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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11280-0.txt b/11280-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c44f48c --- /dev/null +++ b/11280-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8498 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11280 *** + +MAGGIE MILLER. + +THE STORY OF OLD HAGAR'S SECRET. + + +By MARY J. HOLMES, + +Author of "Lena Rivers," "Tempest and Sunshine," "English Orphans," +"Dora Deane," etc., etc. + +"Lead us not into temptation." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER + +I. THE OLD HOUSE BY THE MILL + +II. HAGAR'S SECRET + +III. HESTER AND MAGGIE + +IV. GIRLHOOD + +V. TRIFLES + +VI. THE JUNIOR PARTNER + +VII. THE SENIOR PARTNER + +VIII. STARS AND STRIPES + +IX. ROSE WARNER + +X. EXPECTED GUESTS + +XI. UNEXPECTED GUESTS + +XII. THE WATERS ARE TROUBLED + +XIII. SOCIETY + +XIV. MADAM CONWAY'S DISASTERS + +XV. ARTHUR CARROLLTON AND MAGGIE + +XVI. PERPLEXITY + +XVII. BROTHER AND SISTER + +XVIII. THE PEDDLER + +XIX. THE TELLING OF THE SECRET + +XX. THE RESULT + +XXI. THE SISTERS + +XXII. THE HOUSE OF MOURNING + +XXIII. NIAGARA + +XXIV. HOME + +XXV. HAGAR + +XXVI. AUGUST EIGHTEENTH, 1858 + + + + +MAGGIE MILLER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE OLD HOUSE BY THE MILL. + + +'Mid the New England hills, and beneath the shadow of their dim old +woods, is a running brook whose deep waters were not always as merry +and frolicsome as now; for years before our story opens, pent up and +impeded in their course, they dashed angrily against their prison +walls, and turned the creaking wheel of an old sawmill with a sullen, +rebellious roar. The mill has gone to decay, and the sturdy men who +fed it with the giant oaks of the forest are sleeping quietly in the +village graveyard. The waters of the mill-pond, too, relieved from +their confinement, leap gayly over the ruined dam, tossing for a +moment in wanton glee their locks of snow-white foam, and then flowing +on, half fearfully as it were, through the deep gorge overhung with +the hemlock and the pine, where the shadows of twilight ever lie, and +where the rocks frown gloomily down upon the stream below, which, +emerging from the darkness, loses itself at last in the waters of the +gracefully winding Chicopee, and leaves far behind the moss-covered +walls of what is familiarly known as the "Old House by the Mill." + +'Tis a huge, old-fashioned building, distant nearly a mile from the +public highway, and surrounded so thickly by forest trees that the +bright sunlight, dancing merrily midst the rustling leaves above, +falls but seldom on the time-stained walls of dark gray stone, where +the damp and dews of more than a century have fallen, and where now +the green moss clings with a loving grasp, as if 'twere its rightful +resting-place. When the thunders of the Revolution shook the hills of +the Bay State, and the royal banner floated in the evening breeze, +the house was owned by an old Englishman who, loyal to his king and +country, denounced as rebels the followers of Washington. Against +these, however, he would not raise his hand, for among them were many +long-tried friends who had gathered with him around the festal board; +so he chose the only remaining alternative, and went back to his +native country, cherishing the hope that he should one day return to +the home he loved so well, and listen again to the musical flow of the +brook, which could be distinctly heard from the door of the mansion. +But his wish was vain, for when at last America was free and the +British troops recalled, he slept beneath the sod of England, and the +old house was for many years deserted. The Englishman had been greatly +beloved, and his property was unmolested, while the weeds and grass +grew tall and rank in the garden beds, and the birds of heaven built +their nests beneath the projecting roof or held a holiday in the +gloomy, silent rooms. + +As time passed on, however, and no one appeared to dispute their +right, different families occupied the house at intervals, until at +last, when nearly fifty years had elapsed, news was one day received +that Madam Conway, a granddaughter of the old Englishman, having met +with reverses at home, had determined to emigrate to the New World, +and remembering the "House by the Mill," of which she had heard so +much, she wished to know if peaceable possession of it would be +allowed her, in case she decided upon removing thither and making it +her future home. To this plan no objection was made, for the aged +people of Hillsdale still cherished the memory of the hospitable old +man whose locks were gray while they were yet but children, and the +younger portion of the community hoped for a renewal of the gayeties +which they had heard were once so common at the old stone house. + +But in this they were disappointed, for Madam Conway was a proud, +unsociable woman, desiring no acquaintance whatever with her +neighbors, who, after many ineffectual attempts at something like +friendly intercourse, concluded to leave her entirely alone, and +contented themselves with watching the progress of matters at "Mill +Farm," as she designated the place, which soon began to show visible +marks of improvement. The Englishman was a man of taste, and Madam +Conway's first work was an attempt to restore the grounds to something +of their former beauty. The yard and garden were cleared of weeds, +the walks and flower-beds laid out with care, and then the neighbors +looked to see her cut away a few of the multitude of trees which had +sprung up around her home. But this she had no intention of doing. +"They shut me out," she said, "from the prying eyes of the vulgar, and +I would rather it should be so." So the trees remained, throwing their +long shadows upon the high, narrow windows, and into the large square +rooms, where the morning light and the noonday heat seldom found +entrance, and which seemed like so many cold, silent caverns, with +their old-fashioned massive furniture, their dark, heavy curtains, and +the noiseless footfall of the stately lady, who moved ever with the +same measured tread, speaking always softly and low to the household +servants, who, having been trained in her service, had followed her +across the sea. + +From these the neighbors learned that Madam Conway had in London +a married daughter, Mrs. Miller; that old Hagar Warren, the +strange-looking woman who more than anyone else shared her mistress' +confidence, had grown up in the family, receiving a very good +education, and had nursed their young mistress, Miss Margaret, which +of course entitled her to more respect than was usually bestowed upon +menials like her; that Madam Conway was very aristocratic, very proud +of her high English blood; that though she lived alone she attended +strictly to all the formalities of high life, dressing each day with +the utmost precision for her solitary dinner--dining off a service +of solid silver, and presiding with great dignity in her straight, +high-backed chair. She was fond, too, of the ruby wine, and her cellar +was stored with the choicest liquors, some of which she had brought +with her from home, while others, it was said, had belonged to +her grandfather, and for half a century had remained unseen and +unmolested, while the cobwebs of time had woven around them a misty +covering, making them still more valuable to the lady, who knew full +well how age improved such things. + +Regularly each day she rode in her ponderous carriage, sometimes alone +and sometimes accompanied by Hester, the daughter of old Hagar, a +handsome, intelligent-looking girl, who, after two or three years +of comparative idleness at Mill Farm, went to Meriden, Conn., as +seamstress in a family which had advertised for such a person. With +her departed the only life of the house, and during the following year +there ensued a monotonous quiet, which was broken at last for Hagar by +the startling announcement that her daughter's young mistress had died +four months before, and the husband, a gray-haired, elderly man, had +proved conclusively that he was in his dotage by talking of marriage +to Hester, who, ere the letter reached her mother, would probably be +the third bride of one whose reputed wealth was the only possible +inducement to a girl like Hester Warren. + +With an immense degree of satisfaction Hagar read the letter through, +exulting that fortune had favored her at last. Possessed of many +sterling qualities, Hagar Warren had one glaring fault, which had +imbittered her whole life. Why others were rich while she was poor she +could not understand, and her heart rebelled at the fate which had +made her what she was. + +But Hester would be wealthy--nay, would perhaps one day rival the +haughty Mrs. Miller across the water, who had been her playmate; there +was comfort in that, and she wrote to her daughter expressing her +entire approbation, and hinting vaguely of the possibility that she +herself might some time cease to be a servant, and help do the honors +of Mr. Hamilton's house! To this there came no reply, and Hagar was +thinking seriously of making a visit to Meriden, when one rainy +autumnal night, nearly a year after Hester's marriage, there came +another letter sealed with black. With a sad foreboding Hagar opened +it, and read that Mr. Hamilton had failed; that his house and farm +were sold, and that he, overwhelmed with mortification both at his +failure and the opposition of his friends to his last marriage, had +died suddenly, leaving Hester with no home in the wide world unless +Madam Conway received her again into her family. + +"Just my luck!" was Hagar's mental comment, as she finished reading +the letter and carried it to her mistress, who had always liked +Hester, and who readily consented to give her a home, provided she put +on no airs from having been for a time the wife of a reputed wealthy +man. "Mustn't put on airs!" muttered Hagar, as she left the room. +"Just as if airs wasn't for anybody but high bloods!" And with the +canker-worm of envy at her heart she wrote to Hester, who came +immediately; and Hagar--when she heard her tell the story of her +wrongs, how her husband's sister, indignant at his marriage with a +sewing-girl, had removed from him the children, one a stepchild and +one his own, and how of all his vast fortune there was not left for +her a penny--experienced again the old bitterness of feeling, and +murmured that fate should thus deal with her and hers. + +With the next day's mail there came to Madam Conway a letter bearing +a foreign postmark, and bringing the sad news that her son-in-law had +been lost in a storm while crossing the English Channel, and that +her daughter Margaret, utterly crushed and heartbroken, would sail +immediately for America, where she wished only to lay her weary head +upon her mother's bosom and die. + +"So there is one person that has no respect for blood, and that is +Death," said old Hagar to her mistress, when she heard the news. "He +has served us both alike, he has taken my son-in-law first and yours +next." + +Frowning haughtily, Madam Conway bade her be silent, telling her at +the same time to see that the rooms in the north part of the building +were put in perfect order for Mrs. Miller, who would probably come in +the next vessel. In sullen silence Hagar withdrew, and for several +days worked half reluctantly in the "north rooms," as Madam Conway +termed a comparatively pleasant, airy suite of apartments, with a +balcony above, which looked out upon the old mill-dam and the brook +pouring over it. + +"There'll be big doings when my lady comes," said Hagar one day to her +daughter. "It'll be Hagar here, and Hagar there, and Hagar everywhere, +but I shan't hurry myself. I'm getting too old to wait on a chit like +her." + +"Don't talk so, mother," said Hester. "Margaret was always kind to me. +She is not to blame for being rich, while I am poor." + +"But somebody's to blame," interrupted old Hagar. "You was always +accounted the handsomest and cleverest of the two, and yet for all +you'll be nothing but a drudge to wait on her and the little girl." + +Hester only sighed in reply, while her thoughts went forward to +the future and what it would probably bring her. Hester Warren and +Margaret Conway had been children together, and in spite of the +difference of their stations they had loved each other dearly; and +when at last the weary traveler came, with her pale sad face and +mourning garb, none gave her so heartfelt a welcome as Hester; and +during the week when, from exhaustion and excitement, she was confined +to her bed, it was Hester who nursed her with the utmost care, +soothing her to sleep, and then amusing the little Theo, a child +of two years. Hagar, too, softened by her young mistress' sorrow, +repented of her harsh words, and watched each night with the invalid, +who once, when her mind seemed wandering far back in the past, +whispered softly, "Tell me the Lord's prayer, dear Hagar, just as you +told it to me years ago when I was a little child." + +It was a long time since Hagar had breathed that prayer, but at Mrs. +Miller's request she commenced it, repeating it correctly until she +came to the words, "Give us this day our daily bread"; then she +hesitated, and bending forward said, "What comes next, Miss Margaret? +Is it 'Lead us not into temptation?" + +"Yes, yes," whispered the half-unconscious lady. "'Lead us not into +temptation,' that's it." Then, as if there were around her a dim +foreboding of the great wrong Hagar was to do, she took her old +nurse's hand between her own, and continued, "Say it often, Hagar, +'Lead us not into temptation'; you have much need for that prayer." + +A moment more, and Margaret Miller slept, while beside her sat Hagar +Warren, half shuddering, she knew not why, as she thought of her +mistress' words, which seemed to her so much like the spirit of +prophecy. + +"Why do I need that prayer more than anyone else?" she said at last. +"I have never been tempted more than I could bear--never shall be +tempted--and if I am, old Hagar Warren, bad as she is, can resist +temptation without that prayer." + +Still, reason as she would, Hagar could not shake off the strange +feeling, and as she sat half dozing in her chair, with the dim +lamplight flickering over her dark face, she fancied that the October +wind, sighing so mournfully through the locust trees beneath the +window, and then dying away in the distance, bore upon its wing, +"'Lead us not into temptation.' Hagar, you have much need to say that +prayer." + +Aye, Hagar Warren--much need, much need! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +HAGAR'S SECRET. + + +The wintry winds were blowing cold and chill around the old stone +house, and the deep untrodden snow lay highly piled upon the ground. +For many days the gray, leaden clouds had frowned gloomily down upon +the earth below, covering it with a thick veil of white. But the storm +was over now; with the setting sun it had gone to rest, and the pale +moonlight stole softly into the silent chamber, where Madam Conway +bent anxiously down to see if but the faintest breath came from the +parted lips of her only daughter. There had been born to her that +night another grandchild--a little, helpless girl, which now in an +adjoining room was Hagar's special care; and Hagar, sitting there with +the wee creature upon her lap, and the dread fear at her heart that +her young mistress might die, forgot for once to repine at her lot, +and did cheerfully whatever was required of her to do. + +There was silence in the rooms below--silence in the chambers +above,--silence everywhere,--for the sick woman seemed fast nearing +the deep, dark river whose waters move onward, but never return. + +Almost a week went by, and then, in a room far more humble than where +Margaret Miller lay, another immortal being was given to the world; +and, with a softened light in her keen black eyes, old Hagar told to +her stately mistress, when she met her on the stair, that she too was +a grandmother. + +"You must not on that account neglect Margaret's child," was Madam +Conway's answer, as with a wave of her hand she passed on; and this +was all she said--not a word of sympathy or congratulation for the +peculiar old woman whose heart, so long benumbed, had been roused to +a better state of feeling, and who in the first joy of her newborn +happiness had hurried to her mistress, fancying for the moment that +she was almost her equal. + +"Don't neglect Margaret's child for that!" How the words rang in her +ears as she fled up the narrow stairs and through the dark hall, till +the low room was reached where lay the babe for whom Margaret's child +was not to be neglected. All the old bitterness had returned, and as +hour after hour went by, and Madam Conway came not near, while the +physician and the servants looked in for a moment only and then +hurried away to the other sickroom, where all their services were kept +in requisition, she muttered: "Little would they care if Hester died +upon my hands. And she will die too," she continued, as by the fading +daylight she saw the pallor deepen on her daughter's face. + +And Hagar was right, for Hester's sands were nearer run than those of +Mrs. Miller. The utmost care might not, perhaps, have saved her; but +the matter was not tested; and when the long clock at the head of the +stairs struck the hour of midnight she murmured: "It is getting dark +here, mother--so dark--and I am growing cold. Can it be death?" + +"Yes, Hester, 'tis death," answered Hagar, and her voice was +unnaturally calm as she laid her hand on the clammy brow of her +daughter. + +An hour later, and Madam Conway, who sat dozing in the parlor below, +ready for any summons which might come from Margaret's room, was +roused by the touch of a cold, hard hand, and Hagar Warren stood +before her. + +"Come," she said, "come with me;" and, thinking only of Margaret, +Madam Conway arose to follow her. "Not there--but this way," said +Hagar, as her mistress turned towards Mrs. Miller's door, and grasping +firmly the lady's arm she led to the room where Hester lay dead, with +her young baby clasped lovingly to her bosom. "Look at her--and pity +me now, if you never did before. She was all I had in the world to +love," said Hagar passionately. + +Madam Conway was not naturally a hard-hearted woman, and she answered +gently: "I do pity you, Hagar, and I did not think Hester was so ill. +Why haven't you let me know?" To this Hagar made no direct reply, and +after a few more inquiries Madam Conway left the room, saying she +would send up the servants to do whatever was necessary. When it was +known throughout the house that Hester was dead much surprise was +expressed and a good deal of sympathy manifested for old Hagar, who, +with a gloomy brow, hugged to her heart the demon of jealousy, which +kept whispering to her of the difference there would be were Margaret +to die. It was deemed advisable to keep Hester's death a secret from +Mrs. Miller; so, with as little ceremony as possible, the body was +buried at the close of the day, in an inclosure which had been set +apart as a family burying-ground; and when again the night shadows +fell Hagar Warren sat in her silent room, brooding over her grief, and +looking oft at the plain pine cradle where lay the little motherless +child, her granddaughter. Occasionally, too, her eye wandered towards +the mahogany crib, where another infant slept. Perfect quiet seemed +necessary for Mrs. Miller, and Madam Conway had ordered her baby to +be removed from the antechamber where first it had been kept, so that +Hagar had the two children in her own room. + +In the pine cradle there was a rustling sound; the baby was awaking, +and taking it upon her lap Hagar soothed it again to sleep, gazing +earnestly upon it to see if it were like its mother. It was a bright, +healthy-looking infant, and though five days younger than that of Mrs. +Miller was quite as large and looked as old. + +"And you will be a drudge, while she will be a lady," muttered Hagar, +as her tears fell on the face of the sleeping child. "Why need this +difference be?" + +Old Hagar had forgotten the words "Lead us not into temptation"; and +when the Tempter answered, "It need not be," she only started suddenly +as if smitten by a heavy blow; but she did not drive him from her, and +she sat there reasoning with herself that "it need not be." Neither +the physician nor Madam Conway had paid any attention to Margaret's +child; it had been her special care, while no one had noticed hers, +and newly born babies were so much alike that deception was an easy +matter. But could she do it? Could she bear that secret on her soul? +Madam Conway, though proud, had been kind to her, and could she thus +deceive her! Would her daughter, sleeping in her early grave, approve +the deed. "No, no," she answered aloud, "she would not!" and the great +drops of perspiration stood thick upon her dark, haggard face as she +arose and laid back in her cradle the child whom she had thought to +make an heiress. + +For a time the Tempter left her, but returned ere long, and creeping +into her heart sung to her beautiful songs of the future which might +be were Hester's baby a lady. And Hagar, listening to that song, +fell asleep, dreaming that the deed was done by other agency than +hers--that the little face resting on the downy pillow, and shaded +by the costly lace, was lowly born; while the child wrapped in the +coarser blanket came of nobler blood, even that of the Conways, who +boasted more than one lordly title. With a nervous start she awoke +at last, and creeping to the cradle of mahogany looked to see if her +dream were true; but it was not. She knew it by the pinched, blue +look about the nose, and the thin covering of hair. This was all the +difference which even her eye could see, and probably no other person +had noticed that, for the child had never been seen save in a darkened +room. + +The sin was growing gradually less heinous, and she could now calmly +calculate the chances for detection. Still, the conflict was long and +severe, and it was not until morning that the Tempter gained a point +by compromising the matter, and suggesting that while dressing the +infants she should change their clothes for once, just to see how +fine cambrics and soft flannels would look upon a grandchild of Hagar +Warren! "I can easily change them again--it is only an experiment," +she said, as with trembling hands she proceeded to divest the children +of their wrappings. But her fingers seemed all thumbs, and more than +one sharp pin pierced the tender flesh of her little grandchild as she +fastened together the embroidered slip, teaching her thus early, had +she been able to learn the lesson, that the pathway of the rich is not +free from thorns. + +Their toilet was completed at last--their cradle beds exchanged; and +then, with a strange, undefined feeling, old Hagar stood back and +looked to see how the little usurper became her new position. She +became it well, and to Hagar's partial eyes it seemed more meet that +she should lie there beneath the silken covering than the other one, +whose nose looked still more pinched and blue in the plain white dress +and cradle of pine. Still, there was a gnawing pain at Hagar's heart, +and she would perhaps have undone the wrong had not Madam Conway +appeared with inquiries for the baby's health. Hagar could not face +her mistress, so she turned away and pretended to busy herself with +the arrangement of the room, while the lady, bending over the cradle, +said, "I think she is improving, Hagar; I never saw her look so well"; +and she pushed back the window curtain to obtain a better view. + +With a wild, startled look in her eye, Hagar held her breath to hear +what might come next, but her fears were groundless; for, in her +anxiety for her daughter, Madam Conway had heretofore scarcely seen +her grandchild, and had no suspicion now that the sleeper before her +was of plebeian birth, nor yet that the other little one, at whom she +did not deign to look, was bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh. +She started to leave the room, but, impelled by some sudden impulse, +turned back and stooped to kiss the child. Involuntarily old Hagar +sprang forward to stay the act, and grasped the lady's arm, but she +was too late; the aristocratic lips had touched the cheek of Hagar +Warren's grandchild, and the secret, if now confessed, would never be +forgiven. + +"It can't be helped," muttered Hagar, and then, when Mrs. Conway asked +an explanation of her conduct, she answered, "I was afraid you'd wake +her up, and mercy knows I've had worry enough with both the brats." + +Not till then had Madam Conway observed how haggard and worn was +Hagar's face, and instead of reproving her for her boldness she said +gently: "You have indeed been sorely tried! Shall I send up Bertha to +relieve you!" + +"No, no," answered Hagar hurriedly, "I am better alone." + +The next moment Madam Conway was moving silently down the narrow +hall, while Hagar on her knees was weeping passionately. One word of +kindness had effected more than a thousand reproaches would have done; +and wringing her hands she cried, "I will not do it; I cannot." + +Approaching the cradle, she was about to lift the child, when again +Madam Conway was at the door. She had come, she said, to take the babe +to Margaret, who seemed better this morning, and had asked to see it. + +"Not now, not now. Wait till I put on her a handsomer dress, and I'll +bring her myself," pleaded Hagar. + +But Madam Conway saw no fault in the fine cambric wrapper, and +taking the infant in her arms she walked away, while Hagar followed +stealthily. Very lovingly the mother folded to her bosom the babe, +calling it her fatherless one, and wetting its face with her tears, +while through the half-closed door peered Hagar's wild dark eyes--one +moment lighting up with exultation as she muttered, "It's my flesh, +my blood, proud lady!" and the next growing dim with tears, as she +thought of the evil she had done. + +"I did not know she had so much hair," said Mrs. Miller, parting the +silken locks. "I think it will be like mine," and she gave the child +to her mother, while Hagar glided swiftly back to her room. + +That afternoon the clergyman whose church Mrs. Conway usually +attended, called to see Mrs. Miller, who suggested that both the +children should receive the rite of baptism. Hagar was accordingly +bidden to prepare them for the ceremony, and resolving to make one +more effort to undo what she had done she dressed the child whom she +had thought to wrong in its own clothes, and then anxiously awaited +her mistress' coming. + +"Hagar Warren! What does this mean? Are you crazy!" sternly demanded +Madam Conway, when the old nurse held up before her the child with the +blue nose. + +"No, not crazy yet; but I shall be, if you don't take this one first," +answered Hagar. + +More than once that day Madam Conway had heard the servants hint that +Hagar's grief had driven her insane; and now when she observed the +unnatural brightness in her eyes, and saw what she had done, she too +thought it possible that her mind was partially unsettled; so she said +gently, but firmly: "This is no time for foolishness, Hagar. They are +waiting for us in the sickroom; so make haste and change the baby's +dress." + +There was something authoritative in her manner, and Hagar obeyed, +whispering incoherently to herself, and thus further confirming +her mistress' suspicions that she was partially insane. During the +ceremony she stood tall and erect like some dark, grim statue, her +hands firmly locked together, and her eyes fixed upon the face of +the little one who was baptized Margaret Miller. As the clergyman +pronounced that name she uttered a low, gasping moan, but her face +betrayed no emotion, and very calmly she stepped forward with the +other child upon her arm. + +"What name?" asked the minister; and she answered, "Her mother's; call +her for her mother!" + +"Hester," said Madam Conway, turning to the clergyman, who understood +nothing from Hagar's reply. + +So Hester was the name given to the child in whose veins the blood of +English noblemen was flowing; and when the ceremony was ended Hagar +bore back to her room Hester Hamilton, the child defrauded of her +birthright, and Maggie Miller, the heroine of our story. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HESTER AND MAGGIE. + + +"It is over now," old Hagar thought, as she laid the children upon +their pillows. "The deed is done, and by their own hands too. There is +nothing left for me now but a confession, and that I cannot make;" so +with a heavy weight upon her soul she sat down, resolving to keep her +own counsel and abide the consequence, whatever it might be. + +But it wore upon her terribly,--that secret,--and though it helped +in a measure to divert her mind from dwelling too much upon her +daughter's death it haunted her continually, making her a strange, +eccentric woman whom the servants persisted in calling crazy, while +even Madam Conway failed to comprehend her. Her face, always dark, +seemed to have acquired a darker, harder look, while her eyes wore a +wild, startled expression, as if she were constantly followed by some +tormenting fear. At first Mrs. Miller objected to trusting her with +the babe; but when Madam Conway suggested that the woman who had +charge of little Theo should also take care of Maggie she fell upon +her knees and begged most piteously that the child might not be taken +from her. "Everything I have ever loved has left me," said she, "and I +cannot give her up." + +"But they say you are crazy," answered Madam Conway, somewhat +surprised that Hagar should manifest so much affection for a child not +at all connected to her. "They say you are crazy, and no one trusts a +crazy woman." + +"Crazy!" repeated Hagar half-scornfully; "crazy--'tis not +craziness--'tis the trouble--the trouble--that's killing me! But I'll +hide it closer than it's hidden now," she continued, "if you'll let +her stay; and 'fore Heaven I swear that sooner than harm one hair of +Maggie's head I'd part with my own life;" and taking the sleeping +child in her arms she stood like a wild beast at bay. + +Madam Conway did not herself really believe in Hagar's insanity. She +had heretofore been perfectly faithful to whatever was committed to +her care, so she bade her be quiet, saying they would trust her for a +time. + +"It's the talking to myself," said Hagar, when left alone. "It's the +talking to myself which makes them call me crazy; and though I might +talk to many a worse woman than old Hagar Warren, I'll stop it; I'll +be still as the grave, and when next they gossip about me it shall be +of something besides craziness." + +So Hagar became suddenly silent and uncommunicative, mingling but +little with the servants, but staying all day long in her room, where +she watched the children with untiring care. Especially was she kind +to Hester, who as time passed on proved to be a puny, sickly thing, +never noticing anyone, but moaning frequently as if in pain. Very +tenderly old Hagar nursed her, carrying her often in her arms until +they ached from very weariness, while Madam Conway, who watched her +with a vigilant eye, complained that she neglected little Maggie. + +"And what if I do?" returned Hagar somewhat bitterly. "Aint there a +vast difference between the two? S'pose Hester was your own flesh and +blood, would you think I could do too much for the poor thing?" And +she glanced compassionately at the poor wasted form which lay upon her +lap, gasping for breath, and presenting a striking contrast to little +Maggie, who in her cradle was crowing and laughing in childish glee at +the bright firelight which blazed upon the hearth. + +Maggie was indeed a beautiful child. From her mother she had inherited +the boon of perfect health, and she throve well in spite of the bumped +heads and pinched fingers which frequently fell to her lot, when Hagar +was too busy with the feeble child to notice her. The plaything of the +whole house, she was greatly petted by the servants, who vied with +each other in tracing points of resemblance between her and the +Conways; while the grandmother prided herself particularly on the +arched eyebrows and finely cut upper lip, which she said were sure +marks of high blood, and never found in the lower ranks! With a +scornful expression on her face, old Hagar would listen to these +remarks, and then, when sure that no one heard her, she would mutter: +"Marks of blood! What nonsense! I'm almost glad I've solved the +riddle, and know 'taint blood that makes the difference. Just tell +her the truth once, and she'd quickly change her mind. Hester's blue, +pinched nose, which makes one think of fits, would be the very essence +of aristocracy, while Maggie's lip would come of the little Paddy +blood there is running in her veins!" + +And still Madam Conway herself was not one-half so proud of the +bright, playful Maggie as was old Hagar, who, when they were alone, +would hug her to her bosom, and gaze fondly on her fair, round face +and locks of silken hair, so like those now resting in the grave. In +the meantime Mrs. Miller, who since her daughter's birth, had never +left her room, was growing daily weaker, and when Maggie was nearly +nine months old she died, with the little one folded to her bosom, +just as Hester Hamilton had held it when she too passed from earth. + +"Doubly blessed," whispered old Hagar, who was present, and then when +she remembered that to poor little Hester a mother's blessing would +never be given she felt that her load of guilt was greater than she +could bear. "She will perhaps forgive me if I confess it to her +over Miss Margaret's coffin," she thought; and once when they stood +together by the sleeping dead, and Madam Conway, with Maggie in her +arms, was bidding the child kiss the clay-cold lips of its mother, old +Hagar attempted to tell her. "Could you bear Miss Margaret's death as +well," she said, "if Maggie, instead of being bright and playful +as she is, were weak and sick like Hester?" and her eyes fastened +themselves upon Madam Conway with an agonizing intensity which that +lady could not fathom. "Say, would you bear it as well--could you love +her as much--would you change with me, take Hester for your own, and +give me little Maggie?" she persisted, and Madam Conway, surprised +at her excited manner, which she attributed in a measure to envy, +answered coldly: "Of course not. Still, if God had seen fit to give me +a child like Hester, I should try to be reconciled, but I am thankful +he has not thus dealt with me." + +"'Tis enough. I am satisfied," thought Hagar. "She would not thank me +for telling her. The secret shall be kept;" and half exultingly she +anticipated the pride she should feel in seeing her granddaughter +grown up a lady and an heiress. + +Anon, however, there came stealing over her a feeling of remorse, as +she reflected that the child defrauded of its birthright would, if it +lived, be compelled to serve in the capacity of a servant; and many a +night, when all else was silent in the old stone house, she paced up +and down the room, her long hair, now fast turning gray, falling over +her shoulders, and her large eyes dimmed with tears, as she thought +what the future would bring to the infant she carried in her arms. + +But the evil she so much dreaded never came, for when the winter snows +were again falling they made a little grave beneath the same pine tree +where Hester Hamilton lay sleeping, and, while they dug that grave, +old Hagar sat, with folded arms and tearless eyes, gazing fixedly upon +the still white face and thin blue lips which would never again be +distorted with pain. Her habit of talking to herself had returned, and +as she sat there she would at intervals whisper: "Poor little babe! I +would willingly have cared for you all my life, but I am glad you +are gone to Miss Margaret, who, it may be, will wonder what little +thin-faced angel is calling her mother! But somebody'll introduce you, +somebody'll tell her who you are, and when she knows how proud her +mother is of Maggie she'll forgive old Hagar Warren!" + +"Gone stark mad!" was the report carried by the servants to their +mistress, who believed the story when Hagar herself came to her with +the request that Hester might be buried in some of Maggie's clothes. + +Touched with pity by her worn, haggard face, Madam Conway answered, +"Yes, take some of her common ones," and, choosing the cambric robe +which Hester had worn on the morning when the exchange was made, Hagar +dressed the body for the grave. When at last everything was ready, +and the tiny coffin stood upon the table, Madam Conway drew near and +looked for a moment on the emaciated form which rested quietly from +all its pain. Hovering at her side was Hagar, and feeling it her duty +to say a word of comfort the stately lady remarked that it was best +the babe should die; that were it her grandchild she should feel +relieved; for had it lived, it would undoubtedly have been physically +and intellectually feeble. + +"Thank you! I am considerably comforted," was the cool reply of Hagar, +who felt how cruel were the words, and who for a moment was strongly +tempted to claim the beautiful Maggie as her own, and give back to the +cold, proud woman the senseless clay on which she looked so calmly. + +But love for her grandchild conquered. There was nothing in the way of +her advancement now, and when at the grave she knelt her down to weep, +as the bystanders thought, over her dead, she was breathing there a +vow that never so long as she lived should the secret of Maggie's +birth be given to the world unless some circumstance then unforeseen +should make it absolutely and unavoidably necessary. To see Maggie +grow up into a beautiful, refined, and cultivated woman was now the +great object of Hagar's life; and, fearing lest by some inadvertent +word or action the secret should be disclosed, she wished to live by +herself, where naught but the winds of heaven could listen to the +incoherent whisperings which made her fellow-servants accuse her of +insanity. + +Down in the deepest shadow of the woods, and distant from the old +stone house nearly a mile, was a half-ruined cottage which, years +before, had been occupied by miners, who had dug in the hillside +for particles of yellow ore which they fancied to be gold. Long and +frequent were the night revels said to have been held in the old hut, +which had at last fallen into bad repute and been for years deserted. +To one like Hagar, however, there was nothing intimidating in its +creaking old floors, its rattling windows and noisome chimney, where +the bats and the swallows built their nests; and when one day Madam +Conway proposed giving little Maggie into the charge of a younger and +less nervous person than herself she made no objection, but surprised +her mistress by asking permission to live by herself in the "cottage +by the mine," as it was called. + +"It is better for me to be alone," said she, "for I may do something +terrible if I stay here, something I would sooner die than do," and +her eyes fell upon Maggie sleeping in her cradle. + +This satisfied Madam Conway that the half-crazed woman meditated harm +to her favorite grandchild, and she consented readily to her +removal to the cottage, which by her orders was made comparatively +comfortable. For several weeks, when she came, as she did each day, to +the house, Madam Conway kept Maggie carefully from her sight, until at +last she begged so hard to see her that her wish was gratified; and +as she manifested no disposition whatever to molest the child, Madam +Conway's fears gradually subsided, and Hagar was permitted to fondle +and caress her as often as she chose. + +Here now, for a time, we leave them; Hagar in her cottage by the mine; +Madam Conway in her gloomy home; Maggie in her nurse's arms; and Theo, +of whom as yet but little has been said, playing on the nursery floor; +while with our readers we pass silently over a period of time which +shall bring us to Maggie's girlhood. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GIRLHOOD. + + +Fifteen years have passed away, and around the old stone house there +is outwardly no change. The moss still clings to the damp, dark wall, +just as it clung there long ago, while the swaying branches of the +forest trees still cast their shadows across the floor, or scream to +the autumn blast, just as they did in years gone by, when Hagar Warren +breathed that prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." Madam Conway, +stiff and straight and cold as ever, moves with the same measured +tread through her gloomy rooms, which are not as noiseless now as they +were wont to be, for girlhood--joyous, merry girlhood--has a home in +those dark rooms, and their silence is broken by the sound of other +feet, not moving stealthily and slow, as if following in a funeral +train, but dancing down the stairs, tripping through the halls, +skipping across the floor, and bounding over the grass, they go, never +tiring, never ceasing, till the birds and the sun have gone to rest. + +And do what she may, the good lady cannot check the gleeful mirth, or +hush the clear ringing laughter of one at least of the fair maidens, +who, since last we looked upon them, have grown up to womanhood. +Wondrously beautiful is Maggie Miller now, with her bright sunny face, +her soft dark eyes and raven hair, so glossy and smooth that her +sister, the pale-faced, blue-eyed Theo, likens it to a piece of +shining satin. Now, as ever, the pet and darling of the household, she +moves among them like a ray of sunshine; and the servants, when they +hear her bird-like voice waking the echoes of the weird old place, +pause in their work to listen, blessing Miss Margaret for the joy and +gladness her presence has brought them. + +Old Hagar, in her cottage by the mine, has kept her secret well, +whispering it only to the rushing wind and the running brook, which +have told no tales to the gay, light-hearted girl, save to murmur +in her ear that a life untrammeled by etiquette and form would be a +blissful life indeed. And Maggie, listening to the voices which speak +to her so oft in the autumn wind, the running brook, the opening +flower, and the falling leaf, has learned a lesson different far from +those taught her daily by the prim, stiff governess, who, imported +from England six years ago, has drilled both Theo and Maggie in all +the prescribed rules of high life as practiced in the Old World. She +has taught them how to sit and how to stand, how to eat and how to +drink, as becomes young ladies of Conway blood and birth. And Madam +Conway, through her golden spectacles, looks each day to see some good +from all this teaching come to the bold, dashing, untamable Maggie, +who, spurning birth and blood alike, laughs at form and etiquette as +taught by Mrs. Jeffrey, and, winding her arms around her grandmother's +neck, crumples her rich lace ruffle with a most unladylike hug, and +then bounds away to the stables, pretending not to hear the distressed +Mrs. Jeffrey calling after her not to run, "it is so Yankeefied and +vulgar"; or if she did hear, answering back, "I am a Yankee, native +born, and shall run for all Johnny Bull!" + +Greatly horrified at this evidence of total depravity, Mrs. Jeffrey +brushes down her black silk apron and goes back to Theo, her more +tractable pupil; while Maggie, emerging ere long from the stable, +clears the fence with one leap of her high-mettled pony, which John, +the coachman, had bought at an enormous price, of a traveling circus, +on purpose for his young mistress, who complained that grandma's +horses were all too lazy and aristocratic in their movements for her. + +In perfect amazement Madam Conway looked out when first Gritty, as the +pony was called, was led up to the door, prancing, pawing, chafing at +the bit, and impatient to be off. "Margaret shall never mount that +animal," she said; but Margaret had ruled for sixteen years, and now, +at a sign from John, she sprang gayly upon the back of the fiery +steed, who, feeling instinctively that the rider he carried was a +stranger to fear, became under her training perfectly gentle, obeying +her slightest command, and following her ere long like a sagacious +dog. Not thus easily could Madam Conway manage Maggie, and with a +groan she saw her each day fly over the garden gate and out into the +woods, which she scoured in all directions. + +"She'll break her neck, I know," the disturbed old lady would say, as +Maggie's flowing skirt and waving plumes disappeared in the shadow of +the trees. "She'll break her neck some day;" and thinking someone must +be in fault, her eyes would turn reprovingly upon Mrs. Jeffrey for +having failed in subduing Maggie, whom the old governess pronounced +the "veriest madcap" in the world. "There is nothing like her in all +England," she said; "and her low-bred ways must be the result of her +having been born on American soil." + +If Maggie was to be censured, Madam Conway chose to do it herself; and +on such occasions she would answer: "'Low-bred,' Mrs. Jeffrey, is not +a proper term to apply to Margaret. She's a little wild, I admit, but +no one with my blood in their veins can be low-bred;" and, in her +indignation at the governess, Madam would usually forget to reprove +her granddaughter when she came back from her ride, her cheeks flushed +and her eyes shining like stars with the healthful exercise. Throwing +herself upon a stool at her grandmother's feet, Maggie would lay her +head upon the lap of the proud lady, who very lovingly would smooth +the soft, shining hair, "so much like her own," she said. + +"Before you had to color it, you mean, don't you, grandma?" the +mischievous Maggie would rejoin, looking up archly to her grandmother, +who would call her a saucy child, and stroke still more fondly the +silken locks. + +Wholly unlike Maggie was Theo, a pale-faced, fair-haired girl, who was +called pretty, when not overshadowed by the queenly presence of her +more gifted sister. And Theo was very proud of this sister, too; proud +of the beautiful Maggie, to whom, though two years her junior, she +looked for counsel, willing always to abide by her judgment; for what +Maggie did must of course be right, and grandma would not scold. So if +at any time Theo was led into error, Maggie stood ready to bear the +blame, which was never very severe, for Mrs. Jeffrey had learned +not to censure her too much, lest by so doing she should incur the +displeasure of her employer, who in turn loved Maggie, if it were +possible, better than the daughter whose name she bore, and whom +Maggie called her mother. Well kept and beautiful was the spot where +that mother lay, and the grave was marked by a costly marble which +gleamed clear and white through the surrounding evergreens. This was +Maggie's favorite resort, and here she often sat in the moonlight, +musing of one who slept there, and who, they said, had held her on her +bosom when she died. + +At no great distance from this spot was another grave, where the grass +grew tall and green, and where the headstone, half sunken in the +earth, betokened that she who rested there was of humble origin. Here +Maggie seldom tarried long. The place had no attraction for her, for +rarely now was the name of Hester Hamilton heard at the old stone +house, and all save one seemed to have forgotten that such as she had +ever lived. This was Hagar Warren, who in her cottage by the mine has +grown older and more crazy-like since last we saw her. Her hair, once +so much like that which Madam Conway likens to her own, has bleached +as white as snow, and her tall form is shriveled now, and bent. The +secret is wearing her life away, and yet she does not regret what she +has done. She cannot, when she looks upon the beautiful girl who comes +each day to her lonely hut, and whom she worships with a species of +wild idolatry. Maggie knows not why it is, and yet to her there is a +peculiar fascination about that strange old woman, with her snow-white +hair, her wrinkled face, her bony hand, and wild, dark eyes, which, +when they rest on her, have in them a look of unutterable tenderness. + +Regularly each day, when the sun nears the western horizon, Maggie +steals away to the cottage, and the lonely woman, waiting for her on +the rude bench by the door, can tell her bounding footstep from all +others which pass that way. She does not say much now herself; but the +sound of Maggie's voice, talking to her in the gathering twilight, is +the sweetest she has ever heard; and so she sits and listens, while +her hands work nervously together, and her whole body trembles with a +longing, intense desire to clasp the young girl to her bosom and claim +her as her own. But this she dare not do, for Madam Conway's training +has had its effect, and in Maggie's bearing there is ever a degree of +pride which forbids anything like undue familiarity. And it was this +very pride which Hagar liked to see, whispering often to herself, +"Warren blood and Conway airs--the two go well together." + +Sometimes a word or a look would make her start, they reminded her so +forcibly of the dead; and once she said involuntarily: "You are like +your mother, Maggie. Exactly what she was at your age." + +"My mother!" answered Maggie. "You never talked to me of her; tell me +of her now. I did not suppose I was like her in anything." + +"Yes, in everything," said old Hagar; "the same dark eyes and hair, +the same bright red cheeks, the same--" + +"Why, Hagar, what can you mean?" interrupted Maggie. "My mother had +light blue eyes and fair brown hair, like Theo. Grandma says I am +not like her at all, while old Hannah, the cook, when she feels +ill-natured and wishes to tease me, says I am the very image of Hester +Hamilton." + +"And what if you are? What if you are?" eagerly rejoined old Hagar. +"Would you feel badly to know you looked like Hester?" and the old +woman bent anxiously forward to hear the answer: "Not for myself, +perhaps, provided Hester was handsome, for I think a good deal of +beauty, that's a fact; but it would annoy grandma terribly to have me +look like a servant. She might fancy I was Hester's daughter, for she +wonders every day where I get my low-bred ways, as she calls my liking +to sing and laugh and be natural." + +"And s'posin' Hester was your mother, would you care?" persisted +Hagar. + +"Of course I should," answered Maggie, her large eyes opening wide at +the strange question. "I wouldn't for the whole world be anybody +but Maggie Miller, just who I am. To be sure, I get awfully out of +patience with grandma and Mrs. Jeffrey for talking so much about birth +and blood and family, and all that sort of nonsense, but after all I +wouldn't for anything be poor and work as poor folks do." + +"I'll never tell her, never," muttered Hagar; and Maggie continued: +"What a queer habit you have of talking to yourself. Did you always do +so?" + +"Not always. It came upon me with the secret," Hagar answered +inadvertently; and eagerly catching at the last word, which to her +implied a world of romance and mystery, Maggie exclaimed: "The secret, +Hagar, the secret! If there's anything I delight in it's a secret!" +and, sliding down from the rude bench to the grass-plat at Hagar's +feet, she continued: "Tell it to me, Hagar, that's a dear old woman. +I'll never tell anybody as long as I live. I won't, upon my word," +she continued, as she saw the look of horror resting on Hagar's face; +"I'll help you keep it, and we'll have such grand times talking it +over. Did it concern yourself?" and Maggie folded her arms upon the +lap of the old woman, who answered in a voice so hoarse and unnatural +that Maggie involuntarily shuddered, "Old Hagar would die inch by inch +sooner than tell you, Maggie Miller, her secret." + +"Was it, then, so dreadful?" asked Maggie half fearfully, and casting +a stealthy glance at the dim woods, where the night shadows were +falling, and whose winding path she must traverse alone on her +homeward route. "Was it, then, so dreadful?" + +"Yes, dreadful, dreadful; and yet, Maggie, I have sometimes wished +you knew it. You would forgive me, perhaps. If you knew how I was +tempted," said Hagar, and her voice was full of yearning tenderness, +while her bony fingers parted lovingly the shining hair from off the +white brow of the young girl, who pleaded again, "Tell it to me, +Hagar." + +There was a fierce struggle in Hagar's bosom, but the night wind, +moving through the hemlock boughs, seemed to say, "Not yet--not yet"; +and, remembering her vow, she answered: "Leave me, Maggie Miller, I +cannot tell you the secret. You of all others. You would hate me for +it, and that I could not bear. Leave me alone, or the sight of you, so +beautiful, pleading for my secret, will kill me dead." + +There was command in the tones of her voice, and rising to her feet +Maggie walked away, with a dread feeling at her heart, a feeling which +whispered vaguely to her of a deed of blood--for what save this +could thus affect old Hagar? Her road home led near the little +burying-ground, and impelled by something she could not resist she +paused at her mother's grave. The moonlight was falling softly upon +it; and, seating herself within the shadow of the monument, she sat +a long time thinking, not of the dead, but of Hagar and the strange +words she had uttered. Suddenly, from the opposite side of the +graveyard, there came a sound as of someone walking; and, looking +up, Maggie saw approaching her the bent figure of the old woman, who +seemed unusually excited. Her first impulse was to fly, but knowing +how improbable it was that Hagar should seek to do her harm, and +thinking she might discover some clew to the mystery if she remained, +she sat still, while, kneeling on Hester's grave, old Hagar wept +bitterly, talking the while, but so incoherently that Maggie could +distinguish nothing save the words, "You, Hester, have forgiven me." + +"Can it be that she has killed her own child!" thought Maggie, and +starting to her feet she stood face to face with Hagar, who screamed: +"You here, Maggie Miller!--here with the others who know my secret! +But you shan't wring it from me. You shall never know it, unless the +dead rise up to tell you." + +"Hagar Warren," said Margaret sternly, "is murder your secret? Did +Hester Hamilton die at her mother's hands?" + +With a short gasping moan, Hagar staggered backward a pace or two, and +then, standing far more erect than Margaret had ever seen her before, +she answered: "No, Maggie Miller, no; murder is not my secret. These +hands," and she tossed in the air her shriveled arms, "these hands are +as free from blood as yours. And now go. Leave me alone with my dead, +and see that you tell no tales. You like secrets, you say. Let what +you have heard to-night be _your_ secret. Go." + +Maggie obeyed, and walked slowly homeward, feeling greatly relieved +that her suspicion was false, and experiencing a degree of +satisfaction in thinking that she too had a secret, which she would +guard most carefully from her grandmother and Theo. "She would never +tell them what she had seen and heard--never!" + +Seated upon the piazza were Madam Conway and Theo, the former of whom +chided her for staying so late at the cottage, while Theo asked what +queer things the old witch-woman had said to-night. + +With a very expressive look, which seemed to say, "I know, but I +shan't tell," Maggie seated herself at her grandmother's feet, and +asked how long Hagar had been crazy. "Did it come upon her when her +daughter died?" she inquired; and Madam Conway answered: "Yes, about +that time, or more particularly when the baby died. Then she began to +act so strangely that I removed you from her care, for, from something +she said, I fancied she meditated harm to you." + +For a moment Maggie sat wrapped in thought--then clapping her hands +together she exclaimed: "I have it; I know now what ails her! She felt +so badly to see you happy with me that she tried to poison me. She +said she was sorely tempted--and that's the secret which is killing +her." + +"Secret! What secret?" cried Theo; and, womanlike, forgetting her +resolution not to tell, Maggie told what she had seen and heard, +adding it as her firm belief that Hagar had made an attempt upon her +life. + +"I would advise you for the future to keep away from her, then," said +Madam Conway, to whom the suggestion seemed a very probable one. + +But Maggie knew full well that whatever Hagar might once have thought +to do, there was no danger to be apprehended from her now, and the +next day found her as usual on her way to the cottage. Bounding into +the room where the old woman sat at her knitting, she exclaimed: "I +know what it is! I know your secret!" + +There was a gathering mist before Hagar's eyes, and her face was +deathly white, as she gasped: "You know the secret! How? Where? Have +the dead come back to tell? Did anybody see me do it?" + +"Why, no," answered Maggie, beginning to grow a little mystified. "The +dead have nothing to do with it. You tried to poison me when I was a +baby, and that's what makes you crazy. Isn't it so? Grandma thought it +was, when I told her how you talked last night." + +There was a heavy load lifted from Hagar's heart, and she answered +calmly, but somewhat indignantly, "So you told--I thought I could +trust you, Maggie." + +Instantly the tears came to Maggie's eyes, and, coloring crimson, she +said: "I didn't mean to tell--indeed I didn't, but I forgot all about +your charge. Forgive me, Hagar, do," and, sinking on the floor, +she looked up in Hagar's face so pleadingly that the old woman was +softened, and answered gently: "You are like the rest of your sex, +Margaret. No woman but Hagar Warren ever kept a secret; and it's +killing her, you see!" + +"Don't keep it, then," said Maggie. "Tell it to me. Confess that you +tried to poison me because you envied grandma," and the soft eyes +looked with an anxious, expectant expression into the dark, wild orbs +of Hagar, who replied: "Envy was at the bottom of it all, but I never +tried to harm you, Margaret, in any way. I only thought to do you +good. You have not guessed it. You cannot, and you must not try." + +"Tell it to me, then. I want to know it so badly," persisted Maggie, +her curiosity each moment increasing. + +"Maggie Miller," said old Hagar, and the knitting dropped from her +fingers, which moved slowly on till they reached and touched the +little snowflake of a hand resting on her knee--"Maggie Miller, if +you knew that the telling of that secret would make you perfectly +wretched, would you wish to hear it?" + +For a moment Maggie was silent, and then, half laughingly, she +replied: "I'd risk it, Hagar, for I never wanted to know anything half +so bad in all my life. Tell it to me, won't you?" + +Very beautiful looked Maggie Miller then--her straw flat set jauntily +on one side of her head, her glossy hair combed smoothly back, her +soft lustrous eyes shining with eager curiosity, and her cheeks +flushed with excitement. Very, very beautiful she seemed to the old +woman, who, in her intense longing to take the bright creature to her +bosom, was, for an instant, sorely tempted. + +"Margaret!" she began, and at the sound of her voice the young girl +shuddered involuntarily. "Margaret!" she said again; but ere another +word was uttered the autumn wind, which for the last half-hour had +been rising rapidly, came roaring down the wide-mouthed chimney, and +the heavy fireboard fell upon the floor with a tremendous crash, +nearly crushing old Hagar's foot, and driving for a time all thoughts +of the secret from Maggie's mind. "Served me right," muttered Hagar, +as Maggie left the room for water with which to bathe the swollen +foot. "Served me right; and if ever I'm tempted to tell her again may +every bone in my body be smashed!" + +The foot was carefully cared for, Maggie's own hands tenderly +bandaging it up; and then with redoubled zeal she returned to +the attack, pressing old Hagar so hard that the large drops of +perspiration gathered thickly about her forehead and lips, which were +white as ashes. Wearied at last, Maggie gave it up for the time being, +but her curiosity was thoroughly aroused, and for many days she +persisted in her importunity, until at last, in self-defense, old +Hagar, when she saw her coming, would steal away to the low-roofed +chamber, and, hiding behind a pile of rubbish, would listen +breathlessly while Margaret hunted for her in vain. Then when she was +gone she would crawl out from her hiding-place, covered with cobwebs +and dust, and mutter to herself: "I never expected this, and it's more +than I can bear. Why will she torment me so, when a knowledge of the +secret would drive her mad!" + +This, however, Maggie Miller did not know. Blessed with an uncommon +degree of curiosity, which increased each time she saw old Hagar, she +resolved to solve the mystery, which she felt sure was connected with +herself, though in what manner she could not guess. "But I _will_ +know," she would say to herself when returning from a fruitless +quizzing of old Hagar, whose hiding-place she had at last discovered; +"I _will_ know what 'tis about me. I shall never be quite happy till I +do." + +Ah, Maggie, Maggie, be happy while you can, and leave the secret +alone! It will come to you soon enough--aye, soon enough! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +TRIFLES. + + +Very rapidly the winter passed away, and one morning early in March +Maggie went down to the cottage with the news that Madam Conway was +intending to start immediately for England, where she had business +which would probably detain her until fall. + +"Oh, won't I have fun in her absence!" she cried. "I'll visit every +family in the neighborhood. Here she's kept Theo and me caged up like +two wild animals, and now I am going to see a little of the world. I +don't mean to study a bit, and instead of visiting you once a day I +shall come at least three times." + +"Lord help me!" ejaculated old Hagar, who, much as she loved Maggie, +was beginning to dread her daily visits. + +"Why do you want help?" asked Maggie laughingly. "Are you tired of me, +Hagar? Don't you like me any more?" + +"Like you, Maggie Miller!