear it me so don t you love me ever so little now f grateful she reluctantly admitted bnt do not the sudden vision of his passion for h as a iii this result so distressed her that begin with one slow tear and then following with wept outright don t dear dear one now sit down here wait till i come she sat down amid the i that he had heaped and shivered slightly aw he asked not a little he touched her with his fingers which t into i into a ton have only that muslin d how s that f it s my best summer one very warm started and i didn t know i was going to ride and tf would be night nights grow in september let me see pulled off a light that he had worn and round her tenderly that s it now you feel he continued now my pretty rest i i ho ba k again ha ing the overcoat round her into the of which by this time t between the trees she could hear the branches as he ascended the slope till hu l ments were no louder than the of i away with the of the moon t the maiden lessened and became as she fell into r upon uie leaves where he had left her in the meantime had pushed on tip slope to clear his genuine doubt as to the quarter of the chase they were in ho had in fact ridden quite at random for over an hour taking any turning that came to in order to companionship with her and giving far more attention to s person than to any side object a little rest for the animal being be did not hasten his search for a f over the hill into the adjoining ht him the fence of a highway whose aspect he recognized hich the question of whereabouts thereupon turned back but by this time the quite down and partly on account of the fog the chase was wi l in thick although was not far off he was obliged to advance with hands to avoid contact with the boughs and that to hit tlie exact spot from which ho had ted was at first entirely beyond him up and n ii and round ho at length heard a slight tiie horse close at and the sleeve of hie ml unexpectedly caught his foot said d was no answer the was now so great i he could see nothing but a pale b at his feet which the white muslin figure i left upon the dead leaves thing else was alike d stooped and heard a gentle r ho knelt and bent lower till her his face and in a moment his cheek was in con it l witli hers she was sleeping soundly and upon her lingered tears t and ruled where around above and oaks of the in poised birds in their last nap of the d and them tlie and where was s guardian angel f where was the pi of her simple faith t perhaps that of whom the spoke he was talking c was pursuing or he was in a or was sleeping and was not to be why it was that upon this beautiful feminine sensitive as and practically blank aa snow as there should have been traced such a coarse i ti as it was doomed to receive why so often the coarse tlie finer thus many thousand s of philosophy have failed to explain to our sense of one may indeed the of a lurking in the catastrophe doubtless some of s ancestors home from a dealt tlie same wrong even more k girls of their time but though to visit the sin of ll fathers upon tlie children may be a morality good for it is by average human nature ami it therefore does not mend the matter as s own people down in those of saying among each other in their f mr it was to be there lay the pity of it an social chasm was to divide hei s thereafter from that previous self of hers who stepped from her mother s door to try her fortune at poultry maiden no more xii i the was heavy and the bundle was large but she them along like a person who did not find any ii in material things occasionally she stopped | 45 |
rest iu a mechanical way by some gate or post and n the baggage another upon her full round went steadily on again it was a sunday morning in late october about four i after a arrival at and few weeks subsequent to the night ride in the chase i time not long past daybreak and tiie yellow i ty upon the horizon behind her back lighted the ridge which her face was set the barrier of the she had of late been a stranger which she would to climb over to reach her the ascent as gradual tm this side and the soil and scenery from those even the ter and accent of the two had shades of difference i effects of a railway that though less than twenty miles fi the place of r at ti her native village had seemed a ray spot the field folk shut in there north westward travelled and married north t northward and westward i the i those i d hide directed energies and to the east aud south the incline was the same down which d driven with her so wildly on that day in w uie of ith length without stopping and reaching the edge ot the gazed over the gi een world beyond now half veiled in mist it ways beautiful from hei e it was terribly beautiful to to day for since her eyes last fell upon it she had that the serpent sweet birds sing and news of life liad been totally changed for her by the h verily another girl than the simple one she had been home was she who bowed by the thought stood still h aud turned to look behind her she could not bear to look into the ascending by the long white road that toss li ii had just labored up she saw a two wheeled vehicle which walked a man who held up his hand to attract bt i she obeyed the signal to wait for with un i t repose and in a few minutes man and horse stopped u her did you slip away by like this i d with on a sun day morning too when people were all in bed i only discovered it by accident and i have been like th deuce to overtake you just look at the more p off like this you know that nobody wished to hind r your going and how unnecessary it has boon for yon i toil along on foot and yourself with this hear load have followed like a madman to e i the rest of the distance if you won t come back shan t come back said she i thought you wouldn t i said so well then put your baskets and let me help yon oi he placed her basket and bundle i maiden no dog cart and stepped up and they sat side by side had no fear of him now and in the cause of her confidence her lay d mechanically lit a cigar and the journey was continued with broken conversation on the commonplace objects by the he had quite forgotten his struggle to kiss her when in the early summer they had driven in the opposite direction along the same road but she had not and she sat now like a replying to his remarks in after a space they came in view of the of trees beyond which the village of stood it was only then that her face still showed the least emotion a tear or two beginning to down what are you crying for he coldly asked i was only thinking that i was born over there murmured well we must au be bom somewhere i wish i had never been bom there or anywhere else well if you didn t wish to come to why did you come she did not reply you didn t come for love of me that i ll swear tis quite true k i had gone for love o you if i had ever sincerely loved ee if i loved you stiu i should not so and hate myself for my weakness as i do now my eyes were dazed by you for a little and that was all he shrugged his shoulders she resumed i didn t understand your meaning till it was too late that s what every woman says how can you dare to use such words she cried upon him her eyes flashing as the latent of which he was to see more some day awoke in my god i could knock you out of the did op tiie d it never strike your mind that what every s me women may feel t very well he said laughing i am sorry to you i did wrong i admit it he dropped into s little bitterness as he continued only you needn t b flinging it in my face am ready to pay t the you know you need not work ii the fields or the again you know may yourself with the best instead of in the bald way y have ly affected as if you couldn t get a than you earn her lip lifted slightly though there was little as a rule in her lai ge and impulsive i have said i will not take more from yon and i will not i cannot i should be your to gi on doing that and i won t one would think you were a princess fi in addition to a true aud original ha ha well dear can say no more i am a bad fellow a damn bad fellow i was bom bad and i lived bad and i die bud in all probability bat upon my lost soul i won t be bad towards you again and | 45 |
if certain circumstances should arise you understand in which you are in the least need the least difficulty me one line and you shall have by very iu require i may not be at i am going t don for a time i can t stand the om woman but all letters will be forwarded she said she did not wish him to drive her and they stopped just under the of trees d alighted and lifted her down bodily in his arms a wards placing her articles on the ground beside her bowed to him slightly her eye just lingering in then she turned to take the for departure d ed his cigar bent li and said maiden no more you are not going to turn away like that dear come k you wish she answered indifferently see how you ve mastered me she thereupon turned round and lifted her face to his and remained like a marble term while he a kiss upon her cheek half half as if zest had not yet quite died out her eyes vaguely rested upon the remotest trees in the lane while the kiss was given as though she were nearly unconscious of what he did now the other side for old acquaintance sake she turned her head in the same passive way as one might turn at the request of a or and he kissed the other side his lips touching cheeks that were damp and smoothly chill as the skin of the growing around them you don t give me your mouth and kiss me back you never willingly do that you ll never love me i fear i have said so often it is true i have never really and truly loved you and i think i never can she added mournfully perhaps of all things a lie on this thing would do the most good to me now but i have honor enough left little as tis not to teu that lie if i did love you i may have the best o causes for letting you know it but i don t he a labored breath as if the scene were getting rather oppressive to his heart or to his conscience or to his well you are melancholy i have no for flattering you now and i can say plainly that you need not be so sad you can hold your own for beauty against any woman of these parts gentle or simple say it to you as a practical man and well if you wise you will show it to the world more than you do before it and yet will you come back to me t upon my soul i don t like to let you go like this i tl s i ii i made up my mind as soon as i m what i ought to sooner and i won t come then my four ho up the i and was k the red hedges u t look after him slowly wound along crooked it was still and though the sun s limb was just free of the hill his rays and peep j ing addressed the eye than the touch as yet was not a near sad october and her self seemed the only two haunting that as she walked however some footsteps hind her the footsteps of a man and owing to of his advance he was close at her heels and good morning before she had been long of hi he appeared to be an of some son and carried a tin pot of red in his hand ho in a business like manner if