--like you!" repeated old Hagar, and in the +tones of her voice there was a world of tenderness and love. "There +is nothing on earth I love as I do you. But you worry me to death +sometimes." + +"Oh, yes, I know," answered Maggie; "but I'm not going to tease you +for a while. I shall have so much else to do when grandma is gone that +I shall forget it. I wish she wasn't so proud," she continued, after a +moment. "I wish she'd let Theo and me see a little more of the world +than she does. I wonder how she ever expects us to get married, or be +anybody, if she keeps us here in the woods like young savages. Why, as +true as you live, Hagar, I have never been anywhere in my life, except +to church Sundays, once to Douglas' store in Worcester, once to Patty +Thompson's funeral, and once to a Methodist camp-meeting; and I never +spoke to more than a dozen men besides the minister and the school +boys! It's too bad!" and Maggie pouted quite becomingly at the +injustice done her by her grandmother in keeping her thus secluded. +"Theo don't care," she said. "She is prouder than I am, and does not +wish to know the Yankees, as grandma calls the folks in this country; +but I'm glad I am a Yankee. I wouldn't live in England for anything." + +"Why don't your grandmother take you with her?" asked Hagar, who in a +measure sympathized with Maggie for being thus isolated. + +"She says we are too young to go into society," answered Maggie. "It +will be time enough two years hence, when I am eighteen and Theo +twenty. Then I believe she intends taking us to London, where we can +show off our accomplishments, and practice that wonderful courtesy +which Mrs. Jeffrey has taught us. I dare say the queen will be +astonished at our qualifications;" and with a merry laugh, as she +thought of the appearance she should make at the Court of St. James, +Maggie leaped on Gritty's back and bounded away, while Hagar looked +wistfully after her, saying as she wiped the tears from her eyes: +"Heaven bless the girl! She might sit on the throne of England any +day, and Victoria wouldn't disgrace herself at all by doing her +reverence, even if she be a child of Hagar Warren." + +As Maggie had said, Madam Conway was going to England. At first she +thought of taking the young ladies with her, but, thinking they were +hardly old enough yet to be emancipated from the schoolroom, she +decided to leave them under the supervision of Mrs. Jeffrey, whose +niece she promised to bring with her on her return to America. Upon +her departure she bade Theo and Maggie a most affectionate adieu, +adding: + +"Be good girls while I am away, keep in the house, mind Mrs. Jeffrey, +and don't fall in love." + +This last injunction came involuntarily from the old lady, to whom +the idea of their falling in love was quite as preposterous as to +themselves. + +"Fall in love!" repeated Maggie, when her tears were dried, and she +with Theo was driving slowly home. "What could grandma mean! I wonder +who there is for us to love, unless it be John the coachman, or Bill +the gardener. I almost wish we could get in love though, just to see +how 'twould seem, don't you?" she continued. + +"Not with anybody here," answered Theo, her nose slightly elevated at +the thought of people whom she had been educated to despise. + +"Why not here as well as elsewhere?" asked Maggie. "I don't see any +difference. But grandma needn't be troubled, for such things as men's +boots never come near our house. It's a shame, though," she continued, +"that we don't know anybody, either male or female. Let's go down to +Worcester some day, and get acquainted. Don't you remember the two +handsome young men whom we saw five years ago in Douglas' store, and +how they winked at each other when grandma ran down their goods and +said there were not any darning needles fit to use this side of the +water?" + +On most subjects Theo's memory was treacherous, but she remembered +perfectly well the two young men, particularly the taller one, who had +given her a remnant of blue ribbon which he said was just the color +of her eyes. Still, the idea of going to Worcester did not strike her +favorably. "She wished Worcester would come to them," she said, "but +she should not dare to go there. They would surely get lost. Grandma +would not like it, and Mrs. Jeffrey would not let them go, even if +they wished." + +"A fig for Mrs. Jeffrey," said Maggie. "I shan't mind her much. I'm +going to have a real good time, doing as I please, and if you are wise +you'll have one too." + +"I suppose I shall do what you tell me to--I always do," answered Theo +submissively, and there the conversation ceased. + +Arrived at home they found dinner awaiting them, and Maggie, when +seated, suggested to Mrs. Jeffrey that she should give them a vacation +of a few weeks, just long enough for them to get rested and visit the +neighbors. But this Mrs. Jeffrey refused to do. + +She had her orders to keep them at their books, she said, and "study +was healthful"; at the same time she bade them be in the schoolroom on +the morrow. There was a wicked look in Maggie's eyes, but her tongue +told no tales, and when next morning she went with Theo demurely to +the schoolroom she seemed surprised at hearing from Mrs. Jeffrey that +every book had disappeared from the desk where they were usually kept; +and though the greatly disturbed and astonished lady had sought for +them nearly an hour, they were not to be found. + +"Maggie has hidden them, I know," said Theo, as she saw the +mischievous look on her sister's face. + +"Margaret wouldn't do such a thing, I'm sure," answered Mrs. Jeffrey, +her voice and manner indicating a little doubt, however, as to the +truth of her assertion. + +But Maggie had hidden them, and no amount of coaxing could persuade +her to bring them back. "You refused me a vacation when I asked for +it," she said, "so I'm going to have it perforce;" and, playfully +catching up the little dumpy figure of her governess, she carried her +out upon the piazza, and, seating her in a large easy-chair, bade her +take snuff, and comfort too, as long as she liked. + +Mrs. Jeffrey knew perfectly well that Maggie in reality was mistress +of the house, that whatever she did Madam Conway would ultimately +sanction; and as a rest was by no means disagreeable, she yielded +with a good grace, dividing her time between sleeping, snuffing, and +dressing, while Theo lounged upon the sofa and devoured some musty old +novels which Maggie, in her rummaging, had discovered. + +Meanwhile Maggie kept her promise of visiting the neighbors, and +almost every family had something to say in praise of the merry, +light-hearted girl of whom they had heretofore known but little. Her +favorite recreation, however, was riding on horseback, and almost +every day she galloped through the woods and over the fields, usually +terminating her ride with a call upon old Hagar, whom she still +continued to tease unmercifully for the secret, and who was glad when +at last an incident occurred which for a time drove all thoughts of +the secret from Maggie's mind. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE JUNIOR PARTNER. + + +One afternoon towards the middle of April, when Maggie as usual was +flying through the woods, she paused for a moment beneath the shadow +of a sycamore while Gritty drank from a small running brook. The pony +having quenched his thirst, she gathered up her reins for a fresh +gallop, when her ear caught the sound of another horse's hoofs; and, +looking back, she saw approaching her at a rapid rate a gentleman whom +she knew to be a stranger. Not caring to be overtaken, she chirruped +to the spirited Gritty, who, bounding over the velvety turf, left the +unknown rider far in the rear. + +"Who can she be?" thought the young man, admiring the utter +fearlessness with which she rode; then, feeling a little piqued, as he +saw how the distance between them was increasing, he exclaimed, "Be +she woman, or be she witch, I'll overtake her"; and, whistling to his +own fleet animal, he too dashed on at a furious rate. + +"Trying to catch me, are you?" thought Maggie. "I'd laugh to see you +do it." And entering at once into the spirit of the race, she rode +on for a time with headlong speed--then, by way of tantalizing her +pursuer, she paused for a moment until he had almost reached her, when +at a peculiar whistle Gritty sprang forward, while Maggie's mocking +laugh was borne back to the discomfited young man, whose interest in +the daring girl increased each moment. It was a long, long chase she +led him, over hills, across plains, and through the grassy valley, +until she stopped at last within a hundred yards of the deep, narrow +gorge through which the mill-stream ran. + +"I have you now," thought the stranger, who knew by the dull, roaring +sound of the water that a chasm lay between him and the opposite bank. + +But Maggie had not yet half displayed her daring feats of +horsemanship, and when he came so near that his waving brown locks and +handsome dark eyes were plainly discernible, she said to herself: "He +rides tolerably well. I'll see how good he is at a leap," and, setting +herself more firmly in the saddle, she patted Gritty upon the neck. +The well-trained animal understood the signal, and, rearing high in +the air, was fast nearing the bank, when the young man, suspecting her +design, shrieked out: "Stop, lady, stop! It's madness to attempt it." + +"Follow me if you can," was Maggie's defiant answer, and the next +moment she hung in mid-air over the dark abyss. + +Involuntarily the young man closed his eyes, while his ear listened +anxiously for the cry which would come next. But Maggie knew full well +what she was doing. She had leaped that narrow gorge often, and now +when the stranger's eyes unclosed she stood upon the opposite bank, +caressing the noble animal which had borne her safely there. + +"It shall never be said that Henry Warner was beaten by a schoolgirl," +muttered the stranger. "If she can clear that, I can, bad rider as I +am!" and burying his spurs deep in the sides of his horse, he pressed +on while Maggie held her breath in fear, for she knew that without +practice no one could do what she had done. + +There was a partially downward plunge--a fierce struggle on the +shelving bank, where the animal had struck a few feet from the +top--then the steed stood panting on terra firma, while a piercing +shriek broke the deep silence of the wood, and Maggie's cheeks +blanched to a marble hue. The rider, either from dizziness or fear, +had fallen at the moment the horse first struck the bank, and from the +ravine below there came no sound to tell if yet he lived. + +"He's dead; he's dead!" cried Maggie. "'Twas my own foolishness which +killed him," and springing from Gritty's back she gathered up her long +riding skirt and glided swiftly down the bank, until she came to a +wide, projecting rock, where the stranger lay, motionless and still, +his white face upturned to the sunlight, which came stealing down +through the overhanging boughs. In an instant she was at his side, and +his head was resting on her lap, while her trembling fingers parted +back from his pale brow the damp mass of curling hair. + +"The fall alone would not kill him," she said, as her eye measured the +distance, and then she looked anxiously round for water with which to +bathe his face. + +But water there was none, save in the stream below, whose murmuring +flow fell mockingly on her ears, for it seemed to say she could not +reach it. But Maggie Miller was equal to any emergency, and venturing +out to the very edge of the rock she poised herself on one foot, and +looked down the dizzy height to see if it were possible to descend. + +"I can try at least," she said, and glancing at the pale face of the +stranger unhesitatingly resolved to attempt it. + +The descent was less difficult than she had anticipated, and in an +incredibly short space of time she was dipping her pretty velvet cap +in the brook, whose sparkling foam had never before been disturbed by +the touch of a hand as soft and fair as hers. To ascend was not so +easy a matter; but, chamois-like, Maggie's feet trod safely the +dangerous path, and she soon knelt by the unconscious man, bathing his +forehead in the clear cold water, until he showed signs of returning +life. His lips moved slowly at last, as if he would speak; and Maggie, +bending low to catch the faintest sound, heard him utter the name of +"Rose." In Maggie's bosom there was no feeling for the stranger save +that of pity, and yet that one word "Rose" thrilled her with a strange +undefinable emotion, awaking at once a yearning desire to know +something of her who bore that beautiful name, and who to the young +man was undoubtedly the one in all the world most dear. + +"Rose," he said again, "is it you?" and his eyes, which opened slowly, +scanned with an eager, questioning look the face of Maggie, who, +open-hearted and impulsive as usual, answered somewhat sadly: "I am +nobody but Maggie Miller. I am not Rose, though I wish I was, if you +would like to see her." + +The tones of her voice recalled the stranger's wandering mind, and he +answered: "Your voice is like Rose, but I would rather see you, Maggie +Miller. I like your fearlessness, so unlike most of your sex. Rose is +far more gentle, more feminine than you, and if her very life depended +upon it she would never dare leap that gorge." + +The young man intended no reproof; but Maggie took his words as such, +and for the first time in her life began to think that possibly her +manner was not always as womanly as might be. At all events, she was +not like the gentle Rose, whom she instantly invested with every +possible grace and beauty, wishing that she herself was like her +instead of the wild madcap she was. Then, thinking that her conduct +required some apology, she answered, as none save one as fresh and +ingenuous as Maggie Miller would have answered: "I don't know any +better than to behave as I do. I've always lived in the woods--have +never been to school a day in my life--never been anywhere except to +camp-meeting, and once to Douglas' store in Worcester!" + +This was entirely a new phase of character to the man of the world, +who laughed aloud, and at the mention of Douglas' store started so +quickly that a spasm of pain distorted his features, causing Maggie to +ask if he were badly hurt. + +"Nothing but a broken leg," he answered; and Maggie, to whose mind +broken bones conveyed a world of pain and suffering, replied: "Oh, I +am so sorry for you! and it's my fault, too. Will you forgive me?" and +her hands clasped his so pleadingly that, raising himself upon his +elbow so as to obtain a better view of her bright face, he answered, +"I'd willingly break a hundred bones for the sake of meeting a girl +like you, Maggie Miller." + +Maggie was unused to flattery, save as it came from her grandmother, +Theo, or old Hagar, and now paying no heed to his remark she said: +"Can you stay here alone while I go for help? Our house is not far +away." + +"I'd rather you would remain with me," he replied; "but as you cannot +do both, I suppose you must go." + +"I shan't be gone long, and I'll send old Hagar to keep you company." +So saying, Maggie climbed the bank, and, mounting Gritty, who stood +quietly awaiting her, seized the other horse by the bridle and rode +swiftly away, leaving the young man to meditate upon the novel +situation in which he had so suddenly been placed. + +"Aint I in a pretty predicament!" said he, as he tried in vain to move +his swollen limb, which was broken in two places, but which being +partially benumbed did not now pain him much. "But it serves me right +for chasing a harum-scarum thing when I ought to have been minding my +own business and collecting bills for Douglas & Co. And she says she's +been there, too. I wonder who she is, the handsome sprite. I believe I +made her more than half jealous talking of my golden-haired Rose; but +she is far more beautiful than Rose, more beautiful than anyone I ever +saw. I wish she'd come back again," and, shutting his eyes, he tried +to recall the bright, animated face which had so lately bent anxiously +above him. "She tarries long," he said at last, beginning to grow +uneasy. "I wonder how far it is; and where the deuce can this old +Hagar be, of whom she spoke?" + +"She's here," answered a shrill voice, and looking up he saw before +him the bent form of Hagar Warren, at whose door Maggie had paused for +a moment while she told of the accident and begged of Hagar to hasten. + +Accordingly, equipped with a blanket and pillow, a brandy bottle and +camphor, old Hagar had come, but when she offered the latter for the +young man's acceptance he pushed it from him, saying that camphor was +his detestation, but he shouldn't object particularly to smelling of +the other bottle! + +"No, you don't," said Hagar, who thought him in not quite so +deplorable a condition as she had expected to find him. "My creed is +never to give young folks brandy except in cases of emergency." So +saying, she made him more comfortable by placing a pillow beneath his +head; and then, thinking possibly that this to herself was a "case of +emergency," she withdrew to a little distance, and sitting down upon +the gnarled roots of an upturned tree drank a swallow of the old +Cognac, while the young man, maimed and disabled, looked wistfully at +her. + +Not that he cared for the brandy, of which he seldom tasted; but he +needed something to relieve the deathlike faintness which occasionally +came over him, and which old Hagar, looking only at his mischievous +eyes, failed to observe. Only those who knew Henry Warner intimately +gave him credit for many admirable qualities he really possessed--so +full was he of fun. It was in his merry eyes and about his quizzically +shaped mouth that the principal difficulty lay; and most persons, +seeing him for the first time, fancied that in some way he was making +sport of them. This was old Hagar's impression, as she sat there in +dignified silence, rather enjoying, than otherwise, the occasional +groans which came from his white lips. There were intervals, however, +when he was comparatively free from pain, and these he improved by +questioning her with regard to Maggie, asking who she was and where +she lived. + +"She is Maggie Miller, and she lives in a house," answered the old +woman rather pettishly. + +"Ah, indeed--snappish, are you?" said the young man, attempting to +turn himself a little, the better to see his companion. "Confound that +leg!" he continued, as a fierce twinge gave him warning not to try +many experiments. "I know her name is Maggie Miller, and I supposed +she lived in a house; but who is she, anyway, and what is she?" + +"If you mean is she anybody, I can answer that question quick," +returned Hagar. "She calls Madam Conway her grandmother, and Madam +Conway came from one of the best families in England--that's who she +is; and as to what she is, she's the finest, handsomest, smartest girl +in America; and as long as old Hagar Warren lives no city chap with +strapped-down pantaloons and sneering mouth is going to fool with her +either!" + +"Confound my mouth--it's always getting me into trouble!" thought the +stranger, trying in vain to smooth down the corners of the offending +organ, which in spite of him would curve with what Hagar called a +sneer, and from which there finally broke a merry laugh, sadly at +variance with the suffering expression of his face. + +"Your leg must hurt you mightily, the way you go on," muttered Hagar; +and the young man answered: "It does almost murder me, but when a +laugh is in a fellow he can't help letting it out, can he? But where +the plague can that witch of a--I beg your pardon, Mrs. Hagar," he +added hastily, as he saw the frown settling on the old woman's face, +"I mean to say where can Miss Miller be? I shall faint away unless she +comes soon, or you give me a taste of the brandy!" + +This time there was something in the tone of his voice which prompted +Hagar to draw near, and she was about to offer him the brandy when +Maggie appeared, together with three men bearing a litter. The sight +of her produced a much better effect upon him than Hagar's brandy +would have done, and motioning the old woman aside he declared himself +ready to be removed. + +"Now, John, do pray be careful and not hurt him much!" cried Maggie, +as she saw how pale and faint he was, while even Hagar forgot the +curled lip, which the young man bit until the blood started through, +so intense was his agony when they lifted him upon the litter. "The +camphor, Hagar, the camphor!" said Maggie; and the stranger did not +push it aside when her hand poured it on his head, but the laughing +eyes, now dim with pain, smiled gratefully upon her, and the quivering +lips once murmured as she walked beside him, "Heaven bless you, Maggie +Miller!" + +Arrived at Hagar's cottage, the old woman suggested that he be carried +in there, saying as she met Maggie's questioning glance, "I can take +care of him better than anyone else." + +The pain by this time was intolerable, and scarcely knowing what he +said the stranger whispered, "Yes, yes, leave me here." + +For a moment the bearers paused, while Maggie, bending over the +wounded man, said softly: "Can't you bear it a little longer, until +our house is reached? You'll be more comfortable there. Grandma has +gone to England, and I'll take care of you myself!" + +This last was perfectly in accordance with Maggie's frank, impulsive +character, and it had the desired effect. Henry Warner would have +borne almost death itself for the sake of being nursed by the young +girl beside him, and he signified his willingness to proceed, while at +the same time his hand involuntarily grasped that of Maggie, as if in +the touch of her snowy fingers there were a mesmeric power to soothe +his pain. In the meantime a hurried consultation had been held between +Mrs. Jeffrey and Theo as to the room suitable for the stranger to be +placed in. + +"It's not likely he is much," said Theo; "and if grandma were here I +presume she would assign him the chamber over the kitchen. The wall +is low on one side, I know, but I dare say he is not accustomed to +anything better." + +Accordingly several articles of stray lumber were removed from the +chamber, which the ladies arranged with care, and which when completed +presented quite a respectable appearance. But Maggie had no idea of +putting her guest, as she considered him, in the kitchen chamber; and +when, as the party entered the house, Mrs. Jeffrey, from the head of +the stairs, called out, "This way, Maggie; tell them to come this +way," she waved her aside, and led the way to a large airy room over +the parlor, where, in a high, old-fashioned bed, surrounded on all +sides by heavy damask curtains, they laid the weary stranger. The +village surgeon arriving soon after, the fractured bones were set, and +then, as perfect quiet seemed necessary, the room was vacated by all +save Maggie, who glided noiselessly around the apartment, while the +eyes of the sick man followed her with eager, admiring glances, so +beautiful she looked to him in her new capacity of nurse. + +Henry Warner, as the stranger was called, was the junior partner of +the firm of Douglas & Co., Worcester, and his object in visiting the +Hillsdale neighborhood was to collect several bills which for a long +time had been due. He had left the cars at the depot, and, hiring a +livery horse, was taking the shortest route from the east side of town +to the west, when he came accidentally upon Maggie Miller, and, as we +have seen, brought his ride to a sudden close. All this he told to her +on the morning following the accident, retaining until the last the +name of the firm of which he was a member. + +"And you were once at our store?" he said. "How long ago?" + +"Five years," answered Maggie; "when I was eleven, and Theo thirteen;" +then, looking earnestly at him, she exclaimed. "And you are the very +one, the clerk with the saucy eyes whom grandma disliked so much +because she thought he made fun of her; but we didn't think so--Theo +and I," she added hastily, as she saw the curious expression on +Henry's mouth, and fancied he might be displeased. "We liked them both +very much, and knew they must of course be annoyed with grandma's +English whims." + +For a moment the saucy eyes studied intently the fair girlish face of +Maggie Miller, then slowly closed, while a train of thought something +like the following passed through the young man's mind: "A woman, and +yet a perfect child--innocent and unsuspecting as little Rose herself. +In one respect they are alike, knowing no evil and expecting none; and +if I, Henry Warner, do aught by thought or deed to injure this young +girl may I never again look on the light of day or breathe the air of +heaven." + +The vow had passed his lips. Henry Warner never broke his word, and +henceforth Maggie Miller was as safe with him as if she had been +an only and well-beloved sister. Thinking him to be asleep, Maggie +started to leave the room, but he called her back, saying, "Don't go; +stay with me, won't you?" + +"Certainly," she answered, drawing a chair to the bedside. "I supposed +you were sleeping." + +"I was not," he replied. "I was thinking of you and of Rose. Your +voices are much alike. I thought of it yesterday when I lay upon the +rock." + +"Who is Rose?" trembled on Maggie's lips, while at the sound of that +name she was conscious of the same undefinable emotion she had once +before experienced. But the question was not asked. "If she were +his sister he would tell me," she thought; "and if she is not his +sister--" + +She did not finish the sentence, neither did she understand that if +Rose to him was something dearer than a sister, she, Maggie Miller, +did not care to know it. + +"Is she beautiful as her name, this Rose?" she asked at last. + +"She is beautiful, but not so beautiful as you. There are few who +are," answered Henry; and his eyes fixed themselves upon Maggie to see +how she would bear the compliment. + +But she scarcely heeded it, so intent was she upon knowing something +more of the mysterious Rose. "She is beautiful, you say. Will you tell +me how she looks?" she continued; and Henry Warner answered, "She is a +frail, delicate little creature, almost dwarfish in size, but perfect +in form and feature." + +Involuntarily Maggie shrunk back in her chair, wishing her own queenly +form had been a very trifle shorter, while Mr. Warner continued, "She +has a sweet, angel face, Maggie, with eyes of lustrous blue and curls +of golden hair." + +"You must love her very dearly," said Maggie, the tone of her voice +indicating a partial dread of what the answer might be. + +"I do indeed love her," was Mr. Warner's reply--"love her better than +all the world beside. And she has made me what I am; but for her I +should have been a worthless, dissipated fellow. It's my natural +disposition; but Rose has saved me, and I almost worship her for it. +She is my good angel--my darling--my--" + +Here he paused abruptly, and leaning back upon his pillows rather +enjoyed than otherwise the look of disappointment plainly visible on +Maggie's face. She had fully expected to learn who Rose was; but this +knowledge he purposely kept from her. It did not need a very close +observer of human nature to read at a glance the ingenuous Maggie, +whose speaking face betrayed all she felt. She was unused to the +world. He was the first young gentleman whose acquaintance she had +ever made, and he knew that she already felt for him a deeper interest +than she supposed. To increase this interest was his object, and this +he thought to do by withholding from her, for a time, a knowledge of +the relation existing between him and the Rose of whom he had talked +so much. The ruse was successful, for during the remainder of the day +thoughts of the golden-haired Rose were running through Maggie's mind, +and it was late that night ere she could compose herself to sleep, so +absorbed was she in wondering what Rose was to Henry Warner. Not that +she cared particularly, she tried to persuade herself; but she would +very much like to be at ease upon the subject. + +To Theo she had communicated the fact that their guest was a partner +of Douglas & Co., and this tended greatly to raise the young man in +the estimation of a young lady like Theo Miller. Next to rank and +station, money was with her the one thing necessary to make a person +"somebody." Douglas, she had heard, was an immensely wealthy man; +possibly the junior partner was wealthy, too; and if so, the parlor +chamber to which she had at first objected was none too good for his +aristocratic bones. She would go herself and see him in the morning. + +Accordingly, on the morning of the second day she went with Maggie to +the sickroom, speaking to the stranger for the first time; but keeping +still at a respectable distance, until she should know something +definite concerning him. + +"We have met before, it seems," he said, after the first interchange +of civilities was over; "but I did not think our acquaintance would be +renewed in this manner." + +No answer from Theo, who, like many others, had taken a dislike to his +mouth, and felt puzzled to know whether he intended ridiculing her or +not. + +"I have a distinct recollection of your grandmother," he continued, +"and now I think of it I believe Douglas has once or twice mentioned +the elder of the two girls. That must be you?" and he looked at Theo, +whose face brightened perceptibly. + +"Douglas," she repeated. "He is the owner of the store; and the one I +saw, with black eyes and black hair, was only a clerk." + +"The veritable man himself!" cried Mr. Warner. "George Douglas, the +senior partner of the firm, said by some to be worth two hundred +thousand dollars, and only twenty-eight years old, and the best fellow +in the world, except that he pretends to dislike women." + +By this time Theo's proud blue eyes shone with delight, and when, +after a little further conversation, Mr. Warner expressed a wish to +write to his partner, she brought her own rosewood writing desk for +him to use, and then, seating herself by the window, waited until the +letter was written. + +"What shall I say for you, Miss Theo?" he asked, near the close; and, +coloring slightly, she answered, "Invite him to come out and see you." + +"Oh, that will be grand!" cried Maggie, who was far more enthusiastic, +though not more anxious, than her sister. + +Of her Henry Warner did not ask any message. He would not have written +it had she sent one; and folding the letter, after adding Theo's +invitation, he laid it aside. + +"I must write to Rose next," he said; "'tis a whole week since I have +written, and she has never been so long without hearing from me." + +Instantly there came a shadow over Maggie's face, while Theo, less +scrupulous, asked who Rose was. + +"A very dear friend of mine," said Henry; and, as Mrs. Jeffrey just +then sent for Theo, Maggie was left with him alone. + +"Wait one moment," she said, as she saw him about to commence the +letter. "Wait till I bring you a sheet of gilt-edged paper. It is more +worthy of Rose, I fancy, than the plainer kind." + +"Thank you," he said. "I will tell her of your suggestion." + +The paper was brought, and then seating herself by the window Maggie +looked out abstractedly, seeing nothing, and hearing nothing save the +sound of the pen, as it wrote down words of love for the gentle Rose. +It was not a long epistle; and, as at the close of the Douglas letter +he had asked a message from Theo, so now at the close of this he +claimed one from Maggie. + +"What shall I say for you?" he asked; and, coming toward him, Margaret +answered, "Tell her I love her, though I don't know who she is!" + +"Why have you never asked me?" queried Henry; and, coloring crimson, +Maggie answered hesitatingly, "I thought you would tell me if you +wished me to know." + +"Read this letter, and that will explain who she is," the young man +continued, offering the letter to Maggie, who, grasping it eagerly, +sat down opposite, so that every motion of her face was clearly +visible to him. + +The letter was as follows: + +"MY DARLING LITTLE ROSE: Do you fancy some direful calamity has +befallen me, because I have not written to you for more than a week? +Away with your fears, then, for nothing worse has come upon me than a +badly broken limb, which will probably keep me a prisoner here for two +months or more. Now don't be frightened, Rosa. I am not crippled for +life, and even if I were I could love you just the same, while you, +I'm sure, would love me more. + +"As you probably know, I left Worcester on Tuesday morning for the +purpose of collecting some bills in this neighborhood. Arrived at +Hillsdale I procured a horse, and was sauntering leisurely through +the woods, when I came suddenly upon a flying witch in the shape of a +beautiful young girl. She was the finest rider I ever saw; and such a +chase as she led me, until at last, to my dismay, she leaped across a +chasm down which a nervous little creature like you would be afraid to +look. Not wishing to be outdone, I followed her, and as a matter of +course broke my bones. + +"Were it not that the accident will somewhat incommode Douglas, and +greatly fidget you, I should not much regret it, for to me there is a +peculiar charm about this old stone house and its quaint surroundings. +But the greatest charm of all, perhaps, lies in my fair nurse, Maggie +Miller, for whom I risked my neck. You two would be fast friends in a +moment, and yet you are totally dissimilar, save that your voices are +much alike. + +"Write to me soon, dear Rose, and believe me ever + +"Your affectionate brother, + +"HENRY." + +"Oh!" said Maggie, catching her breath, which for a time had been +partially suspended, "Oh!" and in that single monosyllable there was +to the young man watching her a world of meaning. "She's your sister, +this little Rose," and the soft dark eyes flashed brightly upon him. + +"What did you suppose her to be?" he asked, and Maggie answered, "I +thought she might be your wife, though I should rather have her for a +sister if I were you." + +The young man smiled involuntarily, thinking to himself how his +fashionable city friends would be shocked at such perfect frankness, +which meant no more than their own studied airs. + +"You are a good girl, Maggie," he said at last, "and I wouldn't for +the world deceive you; Rose is my step-sister. We are in no way +connected save by marriage, still I love her all the same. We were +brought up together by a lady who is aunt to both, and Rose seems to +me like an own dear sister. She has saved me from almost everything. I +once loved the wine cup; but her kindly words and gentle influence won +me back, so that now I seldom taste it. And once I thought to run away +to sea, but Rose found it out, and, meeting me at the gate, persuaded +me to return. It is wonderful, the influence she has over me, keeping +my wild spirits in check; and if I am ever anything I shall owe it all +to her." + +"Does she live in Worcester?" asked Maggie; and Henry answered: "No; +in Leominster, which is not far distant. I go home once a month; and +I fancy I can see Rose now, just as she looks when she comes tripping +down the walk to meet me, her blue eyes shining like stars and her +golden curls blowing over her pale forehead. She is very, very frail; +and sometimes when I look upon her the dread fear steals over me that +there will come a time, ere long, when I shall have no sister." + +There were tears in Maggie's eyes, tears for the fair young girl whom +she had never seen, and she felt a yearning desire to look on the +beautiful face of her whom Henry called his sister. "I wish she would +come here; I want to see her," she said at last; and Henry replied: +"She does not go often from home. But I have her daguerreotype in +Worcester. I'll write to Douglas to bring it," and opening the letter, +which was not yet sealed, he added a few lines. "Come, Maggie," he +said, when this was finished, "you need exercise. Suppose you ride +over to the office with these letters?" + +Maggie would rather have remained with him; but she expressed her +willingness to go, and in a few moments was seated on Gritty's back +with the two letters clasped firmly in her hand. At one of these, the +one bearing the name of Rose Warner, she looked often and wistfully; +it was a most beautiful name, she thought, and she who bore it was +beautiful too. And then there arose within her a wish--shadowy and +undefined to herself, it is true; but still a wish--that she, Maggie +Miller, might one day call that gentle Rose her sister. "I shall see +her sometimes, anyway," she thought, "and this George Douglas, too. I +wish they'd visit us together;" and having by this time reached the +post-office she deposited the letters and galloped rapidly toward +home. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SENIOR PARTNER. + + +The establishment of Douglas & Co. was closed for the night. The +clerks had gone each to his own home; old Safford, the poor relation, +the man-of-all-work, who attended faithfully to everything, groaning +often and praying oftener over the careless habits of "the boys," as +he called the two young men, his employers, had sought his comfortless +bachelor attic, where he slept always with one ear open, listening for +any burglarious sound which might come from the store below, and which +had it come to him listening thus would have frightened him half +to death. George Douglas, too, the senior partner of the firm, had +retired to his own room, which was far more elegantly furnished than +that of the old man in the attic, and now in a velvet easy-chair he +sat reading the letter from Hillsdale, which had arrived that evening, +and a portion of which we subjoin for the reader's benefit. + +After giving an account of his accident, and the manner in which it +occurred, Warner continued: + +"They say 'tis a mighty bad wind which blows no one any good, and so, +though I verily believe I suffer all a man can suffer with a broken +bone, yet when I look at the fair face of Maggie Miller I feel that +I would not exchange this high old bed, to enter which needs a short +ladder, even for a seat by you on that three-legged stool behind the +old writing-desk. I never saw anything like her in my life. Everything +she thinks, she says, and as to flattering her, it can't be done. I've +told her a dozen times at least that she was beautiful, and she didn't +mind it any more than Rose does when I flatter her. Still, I fancy if +I were to talk to her of love it might make a difference, and perhaps +I shall ere I leave the place. + +"You know, George, I have always insisted there was but one female in +the world fit to be a wife, and as that one was my sister I should +probably never have the pleasure of paying any bills for Mrs. Henry +Warner; but I've half changed my mind, and I'm terribly afraid this +Maggie Miller, not content with breaking my bones, has made sad work +with another portion of the body, called by physiologists the heart. +I don't know how a man feels when he is in love; but when this Maggie +Miller looks me straight in the face with her sunshiny eyes, while her +little soft white hand pushes back my hair (which, by the way, I slyly +disarrange on purpose), I feel the blood tingle to the ends of my +toes, and still I dare not hint such a thing to her. 'Twould frighten +her off in a moment, and she'll send in her place either an old hag of +a woman called Hagar, or her proud sister Theo, whom I cannot endure. + +"By the way, George, this Theo will just suit you, who are fond of +aristocracy. She's proud as Lucifer; thinks because she was born +in England, and sprang from a high family, that there is no one in +America worthy of her ladyship's notice, unless indeed they chance to +have money. You ought to have seen how her eyes lighted up when I told +her you were said to be worth two hundred thousand dollars! She told +me directly to invite you out here, and this, I assure you, was a +good deal for her to do. So don your best attire, not forgetting the +diamond cross, and come for a day or two. Old Safford will attend to +the store. It's what he was made for, and he likes it. But as I am a +Warner, so shall I do my duty and warn you not to meddle with Maggie. +She is my own exclusive property, and altogether too good for a +worldly fellow like you. Theo will suit you better. She's just +aristocratic enough in her nature. I don't see how the two girls come +to be so wholly unlike as they are. Why, I'd sooner take Maggie for +Rose's sister than for Theo's! + +"Bless me, I had almost forgotten to ask if you remember that stiff +old English woman with the snuff-colored satin who came to our store +some five years ago, and found so much fault with Yankee goods, as she +called them? If you have forgotten her, you surely remember the +two girls in flats, one of whom seemed so much distressed at her +grandmother's remarks. She, the distressed one, was Maggie; the other +was Theo; and the old lady was Madam Conway, who, luckily for me, +chances at this time to be in England, buying up goods, I presume. +Maggie says that this trip to Worcester, together with a camp-meeting +held in the Hillsdale woods last year, is the extent of her travels, +and one would think so to see her. A perfect child of nature, full +of fun, beautiful as a Hebe, and possessing the kindest heart in the +world. If you wish to know more of her come and see for yourself; but +again I warn you, hands off; nobody is to flirt with her but myself, +and it is very doubtful whether even I can do it peaceably, for +that old Hagar, who, by the way, is a curious specimen, gave me to +understand when I lay on the rock, with her sitting by, as a sort of +ogress, that so long as she lived no city chap with strapped pants (do +pray, bring me a pair, George, without straps!) and sneering mouth was +going to fool with Margaret Miller. + +"So you see my mouth is at fault again. Hang it all, I can't imagine +what ails it, that everybody should think I'm making fun of them. +Even old Safford mutters about my making mouths at him when I haven't +thought of him in a month! Present my compliments to the old gentleman +and tell him one of 'the boys' thinks seriously of following his +advice, which you know is 'to sow our wild oats and get a wife.' Do, +pray, come, for I am only half myself without you. + +"Yours in the brotherhood, + +"HENRY WARNER." + +For a time after reading the above George Douglas sat wrapped in +thought, then bursting into a laugh as he thought how much the letter +was like the jovial, light-hearted fellow who wrote it, he put it +aside, and leaning back in his chair mused long and silently, not of +Theo, but of Maggie, half wishing he were in Warner's place instead of +being there in the dusty city. But as this could not be, he contented +himself with thinking that at some time not far distant he would visit +the old stone house--would see for himself this wonderful Maggie--and, +though he had been warned against it, would possibly win her from +his friend, who, unconsciously perhaps, had often crossed his path, +watching him jealously lest he should look too often and too long upon +the fragile Rose, blooming so sweetly in her bird's-nest of a home +among the tall old trees of Leominster. + +"But he need not fear," he said somewhat bitterly, "he need not fear +for her, for it is over now. She has refused me, this Rose Warner, and +though it touched my pride to hear her tell me no, I cannot hate her +for it. She had given her love to another, she said, and Warner is +blind or crazy that he does not see the truth. But it is not for me to +enlighten him. He may call her sister if he likes, though there is +no tie of blood between them. I'd far rather it would be thus, than +something nearer;" and, slowly rising up, George Douglas retired to +dream of a calm, almost heavenly face which but the day before had +been bathed in tears as he told to Rose Warner the story of his love. +Mingled, too, with that dream was another face, a laughing, sparkling, +merry face, upon which no man ever yet had looked and escaped with a +whole heart. + +The morning light dispelled the dream, and when in the store old +Safford inquired, "What news from the boy?" the senior partner +answered gravely that he was lying among the Hillsdale hills, with a +broken leg caused by a fall from his horse. + +"Always was a careless rider," muttered old Safford, mentally +deploring the increased amount of labor which would necessarily fall +upon him, but which he performed without a word of complaint. + +The fair May blossoms were faded, and the last June roses were +blooming ere George Douglas found time or inclination to accept the +invitation indirectly extended to him by Theo Miller. Rose Warner's +refusal had affected him more than he chose to confess, and the wound +must be slightly healed ere he could find pleasure in the sight of +another. Possessed of many excellent qualities, he had unfortunately +fallen into the error of thinking that almost anyone whom he should +select would take him for his money. And when Rose Warner, sitting by +his side in the shadowy twilight, had said, "I cannot be your wife," +the shock was sudden and hard to bear. But the first keen bitterness +was over now, and remembering "the wild girls of the woods," as he +mentally styled both Theo and Maggie, he determined at last to see +them for himself. + +Accordingly, on the last day of June he started for Hillsdale, where +he intended to remain until after the Fourth. To find the old house +was an easy matter, for almost everyone in town was familiar with its +locality, and towards the close of the afternoon he found himself +upon its broad steps applying vigorous strokes to the ponderous brass +knocker, and half hoping the summons would be answered by Maggie +herself. But it was not, and in the bent, white-haired woman who came +with measured footsteps we recognize old Hagar, who spent much of her +time at the house, and who came to the door in compliance with the +request of the young ladies, both of whom, from an upper window, were +curiously watching the stranger. + +"Just the old witch one would expect to find in this out-of-the-way +place," thought Mr. Douglas, while at the same time he asked if that +were Madam Conway's residence, and if a young man by the name of +Warner were staying there. + +"Another city beau!" muttered Hagar, as she answered in the +affirmative, and ushered him into the parlor. "Another city +beau--there'll be high carryings-on now, if he's anything like the +other one, who's come mighty nigh turning the house upside down." + +"What did you say?" asked George Douglas, catching the sound of her +muttering, and thinking she was addressing himself. + +"I wasn't speaking to you. I was talking to a likelier person," +answered old Hagar in an undertone, as she shuffled away in quest of +Henry Warner, who by this time was able to walk with the help of a +cane. + +The meeting between the young men was a joyful one, for though George +Douglas was a little sore on the subject of Rose, he would not suffer +a matter like that to come between him and Henry Warner, whom he had +known and liked from boyhood. Henry's first inquiries were naturally +of a business character, and then George Douglas spoke of the young +ladies, saying he was only anxious to see Maggie, for he knew of +course he should dislike the other. + +Such, however, is wayward human nature that the fair, pale face, and +quiet, dignified manner of Theo Miller had greater attractions for a +person of George Douglas' peculiar temperament than had the dashing, +brilliant Maggie. There was a resemblance, he imagined, between Theo +and Rose, and this of itself was sufficient to attract him towards +her. Theo, too, was equally pleased; and when, that evening, Madam +Jeffrey faintly interposed her fast-departing authority, telling her +quondam pupils it was time they were asleep, Theo did not, as usual, +heed the warning, but sat very still beneath the vine-wreathed +portico, listening while George Douglas told her of the world which +she had never seen. She was not proud towards him, for he possessed +the charm of money, and as he looked down upon her, conversing with +him so familiarly, he wondered how Henry could have called her cold +and haughty--she was merely dignified, high-bred, he thought; and +George Douglas liked anything which savored of aristocracy. + +Meanwhile Henry and Maggie had wandered to a little summer-house, +where, with the bright moonlight falling upon them, they sat together, +but not exactly as of old, for Maggie did not now look up into his +face as she was wont to do, and if she thought his eye was resting +upon her she moved uneasily, while the rich blood deepened on her +cheek. A change has come over Maggie Miller; it is the old story, +too--old to hundreds of thousands, but new to her, the blushing +maiden. Theo calls her nervous--Mrs. Jeffrey calls her sick--the +servants call her mighty queer--while old Hagar, hovering ever near, +and watching her with a jealous eye, knows she is in love. + +Faithfully and well had Hagar studied Henry Warner, to see if there +were aught in him of evil; and though he was not what she would have +chosen for the queenly Maggie she was satisfied if Margaret loved him +and he loved Margaret. But did he? He had never told her so; and +in Hagar Warren's wild black eyes there was a savage gleam, as she +thought, "He'll rue the day that he dares trifle with Maggie Miller." + +But Henry Warner was not trifling with her. He was only waiting a +favorable opportunity for telling her the story of his love; and now, +as they sit together in the moonlight, with the musical flow of the +mill-stream falling on his ear, he essays to speak--to tell how she +has grown into his heart; to ask her to go with him where he goes; to +make his home her home, and so be with him always; but ere the first +word was uttered Maggie asked if Mr. Douglas had brought the picture +of his sister. + +"Why, yes," he answered; "I had forgotten it entirely. Here it is;" +and taking it from his pocket he passed it to her. + +It was a face of almost ethereal loveliness that through the moonlight +looked up to Maggie Miller, and again she experienced the same +undefinable emotion, a mysterious, invisible something drawing her +towards the original of the beautiful likeness. + +"It is strange how thoughts of Rose always affect me," she said, +gazing earnestly upon the large eyes of blue shadowed forth upon the +picture. "It seems as though she must be nearer to me than an unknown +friend." + +"Seems she like a sister?" asked Henry Warner, coming so near that +Maggie felt his warm breath upon her cheek. + +"Yes, yes, that's it," she answered, with something of her olden +frankness. "And had I somewhere in the world an unknown sister I +should say it was Rose Warner!" + +There were a few low, whispered words, and when the full moon, which +for a time had hidden itself behind the clouds, again shone forth in +all its glory, Henry had asked Maggie Miller to be the sister of Rose +Warner, and Maggie had answered "Yes"! + +That night in Maggie's dreams there was a strange commingling +of thoughts. Thoughts of Henry Warner, as he told her of his +love--thoughts of the gentle girl whose eyes of blue had looked so +lovingly up to her, as if between them there was indeed a common bond +of sympathy--and, stranger far than all, thoughts of the little +grave beneath the pine where slept the so-called child of Hester +Hamilton--the child defrauded of its birthright, and who, in the misty +vagaries of dreamland, seemed to stand between her and the beautiful +Rose Warner! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +STARS AND STRIPES. + + +On the rude bench by her cabin door sat Hagar Warren, her black eyes +peering out into the woods and her quick ear turned to catch the first +sound of bounding footsteps, which came at last, and Maggie Miller was +sitting by her side. + +"What is it, darling?" Hagar asked, and her shriveled hand smoothed +caressingly the silken hair, as she looked into the glowing face of +the young girl, and half guessed what was written there. + +To Theo Maggie had whispered the words, "I am engaged," and Theo had +coldly answered: "Pshaw! Grandma will quickly break that up. Why, +Henry Warner is comparatively poor! Mr. Douglas told me so, or rather +I quizzed him until I found it out. He says, though, that Henry has +rare business talents, and he could not do without him." + +To the latter part of Theo's remark Maggie paid little heed; but the +mention of her grandmother troubled her. She would oppose it, Maggie +was sure of that, and it was to talk on this very subject that she had +come to Hagar's cottage. + +"Just the way I s'posed it would end," said Hagar, when Maggie, with +blushing, half-averted face, told the story of her engagement. "Just +the way I s'posed 'twould end, but I didn't think 'twould be so +quick." + +"Two months and a half is a great while, and then we have been +together so much," replied Maggie, at the same time asking if Hagar +did not approve her choice. + +"Henry Warner's well enough," answered Hagar. "I've watched him close +and see no evil in him; but he isn't the one for you, nor are you the +one for him. You are both too wild, too full of fun, and if yoked +together will go to destruction, I know. You need somebody to hold you +back, and so does he." + +Involuntarily Maggie thought of Rose, mentally resolving to be, if +possible, more like her. + +"You are not angry with me?" said Hagar, observing Maggie's silence. +"You asked my opinion, and I gave it to you. You are too young to know +who you like. Henry Warner is the first man you ever knew, and in two +years' time you'll tire of him." + +"Tire of him, Hagar? Tire of Henry Warner?" cried Maggie a little +indignantly. "You do not know me, if you think I'll ever tire of him; +and then, too, did I tell you grandma keeps writing to me about a Mr. +Carrollton, who she says is wealthy, fine-looking, highly educated, +and very aristocratic--and that last makes me hate him! I've heard so +much about aristocracy that I'm sick of it, and just for that reason +I would not have this Mr. Carrollton if I knew he'd make me queen of +England. But grandma's heart is set upon it, I know, and she thinks +of course he would marry me--says he is delighted with my +daguerreotype--that awful one, too, with the staring eyes. In +grandma's last letter he sent me a note. 'Twas beautifully written, +and I dare say he is a fine young man, at least he talks common sense, +but I shan't answer it; and, if you'll believe me, I used part of +it in lighting Henry's cigar, and with the rest I shall light +firecrackers on the Fourth of July; Henry has bought a lot of them, +and we're going to have fun. How grandma would scold!--but I shall +marry Henry Warner, anyway. Do you think she will oppose me, when she +sees how determined I am?" + +"Of course she will," answered Hagar. "I know those Carrolltons--they +are a haughty race; and if your grandmother has one of them in view +she'll turn you from her door sooner than see you married to another, +and an American, too." + +There was a moment's silence, and then, with an unnatural gleam in +her eye, old Hagar turned towards Maggie, and, grasping her shoulder, +said: "If she does this thing, Maggie Miller,--if she casts you +off,--will you take me for your grandmother? Will you let me live with +you? I'll be your drudge, your slave; say, Maggie, may I go with you? +Will you call me grandmother? I'd willingly die if only once I could +hear you speak to me thus, and know it was in love." + +For a moment Maggie looked at her in astonishment; then thinking to +herself, "She surely is half-crazed," she answered laughingly: "Yes, +Hagar, if grandma casts me off, you may go with me. I shall need your +care, but I can't promise to call you grandma, because you know you +are not." + +The corners of Hagar's mouth worked nervously, but her teeth shut +firmly over the thin, white lip, forcing back the wild words trembling +there, and the secret was not told. + +"Go home, Maggie Miller," she said at last, rising slowly to her feet. +"Go home now, and leave me alone. I am willing you should marry Henry +Warner--nay, I wish you to do it; but you must remember your promise." + +Maggie was about to answer, when her thoughts were directed to another +channel by the sight of George Douglas and Theo coming slowly down the +shaded pathway which led past Hagar's door. Old Hagar saw them too, +and, whispering to Maggie, said, "There's another marriage brewing, or +the signs do not tell true, and madam will sanction this one, too, for +there's money there, and gold can purify any blood." + +Ere Maggie could reply Theo called out, "You here, Maggie, as usual?" +adding, aside, to her companion: "She has the most unaccountable +taste, so different from me, who cannot endure anything low and +vulgar. Can you? But I need not ask," she continued, "for your +associations have been of a refined nature." + +George Douglas did not answer, for his thoughts were back in the brown +farmhouse at the foot of the hill, where his boyhood was passed, and +he wondered what the high-bred lady at his side would say if she could +see the sunburned man and plain, old-fashioned woman who called him +their son George Washington. He would not confess that he was ashamed +of his parentage, for he tried to be a kind and dutiful child, but he +would a little rather that Theo Miller should not know how democratic +had been his early training. So he made no answer, but, addressing +himself to Maggie, asked how she could find it in her heart to leave +her patient so long. + +"I'm going back directly," she said, and donning her hat she started +for home, thinking she had gained but little satisfaction from Hagar, +who, as Douglas and Theo passed on, resumed her seat by the door, and, +listening to the sound of Margaret's retreating footsteps, muttered: +"The old light-heartedness is gone. There are shadows gathering round +her; for once in love, she'll never be as free and joyous again. But +it can't be helped; it's the destiny of women, and I only hope this +Warner is worthy of her. But he aint. He's too wild--too full of what +Hagar Warren calls bedevilment. And Maggie does everything he tells +her to do. Not content with tearing down his bed-curtains, which have +hung there full twenty years, she's set things all cornerwise, because +the folks do so in Worcester, and has turned the parlor into a +smoking-room, till all the air of Hillsdale can't take away that +tobacco scent. Why, it almost knocks me down!" and the old lady +groaned aloud, as she recounted to herself the recent innovations upon +the time-honored habits of her mistress' house. + +Henry Warner was, indeed, rather a fast young man, but it needed the +suggestive presence of George Douglas to bring out his true character; +and for the four days succeeding the arrival of the latter there were +rare doings at the old stone house, where the astonished and rather +delighted servants looked on in amazement while the young men sang +their jovial songs and drank of the rare old wine which Maggie, +utterly fearless of what her grandmother might say, brought from the +cellar below. But when, on the morning of the Fourth, Henry Warner +suggested that they have a celebration, or at least hang out the +American flag by way of showing their patriotism, there were signs of +rebellion in the kitchen, while even Mrs. Jeffrey, who had long since +ceased to interfere, felt it her duty to remonstrate. Accordingly, she +descended to the parlor, where she found George Douglas and Maggie +dancing to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," which Theo played upon the +piano, while Henry Warner whistled a most stirring accompaniment! To +be heard above that din was impossible, and involuntarily patting her +own slippered foot to the lively strain the distressed little lady +went back to her room, wondering what Madam Conway would say if she +knew how her house was being desecrated. + +But Madam Conway did not know. She was three thousand miles away, and +with this distance between them Maggie dared do anything; so when the +flag was again mentioned, she answered apologetically, as if it were +something of which they ought to be ashamed: "We never had any, but +we can soon make one, I know. 'Twill be fun to see it float from the +housetop!" and, flying up the stairs to the dusty garret, she drew +from a huge oaken chest a scarlet coat which had belonged to the +former owner of the place, who little thought, as he sat in state, +that his favorite coat would one day furnish material for the emblem +of American freedom! + +No such thought as this, however, obtruded itself upon Maggie as she +bent over the chest. "The coat is of no use," she said, and gathering +it up she ran back to the parlor, where, throwing it across Henry's +lap, she told how it had belonged to her great-great-grandfather, who +at the time of the Revolution went home to England. The young men +exchanged a meaning look, and then burst into a laugh, but the cause +of their merriment they did not explain, lest the prejudices of the +girls should be aroused. + +"This is just the thing," said Henry, entering heart and soul into the +spirit of the fun. "This is grand. Can't you find some blue for the +groundwork of the stars?" + +Maggie thought a moment, and then exclaimed: "Oh, yes--I have it; +grandma has a blue satin bodice which she wore when she was a young +lady. She once gave me a part of the back for my doll's dress. She +won't care if I cut up the rest for a banner." + +"Of course not," answered George Douglas. "She'll be glad to have +it used for such a laudable purpose," and walking to the window +he laughed heartily as he saw in fancy the wrath of the proud +Englishwoman when she learned the use to which her satin bodice had +been appropriated. + +The waist was brought in a twinkling, and then, when Henry asked for +some white, Maggie cried, "A sheet will be just the thing--one of +grandma's small linen ones. It won't hurt it a bit," she added, as +she saw a shadow on Theo's brow, and, mounting to the top of the high +chest of drawers, she brought out a sheet of finest linen, which, with +rose leaves and fragrant herbs, had been carefully packed away. + +It was a long, delightful process, the making of that banner; and +Maggie's voice rang out loud and clear as she saw how cleverly Henry +Warner managed the shears, cutting the red coat into stripes. The +arrangement of the satin fell to Maggie's lot; and while George +Douglas made the stars, Theo looked on a little doubtfully--not that +her nationality was in any way affected, for what George Douglas +sanctioned was by this time right with her; but she felt some +misgiving as to what her grandmother might say; and, thinking if she +did nothing but look on and laugh the blame would fall on Maggie, she +stood aloof, making occasionally a suggestion, and seeming as pleased +as anyone when at last the flag was done. A quilting-frame served as +a flagstaff, and Maggie was chosen to plant it upon the top of the +house, where was a cupola, or miniature tower, overlooking the +surrounding country. Leading to this tower was a narrow staircase, and +up these stairs Maggie bore the flag, assisted by one of the servant +girls, whose birthplace was green Erin, and whose broad, good-humored +face shone with delight as she fastened the pole securely in its +place, and then shook aloft her checked apron, in answer to the cheer +which came up from below, when first the American banner waved over +the old stone house. + +Attracted by the noise, and wondering what fresh mischief they were +doing, Mrs. Jeffrey went out into the yard just in time to see the +flag of freedom as it shook itself out in the summer breeze. + +"Heaven help me!" she ejaculated; "the 'Stars and Stripes' on Madam +Conway's house!" and, resolutely shutting her eyes, lest they should +look again on what to her seemed sacrilege, she groped her way back +to the house; and, retiring to her room, wrote to Madam Conway an +exaggerated account of the proceedings, bidding her hasten home or +everything would be ruined. + +The letter being written, the good lady felt better--so much better, +indeed, that after an hour's deliberation she concluded not to send +it, inasmuch as it contained many complaints against the young lady +Margaret, who she knew was sure in the end to find favor in her +grandmother's eyes. This was the first time Mrs. Jeffrey had +attempted a letter to her employer, for Maggie had been the chosen +correspondent, Theo affecting to dislike anything like letter-writing. +On the day previous to Henry Warner's arrival at the stone house +Maggie had written to her grandmother, and ere the time came for her +to write again she had concluded to keep his presence there a secret: +so Madam Conway was, as yet, ignorant of his existence; and while +in the homes of the English nobility she bore herself like a royal +duchess, talking to young Arthur Carrollton of her beautiful +granddaughter, she little dreamed of the real state of affairs at +home. + +But it was not for Mrs. Jeffrey to enlighten her, and tearing her +letter in pieces the governess sat down in her easy-chair by the +window, mentally congratulating herself upon the fact that "the two +young savages," as she styled Douglas and Warner, were to leave on the +morrow. This last act of theirs, the hoisting of the banner, had been +the culminating point; and, too indignant to sit with them at the same +table, she resolutely kept her room throughout the entire day, poring +intently over Baxter's "Saints' Rest," her favorite volume when at all +flurried or excited. Occasionally, too, she would stop her ears with +jeweler's cotton, to shut out the sound of "Hail, Columbia!" as it +came up to her from the parlor below, where the young men were doing +their best to show their patriotism. + +Towards evening, alarmed by a whizzing sound, which seemed to be often +repeated, and wishing to know the cause, she stole halfway down the +stairs, when the mischievous Maggie greeted her with a "serpent," +which, hissing beneath her feet, sent her quickly back to her +room, from which she did not venture again. Mrs. Jeffrey was very +good-natured, and reflecting that "young folks must have fun," she +became at last comparatively calm, and at an early hour sought her +pillow. But thoughts of "stars and stripes" waving directly over her +head, as she knew they were, made her nervous, and the long clock +struck the hour of two, and she was yet restless and wakeful, +notwithstanding the near approach of dawn. + +"Maybe the 'Saints' Rest' will quiet me a trifle," she thought; and, +striking a light, she attempted to read; but in vain, for every word +was a star, every line a stripe, and every leaf a flag. Shutting the +book and hurriedly pacing the floor, she exclaimed: "It's of no use +trying to sleep, or meditate either. Baxter himself couldn't do it +with that thing over his head, and I mean to take it down. It's a duty +I owe to King George's memory, and to Madam Conway;" and, stealing +from her room, she groped her way up the dark, narrow stairway, until, +emerging into the bright moonlight, she stood directly beneath the +American banner, waving so gracefully in the night wind. "It's a +clever enough device," she said, gazing rather admiringly at it. "And +I'd let it be if I s'posed I could sleep a wink; but I can't. It's +worse for my nerves than strong green tea, and I'll not lie awake for +all the Yankee flags in Christendom." So saying, the resolute little +woman tugged at the quilt-frame until she loosened it from its +fastenings, and then started to return. + +But, alas! the way was narrow and dark, the banner was large and +cumbersome, while the lady that bore it was nervous and weak. It is +not strange, then, that Maggie, who slept at no great distance, was +awakened by a tremendous crash, as of someone falling the entire +length of the tower stairs, while a voice, frightened and faint, +called out; "Help me, Margaret, do! I am dead! I know I am!" + +Striking a light, Maggie hurried to the spot, while her merry laugh +aroused the servants, who came together in a body. Stretched upon the +floor, with one foot thrust entirely through the banner, which was +folded about her so that the quilt-frame lay directly upon her bosom, +was Mrs. Jeffrey, the broad frill of her cap standing up erect, and +herself asserting with every breath that "she was dead and buried, she +knew she was." + +"Wrapped in a winding-sheet, I'll admit," said Maggie, "but not +quite dead, I trust;" and, putting down her light, she attempted to +extricate her governess, who continued to apologize for what she had +done. "Not that I cared so much about your celebrating America; but I +couldn't sleep with the thing over my head; I was going to put it back +in the morning before you were up. There! there! careful! It's broken +short off!" she screamed, as Maggie tried to release her foot from the +rent in the linen sheet, a rent which the frightened woman persisted +in saying she could darn as good as new, while at the same time she +implored of Maggie to handle carefully her ankle, which had been +sprained by the fall. + +Maggie's recent experience in broken bones had made her quite an +adept, and taking the slight form of Mrs. Jeffrey in her arms she +carried her back to her room, where, growing more quiet, the old +lady told her how she happened to fall, saying she never thought of +stumbling, until she fancied that Washington and all his regiment were +after her, and when she turned her head to see, she lost her footing +and fell. + +Forcing back her merriment, which in spite of herself would +occasionally burst forth, Maggie made her teacher as comfortable as +possible, and then stayed with her until morning, when, leaving her +in charge of a servant, she went below to say farewell to her guests. +Between George Douglas and Theo there were a few low-spoken words, she +granting him permission to write, while he promised to visit her again +in the early autumn. He had not yet talked to her of love, for Rose +Warner had still a home in his heart, and she must be dislodged ere +another could take her place. But his affection for her was growing +gradually less. Theo suited him well; her family suited him better, +and when at parting he took her hand in his he resolved to ask her for +it when next he came to Hillsdale. + +Meanwhile between Henry Warner and Maggie there was a far more +affectionate farewell, he whispering to her of a time not far distant +when he would claim her as his own, and, she should go with him. He +would write to her every week, he said, and Rose should write too. He +would see Rose in a few days, and tell her of his engagement, which he +knew would please her. + +"Let me send her a line," said Maggie, and on a tiny sheet of paper +she wrote: "Dear Rose: Are you willing I should be your sister +Maggie?" + +Half an hour later, and Hagar Warren, coming through the garden gate, +looked after the carriage which bore the gentlemen to the depot, +muttering to herself: "I'm glad the high bucks have gone. A good +riddance to them both." + +In her disorderly chamber, too, Mrs. Jeffrey hobbled on one foot to +the window, where, with a deep sigh of relief, she sent after the +young men a not very complimentary adieu, which was echoed in part by +the servants below, while Theo, on the piazza, exclaimed against the +lonesome old house, which was never so lonesome before, and Maggie +seated herself upon the stairs and cried! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ROSE WARNER. + + +Nestled among the tall old trees which skirt the borders of Leominster +village was the bird's-nest of a cottage which Rose Warner called her +home, and which, with its wealth of roses, its trailing vines and +flowering shrubs, seemed fitted for the abode of one like her. Slight +as a child twelve summers old, and fair as the white pond lily when +first to the morning sun it unfolds its delicate petals, she seemed +too frail for earth; and both her aunt and he whom she called brother +watched carefully lest the cold north wind should blow too rudely on +the golden curls which shaded her childish brow. Very, very beautiful +was little Rose, and yet few ever looked upon her without a feeling of +sadness; for in the deep blue of her eyes there was a mournful, dreamy +look, as if the shadow of some great sorrow were resting thus early +upon her. + +And Rose Warner had a sorrow, too--a grief which none save one had +ever suspected. To him it had come with the words, "I cannot be your +wife for I love another; one who will never know how dear he is to +me." + +The words were involuntarily spoken, and George Douglas, looking down +upon her, guessed rightly that he who would never know how much he +was beloved was Henry Warner. To her the knowledge that Henry was +something dearer than a brother had come slowly, filling her heart +with pain, for she well knew that whether he clasped her to his bosom, +as he often did, or pressed his lips upon her brow, he thought of her +only as a brother thinks of a beautiful and idolized sister. It had +heretofore been some consolation to know that his affections were +untrammeled with thoughts of another, that she alone was the object of +his love, and hope had sometimes faintly whispered of what perchance +might be; but from that dream she was waking now, and her face grew +whiter still as there came to her from time to time letters fraught +with praises of Margaret Miller; and if in Rose Warner's nature there +had been a particle of bitterness, it would have been called forth +toward one who, she foresaw, would be her rival. But Rose knew no +malice, and she felt that she would sooner die than do aught to mar +the happiness of Maggie Miller. + +For nearly two weeks she had not heard from Henry, and she was +beginning to feel very anxious, when one morning, two or three days +succeeding the memorable Hillsdale celebration, as she sat in a small +arbor so thickly overgrown with the Michigan rose as to render her +invisible at a little distance, she was startled by hearing him call +her name, as he came in quest of her down the garden walk. The next +moment he held her in his arms, kissing her forehead, her lips, her +cheek; then holding her off, he looked to see if there had been in her +aught of change since last they met. + +"You are paler than you were, Rose darling," he said, "and your eyes +look as if they had of late been used to tears. What is it, dearest? +What troubles you?" + +Rose could not answer immediately, for his sudden coming had taken +away her breath, and as he saw a faint blush stealing over her face he +continued, "Can it be my little sister has been falling in love during +my absence?" + +Never before had he spoken to her thus; but a change had come over +him, his heart was full of a beautiful image, and fancying Rose might +have followed his example he asked her the question he did, without, +however, expecting or receiving a definite answer. + +"I am so lonely, Henry, when you are gone and do not write to me!" she +said; and in the tones of her voice there was a slight reproof, which +Henry felt keenly. + +He had been so engrossed with Maggie Miller and the free joyous life +he led in the Hillsdale woods, that for a time he had neglected Rose, +who, in his absence, depended so much on his letters for comfort. + +"I have been very selfish, I know," he said; "but I was so happy, that +for a time I forgot everything save Maggie Miller." + +An involuntary shudder ran through Rose's slender form; but, +conquering her emotion, she answered calmly: "What of this Maggie +Miller? Tell me of her, will you?" + +Winding his arm around her waist, and drawing her closely to his side, +Henry Warner rested her head upon his bosom, where it had often lain, +and, smoothing her golden curls, told her of Maggie Miller, of her +queenly beauty, of her dashing, independent spirit, her frank, +ingenuous manner, her kindness of heart; and last of all, bending very +low, lest the vine leaves and the fair blossoms of the rose should +hear, he told her of his love; and Rose, the fairest flower of all +which bloomed around that bower, clasped her hand upon her heart, lest +he should see its wild throbbings, and, forcing back the tears which +moistened her long lashes, listened to the knell of all her hopes. +Henceforth her love for him must be an idle mockery, and the time +would come when to love him as she loved him then would be a sin--a +wrong to herself, a wrong to him, and a wrong to Maggie Miller. + +"You are surely not asleep," he said at last, as she made him no +reply, and bending forward he saw the tear-drops resting on her cheek. +"Not asleep, but weeping!" he exclaimed. "What is it, darling? What +troubles you?" And lifting up her head, Rose Warner answered, "I was +thinking how this new love of yours would take you from me, and I +should be alone." + +"No, not alone," he said, wiping her tears away. "Maggie and I have +arranged that matter. You are to live with us, and instead of losing +me you are to gain another--a sister, Rose. You have often wished you +had one, and you could surely find none worthier than Maggie Miller." + +"Will she watch over you, Henry? Will she be to you what your wife +should be?" asked Rose; and Henry answered: "She is not at all like +you, my little sister. She relies implicitly upon my judgment; so you +see I shall need your blessed influence all the same, to make me what +your brother and Maggie's husband ought to be." + +"Did she send me no message?" asked Rose; and taking out the tiny +note, Henry passed it to her, just as his aunt called to him from the +house, whither he went, leaving her alone. + +There were blinding tears in Rose's eyes as she read the few lines, +and involuntarily she pressed her lips to the paper which she knew had +been touched by Maggie Miller's hands. + +"My sister--sister Maggie," she repeated; and at the sound of that +name her fast-beating heart grew still, for they seemed very sweet to +her, those words "my sister," thrilling her with a new and strange +emotion, and awakening within her a germ of the deep, undying love she +was yet to feel for her who had traced those words and asked to be her +sister. "I will do right," she thought; "I will conquer this foolish +heart of mine, or break it in the struggle, and Henry Warner shall +never know how sorely it was wrung." + +The resolution gave her strength, and, rising up, she too sought the +house, where, retiring to her room, she penned a hasty note to Maggie, +growing calmer with each word she wrote. + +"I grant your request [she said] and take you for a sister well +beloved. I had a half-sister once, they say, but she died when a +little babe. I never looked upon her face, and connected with her +birth there was too much of sorrow and humiliation for me to think +much of her, save as of one who, under other circumstances, might have +been dear to me. And yet as I grow older I often find myself wishing +she had lived, for my father's blood was in her veins. But I do not +even know where her grave was made, for we only heard one winter +morning, years ago, that she was dead with the mother who bore her. +Forgive me, Maggie dear, for saying so much about that little child. +Thoughts of you, who are to be my sister, make me think of her, who, +had she lived, would have been a young lady now nearly your own age. +So in the place of her, whom, knowing, I would have loved, I adopt +you, sweet Maggie Miller, my sister and my friend. May Heaven's +choicest blessings rest on you forever, and no shadow come between you +and the one you have chosen for your husband! To my partial eyes he is +worthy of you, Maggie, royal in bearing and queenly in form though you +be, and that you may be happy with him will be the daily prayer of + +"ROSE." + +The letter was finished, and Rose gave it to her brother, who, after +its perusal, kissed her, saying: "It is right, my darling. I will send +it to-morrow with mine; and now for a ride. I will see what a little +exercise can do for you. I do not like the color of your face." + +But neither the fragrant summer air, nor yet the presence of Henry +Warner, who tarried several days, could rouse the drooping Rose; and +when at last she was left alone she sought her bed, where for many +weeks she hovered between life and death, while her brother and her +aunt hung over her pillow, and Maggie, from her woodland home, sent +many an anxious inquiry and message of love to the sick girl. In the +close atmosphere of his counting-room George Douglas too again battled +manfully with his olden love, listening each day to hear that she was +dead. But not thus early was Rose to die, and with the waning summer +days she came slowly back to life. More beautiful than ever, because +more ethereal and fair, she walked the earth like one who, having +struggled with a mighty sorrow, had won the victory at last; and Henry +Warner, when he looked on her sweet, placid face, and listened to her +voice as she made plans for the future, when Maggie would be his wife, +dreamed not of the grave hidden in the deep recesses of her heart, +where grew no flower of hope or semblance of earthly joy. + +Thus little know mankind of each other! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +EXPECTED GUESTS. + + +On the Hillsdale hills the October sun was shining, and the forest +trees were donning their robes of scarlet and brown, when again the +old stone house presented an air of joyous expectancy. The large, dark +parlors were thrown open, the best chambers were aired, the bright, +autumnal flowers were gathered and in tastefully arranged bouquets +adorned the mantels, while Theo and Maggie, in their best attire, +flitted uneasily from room to room, running sometimes to the gate +to look down the grassy road which led from the highway, and again +mounting the tower stairs to obtain a more extended view. + +In her pleasant apartment, where last we left her with a sprained +ankle, Mrs. Jeffrey, too, fidgeted about, half sympathizing with her +pupils in their happiness, and half regretting the cause of that +happiness, which was the expected arrival of George Douglas and Henry +Warner, who, true to their promise, were coming again to try for a +week the Hillsdale air, and retrieve their character as fast young +men. So, at least, they told Mrs. Jeffrey, who, mindful of her exploit +with the banner, and wishing to make some amends, met them alone on +the threshhold, Maggie having at the last moment run away, while Theo +sat in a state of dignified perturbation upon the sofa. + +A few days prior to their arrival letters had been received from Madam +Conway saying she should probably, remain in England two or three +weeks longer, and thus the house was again clear to the young men, +who, forgetting to retrieve their characters, fairly outdid all they +had done before. The weather was remarkably clear and bracing, and the +greater part of each day was spent in the open air, either in fishing, +riding, or hunting; Maggie teaching Henry Warner how to ride and leap, +while he in turn taught her to shoot a bird upon the wing, until the +pupil was equal to her master. In these outdoor excursions George +Douglas and Theo did not always join, for he had something to say +which he would rather tell her in the silent parlor, and which, when +told, furnished food for many a quiet conversation; so Henry and +Maggie rode oftentimes alone; and old Hagar, when she saw them dashing +past her door, Maggie usually taking the lead, would shake her head +and mutter to herself: "'Twill never do--that match. He ought to hold +her back, instead of leading her on. I wish Madam Conway would, come +home and end it." + +Mrs. Jeffrey wished so too, as night after night her slumbers were +disturbed by the sounds of merriment which came up to her from the +parlor below, where the young people were "enjoying themselves," as +Maggie said when reproved for the noisy revels. The day previous +to the one set for their departure chanced to be Henry Warner's +twenty-seventh birthday, and this Maggie resolved to honor with an +extra supper, which was served at an unusually late hour in the dining +room, the door of which opened out upon a closely latticed piazza. + +"I wish we could think of something new to do," said Maggie, as she +presided at the table--"something real funny;" then, as her eyes fell +upon the dark piazza, where a single light was burning dimly, she +exclaimed: "Why can't we get up tableaux? There are heaps of the +queerest clothes in the big oaken chest in the garret. The servants +can be audience, and they need some recreation!" + +The suggestion was at once approved, and in half an hour's time the +floor was strewn with garments of every conceivable fashion, from long +stockings and small clothes to scarlet cloaks and gored skirts, the +latter of which were immediately donned by Henry Warner, to the +infinite delight of the servants, who enjoyed seeing the grotesque +costumes, even if they did not exactly understand what the tableaux +were intended to represent. The banner, too, was brought out, and +after bearing a conspicuous part in the performance was placed at the +end of the dining room, where it would be the first thing visible to a +person opening the door opposite. At a late hour the servants retired, +and then George Douglas, who took kindly to the luscious old wine, +which Maggie again had brought from her grandmother's choicest store, +filled a goblet to the brim, and, pledging first the health of the +young girls, drank to "the old lady across the water" with whose goods +they were thus making free! + +Henry Warner rarely tasted wine, for though miles away from Rose her +influence was around him--so, filling his glass with water, he too +drank to the wish that "the lady across the sea" would remain there +yet a while, or at all events not "stumble upon us to-night!" + +"What if she should!" thought Maggie, glancing around at the different +articles scattered all over the floor, and laughing as she saw in +fancy her grandmother's look of dismay should she by any possible +chance obtain a view of the room, where perfect order and quiet had +been wont to reign. + +But the good lady was undoubtedly taking her morning nap on the +shores of old England. There was no danger to be apprehended from her +unexpected arrival, they thought; and just as the clock struck one the +young men sought their rooms, greatly to the relief of Mrs. Jeffrey, +who, in her long night robe, with streaming candle in hand, had +more than a dozen times leaned over the banister, wondering if the +"carouse" would ever end. + +It did end at last; and, tired and sleepy, Theo went directly to her +chamber, while Maggie stayed below, thinking to arrange matters a +little, for their guests were to leave on the first train, and she had +ordered an early breakfast. But it was a hopeless task, the putting +of that room to rights; and trusting much to the good-nature of the +housekeeper, she finally gave it up and went to bed, forgetting in her +drowsiness to fasten the outer door, or yet to extinguish the lamp +which burned upon the sideboard. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +UNEXPECTED GUESTS. + + +At the delightful country seat of Arthur Carrollton Madam Conway had +passed many pleasant days, and was fully intending to while away +several more, when an unexpected summons from his father made it +necessary for the young man to go immediately to London; and, as an +American steamer was about to leave the port of Liverpool, Madam +Conway determined to start for home at once. Accordingly, she wrote +for Anna Jeffrey, whom she had promised to take with her, to meet her +in Liverpool, and a few days previous to the arrival of George Douglas +and Henry Warner at Hillsdale, the two ladies embarked with an endless +variety of luggage, to say nothing of Miss Anna's guitar-case, +bird-cage, and favorite lap-dog "Lottie." + +Once fairly on the sea, Madam Conway became exceedingly impatient and +disagreeable, complaining both of fare and speed, and at length came +on deck one morning with the firm belief that something dreadful had +happened to Maggie! She was dangerously sick, she knew, for never but +once before had she been visited with a like presentiment, and that +was just before her daughter died. Then it came to her just as this +had done, in her sleep, and very nervously the lady paced the vessel's +deck, counting the days as they passed, and almost weeping for joy +when told Boston was in sight. Immediately after landing she made +inquiries as to when the next train passing Hillsdale station would +leave the city, and though it was midnight she resolved at all hazards +to go on, for if Maggie were really ill there was no time to be lost! + +Accordingly, when at four o'clock A.M. Maggie, who was partially +awake, heard in the distance the shrill scream of the engine, as the +night express thundered through the town, she little dreamed of the +boxes, bundles, trunks, and bags which lined the platform of Hillsdale +station, nor yet of the resolute woman in brown who persevered until a +rude one-horse wagon was found in which to transport herself and her +baggage to the old stone house. The driver of the vehicle, in which, +under ordinary circumstances, Madam Conway would have scorned to +ride, was a long, lean, half-witted fellow, utterly unfitted for his +business. Still, he managed quite well until they turned into the +grassy by-road, and Madam Conway saw through the darkness the light +which Maggie had inadvertently left within the dining room! + +There was no longer a shadow of uncertainty. "Margaret was dead!" +and the lank Tim was ordered to drive faster, or the excited woman, +perched on one of her traveling-trunks, would be obliged to foot it! A +few vigorous strokes of the whip set the sorrel horse into a canter, +and as the night was dark, and the road wound round among the trees, +it is not at all surprising that Madam Conway, with her eye still on +the beacon light, found herself seated rather unceremoniously in the +midst of a brush heap, her goods and chattels rolling promiscuously +around her, while lying across a log, her right hand clutching at the +bird-cage, and her left grasping the shaggy hide of Lottie, who yelled +most furiously, was Anna Jeffrey, half blinded with mud, and bitterly +denouncing American drivers and Yankee roads! To gather themselves +together was not an easy matter, but the ten pieces were at last all +told, and then, holding up her skirts, bedraggled with dew, Madam +Conway resumed her seat in the wagon, which was this time driven in +safety to her door. Giving orders for her numerous boxes to be safely +bestowed, she hastened forward and soon stood upon the threshold. + +"Great Heaven!" she exclaimed, starting backward so suddenly that she +trod upon the foot of Lottie, who again sent forth an outcry, which +Anna Jeffrey managed to choke down. "Is this bedlam, or what?" And +stepping out upon the piazza, she looked to see if the blundering +driver had made a mistake. But no; it was the same old gray stone +house she had left some months before; and again pressing boldly +forward, she took the lamp from the sideboard and commenced to +reconnoiter. "My mother's wedding dress, as I live! and her scarlet +broadcloth, too!" she cried, holding to view the garments which +Henry Warner had thrown upon the arm of the long settee. A turban or +cushion, which she recognized as belonging to her grandmother, next +caught her view, together with the smallclothes of her sire. + +"The entire contents of the oaken chest," she continued, in a tone far +from calm and cool. "What can have happened! It's some of that crazy +Hagar's work, I know. I'll have her put in the--" But whatever the +evil was which threatened Hagar Warren it was not defined by words, +for at that moment the indignant lady caught sight of an empty bottle, +which she instantly recognized as having held her very oldest, +choicest wine. "The Lord help me!" she cried, "I've been robbed;" and +grasping the bottle by the neck, she leaned up against the banner +which she had not yet descried. + +"In the name of wonder, what's this?" she almost screamed, as the full +blaze of the lamp fell upon the flag, revealing the truth at once, and +partially stopping her breath. + +Robbery was nothing to insult; and, forgetting the wine, she gasped: +"'Stars and Stripes' in this house! In the house of my grandfather, +as loyal a subject as King George ever boasted! What can Margaret be +doing to suffer a thing like this?" + +A few steps further on, and Margaret herself might have been seen +peering out into the darkened upper hall, and listening anxiously +to her grandmother's voice. The sound of the rattling old wagon had +aroused her, and, curious to know who was stirring at this early hour, +she had cautiously opened her window, which overlooked the piazza, and +to her great dismay had recognized her grandmother as she gave orders +concerning her baggage. Flying back to her room, she awoke her sister, +who, springing up in bed, whispered faintly: "Will she kill us dead, +Maggie? Will she kill us dead?" + +"Pshaw! no," answered Maggie, her own courage rising with Theo's +fears. "She'll have to scold a spell, I suppose; but I can coax her, I +know!" + +By this time the old lady was ascending the stairs, and closing the +door Maggie applied her eye to the keyhole, listening breathlessly for +what might follow. George Douglas and Henry Warner occupied separate +rooms, and their boots were now standing outside their doors, ready +for the chore boy, Jim, who thus earned a quarter every day. Stumbling +first upon the pair belonging to George Douglas, the lady took them +up, ejaculating: "Boots! boots! Yes, men's boots, as I'm a living +woman! The like was never seen by me before in this hall. Another +pair!" she continued, as her eye fell on those of Henry Warner. +"Another pair, and in the best chamber, too! What will come next?" And +setting down her light, she wiped the drops of perspiration from her +face, at the same time looking around in some alarm lest the owners of +said boots should come forth. + +Just at that moment Mrs. Jeffrey appeared. Alarmed by the unusual +noise, and fancying the young gentlemen might be robbing the house as +a farewell performance, she had donned a calico wrapper, and tying a +black silk handkerchief over her cap, had taken her scissors, the only +weapon of defense she could find, and thus equipped for battle she had +sallied forth. She was prepared for burglars--nay, she would not +have been disappointed had she found the young men busily engaged in +removing the ponderous furniture from their rooms; but the sight of +Madam Conway, at that unseasonable hour, was wholly unexpected, and in +her fright she dropped the lamp which she had lighted in place of her +candle, and which was broken in fragments, deluging the carpet with +oil and eliciting a fresh groan from Madam Conway. + +"Jeffrey, Jeffrey!" she gasped; "what have you done?" + +"Great goodness!" ejaculated Mrs. Jeffrey, remembering her adventure +when once before she left her room in the night. "I certainly am the +most unfortunate of mortals. Catch me out of bed again, let what will +happen;" and turning, she was about to leave the hall, when Madam +Conway, anxious to know what had been done, called her back, saying +rather indignantly, "I'd like to know whose house I am in?" + +"A body would suppose 'twas Miss Margaret's, the way she's conducted," +answered Mrs. Jeffrey; and Madam Conway continued, pointing to the +boots: "Who have we here? These are not Margaret's, surely?" + +"No, ma'am, they belong to the young men who have turned the house +topsy-turvy with their tableaux, their Revolution celebration, their +banner, and carousing generally," said Mrs. Jeffrey, rather pleased +than otherwise at being the first to tell the news. + +"Young men!" repeated Madam Conway--"what young men? Where did they +come from, and why are they here?" + +"They are Douglas and Warner," said Mrs. Jeffrey, "two as big +scapegraces as there are this side of Old Bailey--that's what they +are. They came from Worcester, and if I've any discernment they are +after your girls, and your girls are after them." + +"After my girls! After Maggie! It can't be possible!" gasped Mrs. +Conway, thinking of Arthur Carrollton. + +"It's the very truth, though," returned Mrs. Jeffrey. "Henry Warner, +who, in my opinion, is the worst of the two, got to chasing Margaret +in the woods, as long ago as last April. She jumped Gritty across the +gorge, and he, like a fool, jumped after, breaking his leg--" + +"Pity it hadn't been his neck," interrupted Madam Conway; and Mrs. +Jeffrey continued: "Of course he was brought here, and Margaret took +care of him. After a while his comrade Douglas came out, and of all +the carousals you ever thought of, I reckon they had the worst. 'Twas +the Fourth of July, and if you'll believe it they made a banner, and +Maggie planted it herself on the housetop. They went off next morning; +but now they've come again, and last night the row beat all. I never +got a wink of sleep till after two o'clock." + +Here, entirely out of breath, the old lady paused, and, going to her +room, brought out a basin of water and a towel, with which she tried +to wipe off the oil. But Madam Conway paid little heed to the spoiled +carpet, so engrossed was she with what she had heard. + +"I am astonished at Margaret's want of discretion," said she, "and I +depended so much upon her, too." + +"I always knew you were deceived by her," said Mrs. Jeffrey, still +bending over the oil; "but it wasn't for me to say so, for you are +blinded towards that girl. She's got some of the queerest notions, and +then she's so high-strung. She won't listen to reason. But I did my +country good service once. I went up in the dead of night to take down +the flag, and I don't regret it either, even if it did pitch me to the +bottom of the stairs, and sprained my ankle." + +"Served you right," interposed Madam Conway, who, not at all pleased +at hearing Margaret thus censured, now turned the full force of her +wrath upon the poor little governess, blaming her for having suffered +such proceedings. "What did Margaret and Theo know, young things as +they were? and what was Mrs. Jeffrey there for if not to keep them +circumspect! But instead of doing this, she had undoubtedly encouraged +them in their folly, and then charged it upon Margaret." + +It was in vain that the greatly distressed and astonished lady +protested her innocence, pleading her sleepless nights and lame ankle +as proofs of having done her duty; Madam Conway would not listen. +"Somebody was of course to blame," and as it is a long-established +rule that a part of every teacher's duty is to be responsible for the +faults of the pupils, so Madam Conway now continued to chide Mrs. +Jeffrey as the prime-mover of everything, until that lady, overwhelmed +with the sense of injustice done her, left the oil and retired to her +room, saying as she closed the door: "I was never so injured in all my +life--never. To think that after all my trouble she should charge it +to me! It will break my heart, I know. Where shall I go for comfort or +rest?" + +This last word was opportune and suggestive. If rest could not be +found in Baxter's "Saints' Rest," it was not by her to be found at +all; and, sitting down by the window in the gray dawn of the morning, +she strove to draw comfort from the words of the good divine; but in +vain. It had never failed her before; but never before had she been so +deeply injured; and, closing the volume at last, she paced the floor +in a very perturbed state of mind. + +Meantime, Madam Conway had sought her granddaughter's chamber, where +Theo in her fright had taken refuge under the bed, while Maggie +feigned a deep, sound sleep. A few vigorous shakes, however, aroused +her, when, greatly to the amazement of her grandmother, she burst into +a merry laugh, and, winding her arms around the highly scandalized +lady's neck, said: "Forgive me, grandma, I've been awake ever since +you came home. I did not mean to leave the dining room in such +disorder, but I was so tired, and we had such fun! Hear me out," she +continued, laying her hand over the mouth of her grandmother, who +attempted to speak; "Mrs. Jeffrey told you how Mr. Warner broke his +leg, and was brought here. He is a real nice young man, and so is Mr. +Douglas, who came out to see him. They are partners in the firm of +Douglas & Co., Worcester." + +"Henry Warner is nothing but the Co., though; Mr. Douglas owns the +store, and is worth two hundred thousand dollars!" cried a smothered +voice under the bed; and Theo emerged into view, with a feather or +two ornamenting her hair, and herself looking a little uneasy and +frightened. + +The two hundred thousand dollars produced a magical effect upon the +old lady, exonerating George Douglas at once from all blame. But +towards Henry Warner she was not thus lenient; for, coward-like, Theo +charged him with having suggested everything, even to the cutting up +of the ancestral red coat for Freedom's banner! + +"What!" fairly screamed Madam Conway, who in her hasty glance at the +flag had not observed the material; "not taken my grandfather's coat +for a banner!" + +"Yes, he did," said Theo, "and Maggie cut up your blue satin bodice +for stars, and took one of your fine linen sheets for the foundation." + +"The wretch!" exclaimed Madam Conway, stamping her foot in her wrath, +and thinking only of Henry Warner; "I'll turn him from my door +instantly. My blue satin bodice, indeed!" + +"'Twas I, grandma--'twas I," interrupted Maggie, looking reproachfully +at Theo. "'Twas I who cut up the bodice. I who brought down the +scarlet coat." + +"And I didn't do a thing but look on," said Theo. "I knew you'd be +angry, and I tried to make Maggie behave, but she wouldn't." + +"I don't know as it is anything to you what Maggie does, and I think +it would look quite as well in you to take part of the blame yourself, +instead of putting it all upon your sister," was Madam Conway's reply; +and, feeling almost as deeply injured as Mrs. Jeffrey herself, Theo +began to cry, while Maggie, with a few masterly strokes, succeeded +in so far appeasing the anger of her grandmother that the good lady +consented for the young gentlemen to stay to breakfast, saying, +though, that "they should decamp immediately after, and never darken +her doors again." + +"But Mr. Douglas is rich," sobbed Theo from behind her pocket +handkerchief--"immensely rich, and of a very aristocratic family, I'm +sure, else where did he get his money?" + +This remark was timely, and when fifteen minutes later Madam Conway +was presented to the gentlemen in the hall her manner was far more +gracious towards George Douglas than it was towards Henry Warner, to +whom she merely nodded, deigning no answer whatever to his polite +apology for having made himself so much at home in her house. The +expression of his mouth was as usual against him, and, fancying he +intended adding insult to injury by laughing in her face, she coolly +turned her back upon him ere he had finished speaking, and walked +downstairs, leaving him to wind up his speech with "an old +she-dragon"! + +By this time both the sun and the servants had arisen, the former +shining into the disorderly dining room, and disclosing to the latter +the weary, jaded Anna, who, while Madam Conway was exploring the +house, had thrown herself upon the lounge and had fallen asleep. + +"Who is she, and where did she come from?" was anxiously inquired, +and they were about going in quest of Margaret when their mistress +appeared suddenly in their midst, and their noisy demonstrations of +joyful surprise awoke the sleeping girl, who, rubbing her red eyelids, +asked for her aunt, and why she did not come to meet her. + +"She has been a little excited, and forgot you, perhaps," answered +Madam Conway, at the same time bidding one of the servants to show the +young lady to Mrs. Jeffrey's room. + +The good lady had recovered her composure somewhat, and was just +wondering why her niece had not come with Madam Conway, as had +been arranged, when Anna appeared, and in her delight at once more +beholding a child of her only sister, and her husband's brother, she +forgot in a measure how injured she had felt. Ere long the breakfast +bell rang; but Anna declared herself too weary to go down, and as Mrs. +Jeffrey felt that she could not yet meet Madam Conway face to face, +they both remained in their room, Anna again falling away to sleep, +while her aunt, grown more calm, sought, and this time found, comfort +in her favorite volume. Very cool, indeed, was that breakfast, +partaken in almost unbroken silence below. The toast was cold, the +steak was cold, the coffee was cold, and frosty as an icicle was the +lady who sat where the merry Maggie had heretofore presided. Scarcely +a word was spoken by anyone; but in the laughing eyes of Maggie there +was a world of fun, to which the mischievous mouth of Henry Warner +responded by a curl exceedingly annoying to his stately hostess, who, +in passing him his coffee, turned her head in another direction lest +she should be too civil! + +Breakfast being over, George Douglas, who began to understand Madam +Conway tolerably well, asked of her a private interview, which was +granted, when he conciliated her first by apologizing for anything +ungentlemanly he might have done in her house, and startled her next +by asking for Theo as his wife. + +"You can," said he, "easily ascertain my character and standing in +Worcester, where for the last ten years I have been known first as +clerk, then as junior partner, and finally as proprietor of the large +establishment which I now conduct." + +Madam Conway was at first too astonished to speak. Had it been Maggie +for whom he asked, the matter would have been decided at once, +for Maggie was her pet, her pride, the intended bride of Arthur +Carrollton; but Theo was a different creature altogether, and +though the Conway blood flowing in her veins entitled her to much +consideration, she was neither showy nor brilliant, and if she could +marry two hundred thousand dollars, even though it were American coin, +she would perhaps be doing quite as well as could be expected. So +Madam Conway replied at last that she would consider the matter, +and if she found that Theo's feelings were fully enlisted she would +perhaps return a favorable answer. "I know the firm of Douglas & Co. +by reputation," said she, "and I know it to be a wealthy firm; but +with me family is quite as important as money." + +"My family, madam, are certainly respectable," interrupted George +Douglas, a deep flush overspreading his face. + +He was indignant at her presuming to question his respectability, +Madam Conway thought, and so she hastened to appease him by saying: +"Certainly, I have no doubt of it. There are marks by which I can +always tell." + +George Douglas bowed low to the far-seeing lady, while a train of +thought, not altogether complimentary to her discernment in this case, +passed through his mind. + +Not thus lenient would Madam Conway have been towards Henry Warner had +he presumed to ask her that morning for Maggie, but he knew better +than to broach the subject then. He would write her, he said, +immediately after his return to Worcester, and in the meantime Maggie, +if she saw proper, was to prepare her grandmother for it by herself +announcing the engagement. This, and much more, he said to Maggie as +they sat together in the library, so much absorbed in each other as +not to observe the approach of Madam Conway, who entered the door just +in time to see Henry Warner with his arm around Maggie's waist. She +was a woman of bitter prejudices, and had conceived a violent dislike +for Henry, not only on account of the "Stars and Stripes," but because +she read to a certain extent the true state of affairs. Her suspicions +were now confirmed, and rapidly crossing the floor she confronted him, +saying, "Let my granddaughter alone, young man, both now and forever." + +Something of Hagar's fiery spirit flashed from Maggie's dark eyes, but +forcing down her anger she answered half earnestly, half playfully, "I +am nearly old enough, grandma, to decide that matter for myself." + +A fierce expression of scorn passed over Madam Conway's face, and +harsh words might have ensued had not the carriage at that moment been +announced. Wringing Maggie's hand, Henry arose and left the room, +followed by the indignant lady, who would willingly have suffered him +to walk; but thinking two hundred thousand dollars quite too much +money to go on foot, she had ordered her carriage, and both the senior +and junior partner of Douglas & Co. Were ere long riding a second time +away from the old house by the mill. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE WATERS ARE TROUBLED. + + +"Grandma wishes to see you, Maggie, in her room," said Theo to her +sister one morning, three days after the departure of their guests. + +"Wishes to see me! For what?" asked Maggie; and Theo answered, "I +don't know, unless it is to talk with you about Arthur Carrollton." + +"Arthur Carrollton!" repeated Maggie. "Much good it will do her to +talk to me of him. I hate the very sound of his name;" and, rising, +she walked slowly to her grandmother's room, where in her stiff brown +satin dress, her golden spectacles planted firmly upon her nose, and +the Valenciennes border of her cap shading but not concealing the +determined look on her face, Madam Conway sat erect in her high-backed +chair, with an open letter upon her lap. + +It was from Henry. Maggie knew his handwriting in a moment, and there +was another too for her; but she was too proud to ask for it, and, +seating herself by the window, she waited for her grandmother to break +the silence, which she did ere long as follows: + +"I have just received a letter from that Warner, asking me to sanction +an engagement which he says exists between himself and you. Is it +true? Are you engaged to him?" + +"I am," answered Maggie, playing nervously with the tassel of her +wrapper, and wondering why Henry had written so soon, before she had +prepared the way by a little judicious coaxing. + +"Well, then," continued Madam Conway, "the sooner it is broken the +better. I am astonished that you should stoop to such an act, and I +hope you are not in earnest." + +"But I am," answered Maggie; and in the same cold, decided manner her +grandmother continued: "Then nothing remains for me but to forbid your +having any communication whatever with one whose conduct in my house +has been so unpardonably rude and vulgar. You will never marry him, +Margaret, never! Nay, I would sooner see you dead than the wife of +that low, mean, impertinent fellow!" + +In the large dark eyes there was a gleam decidedly "Hagarish" as +Maggie arose, and, standing before her grandmother, made answer: "You +must not, in my presence, speak thus of Henry Warner. He is neither +low, mean, vulgar, nor impertinent. You are prejudiced against him +because you think him comparatively poor, and because he has dared +to look at me, who have yet to understand why the fact of my being a +Conway makes me any better. I have promised to be Henry Warner's wife, +and Margaret Miller never yet has broken her word." + +"But in this instance you will," said Madam Conway, now thoroughly +aroused. "I will never suffer it; and to prove I am in earnest I will +here, before your face, burn the letter he has presumed to send you; +and this I will do to any others which may come to you from him." + +Maggie offered no remonstrance; but the fire of a volcano burned +within, as she watched the letter blackening upon the coals; and when +next her eyes met those of her grandmother there was in them a fierce, +determined look which prompted that lady at once to change her tactics +and try the power of persuasion rather than of force. Feigning a +smile, she said: "What ails you, child? You look to me like Hagar. It +was wrong in me, perhaps, to burn your letter, and had I reflected a +moment I might not have done it; but I cannot suffer you to receive +any more. I have other prospects in view for you, and have only waited +a favorable opportunity to tell you what they are. Sit down by me, +Margaret, while I talk with you on the subject." + +The burning of her letter had affected Margaret strangely, and with a +benumbed feeling at her heart she sat down without a word and listened +patiently to praises long and praises loud of Arthur Carrollton, who +was described as being every way desirable, both as a friend and a +husband. "His father, the elder Mr. Carrollton, was an intimate friend +of my husband," said Madam Conway, "and wishes our families to be more +closely united, by a marriage between you and his son Arthur, who is +rather fastidious in his taste, and though twenty-eight years old has +never yet seen a face which suited him. But he is pleased with you, +Maggie. He liked your picture, imperfect as it is, and he liked the +tone of your letters, which I read to him. They were so original, +he said, so much like what he fancied you to be. He has a splendid +country seat, and more than one nobleman's daughter would gladly share +it with him; but I think he fancies you. He has a large estate near +Montreal, and some difficulty connected with it will ere long bring +him to America. Of course he will visit here, and with a little tact +on your part you can, I'm sure, secure one of the best matches in +England. He is fine-looking, too. I have his daguerreotype;" and +opening her workbox she drew it forth and held it before Maggie, who +resolutely shut her eyes lest she should see the face of one she was +so determined to dislike. + +"What do you think of him?" asked Madam Conway as her arm began to +ache, and Maggie had not yet spoken. + +"I haven't looked at him," answered Maggie; "I hate him, and if he +comes here after me I'll tell him so, too. I hate him because he is +an Englishman. I hate him because he is aristocratic. I hate him for +everything, and before I marry him I'll run away!" + +Here, wholly overcome, Maggie burst into tears, and precipitately left +the room. An hour later, and Hagar, sitting by her fire, which the +coolness of the day rendered necessary, was startled by the abrupt +entrance of Maggie, who, throwing herself upon the floor, and burying +her face in the old woman's lap, sobbed bitterly. + +"What is it, child? What is it, darling?" asked Hagar; and in a +few words Maggie explained the whole. "I am persecuted, dreadfully +persecuted! Nobody before ever had so much trouble as I. Grandma +has burned a letter from Henry Warner, and would not give it to me. +Grandma said, too, I should never marry him, should never write to +him, nor see anything he might send to me. Oh, Hagar, Hagar, isn't +it cruel?" and the eyes, whose wrathful, defiant expression was now +quenched in tears, looked up in Hagar's face for sympathy. + +The right chord was touched, and much as Hagar might have disliked +Henry Warner she was his fast friend now. Her mistress' opposition and +Maggie's tears had wrought a change, and henceforth all her energies +should be given to the advancement of the young couple's cause. + +"I can manage it," she said, smoothing the long silken tresses which +lay in disorder upon her lap. "Richland post office is only four miles +from here; I can walk double that distance easy. Your grandmother +never thinks of going there, neither am I known to anyone in that +neighborhood. Write your letter to Henry Warner, and before the sun +goes down it shall be safe in the letter-box. He can write to the +same place, but he had better direct to me, as your name might excite +suspicion." + +This plan seemed perfectly feasible; but it struck Maggie +unpleasantly. She had never attempted to deceive in her life, and she +shrunk from the first deception. She would rather, she said, try again +to win her grandmother's consent. But this she found impossible; Madam +Conway was determined, and would not listen. + +"It grieves me sorely," she said, "thus to cross my favorite child, +whom I love better than my life; but it is for her good, and must be +done." + +So she wrote a cold and rather insulting letter to Henry Warner, +bidding him, as she had done before, "let her granddaughter alone," +and saying it was useless for him to attempt anything secret, for +Maggie would be closely watched, the moment there were indications of +a clandestine correspondence. + +This letter, which was read to Margaret, destroyed all hope, and +still she wavered, uncertain whether it would be right to deceive her +grandmother. But while she was yet undecided, Hagar's fingers, of late +unused to the pen, traced a few lines to Henry Warner, who, acting at +once upon her suggestion, wrote to Margaret a letter which he directed +to "Hagar Warren, Richland." + +In it he urged so many reasons why Maggie should avail herself of this +opportunity for communicating with him that she yielded at last, and +regularly each week old Hagar toiled through sunshine and through +storm to the Richland post office, feeling amply repaid for her +trouble when she saw the bright expectant face which almost always +greeted her return. Occasionally, by way of lulling the suspicions of +Madam Conway, Henry would direct a letter to Hillsdale, knowing full +well it would never meet the eyes of Margaret, over whom, for the time +being, a spy had been set, in the person of Anna Jeffrey. + +This young lady, though but little connected with our story, may +perhaps deserve a brief notice. Older than either Theo or Margaret, +she was neither remarkable for beauty nor talent. Dark-haired, +dark-eyed, dark-browed, and, as the servants said, "dark in her +disposition," she was naturally envious of those whose rank in life +entitled them to more attention than she was herself accustomed to +receive. For this reason Maggie Miller had from the first been to her +an object of dislike, and she was well pleased when Madam Conway, +enjoining the strictest secrecy, appointed her to watch that young +lady, and see that no letter was ever carried by her to the post +office which Madam Conway had not first examined. In the snaky eyes +there was a look of exultation as Anna Jeffrey promised to be faithful +to her trust, and for a time she became literally Maggie Miller's +shadow, following her here, following her there, and following her +everywhere, until Maggie complained so bitterly of the annoyance that +Madam Conway at last, feeling tolerably sure that no counterplot was +intended, revoked her orders, and bade Anna Jeffrey leave Margaret +free to do as she pleased. + +Thus relieved from espionage, Maggie became a little more like +herself, though a sense of the injustice done her by her grandmother, +together with the deception she knew she was practicing, wore upon +her; and the servants at their work listened in vain for the merry +laugh they had loved so well to hear. In the present state of +Margaret's feelings Madam Conway deemed it prudent to say nothing of +Arthur Carrollton, whose name was never mentioned save by Theo and +Anna, the latter of whom had seen him in England, and was never so +well pleased as when talking of his fine country seat, his splendid +park, his handsome horses, and last, though not least, of himself. "He +is," she said, "without exception, the most elegant and aristocratic +young man I have ever seen;" and then for more than an hour she would +entertain Theo with a repetition of the many agreeable things he had +said to her during the one day she had spent at his house while Madam +Conway was visiting there. + +In perfect indifference, Maggie, who was frequently present, would +listen to these stories, sometimes listlessly turning the leaves of a +book, and again smiling scornfully as she thought how impossible it +was that the fastidious Arthur Carrolton should have been at all +pleased with a girl like Anna Jeffrey; and positive as Maggie was that +she hated him, she insensibly began to feel a very slight degree of +interest in him; at least, she would like to know how he looked; and +one day when her grandmother and Theo were riding she stole cautiously +to the box where she knew his picture lay, and, taking it out, looked +to see if he were so very fine-looking. + +Yes, he was,--Maggie acknowledged that; and, sure that she hated +him terribly, she lingered long over that picture, admiring the +classically shaped head, the finely cut mouth, and more than all the +large dark eyes which seemed so full of goodness and truth. "Pshaw!" +she exclaimed at last, restoring the picture to its place; "if Henry +were only a little taller, and had as handsome eyes, he'd be a great +deal better-looking. Anyway, I like him, and I hate Arthur Carrollton, +who I know is domineering, and would try to make me mind. He has asked +for my daguerreotype, grandma says--one which looks as I do now. I'll +send it too," and she burst into a loud laugh at the novel idea which +had crossed her mind. + +That day when Madam Conway returned from her ride she was surprised at +Maggie's proposing that Theo and herself should have their likenesses +taken for Arthur Carrollton. + +"If he wants my picture," said she, "I am willing he shall have it. It +is all he'll ever get." + +Delighted at this unexpected concession, Madam Conway gave her +consent, and the next afternoon found Theo and Maggie at the +daguerrean gallery in Hillsdale, where the latter astonished both her +sister and the artist by declaring her intention of not only sitting +with her bonnet and shawl on; but also of turning her back to the +instrument! It was in vain that Theo remonstrated! "That position or +none," she said; and the picture was accordingly taken, presenting +a very correct likeness, when finished, of a bonnet, a veil, and a +shawl, beneath which Maggie Miller was supposed to be. + +Strange as it may seem, this freak struck Madam Conway favorably. +Arthur Carrollton knew that Maggie was unlike any other person, and +the joke, she thought, would increase, rather than diminish, the +interest he already felt in her. So she made no objection, and in a +few days it was on its way to England, together with a lock of Hagar's +snow-white hair, which Maggie had coaxed from the old lady, and, +unknown to her grandmother, placed in the casing at the last moment. + +Several weeks passed away, and then there came an answer--a letter so +full of wit and humor that Maggie confessed to herself that he must +be very clever to write so many shrewd things and to be withal so +perfectly refined. Accompanying the package was a small rosewood box, +containing a most exquisite little pin made of Hagar's frosty hair, +and richly ornamented with gold. Not a word was written concerning +it, and as Maggie kept her own counsel, both Theo and her grandmother +marveled greatly, admiring its beauty and wondering for whom it was +intended. + +"For me, of course," said Madam Conway. "The hair is Lady +Carrollton's, Arthur's grandmother. I know it by its soft, silky look. +She has sent it as a token of respect, for she was always fond of me;" +and going to the glass she very complacently ornamented her Honiton +collar with Hagar's hair, while Maggie, bursting with fun, beat a +hasty retreat from the room, lest she should betray herself. + +Thus the winter passed away, and early in the spring George Douglas, +to whom Madam Conway had long ago sent a favorable answer, came to +visit his betrothed, bringing to Maggie a note from Rose, who had once +or twice sent messages in Henry's letters. She was in Worcester now, +and her health was very delicate. "Sometimes," she wrote, "I fear +I shall never see you, Maggie Miller--shall never look into your +beautiful face, or listen to your voice; but whether in heaven or on +earth I am first to meet with you, my heart claims you as a sister, +the one whom of all the sisters in the world I would rather call my +own." + +"Darling Rose!" murmured Maggie, pressing the delicately traced lines +to her lips, "how near she seems to me! nearer almost than Theo;" and +then involuntarily her thoughts went backward to the night when Henry +Warner first told her of his love, and when in her dreams there had +been a strange blending together of herself, of Rose, and the little +grave beneath the pine! + +But not yet was that veil of mystery to be lifted. Hagar's secret must +be kept a little longer; and, unsuspicious of the truth, Maggie Miller +must dream on of sweet Rose Warner, whom she hopes one day to call her +sister! + +There was also a message from Henry, and this George Douglas delivered +in secret, for he did not care to displease his grandmother-elect, who +viewing him through a golden setting, thought he was not to be equaled +by anyone in America. "So gentlemanly," she said, "and so modest too," +basing her last conclusion upon his evident unwillingness to say +very much of himself or his family. Concerning the latter she had +questioned him in vain, eliciting nothing save the fact that they +lived in the country several miles from Worcester, and that his father +always stayed at home, and consequently his mother went but little +into society. + +"Despises the vulgar herd, I dare say," thought Madam Conway, +contemplating the pleasure she should undoubtedly derive from an +acquaintance with Mrs. Douglas, senior! + +"There was a sister, too," he said, and at this announcement Theo +opened wide her blue eyes, asking her name, and why he had never +mentioned her before. + +"I call her Jenny," said he, coloring slightly, and adding playfully, +as he caressed Theo's smooth, round cheek, "Wives do not usually like +their husbands' sisters." + +"But I shall like her, I know," said Theo. "She has a beautiful name, +Jenny Douglas--much prettier than Rose Warner, about whom Maggie talks +to me so much." + +A gathering frown on her grandmother's face warned Theo that she had +touched upon a forbidden subject, and as Mr. Douglas manifested no +desire to continue the conversation it ceased for a time, Theo wishing +she could see Jenny Douglas, and George wondering what she would say +when she did see her! + +For a few days longer he lingered, and ere his return it was arranged +that early in July Theo should be his bride. On the morning of his +departure, as he stood upon the steps alone with Madam Conway, she +said, "I think I can rely upon you, Mr. Douglas, not to carry either +letter, note, or message from Maggie to that young Warner. I've +forbidden him in my house, and I mean what I say." + +"I assure you, madam, she has not asked me to carry either," +answered George; who, though he knew perfectly well of the secret +correspondence, had kept it to himself. "You mistake Mr. Warner, I +think," he continued, after a moment. "I have known him long, and +esteem him highly." + +"Tastes differ," returned Madam Conway coldly. "No man of good +breeding would presume to cut up my grandfather's coat or drink up my +best wine." + +"He intended no disrespect, I'm sure," answered George. "He only +wanted a little fun with the 'Stars and Stripes.'" + +"It was fun for which he will pay most dearly, though," answered Madam +Conway, as she bade Mr. Douglas good-by; then, walking back to the +parlor, she continued speaking to herself: "'Stars and Stripes'! +I'll teach him to cut up my blue bodice for fun. I wouldn't give him +Margaret if his life depended upon it;" and sitting down she wrote to +Arthur Carrollton, asking if he really intended visiting America, and +when. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SOCIETY. + + +During the remainder of the spring matters at the old stone house +proceeded about as usual, Maggie writing regularly to Henry, who as +regularly answered, while old Hagar managed it so adroitly that no one +suspected the secret correspondence, and Madam Conway began to hope +her granddaughter had forgotten the foolish fancy. Arthur Carrollton +had replied that his visit to America, though sure to take place, was +postponed indefinitely, and so the good lady had nothing in particular +with which to busy herself, save the preparations for Theo's wedding, +which was to take place near the first of July. + +Though setting a high value upon money, Madam Conway was not +penurious, and the bridal trousseau far exceeded anything which Theo +had expected. As the young couple were not to keep house for a time, a +most elegant suite of rooms had been selected in a fashionable hotel; +and determining that Theo should not, in point of dress, be rivaled by +any of her fellow-boarders, Madam Conway spared neither time nor +money in making the outfit perfect. So for weeks the old stone house +presented a scene of great confusion. Chairs, tables, lounges, +and piano were piled with finery, on which Anna Jeffrey worked +industriously, assisted sometimes by her aunt, whom Madam Conway +pronounced altogether too superannuated for a governess, and who, +though really an excellent scholar, was herself far better pleased +with muslin robes and satin bows than with French idioms and Latin +verbs. Perfectly delighted, Maggie joined in the general excitement, +wondering occasionally when and where her own bridal would be. Once +she ventured to ask if Henry Warner and his sister might be invited to +Theo's wedding; but Madam Conway answered so decidedly in the negative +that she gave it up, consoling herself with thinking that she would +some time visit her sister, and see Henry in spite of her grandmother. + +The marriage was very quiet, for Madam Conway had no acquaintance, and +the family alone witnessed the ceremony. At first Madam Conway had +hoped that Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, senior, together with their daughter +Jenny, would be present, and she had accordingly requested George to +invite them, feeling greatly disappointed when she learned that they +could not come. + +"I wanted so much to see them," she said to Maggie, "and know whether +they are worthy to be related to the Conways--but of course they are, +as much so as any American family. George has every appearance of +refinement and high-breeding." + +"But his family, for all that, may be as ignorant as Farmer +Canfield's," answered Maggie; to which her grandmother replied: "You +needn't tell me that, for I'm not to be deceived in such matters. I +can tell at a glance if a person is low-born, no matter what their +education or advantages may have been. Who's that?" she added quickly, +and turning round she saw old Hagar, her eyes lighted up and her lips +moving with incoherent sounds. + +Hagar had come up to the wedding, and had reached the door of Madam +Conway's room just in time to hear the last remark, which roused her +at once. + +"Why don't she discover my secret, then," she muttered, "if she has so +much discernment? Why don't she see the Hagar blood in her? for it's +there, plain as day;" and she glanced proudly at Maggie, who, in her +simple robe of white, was far more beautiful than the bride. + +And still Theo, in her handsome traveling dress, was very fair to look +upon, and George Douglas felt proud that she was his, resolving, as he +kissed away the tears she shed at parting, that the vow he had just +made should never be broken. A few weeks of pleasant travel westward, +and then the newly wedded pair came back to what, for a time, was to +be their home. + +George Douglas was highly respected in Worcester, both as a man of +honor and a man of wealth; consequently, every possible attention was +paid to Theo, who was petted and admired, until she began to wonder +why neither Maggie nor yet her all-discerning grandmother had +discovered how charming and faultless she was! + +Among George's acquaintance was a Mrs. Morton, a dashing, fashionable +woman, who determined to honor the bride with a party, to which all +the elite of Worcester were invited, together with many Bostonians. +Madam Conway and Maggie were of course upon the list; and, as timely +notice was given them by Theo, Madam Conway went twice to Springfield +in quest of a suitable dress for Maggie. She wanted something +becoming, she said; and a delicate rose-colored satin, with a handsome +overskirt of lace, was at last decided upon. + +"She must have some pearls for her hair," thought Madam Conway; and +when next Maggie, who, girl-like, tried the effect of her first party +dress at least a dozen times, stood before the glass to see if it were +exactly the right length, she was presented with the pearls, which +Anna Jeffrey, with a feeling of envy at her heart, arranged in the +shining braids of her hair. + +"Oh, isn't it perfectly splendid!" cried Maggie, herself half inclined +to compliment the beautiful image reflected in the mirror. + +"You ought to see Arthur Carrollton's sister when she is dressed, if +you think you look handsome," answered Anna, adding that diamonds were +much more fashionable than pearls. + +"You have attended a great many parties and seen a great deal of +fashion, so I dare say you are right," Maggie answered ironically; and +then, as through the open window she saw Hagar approaching, she ran +out upon the _piazza_, to see what the old woman would say. + +Hagar had never seen her thus before, and now, throwing up her hands +in astonishment, she involuntarily dropped upon her knees, and, +while the tears rained over her timeworn face, whispered, "Hester's +child--my granddaughter--Heaven be praised!" + +"Do I look pretty?" Margaret asked; and Hagar answered: "More +beautiful than anyone I ever saw. I wish your mother could see you +now." + +Involuntarily Maggie glanced at the tall marble gleaming through +the distant trees, while Hagar's thoughts were down in that other +grave--the grave beneath the pine. The next day was the party, and +at an early hour Madam Conway was ready. Her rich purple satin and +Valenciennes laces, with which she hoped to impress Mrs. Douglas, +senior, were carefully packed up, together with Maggie's dress; and +then, shawled and bonneted, she waited impatiently for her carriage, +which she preferred to the cars. It came at last, but in place of +John, the usual coachman, Mike, a rather wild youth of twenty, was +mounted upon the box. His father, he said, had been taken suddenly +ill, and had deputized him to drive. + +For a time Madam Conway hesitated, for she knew Mike's one great +failing, and she hardly dared risk herself with him, lest she should +find a seat less desirable even than the memorable brush-heap. But +Mike protested loudly to having joined the "Sons of Temperance" only +the night before, and as in his new suit of blue, with shining brass +buttons, he presented a more stylish appearance than his father, his +mistress finally decided to try him, threatening all manner of evil if +in any way he broke his pledge, either to herself or the "Sons," the +latter of whom had probably never heard of him. He was perfectly +sober now, and drove them safely to Worcester, where they soon found +themselves in Theo's handsome rooms. Her wrappings removed and herself +snugly ensconced in a velvet-cushioned chair, Madam Conway asked the +young bride how long before Mrs. Douglas, senior, would probably +arrive. + +A slight shadow, which no one observed, passed over Theo's face as she +answered, "George's father seldom goes into society, and consequently +his mother will not come." + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" replied Madam Conway, thinking of the purple +satin, and continuing, "Nor the young lady, either?" + +"None of them," answered Theo, adding hastily, as if to change the +conversation, "Isn't my piano perfectly elegant?" and she ran her +fingers over an exquisitely carved instrument, which had inscribed +upon it simply "Theo"; and then, as young brides sometimes will, +she expatiated upon the kindness and generosity of George, showing, +withal, that her love for her husband was founded upon something far +more substantial than family or wealth. + +Her own happiness, it would seem, had rendered her less selfish and +more thoughtful for others; for once that afternoon, on returning to +her room after a brief absence, she whispered to Maggie that "someone +in the parlor below wished to see her." + +Then seating herself at her grandmother's feet, she entertained her so +well with a description of her travels that the good lady failed to +observe the absence of Maggie, who, face to face with Henry Warner, +was making amends for their long separation. Much they talked of the +past, and then Henry spoke of the future; but of this Maggie was less +hopeful. Her grandmother would never consent to their marriage, she +knew--the "Stars and Stripes" had decided that matter, even though +there were no Arthur Carrollton across the sea, and Maggie sighed +despondingly as she thought of the long years of single-blessedness in +store for her. + +"There is but one alternative left, then," said Henry. "If your +grandmother refuses her consent altogether, I must take you without +her consent." + +"I shan't run away," said Maggie; "I shall live an old maid, and you +must live an old bachelor, until grandma--" + +She did not have time to finish the sentence ere Henry commenced +unfolding the following plan: + +"It is necessary," he said, "for either myself or Mr. Douglas to go +to Cuba; and as Rose's health makes a change of climate advisable for +her, George has proposed to me to go and take my sister there for the +winter. And, Maggie," he continued, "will you go, too? We are to sail +the middle of October, stopping for a few weeks in Florida, until the +unhealthy season in Havana is passed. I will see your grandmother +to-morrow morning--will once more honorably ask her for your hand, and +if she still refuses, as you think she will, it cannot surely be wrong +in you to consult your own happiness instead of her prejudices. I will +meet you at old Hagar's cabin at the time appointed. Rose and my aunt, +who is to accompany her, will be in New York, whither we will go +immediately. A few moments more and you will be my wife, and beyond +the control of your grandmother. Do you approve my plan, Maggie, +darling? Will you go?" + +Maggie could not answer him then, for an elopement was something +from which she instinctively shrunk, and with a faint hope that her +grandmother might consent she went back to her sister's room, where +she had not yet been missed. Very rapidly the remainder of the +afternoon passed away, and at an early hour, wishing to know "exactly +how she was going to look," Maggie commenced her toilet. Theo, too, +desirous of displaying her white satin as long as possible, began to +dress; while Madam Conway, in no haste to don her purple satin, which +was uncomfortably tight, amused herself by watching the passers-by, +nodding at intervals, in her chair. + +While thus occupied, a perfumed note was brought to her, the contents +of which elicited from her an exclamation of surprise. + +"Can it be possible!" she said; and thrusting the note into her pocket +she hastily left the room. + +She was gone a long, long time; and when at last she returned, she was +evidently much excited, paying no attention whatever to Theo, who, in +her bridal robes, looked charming, but minutely inspecting Maggie, to +see if in her adornings there was aught out of its place. Her dress +was faultless, and she looked so radiantly beautiful, as she stood +before her grandmother, that the old lady kissed her fondly, +whispering, as she did so, "You are indeed beautiful!" It was a long +time ere Madam Conway commenced her own toilet, and then she proceeded +so slowly that George Douglas became impatient, and she finally +suggested that he and Theo should go without her, sending the carriage +back for herself and Maggie. To this proposition he at last yielded; +and when they were left alone Madam Conway greatly accelerated her +movements, dressing herself in a few moments, and then, much to +Maggie's surprise, going below without a word of explanation. A few +moments only elapsed ere a servant was sent to Maggie, saying that her +presence was desired at No. 40, a small private parlor adjoining the +public drawing rooms. + +"What can it mean? Is it possible that Henry is there?" Maggie asked +herself, as with a beating heart she descended the stairs. + +A moment more, and Maggie stood on the threshhold of No. 40. Seated +upon the sofa was Madam Conway, her purple satin seeming to have +taken a wide sweep, and her face betokening the immense degree of +satisfaction she felt in being there with the stylish, elegant-looking +stranger who stood at her side, with his deep, expressive eyes fixed +upon the door expectantly. Maggie knew him in a moment--knew it was +Arthur Carrollton; and, turning pale, she started backward, while he +advanced forward, and, offering her his hand, looked down upon her +with a winning smile, saying, as he did so: "Excuse my familiarity. +You are Maggie Miller, I am sure." + +For an instant Maggie could not reply, but soon becoming composed +she received the stranger gracefully, and then taking the chair he +politely brought her she listened while her grandmother told that +he had arrived at Montreal two weeks before; that he had reached +Hillsdale that morning, an hour or two after their departure, and, +learning their destination, had followed them in the cars; that she +had taken the liberty of informing Mrs. Morton of his arrival, and +that lady had of course extended to him an invitation to be present at +her party. + +"Which invitation I accept, provided Miss Maggie allows me to be her +escort," said the young man, and again his large black eyes rested +admiringly upon her. + +Maggie had anticipated a long, quiet talk with Henry Warner, and, +wishing the Englishman anywhere but there, she answered coldly, "I +cannot well decline your escort, Mr. Carrollton, so of course I accept +it." + +Madam Conway bit her lip, but Mr. Carrollton, who was prepared for +anything from Maggie Miller, was not in the least displeased, and, +consulting his diamond-set watch, which pointed to nearly ten, he +asked if it were not time to go. + +"Certainly," said Madam Conway. "You remain here, Maggie; I will bring +down your shawl," and she glided from the room, leaving them purposely +alone. + +Maggie was a good deal astonished, slightly embarrassed, and a little +provoked, all of which Arthur Carrollton readily saw; but this did +not prevent his talking to her, and during the few minutes of Madam +Conway's absence he decided that neither Margaret's beauty, nor yet +her originality, had been overrated by her partial grandmother, while +Maggie, on her part, mentally pronounced him "the finest-looking, the +most refined, the most gentlemanly, the proudest, and the hatefulest +man she had ever seen!" + +Wholly unconscious of her cogitation, he wrapped her shawl very +carefully about her, taking care to cover her white shoulders from the +night air; then offering his arm to her grandmother, he led the way to +the carriage, whither she followed him, wondering if Henry would be +jealous, and thinking her first act would be to tell him how she hated +Arthur Carrollton, and always should! + + * * * * * + +It was a gay, brilliant scene which Mrs. Morton's drawing room +presented; and, as yet the center of attraction, Theo, near the door, +was bowing to the many strangers who sought her acquaintance. Greatly +she marveled at the long delay of her grandmother and Maggie, and she +had just suggested to Henry that he should go in quest of them, when +she saw her sister ascending the stairs. + +On a sofa across the room sat a pale young girl arrayed in white, her +silken curls falling around her neck like a golden shower, and her +mournful eyes of blue scanning eagerly each newcomer, then a look of +disappointment drooping beneath the long lashes which rested wearily +upon her colorless cheek. It was Rose Warner, and the face she sought +was Maggie Miller's. She had seen no semblance of it yet, for Henry +had no daguerreotype. Still, she felt sure she would know it, and when +at last, in all her queenly beauty, Maggie came, leaning on Arthur +Carrollton's arm, Rose's heart made ready answer to the oft-repeated +question, "Who is she?" + +"Beautiful, gloriously beautiful!" she whispered softly, while from +the grave of her buried hopes there came one wild heart-throb, one +sudden burst of pain caused by the first sight of her rival, and then +Rose Warner grew calm again, and those who saw the pressure of her +hand upon her side dreamed not of the fierce pang within. She had +asked her brother not to tell Maggie she was to be there. She would +rather watch her a while, herself unknown; and now with eager, curious +eyes she followed Maggie, who was quickly surrounded by a host of +admirers. + +It was Maggie's first introduction into society, and yet so perfect +was her intuition of what was proper that neither by word or deed did +she do aught to shock the most fastidious. It is true her merry laugh +more than once rang out above the din of voices; but it was so joyous +that no one objected, particularly when they looked in her bright and +almost childish face. Arthur Carrollton, too, acting as her escort, +aided her materially, for it was soon whispered around that he was a +wealthy Englishman, and many were the comments made upon the handsome +couple, who seemed singularly adapted to each other. A glance had +convinced Arthur Carrollton that Maggie was by far the most beautiful +lady present, and feeling that on this her first introduction into +society she needed someone to shield her, as it were, from the many +foolish, flattering speeches which were sure to be made in her +hearing, he kept her at his side, where she was nothing loath to stay; +for, notwithstanding that she "hated" him so, there was about him a +fascination she did not try to resist. + +"They are a splendid couple," thought Rose, and then she looked to see +how Henry was affected by the attentions of the handsome foreigner. + +But Henry was not jealous; and, standing a little aloof, he felt more +pleasure than pain in watching Maggie as she received the homage of +the gay throng. Thoughts similar to those of Rose, however, forced +themselves upon him as he saw the dignified bearing of Mr. +Carrollton, and for the first time in his life he was conscious of an +uncomfortable feeling of inferiority to some thing or some body, he +hardly knew what. This feeling, however, passed away when Maggie came +at last to his side, with her winning smile and playful words. + +Very closely Madam Conway watched her now; but Maggie did not heed it, +and leaning on Henry's arm she seemed oblivious to all save him. +After a time he led her out upon a side piazza, where they would be +comparatively alone. Observing that she seemed a little chilly, he +left her for a moment while he went in quest of her shawl. Scarcely +was he gone when a slight, fairy form came flitting through the +moonlight to where Maggie sat, and, twining its snow-white arms around +her neck, looked lovingly into her eyes, whispering soft and low, "My +sister!" + +"My sister!" How Maggie's blood bounded at the sound of that name, +which even the night wind, sighing through the trees, seemed to take +up and repeat. "My sister!" What was there in those words thus to +affect her? Was that fair young creature, who hung so fondly over her, +naught to her save a common stranger? Was there no tie between them, +no bond of sympathy and love? We ask this of you, our reader, and not +of Maggie Miller, for to her there came no questioning like this. She +only knew that every pulsation of her heart responded to the name of +sister, when breathed by sweet Rose Warner, and, folding her arms +about her, she pillowed the golden head upon her bosom, and, pushing +back the clustering curls, gazed long and earnestly into a face which +seemed so heavenly and pure. + +Few were the words they uttered at first, for a mysterious, invisible +something prompted each to look into the other's eyes, to clasp the +other's hands, to kiss the other's lips, and lovingly to whisper the +other's name. + +"I have wished so much to see you, to know if you are worthy of my +noble brother," said Rose at last, thinking she must say something on +the subject uppermost in both their minds. + +"And am I worthy?" asked Maggie, the bright blushes stealing over her +cheek. "Will you let me be your sister?" + +"My heart would claim you for that, even though I had no brother," +answered Rose, and again her lips touched those of Maggie. + +Seeing them thus together, Henry tarried purposely a long time, and +when at last he rejoined them he proposed returning to the drawing +room, where many inquiries were making for Maggie. + +"I have looked for you a long time, Miss Maggie," said Mr. Carrollton. +"I wish to hear you play;" and, taking her arm in his, he led her to +the piano. + +From the moment of her first introduction to him Maggie had felt that +there was something commanding in his manner, something she could not +disobey; and now, though she fancied it was impossible to play before +that multitude, she seated herself mechanically, and while the keys +swam before her eyes, went through with a difficult piece which she +had never but once before executed correctly. + +"You have done well; much better than I anticipated," said Mr. +Carrollton, again offering her his arm; and though a little vexed, +those few words of commendation were worth more to Maggie than the +most flattering speech which Henry Warner had ever made to her. + +Soon after leaving the piano a young man approached and invited her to +waltz. This was something in which Maggie excelled; for two winters +before Madam Conway had hired a teacher to instruct her granddaughters +in dancing, and she was about to accept the invitation, when, drawing +her arm still closer within his own, Mr. Carrollton looked down upon +her, saying softly, "I wouldn't." + +Maggie had often waltzed with Henry at home. He saw no harm in it, and +now when Arthur Carrollton objected, she was provoked, while at the +same time she felt constrained to decline. + +"Some time, when I know you better, I will explain to you why I do +not think it proper for young girls to waltz with everyone," said Mr. +Carrollton; and, leading her from the drawing room, he devoted himself +to her for the remainder of the evening, making himself so perfectly +agreeable that Maggie forgot everything, even Henry Warner, who in +the meantime had tried to obtain recognition from Madam Conway as an +acquaintance. + +A cool nod, however, was all the token of recognition she had to give +him. This state of feeling augured ill for the success of his suit; +but when at a late hour that night, in spite of grandmother or +Englishman, he handed Maggie to the carriage, he whispered to her +softly, "I will see her to-morrow morning, and know the worst." + +The words caught the quick ear of Madam Conway; but, not wishing +Mr. Carrollton to know there was anything particular between her +granddaughter and Henry Warner, she said nothing, and when, arrived at +last at the hotel, she asked an explanation, Maggie, who hurried off +to bed, was too sleepy to give her any answer. + +"I shall know before long, anyway, if he sees me in the morning," she +thought, as she heard a distant clock strike two, and settling her +face into the withering frown with which she intended to annihilate +Henry Warner, the old lady was herself ere long much faster asleep +than the young girl at her side, who was thinking of Henry Warner, +wishing he was three inches taller, or herself three inches shorter, +and wondering if his square shoulders would not be somewhat improved +by braces! + +"I never noticed how short and crooked he was," she thought, "until I +saw him standing by the side of Mr. Carrollton, who is such a splendid +figure, so tall and straight; but big, overgrown girls like me always +get short husbands, they say;" and satisfied with this conclusion she +fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MADAM CONWAY'S DISASTERS. + + +At a comparatively early hour Madam Conway arose, and going to the +parlor found there Arthur Carrollton, who asked if Margaret were not +yet up. "Say that I wish her to ride with me on horseback," said he. +"The morning air will do her good;" and, quite delighted, Madam Conway +carried the message to her granddaughter. + +"Tell him I shan't do it," answered the sleepy Maggie, adjusting +herself for another nap. Then, as she thought how his eyes probably +looked as he said, "I wish her to ride," she felt impelled to obey, +and greatly to her grandmother's surprise she commenced dressing. + +Theo's riding dress was borrowed, and though it did not fit her +exactly she looked unusually well when she met Mr. Carrollton in the +lower hall, and once mounted upon the gay steed, and galloping away +into the country, she felt more than repaid for the loss of her +morning slumber. + +"You ride well," said Mr. Carrollton, when at last they paused upon +the brow of a hill overlooking the town, "but you have some faults +which, with your permission, I will correct," and in the most polite +and gentlemanly manner he proceeded to speak of a few points wherein +her riding might be improved. + +Among other things, he said she rode too fast for a lady; and, biting +her lip, Maggie thought, "If I only had Gritty here, I'd lead him such +a race as would either break his bones or his neck, I'm not particular +which." + +Still, she followed his directions implicitly, and when, ere they +reached home, he told her that she excelled many who had been for +years to riding schools, she felt repaid for his criticisms, which she +knew were just, even if they were not agreeable. Breakfast being over, +he announced his intention of going down to Boston, telling Maggie he +should probably return that evening and go with her to Hillsdale on +the morrow. + +Scarcely had he gone when Henry Warner appeared, asking an interview +with Madam Conway, who haughtily led the way into a private room. Very +candidly and honorably Henry made known to her his wishes, whereupon +a most stormy scene ensued, the lady so far forgetting herself as to +raise her voice several notes above its usual pitch, while Henry, +angered by her insulting words, bade her take the consequences of her +refusal, hinting that girls had been known to marry without their +guardian's consent. + +"An elopement, hey? He threatens me with an elopement, does he?" said +Madam Conway, as the door closed after him. "I am glad he warned me +in time," and then, trembling in every limb lest Maggie should be +spirited away before her very eyes, she determined upon going home +immediately and leaving Arthur Carrollton to follow in the cars. + +Accordingly, Maggie was bidden to pack her things at once, the excited +old lady keeping her eye constantly upon her to see that she did +not disappear through the window or some other improbable place. In +silence Maggie obeyed, pouting the while a very little, partly because +she should not again see Henry, partly because she had confidently +expected to ride home with Mr. Carrollton, and partly because she +wished to stay to the firemen's muster, which had long been talked +about, and was to take place on the morrow. They were ready at last, +and then in a very perturbed state of feeling Madam Conway waited +for her carriage, which was not forthcoming, and upon inquiry George +Douglas learned that, having counted upon another day in the city, +Mike was now going through with a series of plunge-baths, by way of +sobering himself ere appearing before his mistress. This, however, +George kept from Madam Conway, not wishing to alarm her; and when +after a time Mike appeared, sitting bolt upright upon the box, with +the lines grasped firmly in his hands, she did not suspect the truth, +nor know that he too was angry for being thus compelled to go home +before he saw the firemen. + +Thinking him sober enough to be perfectly safe, George Douglas felt no +fear, and, bowing to his new relatives, went back to comfort Theo, who +as a matter of course cried a little when the carriage drove away. +Worcester was left behind, and they were far out in the country ere +a word was exchanged between Madam Conway and Maggie; for while the +latter was pouting behind her veil, the former was wondering what +possessed Mike to drive into every rut and over every stone. + +"You, Mike!" she exclaimed at last, leaning from the window. "What +ails you?" + +"Nothing, as I'm a living man," answered Mike, halting so suddenly as +to jerk the lady backwards and mash the crown of her bonnet. + +Straightening herself up, and trying in vain to smooth the jam, Madam +Conway continued: "In liquor, I know. I wish I had stayed home." But +Mike loudly denied the charge, declaring he had spent the blessed +night at a meeting of the "Sons," where they passed around nothing +stronger than lemons and water, and if the horses chose to run off the +track it wasn't his fault--he couldn't help it; and with the air of +one deeply injured he again started forward, turning off ere long into +a cross road, which, as they advanced, grew more stony and rough, +while the farmhouses, as a general thing, presented a far less +respectable appearance than those on the Hillsdale route. + +"Mike, you villain!" ejaculated the lady, as they ran down into a +ditch, and she sprang to one side to keep the carriage from going +over. + +But ere she had time for anything further, one of the axletrees +snapped asunder, and to proceed further in their present condition was +impossible. Alighting from the carriage, and setting her little feet +upon the ground with a vengeance, Madam Conway first scolded Mike +unmercifully for his carelessness, and next chided Maggie for +manifesting no more concern. + +"You'd as lief go to destruction as not, I do believe!" said she, +looking carefully after the bandbox containing her purple satin. + +"I'd rather go there first," answered Maggie, pointing to a brown +old-fashioned farmhouse about a quarter of a mile away. + +At first Madam Conway objected, saying she preferred sitting on the +bank to intruding herself upon strangers; but as it was now noonday, +and the warm September sun poured fiercely down upon her, she finally +concluded to follow Maggie's advice, and gathering up her box and +parasol started for the house, which, with its tansy patch on the +right, and its single poplar tree in front, presented rather an +uninviting appearance. + +"Some vulgar creatures live there, I know. Just hear that old tin +horn!" she exclaimed, as a blast, loud and shrill, blown by practiced +lips, told the men in a distant field that dinner was ready. + +A nearer approach disclosed to view a slanting-roofed farmhouse such +as is often found in New England, with high, narrow windows, small +panes of glass, and the most indispensable paper curtains of blue +closely shading the windows of what was probably the "best room." In +the apartment opposite, however, they were rolled up, so as to show +the old-fashioned drapery of dimity, bordered with a netted fringe. +Half a dozen broken pitchers and pots held geraniums, verbenas, and +other plants, while the well-kept beds of hollyhocks, sunflowers, and +poppies indicated a taste for flowers in someone. Everything about +the house was faultlessly neat. The doorsill was scrubbed to a chalky +white, while the uncovered floor wore the same polished hue. + +All this Madam Conway saw at a glance, but it did not prevent her +from holding high her aristocratic skirts, lest they should be +contaminated, and when, in answer to her knock, an odd-looking, +peculiarly dressed woman appeared, she uttered an exclamation of +disgust, and, turning to Maggie, said, "You talk--I can't!" + +But the woman did not stand at all upon ceremony. For the last ten +minutes she had been watching the strangers as they toiled over the +sandy road, and when sure they were coming there had retreated into +her bedroom, donning a flaming red calico, which, guiltless of hoops, +clung to her tenaciously, showing her form to good advantage, and +rousing at once the risibility of Maggie. A black lace cap, ornamented +with ribbons of the same fanciful color as the dress, adorned her +head; and, with a dozen or more pins in her mouth, she now appeared, +hooking her sleeve and smoothing down the black collar upon her neck. + +In a few words Maggie explained to her their misfortune, and asked +permission to tarry there until the carriage was repaired. + +"Certing, certing," answered the woman, courtesying almost to the +floor. "Walk right in, if you can git in. It's my cheese day, or I +should have been cleared away sooner. Here, Betsy Jane, you have +prinked long enough; come and hist the winders in t'other room, and +wing 'em off, so the ladies can set in there out of this dirty place;" +then turning to Madam Conway, who was industriously freeing her +French kids from the sand they had accumulated during her walk, she +continued, "Have some of my shoes to rest your feet a spell"; and +diving into a recess or closet she brought forth a pair of slippers +large enough to hold both of Madam Conway's feet at once. + +With a haughty frown the lady declined the offer, while Maggie looked +on in delight, pleased with an adventure which promised so much fun. +After a moment Betsy Jane appeared, attired in a dress similar to that +of her mother, for whose lank appearance she made ample amends, in the +wonderful expansion of her robes, which, minus gather or fold at the +bottom, set out like a miniature tent, upsetting at once the bandbox, +which Madam Conway had placed upon a chair, and which, with its +contents, rolled promiscuously over the floor! + +"Betsy Jane! How can you wear them abominable things!" exclaimed the +distressed woman, stooping to pick up the purple satin which had +tumbled out. + +A look from the more fashionable daughter, as with a swinging sweep +she passed on into the parlor, silenced the mother on the subject of +hoops, and thinking her guests must necessarily be thirsty after their +walk she brought them a pitcher of water, asking if they'd "chuse it +clear, or with a little ginger and molasses," at the same time calling +to Betsy Jane to know if them windows was "wung" off! + +The answer was in the affirmative, whereupon the ladies were invited +to enter, which they did the more willingly as through the open door +they had caught glimpses of what proved to be a very handsome Brussels +carpet, which in that room seemed a little out of place, as did the +sofa, and handsome haircloth rocking-chair. In this last Madam Conway +seated herself, while Maggie reclined upon a lounge, wondering at the +difference in the various articles of furniture, some of which were +quite expensive, while others were of the most common kind. + +"Who can they be? She looks like someone I have seen," said Maggie as +Betsy Jane left the room. "I mean to ask their names;" but this her +grandmother would not suffer. "It was too much like familiarity," she +said, "and she did not believe in putting one's self on a level with +such people." + +Another loud blast from the horn was blown, for the bustling woman of +the house was evidently getting uneasy, and ere long three or four men +appeared, washing themselves from the spout of the pump, and wiping +upon a coarse towel which hung upon a roller near the back door. + +"I shan't eat at the same table with those creatures," said Madam +Conway, feeling intuitively that she would be invited to dinner. + +"Why, grandma, yes you will, if she asks you," answered Maggie. "Only +think how kind they are to us--perfect strangers!" + +What else she might have said was prevented by the entrance of Betsy +Jane, who informed them that dinner was ready, and with a mental +groan, as she thought how she was about to be martyred, Madam Conway +followed her to the dining room, where a plain, substantial farmer's +meal was spread. Standing at the head of the table, with her +good-humored face all in a glow, was the hostess, who, pointing Madam +Conway to? chair, said: "Now set right by, and make yourselves to hum. +Mebby I or to have set the table over, and I guess I should if I had +anything fit to eat. Be you fond of biled victuals?" and taking it for +granted they were, she loaded both Madam Conway's and Maggie's plate +with every variety of vegetables used in the preparation of the dish +known everywhere as "boiled victuals." + +By this time the men had ranged themselves in respectful silence upon +the opposite side of the table, each stealing an admiring though +modest glance at Maggie; for the masculine heart, whether it beats +beneath a homespun frock or coat of finest cloth, is alike susceptible +to glowing, youthful beauty like that of Maggie Miller. The head of +the house was absent--"had gone to town with a load of wood," so his +spouse informed the ladies, at the same time pouring out a cup of tea, +which she said she had tried to make strong enough to bear up an egg. +"Betsy Jane," she continued, casting a deprecating glance, first at +the blue sugar bowl and then at her daughter, "what possessed you to +put on this brown sugar, when I told you to get crush? Have some of +the apple sass? It's new--made this morning. Dew have some," she +continued, as Madam Conway shook her head. "Mebby it's better than +it looks. Seem's ef you wan't goin' to eat nothin'. Betsy Jane, +now you're up after the crush, fetch them china sassers for the +cowcumbers. Like enough she'll eat some of them." + +But, affecting a headache, Madam Conway declined everything save +the green tea and a Boston cracker, which, at the first mention of +headache, the distressed woman had brought her. Suddenly remembering +Mike, who, having fixed the carriage, was fast asleep on a wheelbarrow +under the woodshed, she exclaimed: "For the land of massy, if I hain't +forgot that young gentleman! Go, William, and call him this minute. +Are you sick at your stomach?" she asked, turning to Madam Conway, +who at the thought of eating with her drunken coachman had uttered +an exclamation of disgust. "Go, Betsy Jane, and fetch the camphire, +quick!" + +But Madam Conway did not need the camphor, and so she said, adding +that Mike was better where he was. Mike thought so too, and refused +to come, whereupon the woman insisted that he must. "There was room +enough," she said, "and no kind of sense in Betsy Jane's taking up the +hull side of the table with them rattans. She could set nearer the +young lady." + +"Certainly," answered Maggie, anxious to see how the "rattans" would +manage to squeeze in between herself and the table-leg, as they would +have to do if they came an inch nearer. + +This feat could not be done, and in attempting it Betsy Jane upset +Maggie's tea upon her handsome traveling dress, eliciting from her +mother the exclamation, "Betsy Jane Douglas, you allus was the +blunderin'est girl!" + +This little accident diverted the woman's mind from Mike, while +Madam Conway, starting at the name of Douglas, thought to herself: +"Douglas!--Douglas! I did not suppose 'twas so common a name. But then +it don't hurt George any, having these creatures bear his name." + +Dinner being over, Madam Conway and Maggie returned to the parlor, +where, while the former resumed her chair, the latter amused herself +by examining the books and odd-looking daguerreotypes which lay upon +the table. + +"Oh, grandmother!" she almost screamed, bounding to that lady's +side, "as I live, here's a picture of Theo and George Douglas taken +together," and she held up a handsome casing before the astonished +old lady, who, donning her golden spectacles in a twinkling, saw for +herself that what Maggie said was true. + +"They stole it!" she gasped. "We are in a den of thieves! Who knows +what they'll take from my bandbox?" and she was about to leave the +room when Maggie, whose quick mind saw farther ahead, bade her stop. + +"I may discover something more," said she, and taking up a handsomely +bound volume of Lamb, she turned to the fly-leaf, and read, "Jenny +Douglas, from her brother George, Worcester, January 8." + +It was plain to her now; but any mortification she might otherwise +have experienced was lost in the one absorbing thought, "What will +grandma say?" + +"Grandmother," said she, showing the book, "don't you remember the +mother of that girl called her Betsy Jane Douglas?" + +"Yes, yes!" gasped Madam Conway, raising both hands, while an +expression of deep, intense anxiety was visible upon her face. + +"And don't you know, too," continued Maggie, "that George always +seemed inclined to say as little as possible of his parents? Now, in +this country it is not unusual for the sons of just such people as +these to be among the most wealthy and respectable citizens." + +"Maggie, Maggie!" hoarsely whispered Madam Conway, grasping Maggie's +arm, "do you mean to insinuate--am I to understand that you believe +that odious woman and hideous girl to be the mother and sister of +George Douglas?" + +"I haven't a doubt of it," answered Maggie. "'Twas the resemblance +between Betsy Jane and George which I observed at first." + +Out of her chair to the floor tumbled Madam Conway, fainting entirely +away, while Maggie, stepping to the door, called for help. + +"I mistrusted she was awful sick at dinner," said Mrs. Douglas, taking +her hands from the dish-water, and running to the parlor. "I wish +she'd smelt of the camphire, as I wanted her to do. Does she have such +spells often?" + +By this time Betsy Jane brought a basin of water, which she dashed in +the face of the unconscious woman, who soon began to revive. + +"Pennyr'yal tea'll settle her stomach quicker'n anything else," said +Mrs. Douglas. "I'll clap a little right on the stove;" and, helping +Madam Conway to the sofa, she left the room. + +"There may possibly be a mistake, after all," thought Maggie. "I'll +question the girl;" and, turning to Betsy Jane, she said, taking up +the book which had before attracted her attention, "Is this 'Jenny +Douglas' intended for you?" + +"Yes, ma'am," answered the girl, coloring slightly. "Brother George +calls me Jenny, because he thinks Betsy so old-fashioned." + +An audible groan from the sofa, and Maggie continued, "Where does your +brother live?" + +"In Worcester, ma'am. He keeps a store there," answered Betsy, who was +going to say more, when her mother, re-entering the room, took up the +conversation by saying, "Was you tellin' 'em about George Washington? +Waal, he's a boy no mother need to be ashamed on, though my old man +sometimes says he's ashamed of us, we are so different. But, then, he +orto consider the advantages he's had. We only brung him up till he +was ten years old, and then an uncle he was named after took him +and gin him a college schoolin', and then put him into his store in +Worcester. Your head aches wus, don't it? Poor thing! The pennyr'yal +will be steeped directly," she added, in an aside to Madam Conway, +who had groaned aloud as if in pain. Then resuming her story, she +continued, "Better'n six year ago Uncle George, who was a bachelor, +died, leaving the heft of his property, seventy-five thousand dollars +or more, to my son, who is now top of the heap in the store, and worth +one hundred thousand dollars, I presume; some say two hundred thousand +dollars; but that's the way some folks have of agitatin' things." + +"Is he married?" asked Maggie, and Mrs. Douglas, mistaking the motive +which prompted the question, answered: "Yes, dear, he is. If he wan't, +I know of no darter-in-law I'd as soon have as you. I don't believe in +finding fault with my son's wife; but there's a proud look in her +face I don't like. This is her picter," and she passed to Maggie the +daguerreotype of Theo. + +"I've looked at it before," said Maggie; and the good woman proceeded: +"I hain't seen her yet; but he's going to bring her to Charlton +bime-by. He's a good boy, George is, free as water--gave me this +carpet, the sofy and chair, and has paid Betsy Jane's schoolin' one +winter at Leicester. But Betsy don't take to books much. She's more +like me, her father says. They had a big party for George last night, +but I wan't invited. Shouldn't 'a' gone if I had been; but for all +that a body don't want to be slighted, even if they don't belong to +the quality. If I'm good enough to be George's mother I'm good enough +to go to a party with his wife. But she wan't to blame, and I shan't +lay it up against her. I shall see her to-morrow, pretty likely, for +Sam Babbit's wife and I are goin' down to the firemen's muster. You've +heard on't, I suppose. The different engines are goin' to see which +will shute water the highest over a 180-foot pole. I wouldn't miss +goin' for anything, and of course I shall call on Theodoshy. I +calkerlate to like her, and when they go to housekeepin' I've got a +hull chest full of sheets and piller-biers and towels I'm goin' to +give her, besides three or four bedquilts I pieced myself, two in +herrin'-bone pattern, and one in risin' sun. I'll show 'em to you," +and leaving the room, she soon returned with three patchwork +quilts, wherein were all possible shades of color, red and yellow +predominating, and in one the "rising sun" forming a huge centerpiece. + +"Heavens!" faintly articulated Madam Conway, pressing her hands upon +her head, which was supposed to be aching dreadfully. The thought of +Theo reposing beneath the "risin' sun," or yet the "herrin'-bone," was +intolerable; and looking beseechingly at Maggie, she whispered, "Do +see if Mike is ready." + +"If it's the carriage you mean," chimed in Mrs. Douglas, "it's been +waiting quite a spell, but I thought you warn't fit to ride yet, so I +didn't tell you." + +Starting to her feet, Madam Conway's bonnet went on in a trice, and +taking her shawl in her hand she walked outdoors, barely expressing +her thanks to Mrs. Douglas, who, greatly distressed at her abrupt +departure, ran for the herb tea, and taking the tin cup in her hand +followed her guest to the carriage, urging her to "take a swaller just +to keep from vomiting." + +"She is better without it," said Maggie. "She seldom takes medicine," +and politely expressing her gratitude to Mrs. Douglas for her kindness +she bade Mike drive on. + +"Some crazy critter just out of the asylum, I'll bet," said Mrs. +Douglas, walking back to the house with her pennyroyal tea. "How queer +she acted! but that girl's a lady, every inch of her, and so handsome +too--I wonder who she is?" + +"Don't you believe the old woman felt a little above us?" suggested +Betsy Jane, who had more discernment than her mother. + +"Like enough she did, though I never thought on't. But she needn't. +I'm as good as she is, and I'll warrant as much thought on, where I'm +known;" and quite satisfied with her own position, Mrs. Douglas went +back to her dish-washing, while Betsy Jane stole away upstairs to +try the experiment of arranging her hair after the fashion in which +Margaret wore hers. + +In the meantime Mike, perfectly sobered, had turned his horses' heads +in the direction of Hillsdale, when Madam Conway called out, "To +Worcester, Mike--to Worcester, as fast as you can drive." + +"To Worcester! For what?" asked Maggie, and the excited woman +answered: "To stop it! To forbid the banns! I should think you'd ask +for what!" + +"To stop it," repeated Maggie. "I'd like to see you stop it, when +they've been married two months!" + +"So they have! so they have!" said Madam Conway, wringing her hands +in her despair, and crying out that a Conway should be so disgraced. +"What shall I do? What shall I do?" + +"Make the best of it, of course," answered Maggie. "I don't see +that George is any worse for his parentage. He is evidently greatly +respected in Worcester, where his family are undoubtedly known. He is +educated and refined, if they are not. Theo loves him, and that is +sufficient, unless I add that he has money." + +"But not as much as I supposed," moaned Madam Conway. "Theo told me +two hundred thousand dollars; but that woman said one. Oh, what will +become of me! Give me the hartshorn, Maggie. I feel so faint!" + +The hartshorn was handed her, but it could not quiet her distress. +Her family pride was sorely wounded, and had Theo been dead she would +hardly have felt worse than she did. + +"How will she bear it when it comes to her knowledge, as it +necessarily must? It will kill her, I know!" she exclaimed, after +Maggie had exhausted all her powers of reasoning in vain; then, as +she remembered the woman's avowed intention of visiting her +daughter-in-law on the morrow, she felt that she must turn back; she +must see Theo and break it to her gently, or the first sight of that +odious creature, claiming her for a daughter, might be of incalculable +injury. + +"Stop, Mike," she was about to say; but ere the words passed her lips +she reflected that to take Maggie back to Worcester was to throw her +again in Henry Warner's way, and this she could not do. There was +but one alternative. She could stop at the Charlton depot, not far +distant, and wait for the downward train, while Mike drove Maggie +home; and this she resolved to do. Mike was accordingly bidden to take +her at once to the depot, which he did, while she explained to Maggie +her reason for returning. + +"Theo is much better alone, and George will not thank you for +interfering," said Maggie, not at all pleased with her grandmother's +proceedings. + +But the old lady was determined. It was her duty, she said, to stand +by Theo in trouble; and if a visit from that horrid creature wasn't +trouble, she could not well define it. + +"When will you come home?" asked Maggie. + +"Not before to-morrow night. Now I have undertaken the matter, I +intend to see it through," said Madam Conway, referring to the +expected visit of Mrs. Douglas, senior. + +But Mike did not thus understand it, and thinking her only object in +turning back was to "see the doin's," as he designated the firemen's +muster, he muttered long and loud about being thus sent home while his +mistress went to see the fun. + +In the meantime, on a hard settee, at the rather uncomfortable depot, +Madam Conway awaited the arrival of the train, which came at last, +and in a short time she found herself again in Worcester. Once in +a carriage, and on her way to the "Bay State," she began to feel a +little nervous, half wishing she had followed Maggie's advice, and +left Theo alone. But it could not now be helped, and while trying to +think what she should say to her astonished granddaughter she was set +down at the door of the hotel, slightly bewildered and a good deal +perplexed, a feeling which was by no means diminished when she learned +that Mr. and Mrs. Douglas were both out of town. + +"Where have they gone, and when will they return?" she gasped, untying +her bonnet strings for easier respiration. + +To these queries the clerk, replied that he believed Mr. Douglas had +gone to Boston on business, that he might be home that night; at all +events, he would probably return in the morning; she could find Mr. +Warner, who would tell her all about it. "Shall I send for him?" he +continued, as he saw the scowl upon her face. + +"Certainly not," she answered; and taking the key, which had been left +in his charge, she repaired to Theo's rooms, and sinking into a large +easy-chair fanned herself furiously, wondering if they would return +that night, and what they would say when they found her there. "But I +don't care," she continued, speaking aloud and shaking her head very +decidedly at the excited woman whose image was reflected by the mirror +opposite, and who shook her head as decidedly in return. "George +Douglas has deceived us shamefully, and I'll tell him so, too. I wish +he'd come this minute!" + +But George Douglas knew well what he was doing. Very gradually was he +imparting to Theo a knowledge of his parents, and Theo, who really +loved her husband, was learning to prize him for himself, and not for +his family. Feeling certain that the firemen's muster would bring his +mother to town, and knowing that Theo was not yet prepared to see her, +he was greatly relieved at Madam Conway's sudden departure, and had +himself purposely left home, with the intention of staying away until +Friday night. This, however, Madam Conway did not know, and very +impatiently she awaited his coming, until the lateness of the hour +precluded the possibility of his arrival, and she retired to bed, +but not to sleep, for the city was full of firemen, and one company, +failing of finding lodgings elsewhere, had taken refuge in an +empty carriage-shop near by. The hard, bare floor was not the most +comfortable bed imaginable, and preferring the bright moonlight and +open air they made the night hideous with their noisy shouts, which +the watchmen tried in vain to hush. To sleep in that neighborhood was +impossible, and all night long Madam Conway vibrated between her bed +and the window, from which latter point she frowned wrathfully down +upon the red coats below, who, scoffing alike at law and order as +dispensed by the police, kept up their noisy revel, shouting lustily +for "Chelsea, No. 4" and "Washington, No. 2," until the dawn of day. + +"I wish to mercy I'd gone home!" sighed Madam Conway, as weak and +faint she crept down to the breakfast table, doing but little justice +to anything, and returning to her room pale, haggard, and weary. + +Ere long, however, she became interested in watching the crowds of +people who at an early hour filled the streets; and when at last the +different fire companies of the State paraded the town, in a seemingly +never-ending procession, she forgot in a measure her trouble, and +drawing her chair to the window sat down to enjoy the brilliant scene, +involuntarily nodding her head to the stirring music, as company after +company passed. Up and down the street, far as the eye could reach, +the sidewalks were crowded with men, women, and children, all eager +to see the sight. There were people from the city and people from the +country, the latter of whom, having anticipated the day for weeks and +months, were now unquestionably enjoying it to the last degree. + +Conspicuous among these was a middle-aged woman, who elicited remarks +from all who beheld her, both from the peculiarity of her dress and +the huge blue cotton umbrella she persisted in hoisting, to the great +annoyance of those in whose faces it was thrust, and who forgot in a +measure their vexation when they read the novel device it bore. Like +many other people, who can sympathize with the good woman, she +was always losing her umbrella, and at last, in self-defense, had +embroidered upon the blue in letters of white: + + "Steal me not, for fear of shame. + For here you see my owner's name: + + "CHARITY DOUGLAS." + +As the lettering was small and not very distinct, it required a +close observation to decipher it; but the plan was a successful one, +nevertheless, and for four long years the blue umbrella had done good +service to its mistress, shielding her alike from sunshine and from +storm, and now in the crowded city it performed a double part, +preventing those standing near from seeing, while at the same time it +kept the dust from settling on the thick green veil and leghorn bonnet +of its owner. At Betsy Jane's suggestion she wore a hoop to-day on +Theo's account, and that she was painfully conscious of the fact was +proved by the many anxious glances she cast at her chocolate-colored +muslin, through the thin folds of which it was plainly visible. + +"I wish I had left the pesky thing to hum," she thought, feeling +greatly relieved when at last, as the crowd became greater, it was +broken in several pieces and ceased to do its duty. + +From her seat near the window Madam Conway caught sight of the +umbrella as it swayed up and down amid the multitude, but she had no +suspicion that she who bore it thus aloft had even a better right +than herself to sit where she was sitting. In her excitement she had +forgotten Mrs. Douglas' intended visit, to prepare Theo for which she +had returned to Worcester, but it came to her at length, when, as +the last fire company passed, the blue umbrella was closed, and the +leghorn bonnet turned in the direction of the hotel. There was no +mistaking the broad, good-humored face which looked so eagerly up at +"George's window," and involuntarily Madam Conway glanced under the +bed with the view of fleeing thither for refuge! + +"What shall I do?" she cried, as she heard the umbrella on the stairs. +"I'll lock her out," she continued; and in an instant the key was in +her pocket, while, trembling in every limb, she awaited the result. + +Nearer and nearer the footsteps came; there was a knock upon the door, +succeeded by a louder one, and then, as both these failed to elicit a +response, the handle of the umbrella was vigorously applied. But all +in vain, and Madam Conway heard the discomfited outsider say, "They +told me Theodoshy's grandmarm was here, but I guess she's in the +street. I'll come agin bime-by," and Mrs. Douglas, senior, walked +disconsolately down the stairs, while Madam Conway thought it doubtful +whether she gained access to the room that day, come as often as she +might. + +Not long after, the gong sounded for dinner, and unlocking the door +Madam Conway was about descending to the dining room, when the thought +burst upon her: "What if she should be at the table! It's just like +her." + +The very idea was overwhelming, taking from her at once all desire for +dinner; and returning to her room she tried, by looking over the books +and examining the carpet, to forget how hungry and faint she was. +Whether she would have succeeded is doubtful, had not an hour or two +later brought another knock from the umbrella, and driven all thoughts +of eating from her mind. In grim silence she waited until her +tormentor was gone, and then wondering if it was not time for the +train she consulted her watch. But alas! 'twas only four; the cars did +not leave until six; and so another weary hour went by. At the end of +that time, however, thinking the depot preferable to being a prisoner +there, she resolved to go; and leaving the key with the clerk, she +called a carriage and was soon on her way to the cars. + +As she approached the depot she observed an immense crowd of people +gathered together, among which the red coats of the firemen were +conspicuous. A fight was evidently in progress, and as the horses +began to grow restive she begged of the driver to let her alight, +saying she could easily walk the remainder of the way. Scarcely, +however, was she on terra-firma when the yelling crowd made a +precipitate rush towards her, and in much alarm she climbed for safety +into an empty buggy, whereupon the horse, equally alarmed, began to +rear, and without pausing an instant the terrified lady sprang out on +the side opposite to that by which she had entered, catching her dress +upon the seat, and tearing half the gathers from the waist. + +"Heaven help me!" she cried, picking herself up, and beginning to wish +she had never troubled herself with Theo's mother-in-law. + +To reach the depot was now her great object, and, as the two +belligerent parties occupied the front, she thought to effect an +entrance at the rear. But the doors were locked, and as she turned the +corner of the building she suddenly found herself in the thickest of +the fight. To advance was impossible, to turn back equally so, and +while meditating some means of escape she lost her footing and fell +across a wheelbarrow which stood upon the platform, crumpling her +bonnet, and scratching her face upon a nail which protruded from the +vehicle. Nearer dead than alive, she made her way at last into the +depot, and from thence into the cars, where, sinking into a seat, and +drawing her shawl closely around her, the better to conceal the +sad condition of her dress, she indulged in meditations not wholly +complimentary to firemen in general and her late comrades in +particular. + +For half an hour she waited impatiently, but though the cars were +filling rapidly there were no indications of starting; and it was +almost seven ere the long and heavily loaded train moved slowly from +the depot. About fifteen minutes previous to their departure, as Madam +Conway was looking ruefully out upon the multitude, she was horrified +at seeing directly beneath her window the veritable woman from whom, +through the entire day, she had been hiding. Involuntarily she glanced +at the vacant seat in front of her, which, as she feared, was soon +occupied by Mrs. Douglas and her companion, who, as Madam Conway +divined, was "Sam Babbit's wife." + +Trembling nervously lest she should be discovered, she drew her veil +closely over her face, keeping very quiet, and looking intently from +the window into the gathering darkness without. But her fears were +groundless, for Mrs. Douglas had no suspicion that the crumpled bonnet +and sorry figure, sitting so disconsolately in the corner, was the +same which but the day before had honored her with a call. She was in +high spirits, having had, as she informed her neighbor, "a tip-top +time." On one point, however, she was disappointed. She meant as much +as could be to have seen "Theodoshy," but she "wan't to hum." "Her +grandmarm was in town," said she, "but if she was in the room she must +have been asleep, or dreadful deaf, for I pounded with all my might. +I'm sorry, for I'd like to scrape acquaintance with her, bein' we're +connected." + +An audible groan came from beneath the thick brown veil, whereupon +both ladies turned their heads. But the indignant woman made no sign; +and, in a whisper loud enough for Madam Conway to hear, Mrs. Douglas +said, "Some Irish critter in liquor, I presume. Look at her jammed +bonnet." + +This remark drew from Mrs. Babbit a very close inspection of the +veiled figure, who, smothering her wrath, felt greatly relieved when +the train started and prevented her from hearing anything more. At the +next station, however, Mrs. Douglas showed her companion a crochet +collar, which she had purchased for two shillings, and which, she +said, was almost exactly like the one worn by the woman who stopped at +her house the day before. + +Leaning forward, Madam Conway glanced contemptuously at the coarse +knit thing, which bore about the same resemblance to her own handsome +collar as cambric does to satin. + +"Vulgar, ignorant creatures!" she muttered, while Mrs. Babbit, after +duly praising the collar, proceeded to make some inquiries concerning +the strange lady who had shared Mrs. Douglas' hospitality. + +"I've no idee who she was," said Mrs. Douglas; "but I think it's purty +likely she was some crazy critter they was takin' to the hospital." + +Another groan from beneath the brown veil, and turning around the +kind-hearted Mrs. Douglas asked if she was sick, adding in an aside, +as there came no answer, "Been fightin', I'll warrant!" + +Fortunately for Madam Conway, the cars moved on, and when they stopped +again, to her great relief, the owner of the blue umbrella, together +with "Sam Babbit's wife," alighted, and amid the crowd assembled on +the platform she recognized Betsy Jane, who had come down to meet her +mother. The remainder of the way seemed tedious enough, for the train +moved but slowly, and it was near ten o'clock ere they reached the +Hillsdale station, where, to her great delight, Madam Conway found +Margaret awaiting her, together with Arthur Carrollton. The moment +she saw the former, who came eagerly forward to meet her, the weary, +worn-out woman burst into tears; but at the sight of Mr. Carrollton +she forced them back, saying, in reply to Maggie's inquiries, that +Theo was not at home, and that she had spent a dreadful day, and been +knocked down in a fight at the depot, in proof of which she pointed +to her torn dress, her crumpled bonnet, and scratched face. Maggie +laughed aloud in spite of herself, and though Mr. Carrollton's eyes +were several times turned reprovingly upon her she continued to +laugh at intervals at the sorry, forlorn appearance presented by her +grandmother, who for several days was confined to her bed from the +combined effects of fasting, fright, firemen's muster, and her late +encounter with Mrs. Douglas, senior! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ARTHUR CARROLLTON AND MAGGIE. + + +Mr. Carrollton had returned from Boston on Thursday afternoon, and, +finding them all gone from the hotel, had come on to Hillsdale on +the evening train, surprising Maggie as she sat in the parlor alone, +wishing herself in Worcester, or in some place where it was not as +lonely as there. With his presence the loneliness disappeared, and in +making his tea and listening to his agreeable conversation she forgot +everything, until, observing that she looked weary, he said: "Maggie, +I would willingly talk to you all night, were it not for the bad +effect it would have on you to-morrow. You must go to bed now," and he +showed her his watch, which pointed to the hour of midnight. + +Exceedingly mortified, Maggie was leaving the room, when, noticing her +evident chagrin, Mr. Carrollton came to her side, and laying his hand +very respectfully on hers, said kindly: "It is my fault, Maggie, +keeping you up so late, and I only send you away now because those +eyes are growing heavy, and I know that you need rest. Good-night to +you, and pleasant dreams." + +He went with her to the door, watching her until she disappeared up +the stairs; then, half wishing he had not sent her from him, he too +sought his chamber; but not to sleep, for Maggie, though absent, was +with him still in fancy. For more than a year he had been haunted by a +bright, sunshiny face, whose owner embodied the dashing, independent +spirit and softer qualities which made Maggie Miller so attractive. Of +this face he had often thought, wondering if the real would equal the +ideal, and now that he had met with her, had looked into her truthful +eyes, had gazed upon her sunny face, which mirrored faithfully every +thought and feeling, he was more than satisfied, and to love that +beautiful girl seemed to him an easy matter. She was so childlike, so +artless, so different from anyone whom he had ever known, that he was +interested in her at once. But Arthur Carrollton never did a thing +precipitately. She might have many glaring faults; he must see her +more, must know her better, ere he lavished upon her the love whose +deep fountains had never yet been stirred. + +After this manner he reasoned as he walked up and down his chamber, +while Maggie, on her sleepless pillow, was thinking, too, of him, +wondering if she did hate him as much as she intended, and if Henry +would be offended at her sitting up with him until after twelve +o'clock. + +It was nearly half-past nine when Maggie awoke next morning, and +making a hasty toilet she descended to the dining room, where she +found Mr. Carrollton awaiting her. He had been up a long time; but +when Anna Jeffrey, blessed with an uncommon appetite, fretted at the +delay of breakfast, and suggested calling Margaret, he objected, +saying she needed rest, and must not be disturbed. So, in something of +a pet, the young lady breakfasted alone with her aunt, Mr. Carrollton +preferring to wait for Maggie. + +"I am sorry I kept you waiting," said Maggie, seating herself at the +table and continuing to apologize for her tardiness. + +But Mr. Carrollton felt more than repaid by having her thus alone with +him, and many were the admiring glances he cast toward her, as, with +her shining hair, her happy face, her tasteful morning gown of pink, +and her beautiful white hands which handled so gracefully the silver +coffee-urn, she made a living, glowing picture such as any man might +delight to look upon. Breakfast being over, Mr. Carrollton proposed a +ride, and as Anna Jeffrey at that moment entered the parlor he invited +her to accompany them. There was a shadow on Maggie's brow as she left +the room to dress, a shadow which had not wholly disappeared when she +returned; and, observing this, Mr. Carrollton said, "Were I to consult +my own wishes, Maggie, I should leave Miss Jeffrey at home; but she is +a poor girl whose enjoyments are far less than ours, consequently I +invited her for this once, knowing how fond she is of riding." + +"How thoughtful you are of other people's happiness!" said Maggie, the +shadow leaving her brow at once. + +"I am glad that wrinkle has gone, at all events," returned Mr. +Carrollton laughingly, and laying his hand upon her forehead he +continued: "Were you my sister Helen I should probably kiss you for +having so soon got over your pet; but as you are Maggie Miller, I dare +not," and he looked earnestly at her, to see if he had spoken the +truth. + +Coloring crimson, as it became the affianced bride of Henry Warner to +do, Maggie turned away, thinking Helen must be a happy girl, and +half wishing she too were Arthur Carrollton's sister. It was a long, +delightful excursion they took, and Maggie, when she saw how Anna +Jeffrey enjoyed it, did not altogether regret her presence. On their +way home she proposed calling upon Hagar, whom she had not seen for +"three whole days." + +"And who, pray, is Hagar?" asked Mr. Carrollton; and Maggie replied, +"She is my old nurse--a strange, crazy creature, whom they say I +somewhat resemble." + +By this time they were near the cottage, in the door of which old +Hagar was standing, with her white hair falling round her face. + +"I see by your looks you don't care to call, but I shall," said +Maggie; and, bounding from her saddle, she ran up to Hagar, pressing +her hand and whispering that it would soon be time to hear from Henry. + +"Kissed her, I do believe!" said Anna Jeffrey. "She must have +admirable taste!" + +Mr. Carrollton said nothing, but with a half-comical, half-displeased +expression he watched the interview between that weird old woman and +the fair young girl, little suspecting how nearly they were allied. + +"Why didn't you come and speak to her?" said Maggie, as he alighted to +assist her in again mounting Gritty. "She used to see you in England, +when you were a baby, and if you won't be angry I'll tell you what she +said. It was that you were the crossest, ugliest young one she ever +saw! There, there; don't set me down so hard!" and the saucy eyes +looked mischievously at the proud Englishman, who, truth to say, did +place her in the saddle with a little more force than was at all +necessary. + +Not that he was angry. He was only annoyed at what he considered +Maggie's undue familiarity with a person like Hagar, but he wisely +forbore making any comments in Anna Jeffrey's presence, except, +indeed, to laugh heartily at Hagar's complimentary description of +himself when a baby. Arrived at home, and alone again with Maggie, he +found her so very good-natured and agreeable that he could not chide +her for anything, and Hagar was for a time forgotten. + +That evening, as the reader knows, they went together to the depot, +where they waited four long hours, but not impatiently; for sitting +there in the moonlight, with the winding Chicopee full in view, and +Margaret Miller at his side, Arthur Carrollton forgot the lapse +of time, especially when Maggie, thinking it no harm, gave a most +ludicrous description of her call upon Mrs. Douglas, senior, and of +her grandmother's distress at finding herself so nearly connected with +what she termed "a low, vulgar family." + +Arthur Carrollton was very proud, and had Theo been his sister he +might to some extent have shared in Madam Conway's chagrin; and so he +said to Maggie, at the same time fully agreeing with her that George +Douglas was a refined, agreeable man, and as such entitled to respect. +Still, had Theo known of his parentage, he said, it would probably +have made some difference; but now that it could not be helped it was +wise to make the best of it. + +These words were little heeded then by Maggie, but with most painful +distinctness they recurred to her in the after time, when, humbled in +the very dust, she had no hope that the highborn, haughty Carrollton +would stoop to a child of Hagar Warren! But no shadow of the dark +future was over her now, and very eagerly she drank in every word and +look of Arthur Carrollton, who, all unconsciously, was trampling on +another's rights and gradually weakening the fancied love she bore for +Henry Warner. + +The arrival of the train brought their pleasant conversation to a +close, and for a day or two Maggie's time was wholly occupied with +her grandmother, to whom she frankly acknowledged having told Mr. +Carrollton of Mrs. Douglas and her daughter Betsy Jane. The fact that +he knew of her disgrace and did not despise her was of great benefit +to Madam Conway, and after a few days she resumed her usual spirits, +and actually told of the remarks made by Mrs. Douglas concerning +herself and the "fight" she had been in! As time passed on she became +reconciled to the Douglases, having, as she thought, some well-founded +reasons for believing that for Theo's disgrace Maggie would make +amends by marrying Mr. Carrollton, whose attentions each day became +more and more marked, and were not apparently altogether disagreeable +to Maggie. On the contrary, his presence at Hillsdale was productive +of much pleasure to her, as well as a little annoyance. + +From the first he seemed to exercise over her an influence she could +not well resist--a power to make her do whatever he willed that she +should do; and though she sometimes rebelled she was pretty sure in +the end to yield the contest, and submit to one who was evidently +the ruling spirit. As yet nothing had been said of the hair ornament +which, out of compliment to him, her grandmother wore every morning +in her collar, but at last one day Madam Conway spoke of it herself, +asking if it were, as she had supposed, his grandmother's hair. + +"Why, no," he answered involuntarily; "it is a lock Maggie sent me in +that wonderful daguerreotype!" + +"The stupid thing!" thought Maggie, while her eyes fairly danced with +merriment as she anticipated the question she fancied was sure to +follow, but did not. + +One glance at her tell-tale face was sufficient for Madam Conway. In +her whole household there was but one head with locks as white as +that, and whatever her thoughts might have been, she said nothing, but +from that day forth Hagar's hair was never again seen ornamenting her +person! That afternoon Mr. Carrollton and Maggie went out to ride, and +in the course of their conversation he referred to the pin, asking +whose hair it was, and seeming much amused when told that it was +Hagar's. + +"But why did you not tell her when it first came?" he said; and Maggie +answered: "Oh, it was such fun to see her sporting Hagar's hair, when +she is so proud! It didn't hurt her either, for Hagar is as good as +anybody. I don't believe in making such a difference because one +person chances to be richer than another." + +"Neither do I," returned Mr. Carrollton. "I would not esteem a person +for wealth alone, but there are points of difference which should +receive consideration. For instance, this old Hagar may be well enough +in her way, but suppose she were nearly connected with you--your +grandmother, if you like--it would certainly make some difference in +your position. You would not be Maggie Miller, and I--" + +"Wouldn't ride with me, I dare say," interrupted Maggie; to which he +replied, "I presume not," adding, as he saw slight indications of +pouting, "And therefore I am glad you are Maggie Miller, and not +Hagar's grandchild." + +Mentally pronouncing him a "proud, hateful thing," Maggie rode on a +while in silence. But Mr. Carrollton knew well how to manage her, and +he too was silent until Maggie, who could never refrain from talking +any length of time, forgot herself and began chatting away as gayly as +before. During their excursion they came near to the gorge of Henry +Warner memory, and Maggie, who had never quite forgiven Mr. Carrollton +for criticising her horsemanship, resolved to show him what she could +do. The signal was accordingly given to Gritty, and ere her companion +was aware of her intention she was tearing over the ground at a speed +he could hardly equal. The ravine was just on the border of the wood, +and without pausing for an instant Gritty leaped across it, landing +safely on the other side, where he stopped, while half fearfully, half +exultingly, Maggie looked back to see what Mr. Carrollton would do. +At first he fancied Gritty beyond her control, and when he saw her +directly over the deep chasm he shuddered, involuntarily stretching +out his arms to save her; but the look she gave him as she turned +around convinced him that the risk she had run was done on purpose. +Still he had no intention of following her, for he feared his horse's +ability as well as his own to clear that pass. + +"Why don't you jump? Are you afraid?" and Maggie's eyes looked archly +out from beneath her tasteful riding cap. + +For half a moment he felt tempted to join her, but his better judgment +came to his aid, and he answered: "Yes, Maggie, I am afraid, having +never tried such an experiment. But I wish to be with you in some +way, and as I cannot come to you I ask you to come to me. You seem +accustomed to the leap!" + +He did not praise her. Nay, she fancied there was more of censure +in the tones of his voice; at all events, he had asked her rather +commandingly to return, and she "wouldn't do it." For a moment she +made no reply, and he said again, "Maggie, will you come?" then half +playfully, half reproachfully, she made answer, "A gallant Englishman +indeed! willing I should risk my neck where you dare not venture +yours. No, I shan't try the leap again to-day, I don't feel like it; +but I'll cross the long bridge half a mile from here--good-by;" and +fully expecting him to meet her, she galloped off, riding ere long +quite slowly, "so he'd have a nice long time to wait for her!" + +How, then, was she disappointed, when, on reaching the bridge, there +was nowhere a trace of him to be seen, neither could she hear +the sound of his horse's footsteps, though she listened long and +anxiously! + +"He is certainly the most provoking man I ever saw!" she exclaimed, +half crying with vexation. "Henry wouldn't have served me so, and I'm +glad I was engaged to him before I saw this hateful Carrollton, for +grandma might possibly have coaxed me into marrying him, and then +wouldn't Mr. Dog and Mrs. Cat have led a stormy life! No, we +wouldn't," she continued; "I should in time get accustomed to minding +him, and then I think he'd be splendid, though no better than Henry. I +wonder if Hagar has a letter for me!" and, chirruping to Gritty, she +soon stood at the door of the cabin. + +"Have you two been quarreling?" asked Hagar, noticing Maggie's flushed +cheeks. "Mr. Carrollton passed here twenty minutes or more ago, +looking mighty sober, and here you are with your face as red--What has +happened?" + +"Nothing," answered Maggie, a little testily, "only he's the meanest +man! Wouldn't follow me when I leaped the gorge, and I know he could +if he had tried." + +"Showed his good sense," interrupted Hagar, adding that Maggie mustn't +think every man was going to risk his neck for her. + +"I don't think so, of course," returned Maggie; "but he might act +better--almost commanded me to come back and join him, as though I was +a little child; but I wouldn't do it. I told him I'd go down to the +long bridge and cross, expecting, of course, he'd meet me there; and +instead of that he has gone off home. How did he know what accident +would befall me?" + +"Accident!" repeated Hagar; "accident befall you, who know every crook +and turn of these woods so much better than he does!" + +"Well, anyway, he might have waited for me," returned Maggie. "I don't +believe he'd care if I were to get killed. I mean to scare him and +see;" and, springing from Gritty's back, she gave a peculiar whistling +sound, at which the pony bounded away towards home, while she followed +Hagar into the cottage, where a letter from Henry awaited her. + +They were to sail for Cuba on the 15th of October, and he now wrote +asking if Maggie would go without her grandmother's consent. But, +though irresolute when he before broached the subject, Maggie was +decided now. She would not run away; and so she said to Hagar, to whom +she confided the whole affair. + +"I do not think it would be right to elope," she said. "In three years +more I shall be twenty-one, and free to do as I like; and if grandma +will not let me marry Henry now, he must wait. I can't run away. Rose +would not approve of it, I'm sure, and I almost know Mr. Carrollton +would not." + +"I can't see how his' approving or not approving can affect you," +said Hagar; then bending down, so that her wild eyes looked full in +Maggie's eyes, she said, "Are you beginning to like this Englishman?" + +"Why, no, I guess I aint," answered Maggie, coloring slightly. "I +dislike him dreadfully, he's so proud. Why, he did the same as to say +that if I were your grandchild he would not ride with me!" + +"My grandchild, Maggie Miller!--my grandchild!" shrieked Hagar. "What +put that into his head?" + +Thinking her emotion caused by anger at Arthur Carrollton, Maggie +mentally chided herself for having inadvertently said what she did, +while at the same time she tried to soothe old Hagar, who rocked to +and fro, as was her custom when her "crazy spells" were on. Growing a +little more composed, she said at last, "Marry Henry Warner, by all +means, Maggie; he aint as proud as Carrollton--he would not care as +much if he knew it." + +"Knew what?" asked Maggie; and, remembering herself in time, Hagar +answered adroitly: "Knew of your promise to let me live with you. You +remember it, don't you?" and she looked wistfully towards Maggie, who, +far more intent upon something else, answered: "Yes, I remember. But +hush! don't I hear horses' feet coming rapidly through the woods?" +and, running to the window, she saw Mr. Carrollton mounted upon +Gritty, and riding furiously towards the house. + +"You go out, Hagar, and see if he is looking for me," whispered +Maggie, stepping back, so he could not see. + +"Henry Warner must snare the bird quick, or he will lose it," muttered +Hagar, as she walked to the door, where, evidently much excited, Mr. +Carrollton asked if she knew aught of Miss Miller, and why Gritty had +come home alone. "It is such an unusual occurrence," said he, "that we +felt alarmed, and I have come in quest of her." + +From her post near the window Maggie could plainly see his face, which +was very pale, and expressive of much concern, while his voice, she +fancied, trembled as he spoke her name. + +"He does care," she thought; woman's pride was satisfied, and ere +Hagar could reply she ran out, saying laughingly: "And so you thought +maybe I was killed, but I'm not. I concluded to walk home and let +Gritty go on in advance. I did not mean to frighten grandma." + +"She was not as much alarmed as myself," said Mr. Carrollton, the +troubled expression of his countenance changing at once. "You do not +know how anxious I was when I saw Gritty come riderless to the door, +nor yet how relieved I am in finding you thus unharmed." + +Maggie knew she did not deserve this, and blushing like a guilty +child she offered no resistance when he lifted her into the saddle +gently--tenderly--as if she had indeed escaped from some great danger. + +"It is time you were home," said he, and throwing the bridle across +his arm he rested his hand upon the saddle and walked slowly by her +side. + +All his fancied coldness was forgotten; neither was the leap nor yet +the bridge once mentioned, for he was only too happy in having her +back alive, while she was doubting the propriety of an experiment +which, in the turn matters had taken, seemed to involve deception. +Observing at last that he occasionally pressed his hand upon his side, +she asked the cause, and was told that he had formerly been subject to +a pain in his side, which excitement or fright greatly augmented. "I +hoped I was free from it," he said, "but the sight of Gritty dashing +up to the door without you brought on a slight attack; for I knew if +you were harmed the fault was mine for having rather unceremoniously +deserted you." + +This was more than Maggie could endure in silence. The frank +ingenuousness of her nature prevailed, and turning towards him her +dark, beautiful eyes, in which tears were shining, she said: "Forgive +me, Mr. Carrollton. I sent Gritty home on purpose to see if you would +be annoyed, for I felt vexed because you would not humor my whim and +meet me at the bridge. I am sorry I caused you any uneasiness," she +continued, as she saw a shadow flit over his face. "Will you forgive +me?" + +Arthur Carrollton could not resist the pleading of those lustrous +eyes, nor yet refuse to take the ungloved hand she offered him; +and if, in token of reconciliation, he did press it a little more +fervently than Henry Warner would have thought at all necessary, he +only did what, under the circumstances, it was very natural he +should do. From the first Maggie Miller had been a puzzle to Arthur +Carrollton; but he was fast learning to read her--was beginning to +understand how perfectly artless she was--and this little incident +increased, rather than diminished, his admiration. + +"I will forgive you, Maggie," he said, "on one condition. You must +promise never again to experiment with my feelings in a similar +manner." + +The promise was readily given, and then they proceeded on as leisurely +as if at home there was no anxious grandmother vibrating between her +high-backed chair and the piazza, nor yet an Anna Jeffrey watching +them enviously as they came slowly up the road. + +That night there came to Mr. Carrollton a letter from Montreal, saying +his immediate presence was necessary there, on a business matter of +some importance; and he accordingly decided to go on the morrow. + +"When may we expect you back?" asked Madam Conway, as in the morning +he was preparing for his journey. + +"It will, perhaps, be two months at least, before I return," said +he, adding that there was a possibility of his being obliged to go +immediately to England. + +In the recess of the window Maggie was standing, thinking how lonely +the house would be without him, and wishing there was no such thing +as parting from those she liked--even as little as she did Arthur +Carrollton. + +"I won't let him know that I care, though," she thought, and forcing a +smile to her face she was about turning to bid him good-by, when she +heard him tell her grandmother of the possibility there was that he +would be obliged to go directly to England from Montreal. + +"Then I may never see him again," she thought; and the tears burst +forth involuntarily at the idea of parting with him forever. + +Faster and faster they came, until at last, fearing lest he should +see them, she ran away upstairs, and, mounting to the roof, sat down +behind the chimney, where, herself unobserved, she could watch him far +up the road. From the half-closed door of her chamber Anna Jeffrey had +seen Maggie stealing up the tower stairs; had seen, too, that she +was weeping, and, suspecting the cause, she went quietly down to the +parlor to hear what Arthur Carrollton would say. The carriage was +waiting, his trunk was in its place, his hat was in his hand; to Madam +Conway he said good-by, to Anna Jeffrey too; and still he lingered, +looking wistfully round in quest of something which evidently was not +there. + +"Where's Margaret?" he asked at last, and Madam Conway answered: +"Surely, where can she be? Have you seen her, Anna?" + +"I saw her on the stairs some time ago," said Anna, adding that +possibly she had gone to see Hagar, as she usually visited her at this +hour. + +A shade of disappointment passed over Mr. Carrollton's face as he +replied, "Tell her I am sorry she thinks more of Hagar than of me." + +The next moment he was gone, and leaning against the chimney Maggie +watched with tearful eyes the carriage as it wound up the grassy road. +On the brow of the hill, just before it would disappear from sight, it +suddenly stopped. Something was the matter with the harness, and while +John was busy adjusting it Mr. Carrollton leaned from the window, and, +looking back, started involuntarily as he caught sight of the figure +so clearly defined upon the housetop. A slight suspicion of the truth +came upon him, and kissing his hand he waved it gracefully towards +her. Maggie's handkerchief was wet with tears, but she shook it out in +the morning breeze, and sent to Arthur Carrollton, as she thought, her +last good-by. + +Fearing lest her grandmother should see her swollen eyes, she stole +down the stairs, and taking her shawl and bonnet from the table in the +hall ran off into the woods, going to a pleasant, mossy bank not far +from Hagar's cottage, where she had more than once sat with Arthur +Carrollton, and where she fancied she would never sit with him again. + +"I don't believe it's for him that I am crying," she thought, as she +tried in vain to stay her tears; "I always intended to hate him, and I +almost know I do; I'm only feeling badly because I won't run away, and +Henry and Rose will go without me so soon!" And fully satisfied at +having discovered the real cause of her grief, she laid her head upon +the bright autumn grass and wept bitterly, holding her breath, and +listening intently as she heard in the distance the sound of the +engine which was bearing Mr. Carrollton away. + +It did not occur to her that he could not yet have reached the depot, +and as she knew nothing of a change in the time of the trains she was +taken wholly by surprise when, fifteen minutes later, a manly form +bent over her, as she lay upon the bank, and a voice, earnest and +thrilling in tones, murmured softly, "Maggie, are those tears for me?" + +When about halfway to the station Mr. Carrollton had heard of the +change of time, and knowing he should not be in season had turned back +with the intention of waiting for the next train, which would pass in +a few hours. Learning that Maggie was in the woods, he had started in +quest of her, going naturally to the mossy bank, where, as we have +seen, he found her weeping on the grass. She was weeping for him--he +was sure of that. He was not indifferent to her, as he had sometimes +feared, and for an instant he felt tempted to take her in his arms and +tell her how dear she was to him. + +"I will speak to her first," he thought, and so he asked if the tears +were for him. + +Inexpressibly astonished and mortified at having him see her thus, +Maggie started to her feet, while angry words at being thus intruded +upon trembled on her lips. But winding his arm around her, Mr. +Carrollton drew her to his side, explaining to her in a few words how +he came to be there, and continuing: "I do not regret the delay, if by +its means I have discovered what I very much wish to know. Maggie, do +you care for me? Were you weeping because I had left you?" + +He drew her very closely to him--looking anxiously into her face, +which she covered with her hands. She knew he was in earnest, and +the knowledge that he loved her thrilled her for an instant with +indescribable happiness. A moment, however, and thoughts of her +engagement with another flashed upon her. "She must not sit there thus +with Arthur Carrollton--she would be true to Henry," and with +mingled feelings of sorrow, regret, and anger--though why she should +experience either she did not then understand--she drew herself from +him; and when he said again: "Will Maggie answer? Are those tears +for me?" she replied petulantly: "No; can't a body cry without being +bothered for a reason? I came down here to be alone!" + +"I did not mean to intrude, and I beg your pardon for having done +so," said Mr. Carrollton sadly, adding, as Maggie made no reply: "I +expected a different answer, Maggie. I almost hoped you liked me, and +I believe now that you do." + +In Maggie's bosom there was a fierce struggle of feeling. She did like +Arthur Carrollton--and she thought she liked Henry Warner--at all +events she was engaged to him, and half angry at the former for +having disturbed her, and still more angry at herself for being thus +disturbed, she exclaimed, as he again placed his arm around her: +"Leave me alone, Mr. Carrollton. I don't like you. I don't like +anybody!" and gathering up her shawl, which lay upon the grass, she +ran away to Hagar's cabin, hoping he would follow her. But he did not. +It was his first attempt at love-making, and very much disheartened he +walked slowly back to the house; and while Maggie, from Hagar's door, +was looking to see if he were coming, he, from the parlor window, was +watching, too, for her, with a shadow on his brow and a load upon his +heart. Madam Conway knew that something was wrong, but it was in vain +that she sought an explanation. Mr. Carrollton kept his own secret; +and consoling herself with his volunteered assurance that in case +it became necessary for him to return to England he should, before +embarking, visit Hillsdale, she bade him a second adieu. + +In the meantime Maggie, having given up all hopes of again seeing +Mr. Carrollton, was waiting impatiently the coming of Hagar, who was +absent, having, as Maggie readily conjectured, gone to Richland. It +was long past noon when she returned, and by that time the stains had +disappeared from Maggie's face, which looked nearly as bright as ever. +Still, it was with far less eagerness than usual that she took +from Hagar's hand the expected letter from Henry. It was a long, +affectionate epistle, urging her once more to accompany him, and +saying if she still refused she must let him know immediately, as they +were intending to start for New York in a few days. + +"I can't go," said Maggie; "it would not be right." And going to the +time-worn desk, where, since her secret correspondence, she had kept +materials for writing, she wrote to Henry a letter telling him she +felt badly to disappoint him, but she deemed it much wiser to defer +their marriage until her grandmother felt differently, or at least +until she was at an age to act for herself. This being done, she went +slowly back to the house, which to her seemed desolate indeed. Her +grandmother saw readily that something was the matter, and, rightly +guessing the cause, she forebore questioning her, neither did she once +that day mention Mr. Carrollton, although Anna Jeffrey did, telling +her what he had said about her thinking more of Hagar than of himself, +and giving as her opinion that he was much displeased with Maggie for +her rudeness in running away. + +"Nobody cares for his displeasure," answered Maggie, greatly vexed at +Anna, who took especial delight in annoying her. + +Thus a week went by, when one evening, as Madam Conway and Maggie sat +together in the parlor, they were surprised by the sudden appearance +of Henry Warner. He had accompanied his aunt and sister to New York, +where they were to remain for a few days, and then impelled by a +strong desire to see Margaret once more he had come with the vain +hope that at the last hour she would consent to fly with him, or her +grandmother consent to give her up. All the afternoon he had been at +Hagar's cottage waiting for Maggie, and at length determining to see +her he had ventured to the house. With a scowling frown Madam Conway +looked at him through her glasses, while Maggie, half joyfully, half +fearfully, went forward to meet him. In a few words he explained why +he was there, and then again asked of Madam Conway if Margaret could +go. + +"I do not believe she cares to go," thought Madam Conway, as she +glanced at Maggie's face; but she did not say so, lest she should +awaken within the young girl a feeling of opposition. + +She had watched Maggie closely, and felt sure that her affection +for Henry Warner was neither deep nor lasting. Arthur Carrollton's +presence had done much towards weakening it, and a few months more +would suffice to wear it away entirely. Still, from what had passed, +she fancied that opposition alone would only make the matter worse by +rousing Maggie at once. She knew far more of human nature than either +of the young people before her; and after a little reflection she +suggested that Henry should leave Maggie with her for a year, during +which time no communication whatever should pass between them, while +she would promise faithfully not to influence Margaret either way. + +"If at the end of the year," said she, "you both retain for each other +the feelings you have now, I will no longer object to the marriage, +but will make the best of it." + +At first Henry spurned the proposition, and when he saw that Margaret +thought well of it he reproached her with a want of feeling, saying +she did not love him as she had once done. + +"I shall not forget you, Henry," said Maggie, coming to his side and +taking his hand in hers, "neither will you forget me; and when the +year has passed away, only think how much pleasanter it will be for us +to be married here at home, with grandma's blessing on our union!" + +"If I only knew you would prove true!" said Henry, who missed +something in Maggie's manner. + +"I do mean to prove true," she answered sadly, though at that moment +another face, another form, stood between her and Henry Warner, who, +knowing that Madam Conway would not suffer her to go with him on +any terms, concluded at last to make a virtue of necessity, and +accordingly expressed his willingness to wait, provided Margaret were +allowed to write occasionally either to himself or Rose. + +But to this Madam Conway would not consent. She wished the test to +be perfect, she said, and unless he accepted her terms he must give +Maggie up, at once and forever. + +As there seemed no alternative, Henry rather ungraciously yielded +the point, promising to leave Maggie free for a year, while she too +promised not to write either to him or to Rose, except with her +grandmother's consent. Maggie Miller's word once passed, Madam Conway +knew it would not be broken, and she unhesitatingly left the young +people together while they said their parting words. A message of love +from Maggie to Rose--a hundred protestations of eternal fidelity, and +then they parted; Henry, sad and disappointed, slowly wending his way +back to the spot where Hagar impatiently awaited his coming, while +Maggie, leaning from her chamber window, and listening to the sound of +his retreating footsteps, brushed away a tear, wondering the while why +it was that she felt so relieved. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PERPLEXITY + + +Half in sorrow, half in joy, old Hagar listened to the story which +Henry told her, standing at her cottage door. In sorrow because she +had learned to like the young man, learned to think of him as Maggie's +husband, who would not wholly cast her oil, if her secret should +chance to be divulged; and in joy because her idol would be with her +yet a little longer. + +"Maggie will be faithful quite as long as you," she said, when he +expressed his fears of her forgetfulness; and, trying to console +himself with this assurance, he sprang into the carriage in which he +had come, and was driven rapidly away. + +He was too late for the night express, but taking the early morning +train he reached New York just as the sun was setting. + +"Alone! my brother, alone?" queried Rose, as he entered the private +parlor of the hotel where she was staying with her aunt. + +"Yes, alone; just as I expected," he answered somewhat bitterly. + +Then very briefly he related to her the particulars of his adventure, +to which she listened eagerly, one moment chiding herself for the +faint, shadowy hope which whispered that possibly Maggie Miller would +never be his wife, and again sympathizing in his disappointment. + +"A year will not be very long," she said, "and in the new scenes to +which you are going it will pass rapidly away;" and then, in her +childlike, guileless manner, she drew a glowing picture of the future, +when, her own health restored, they would return to their old home in +Leominster, where, after a few months more, he would bring to them his +bride. + +"You are my comforting angel, Rose," he said, folding her lovingly in +his arms and kissing her smooth white cheek. "With such a treasure as +you for a sister, I ought not to repine, even though Maggie Miller +should never be mine." + +The words were lightly spoken, and by him soon forgotten, but Rose +remembered them long, dwelling upon them in the wearisome nights, when +in her narrow berth she listened to the swelling sea as it dashed +against the vessel's side. Many a fond remembrance, too, she gave +to Maggie Miller, who, in her woodland home, thought often of the +travelers on the sea, never wishing that she was with them; but +experiencing always a feeling of pleasure in knowing that she was +Maggie Miller yet, and should be until next year's autumn leaves were +falling. + +Of Arthur Carrollton she thought frequently, wishing she had not been +so rude that morning in the woods, and feeling vexed because in his +letters to her grandmother he merely said, "Remember me to Margaret." + +"I wish he would write something besides that," she thought, "for I +remember him now altogether too much for my own good;" and then she +wondered what he would have said that morning, if she had not been so +cross. + +Very little was said to her of him by Madam Conway, who, having +learned that he was not going to England, and would ere long return to +them, concluded for a time to let the matter rest, particularly as +she knew how much Maggie was already interested in one whom she had +resolved to hate. Feeling thus confident that all would yet end well, +Madam Conway was in unusually good spirits save when thoughts of Mrs. +Douglas, senior, obtruded themselves upon her. Then, indeed, in a most +unenviable state of mind, she repined at the disgrace which Theo had +brought upon them, and charged Maggie repeatedly to keep it a secret +from Mrs. Jeffrey and Anna, the first of whom made many inquiries +concerning the family, which she supposed of course was very +aristocratic. + +One day towards the last of November there came to Madam Conway a +letter from Mrs. Douglas, senior, wonderful alike in composition and +appearance. Directed wrong side up, sealed with a wafer, and stamped +with a thimble, it bore an unmistakable resemblance to its writer, who +expressed many regrets that she had not known "in the time on't" who +her illustrious visitors were. + +"If I had known [she wrote] I should have sot the table in the parlor +certing, for though I'm plain and homespun I know as well as the next +one what good manners is, and do my endeavors to practice it. But do +tell a body [she continued] where you was muster day in Wooster. I +knocked and pounded enough to raise the dead, and nobody answered. I +never noticed you was deaf when you was here, though Betsy Jane thinks +she did. If you be, I'll send you up a receipt for a kind of intment +which Miss Sam Babbit invented, and which cures everything. + +"Theodoshy has been to see us, and though in my way of thinkin' she +aint as handsome as Margaret, she looks as well as the ginerality of +women. I liked her, too, and as soon as the men's winter clothes is +off my hands I calkerlate to have a quiltin', and finish up another +bed quilt to send her, for, man-like, George has furnished up his +rooms with all sorts of nicknacks, and got only two blankets, and two +Marsales spreads for his bed. So I've sent 'em down the herrin'-bone +and risin'-sun quilts for everyday wear, as I don't believe in usin' +your best things all the time. My old man says I'd better let 'em +alone; but he's got some queer ideas, thinks you'll sniff your nose at +my letter, and all that, but I've more charity for folks, and well I +might have, bein' that's my name. + +"CHARITY DOUGLAS." + +To this letter were appended three different postscripts. In the first +Madam Conway and Maggie were cordially invited to visit Charlton +again; in the second Betsy Jane sent her regrets; while in the third +Madam Conway was particularly requested to excuse haste and a bad pen. + +"Disgusting creature!" was Madam Conway's exclamation as she finished +the letter, then tossing it into the fire without a passing thought, +she took up another one, which had come by the same mail, and was from +Theo herself. + +After dwelling at length upon the numerous calls she made, the parties +she attended, the compliments she received, and her curiosity to know +why her grandmother came back that day, she spoke of her recent visit +in Charlton. + +"You have been there, it seems [she wrote], so I need not +particularize, though I know how shocked and disappointed you must +have been; and I think it was kind in you to say nothing upon the +subject except that you had called there, for George reads all my +letters, and I would not have his feelings hurt. He had prepared me +in a measure for the visit, but the reality was even worse than I +anticipated. And still they are the kindest-hearted people in the +world, while Mr. Douglas is a man, they say, of excellent sense. +George never lived at home much, and their heathenish ways mortify +him, I know, though he never says a word except that they are his +parents. + +"People here respect George, too, quite as much as if he were a +Conway, and I sometimes think they like him all the better for being +so kind to his old father, who comes frequently to the store. Grandma, +I begin to think differently of some things from what I did. Birth +and blood do not make much difference, in this country, at least; and +still I must acknowledge that I should feel dreadfully if I did not +love George and know that he is the kindest husband in the world." + +The letter closed with a playful insinuation that as Henry Warner +had gone, Maggie might possibly marry Arthur Carrollton, and so make +amends for the disgrace which Theo had unwittingly brought upon the +Conway line. + +For a long time after finishing the above, Madam Conway sat wrapped in +thought. Could it be possible that all her life she had labored under +a mistake? Were birth and family rank really of no consequence? Was +George just as worthy of respect as if he had descended directly from +the Scottish race of Douglas, instead of belonging to that vulgar +woman? "It may be so in America," she sighed, "but it is not true of +England," and, sincerely hoping that Theo's remark concerning Mr. +Carrollton might prove true, she laid aside the letter, and for the +remainder of the day busied herself with preparations for the return +of Arthur Carrollton, who had written that he should be with them on +the 1st of December. + +The day came, and, unusually excited, Maggie flitted from room to +room, seeing that everything was in order, and wondering how he would +meet her and if he had forgiven her for having been so cross at their +last interview in the woods. The effect of every suitable dress in her +wardrobe was tried, and she decided at last upon a crimson and black +merino, which harmonized well with her dark eyes and hair. The dress +was singularly becoming, and feeling quite well satisfied with the +face and form reflected by her mirror she descended to the parlor, +where any doubts she might have had concerning her personal appearance +were put to flight by Anna Jeffrey, who, with a feeling of envy, asked +if she had the scarlet fever, referring to her bright color, +and saying she did not think too red a face becoming to anyone, +particularly to Margaret, to whom it gave a "blowsy" look, such as she +had more than once heard Mr. Carrollton say he did not like to see. + +Margaret knew well that the dark-browed girl would give almost +anything for the roses blooming on her cheeks; so she made no reply, +but simply wished Anna would return to England, as for the last +two months she had talked of doing. It was not quite dark, and Mr. +Carrollton, if he came that night, would be with them soon. The car +whistle had sounded some time before, and Maggie's quick ear caught at +last the noise of the bells in the distance. Nearer and nearer they +came; the sleigh was at the door, and forgetting everything but her +own happiness Maggie ran out to meet their guest, nor turned her +glowing face away when he stooped down to kiss her. He had forgiven +her ill-nature, she was certain of that, and very joyfully she led the +way to the parlor, where as the full light of the lamp fell upon him +she started involuntarily, he seemed so changed. + +"Are you sick?" she asked; and her voice expressed the deep anxiety +she felt. + +Forcing back a slight cough, and smiling down upon her, he answered +cheerfully, "Oh, no, not sick! Canada air does not agree with me, +that's all. I took a severe cold soon after my arrival in Montreal," +and the cough he had attempted to stifle now burst forth, sounding to +Maggie, who thought only of consumption, like an echo from the grave. + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" she answered sadly, and her eyes filled with +tears, which she did not try to conceal, for looking through the +window across the snow-clad field, on which the winter moon was +shining, she saw instinctively another grave beside that of her +mother. + +Madam Conway had not yet appeared, and, as Anna Jeffrey just then +left the room, Mr. Carrollton was for some moments alone with Maggie. +Winding his arm around her waist, and giving her a most expressive +look, he said, "Maggie, are those tears for me?" + +Instantly the bright blushes stole over Maggie's face and neck, for +she remembered the time when once before he had asked her a similar +question. Not now, as then, did she turn away from 'him, but she +answered frankly: "Yes, they are. You look so pale and thin, I'm sure +you must be very ill." + +Whether Mr. Carrollton liked "blowsy" complexions or not, he certainly +admired Maggie's at that moment, and drawing her closer to his side, +he said, half playfully, half earnestly: "To see you thus anxious for +me, Maggie, more than atones for your waywardness when last we parted. +You are forgiven, but you are unnecessarily alarmed. I shall be better +soon. Hillsdale air will do me good, and I intend remaining here until +I am well again. Will you nurse me, Maggie, just as my sister Helen +would do were she here?" + +The right chord was touched, and all the soft, womanly qualities +of Maggie Miller's nature were called forth by Arthur Carrollton's +failing health. For several weeks after his arrival at Hillsdale he +was a confirmed invalid, lying all day upon the sofa in the parlor, +while Maggie read to him from books which he selected, partly for the +purpose of amusing himself, and more for the sake of benefiting her +and improving her taste for literature. At other times he would tell +her of his home beyond the sea, and Maggie, listening to him while +he described its airy halls, its noble parks, its shaded walks, and +musical fountains, would sometimes wish aloud that she might one day +see that spot which seemed to her so much like paradise. He wished +so too, and oftentimes when, with half-closed eyes, his mind was +wandering amid the scenes of his youth, he saw at his side a queenly +figure with features like those of Maggie Miller, who each day was +stealing more and more into his heart, where love for other than his +nearest friends had never before found entrance. She had many faults, +he knew, but these he possessed both the will and the power to +correct, and as day after day she sat reading at his side he watched +her bright, animated face, thinking what a splendid woman she +would make, and wondering if an American rose like her would bear +transplanting to English soil. + +Very complacently Madam Conway looked on, reading aright the +admiration which Arthur Carrollton evinced for Margaret, who in turn +was far from being uninterested in him. Anna Jeffrey, too, watched +them jealously, pondering in her own mind some means by which she +could, if possible, annoy Margaret. Had she known how far matters +had gone with Henry Warner, she would unhesitatingly have told it to +Arthur Carrollton; but so quietly had the affair been managed that she +knew comparatively little. This little, however, she determined to +tell him, together with any embellishments she might see fit to use. +Accordingly, one afternoon, when he had been there two months or more, +and Maggie had gone with her grandmother to ride, she went down to the +parlor under pretense of getting a book to read. He was much better +now, but, feeling somewhat fatigued from a walk he had taken in the +yard, he was reclining upon the sofa. Leaning over the rocking-chair +which stood near by, Anna inquired for his health, and then asked how +long since he had heard from home. + +He liked to talk of England, and as there was nothing to him +particularly disagreeable in Anna Jeffrey he bade her be seated. Very +willingly she complied with his request, and, after talking a while of +England, announced her intention of returning home the last of March. +"My aunt prefers remaining with Madam Conway, but I don't like +America," said she, "and I often wonder why I am here." + +"I supposed you came to be with your aunt, who, I am told, has been to +you a second mother," answered Mr. Carrollton; and Anna replied: "You +are right. She could not be easy until she got me here, where I know I +am not wanted--at least not altogether." + +Mr. Carrollton looked inquiringly at her, and Anna continued, "I fully +supposed I was to be a companion for Margaret; but instead of that she +treats me with the utmost coolness, making me feel keenly my position +as a dependent." + +"That does not seem at all like Maggie," said Mr. Carrollton; and, +with a meaning smile far more expressive than words, Anna answered: +"She may not always be alike. But hush! don't I hear bells?" and she +ran to the window, saying as she resumed her seat: "I thought they had +come: but I was mistaken. I dare say Maggie has coaxed her grandmother +to drive by the post office, thinking there might be a letter from +Henry Warner." + +Her manner affected Mr. Carrollton perceptibly, but he made no reply; +and Anna asked if he knew Mr. Warner. + +"I saw him in Worcester, I believe," he said; and Anna continued, "Do +you think him a suitable husband for a girl like Maggie?" + +There was a deep flush on Arthur Carrollton's cheek, and his lips were +whiter than their wont as he answered, "I know nothing of him, neither +did I suppose Miss Miller ever thought of him for a husband." + +"I know she did at one time," said his tormentor, turning the leaves +of her book with well-feigned indifference. "It was not any secret, or +I should not speak of it; of course Madam Conway was greatly opposed +to it too, and forbade her writing to him; but how the matter is now I +do not positively know, though I am quite sure they are engaged." + +"Isn't it very close here? Will you please to open the hall door?" +said Mr. Carrollton suddenly, panting for breath; and, satisfied with +her work, Anna did as desired and then left him alone. + +"Maggie engaged!" he said; "engaged!--when I hoped to win her for +myself!" and a sharp pang shot through his heart as he thought of +giving to another the beautiful girl who had grown so into his love. +"But I am glad I learned it in time," he continued, hurriedly walking +the floor, "knew it ere I had done Henry Warner a wrong by telling her +of my love, and asking her to go with me to my English home, which +will be desolate without her. This is why she repulsed me in the +woods. She knew I ought not to speak of love to her. Why didn't I see +it before, or why has not Madam Conway told me the truth! She at +least has deceived me;" and with a feeling of keen disappointment he +continued to pace the floor, one moment resolving to leave Hillsdale +at once, and again thinking how impossible it was to tear himself +away. + +Arthur Carrollton was a perfectly honorable man, and once assured of +Maggie's engagement he would neither by word nor deed do aught to +which the most fastidious lover could object, and Henry Warner's +rights were as safe with him as with the truest of friends. But was +Maggie really engaged? Might there not be some mistake? He hoped so at +least, and alternating between hope and fear he waited impatiently the +return of Maggie, who, with each thought of losing her, seemed tenfold +dearer to him than she had ever been before; and when at last she came +bounding in, he could scarcely refrain from folding her in his arms +and asking of her to think again ere she gave another than himself the +right of calling her his bride. But she is not mine, he thought; and +so he merely took her cold hands within his own, rubbing them until +they were warm. Then seating himself by her side upon the sofa he +spoke of her ride, asking casually if she called at the post office. + +"No, we did not drive that way," she answered readily, adding that the +post office had few attractions for her now, as no one wrote to her +save Theo. + +She evidently spoke the truth, and with a feeling of relief Mr. +Carrollton thought that possibly Miss Jeffrey might have been +mistaken; but he would know at all hazards, even though he ran the +risk of being thought extremely rude. Accordingly, that evening, after +Mrs. Jeffrey and Anna had retired to their room, and while Madam +Conway was giving some household directions in the kitchen, he asked +her to come and sit by him as he lay upon the sofa, himself placing +her chair where the lamplight would fall full upon her face and +reveal its every expression. Closing the piano, she complied with his +request, and then waited in silence for what he wanted to say. + +"Maggie," he began, "you may think me bold, but there is something I +very much wish to know, and which you, if you choose, can tell me. +From what I have heard, I am led to think you are engaged. Will you +tell me if this is true?" + +The bright color faded from Maggie's cheek, while her eyes grew darker +than before, and still she did not speak. Not that she was angry with +him for asking her that question; but because the answer, which, if +made at all, must be yes, was hard to utter. And yet why should she +hesitate to tell him the truth at once? + +Alas, for thee, Maggie Miller! The fancied love you feel for Henry +Warner is fading fast away. Arthur Carrollton is a dangerous rival, +and even now you cannot meet the glance of his expressive eyes without +a blush! Your better judgment acknowledged his superiority to Henry +long ago, and now in your heart there is room for none save him. + +"Maggie," he said, again stretching out his hand to take the +unresisting one which lay upon her lap, "you need not make me other +answer save that so plainly written on your face. You are engaged, and +may Heaven's blessing attend both you and yours!" + +At this moment Madam Conway appeared, and fearing her inability to +control her feelings longer Maggie precipitately left the room. Going +to her chamber, she burst into a passionate fit of weeping, one moment +blaming Mr. Carrollton for having learned her secret, and the next +chiding herself for wishing to withhold from him a knowledge of her +engagement. + +"It is not that I love Henry less, I am sure," she thought; and laying +her head upon her pillow she recalled everything which had passed +between herself and her affianced husband, trying to bring back the +olden happiness with which she had listened to his words of love. But +it would not come; there was a barrier in the way--Arthur Carrollton, +as he looked when he said so sadly, "You need not tell me, Maggie." + +"Oh, I wish he had not asked me that question!" she sighed. "It has +put such dreadful thoughts into my head. And yet I love Henry as well +as ever--I know I do; I am sure of it, or if I do not, I will," and +repeating to herself again and again the words, "I will, I will," she +fell asleep. + +Will, however, is not always subservient to one's wishes, and during +the first few days succeeding the incident of that night Maggie often +found herself wishing Arthur Carrollton had never come to Hillsdale, +he made her so wretched, so unhappy. Insensibly, too, she became +a very little unamiable, speaking pettishly to her grandmother, +disrespectfully to Mrs. Jeffrey, haughtily to Anna, and rarely to Mr. +Carrollton, who after the lapse of two or three weeks began to talk of +returning home in the same vessel with Anna Jeffrey, at which time his +health would be fully restored. Then, indeed, did Maggie awake to +the reality that while her hand was plighted to one, she loved +another--not as in days gone by she had loved Henry Warner, but with a +deeper, more absorbing love. With this knowledge, too, there came the +thought that Arthur Carrollton had once loved her, and but for the +engagement now so much regretted he would ere this have told her so. +But it was too late! too late! He would never feel toward her again as +he once had felt, and bitter tears she shed as she contemplated +the fast-coming future, when Arthur Carrollton would be gone, or +shudderingly thought of the time when Henry Warner would return to +claim her promise. + +"I cannot, cannot marry him," she cried, "until I've torn that other +image from my heart!" and then for many days she strove to recall the +olden love in vain; for, planted on the sandy soil of childhood, as it +were, it had been outgrown, and would never again spring into life. "I +will write to him exactly how it is," she said at last; "will tell +him that the affection I felt for him could not have been what a wife +should feel for her husband. I was young, had seen nothing of the +world, knew nothing of gentlemen's society, and when he came with his +handsome face and winning ways my interest was awakened. Sympathy, +too, for his misfortune increased that interest, which grandma's +opposition tended in no wise to diminish. But it has died out, that +fancied love, and I cannot bring it back. Still, if he insists, I will +keep my word, and when he comes next autumn I will not tell him 'No.'" + +Maggie was very calm when this decision was reached, and opening her +writing desk she wrote just as she said she would, begging him to +forgive her if she had done him wrong, and beseeching Rose to comfort +him as only a sister like her could do. "And remember," she wrote at +the close, "remember that sooner than see you very unhappy, I will +marry you, will try to be a faithful wife; though, Henry, I would +rather not--oh, so much rather not!" + +The letter was finished, and then Maggie took it to her grandmother, +who read it eagerly, for in it she saw a fulfillment of her wishes. +Very closely had she watched both Mr. Carrollton and Maggie, readily +divining the truth that something was wrong between them. But from +past experience she deemed it wiser not to interfere directly. Mr. +Carrollton's avowed intention of returning to England, however, +startled her, and she was revolving some method of procedure when +Margaret brought to her the letter. + +"I am happier than I can well express," she said, when she had +finished reading it. "Of course you have my permission to send it. But +what has changed you, Maggie? Has another taken the place of Henry +Warner?" + +"Don't ask me, grandma," cried Maggie, covering her face with her +hands; "don't ask me, for indeed I can only tell you that I am very +unhappy." + +A little skillful questioning on Madam Conway's part sufficed to +explain the whole--how constant association with Arthur Carrollton had +won for him a place in Maggie's heart which Henry Warner had never +filled; how the knowledge that she loved him as she could love no +other one had faintly revealed itself to her on the night when he +asked if she were engaged, and had burst upon her with overwhelming +power when she heard that he was going home. + +"He will never think of me again, I know," she said; "but, with my +present feelings, I cannot marry Henry, unless he insists upon it." + +"Men seldom wish to marry a woman who says she does not love them, and +Henry Warner will not prove an exception," answered Madam Conway; and, +comforted with this assurance, Maggie folded up her letter, which was +soon on its way to Cuba. + +The next evening, as Madam Conway sat alone with Mr. Carrollton, she +spoke of his return to England, expressing her sorrow, and asking why +he did not remain with them longer. + +"I will deal frankly with you, madam," said he, "and say that if I +followed my own inclination I should stay, for Hillsdale holds for +me an attraction which no other spot possesses. I refer to your +granddaughter, who, in the little time I have known her, has grown +very dear to me--so dear that I dare not stay longer where she is, +lest I should love her too well, and rebel against yielding her to +another." + +For a moment Madam Conway hesitated; but, thinking the case demanded +her speaking, she said: "Possibly Mr. Carrollton, I can make an +explanation which will show some points in a different light from that +in which you now see them. Margaret is engaged to Henry Warner, I will +admit; but the engagement has become irksome, and yesterday she wrote +asking a release, which he will grant, of course." + +Instantly the expression of Mr. Carrollton's face was changed, and +very intently he listened while Madam Conway frankly told him the +story of Margaret's engagement up to the present time, withholding +from him nothing, not even Maggie's confession of the interest she +felt in him, an interest which had weakened her girlish attachment for +Henry Warner. + +"You have made me very happy," Mr. Carrollton said to Madam Conway, +as, at a late hour, he bade her good-night--"happier than I can well +express; for without Margaret life to me would be dreary indeed." + +The next morning, at the breakfast table, Anna Jeffrey, who was +in high spirits with the prospect of having Mr. Carrollton for a +fellow-traveler, spoke of their intended voyage, saying she could +hardly wait for the time to come, and asking if he were not equally +impatient to leave so horrid a country as America. + +"On the contrary," he replied, "I should be sorry to leave America +just yet. I have therefore decided to remain a little longer;" and his +eyes sought the face of Maggie, who, in her joyful surprise, dropped +the knife with which she was helping herself to butter; while Anna +Jeffrey, quite as much astonished, upset her coffee, exclaiming: "Not +going home! What has changed your mind?" + +Mr. Carrollton made her no direct reply, and she continued her +breakfast in no very amiable mood; while Maggie, too much overjoyed +to eat, managed ere long to find an excuse for leaving the table. Mr. +Carrollton wished to do everything honorably, and so he decided to say +nothing to Maggie of the cause of this sudden change in his plan until +Henry Warner's answer was received, as she would then feel freer to +act as she felt. His resolution, however, was more easily made than +kept, and during the succeeding weeks, by actions, if not by words, +he more than once told Maggie Miller how much she was beloved; and +Maggie, trembling with fear lest the cup of happiness just within her +grasp should be rudely dashed aside, waited impatiently for the letter +which was to set her free. But weeks went by, and Maggie's heart grew +sick with hope deferred, for there came to her no message from the +distant Cuban shore, which in another chapter we shall visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BROTHER AND SISTER. + + +Brightly shone the moonlight on the sunny isle of Cuba, dancing +lightly on the wave, resting softly on the orange groves, and stealing +gently through the casement, into the room where a young girl +lay, whiter far than the flowers strewn upon her pillow. From the +commencement of the voyage Rose had drooped, growing weaker every day, +until at last all who looked upon her felt that the home of which she +talked so much would never again be gladdened by her presence. Very +tenderly Henry Warner nursed her, bearing her often in his arms up on +the vessel's deck, where she could breathe the fresh morning air as it +came rippling o'er the sea. But neither the ocean breeze, nor yet the +fragrant breath of Florida's aromatic bowers, where for a time they +stopped, had power to rouse her; and when at last Havana was reached +she laid her weary head upon her pillow, whispering to no one of the +love which was wearing her life away. With untold anguish at their +hearts, both her aunt and Henry watched her, the latter shrinking ever +from the thought of losing one who seemed a part of his very life. + +"I cannot give you up, my Rose. I cannot live without you," he said, +when once she talked to him of death. "You are all the world to me;" +and, laying his head upon her pillow, he wept as men will sometimes +weep over their one great sorrow. + +"Don't, Henry," she said, laying her tiny hand upon his hair. "Maggie +will comfort you when I am gone. She will talk to you of me, standing +at my grave, for, Henry, you must not leave me here alone. You must +carry me home and bury me in dear old Leominster, where my childhood +was passed, and where I learned to love you so much--oh, so much!" + +There was a mournful pathos in the tone with which the last words were +uttered, but Henry Warner did not understand it, and covering the +little blue-veined hand with kisses he promised that her grave should +be made at the foot of the garden in their far-off home, where the +sunlight fell softly and the moonbeams gently shone. That evening +Henry sat alone by Rose, who had fallen into a disturbed slumber. For +a time he took no notice of the disconnected words she uttered in her +dreams, but when at last he heard the sound of his own name he drew +near, and, bending low, listened with mingled emotions of joy, sorrow, +and surprise to a secret which, waking, she would never have told +him, above all others. She loved him,--the fair girl he called his +sister,--but not as a sister loves; and now, as he stood by her, with +the knowledge thrilling every nerve, he remembered many bygone scenes, +when but for his blindness he would have seen how every pulsation of +her heart throbbed alone for him whose hand was plighted to another, +and that other no unworthy rival. Beautiful, very beautiful, was the +shadowy form which at that moment seemed standing at his side, and +his heart went out towards her as the one above all others to be his +bride. + +"Had I known it sooner," he thought, "known it before I met the +peerless Maggie, I might have taken Rose to my bosom and loved her--it +may be with a deeper love than that I feel for Maggie Miller, for Rose +is everything to me. She has made and keeps me what I am, and how can +I let her die when I have the power to save her?" + +There was a movement upon the pillow. Rose was waking, and as her soft +blue eyes unclosed and looked up in his face he wound his arms around +her, kissing her lips as never before he had kissed her. She was +not his sister now--the veil was torn away--a new feeling had been +awakened, and as days and weeks went by there gradually crept in +between him and Maggie Miller a new love--even a love for the +fair-haired Rose, to whom he was kinder, if possible, than he had been +before, though he seldom kissed her lips or caressed her in any way. + +"It would be wrong," he said, "a wrong to myself--a wrong to her--and +a wrong to Maggie Miller, to whom my troth is plighted;" and he did +not wish it otherwise, he thought; though insensibly there came over +him a wish that Maggie herself might weary of the engagement and seek +to break it. Not that he loved her the less, he reasoned, but that he +pitied Rose the more. + +In this manner time passed on, until at last there came to him +Maggie's letter, which had been a long time on the sea. + +"I expected it," he thought, as he finished reading it, and though +conscious for a moment of a feeling of disappointment the letter +brought him far more pleasure than pain. + +Of Arthur Carrollton no mention had been made, but he readily guessed +the truth; and thinking, "It is well," he laid the letter aside and +went back to Rose, deciding to say nothing to her then. He would wait +until his own feelings were more perfectly defined. So a week went by, +and again, as he had often done before, he sat with her alone in the +quiet night, watching her as she slept, and thinking how beautiful +she was, with her golden hair shading her childish face, her long +eyelashes resting on her cheek, and her little hands folded meekly +upon her bosom. + +"She is too beautiful to die," he murmured, pressing a kiss upon her +lips. + +This act awoke her, and, turning towards him she said, "Was I +dreaming, Henry, or did you kiss me as you used to do?" + +"Not dreaming, Rose," he answered--then rather hurriedly he added: "I +have a letter from Maggie Miller, and ere I answer it I would read it +to you. Can you hear it now?" + +"Yes, yes," she whispered faintly; "read it to me, Henry;" and, +turning her face away, she listened while he read that Maggie Miller, +grown weary of her troth, asked a release from her engagement. + +He finished reading, and then waited in silence to hear what Rose +would say. But for a time she did not speak. All hope for herself had +long since died away, and now she experienced only sorrow for Henry's +disappointment. + +"My poor brother," she said at last, turning her face towards him and +taking his hand in hers; "I am sorry for you--to lose us both, Maggie +and me. What will you do?" + +"Rose," he said, bending so low that his brown locks mingled with the +yellow tresses of her hair--"Rose, I do not regret Maggie Miller's +decision, neither do I blame her for it. She is a noble, true-hearted +girl, and so long as I live I shall esteem her highly; but I too have +changed--have learned to love another. Will you sanction this new +love, dear Rose? Will you say that it is right?" + +The white lids closed over the eyes of blue, but they could not keep +back the tears which rolled down her face, as she asked somewhat +sadly, "Who is it, Henry?" + +There was another moment of silence, and then he whispered in her ear: +"People call her Rose; I once called her sister; but my heart now +claims her for something nearer. My Rose," he continued, "shall it be? +Will you live for my sake? Will you be my wife?" + +The shock was too sudden--too great; and neither on that night, nor +yet the succeeding day, had Rose the power to answer. But as the dew +of heaven is to the parched and dying flower, so were these words of +love to her, imparting at once new life and strength, making her as it +were another creature. The question asked that night so unexpectedly +was answered at last; and then with almost perfect happiness at her +heart, she too added a few lines to the letter which Henry sent to +Maggie Miller, over whose pathway, hitherto so bright, a fearful +shadow was falling. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE PEDDLER. + + +It was a rainy April day--a day which precluded all outdoor exercise, +and Hagar Warren, from the window of her lonely cabin, watched in vain +for the coming of Maggie Miller. It was now more than a week since she +had been there, for both Arthur Carrollton and herself had accompanied +the disappointed Anna Jeffrey to New York, going with her on board +the vessel which was to take her from a country she affected so to +dislike. + +"I dare say you'll be Maggie somebody else ere I meet you again," she +said to Maggie, at parting, and Mr. Carrollton, on the journey home, +found it hard to keep from asking her if for the "somebody else" she +would substitute his name, and so be "Maggie Carrollton." + +This, however, he did not do; but his attentions were so marked, and +his manner towards her so affectionate, that ere Hillsdale was reached +there was in Maggie's mind no longer a doubt as to the nature of his +feelings toward her. Arrived at home, he kept her constantly at +his side, while Hagar, who was suffering from a slight attack of +rheumatism, and could not go up to the stone house, waited and +watched, thinking herself almost willing to be teased for the secret, +if she could once more hear the sound of Maggie's voice. The secret, +however, had been forgotten in the exciting scenes through which +Maggie had passed since first she learned of its existence; and it was +now a long time since she had mentioned it to Hagar, who each day grew +more and more determined never to reveal it. + +"My life is almost ended," she thought, "and the secret shall go with +me to my grave. Margaret will be happier without it, and it shall not +be revealed." + +Thus she reasoned on that rainy afternoon, when she sat waiting for +Maggie, who, she heard, had returned the day before. Slowly the hours +dragged on, and the night shadows fell at last upon the forest +trees, creeping into the corners of Hagar's room, resting upon the +hearthstone, falling upon the window pane, creeping up the wall, and +affecting Hagar with a nameless fear of some impending evil. This fear +not even the flickering flame of the lamp, which she lighted at last +and placed upon the mantel, was able to dispel, for the shadows grew +darker, folding themselves around her heart, until she covered her +eyes with her hands, lest some goblin shape should spring into life +before her. + +The sound of the gate latch was heard, and footsteps were approaching +the door--not the bounding step of Maggie, but a tramping tread, +followed by a heavy knock, and next moment a tall, heavy-built man +appeared before her, asking shelter for the night. The pack he carried +showed him at once to be a peddler, and upon a nearer view Hagar +recognized in him a stranger who, years before, had craved her +hospitality. He had been civil to her then; she did not fear him now, +and she consented to his remaining, thinking his presence there might +dispel the mysterious terror hanging around her. But few words passed +between them that night, for Martin, as he called himself, was tired, +and after partaking of the supper that she prepared he retired to +rest. The next morning, however, he was more talkative, kindly +enlightening her with regard to his business, his family, and his +place of residence, which last he said was in Meriden, Conn. + +It was a long time since Hagar had heard that name, and now, turning +quickly towards him, she said, "Meriden? That is where my Hester +lived, and where her husband died." + +"I want to know!" returned the Yankee peddler. "What might have been +his name?" + +"Hamilton--Nathan Hamilton. Did you know him? He died nineteen years +ago this coming summer." + +"Egzactly!" ejaculated the peddler, setting down his pack and himself +taking a chair, preparatory to a long talk. "Egzactly; I knowed him +like a book. Old Squire Hampleton, the biggest man in Meriden, and you +don't say his last wife, that tall, handsome gal, was your darter?" + +"Yes, she was my daughter," answered Hagar, her whole face glowing +with the interest she felt in talking for the first time in her life +with one who had known her daughter's husband, Maggie's father. "You +knew her. You have seen her?" she continued; and Martin answered, +"Seen her a hundred times, I'll bet. Anyhow, I sold her the weddin' +gown; and now, I think on't, she favored you. She was a likely person, +and I allus thought that proud sister of his'n, the Widder Warner, +might have been in better business than takin' them children away as +she did, because he married his hired gal. But it's as well for them, +I s'pose, particularly for the boy, who is one of the fust young men +in Wooster now. Keeps a big store!" + +"Warner, Warner!" interrupted old Hagar, the nameless terror of the +night before creeping again into her heart. "Whose name did you say +was Warner?" + +"The hull on 'em, boy, girl, and all, is called Warner now--one Rose, +and t'other Henry," answered the peddler, perfectly delighted with the +interest manifested by his auditor, who, grasping at the bedpost and +moving her hand rapidly before her eyes, as if to clear away a mist +which had settled there, continued, "I remember now, Hester told me of +the children; but one, she said, was a stepchild--that was the boy, +wasn't it?" and her wild, black eyes had in them a look of unutterable +anxiety, wholly incomprehensible to the peddler, who, instead of +answering her question said: "What ails you woman? Your face is as +white as a piece of paper?" + +"Thinking of Hester always affects me so," she answered; and +stretching her hands beseechingly towards him, she entreated him to +say if Henry were not the stepchild. + +"No marm, he warn't," answered the peddler, who, like a great many +talkative people, pretended to know more than he really did, and who +in this particular instance was certainly mistaken. "I can tell you +egzactly how that is: Henry was the son of Mr. Hampleton's first +marriage--Henry Hampleton. The second wife, the one your darter lived +with, was the Widder Warner, and had a little gal, Rose, when she +married Mr. Hampleton. This Widder Warner's husband's brother married +Mr. Hampleton's sister, the woman who took the children, and had Henry +change his name to Warner. The Hampletons and Warners were mighty +big-feelin' folks, and the old squire's match mortified 'em +dreadfully." + +"Where are they now?" gasped Hagar, hoping there might be some +mistake. + +"There you've got me!" answered Martin. "I haven't seen 'em this +dozen year; but the last I heard, Miss Warner and Rose was livin' in +Leominster, and Henry was in a big store in Wooster. But what the +plague is the matter?" he continued, alarmed at the expression of +Hagar's face, as well as at the strangeness of her manner. + +Wringing her hands as if she would wrench her fingers from their +sockets, she clutched at her long white hair, and, rocking to and fro, +moaned, "Woe is me, and woe the day when I was born!" + +From everyone save her grandmother Margaret had kept the knowledge of +her changed feelings towards Henry Warner; and looking upon a marriage +between the two as an event surely to be expected, old Hagar was +overwhelmed with grief and fear. Falling at last upon her knees, she +cried: "Had you cut my throat from ear to ear, old man, you could not +have hurt me more! Oh, that I had died years and years ago! But I must +live now--live!" she screamed, springing to her feet--"live to prevent +the wrong my own wickedness has caused!" + +Perfectly astonished at what he saw and heard, the peddler attempted +to question her, but failing to obtain any satisfactory answers he +finally left, mentally pronouncing her "as crazy as a loon." This +opinion was confirmed by the people on whom he next called, for, +chancing to speak of Hagar, he was told that nothing which she did or +said was considered strange, as she had been called insane for years. +This satisfied Martin, who made no further mention of her, and +thus the scandal which his story might otherwise have produced was +prevented. + +In the meantime on her face lay old Hagar, moaning bitterly. "My sin +has found me out; and just when I thought it never need be known! For +myself I do not care; but Maggie, Maggie--how can I tell her that she +is bone of my bone, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh--and me old +Hagar Warren!" + +It would be impossible to describe the scorn and intense loathing +concentrated in the tones of Hagar's voice as she uttered these last +words, "and me old Hagar Warren!" Had she indeed been the veriest +wretch on earth, she could not have hated herself more than she did in +that hour of her humiliation, when, with a loud voice, she cried, "Let +me die, oh, let me die, and it will never be known!" Then, as she +reflected upon the terrible consequence which would ensue were she to +die and make no sign, she wrung her hands despairingly, crying: "Life, +life--yes, give me life to tell her of my guilt; and then it will be +a blessed rest to die. Oh, Margaret, my precious child, I'd give my +heart's blood, drop by drop, to save you; but it can't be; you must +not wed your father's son; oh, Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!" + +Fainter and fainter grew each succeeding word, and when the last was +spoken she fell again upon her face, unconscious and forgetful of her +woe. Higher and higher in the heavens rose the morning sun, stealing +across the window sill, and shining aslant the floor, where Hagar +still lay in a deep, deathlike swoon. An hour passed on, and then the +wretched woman came slowly back to life, her eyes lighting up with +joy, as she whispered, "It was a dream, thank Heaven, 'twas a dream!" +and then growing dim with tears, as the dread reality came over her. +The first fearful burst of grief was passed, for Hagar now could weep, +and tears did her good, quelling the feverish agony at her heart. Not +for herself did she suffer so much as for Maggie, trembling for the +effect the telling of the secret would have on her. For it must be +told. She knew that full well, and as the sun fast neared the western +horizon, she murmured, "Oh, will she come to-night, will she come +to-night?" + +Yes, Hagar, she will. Even now her feet, which, when they backward +turn, will tread less joyously, are threading the woodland path. The +halfway rock is reached--nearer and nearer she comes--her shadow +falls across the floor--her hand is on your arm--her voice in your +ear--Maggie Miller is at your side--Heaven help you both! + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE TELLING OF THE SECRET. + + +"Hagar! Hagar!" exclaimed Maggie, playfully bounding to her side, and +laying her hand upon her arm. "What aileth thee, Hagar?" + +The words were meet, for never Hagar in the desert, thirsting for the +gushing fountain, suffered more than did she who sat with covered face +and made no word of answer. Maggie was unusually happy that day, for +but a few hours before she had received Henry's letter making her +free--free to love Arthur Carrollton, who she well knew only waited a +favorable opportunity to tell her of his love; so with a heart full of +happiness she had stolen away to visit Hagar, reproaching herself as +she came for having neglected her so long. "But I'll make amends by +telling her what I'm sure she must have guessed," she thought, as she +entered the cottage, where, to her surprise, she found her weeping. +Thinking the old woman's distress might possibly be occasioned by her +neglect, she spoke again. "Are you crying for me, Hagar?" + +"Yes, Maggie Miller, for you--for you!" answered Hagar, lifting up a +face so ghastly white that Maggie started back in some alarm. + +"Poor Hagar, you are ill," she said, and advancing nearer she wound +her arms around the trembling form, and, pillowing the snowy head upon +her bosom, continued soothingly: "I did not mean to stay away long. I +will not do it again, but I am so happy, Hagar, so happy that I half +forgot myself." + +For a moment Hagar let her head repose upon the bosom of her child, +then murmuring softly, "It will never lie there again," she arose, +and, confronting Maggie, said, "Is it love which makes you so happy?" + +"Yes, Hagar, love," answered Margaret, the deep blushes stealing over +her glowing face. + +"And is it your intention to marry the man you love?" continued Hagar, +thinking only of Henry Warner, while Margaret, thinking only of Arthur +Carrollton, replied, "If he will marry me, I shall most surely marry +him." + +"It is enough. I must tell her," whispered Hagar; while Maggie asked, +"Tell me what?" + +For a moment the wild eyes fastened themselves upon her with a look +of yearning anguish, and then Hagar answered slowly, "Tell you what +you've often wished to know--my secret!" the last word dropping from +her lips more like a warning hiss than like a human sound. It was long +since Maggie had teased for the secret, so absorbed had she been in +other matters, but now that there was a prospect of knowing it +her curiosity was reawakened, and while her eyes glistened with +expectation, she said, "Yes, tell it to me, Hagar, and then I'll tell +you mine;" and all over her beautiful face there shone a joyous +light as she thought how Hagar, who had once pronounced Henry Warner +unworthy, would rejoice in her new love. + +"Not here, Maggie--not here in this room can I tell you," said old +Hagar; "but out in the open air, where my breath will come more +freely;" and, leading the way, she hobbled to the mossy bank where +Maggie had sat with Arthur Carrollton on the morning of his departure +for Montreal. + +Here she sat down, while Maggie threw herself upon the damp ground at +her feet, her face lighted with eager curiosity and her lustrous eyes +bright as stars with excitement. For a moment Hagar bent forward, and, +folding her hands one above the other, laid them upon the head of the +young girl as if to gather strength for what she was to say. But all +in vain; for when she essayed to speak her tongue clave to the roof of +her mouth, and her lips gave forth unmeaning sounds. + +"It must be something terrible to affect her so," thought Maggie, and, +taking the bony hands between her own, she said, "I would not tell it, +Hagar; I do not wish to hear." + +The voice aroused the half-fainting woman, and, withdrawing her hand +from Maggie's grasp, she replied, "Turn away your face, Margaret +Miller, so I cannot see the hatred settling over it, when I tell you +what I must." + +"Certainly; my back if you prefer it," answered Maggie, half +playfully; and turning round she leaned her head against the feeble +knees of Hagar. + +"Maggie, Maggie," began the poor old woman, lingering long and +lovingly over that dear name, "nineteen years ago, next December, I +took upon my soul the secret sin which has worn my life away, but I +did it for the love I had for you. Oh, Margaret, believe it, for the +love I had for you, more than for my own ambition;" and the long +fingers slid nervously over the bands of shining hair just within her +reach. + +At the touch of those fingers, Maggie shuddered involuntarily. There +was a vague, undefined terror stealing over her, and, impatient to +know the worst, she said, "Go on, tell me what you did." + +"I can't--I can't--and yet I must!" cried Hagar. "You were a beautiful +baby, Maggie, and the other one was sickly, pinched, and blue. I +had you both in my room the night after Hester died; and the +devil--Maggie, do you know how the devil will creep into the heart, +and whisper, whisper till the brain is all on fire? This thing he did +to me, Maggie, nineteen years ago, he whispered--whispered dreadful +things, and his whisperings were of you!" + +"Horrible, Hagar!" exclaimed Maggie. "Leave the devil, and tell me of +yourself." + +"That's it," answered Hagar. "If I had but left him then, this hour +would never have come to me; but I listened, and when he told me that +a handsome, healthy child would be more acceptable to the Conways than +a weakly, fretful one--when he said that Hagar Warren's grandchild had +far better be a lady than a drudge--that no one would ever know it, +for none had noticed either--I did it, Maggie Miller; I took you from +the pine-board cradle where you lay--I dressed you in the other baby's +clothes--I laid you on her pillow--I wrapped her in your coarse white +frock--I said that she was mine, and Margaret--oh, Heaven! can't you +see it? Don't you know that I, the shriveled, skinny hag who tells you +this, am your own grandmother!" + +There was no need for Maggie Miller to answer that appeal. The words +had burned into her soul--scorching her very life-blood, and maddening +her brain. It was a fearful blow--crushing her at once. She saw it +all, understood it all, and knew there was no hope. The family pride +at which she had often laughed was strong within her, and could not at +once be rooted out. All the fond household memories, though desecrated +and trampled down, were not so soon to be forgotten. She could not own +that half-crazed woman for her grandmother! As Hagar talked Maggie had +risen, and now, tall, and erect as the mountain ash which grew on her +native hills, she stood before Hagar, every vestige of color faded +from her face, her eyes dark as midnight and glowing like coals of +living fire, while her hands, locked despairingly together, moved +slowly towards Hagar, as if to thrust her aside. + +"Oh, speak again!" she said, "but not the dreadful words you said to +me just now. Tell me they are false--say that my father perished in +the storm, that my mother was she who held me on her bosom when she +died--that I--oh, Hagar, I am not--I will not be the creature you say +I am! Speak to me," she continued; "tell me; is it true?" and in her +voice there was not the olden sound. + +Hoarse--hollow--full of reproachful anguish it seemed; and, bowing her +head in very shame, old Hagar made her answer: "Would to Heaven 'twere +not true--but it is--it is! Kill me, Maggie," she continued, "strike +me dead, if you will, but take your eyes away! You must not look thus +at me, a heartbroken wretch." + +But not of Hagar Warren was Maggie thinking then. The past, the +present, and the future were all embodied in her thoughts. She had +been an intruder all her life; had ruled with a high hand people on +whom she had no claim, and who, had they known her parentage, would +have spurned her from them. Theo, whom she had held in her arms so +oft, calling her sister and loving her as such, was hers no longer; +nor yet the fond woman who had cherished her so tenderly--neither was +hers; and in fancy she saw the look of scorn upon that woman's face +when she should hear the tale, for it must be told--and she must tell +it, too. She would not be an impostor; and then there flashed upon her +the agonizing thought, before which all else seemed as naught--in the +proud heart of Arthur Carrollton was there a place for Hagar Warren's +grandchild? "No, no, no!" she moaned; and the next moment she lay at +Hagar's feet, white, rigid, and insensible. + +"She's dead!" cried Hagar; and for one brief instant she hoped that it +was so. + +But not then and there was Margaret to die; and slowly she came back +to life, shrinking from the touch of Hagar's hand when she felt it on +her brow. + +"There may be some mistake," she whispered; but Hagar answered, "There +is none"; at the same time relating so minutely the particulars of the +deception that Maggie was convinced, and, covering her face with her +hands, sobbed aloud, while Hagar, sitting by in silence, was nerving +herself to tell the rest. + +The sun had set, and the twilight shadows were stealing down upon +them, when, creeping abjectly upon her knees towards the wretched +girl, she said, "There is more, Maggie, more--I have not told you +all." + +But Maggie had heard enough, and, exerting all her strength, she +sprang to her feet, while Hagar clutched eagerly at her dress, which +was wrested from her grasp, as Maggie fled away--away--she knew not, +cared not, whither, so that she were beyond the reach of the trembling +voice which called after her to return. Alone in the deep woods, with +the darkness falling around her, she gave way to the mighty sorrow +which had come so suddenly upon her. She could not doubt what she had +heard. She knew that it was true, and as proof after proof crowded +upon her, until the chain of evidence was complete, she laid her head +upon the rain-wet grass, and shudderingly stopped her ears, to shut +out, if possible, the memory of the dreadful words, "I, the shriveled, +skinny hag who tells you this, am your own grandmother." For a long +time she lay there thus, weeping till the fountain of her tears seemed +dry; then, weary, faint, and sick, she started for her home. Opening +cautiously the outer door, she was gliding up the stairs when Madam +Conway, entering the hall with a lamp, discovered her, and uttered +an exclamation of surprise at the strangeness of her appearance. Her +dress, bedraggled and wet, was torn in several places by the briery +bushes she had passed; her hair, loosened from its confinement, hung +down her back, while her face was so white and ghastly that Madam +Conway in much alarm followed her up the stairs, asking what had +happened. + +"Something dreadful came to me in the woods," said Maggie; "but I +can't tell you to-night. To-morrow I shall be better--or dead--oh, I +wish I could be dead--before you hate me so, dear grand--No, I didn't +mean that--you aint; forgive me, do;" and sinking to the floor she +kissed the very hem of Madam Conway's dress. + +Unable to understand what she meant, Madam Conway divested her of her +damp clothing, and, placing her in bed, sat down beside her, saying +gently, "Can you tell me now what frightened you?" + +A faint cry was Maggie's only answer, and taking the lady's hand +she laid it upon her forehead, where the drops of perspiration were +standing thickly. All night long Madam Conway sat by her, going once +to communicate with Arthur Carrollton, who, anxious and alarmed, came +often to the door, asking if she slept. She did sleep at last--a +fitful feverish sleep; but ever at the sound of Mr. Carrollton's voice +a spasm of pain distorted her features, and a low moan came from her +lips. Maggie had been terribly excited, and when next morning she +awoke she was parched with burning fever, while her mind at intervals +seemed wandering; and ere two days passed she was raving with +delirium, brought on, the physician said, by some sudden shock, the +nature of which no one could even guess. + +For three weeks she hovered between life and death, whispering oft +of the horrid shape which had met her in the woods, robbing her of +happiness and life. Winding her feeble arms around Madam Conway's +neck, she would beg of her most piteously not to cast her off--not to +send her away from the only home she had ever known--"For I couldn't +help it," she would say. "I didn't know it, and I've loved you all so +much--so much! Say, grandma, may I call you grandma all the same? Will +you love poor Maggie a little?" and Madam Conway, listening to words +whose meaning she could not fathom, would answer by laying the aching +head upon her bosom, and trying to soothe the excited girl. Theo, too, +was summoned home, but at her Maggie at first refused to look, and, +covering her eyes with her hand, she whispered scornfully, "Pinched, +and blue, and pale; that's the very look. I couldn't see it when I +called you sister." + +Then her mood would change, and motioning Theo to her side she would +say to her, "Kiss me once, Theo, just as you used to do when I was +Maggie Miller." + +Towards Arthur Carrollton she from the first manifested fear, +shuddering whenever he approached her, and still exhibiting signs of +uneasiness if he left her sight. "He hates me," she said, "hates me +for what I could not help;" and when, as he often did, he came to her +bedside, speaking words of love, she would answer mournfully: "Don't, +Mr. Carrollton; your pride is stronger than your love. You will hate +me when you know all." + +Thus two weeks went by, and then with the first May day reason +returned again, bringing life and strength to the invalid, and joy to +those who had so anxiously watched over her. Almost her first rational +question was for Hagar, asking if she had been there. + +"She is confined to her bed with inflammatory rheumatism," answered +Madam Conway; "but she inquires for you every day, they say; and once +when told you could not live she started to crawl on her hands and +knees to see you, but fainted near the gate, and was carried back." + +"Poor old woman!" murmured Maggie, the tears rolling down her cheeks, +as she thought how strong must be the love that half-crazed creature +bore her, and how little it was returned, for every feeling of her +nature revolted from claiming a near relationship with one whom she +had hitherto regarded as a servant. The secret, too, seemed harder to +divulge, and day by day she put it off, saying to them when they asked +what had so much affected her that she could not tell them yet--she +must wait till she was stronger. + +So Theo went back to Worcester as mystified as ever, and Maggie was +left much alone with Arthur Carrollton, who strove in various ways to +win her from the melancholy into which she had fallen. All day long +she would sit by the open window, seemingly immovable, her large eyes, +now intensely black, fixed upon vacancy, and her white face giving no +sign of the fierce struggle within, save when Madam Conway, coming to +her side, would lay her hand caressingly on her in token of sympathy. +Then, indeed, her lips would quiver, and turning her head away, she +would say, "Don't touch me--don't!" + +To Arthur Carrollton she would listen with apparent composure, though +often as he talked her long, tapering nails left their impress in her +flesh, so hard she strove to seem indifferent. Once when they were +left together alone he drew her to his side, and bending very low, +so that his lips almost touched her marble cheek, he told her of his +love, and how full of anguish had been his heart when he thought that +she would die. + +"But God kindly gave you back to me," he said; "and now, my precious +Margaret, will you be my wife? Will you go with me to my English home, +from which I have tarried now too long because I would not leave you? +Will Maggie answer me?" and he folded her lovingly in his arms. + +Oh, how could she tell him No, when every fiber of her heart thrilled +with the answer Yes. She mistook him--mistook the character of Arthur +Carrollton, for, though pride was strong within him, he loved the +beautiful girl who lay trembling in his arms better than he loved his +pride; and had she told him then who and what she was, he would +not have deemed it a disgrace to love a child of Hagar Warren. But +Margaret did not know him, and when he said again, "Will Maggie answer +me?" there came from her lips a piteous, wailing cry, and turning her +face away she answered mournfully: "No, Mr. Carrollton, no, I cannot +be your wife. It breaks my heart to tell you so; but if you knew what +I know, you would never have spoken to me words of love. You would +have rather thrust me from you, for indeed I am unworthy." + +"Don't you love me, Maggie?" Mr. Carrollton said, and in the tones of +his voice there was so much tenderness that Maggie burst into tears, +and, involuntarily resting her head upon his bosom, answered sadly: "I +love you so much, Arthur Carrollton, that I would die a hundred deaths +could that make me worthy of you, as not long ago I thought I was. But +it cannot be. Something terrible has come between us." + +"Tell me what it is. Let me share your sorrow," he said; but Maggie +only answered: "Not yet, not yet! Let me live where you are a little +longer. Then I will tell you all, and go away forever." + +This was all the satisfaction he could obtain; but after a time she +promised that if he would not mention the subject to her until the +first of June, she would then tell him everything; and satisfied +with a promise which he knew would be kept, Mr. Carrollton waited +impatiently for the appointed time, while Maggie, too, counted each +sun as it rose and set, bringing nearer and nearer a trial she so much +dreaded. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RESULT. + + +Two days only remained ere the first of June, and in the solitude of +her chamber Maggie was weeping bitterly. "How can I tell them who I +am?" she thought. "How bear their pitying scorn, when they learn that +she whom they call Maggie Miller has no right to that name?--that +Hagar Warren's blood is flowing in her veins?--and Madam Conway thinks +so much of that! Oh, why was Hagar left to do me this great wrong? why +did she take me from the pine-board cradle where she says I lay, and +make me what I was not born to be?" and, falling on her knees, the +wretched girl prayed that it might prove a dream from which she would +ere long awake. + +Alas for thee, poor Maggie Miller! It is not a dream, but a stern +reality; and you who oft have spurned at birth and family, why +murmur now when both are taken from you? Are you not still the +same,--beautiful,--accomplished, and refined,--and can you ask for +more? Strange that theory and practice so seldom should accord. And +yet it was not the degradation which Maggie felt so keenly, it was +rather the loss of love she feared; without that the blood of royalty +could not avail to make her happy. + +Maggie was a warm-hearted girl, and she loved the stately lady she had +been wont to call her grandmother with a filial, clinging love which +could not be severed, and still this love was naught compared to what +she felt for Arthur Carrollton, and the giving up of him was the +hardest part of all. But it must be done, she thought; he had told her +once that were she Hagar Warren's grandchild he should not be riding +with her--how much less, then, would he make that child his wife! and +rather than meet the look of proud disdain on his face when first she +stood confessed before him, she resolved to go away where no one had +ever heard of her or Hagar Warren. She would leave behind a letter +telling why she went, and commending to Madam Conway's care poor +Hagar, who had been sorely punished for her sin. "But whither shall I +go, and what shall I do when I get there?" she cried, trembling at +the thoughts of a world of which she knew so little. Then, as she +remembered how many young girls of her age went out as teachers, she +determined to go at all events. "It will be better than staying here +where I have no claim," she thought; and, nerving herself for the +task, she sat down to write the letter which, on the first of June, +should tell to Madam Conway and Arthur Carrollton the story of her +birth. + +It was a harder task than she supposed, the writing that farewell, for +it seemed like severing every hallowed tie. Three times she wrote "My +dear grandma," then with a throb of anguish she dashed her pen across +the revered name, and wrote simply "Madam Conway." It was a rambling, +impassioned letter, full of tender love--of hope destroyed--of deep +despair--and though it shadowed forth no expectation that Madam Conway +or Mr. Carrollton would ever take her to their hearts again, it begged +of them most touchingly to think sometimes of "Maggie" when she was +gone forever. Hagar was then commended to Madam Conway's forgiveness +and care. "She is old," wrote Maggie, "her life is nearly ended, and +if you have in your heart one feeling of pity for her who used to call +you grandma, bestow it, I pray you, on poor old Hagar Warren." + +The letter was finished, and then suddenly remembering Hagar's words, +that "all had not been told," and feeling it her duty to see once more +the woman who had brought her so much sorrow, Maggie stole cautiously +from the house, and was soon walking down the woodland road, slowly, +sadly, for the world had changed to her since last she trod that path. +Maggie, too, was changed, and when at last she stood before Hagar, who +was now able to sit up, the latter could scarcely recognize in the +pale, haggard woman the blooming, merry-hearted girl once known as +Maggie Miller. + +"Margaret!" she cried, "you have come again--come to forgive your poor +old grand--No, no," she added, as she saw the look of pain flash over +Maggie's face, "I'll never insult you with that name. Only say that +you forgive me, will you, Miss Margaret?" and the trembling voice was +choked with sobs, while the aged form shook as with a palsied stroke. + +Hagar had been ill. Exposure to the damp air on that memorable night +had brought on a second severe attack of rheumatism, which had bent +her nearly double. Anxiety for Margaret, too, had wasted her to a +skeleton, and her thin, sharp face, now of a corpse-like pallor, +contrasted strangely with her eyes, from which the wildness all was +gone. Touched with pity, Maggie drew a chair to her side, and thus +replied: "I do forgive you, Hagar, for I know that what you did was +done in love; but by telling me what you have you've ruined all my +hopes of happiness. In the new scenes to which I go, and the new +associations I shall form, I may become contented with my lot, but +never can I forget that I once was Maggie Miller." + +"Magaret," gasped Hagar, and in her dim eye there was something of its +olden fire, "if by new associations you mean Henry Warner, it must not +be. Alas, that I should tell this! but Henry is your brother--your +father's only son. Oh, horror! horror!" and dreading what Margaret +would say, she covered her face with her cramped, distorted hands. + +But Margaret was not so much affected as Hagar had anticipated. She +had suffered severely, and could not now be greatly moved. There was +an involuntary shudder as she thought of her escape, and then her next +feeling was one of satisfaction in knowing that she was not quite +friendless and alone, for Henry would protect her, and Rose, indeed, +would be to her a sister. + +"Henry Warner my brother!" she exclaimed; "how came you by this +knowledge?" And very briefly Hagar explained to her what she knew, +saying that Hester had told her of two young children, but she had +forgotten entirely of their existence, and now that she was reminded +of it she could not help fancying that Hester said the stepchild was a +boy. But the peddler knew, of course, and she must have forgotten. + +"When the baby they thought was you died," said Hagar, "I wrote to the +minister in Meriden, telling him of it, but I did not sign my name, +and I thought that was the last I should ever hear of it. Why don't +you curse me?" she continued. "Haven't I taken from you your intended +husband, as well as your name?" + +Maggie understood perfectly now why the secret had been revealed, and +involuntarily she exclaimed, "Oh, had I told you first, this never +need have been!" and then hurriedly she explained to the repentant +Hagar how at the very moment when the dread confession was made she, +Maggie Miller, was free from Henry Warner. + +From the window Maggie saw in the distance the servant who had charge +of Hagar, and, dreading the presence of a third person, she arose to +go. Offering her hand to Hagar, she said: "Good-by. I may never see +you again, but if I do not, remember that I forgive you freely." + +"You are not going away, Maggie. Oh, are you going away!" and the +crippled arms were stretched imploringly towards Maggie, who answered: +"Yes, Hagar, I must go. Honor requires me to tell Madam Conway who +I am, and after that you know that I can not stay. I shall go to my +brother." + +Three times old Hagar essayed to speak, and at last between a whisper +and a moan, she found strength to say: "Will you kiss me once, Maggie +darling? 'Twill be something to remember, in the lonesome nights when +I am all alone. Just once, Maggie! Will you?" + +Maggie could not refuse, and gliding to the bowed woman's side she put +back the soft hair from off the wrinkled brow, and left there token of +her forgiveness. + + * * * * * + +The last May sun had set, and ere the first June morning rose Maggie +Miller would be nowhere found in the home her presence had made so +bright. Alone, with no eye upon her save that of the Most High, she +had visited the two graves, and, while her heart was bleeding at every +pore, had wept her last adieu over the sleeping dust so long held +sacred as her mother's. Then kneeling at the other grave, she +murmured, "Forgive me, Hester Hamilton, if in this parting hour my +heart clings most to her whose memory I was first taught to revere; +and if in the better world you know and love each other--oh, will both +bless and pity me, poor, wretched Maggie Miller!" + +Softly the night air moved through the pine that overshadowed the +humble grave, while the moonlight, flashing from the tall marble, +which stood a sentinel over the other mound, bathed Maggie's upturned +face as with a flood of glory, and her throbbing heart grew still as +if indeed at that hushed moment the two mothers had come to bless +their child. The parting with the dead was over, and Margaret sat +again in her room, waiting until all was still about the old stone +house. She did not add to her letter another line telling of her +discovery, for she did not think of it; her mind was too intent upon +escaping unobserved; and when sure the family had retired she moved +cautiously down the stairs, noiselessly unlocked the door, and without +once daring to look back, lest she should waver in her purpose, she +went forth, heartbroken and alone, from what for eighteen happy years +had been her home. Very rapidly she proceeded, coming at last to an +open field through which the railroad ran, the depot being nearly a +quarter of a mile away. Not until then had she reflected that her +appearance at the station at that hour of the night would excite +suspicion, and she was beginning to feel uneasy, when suddenly around +a curve the cars appeared in view. Fearing lest she should be too +late, she quickened her footsteps, when to her great surprise she +saw that the train was stopping! But not for her they waited; in the +bright moonlight the engineer had discovered a body lying across +the track, and had stopped in time to save the life of a man, who, +stupefied with drunkenness, had fallen asleep. The movement startled +the passengers, many of whom alighted and gathered around the +inebriate. + +In the meantime Margaret had come near, and, knowing she could not +now reach the depot in time, she mingled unobserved in the crowd, and +entering the rear car, took her seat near the door. The train at last +moved on, and as at the station no one save the agent was in waiting, +it is not strange that the conductor passed unheeded the veiled figure +which in the dark corner sat ready to pay her fare. + +"He will come to me by and by," thought Maggie, but he did not, and +when Worcester was reached the fare was still uncollected. Bewildered +and uncertain what to do next, she stepped upon the platform, deciding +finally to remain at the depot until morning, when a train would leave +for Leominster, where she confidently expected to find her brother. +Taking a seat in the ladies' room, she abandoned herself to her +sorrow, wondering what Theo would say could she see her then. But +Theo, though dreaming it may be of Maggie, dreamed not that she was +near, and so the night wore on, Margaret sleeping towards daylight, +and dreaming, too, of Arthur Carrollton, who she thought had followed +her--nay, was bending over her now and whispering in her ear, "Wake, +Maggie, wake." + +Starting up, she glanced anxiously around, uttering a faint cry when +she saw that it was not Arthur Carrollton, but a dark, rough-looking +stranger, who rather rudely asked her where she wished to go. + +"To Leominster," she answered, turning her face fully towards the man, +who became instantly respectful, telling her when the train would +leave, and saying that she must go to another depot, at the same time +asking if she had not better wait at some hotel. + +But Maggie preferred going at once to the Fitchburg depot, which she +accordingly did, and drawing her veil over her face, lest some one of +her few acquaintances in the city should recognize her, she sat there +until the time appointed for the cars to leave. Then, weary and faint, +she entered the train, her spirits in a measure rising as she felt +that she was drawing near to those who would love her for what she was +and not for what she had been. Rose would comfort her, and already her +heart bounded with the thought of seeing one whom she believed to be +her brother's wife, for Henry had written that ere his homeward voyage +was made Rose would be his bride. + +Ah, Maggie! there is for you a greater happiness in store--not a +brother, but a sister--your father's child is there to greet your +coming. And even at this early hour her snow-white fingers are +arranging the fair June blossoms into bouquets, with which she adorns +her home, saying to him who hovers at her side that somebody, she +knows not whom, is surely coming to-day; and then, with a blush +stealing over her cheek, she adds, "I wish it might be Margaret"; +while Henry, with a peculiar twist of his comical mouth, winds his arm +around her waist, and playfully responds, "Anyone save her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE SISTERS. + + +On a cool piazza overlooking a handsome flower garden the breakfast +table was tastefully arranged. It was Rose's idea to have it there, +and in her cambric wrapper, her golden curls combed smoothly back, and +her blue eyes shining with the light of a new joy, she occupies her +accustomed seat beside one who for several happy weeks has called her +his, loving her more and more each day, and wondering how thoughts of +any other could ever have filled his heart. There was much to be done +about his home, so long deserted, and as Rose was determined upon a +trip to the seaside he had made arrangements to be absent from +his business for two months or more, and was now enjoying all the +happiness of a quiet, domestic life, free from care of any kind. He +had heard of Maggie's illness, but she was better now, he supposed, +and when Theo hinted vaguely that a marriage between her and Arthur +Carrollton was not at all improbable, he hoped it would be so, for the +Englishman, he knew, was far better adapted to Margaret than he +had ever been. Of Theo's hints he was speaking to Rose as they sat +together at breakfast, and she had answered, "It will be a splendid +match," when the doorbell rang, and the servant announced, "A lady in +the parlor, who asks for Mr. Warner." + +"I told you someone would come," said Rose. "Do, pray, see who it is. +How does she look, Janet?" + +"Tall, white as a ghost, with big black eyes," was Janet's answer; +and, with his curiosity awakened, Henry Warner started for the parlor, +Rose following on tiptoe, and listening through the half-closed door +to what their visitor might say. + +Margaret had experienced no difficulty in finding the house of Mrs. +Warner, which seemed to her a second Paradise, so beautiful and cool +it looked, nestled amid the tall, green forest trees. Everything +around it betokened the fine taste of its occupants, and Maggie, as +she reflected that she too was nearly connected with this family, felt +her wounded pride in a measure soothed, for it was surely no disgrace +to claim such people as her friends. With a beating heart she rang the +bell, asking for Mr. Warner, and now, trembling in every limb, she +awaited his coming. He was not prepared to meet her, and at first he +did not know her, she was so changed; but when, throwing aside her +bonnet, she turned her face so that the light from the window opposite +shone fully upon her, he recognized her in a moment, and exclaimed, +"Margaret--Margaret Miller! why are you here?" + +The words reached Rose's ear, and darting forward she stood within +the door, just as Margaret, staggering a step or two towards Henry, +answered passionately, "I have come to tell you what I myself but +recently have learned"; and wringing her hands despairingly, she +continued, "I am not Maggie Miller, I am not anybody; I am Hagar +Warren's grandchild, the child of her daughter and your own father! +Oh, Henry, don't you see it? I am your sister. Take me as such, will +you? Love me as such, or I shall surely die. I have nobody now in the +wide world but you. They are all gone, all--Madam Conway, Theo too, +and--and--" She could not speak that name. It died upon her lips, and +tottering to a chair she would have fallen had not Henry caught her in +his arms. + +Leading her to the sofa, while Rose, perfectly confounded, still stood +within the door, he said to the half-crazed girl: "Margaret, I do not +understand you. I never had a sister, and my father died when I was +six months old. There must be some mistake. Will you tell me what you +mean?" + +Bewildered and perplexed, Margaret began a hasty repetition of Hagar's +story, but ere it was three-fourths told there came from the open door +a wild cry of delight, and quick as lightning a fairy form flew across +the floor, white arms were twined round Maggie's neck, kiss after kiss +was pressed upon her lips, and Rose's voice was in her ear, never +before half so sweet as now, when it murmured soft and low to the +weary girl: "My sister Maggie--mine you are--the child of my own +father, for I was Rose Hamilton, called Warner, first to please my +aunt, and next to please my Henry. Oh, Maggie darling, I am so happy +now!" and the little snowy hands smoothed caressingly the bands of +hair, so unlike her own fair waving tresses. + +It was, indeed, a time of almost perfect bliss to them all, and for +a moment Margaret forgot her pain, which, had Hagar known the truth, +need not have come to her. But she scarcely regretted it now, when she +felt Rose Warner's heart throbbing against her own, and knew their +father was the same. + +"You are tired," Rose said, at length, when much had been said by +both. "You must have rest, and then I will bring to you my aunt, our +aunt, Maggie--our father's sister. She has been a mother to me. +She will be one to you. But stay," she continued, "you have had no +breakfast. I will bring you some," and she tripped lightly from the +room. + +Maggie followed her with swimming eyes, then turning to Henry she +said, "You are very happy, I am sure." + +"Yes, very," he answered, coming to her side. "Happy in my wife, happy +in my newly found sister," and he laid his hand on hers with something +of his former familiarity. + +But the olden feeling was gone, and Maggie could now meet his glance +without a blush, while he could talk with her as calmly as if she +had never been aught to him save the sister of his wife. Thus often +changeth the human heart's first love. + +After a time Rose returned, bearing a silver tray heaped with the most +tempting viands: but Maggie's heart was too full to eat, and after +drinking a cup of the fragrant black tea, which Rose herself had made, +she laid her head upon the pillow which Henry brought, and, with Rose +sitting by, holding lovingly her hand, she fell into a quiet slumber. +For several hours she slept, and when she awoke at last the sun was +shining in at the western window, casting over the floor a glimmering +light, and reminding her so forcibly of the dancing shadows on the +grass which grew around the old stone house that her eyes filled with +tears, and, thinking herself alone, she murmured, "Will it never be my +home again?" + +A sudden movement, the rustling of a dress, startled her, and lifting +up her head she saw standing near a pleasant-looking, middle-aged +woman, who, she rightly guessed, was Mrs. Warner, her own aunt. + +"Maggie," the lady said, laying her hand on the fevered brow, "I have +heard a strange tale to-day. Heretofore I had supposed Rose to be my +only child, but though you take me by surprise you are not the less +welcome. There is room in my heart for you, Maggie Miller, room for +the youngest-born of my only brother. You are somewhat like him, too," +she continued, "though more like your mother;" and with the mention of +that name a flush stole over the lady's face, for she, too, was very +proud, and her brother's marriage with a servant girl had never been +quite forgiven. + +Mrs. Warner had seen much of the world, and Maggie knew her to be a +woman of refinement, a woman of whom even Madam Conway would not be +ashamed; and, winding her arms around her neck, she said impulsively, +"I am glad you are my aunt; and you will love me, I am sure, even if I +am poor Hagar's grandchild." + +Mrs. Warner knew nothing of Hagar save from Henry's amusing +description, the entire truth of which she somewhat doubted; but she +knew that whatever Hagar Warren might be, the beautiful girl before +her was not answerable for it, and very kindly she tried to soothe +her, telling her how happy they would be together. "Rose will leave me +in the autumn," she said, "and without you I should be all alone." Of +Hagar, too, she spoke kindly and considerately, and Maggie, listening +to her, felt somewhat reconciled to the fate which had made her what +she was. Still, there was much of pride to overcome ere she could +calmly think of herself as other than Madam Conway's grandchild; and +when that afternoon, as Henry and Rose were sitting with her, the +latter spoke of her mother, saying she had a faint remembrance of a +tall, handsome girl who sang her to sleep on the night when her own +mother died, there came a visible shadow over Maggie's face, and +instantly changing the conversation she asked why Henry had never told +her anything definite concerning himself and family. + +For a moment Henry seemed embarrassed. Both the Hamiltons and the +Warners were very aristocratic in their feelings, and by mutual +consent the name of Hester Warren was by them seldom spoken. +Consequently, if there existed a reason for Henry's silence with +regard to his own and Rose's history, it was that he disliked bringing +up a subject he had been taught to avoid, both by his aunt and the +mother of Mr. Hamilton, who for several years after her son's death +had lived with her daughter in Leominster, where she finally died. +This, however, he could not say to Margaret, and after a little +hesitancy he answered laughingly, "You never asked me for any +particulars; and, then, you know, I was more agreeably occupied than I +should have been had I spent my time in enlightening you with regard +to our genealogy"; and the saucy mouth smiled archly, first on +Rose, and then on Margaret, both of whom blushed slightly, the one +suspecting he had not told her the whole truth, and the other knowing +he had not. + +Very considerate was Rose of Maggie's feelings and not again that +afternoon did she speak of Hester, though she talked much of their +father; and Margaret, listening to his praises, felt herself +insensibly drawn towards this new claimant for her filial love. "I +wish I could have seen him," she said; and, starting to her feet, Rose +answered: "Strange I did not think of it before. We have his portrait. +Come this way," and she led the half-unwilling Maggie into an +adjoining room, where from the wall a portly, good-humored-looking man +gazed down upon the sisters, his eyes seeming to rest with mournful +tenderness on the face of her whom in life they had not looked upon. +He seemed older than Maggie had supposed, and the hair upon his head +was white, reminding her of Hagar. But she did not for this turn away +from him. There was something pleasing in the mild expression of his +face, and she whispered faintly, "'Tis my father." + +On the right of this portrait was another, the picture of a woman, in +whose curling lip and soft brown eyes Maggie recognized the mother of +Henry. To the left was another still, and she gazed upon the angel +face, with eyes of violet blue, and hair of golden brown, on which the +fading sunlight now was falling, encircling it as it were with a halo +of glory. + +"You are much like her," she said to Rose, who made no answer, for she +was thinking of another picture, which years before had been banished +to the garret by her haughty grandmother, as unworthy a place beside +him who had petted and caressed the young girl of plebeian birth and +kindred. + +"I can make amends for it, though," thought Rose, returning with +Maggie to the parlor. Then, seeking out her husband, she held with him +a whispered consultation, the result of which was that on the morrow +there was a rummaging in the garret, an absence from home for an +hour or two, and when about noon she returned there was a pleased +expression on her face, as if she had accomplished her purpose, +whatever it might have been. + +All that morning Maggie had been restless and uneasy, wandering +listlessly from room to room, looking anxiously down the street, +starting nervously at the sound of every footstep, while her cheeks +alternately flushed and then grew pale as the day passed on. Dinner +being over she sat alone in the parlor, her eyes fixed upon the +carpet, and her thoughts away with one who she vaguely hoped would +have followed her ere this. True, she had added no postscript to tell +him of her new discovery; but Hagar knew, and he would go to her for a +confirmation of the letter. She would tell him where Maggie was +gone, and he, if his love could survive that shock, would follow her +thither; nay, would be there that very day, and Maggie's heart grew +wearier, fainter, as time wore on and he did not come. "I might have +known it," she whispered sadly. "I knew that he would nevermore think +of me," and she wept silently over her ruined love. + +"Maggie, sister," came to her ear, and Rose was at her side. "I have a +surprise for you, darling. Can you bear it now?" + +Oh, how eagerly poor Maggie Miller looked up in Rose's face! The car +whistle had sounded half an hour before. Could it be that he had come? +Was he there? Did he love her still? No, Maggie, no; the surprise +awaiting you is of a far different nature, and the tears flow afresh +when Rose, in reply to the question "What is it, darling?" answers, +"It is this," at the same time placing in Maggie's hand an ambrotype +which she bade her examine. With a feeling of keen disappointment +Maggie opened the casing, involuntarily shutting her eyes as if to +gather strength for what she was to see. + +It was a young face--a handsome face--a face much like her own, while +in the curve of the upper lip and the expression of the large black +eyes there was a look like Hagar Warren. They had met together thus, +the one a living reality, the other a semblance of the dead, and she +who held that picture trembled violently. There was a fierce struggle +within, the wildly beating heart throbbing for one moment with a +newborn love, and then rebelling against taking that shadow, beautiful +though it was, in place of her whose memory she had so long revered. + +"Who is it, Maggie?" Rose asked, leaning over her shoulder. + +Maggie knew full well whose face it was she looked upon, but not yet +could she speak that name so interwoven with memories of another, and +she answered mournfully, "It is Hester Hamilton." + +"Yes, Margaret, your mother," said Rose. "I never called her by that +name, but I respect her for your sake. She was my father's pet, so +it has been said, for he was comparatively old, and she his young +girl-wife." + +"Where did you get this?" Maggie asked; and, coloring crimson, Rose +replied, "We have always had her portrait, but grandmother, who was +very old and foolishly proud about some things, was offended at our +father's last marriage, and when after his death the portraits were +brought here, she--Forgive her, Maggie--she did not know you, or she +would not have done it--" + +"I know," interrupted Maggie. "She despised this Hester Warren, and +consigned her portrait to some spot from which you have brought it and +had this taken from it." + +"Not despised her!" cried Rose, in great distress, as she saw a dark +expression stealing over the face of Maggie, in whose heart a chord of +sympathy had been struck when she thought of her mother banished from +her father's side. "Grandma could not despise her," continued Rose; +"she was so good, so beautiful." + +"Yes, she was beautiful," murmured Maggie, gazing earnestly upon the +fair, round face, the soft, black eyes, and raven hair of her who for +years had slept beneath the shadow of the Hillsdale woods. "Oh, I wish +I were dead like her!" she exclaimed at last, closing the ambrotype +and laying it upon the table. "I wish I was lying in that little grave +in the place of her who should have borne my name, and been what I +once was;" and bowing her face upon her hands she wept bitterly, while +Rose tried in vain to comfort her. "I am not sorry you are my sister," +sobbed Margaret through her tears. "That's the only comfort I have +left me now; but, Rose, I love Arthur Carrollton so much--oh, so much, +and how can I give him up!" + +"If he is the noble, true-hearted man he looks to be, he will not give +you up," answered Rose, and then for the first time since this meeting +she questioned Margaret concerning Mr. Carrollton and the relations +existing between them. "He will not cast you off," she said, when +Margaret had told her all she had to tell. "He may be proud, but he +will cling to you still. He will follow you, too--not to-day, perhaps, +nor to-morrow, but ere long he will surely come;" and, listening to +her sister's cheering words, Maggie herself grew hopeful, and that +evening talked animatedly with Henry and Rose of a trip to the seaside +that they were intending to make. "You will go, too, Maggie," said +Rose, caressing her sister's pale cheek, and whispering in her ear, +"Aunt Susan will be here to tell Mr. Carrollton where you are, if he +does not come before we go, which I am sure he will." + +Maggie tried to think so too, and her sleep that night was sweeter +than it had been before for many weeks--but the next day came, and the +next, and Maggie's eyes grew dim with watching and with tears, for up +and down the road, as far as she could see, there came no trace of him +for whom she waited. + +"I might have known it; it was foolish of me to think otherwise," she +sighed; and, turning sadly from the window where all the afternoon she +had been sitting, she laid her head wearily upon the lap of Rose. + +"Maggie," said Henry, "I am going to Worcester to-morrow, and perhaps +George can tell me something of Mr. Carrollton." + +For a moment Maggie's heart throbbed with delight at the thought of +hearing from him, even though she heard that he would leave her. But +anon her pride rose strong within her. She had told Hagar twice of +her destination, Hagar had told him, and if he chose he would have +followed her ere this; so somewhat bitterly she said: "Don't speak to +George of me. Don't tell him I am here. Promise me, will you?" + +The promise was given, and the next morning, which was Saturday, Henry +started for Worcester on the early train. The day seemed long to +Maggie, and when at nightfall he came to them again it was difficult +to tell which was the more pleased at his return, Margaret or Rose. + +"Did you see Theo?" asked the former; and Henry replied: "George told +me she had gone to Hillsdale. Madam Conway is very sick." + +"For me! for me! She's sick with mourning for me!" cried Maggie. +"Darling grandma! she does love me still, and I will go home to her at +once." + +Then the painful thought rushed over her: "If she wished for me, she +would send. It's the humiliation, not the love, that makes her sick. +They have cast me off--grandma, Theo, all, all!" and, sinking upon the +lounge, she wept aloud. + +"Margaret," said Henry, coming to her side, "but for my promise +I should have talked to George of you, for there was a troubled +expression on his face when he asked me if I had heard from +Hillsdale." + +"What did you say?" asked Maggie, holding her breath to catch the +answer, which was, "I told him you had not written to me since my +return from Cuba, and then he looked as if he would say more, but a +customer called him away, and our conversation was not resumed." + +For a moment Maggie was silent. Then she said: "I am glad you did not +intrude me upon him. If Theo has gone to Hillsdale, she knows that +I am here, and does not care to follow me. It is the disgrace that +troubles them, not the losing me!" and again burying her head in the +cushions of the lounge, she wept bitterly. It was useless for Henry +and Rose to try to comfort her, telling her it was possible that Hagar +had told nothing. "And if so," said Henry, "you well know that I am +the last one to whom you would be expected to flee for protection." +Margaret would not listen. She was resolved upon being unhappy, and +during the long hours of that night she tossed wakefully upon her +pillow, and when the morning came she was too weak to rise; so she +kept her room, listening to the music of the Sabbath bells, which to +her seemed sadly saying, "Home, home." "Alas! I have no home," she +said, turning away to weep, for in the tolling of those bells there +came to her no voice whispering of the darkness, the desolation, and +the sorrow that were in the home for which she so much mourned. + +Thus the day wore on, and ere another week was gone Rose insisted upon +a speedy removal to the seashore, notwithstanding it was so early in +the season, for by this means she hoped that Maggie's health would be +improved. Accordingly, Henry went once more to Worcester, ostensibly +for money, but really to see if George Douglas now would speak to him +of Margaret. But George was in New York, they said; and, somewhat +disappointed, Henry went back to Leominster, where everything was +in readiness for their journey. Monday was fixed upon for their +departure, and at an early hour Margaret looked back on what had +been to her a second home, smiling faintly as Rose whispered to her +cheerily, "I have a strong presentiment that somewhere in our travels +we shall meet with Arthur Carrollton." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE HOUSE OF MOURNING. + + +Come now over the hills to the westward. Come to the Hillsdale woods, +to the stone house by the mill, where all the day long there is heard +but one name, the servants breathing it softly and low, as if she who +had borne it were dead, the sister, dim-eyed now, and paler faced, +whispering it oft to herself, while the lady, so haughty and proud, +repeats it again and again, shuddering as naught but the echoing walls +reply to the heartbroken cry of, "Margaret, Margaret, where are you +now?" + +Yes, there was mourning in that household--mourning for the lost one, +the darling, the pet of them all. + +Brightly had the sun arisen on that June morning which brought to them +their sorrow, while the birds in the tall forest trees caroled as +gayly as if no storm-cloud were hovering near. At an early hour Mr. +Carrollton had arisen, thinking, as he looked forth from his window, +"She will tell me all to-day," and smiling as he thought how easy and +pleasant would be the task of winning her back to her olden gayety. +Madam Conway, too, was unusually excited, and very anxiously she +listened for the first sound of Maggie's footsteps on the stairs. + +"She sleeps late," she thought, when breakfast was announced, and +taking her accustomed seat she bade a servant see if Margaret were +ill. + +"She is not there," was the report the girl brought back. + +"Not there!" cried Mr. Carrollton. + +"Not there!" repeated Madam Conway, a shadowy foreboding of evil +stealing over her. "She seldom walks at this early hour," she +continued; and, rising, she went herself to Margaret's room. + +Everything was in perfect order, the bed was undisturbed, the chamber +empty; Margaret was gone, and on the dressing-table lay the fatal +letter telling why she went. At first Madam Conway did not see it; but +it soon caught her eye, and tremblingly she opened it, reading but the +first line, "I am going away forever." + +Then a loud shriek rang through the silent room, penetrating to Arthur +Carrollton's listening ear, and bringing him at once to her side. With +the letter still in her hand, and her face of a deathly hue, and her +eyes flashing with fear, Madam Conway turned to him as he entered, +saying, "Margaret has gone, left us forever--killed herself it may be! +Read!" And she handed him the letter, herself bending eagerly forward +to hear what he might say. + +But she listened in vain. With lightning rapidity Arthur Carrollton +read what Maggie had written--read that she, his idol, the chosen +bride of his bosom, was the daughter of a servant, the grandchild of +old Hagar! And for this she had fled from his presence, fled because +she knew of the mighty pride which now, in the first bitter moment +of his agony, did indeed rise up, a barrier between himself and the +beautiful girl he loved so well. Had she lain dead before him, dead +in all her youthful beauty, he could have folded her in his arms, and +then buried her from his sight, with a feeling of perfect happiness +compared to that which he now felt. + +"Oh, Maggie, my lost one, can it be!" he whispered to himself, and +pressing his hand upon his chest, which heaved with strong emotion, he +staggered to a seat, while the perspiration stood in beaded drops upon +his forehead and around his lips. + +"What is it, Mr. Carrollton? 'Tis something dreadful, sure," said Mrs. +Jeffrey, appearing in the door, but Madam Conway motioned her away, +and, tottering to his side, said, "Read it to me--read." + +The Sound of her voice recalled his wandering mind, and covering his +face with his hands he moaned in anguish; then, growing suddenly calm, +he snatched up the letter, which had fallen to the floor, and read it +aloud; while Madam Conway, stupefied with horror, sank at his feet, +and clasping her hands above her head, rocked to and fro, but made no +word of comment. Far down the long ago her thoughts were straying, and +gathering up many bygone scenes which told her that what she heard was +true. + +"Yes, 'tis true," she groaned; and then, powerless to speak another +word, she laid her head upon a chair, while Mr. Carrollton, preferring +to be alone, sought the solitude of his own room, where unobserved +he could wrestle with his sorrow and conquer his inborn pride, which +whispered to him that a Carrollton must not wed a bride so far beneath +him. + +Only a moment, though, and then the love he bore for Maggie Miller +rolled back upon him with an overwhelming power, while his better +judgment, with that love, came hand in hand, pleading for the fair +young girl, who, now that he had lost her, seemed a thousandfold +dearer than before. But he had not lost her; he would find her. She +was Maggie Miller still to him, and though old Hagar's blood were in +her veins he would not give her up. This resolution once made, it +could not be shaken, and when half an hour or more was passed he +walked with firm, unfaltering footsteps back to the apartment where +Madam Conway still sat upon the floor, her head resting upon the +chair, and her frame convulsed with grief. + +Her struggle had been a terrible one, and it was not over yet, for +with her it was more than a matter of pride and love. Her daughter's +rights had been set at naught; a wrong had been done to the dead; the +child who slept beneath the pine had been neglected; nay, in life, had +been, perhaps, despised for an intruder, for one who had no right to +call her grandmother; and shudderingly she cried, "Why was it suffered +thus to be?" Then as she thought of white-haired Hagar Warren, she +raised her hand to curse her, but the words died on her lips, for +Hagar's deed had brought to her much joy; and now, as she remembered +the bounding step, the merry laugh, the sunny face, and loving words +which had made her later years so happy, she involuntarily stretched +out her arms in empty air, moaning sadly: "I want her here. I want +her now, just as she used to be." Then, over the grave of her buried +daughter, over the grave of the sickly child, whose thin, blue face +came up before her just as it lay in its humble coffin, over the +deception of eighteen years, her heart bounded with one wild, yearning +throb, for every bleeding fiber clung with a deathlike grasp to her +who had been so suddenly taken from her. "I love her still!" she +cried; "but can I take her back?" And then commenced the fiercest +struggle of all, the battling of love and pride, the one rebelling +against the child of Hagar Warren, and the other clamoring loudly that +without that child the world to her was nothing. It was the hour of +Madam Conway's humiliation, and in bitterness of spirit she groaned: +"That I should come to this! Theo first, and Margaret, my bright, my +beautiful Margaret, next! Oh, how can I give her up when I loved her +best of all--best of all!" + +This was true, for all the deeper, stronger love of Madam Conway's +nature had gone forth to the merry, gleeful girl whose graceful, +independent bearing she had so often likened to herself and the +haughty race with which she claimed relationship. How was this +illusion dispelled! Margaret was not a Conway, nor yet a Davenport. A +servant-girl had been her mother, and of her father there was nothing +known. Madam Conway was one who seldom wept for grief. She had stood +calmly at the bedside of her dying husband, had buried her only +daughter from her sight, had met with many reverses, and shed for +all no tears, but now they fell like rain upon her face, burning, +blistering as they fell, but bringing no relief. + +"I shall miss her in the morning," she cried, "miss her at noon, +miss her in the lonesome nights, miss her everywhere--oh, Margaret, +Margaret, 'tis more than I can bear! Come back to me now, just as you +are. I want you here--here where the pain is hardest," and she clasped +her arms tightly over her heaving bosom. Then her pride returned +again, and with it came thoughts of Arthur Carrollton. He would scoff +at her as weak and sentimental; he would never take beyond the sea a +bride of "Hagarish" birth; and duty demanded that she too should be +firm, and sanction his decision. "But when he's gone," she whispered, +"when he has left America behind, I'll find her, if my life is spared. +I'll find poor Margaret, and see that she does not want, though I must +not take her back." + +This resolution, however, did not bring her comfort, and the hands +pressed so convulsively upon her side could not ease her pain. Surely +never before had so dark an hour infolded that haughty woman, and a +prayer that she might die was trembling on her lips when a footfall +echoed along the hall, and Arthur Carrollton stood before her. His +face was very pale, bearing marks of the storm he had passed through; +but he was calm, and his voice was natural as he said: "Possibly what +we have heard is false. It may be a vagary of Hagar's half-crazed +brain." + +For an instant Madam Conway had hoped so too; but when she reflected, +she knew that it was true. Old Hagar had been very minute in her +explanations to Margaret, who in turn had written exactly what she had +heard, and Madam Conway, when she recalled the past, could have no +doubt that it was true. She remembered everything, but more distinctly +the change of dress at the time of the baptism. There could be no +mistake. Margaret was not hers, and so she said to Arthur Carrollton, +turning her head away as if she too were in some way answerable for +the disgrace. + +"It matters not," he replied, "whose she has been. She is mine now, +and if you feel able we will consult together as to the surest method +of finding her." A sudden faintness came over Madam Conway, and, while +the expression of her face changed to one of joyful surprise, she +stammered out: "Can it be I hear aright? Do I understand you? Are you +willing to take poor Maggie back?" + +"I certainly have no other intention," he answered. "There was a +moment, the memory of which makes me ashamed, when my pride rebelled; +but it is over now, and though Maggie cannot in reality be again your +child, she can be my wife, and I must find her." + +"You make me so happy--oh, so happy!" said Madam Conway. "I feared you +would cast her off, and in that case it would have been my duty to do +so too, though I never loved a human being as at this moment I love +her." + +Mr. Carrollton looked as if he did not fully comprehend the woman who, +loving Margaret as she said she did, could yet be so dependent upon +his decision; but he made no comment, and when next he spoke he +announced his intention of calling upon Hagar, who possibly could +tell him where Margaret had gone. "At all events," said he, "I may +ascertain why the secret, so long kept, was at this late day divulged. +It may be well," he continued, "to say nothing to the servants as yet, +save that Maggie has gone. Mrs. Jeffrey, however, had better be let +into the secret at once. We can trust her, I think." + +Madam Conway bowed, and Mr. Carrollton left the room, starting +immediately for the cottage by the mine. As he approached the house he +saw the servant who for several weeks had been staying there, and who +now came out to meet him, telling him that since the night before +Hagar had been raving crazy, talking continually of Maggie, who, she +said, had gone where none would ever find her. + +In some anxiety Mr. Carrollton pressed on, until the cottage door was +reached, where for a moment he stood gazing silently upon the poor +woman before him. Upon the bed, her white hair falling over her round, +bent shoulders, and her large eyes shining with delirious light, old +Hagar sat, waving back and forth, and talking of Margaret, of Hester, +and "the little foolish child," who, with a sneer upon her lip, she +said, "was a fair specimen of the Conway race." + +"Hagar," said Mr. Carrollton; and at the sound of that voice Hagar +turned toward him her flashing eyes, then with a scream buried her +head in the bedclothes, saying: "Go away, Arthur Carrollton! Why are +you here? Don't you know who I am? Don't you know what Margaret is, +and don't you know how proud you are?" + +"Hagar," he said again, subduing, by a strong effort, the repugnance +he felt at questioning her, "I know all, except where Margaret has +gone, and if on this point you can give me any information, I shall +receive it most thankfully." + +"Gone!" shrieked Hagar, starting up in bed; "then she has gone. The +play is played out, the performance is ended--and I have sinned for +nothing!" + +"Hagar, will you tell me where Maggie is? I wish to follow her," said +Mr. Carrollton; and Hagar answered: "Maggie, Maggie--he said that +lovingly enough, but there's a catch somewhere. He does not wish to +follow her for any good--and though I know where she has gone I'll +surely never tell. I kept one secret nineteen years. I can keep +another as long"; and, folding her arms upon her chest, she commenced +singing, "I know full well, but I'll never tell." + +Biting his lips with vexation, Mr. Carrollton tried first by +persuasion, then by flattery, and lastly by threats, to obtain from +her the desired information, but in vain. Her only answer was, "I know +full well, but I'll never tell," save once, when tossing towards him +her long white hair, she shrieked: "Don't you see a resemblance--only +hers is black--and so was mine nineteen years ago--and so was Hester's +too--glossy and black as the raven's wing. The child is like the +mother--the mother was like the grandmother, and the grandmother is +like--me, Hagar Warren. Do you understand?" + +Mr. Carrollton made no answer, and with a feeling of disappointment +walked away, shuddering as he thought, "And she is Margaret's +grandmother." + +He found Madam Conway in hysterics on Margaret's bed, for she had +refused to leave the room, saying she would die there, or nowhere. +Gradually the reality of her loss had burst upon her, and now, +gasping, choking, and wringing her hands, she lay upon the pillows, +while Mrs. Jeffrey, worked up to a pitch of great nervous excitement, +fidgeted hither and thither, doing always the wrong thing, fanning the +lady when she did not wish to be fanned, and ceasing to fan her just +when she was "dying for want of air." + +As yet Mrs. Jeffrey knew nothing definite, except that something +dreadful had happened to Margaret; but very candidly Mr. Carrollton +told her all, bidding her keep silent on the subject; then, turning to +Madam Conway, he repeated to her the result of his call on old Hagar. + +"The wretch!" gasped Madam Conway, while Mrs. Jeffrey, running in her +fright from the window to the door, and from the door back to the +window again, exclaimed: "Margaret not a Conway, nor yet a Davenport, +after all! It is just what I expected. I always knew she came honestly +by those low-bred ways!" + +"Jeffrey," and the voice of the hysterical woman on the bed was +loud and distinct, as she grasped the arm of the terrified little +governess, who chanced to be within her reach. "Jeffrey, either leave +my house at once, or speak more deferentially of Miss Miller. You +will call her by that name, too. It matters not to Mr. Carrollton and +myself whose child she has been. She is ours now, and must be treated +with respect. Do you understand me?" + +"Yes, ma'am," meekly answered Jeffrey, rubbing her dumpy arm, which +bore the mark of a thumb and finger, and as her services were not just +then required she glided from the room to drown, if possible, her +grievance in the leather-bound London edition of Baxter! + +Meanwhile Madam Conway was consulting with Mr. Carrollton as to the +best mode of finding Margaret. "She took the cars, of course," said +Mr. Carrollton, adding that he should go at once to the depot and +ascertain which way she went. "If I do not return to-night you need +not be alarmed," he said, as he was leaving the room, whereupon Madam +Conway called him back, bidding him telegraph for Theo at once, as she +must have someone with her besides that vexatious Jeffrey. + +Mr. Carrollton promised compliance with her request, and then went +immediately to the depot, where he learned that no one had entered the +cars from that place on the previous night, and that Maggie, if she +took the train at all, must have done so at some other station. This +was not unlikely, and before the day was passed Mr. Carrollton had +visited several different stations, and had talked with the conductors +of the several trains, but all to no purpose; and, very much +disheartened, he returned at nightfall to the old stone house, where +to his surprise he found both Theo and her husband. The telegram had +done its mission, and feeling anxious to know the worst George had +come up with Theo to spend the night. It was the first time that Madam +Conway had seen him since her memorable encounter with his mother, +for though Theo had more than once been home, he had never before +accompanied her, and now when Madam Conway heard his voice in the hall +below she groaned afresh. The sight of his good-humored face, however, +and his kind offer to do whatever he could to find the fugitive, +restored her composure in a measure, and she partially forgot that he +was in any way connected with the blue umbrella, or the blue umbrella +connected with him! Never in her life had Theo felt very deeply upon +any subject, and now, though she seemed bewildered at what she heard, +she manifested no particular emotion, until her grandmother, wringing +her hands, exclaimed, "You have no sister now, my child, and I no +Margaret!" Then, indeed, her tears flowed, and when her husband +whispered to her, "We will love poor Maggie all the same," she cried +aloud, but not quite as demonstratively as Madam Conway wished; and, +in a very unamiable frame of mind, the old lady accused her of being +selfish and hard-hearted. + +At this stage of proceedings Mr. Carrollton returned, bringing no +tidings of Maggie, whereupon another fit of hysterics ensued, and as +Theo behaved much worse than Mrs. Jeffrey had done, the latter was +finally summoned again to the sickroom, and at last succeeded in +quieting the excited woman. The next morning George Douglas visited +old Hagar, but he too was unsuccessful, and that afternoon he returned +to Worcester, leaving Theo with her grandmother, who, though finding +fault with whatever she did, refused to let her go until Margaret was +found. + +During the remainder of the week Mr. Carrollton rode through the +country, making the most minute inquiries, and receiving always the +same discouraging answer. Once he thought to advertise, but from +making the affair thus public he instinctively shrank, and, resolving +to spare neither his time, his money, nor his health, he pursued his +weary way alone. Once, too, Madam Conway spoke of Henry Warner, saying +it was possible Maggie might have gone to him, as she had thought so +much of Rose; but Mr. Carrollton "knew better." A discarded lover, +he said, was the last person in the world to whom a young girl like +Margaret would go, particularly as Theo had said that Henry was now +the husband of another. + +Still the suggestion haunted him, and on the Monday following Henry +Warner's first visit to Worcester, he, too, went down to talk with Mr. +Douglas, asking him if it were possible that Maggie was in Leominster. + +"I know she is not," said George, repeating the particulars of his +interview with Henry, who, he said, was at the store on Saturday. +"Once I thought of telling him all," said he, "and then, considering +the relation which formerly existed between them, I concluded to keep +silent, especially as he manifested no desire to speak of her, +but appeared, I fancied, quite uneasy when I casually mentioned +Hillsdale." + +Thus was that matter decided, and while not many miles away Maggie +was watching hopelessly for the coming of Arthur Carrollton, he, with +George Douglas, was devising the best means for finding her, George +generously offering to assist in the search, and suggesting finally +that he should himself go to New York City, while Mr. Carrollton +explored Boston and its vicinity. It seemed quite probable that +Margaret would seek some of the large cities, as in her letter she +had said she could earn her livelihood by teaching music; and quite +hopeful of success, the young men parted, Mr. Carrollton going +immediately to Boston, while Mr. Douglas, after a day or two, started +for New York, whither, as the reader will remember, he had gone at the +time of Henry's last visit to Worcester. + +Here for a time we leave them, Hagar raving mad, Madam Conway in +strong hysterics, Theo wishing herself anywhere but at Hillsdale, Mrs. +Jeffrey ditto, George Douglas threading the crowded streets of the +noisy city, and Mr. Carrollton in Boston, growing paler and sadder as +day after day passed by, bringing him no trace of the lost one. Here, +I say, we leave them, while in another chapter we follow the footsteps +of her for whom this search was made. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +NIAGARA. + + +From the seaside to the mountains, from the mountains to Saratoga, +from Saratoga to Montreal, from Montreal to the Thousand Isles, +and thence they scarce knew where, the travelers wended their way, +stopping not long at any place, for Margaret was ever seeking change. +Greatly had she been admired, her pale, beautiful face attracting +attention at once; but from all flattery she turned away, saying to +Henry and Rose, "Let us go on." + +So onward still they went, pausing longest at Montreal, for it was +there Arthur Carrollton had been, there a part of his possessions +lay, and there Margaret willingly lingered, even after her companions +wished to be gone. + +"He may be here again," she said; and so she waited and watched, +scanning eagerly the passers-by, and noticing each new face as it +appeared at the table of the hotel where they were staying. But the +one she waited for never came. "And even if he does," she thought, "he +will not come for me." + +So she signified her willingness to depart, and early one bright July +morning she left, while the singing birds from the treetops, the +summer air from the Canada hills, and, more than all, a warning voice +within her, bade her "Tarry yet a little, stay till the sun was +set," for far out in the country, and many miles away, a train was +thundering on. It would reach the city at nightfall, and among its +jaded passengers was a worn and weary man. Hopeless, almost aimless +now, he would come, and why he came he scarcely knew. "She would not +be there, so far from home," he felt sure, but he was coming for the +sake of what he hoped and feared when last he trod those streets. +Listlessly he entered the same hotel from whose windows, for five long +days, a fair young face had looked for him. Listlessly he +registered his name, then carelessly turned the leaves +backward--backward--backward still, till only one remained between his +hand and the page bearing date five days before. He paused and was +about to move away, when a sudden breeze from the open window turned +the remaining leaf, and his eye caught the name, not of Maggie Miller, +but of "Henry Warner, lady, and sister." + +Thus it stood, and thus he repeated it to himself, dwelling upon the +last word "sister," as if to him it had another meaning. He had heard +from Madam Conway that neither Henry Warner nor Rose had a sister, but +she might be mistaken; probably she was; and dismissing the subject +from his mind, he walked away. Still the names haunted him, and +thinking at last that if Mr. Warner were now in Montreal he would +like to see him, he returned to the office, asking the clerk if the +occupants of Nos. ---- were there still. + +"Left this morning for the Falls," was the laconic answer; and, +without knowing why he should particularly wish to do so, Mr. +Carrollton resolved to follow them. + +He would as soon be at the Falls as in Montreal, he thought. +Accordingly he left the next morning for Niagara, taking the shortest +route by river and lake, and arriving there on the evening of the +second day after his departure from the city. But nowhere could a +trace be found of Henry Warner, and determining now to wait until he +came Mr. Carrollton took rooms at the International, where after a day +or two, worn out with travel, excitement, and hope deferred, he became +severely indisposed, and took his bed, forgetting entirely both Henry +Warner and the sister, whose name he had seen upon the hotel register. +Thoughts of Maggie Miller, however, were constantly in his mind, and +whether waking or asleep he saw always her face, sometimes radiant +with healthful beauty, as when he first beheld her, and again, pale, +troubled, and sad, as when he saw her last. + +"Oh, shall I ever find her?" he would sometimes say, as in the dim +twilight he lay listening to the noisy hum which came up from the +public room below. + +And once, as he lay there thus, he dreamed, and in his dreams there +came through the open window a clear, silvery voice, breathing the +loved name of Maggie. Again he heard it on the stairs, then little +tripping feet went past his door, followed by a slow, languid tread, +and with a nervous start the sick man awoke. The day had been cloudy +and dark, but the rain was over now, and the room was full of +sunshine--sunshine dancing on the walls, sunshine glimmering on the +floor, sunshine everywhere. Insensibly, too, there stole over Mr. +Carrollton's senses a feeling of quiet, of rest, and he slept ere long +again, dreaming this time that Margaret was there. + +Yes, Margaret was there--there, beneath the same roof which sheltered +him and the same sunshine which filled his room with light had bathed +her white brow, as, leaning from her window, she listened to the roar +of the falling water. They had lingered on their way, stopping at the +Thousand Isles, for Margaret would have it so; but they had come at +last, and the tripping footsteps in the hall, the silvery voice upon +the stairs, was that of the golden-haired Rose, who watched over +Margaret with all a sister's love and a mother's care. The frequent +jokes of the fun-loving Henry, too, were not without their good +effect, and Margaret was better now than she had been for many weeks. + +"I can rest here," she said, and a faint color came to her cheeks, +making her look more like herself than at any time since that terrible +night of sorrow in the woods. + +And so three days went by, and Mr. Carrollton, on his weary bed, +dreamed not that the slender form which sometimes, through his +half-closed door, cast a shadow in his room, was that of her for whom +he sought. The tripping footsteps, too, went often by, and a merry, +childish voice, which reminded him of Maggie, rang through the +spacious halls, until at last the sick man came to listen for that +party as they passed. They were a merry party, he thought, a very +merry party; and he pictured to himself her of the ringing voice; she +was dark-eyed, he said, with braids of shining hair, and when, as they +were passing once, he asked of his attendant if it were not as he had +fancied, he felt a pang of disappointment at the answer, which was, +"The girl the young gentleman hears so much has yellow curls and dark +blue eyes." + +"She is not like Maggie, then," he sighed, and when again he heard +that voice a part of its music was gone. Still, it cheered his +solitude, and he listened for it again, just as he had done before. + +Once, when he knew they were going out, he went to the window to see +them, but the large straw hats and close carriage revealed no secret, +and disappointed he turned away. + +"It is useless to stay here longer," he said; "I must be about my +work. I am able to leave, and I will go to-morrow. But first I will +visit the Falls once more. I may never see them again." + +Accordingly, next morning, after Margaret and Rose had left the house, +he came down the stairs, sprang into an open carriage, and was driven +to Goat Island, which, until his illness, had been his favorite +resort. + + * * * * * + +Beneath the tall forest trees which grow upon the island there is +a rustic seat. Just on the brink of the river it stands, and the +carriage road winds by. It is a comparatively retired spot, looking +out upon the foaming water rushing so madly on. Here the weary often +rest; here lovers sometimes come to be alone; and here Maggie Miller +sat on that summer morning, living over again the past, which to her +had been so bright, and musing sadly on the future, which would bring +her she knew not what. + +She had struggled to overcome her pride, nor deemed it now a disgrace +that she was not a Conway. Of Hagar, too, she often thought, pitying +the poor old half-crazed woman who for her sake had borne so much. But +not of her was she thinking now. Hagar was shriveled and bent and old, +while the image present in Margaret's mind was handsome, erect, and +young, like the gentleman riding by--the man whose carriage wheels, +grinding into the gravelly road, attracted no attention. Too intent +was she upon a shadow to heed aught else around, and she leaned +against a tree, nor turned her head aside, as Arthur Carrollton went +by! + +A little further on, and out of Maggie's sight, a fairy figure was +seated upon the grass; the hat was thrown aside, and her curls fell +back from her upturned face as she spoke to Henry Warner. But the +sentence was unfinished, for the carriage appeared in view, and +with woman's quick perception Rose exclaims, "'Tis surely Arthur +Carrollton!" + +Starting to her feet, she sprang involuntarily forward to meet him, +casting a rapid glance around for Margaret. He observed the +movement, and knew that somewhere in the world he had seen that face +before--those golden curls--those deep blue eyes--that childish +form--they were not wholly unfamiliar. Who was she, and why did she +advance towards him? + +"Rose," said Henry, who would call her back, "Rose!" and looking +towards the speaker Mr. Carrollton knew at once that Henry Warner and +his bride were standing there before him. + +In a moment he had joined them, and though he knew that Henry Warner +had once loved Maggie Miller he spoke of her without reserve, saying +to Rose, when she asked if he were there for pleasure: "I am looking +for Maggie Miller. A strange discovery has been made of late, and +Margaret has left us." + +"She is here--here with us!" cried Rose; and in the exuberance of +her joy she was darting away, when Henry held her back until further +explanations were made. + +This did not occupy them long, for sitting down again upon the bank +Rose briefly told him all she knew; and when with eager joy he asked +"Where is she now?" she pointed towards the spot, and then with Henry +walked away, for she knew that it was not for her to witness that glad +meeting. + +The river rolls on with its heaving swell, and the white foam is +tossed towards the shore, while the soft summer air still bears on its +wing the sound of the cataract's roar. But Margaret sees it not, hears +it not. There is a spell upon her now--a halo of joy; and she only +knows that a strong arm is around her, and a voice is in her ear, +whispering that the bosom on which her weary head is pillowed shall be +her resting place forever. + +It had come to her suddenly, sitting there thus--the footfall upon the +sand had not been heard--the shadow upon the grass had not been seen, +and his presence had not been felt, till, bending low, Mr. Carrollton +said aloud, "My Maggie!" + +Then indeed she started up, and turned to see who it was that thus so +much like him had called her name. She saw who it was, and looking +in his face she knew she was not hated, and with a moaning cry went +forward to the arm extended to receive her. + + * * * * * + +Four guests, instead of one, went forth that afternoon from the +International--four guests homeward bound, and eager to be there. No +more journeying now for happiness; no more searching for the lost; for +both are found; both are there--happiness and Maggie Miller. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +HOME. + + +Impatient, restless, and cross, Madam Conway lay in Margaret's room, +scolding Theo and chiding Mrs. Jeffrey, both of whom, though trying +their utmost to suit her, managed unfortunately to do always just what +she wished them not to do. Mrs. Jeffrey's hands were usually too cold, +and Theo's were too hot. Mrs. Jeffrey made the head of the bed too +high, Theo altogether too low. In short, neither of them ever did what +Margaret would have done had she been there, and so day after day the +lady complained, growing more and more unamiable, until at last Theo +began to talk seriously of following Margaret's example, and running +away herself, at least as far as Worcester; but the distressed Mrs. +Jeffrey, terrified at the thought of being left there alone, begged of +her to stay a little longer, offering the comforting assurance +that "it cannot be so bad always, for Madam Conway will either get +better--or something." + +So Theo stayed, enduring with a martyr's patience the caprices of +her grandmother, who kept the whole household in a constant state of +excitement, and who at last began to blame George Douglas entirely as +being the only one in fault. "He didn't half look," she said, "and +she doubted whether he knew enough to keep from losing himself in New +York. It was the most foolish thing Arthur Carrollton had ever done, +hiring George Douglas to search!" + +"Hiring him, grandma!" cried Theo; "George offered his services for +nothing," and the tears came to her eyes at the injustice done her +husband. + +But Madam Conway persisted in being unreasonable, and matters grew +gradually worse until the day when Margaret was found at the Falls. On +that morning Madam Conway determined upon riding. "Fresh air will +do me good," she said, "and you have kept me in a hot chamber long +enough." + +Accordingly, the carriage was brought out, and Madam Conway carefully +lifted in; but ere fifty rods were passed the coachman was ordered to +drive back, as she could not endure the jolt. "I told you I couldn't, +all the time;" and her eyes turned reprovingly upon poor Theo, sitting +silently in the opposite corner. + +"The Lord help me, if she isn't coming back so soon!" sighed Mrs. +Jeffrey, as she saw the carriage returning, and went to meet the +invalid, who had "taken her death of cold," just as she knew she +should when they insisted upon her going out. + +That day was far worse than any which had preceded it. It was probably +her last, Madam Conway said, and numerous were the charges she gave +to Theo concerning Margaret, should she ever be found. The house, the +farm, the furniture and plate were all to be hers, while to Theo was +given the lady's wardrobe, saving such articles as Margaret might +choose for herself, and if she never were found the house and farm +were to be Mr. Carrollton's. This was too much for Theo, who resolved +to go home on the morrow, at all hazards, and she had commenced making +preparations for leaving, when to her great joy her husband came, and +in recounting to him her trials she forgot in a measure how unhappy +she had been. George Douglas was vastly amused at what he heard, and +resolved to experiment a little with the lady, who was so weak as to +notice him only with a slight nod when he first entered the room. He +saw at a glance that nothing in particular was the matter, and when +towards night she lay panting for breath, with her eyes half closed, +he approached her and said, "Madam, in case you die--" + +"In case I die!" she whispered indignantly. "It doesn't admit of a +doubt. My feet are as cold as icicles now." + +"Certainly," said he. "I beg your pardon; of course you'll die." + +The lady turned away rather defiantly for a dying woman, and George +continued, "What I mean to say is this--if Margaret is never found, +you wish the house to be Mr. Carrollton's?" + +"Yes, everything, my wardrobe and all," came from beneath the +bedclothes; and George proceeded: "Mr. Carrollton cannot of course +take the house to England, and, as he will need a trusty tenant, would +you object greatly if my father and mother should come here to live? +They'd like it, I--" + +The sentence was unfinished--the bunches in the throat which for hours +had prevented the sick woman from speaking aloud, and were eventually +to choke her to death, disappeared; Madam Conway found her voice, and, +starting up, screamed out, "That abominable woman and heathenish girl +in this house, in my house; I'll live forever, first!" and her angry +eyes flashed forth their indignation. + +"I thought the mention of mother would revive her," said George, +aside, to Theo, who, convulsed with laughter, had hidden herself +behind the window curtain. + +Mr. Douglas was right, for not again that afternoon did Madam Conway +speak of dying, though she kept her bed until nightfall, when art +incident occurred which brought her at once to her feet, making her +forget that she had ever been otherwise than well. + +In her cottage by the mine old Hagar had raved and sung and wept, +talking much of Margaret, but never telling whither she had gone. +Latterly, however, she had grown more calm, talking far less than +heretofore, and sleeping a great portion of the day, so that the +servant who attended her became neglectful, leaving her many hours +alone, while she, at the stone house, passed her time more agreeably +than at the lonesome hut. On the afternoon of which we write she was +as usual at the house, and though the sun went down she did not hasten +back, for her patient, she said, was sure to sleep, and even if she +woke she did not need much care. + +Meantime old Hagar slumbered on. It was a deep, refreshing sleep, and +when at last she did awake, her reason was in a measure restored, and +she remembered everything distinctly up to the time of Margaret's last +visit, when she said she was going away. And Margaret had gone away, +she was sure of that, for she remembered Arthur Carrollton stood once +within that room, and besought of her to tell if she knew aught of +Maggie's destination. She did know, but she had not told, and perhaps +they had not found her yet. Raising herself in bed, she called aloud +to the servant, but there came no answer; and for an hour or more she +waited impatiently, growing each moment more and more excited. If +Margaret were found she wished to know it, and if she were not found +it was surely her duty to go at once and tell them where she was. +But could she walk? She stepped upon the floor and tried. Her limbs +trembled beneath her weight, and, sinking into a chair, she cried, "I +can't! I can't!" + +Half an hour later she heard the sound of wheels. A neighboring farmer +was returning home from Richland, and had taken the cross road as +his shortest route. "Perhaps he will let me ride," she thought, and, +hobbling to the door, she called after him, making known her request. +Wondering what "new freak" had entered her mind, the man consented, +and just as it was growing dark he set her down at Madam Conway's +gate, where, half fearfully, the bewildered woman gazed around. The +windows of Margaret's room were open, a figure moved before them; +Margaret might be there; and entering the hall door unobserved, she +began to ascend the stairs, crawling upon her hands and knees, and +pausing several times to rest. + +It was nearly dark in the sickroom, and as Mrs. Jeffrey had just gone +out, and Theo, in the parlor below, was enjoying a quiet talk with her +husband, Madam Conway was quite alone. For a time she lay thinking +of Margaret; then her thoughts turned upon George and his "amazing +proposition." "Such unheard of insolence!" she exclaimed, and she was +proceeding farther with her soliloquy, when a peculiar noise upon the +stairs caught her ear, and raising herself upon her elbow she listened +intently to the sound, which came nearer and nearer, and seemed like +someone creeping slowly, painfully, for she could hear at intervals a +long-drawn breath or groan, and with a vague feeling of uneasiness she +awaited anxiously the appearance of her visitor; nor waited long, for +the half-closed door swung slowly back, and through the gathering +darkness the shape came crawling on, over the threshold, into the +room, towards the corner, its limbs distorted and bent, its white hair +sweeping the floor. With a smothered cry Madam Conway hid beneath the +bedclothes, looking cautiously out at the singular object which came +creeping on until the bed was reached. It touched the counterpane, it +was struggling to regain its feet, and with a scream of horror the +terrified woman cried out, "Fiend, why are you here?" while a faint +voice replied, "I am looking for Margaret. I thought she was in bed"; +and, rising up from her crouching posture, Hagar Warren stood face to +face with the woman she had so long deceived. + +"Wretch!" exclaimed the latter, her pride returning as she recognized +old Hagar and thought of her as Maggie's grandmother. "Wretch, how +dare you come into my presence? Leave this room at once," and a shrill +cry of "Theo! Theo!" rang through the house, bringing Theo at once to +the chamber, where she started involuntarily at the sight which met +her view. + +"Who is it? who is it?" she exclaimed. + +"It's Hagar Warren. Take her away!" screamed Madam Conway; while +Hagar, raising her withered hand deprecatingly, said: "Hear me first. +Do you know where Margaret is? Has she been found?" + +"No, no," answered Theo, bounding to her side, while Madam Conway +forgot to scream, and bent eagerly forward to listen, her symptoms +of dissolution disappearing one by one as the strange narrative +proceeded, and ere its close she was nearly dressed, standing erect as +ever, her face glowing, and her eyes lighted up with joy. + +"Gone to Leominster! Henry Warner's half-sister!" she exclaimed. "Why +didn't she add a postscript to that letter, and tell us so? Though +the poor child couldn't think of everything;" and then, unmindful of +George Douglas, who at that moment entered the room, she continued: +"I should suppose Douglas might have found it out ere this. But the +moment I put my eyes upon _that woman_ I knew no child of hers would +ever know enough to find Margaret. The Warners are a tolerably good +family, I presume. I'll go after her at once. Theo, bring my broché +shawl, and wouldn't you wear my satin hood? 'Twill be warmer than my +leghorn." + +"Grandma," said Theo, in utter astonishment, "What do you mean? You +surely are not going to Leominster to-night, as sick as you are?" + +"Yes, I am going to Leominster to-night," answered the decided woman; +"and this gentleman," waving her hand majestically towards George, +"will oblige me much by seeing that the carriage is brought out." + +Theo was about to remonstrate, when George whispered: "Let her go; +Henry and Rose are probably not at home, but Margaret may be there. At +all events, a little airing will do the old lady good;" and, rather +pleased than otherwise with the expedition, he went after John, who +pronounced his mistress "crazier than Hagar." + +But it wasn't for him to dictate, and, grumbling at the prospect +before him, he harnessed his horses and drove them to the door, where +Madam Conway was already in waiting. + +"See that everything is in order for our return," she said to Theo, +who promised compliance, and then, herself bewildered, listened to the +carriage as it rolled away; it seemed so like a dream that the woman +who three hours before could scarcely speak aloud had now started for +a ride of many miles in the damp night air! But love can accomplish +miracles, and it made the eccentric lady strong, buoying up her +spirits, and prompting her to cheer on the coachman, until just as the +day grew rosy in the east Leominster appeared in view. The house was +found, the carriage steps let down, and then with a slight trembling +in her limbs Madam Conway alighted and walked up the graveled path, +casting eager, searching glances around and commenting as follows: + +"Everything is in good taste; they must be somebody, these Warners. +I'm glad it is no worse." And with each new indication of refinement +in Margaret's relatives the disgrace seemed less and less in the mind +of the proud Englishwoman. + +The ringing of the bell brought down Janet, who, with an inquisitive +look at the satin hood and bundle of shawls, ushered the stranger +into the parlor, and then went for her mistress. Taking the card her +servant brought, Mrs. Warner read with some little trepidation the +name "Madam Conway, Hillsdale." From what she had heard, she was not +prepossessed in the lady's favor; but, curious to know why she was +there at this early hour, she hastened the making of her toilet, and +went down to the parlor, where Madam Conway sat, coiled in one corner +of the sofa, which she had satisfied herself was covered with real +brocatel, as were also the chairs within the room. The tables of +rosewood and marble, and the expensive curtains had none of them +escaped her notice, and in a mood which more common furniture would +never have produced Madam Conway arose to meet Mrs. Warner, who +received her politely, and then waited to hear her errand. + +It was told in a few words. She had come for Margaret--Margaret, whom +she had loved for eighteen years, and could not now cast off, even +though she were not of the Conway and Davenport extraction. + +"I can easily understand how painful must have been the knowledge that +Maggie was not your own," returned Mrs. Warner, "for she is a girl +of whom anyone might be proud; but you are laboring under a +mistake--Henry is not her brother;" and then very briefly she +explained the matter to Madam Conway, who, having heard so much, was +now surprised at nothing, and who felt, it may be, a little gratified +in knowing that Henry was, after all, nothing to Margaret, save the +husband of her sister. But a terrible disappointment awaited her. +Margaret was not there; and so loud were her lamentations that some +time elapsed ere Mrs. Warner could make her listen while she explained +that Mr. Carrollton had found Maggie the day previous at the Falls, +that they were probably in Albany now, and would reach Hillsdale that +very day; such at least was the import of the telegram which Mrs. +Warner had received the evening before. "They wish to surprise you, +undoubtedly," she said, "and consequently have not telegraphed to +you." + +This seemed probable, and forgetting her weariness Madam Conway +resolved upon leaving John to drive home at his leisure, while she +took the Leominster cars, which reached Worcester in time for the +upward train. This matter adjusted, she tried to be quiet; but her +excitement increased each moment, and when at last breakfast was +served she did but little justice to the tempting viands which her +hostess set before her. Margaret's chamber was visited next, and very +lovingly she patted and smoothed the downy pillows, for the sake of +the bright head which had rested there, while to herself she whispered +abstractedly, "Yes, yes," though to what she was giving her assent +she could not tell. She only knew that she was very happy, and very +impatient to be gone, and when at last she did go it seemed to her an +age ere Worcester was reached. + +Resolutely turning her head away, lest she should see the scene of her +disaster when last in that city, she walked up and down the ladies' +room, her satin hood and heavy broché shawl, on that warm July +morning, attracting much attention. But little did she care. Margaret +was the burden of her thoughts, and the appearance of Mrs. Douglas +herself would scarcely have disturbed her. Much less, then, did the +presence of a queerly dressed young girl, who, entering the car with +her, occupied from necessity the same seat, feeling herself a little +annoyed at being thus obliged to sit so near one whom she mentally +pronounced "mighty unsociable," for not once did Madam Conway turn her +face that way, so intent was she upon watching their apparent speed, +and counting the number of miles they had come. + +When Charlton was reached, however, she did observe the women in a +shaker, who, with a pail of huckleberries on her arm, was evidently +waiting for someone. + +An audible groan from the depths of the satin hood, as Betsy Jane +passed out and the cars passed on, showed plainly that the mother and +sister of George Douglas were recognized, particularly as the former +wore the red and yellow calico, which, having been used as a "dress +up" the summer before, now did its owner service as a garment of +everyday wear. But not long did Madam Conway suffer her mind to dwell +upon matters so trivial. Hillsdale was not far away, and she came each +moment nearer. Two more stations were reached--the haunted swamp was +passed--Chicopee River was in sight--the bridge appeared in view--the +whistle sounded, and she was there. + +Half an hour later, and Theo, looking from her window, started in +surprise as she saw the village omnibus drive up to their door. + +"'Tis grandmother!" she cried, and running to meet her she asked why +she had returned so soon. + +"They are coming at noon," answered the excited woman--then, hurrying +into the house and throwing off her hood, she continued: "He's found +her at the Falls; they are between here and Albany now; tell +everybody to hurry as fast as they can; tell Hannah to make a +chicken pie--Maggie was fond of that; and turkey--tell her to kill a +turkey--it's Maggie's favorite dish--and ice cream, too! I wish I had +some this minute," and she wiped the perspiration from her burning +face. + +No more hysterics now; no more lonesome nights; no more thoughts of +death--for Margaret was coming home--the best loved of them all. +Joyfully the servants told to each other the glad news, disbelieving +entirely the report fast gaining circulation that the queenly Maggie +was lowly born--a grandchild of old Hagar. Up and down the stairs +Madam Conway ran, flitting from room to room, and tarrying longest +in that of Margaret, where the sunlight came in softly through the +half-closed blinds and the fair summer blossoms smiled a welcome for +the expected one. + +Suddenly the noontide stillness was broken by a sound, deafening and +shrill on ordinary occasions, but falling now like music on Madam +Conway's ear, for by that sound she knew that Margaret was near. +Wearily went the half-hour by, and then, from the head of the tower +stairs, Theo cried out, "She is coming!" while the grandmother buried +her face in the pillows of the lounge, and asked to be alone when she +took back to her bosom the child which was not hers. + +Earnestly, as if to read the inmost soul, each looked into the other's +eyes--Margaret and Theo--and while the voice of the latter was choked +with tears she wound her arms around the graceful neck, which bent to +the caress, and whispered low, "You are my sister still." + +Against the vine-wreathed balustrade a fairy form was leaning, holding +back her breath lest she should break the deep silence of that +meeting. In her bosom there was no pang of fear lest Theo should be +loved the best; and, even had there been, it could not surely have +remained, for stretching out her arm Margaret drew Rose to her side, +and placing her hand in that of Theo said, "You are both my sisters +now," while Arthur Carrollton, bending down, kissed the lips of the +three, saying as he did so, "Thus do I acknowledge your relationship +to me." + +"Why don't she come?" the waiting Madam Conway sighed, just as Theo, +pointing to the open door, bade Margaret go in. + +There was a blur before the lady's eyes--a buzzing in her ears--and +the footfall she had listened for so long was now unheard as it +came slowly to her side. But the light touch upon her arm--the +well-remembered voice within her ear, calling her "Madam Conway," +sent through her an electric thrill, and starting up she caught the +wanderer in her arms, crying imploringly, "Not that name, Maggie +darling; call me grandma, as you used to do--call me grandma still," +and smoothing back the long black tresses, she looked to see if grief +had left its impress upon her fair young face. It was paler now, and +thinner too, than it was wont to be, and while her tears fell fast +upon it, Madam Conway whispered: "You have suffered much, my child, +and so have I. Why did you go away? Say, Margaret, why did you leave +me all alone?" + +"To learn how much you loved me," answered Margaret, to whom this +moment brought happiness second only to that which she had felt when +on the river bank she sat with Arthur Carrollton, and heard him tell +how much she had been mourned--how lonesome was the house without +her--and how sad were all their hearts. But that was over now--no more +sadness, no more tears; the lost one had returned; Margaret was home +again--home in the hearts of all, and nothing could dislodge her--not +even the story of her birth, which Arthur Carrollton, spurning at +further deception, told to the listening servants, who, having always +respected old Hagar for her position in the household as well as for +her education, so superior to their own, set up a deafening shout, +first for "Hagar's grandchild," and next for "Miss Margaret forever!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +HAGAR. + + +By Theo's request old Hagar had been taken home the day before, +yielding submissively, for her frenzied mood was over--her strength +was gone--her life was nearly spent--and Hagar did not wish to live. +That for which she had sinned had been accomplished, and, though it +had cost her days and nights of anguish, she was satisfied at last. +Margaret was coming home again--would be a lady still--the bride of +Arthur Carrollton, for George Douglas had told her so, and she was +willing now to die, but not until she had seen her once again--had +looked into the beautiful face of which she had been so proud. + +Not to-day, however, does she expect her; and just as the sun was +setting, the sun which shines on Margaret at home, she falls away to +sleep. It was at this hour that Margaret was wont to visit her, and +now, as the treetops grew red in the day's departing glory, a graceful +form came down the woodland path, where for many weeks the grass +has not been crushed beneath her feet. They saw her as she left the +house,--Madam Conway, Theo, all,--but none asked whither she was +going. They knew, and one who loved her best of all followed slowly +after, waiting in the woods until that interview should end. + +Hagar lay calmly sleeping. The servant was as usual away, and there +was no eye watching Margaret as with burning cheeks and beating heart +she crossed the threshold of the door, pausing not, faltering not, +until the bed was reached--the bed where Hagar lay, her crippled hands +folded meekly upon her breast, her white hair shading a whiter face, +and a look about her half-shut mouth as if the thin, pale lips had +been much used of late to breathe the word "Forgive." Maggie had +never seen her thus before, and the worn-out, aged face had something +touching in its sad expression, and something startling too, bidding +her hasten, if to that woman she would speak. + +"Hagar," she essayed to say, but the word died on her lips, for +standing there alone, with the daylight fading from the earth, and the +lifelight fading from the form before her, it seemed not meet that she +should thus address the sleeper. There was a name, however, by which +she called another--a name of love, and it would make the withered +heart of Hagar Warren bound and beat and throb with untold joy. +And Margaret said that name at last, whispering it first softly to +herself; then, bending down so that her breath stirred the snow-white +hair, she repeated it aloud, starting involuntarily as the rude walls +echoed back the name "Grandmother!" + +"Grandmother!" Through the senses locked in sleep it penetrated, and +the dim eyes, once so fiery and black, grew large and bright again as +Hagar Warren woke. + +Was it a delusion, that beauteous form which met her view, that soft +hand on her brow, or was it Maggie Miller? + +"Grandmother," the low voice said again, "I am Maggie--Hester's child. +Can you see me? Do you know that I am here?" + +Yes, through the films of age, through the films of coming death, and +through the gathering darkness, old Hagar saw and knew, and with a +scream of joy her shrunken arms wound themselves convulsively around +the maiden's neck, drawing her nearer, and nearer still, until the +shriveled lips touched the cheek of her who did not turn away, but +returned that kiss of love. + +"Say it again, say that word once more," and the arms closed tighter +round the form of Margaret, who breathed it yet again, while the +childish woman sobbed aloud, "It is sweeter than the angels' song to +hear you call me so." + +She did not ask her when she came--she did not ask her where she had +been; but Maggie told her all, sitting by her side with the poor hands +clasped in her own; then, as the twilight shadows deepened in the +room, she struck a light, and coming nearer to Hagar, said, "Am I much +like my mother?" + +"Yes, yes, only more winsome," was the answer, and the half-blind eyes +looked proudly at the beautiful girl bending over the humble pillow. + +"Do you know that?" Maggie asked, holding to view the ambrotype of +Hester Hamilton. + +For an instant Hagar wavered, then hugging the picture to her bosom, +she laughed and cried together, whispering as she did so, "My little +girl, my Hester, my baby that I used to sing to sleep in our home away +over the sea." + +Hagar's mind was wandering amid the scenes of bygone years, but it +soon came back again to the present time, and she asked of Margaret +whence that picture came. In a few words Maggie told her, and then for +a time there was silence, which was broken at last by Hagar's voice, +weaker now than when she spoke before. + +"Maggie," she said, "what of this Arthur Carrollton? Will he make you +his bride?" + +"He has so promised," answered Maggie; and Hagar continued: "He will +take you to England, and you will be a lady, sure. Margaret, listen to +me. 'Tis the last time we shall ever talk together, you and I, and +I am glad that it is so. I have greatly sinned, but I have been +forgiven, and I am willing now to die. Everything I wished for has +come to pass, even the hearing you call me by that blessed name; but, +Maggie, when to-morrow they say that I am dead--when you come down to +look upon me lying here asleep, you needn't call me 'Grandmother,' you +may say 'poor Hagar!' with the rest; and, Maggie, is it too much +to ask that your own hands will arrange my hair, fix my cap, and +straighten my poor old crooked limbs for the coffin? And if I should +look decent, will you, when nobody sees you do it--Madam Conway, +Arthur Carrollton, nobody who is proud--will you, Maggie, kiss me once +for the sake of what I've suffered that you might be what you are?" + +"Yes, yes, I will," was Maggie's answer, her tears falling fast, and +a fear creeping into her heart, as by the dim candlelight she saw a +nameless shadow settling down on Hagar's face. + +The servant entered at this moment, and, glancing at old Hagar, sunk +into a chair, for she knew that shadow was death. + +"Maggie," and the voice was now a whisper, "I wish I could once more +see this Mr. Carrollton. 'Tis the nature of his kin to be sometimes +overbearing, and though I am only old Hagar Warren he might heed my +dying words, and be more thoughtful of your happiness. Do you think +that he would come?" + +Ere Maggie had time to answer there was a step upon the floor, and +Arthur Carrollton stood at her side. He had waited for her long, and +growing at last impatient had stolen to the open door, and when the +dying woman asked for him he had trampled down his pride and entered +the humble room. Winding his arm round Margaret, who trembled +violently, he said: "Hagar, I am here. Have you aught to say to me?" + +Quickly the glazed eyes turned towards him, and the clammy hand was +timidly extended. He took it unhesitatingly, while the pale lips +murmured faintly, "Maggie's too." Then, holding both between her own, +old Hagar said solemnly, "Young man, as you hope for heaven, deal +kindly with my child," and Arthur Carrollton answered her aloud, "As I +hope for heaven, I will," while Margaret fell upon her knees and wept. +Raising herself in bed, Hagar laid her hands upon the head of the +kneeling girl, breathing over her a whispered blessing; then the hands +pressed heavily, the fingers clung with a loving grasp, as it were, to +the bands of shining hair--the thin lips ceased to move--the head fell +back upon the pillow, motionless and still, and Arthur Carrollton, +leading Margaret away, gently told her that Hagar was dead. + + * * * * * + +Carefully, tenderly, as if she had been a wounded dove, did the whole +household demean themselves towards Margaret, seeing that everything +needful was done, but mentioning never in her presence the name of the +dead. And Margaret's position was a trying one, for though Hagar had +been her grandmother she had never regarded her as such, and she could +not now affect a grief she did not feel. Still, from her earliest +childhood she had loved the strange old woman, and she mourned for +her now, as friend mourneth for friend, when there is no tie of blood +between them. + +Her promise, too, was kept, and with her own hands she smoothed the +snow-white hair, tied on the muslin cap, folded the stiffened arms, +and then, unmindful who was looking on, kissed twice the placid face, +which seemed to smile on her in death. + + * * * * * + +By the side of Hester Hamilton they made another grave, and, with +Arthur Carrollton and Rose standing at either side, Margaret looked on +while the weary and worn was laid to rest; then slowly retraced her +steps, walking now with Madam Conway, for Arthur Carrollton and Rose +had lingered at the grave, talking together of a plan which had +presented itself to the minds of both as they stood by the humble +stone which told where Margaret's mother slept. To Margaret, however, +they said not a word, nor yet to Madam Conway, though they both united +in urging the two ladies to accompany Theo to Worcester for a few +days. + +"Mrs. Warner will help me keep house," Mr. Carrollton said, advancing +the while so many good reasons why Margaret at least should go, that +she finally consented, and went down to Worcester, together with Madam +Conway, George Douglas, Theo, and Henry, the latter of whom seemed +quite as forlorn as did she herself, for Rose was left behind, and +without her he was nothing. + +Madam Conway had been very gracious to him; his family were good, and +when as they passed the Charlton depot thoughts of the leghorn bonnet +and blue umbrella intruded themselves upon her, she half wished that +Henry had broken his leg in Theo's behalf, and so saved her from +bearing the name of Douglas. + +The week went by, passing rapidly as all weeks will, and Margaret was +again at home. Rose was there still, and just as the sun was setting +she took her sister's hand, and led her out into the open air toward +the resting-place of the dead, where a change had been wrought; and +Margaret, leaning over the iron gate, comprehended at once the feeling +which had prompted Mr. Carrollton and Rose to desire her absence for +a time. The humble stone was gone, and in its place there stood a +handsome monument, less imposing and less expensive than that of Mrs. +Miller, it is true, but still chaste and elegant, bearing upon it +simply the names of "Hester Hamilton, and her mother Hagar Warren," +with the years of their death. The little grave, too, where for many +years Maggie herself had been supposed to sleep, was not beneath the +pine tree now; that mound was leveled down, and another had been made, +just where the grass was growing rank and green beneath the shadow of +the taller stone, and there side by side they lay at last together, +the mother and her infant child. + +"It was kind in you to do this," Margaret said, and then, with her +arm round Rose's waist, she spoke of the coming time when the sun of +another hemisphere would be shining down upon her, saying she should +think often of that hour, that spot, and that sister, who answered: +"Every year when the spring rains fall I shall come to see that the +grave has been well kept, for you know that she was my mother, too," +and she pointed to the name of "Hester," deep cut in the polished +marble. + +"Not yours, Rose, but mine," said Maggie. "My mother she was, and as +such I will cherish her memory." Then, with her arm still around her +sister's waist, she walked slowly back to the house. + +A little later, and while Arthur Carrollton, with Maggie at his side, +was talking to her of something which made the blushes burn on her +still pale cheeks, Madam Conway herself walked out to witness the +improvements, lingering longest at the little grave, and saying to +herself, "It was very thoughtful in Arthur, very, to do what I +should have done myself ere this had I not been afraid of Margaret's +feelings." + +Then, turning to the new monument, she admired its chaste beauty, but +hardly knew whether she was pleased to have it there or not. + +"It's very handsome," she said, leaving the yard, and walking backward +to observe the effect. "And it adds much to the looks of the place. +There is no question about that. It is perfectly proper, too, or Mr. +Carrollton would never have put it here, for he knows what is right, +of course," and the still doubtful lady turned away, saying as she +did so, "On the whole, I think I am glad that Hester has a handsome +monument, and I know I am glad that Mrs. Miller's is a little the +taller of the two!