he take her basket which she permitted him to do walking beside him it is early to be this sabbath mom be mid yes said when most people are at rest from their wet k work she also assented to this though i do more real work today than all the besides do all the week i work for the of mar and on for the of god that s more real than tlie i hey i have a uttle to do here at this tlie turned as he spoke to an opening at the roadside into a pasture if you ll wait a moment be added shall not be long as ho had her she could not do and waited observing he set down her maiden no more end the tin pot aud the paint with the that was in it began painting e ra on the of the placing a as if to give pause while that word was driven well home t the reader s heart m thy not against the landscape the pale tints of the the blue air of the horizon and the tile boards these staring words shone forth they seemed to shout themselves out and make the ii pre ring some people might have ci alas poor at the hideous the last grotesque of a creed which had ed mankind well in its but the words entered with horror r was as if this man had known her recent history yet he is a total stranger finished his text he picked up her and mechanically resumed her walk beside him do you what you paint she asked in low believe that ten do i believe in my own existence but said she suppose your sin was not f own seeking be shook bis head i cannot split hairs on that burning he said i have walked of miles during this past these on every wall gate and in ii length and breadth of this district i leave their i to the hearts of the people who read em i think they are horrible said that s what they are meant to be he replied in a | 45 |
voice but yon should read my ones them i of the d es i for and thej d make ye not but what this is a very for tlie rural ah there s a nice bit of blank wall up by that ba standing to waste i must put there one that will good for young females hke yourself to will you wait no said she and taking her basket a a little way forward she tamed her head the old wall began to a similar t i the with a strange and unwonted mien as if distressed at it had never before been called npon to it v with a sudden flash that she read and realized what was tl be the inscription he was now half way through shalt not commit her ful friend saw her looking stopped liis i shouted if yon want to anything of the sort we was about there s a very earnest good man going to charity sermon to day in the parish you arc going to ji of i m not of his now he is a good man and he ll explain as well as any i know twas he began the work in me but did not answer she resumed walk her eyes fixed on the ground i god said things she murmured when her flush had died away a of smoke up suddenly from her r chimney the sight of which made her heart of the interior when she reached it made ache more her mother who bad just come dow turned to greet her from the fireplace where she was it ling oak twigs under the breakfast kettle young children were still above as was also her father being sunday morning when he felt justified in l gi additional half hour well my dear exclaimed her surprised mother and kissing the girl how be yet i t you you was in upon mr have you come home to be married t i lave not come for that mother then for a holiday yes for a holiday for a long holiday said what isn t your cousin going to do the handsome he s not my cousin and he s not going to marry me eyed her narrowly come you have not told me all she said then went np to her mother put her face upon s neck and told and yet th st not got him to many ee her mother any would have done it but you perhaps any woman would except me it would have been something like a to come with if you had continued mrs field ready to burst into tears of vexation after the talk about you and him which has reached us here who would have expected it to end like this why didn t ye think of doing some good for your family instead thinking only of your if see how i ve got to and slave and your poor ik father with his heart like a dripping pan i hope for something to come out o this to see what pretty pair you and he made that day when you drove ay four months ago see what he has given all a we thought because we were his kin but if not it t have been because of his love for ee ii l yet you ve not got him to iu the mind to marry her ho on matrimony he had never once said a word mill what if ho had how she might have been impelled answer him by a at social salvation i not say but her poor foolish mother little know op the d her present feeling perhaps it was u in the unnatural il le there it was and this as she had said vas what made li herself she had never cared for him she did b i for him now she had dreaded him him to a cruel advantage h took of her h l then temporarily blinded hy bis flash i had been stirred to confused surrender awhile had e i despised and disliked him and mn away v was all hate him she did not quite but he was dust a ashes to her and even for her name s sake she e wished to marry him yoa ought to have been e if yon mean to get liim to make you his wife mother my the girl passionately upon her parent as if her poor break how could i bo expected to i was a child when i left this house four months ago didn t yon tell me there waa danger in men didn t you warn me f ladies know what to band against because they read novels that tell them of tricks but i never had the chance o learning in that way and you did not help me i her mother was subdued i thought if i spoke of bis fond feelings and tht might lead to you would tie wi him and lose your chance she murmured wiping her eyes with her well we must make the best of it suppose tis after all and what do please god hi j tf tl the event of s return from the h of her rich abroad if be n no large a word for a space of a square mile in the after k u several young girls of foi of called to her ing dressed i their and as became visitors to a i who had made a ti as they and sat round the room looking at her with mat for tho fact that it was said cousin mr i who had fallen in love with her a gentleman not altogether local whose reputation as a gallant and heart was beginning to spread | 45 |
the immediate boundaries of lent s position by its a higher than it would have exercised if their interest was so deep that the younger ones red when her hack was turned how pretty she is and how that best frock do set liar il i believe it cost an immense deal and it was a l from him who was up to get the t a from the cupboard did not hear these if she d them she might soon have set her friends right the matter but her heard and s simple been denied the hope of a dashing marriage as well as it could npon the sensation of a jt upon tho whole she felt gratified even such a and triumph should involve her s reputation it might end in marriage yet and in the warmth of her to their ti she ui her visitors to stay to tea their chatter their laughter their good all their flashes and of revived a s also and as the evening wore she caught the tion of then excitement and grew almost the in u ble hardness left her face she moved witli some of her old bounding step and flushed in all her young i an i thi m mi op the at moments in spite of she would reply to inquiries with a manner of superiority aa if that her experiences in the field of hip had ind been but so for was she from being the words of robert south in love with her own that the illusion was transient as lightning cold came back to mock her the ness of her momentary pride would her and her to reserved again and the despondency of the nest morning s dawn it was no longer sunday but monday and no best and the laughing visitors were gone and she awoke al in her old bed the innocent younger children breath softly around her in place of the excitement of her and the interest it had inspired she before a long and stony highway which had to tread aid and with little her depression was terrible and she could have hidden herself in a tomb in the se of a few weeks revived sufficiently show herself so far as was necessary to get to church sunday morning she liked to hear the as it wn aud the old and to join in the hymn that innate love of melody which she had from her ballad singing mother gave the simplest music a power over lier which well nigh drag her heart out of her bosom at times to be as much of observation as possible for reasons of her own and to the of the young men she set out before the began and took a k se under the gallery close to the lumber where only old men and women came and where the stood on end among the tools dropped in by and d l themselves in rows before her rested of i minute on their as if they were fc they were not then rat up and looked came on one of her to be chosen the rest the double chant but did not know what it was called though she would much have liked to know she thought without exactly thought how strange and was a s who from the grave could lead through t emotion wliich he alone had felt at first a girl like her who had never heard of his name and never would have a clue to personality tlie people who had turned heads turned them as the service proceeded and at last observing her f whispered to each other she knew what their rs were grew sick at heart and that she could to church no more tlie which she shared with some of the children formed her retreat more continually than ever here i her few square yards of she watched winds and rains gorgeous aud successive at their full so close kept she that at length almost thought she had gone away the only exercise that took at this time was after and it was then when out in the woods tliat she s least solitary she knew how to hit to a s i i i that moment of evening when the and the s are so balanced that the of day i ill the suspense of night each other leaving i mental it is then that the of being live becomes to its least possible dimensions lie no fear of the shadows her sole idea seemed to k to mankind or rather that cold called world which so terrible in the mass is so pitiable in its on t e lonely hills aud her glide was fa piece with tlie element she moved in her md e became an part of the scene fancy would natural pro op the d s ai her till they seemed a of her own rather they became a part of it for the world i a phenomenon and what they seemed t were the midnight airs and moaning among d tightly wrapped and bark of the winter twigs of bitter reproach a wet day was the of grief at her weakness in the mind of s vague being whom she could not class definitely i the god of her childhood and could not any other but this of her own based on of peopled by to her was a and tion of s fancy a cloud of moral by she was terrified without reason it was they that i out of harmony with the actual world not she among the sleeping birds in the hedges watching the k on a or standing under laden bough she looked upon herself as a of into the haunts of innocence but all i the | 45 |
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