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +AUGUST EIGHTEENTH, 1858. + + +Years hence, if the cable resting far down in the mermaids' home +shall prove a bond of perfect peace between the mother and her child, +thousands will recall the bright summer morning when through the +caverns of the mighty deep the first electric message came, thrilling +the nation's heart, quickening the nation's pulse, and, with the music +of the deep-toned bell and noise of the cannon's roar, proclaiming to +the listening multitude that the isle beyond the sea, and the lands +which to the westward lie, were bound together, shore to shore, by a +strange, mysterious tie. And two there are who, in their happy home, +will oft look back upon that day, that 18th day of August, which gave +to one of Britain's sons as fair and beautiful a bride as e'er went +forth from the New England hills to dwell beneath a foreign sky. + +They had not intended to be married so soon, for Margaret would wait +a little longer; but an unexpected and urgent summons home made it +necessary for Mr. Carrollton to go, and so by chance the bridal day +was fixed for the 18th. None save the family were present, and Madam +Conway's tears fell fast as the words were spoken which made them one, +for by those words she knew that she and Margaret must part. But not +forever; for when the next year's autumn leaves shall fall the old +house by the mill will again be without a mistress, while in a +handsome country-seat beyond the sea Madam Conway will demean herself +right proudly, as becometh the grandmother of Mrs. Arthur Carrollton. +Theo, too, and Rose will both be there, for their husbands have so +promised, and when the Christmas fires are kindled on the hearth and +the ancient pictures on the wall take a richer tinge from the ruddy +light, there will be a happy group assembled within the Carrollton +halls; and Margaret, the happiest of them all, will then almost +forget that ever in the Hillsdale woods, sitting at Hagar's feet, she +listened with a breaking heart to the story of her birth. + +But not the thoughts of a joyous future could dissipate entirely the +sadness of that bridal, for Margaret was well beloved, and the billows +which would roll ere long between her and her childhood's home +stretched many, many miles away. Still they tried to be cheerful, and +Henry Warner's merry jokes had called forth more than one gay laugh, +when the peal of bells and the roll of drums arrested their attention; +while the servants, who had learned the cause of the rejoicing, struck +up "God Save the Queen," and from an adjoining field a rival choir +sent back the stirring note of "Hail, Columbia, Happy Land." Mrs. +Jeffrey, too, was busy. In secret she had labored at the rent made +by her foot in the flag of bygone days, and now, perspiring at every +pore, she dragged it up the tower stairs, planting it herself upon the +housetop, where side by side with the royal banner it waved in the +summer breeze. And this she did, not because she cared aught for the +cable, in which she "didn't believe" and declared "would never work," +but because she would celebrate Margaret's wedding-day, and so make +some amends for her interference when once before the "Stars and +Stripes" had floated above the old stone house. + +And thus it was, amid smiles and tears, amid bells and drums, and +waving flags and merry song, amid noisy shout and booming guns, that +double bridal day was kept; and when the sun went down it left a glory +on the western clouds, as if they, too, had donned their best attire +in honor of the union. + + * * * * * + +It is moonlight on the land--glorious, beautiful moonlight. On Hagar's +peaceful grave it falls, and glancing from the polished stone shines +across the fields upon the old stone house, where all is cheerless +now, and still. No life--no sound--no bounding step--no gleeful song. +All is silent, all is sad. The light of the household has departed; +it went with the hour when first to each other the lonesome servants +said, "Margaret is gone." + +Yes, she is gone, and all through the darkened rooms there is found no +trace of her, but away to the eastward the moonlight falls upon the +sea, where a noble vessel rides. With sails unfurled to the evening +breeze, it speeds away--away from the loved hearts on the shore which +after that bark, and its precious freight, have sent many a throb of +love. Upon the deck of that gallant ship there stands a beautiful +bride, looking across the water with straining eye, and smiling +through her tears on him who wipes those tears away, and whispers in +her ear, "I will be more to you, my wife, than they have ever been." + +So, with the love-light shining on her heart, and the moonlight +shining on the wave, we bid adieu to one who bears no more the name of +Maggie Miller. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Maggie Miller, by Mary J. Holmes + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11280 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48e97c0 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11280 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11280) diff --git a/old/11280-8.txt b/old/11280-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ad2c6a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11280-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8920 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Maggie Miller, by Mary J. Holmes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Maggie Miller + +Author: Mary J. Holmes + +Release Date: February 25, 2004 [EBook #11280] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGGIE MILLER *** + + + + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Dave Maddock, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +MAGGIE MILLER. + +THE STORY OF OLD HAGAR'S SECRET. + + +By MARY J. HOLMES, + +Author of "Lena Rivers," "Tempest and Sunshine," "English Orphans," +"Dora Deane," etc., etc. + +"Lead us not into temptation." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER + +I. THE OLD HOUSE BY THE MILL + +II. HAGAR'S SECRET + +III. HESTER AND MAGGIE + +IV. GIRLHOOD + +V. TRIFLES + +VI. THE JUNIOR PARTNER + +VII. THE SENIOR PARTNER + +VIII. STARS AND STRIPES + +IX. ROSE WARNER + +X. EXPECTED GUESTS + +XI. UNEXPECTED GUESTS + +XII. THE WATERS ARE TROUBLED + +XIII. SOCIETY + +XIV. MADAM CONWAY'S DISASTERS + +XV. ARTHUR CARROLLTON AND MAGGIE + +XVI. PERPLEXITY + +XVII. BROTHER AND SISTER + +XVIII. THE PEDDLER + +XIX. THE TELLING OF THE SECRET + +XX. THE RESULT + +XXI. THE SISTERS + +XXII. THE HOUSE OF MOURNING + +XXIII. NIAGARA + +XXIV. HOME + +XXV. HAGAR + +XXVI. AUGUST EIGHTEENTH, 1858 + + + + +MAGGIE MILLER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE OLD HOUSE BY THE MILL. + + +'Mid the New England hills, and beneath the shadow of their dim old +woods, is a running brook whose deep waters were not always as merry +and frolicsome as now; for years before our story opens, pent up and +impeded in their course, they dashed angrily against their prison +walls, and turned the creaking wheel of an old sawmill with a sullen, +rebellious roar. The mill has gone to decay, and the sturdy men who +fed it with the giant oaks of the forest are sleeping quietly in the +village graveyard. The waters of the mill-pond, too, relieved from +their confinement, leap gayly over the ruined dam, tossing for a +moment in wanton glee their locks of snow-white foam, and then flowing +on, half fearfully as it were, through the deep gorge overhung with +the hemlock and the pine, where the shadows of twilight ever lie, and +where the rocks frown gloomily down upon the stream below, which, +emerging from the darkness, loses itself at last in the waters of the +gracefully winding Chicopee, and leaves far behind the moss-covered +walls of what is familiarly known as the "Old House by the Mill." + +'Tis a huge, old-fashioned building, distant nearly a mile from the +public highway, and surrounded so thickly by forest trees that the +bright sunlight, dancing merrily midst the rustling leaves above, +falls but seldom on the time-stained walls of dark gray stone, where +the damp and dews of more than a century have fallen, and where now +the green moss clings with a loving grasp, as if 'twere its rightful +resting-place. When the thunders of the Revolution shook the hills of +the Bay State, and the royal banner floated in the evening breeze, +the house was owned by an old Englishman who, loyal to his king and +country, denounced as rebels the followers of Washington. Against +these, however, he would not raise his hand, for among them were many +long-tried friends who had gathered with him around the festal board; +so he chose the only remaining alternative, and went back to his +native country, cherishing the hope that he should one day return to +the home he loved so well, and listen again to the musical flow of the +brook, which could be distinctly heard from the door of the mansion. +But his wish was vain, for when at last America was free and the +British troops recalled, he slept beneath the sod of England, and the +old house was for many years deserted. The Englishman had been greatly +beloved, and his property was unmolested, while the weeds and grass +grew tall and rank in the garden beds, and the birds of heaven built +their nests beneath the projecting roof or held a holiday in the +gloomy, silent rooms. + +As time passed on, however, and no one appeared to dispute their +right, different families occupied the house at intervals, until at +last, when nearly fifty years had elapsed, news was one day received +that Madam Conway, a granddaughter of the old Englishman, having met +with reverses at home, had determined to emigrate to the New World, +and remembering the "House by the Mill," of which she had heard so +much, she wished to know if peaceable possession of it would be +allowed her, in case she decided upon removing thither and making it +her future home. To this plan no objection was made, for the aged +people of Hillsdale still cherished the memory of the hospitable old +man whose locks were gray while they were yet but children, and the +younger portion of the community hoped for a renewal of the gayeties +which they had heard were once so common at the old stone house. + +But in this they were disappointed, for Madam Conway was a proud, +unsociable woman, desiring no acquaintance whatever with her +neighbors, who, after many ineffectual attempts at something like +friendly intercourse, concluded to leave her entirely alone, and +contented themselves with watching the progress of matters at "Mill +Farm," as she designated the place, which soon began to show visible +marks of improvement. The Englishman was a man of taste, and Madam +Conway's first work was an attempt to restore the grounds to something +of their former beauty. The yard and garden were cleared of weeds, +the walks and flower-beds laid out with care, and then the neighbors +looked to see her cut away a few of the multitude of trees which had +sprung up around her home. But this she had no intention of doing. +"They shut me out," she said, "from the prying eyes of the vulgar, and +I would rather it should be so." So the trees remained, throwing their +long shadows upon the high, narrow windows, and into the large square +rooms, where the morning light and the noonday heat seldom found +entrance, and which seemed like so many cold, silent caverns, with +their old-fashioned massive furniture, their dark, heavy curtains, and +the noiseless footfall of the stately lady, who moved ever with the +same measured tread, speaking always softly and low to the household +servants, who, having been trained in her service, had followed her +across the sea. + +From these the neighbors learned that Madam Conway had in London +a married daughter, Mrs. Miller; that old Hagar Warren, the +strange-looking woman who more than anyone else shared her mistress' +confidence, had grown up in the family, receiving a very good +education, and had nursed their young mistress, Miss Margaret, which +of course entitled her to more respect than was usually bestowed upon +menials like her; that Madam Conway was very aristocratic, very proud +of her high English blood; that though she lived alone she attended +strictly to all the formalities of high life, dressing each day with +the utmost precision for her solitary dinner--dining off a service +of solid silver, and presiding with great dignity in her straight, +high-backed chair. She was fond, too, of the ruby wine, and her cellar +was stored with the choicest liquors, some of which she had brought +with her from home, while others, it was said, had belonged to +her grandfather, and for half a century had remained unseen and +unmolested, while the cobwebs of time had woven around them a misty +covering, making them still more valuable to the lady, who knew full +well how age improved such things. + +Regularly each day she rode in her ponderous carriage, sometimes alone +and sometimes accompanied by Hester, the daughter of old Hagar, a +handsome, intelligent-looking girl, who, after two or three years +of comparative idleness at Mill Farm, went to Meriden, Conn., as +seamstress in a family which had advertised for such a person. With +her departed the only life of the house, and during the following year +there ensued a monotonous quiet, which was broken at last for Hagar by +the startling announcement that her daughter's young mistress had died +four months before, and the husband, a gray-haired, elderly man, had +proved conclusively that he was in his dotage by talking of marriage +to Hester, who, ere the letter reached her mother, would probably be +the third bride of one whose reputed wealth was the only possible +inducement to a girl like Hester Warren. + +With an immense degree of satisfaction Hagar read the letter through, +exulting that fortune had favored her at last. Possessed of many +sterling qualities, Hagar Warren had one glaring fault, which had +imbittered her whole life. Why others were rich while she was poor she +could not understand, and her heart rebelled at the fate which had +made her what she was. + +But Hester would be wealthy--nay, would perhaps one day rival the +haughty Mrs. Miller across the water, who had been her playmate; there +was comfort in that, and she wrote to her daughter expressing her +entire approbation, and hinting vaguely of the possibility that she +herself might some time cease to be a servant, and help do the honors +of Mr. Hamilton's house! To this there came no reply, and Hagar was +thinking seriously of making a visit to Meriden, when one rainy +autumnal night, nearly a year after Hester's marriage, there came +another letter sealed with black. With a sad foreboding Hagar opened +it, and read that Mr. Hamilton had failed; that his house and farm +were sold, and that he, overwhelmed with mortification both at his +failure and the opposition of his friends to his last marriage, had +died suddenly, leaving Hester with no home in the wide world unless +Madam Conway received her again into her family. + +"Just my luck!" was Hagar's mental comment, as she finished reading +the letter and carried it to her mistress, who had always liked +Hester, and who readily consented to give her a home, provided she put +on no airs from having been for a time the wife of a reputed wealthy +man. "Mustn't put on airs!" muttered Hagar, as she left the room. +"Just as if airs wasn't for anybody but high bloods!" And with the +canker-worm of envy at her heart she wrote to Hester, who came +immediately; and Hagar--when she heard her tell the story of her +wrongs, how her husband's sister, indignant at his marriage with a +sewing-girl, had removed from him the children, one a stepchild and +one his own, and how of all his vast fortune there was not left for +her a penny--experienced again the old bitterness of feeling, and +murmured that fate should thus deal with her and hers. + +With the next day's mail there came to Madam Conway a letter bearing +a foreign postmark, and bringing the sad news that her son-in-law had +been lost in a storm while crossing the English Channel, and that +her daughter Margaret, utterly crushed and heartbroken, would sail +immediately for America, where she wished only to lay her weary head +upon her mother's bosom and die. + +"So there is one person that has no respect for blood, and that is +Death," said old Hagar to her mistress, when she heard the news. "He +has served us both alike, he has taken my son-in-law first and yours +next." + +Frowning haughtily, Madam Conway bade her be silent, telling her at +the same time to see that the rooms in the north part of the building +were put in perfect order for Mrs. Miller, who would probably come in +the next vessel. In sullen silence Hagar withdrew, and for several +days worked half reluctantly in the "north rooms," as Madam Conway +termed a comparatively pleasant, airy suite of apartments, with a +balcony above, which looked out upon the old mill-dam and the brook +pouring over it. + +"There'll be big doings when my lady comes," said Hagar one day to her +daughter. "It'll be Hagar here, and Hagar there, and Hagar everywhere, +but I shan't hurry myself. I'm getting too old to wait on a chit like +her." + +"Don't talk so, mother," said Hester. "Margaret was always kind to me. +She is not to blame for being rich, while I am poor." + +"But somebody's to blame," interrupted old Hagar. "You was always +accounted the handsomest and cleverest of the two, and yet for all +you'll be nothing but a drudge to wait on her and the little girl." + +Hester only sighed in reply, while her thoughts went forward to +the future and what it would probably bring her. Hester Warren and +Margaret Conway had been children together, and in spite of the +difference of their stations they had loved each other dearly; and +when at last the weary traveler came, with her pale sad face and +mourning garb, none gave her so heartfelt a welcome as Hester; and +during the week when, from exhaustion and excitement, she was confined +to her bed, it was Hester who nursed her with the utmost care, +soothing her to sleep, and then amusing the little Theo, a child +of two years. Hagar, too, softened by her young mistress' sorrow, +repented of her harsh words, and watched each night with the invalid, +who once, when her mind seemed wandering far back in the past, +whispered softly, "Tell me the Lord's prayer, dear Hagar, just as you +told it to me years ago when I was a little child." + +It was a long time since Hagar had breathed that prayer, but at Mrs. +Miller's request she commenced it, repeating it correctly until she +came to the words, "Give us this day our daily bread"; then she +hesitated, and bending forward said, "What comes next, Miss Margaret? +Is it 'Lead us not into temptation?" + +"Yes, yes," whispered the half-unconscious lady. "'Lead us not into +temptation,' that's it." Then, as if there were around her a dim +foreboding of the great wrong Hagar was to do, she took her old +nurse's hand between her own, and continued, "Say it often, Hagar, +'Lead us not into temptation'; you have much need for that prayer." + +A moment more, and Margaret Miller slept, while beside her sat Hagar +Warren, half shuddering, she knew not why, as she thought of her +mistress' words, which seemed to her so much like the spirit of +prophecy. + +"Why do I need that prayer more than anyone else?" she said at last. +"I have never been tempted more than I could bear--never shall be +tempted--and if I am, old Hagar Warren, bad as she is, can resist +temptation without that prayer." + +Still, reason as she would, Hagar could not shake off the strange +feeling, and as she sat half dozing in her chair, with the dim +lamplight flickering over her dark face, she fancied that the October +wind, sighing so mournfully through the locust trees beneath the +window, and then dying away in the distance, bore upon its wing, +"'Lead us not into temptation.' Hagar, you have much need to say that +prayer." + +Aye, Hagar Warren--much need, much need! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +HAGAR'S SECRET. + + +The wintry winds were blowing cold and chill around the old stone +house, and the deep untrodden snow lay highly piled upon the ground. +For many days the gray, leaden clouds had frowned gloomily down upon +the earth below, covering it with a thick veil of white. But the storm +was over now; with the setting sun it had gone to rest, and the pale +moonlight stole softly into the silent chamber, where Madam Conway +bent anxiously down to see if but the faintest breath came from the +parted lips of her only daughter. There had been born to her that +night another grandchild--a little, helpless girl, which now in an +adjoining room was Hagar's special care; and Hagar, sitting there with +the wee creature upon her lap, and the dread fear at her heart that +her young mistress might die, forgot for once to repine at her lot, +and did cheerfully whatever was required of her to do. + +There was silence in the rooms below--silence in the chambers +above,--silence everywhere,--for the sick woman seemed fast nearing +the deep, dark river whose waters move onward, but never return. + +Almost a week went by, and then, in a room far more humble than where +Margaret Miller lay, another immortal being was given to the world; +and, with a softened light in her keen black eyes, old Hagar told to +her stately mistress, when she met her on the stair, that she too was +a grandmother. + +"You must not on that account neglect Margaret's child," was Madam +Conway's answer, as with a wave of her hand she passed on; and this +was all she said--not a word of sympathy or congratulation for the +peculiar old woman whose heart, so long benumbed, had been roused to +a better state of feeling, and who in the first joy of her newborn +happiness had hurried to her mistress, fancying for the moment that +she was almost her equal. + +"Don't neglect Margaret's child for that!" How the words rang in her +ears as she fled up the narrow stairs and through the dark hall, till +the low room was reached where lay the babe for whom Margaret's child +was not to be neglected. All the old bitterness had returned, and as +hour after hour went by, and Madam Conway came not near, while the +physician and the servants looked in for a moment only and then +hurried away to the other sickroom, where all their services were kept +in requisition, she muttered: "Little would they care if Hester died +upon my hands. And she will die too," she continued, as by the fading +daylight she saw the pallor deepen on her daughter's face. + +And Hagar was right, for Hester's sands were nearer run than those of +Mrs. Miller. The utmost care might not, perhaps, have saved her; but +the matter was not tested; and when the long clock at the head of the +stairs struck the hour of midnight she murmured: "It is getting dark +here, mother--so dark--and I am growing cold. Can it be death?" + +"Yes, Hester, 'tis death," answered Hagar, and her voice was +unnaturally calm as she laid her hand on the clammy brow of her +daughter. + +An hour later, and Madam Conway, who sat dozing in the parlor below, +ready for any summons which might come from Margaret's room, was +roused by the touch of a cold, hard hand, and Hagar Warren stood +before her. + +"Come," she said, "come with me;" and, thinking only of Margaret, +Madam Conway arose to follow her. "Not there--but this way," said +Hagar, as her mistress turned towards Mrs. Miller's door, and grasping +firmly the lady's arm she led to the room where Hester lay dead, with +her young baby clasped lovingly to her bosom. "Look at her--and pity +me now, if you never did before. She was all I had in the world to +love," said Hagar passionately. + +Madam Conway was not naturally a hard-hearted woman, and she answered +gently: "I do pity you, Hagar, and I did not think Hester was so ill. +Why haven't you let me know?" To this Hagar made no direct reply, and +after a few more inquiries Madam Conway left the room, saying she +would send up the servants to do whatever was necessary. When it was +known throughout the house that Hester was dead much surprise was +expressed and a good deal of sympathy manifested for old Hagar, who, +with a gloomy brow, hugged to her heart the demon of jealousy, which +kept whispering to her of the difference there would be were Margaret +to die. It was deemed advisable to keep Hester's death a secret from +Mrs. Miller; so, with as little ceremony as possible, the body was +buried at the close of the day, in an inclosure which had been set +apart as a family burying-ground; and when again the night shadows +fell Hagar Warren sat in her silent room, brooding over her grief, and +looking oft at the plain pine cradle where lay the little motherless +child, her granddaughter. Occasionally, too, her eye wandered towards +the mahogany crib, where another infant slept. Perfect quiet seemed +necessary for Mrs. Miller, and Madam Conway had ordered her baby to +be removed from the antechamber where first it had been kept, so that +Hagar had the two children in her own room. + +In the pine cradle there was a rustling sound; the baby was awaking, +and taking it upon her lap Hagar soothed it again to sleep, gazing +earnestly upon it to see if it were like its mother. It was a bright, +healthy-looking infant, and though five days younger than that of Mrs. +Miller was quite as large and looked as old. + +"And you will be a drudge, while she will be a lady," muttered Hagar, +as her tears fell on the face of the sleeping child. "Why need this +difference be?" + +Old Hagar had forgotten the words "Lead us not into temptation"; and +when the Tempter answered, "It need not be," she only started suddenly +as if smitten by a heavy blow; but she did not drive him from her, and +she sat there reasoning with herself that "it need not be." Neither +the physician nor Madam Conway had paid any attention to Margaret's +child; it had been her special care, while no one had noticed hers, +and newly born babies were so much alike that deception was an easy +matter. But could she do it? Could she bear that secret on her soul? +Madam Conway, though proud, had been kind to her, and could she thus +deceive her! Would her daughter, sleeping in her early grave, approve +the deed. "No, no," she answered aloud, "she would not!" and the great +drops of perspiration stood thick upon her dark, haggard face as she +arose and laid back in her cradle the child whom she had thought to +make an heiress. + +For a time the Tempter left her, but returned ere long, and creeping +into her heart sung to her beautiful songs of the future which might +be were Hester's baby a lady. And Hagar, listening to that song, +fell asleep, dreaming that the deed was done by other agency than +hers--that the little face resting on the downy pillow, and shaded +by the costly lace, was lowly born; while the child wrapped in the +coarser blanket came of nobler blood, even that of the Conways, who +boasted more than one lordly title. With a nervous start she awoke +at last, and creeping to the cradle of mahogany looked to see if her +dream were true; but it was not. She knew it by the pinched, blue +look about the nose, and the thin covering of hair. This was all the +difference which even her eye could see, and probably no other person +had noticed that, for the child had never been seen save in a darkened +room. + +The sin was growing gradually less heinous, and she could now calmly +calculate the chances for detection. Still, the conflict was long and +severe, and it was not until morning that the Tempter gained a point +by compromising the matter, and suggesting that while dressing the +infants she should change their clothes for once, just to see how +fine cambrics and soft flannels would look upon a grandchild of Hagar +Warren! "I can easily change them again--it is only an experiment," +she said, as with trembling hands she proceeded to divest the children +of their wrappings. But her fingers seemed all thumbs, and more than +one sharp pin pierced the tender flesh of her little grandchild as she +fastened together the embroidered slip, teaching her thus early, had +she been able to learn the lesson, that the pathway of the rich is not +free from thorns. + +Their toilet was completed at last--their cradle beds exchanged; and +then, with a strange, undefined feeling, old Hagar stood back and +looked to see how the little usurper became her new position. She +became it well, and to Hagar's partial eyes it seemed more meet that +she should lie there beneath the silken covering than the other one, +whose nose looked still more pinched and blue in the plain white dress +and cradle of pine. Still, there was a gnawing pain at Hagar's heart, +and she would perhaps have undone the wrong had not Madam Conway +appeared with inquiries for the baby's health. Hagar could not face +her mistress, so she turned away and pretended to busy herself with +the arrangement of the room, while the lady, bending over the cradle, +said, "I think she is improving, Hagar; I never saw her look so well"; +and she pushed back the window curtain to obtain a better view. + +With a wild, startled look in her eye, Hagar held her breath to hear +what might come next, but her fears were groundless; for, in her +anxiety for her daughter, Madam Conway had heretofore scarcely seen +her grandchild, and had no suspicion now that the sleeper before her +was of plebeian birth, nor yet that the other little one, at whom she +did not deign to look, was bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh. +She started to leave the room, but, impelled by some sudden impulse, +turned back and stooped to kiss the child. Involuntarily old Hagar +sprang forward to stay the act, and grasped the lady's arm, but she +was too late; the aristocratic lips had touched the cheek of Hagar +Warren's grandchild, and the secret, if now confessed, would never be +forgiven. + +"It can't be helped," muttered Hagar, and then, when Mrs. Conway asked +an explanation of her conduct, she answered, "I was afraid you'd wake +her up, and mercy knows I've had worry enough with both the brats." + +Not till then had Madam Conway observed how haggard and worn was +Hagar's face, and instead of reproving her for her boldness she said +gently: "You have indeed been sorely tried! Shall I send up Bertha to +relieve you!" + +"No, no," answered Hagar hurriedly, "I am better alone." + +The next moment Madam Conway was moving silently down the narrow +hall, while Hagar on her knees was weeping passionately. One word of +kindness had effected more than a thousand reproaches would have done; +and wringing her hands she cried, "I will not do it; I cannot." + +Approaching the cradle, she was about to lift the child, when again +Madam Conway was at the door. She had come, she said, to take the babe +to Margaret, who seemed better this morning, and had asked to see it. + +"Not now, not now. Wait till I put on her a handsomer dress, and I'll +bring her myself," pleaded Hagar. + +But Madam Conway saw no fault in the fine cambric wrapper, and +taking the infant in her arms she walked away, while Hagar followed +stealthily. Very lovingly the mother folded to her bosom the babe, +calling it her fatherless one, and wetting its face with her tears, +while through the half-closed door peered Hagar's wild dark eyes--one +moment lighting up with exultation as she muttered, "It's my flesh, +my blood, proud lady!" and the next growing dim with tears, as she +thought of the evil she had done. + +"I did not know she had so much hair," said Mrs. Miller, parting the +silken locks. "I think it will be like mine," and she gave the child +to her mother, while Hagar glided swiftly back to her room. + +That afternoon the clergyman whose church Mrs. Conway usually +attended, called to see Mrs. Miller, who suggested that both the +children should receive the rite of baptism. Hagar was accordingly +bidden to prepare them for the ceremony, and resolving to make one +more effort to undo what she had done she dressed the child whom she +had thought to wrong in its own clothes, and then anxiously awaited +her mistress' coming. + +"Hagar Warren! What does this mean? Are you crazy!" sternly demanded +Madam Conway, when the old nurse held up before her the child with the +blue nose. + +"No, not crazy yet; but I shall be, if you don't take this one first," +answered Hagar. + +More than once that day Madam Conway had heard the servants hint that +Hagar's grief had driven her insane; and now when she observed the +unnatural brightness in her eyes, and saw what she had done, she too +thought it possible that her mind was partially unsettled; so she said +gently, but firmly: "This is no time for foolishness, Hagar. They are +waiting for us in the sickroom; so make haste and change the baby's +dress." + +There was something authoritative in her manner, and Hagar obeyed, +whispering incoherently to herself, and thus further confirming +her mistress' suspicions that she was partially insane. During the +ceremony she stood tall and erect like some dark, grim statue, her +hands firmly locked together, and her eyes fixed upon the face of +the little one who was baptized Margaret Miller. As the clergyman +pronounced that name she uttered a low, gasping moan, but her face +betrayed no emotion, and very calmly she stepped forward with the +other child upon her arm. + +"What name?" asked the minister; and she answered, "Her mother's; call +her for her mother!" + +"Hester," said Madam Conway, turning to the clergyman, who understood +nothing from Hagar's reply. + +So Hester was the name given to the child in whose veins the blood of +English noblemen was flowing; and when the ceremony was ended Hagar +bore back to her room Hester Hamilton, the child defrauded of her +birthright, and Maggie Miller, the heroine of our story. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HESTER AND MAGGIE. + + +"It is over now," old Hagar thought, as she laid the children upon +their pillows. "The deed is done, and by their own hands too. There is +nothing left for me now but a confession, and that I cannot make;" so +with a heavy weight upon her soul she sat down, resolving to keep her +own counsel and abide the consequence, whatever it might be. + +But it wore upon her terribly,--that secret,--and though it helped +in a measure to divert her mind from dwelling too much upon her +daughter's death it haunted her continually, making her a strange, +eccentric woman whom the servants persisted in calling crazy, while +even Madam Conway failed to comprehend her. Her face, always dark, +seemed to have acquired a darker, harder look, while her eyes wore a +wild, startled expression, as if she were constantly followed by some +tormenting fear. At first Mrs. Miller objected to trusting her with +the babe; but when Madam Conway suggested that the woman who had +charge of little Theo should also take care of Maggie she fell upon +her knees and begged most piteously that the child might not be taken +from her. "Everything I have ever loved has left me," said she, "and I +cannot give her up." + +"But they say you are crazy," answered Madam Conway, somewhat +surprised that Hagar should manifest so much affection for a child not +at all connected to her. "They say you are crazy, and no one trusts a +crazy woman." + +"Crazy!" repeated Hagar half-scornfully; "crazy--'tis not +craziness--'tis the trouble--the trouble--that's killing me! But I'll +hide it closer than it's hidden now," she continued, "if you'll let +her stay; and 'fore Heaven I swear that sooner than harm one hair of +Maggie's head I'd part with my own life;" and taking the sleeping +child in her arms she stood like a wild beast at bay. + +Madam Conway did not herself really believe in Hagar's insanity. She +had heretofore been perfectly faithful to whatever was committed to +her care, so she bade her be quiet, saying they would trust her for a +time. + +"It's the talking to myself," said Hagar, when left alone. "It's the +talking to myself which makes them call me crazy; and though I might +talk to many a worse woman than old Hagar Warren, I'll stop it; I'll +be still as the grave, and when next they gossip about me it shall be +of something besides craziness." + +So Hagar became suddenly silent and uncommunicative, mingling but +little with the servants, but staying all day long in her room, where +she watched the children with untiring care. Especially was she kind +to Hester, who as time passed on proved to be a puny, sickly thing, +never noticing anyone, but moaning frequently as if in pain. Very +tenderly old Hagar nursed her, carrying her often in her arms until +they ached from very weariness, while Madam Conway, who watched her +with a vigilant eye, complained that she neglected little Maggie. + +"And what if I do?" returned Hagar somewhat bitterly. "Aint there a +vast difference between the two? S'pose Hester was your own flesh and +blood, would you think I could do too much for the poor thing?" And +she glanced compassionately at the poor wasted form which lay upon her +lap, gasping for breath, and presenting a striking contrast to little +Maggie, who in her cradle was crowing and laughing in childish glee at +the bright firelight which blazed upon the hearth. + +Maggie was indeed a beautiful child. From her mother she had inherited +the boon of perfect health, and she throve well in spite of the bumped +heads and pinched fingers which frequently fell to her lot, when Hagar +was too busy with the feeble child to notice her. The plaything of the +whole house, she was greatly petted by the servants, who vied with +each other in tracing points of resemblance between her and the +Conways; while the grandmother prided herself particularly on the +arched eyebrows and finely cut upper lip, which she said were sure +marks of high blood, and never found in the lower ranks! With a +scornful expression on her face, old Hagar would listen to these +remarks, and then, when sure that no one heard her, she would mutter: +"Marks of blood! What nonsense! I'm almost glad I've solved the +riddle, and know 'taint blood that makes the difference. Just tell +her the truth once, and she'd quickly change her mind. Hester's blue, +pinched nose, which makes one think of fits, would be the very essence +of aristocracy, while Maggie's lip would come of the little Paddy +blood there is running in her veins!" + +And still Madam Conway herself was not one-half so proud of the +bright, playful Maggie as was old Hagar, who, when they were alone, +would hug her to her bosom, and gaze fondly on her fair, round face +and locks of silken hair, so like those now resting in the grave. In +the meantime Mrs. Miller, who since her daughter's birth, had never +left her room, was growing daily weaker, and when Maggie was nearly +nine months old she died, with the little one folded to her bosom, +just as Hester Hamilton had held it when she too passed from earth. + +"Doubly blessed," whispered old Hagar, who was present, and then when +she remembered that to poor little Hester a mother's blessing would +never be given she felt that her load of guilt was greater than she +could bear. "She will perhaps forgive me if I confess it to her +over Miss Margaret's coffin," she thought; and once when they stood +together by the sleeping dead, and Madam Conway, with Maggie in her +arms, was bidding the child kiss the clay-cold lips of its mother, old +Hagar attempted to tell her. "Could you bear Miss Margaret's death as +well," she said, "if Maggie, instead of being bright and playful +as she is, were weak and sick like Hester?" and her eyes fastened +themselves upon Madam Conway with an agonizing intensity which that +lady could not fathom. "Say, would you bear it as well--could you love +her as much--would you change with me, take Hester for your own, and +give me little Maggie?" she persisted, and Madam Conway, surprised +at her excited manner, which she attributed in a measure to envy, +answered coldly: "Of course not. Still, if God had seen fit to give me +a child like Hester, I should try to be reconciled, but I am thankful +he has not thus dealt with me." + +"'Tis enough. I am satisfied," thought Hagar. "She would not thank me +for telling her. The secret shall be kept;" and half exultingly she +anticipated the pride she should feel in seeing her granddaughter +grown up a lady and an heiress. + +Anon, however, there came stealing over her a feeling of remorse, as +she reflected that the child defrauded of its birthright would, if it +lived, be compelled to serve in the capacity of a servant; and many a +night, when all else was silent in the old stone house, she paced up +and down the room, her long hair, now fast turning gray, falling over +her shoulders, and her large eyes dimmed with tears, as she thought +what the future would bring to the infant she carried in her arms. + +But the evil she so much dreaded never came, for when the winter snows +were again falling they made a little grave beneath the same pine tree +where Hester Hamilton lay sleeping, and, while they dug that grave, +old Hagar sat, with folded arms and tearless eyes, gazing fixedly upon +the still white face and thin blue lips which would never again be +distorted with pain. Her habit of talking to herself had returned, and +as she sat there she would at intervals whisper: "Poor little babe! I +would willingly have cared for you all my life, but I am glad you +are gone to Miss Margaret, who, it may be, will wonder what little +thin-faced angel is calling her mother! But somebody'll introduce you, +somebody'll tell her who you are, and when she knows how proud her +mother is of Maggie she'll forgive old Hagar Warren!" + +"Gone stark mad!" was the report carried by the servants to their +mistress, who believed the story when Hagar herself came to her with +the request that Hester might be buried in some of Maggie's clothes. + +Touched with pity by her worn, haggard face, Madam Conway answered, +"Yes, take some of her common ones," and, choosing the cambric robe +which Hester had worn on the morning when the exchange was made, Hagar +dressed the body for the grave. When at last everything was ready, +and the tiny coffin stood upon the table, Madam Conway drew near and +looked for a moment on the emaciated form which rested quietly from +all its pain. Hovering at her side was Hagar, and feeling it her duty +to say a word of comfort the stately lady remarked that it was best +the babe should die; that were it her grandchild she should feel +relieved; for had it lived, it would undoubtedly have been physically +and intellectually feeble. + +"Thank you! I am considerably comforted," was the cool reply of Hagar, +who felt how cruel were the words, and who for a moment was strongly +tempted to claim the beautiful Maggie as her own, and give back to the +cold, proud woman the senseless clay on which she looked so calmly. + +But love for her grandchild conquered. There was nothing in the way of +her advancement now, and when at the grave she knelt her down to weep, +as the bystanders thought, over her dead, she was breathing there a +vow that never so long as she lived should the secret of Maggie's +birth be given to the world unless some circumstance then unforeseen +should make it absolutely and unavoidably necessary. To see Maggie +grow up into a beautiful, refined, and cultivated woman was now the +great object of Hagar's life; and, fearing lest by some inadvertent +word or action the secret should be disclosed, she wished to live by +herself, where naught but the winds of heaven could listen to the +incoherent whisperings which made her fellow-servants accuse her of +insanity. + +Down in the deepest shadow of the woods, and distant from the old +stone house nearly a mile, was a half-ruined cottage which, years +before, had been occupied by miners, who had dug in the hillside +for particles of yellow ore which they fancied to be gold. Long and +frequent were the night revels said to have been held in the old hut, +which had at last fallen into bad repute and been for years deserted. +To one like Hagar, however, there was nothing intimidating in its +creaking old floors, its rattling windows and noisome chimney, where +the bats and the swallows built their nests; and when one day Madam +Conway proposed giving little Maggie into the charge of a younger and +less nervous person than herself she made no objection, but surprised +her mistress by asking permission to live by herself in the "cottage +by the mine," as it was called. + +"It is better for me to be alone," said she, "for I may do something +terrible if I stay here, something I would sooner die than do," and +her eyes fell upon Maggie sleeping in her cradle. + +This satisfied Madam Conway that the half-crazed woman meditated harm +to her favorite grandchild, and she consented readily to her +removal to the cottage, which by her orders was made comparatively +comfortable. For several weeks, when she came, as she did each day, to +the house, Madam Conway kept Maggie carefully from her sight, until at +last she begged so hard to see her that her wish was gratified; and +as she manifested no disposition whatever to molest the child, Madam +Conway's fears gradually subsided, and Hagar was permitted to fondle +and caress her as often as she chose. + +Here now, for a time, we leave them; Hagar in her cottage by the mine; +Madam Conway in her gloomy home; Maggie in her nurse's arms; and Theo, +of whom as yet but little has been said, playing on the nursery floor; +while with our readers we pass silently over a period of time which +shall bring us to Maggie's girlhood. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GIRLHOOD. + + +Fifteen years have passed away, and around the old stone house there +is outwardly no change. The moss still clings to the damp, dark wall, +just as it clung there long ago, while the swaying branches of the +forest trees still cast their shadows across the floor, or scream to +the autumn blast, just as they did in years gone by, when Hagar Warren +breathed that prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." Madam Conway, +stiff and straight and cold as ever, moves with the same measured +tread through her gloomy rooms, which are not as noiseless now as they +were wont to be, for girlhood--joyous, merry girlhood--has a home in +those dark rooms, and their silence is broken by the sound of other +feet, not moving stealthily and slow, as if following in a funeral +train, but dancing down the stairs, tripping through the halls, +skipping across the floor, and bounding over the grass, they go, never +tiring, never ceasing, till the birds and the sun have gone to rest. + +And do what she may, the good lady cannot check the gleeful mirth, or +hush the clear ringing laughter of one at least of the fair maidens, +who, since last we looked upon them, have grown up to womanhood. +Wondrously beautiful is Maggie Miller now, with her bright sunny face, +her soft dark eyes and raven hair, so glossy and smooth that her +sister, the pale-faced, blue-eyed Theo, likens it to a piece of +shining satin. Now, as ever, the pet and darling of the household, she +moves among them like a ray of sunshine; and the servants, when they +hear her bird-like voice waking the echoes of the weird old place, +pause in their work to listen, blessing Miss Margaret for the joy and +gladness her presence has brought them. + +Old Hagar, in her cottage by the mine, has kept her secret well, +whispering it only to the rushing wind and the running brook, which +have told no tales to the gay, light-hearted girl, save to murmur +in her ear that a life untrammeled by etiquette and form would be a +blissful life indeed. And Maggie, listening to the voices which speak +to her so oft in the autumn wind, the running brook, the opening +flower, and the falling leaf, has learned a lesson different far from +those taught her daily by the prim, stiff governess, who, imported +from England six years ago, has drilled both Theo and Maggie in all +the prescribed rules of high life as practiced in the Old World. She +has taught them how to sit and how to stand, how to eat and how to +drink, as becomes young ladies of Conway blood and birth. And Madam +Conway, through her golden spectacles, looks each day to see some good +from all this teaching come to the bold, dashing, untamable Maggie, +who, spurning birth and blood alike, laughs at form and etiquette as +taught by Mrs. Jeffrey, and, winding her arms around her grandmother's +neck, crumples her rich lace ruffle with a most unladylike hug, and +then bounds away to the stables, pretending not to hear the distressed +Mrs. Jeffrey calling after her not to run, "it is so Yankeefied and +vulgar"; or if she did hear, answering back, "I am a Yankee, native +born, and shall run for all Johnny Bull!" + +Greatly horrified at this evidence of total depravity, Mrs. Jeffrey +brushes down her black silk apron and goes back to Theo, her more +tractable pupil; while Maggie, emerging ere long from the stable, +clears the fence with one leap of her high-mettled pony, which John, +the coachman, had bought at an enormous price, of a traveling circus, +on purpose for his young mistress, who complained that grandma's +horses were all too lazy and aristocratic in their movements for her. + +In perfect amazement Madam Conway looked out when first Gritty, as the +pony was called, was led up to the door, prancing, pawing, chafing at +the bit, and impatient to be off. "Margaret shall never mount that +animal," she said; but Margaret had ruled for sixteen years, and now, +at a sign from John, she sprang gayly upon the back of the fiery +steed, who, feeling instinctively that the rider he carried was a +stranger to fear, became under her training perfectly gentle, obeying +her slightest command, and following her ere long like a sagacious +dog. Not thus easily could Madam Conway manage Maggie, and with a +groan she saw her each day fly over the garden gate and out into the +woods, which she scoured in all directions. + +"She'll break her neck, I know," the disturbed old lady would say, as +Maggie's flowing skirt and waving plumes disappeared in the shadow of +the trees. "She'll break her neck some day;" and thinking someone must +be in fault, her eyes would turn reprovingly upon Mrs. Jeffrey for +having failed in subduing Maggie, whom the old governess pronounced +the "veriest madcap" in the world. "There is nothing like her in all +England," she said; "and her low-bred ways must be the result of her +having been born on American soil." + +If Maggie was to be censured, Madam Conway chose to do it herself; and +on such occasions she would answer: "'Low-bred,' Mrs. Jeffrey, is not +a proper term to apply to Margaret. She's a little wild, I admit, but +no one with my blood in their veins can be low-bred;" and, in her +indignation at the governess, Madam would usually forget to reprove +her granddaughter when she came back from her ride, her cheeks flushed +and her eyes shining like stars with the healthful exercise. Throwing +herself upon a stool at her grandmother's feet, Maggie would lay her +head upon the lap of the proud lady, who very lovingly would smooth +the soft, shining hair, "so much like her own," she said. + +"Before you had to color it, you mean, don't you, grandma?" the +mischievous Maggie would rejoin, looking up archly to her grandmother, +who would call her a saucy child, and stroke still more fondly the +silken locks. + +Wholly unlike Maggie was Theo, a pale-faced, fair-haired girl, who was +called pretty, when not overshadowed by the queenly presence of her +more gifted sister. And Theo was very proud of this sister, too; proud +of the beautiful Maggie, to whom, though two years her junior, she +looked for counsel, willing always to abide by her judgment; for what +Maggie did must of course be right, and grandma would not scold. So if +at any time Theo was led into error, Maggie stood ready to bear the +blame, which was never very severe, for Mrs. Jeffrey had learned +not to censure her too much, lest by so doing she should incur the +displeasure of her employer, who in turn loved Maggie, if it were +possible, better than the daughter whose name she bore, and whom +Maggie called her mother. Well kept and beautiful was the spot where +that mother lay, and the grave was marked by a costly marble which +gleamed clear and white through the surrounding evergreens. This was +Maggie's favorite resort, and here she often sat in the moonlight, +musing of one who slept there, and who, they said, had held her on her +bosom when she died. + +At no great distance from this spot was another grave, where the grass +grew tall and green, and where the headstone, half sunken in the +earth, betokened that she who rested there was of humble origin. Here +Maggie seldom tarried long. The place had no attraction for her, for +rarely now was the name of Hester Hamilton heard at the old stone +house, and all save one seemed to have forgotten that such as she had +ever lived. This was Hagar Warren, who in her cottage by the mine has +grown older and more crazy-like since last we saw her. Her hair, once +so much like that which Madam Conway likens to her own, has bleached +as white as snow, and her tall form is shriveled now, and bent. The +secret is wearing her life away, and yet she does not regret what she +has done. She cannot, when she looks upon the beautiful girl who comes +each day to her lonely hut, and whom she worships with a species of +wild idolatry. Maggie knows not why it is, and yet to her there is a +peculiar fascination about that strange old woman, with her snow-white +hair, her wrinkled face, her bony hand, and wild, dark eyes, which, +when they rest on her, have in them a look of unutterable tenderness. + +Regularly each day, when the sun nears the western horizon, Maggie +steals away to the cottage, and the lonely woman, waiting for her on +the rude bench by the door, can tell her bounding footstep from all +others which pass that way. She does not say much now herself; but the +sound of Maggie's voice, talking to her in the gathering twilight, is +the sweetest she has ever heard; and so she sits and listens, while +her hands work nervously together, and her whole body trembles with a +longing, intense desire to clasp the young girl to her bosom and claim +her as her own. But this she dare not do, for Madam Conway's training +has had its effect, and in Maggie's bearing there is ever a degree of +pride which forbids anything like undue familiarity. And it was this +very pride which Hagar liked to see, whispering often to herself, +"Warren blood and Conway airs--the two go well together." + +Sometimes a word or a look would make her start, they reminded her so +forcibly of the dead; and once she said involuntarily: "You are like +your mother, Maggie. Exactly what she was at your age." + +"My mother!" answered Maggie. "You never talked to me of her; tell me +of her now. I did not suppose I was like her in anything." + +"Yes, in everything," said old Hagar; "the same dark eyes and hair, +the same bright red cheeks, the same--" + +"Why, Hagar, what can you mean?" interrupted Maggie. "My mother had +light blue eyes and fair brown hair, like Theo. Grandma says I am +not like her at all, while old Hannah, the cook, when she feels +ill-natured and wishes to tease me, says I am the very image of Hester +Hamilton." + +"And what if you are? What if you are?" eagerly rejoined old Hagar. +"Would you feel badly to know you looked like Hester?" and the old +woman bent anxiously forward to hear the answer: "Not for myself, +perhaps, provided Hester was handsome, for I think a good deal of +beauty, that's a fact; but it would annoy grandma terribly to have me +look like a servant. She might fancy I was Hester's daughter, for she +wonders every day where I get my low-bred ways, as she calls my liking +to sing and laugh and be natural." + +"And s'posin' Hester was your mother, would you care?" persisted +Hagar. + +"Of course I should," answered Maggie, her large eyes opening wide at +the strange question. "I wouldn't for the whole world be anybody +but Maggie Miller, just who I am. To be sure, I get awfully out of +patience with grandma and Mrs. Jeffrey for talking so much about birth +and blood and family, and all that sort of nonsense, but after all I +wouldn't for anything be poor and work as poor folks do." + +"I'll never tell her, never," muttered Hagar; and Maggie continued: +"What a queer habit you have of talking to yourself. Did you always do +so?" + +"Not always. It came upon me with the secret," Hagar answered +inadvertently; and eagerly catching at the last word, which to her +implied a world of romance and mystery, Maggie exclaimed: "The secret, +Hagar, the secret! If there's anything I delight in it's a secret!" +and, sliding down from the rude bench to the grass-plat at Hagar's +feet, she continued: "Tell it to me, Hagar, that's a dear old woman. +I'll never tell anybody as long as I live. I won't, upon my word," +she continued, as she saw the look of horror resting on Hagar's face; +"I'll help you keep it, and we'll have such grand times talking it +over. Did it concern yourself?" and Maggie folded her arms upon the +lap of the old woman, who answered in a voice so hoarse and unnatural +that Maggie involuntarily shuddered, "Old Hagar would die inch by inch +sooner than tell you, Maggie Miller, her secret." + +"Was it, then, so dreadful?" asked Maggie half fearfully, and casting +a stealthy glance at the dim woods, where the night shadows were +falling, and whose winding path she must traverse alone on her +homeward route. "Was it, then, so dreadful?" + +"Yes, dreadful, dreadful; and yet, Maggie, I have sometimes wished +you knew it. You would forgive me, perhaps. If you knew how I was +tempted," said Hagar, and her voice was full of yearning tenderness, +while her bony fingers parted lovingly the shining hair from off the +white brow of the young girl, who pleaded again, "Tell it to me, +Hagar." + +There was a fierce struggle in Hagar's bosom, but the night wind, +moving through the hemlock boughs, seemed to say, "Not yet--not yet"; +and, remembering her vow, she answered: "Leave me, Maggie Miller, I +cannot tell you the secret. You of all others. You would hate me for +it, and that I could not bear. Leave me alone, or the sight of you, so +beautiful, pleading for my secret, will kill me dead." + +There was command in the tones of her voice, and rising to her feet +Maggie walked away, with a dread feeling at her heart, a feeling which +whispered vaguely to her of a deed of blood--for what save this +could thus affect old Hagar? Her road home led near the little +burying-ground, and impelled by something she could not resist she +paused at her mother's grave. The moonlight was falling softly upon +it; and, seating herself within the shadow of the monument, she sat +a long time thinking, not of the dead, but of Hagar and the strange +words she had uttered. Suddenly, from the opposite side of the +graveyard, there came a sound as of someone walking; and, looking +up, Maggie saw approaching her the bent figure of the old woman, who +seemed unusually excited. Her first impulse was to fly, but knowing +how improbable it was that Hagar should seek to do her harm, and +thinking she might discover some clew to the mystery if she remained, +she sat still, while, kneeling on Hester's grave, old Hagar wept +bitterly, talking the while, but so incoherently that Maggie could +distinguish nothing save the words, "You, Hester, have forgiven me." + +"Can it be that she has killed her own child!" thought Maggie, and +starting to her feet she stood face to face with Hagar, who screamed: +"You here, Maggie Miller!--here with the others who know my secret! +But you shan't wring it from me. You shall never know it, unless the +dead rise up to tell you." + +"Hagar Warren," said Margaret sternly, "is murder your secret? Did +Hester Hamilton die at her mother's hands?" + +With a short gasping moan, Hagar staggered backward a pace or two, and +then, standing far more erect than Margaret had ever seen her before, +she answered: "No, Maggie Miller, no; murder is not my secret. These +hands," and she tossed in the air her shriveled arms, "these hands are +as free from blood as yours. And now go. Leave me alone with my dead, +and see that you tell no tales. You like secrets, you say. Let what +you have heard to-night be _your_ secret. Go." + +Maggie obeyed, and walked slowly homeward, feeling greatly relieved +that her suspicion was false, and experiencing a degree of +satisfaction in thinking that she too had a secret, which she would +guard most carefully from her grandmother and Theo. "She would never +tell them what she had seen and heard--never!" + +Seated upon the piazza were Madam Conway and Theo, the former of whom +chided her for staying so late at the cottage, while Theo asked what +queer things the old witch-woman had said to-night. + +With a very expressive look, which seemed to say, "I know, but I +shan't tell," Maggie seated herself at her grandmother's feet, and +asked how long Hagar had been crazy. "Did it come upon her when her +daughter died?" she inquired; and Madam Conway answered: "Yes, about +that time, or more particularly when the baby died. Then she began to +act so strangely that I removed you from her care, for, from something +she said, I fancied she meditated harm to you." + +For a moment Maggie sat wrapped in thought--then clapping her hands +together she exclaimed: "I have it; I know now what ails her! She felt +so badly to see you happy with me that she tried to poison me. She +said she was sorely tempted--and that's the secret which is killing +her." + +"Secret! What secret?" cried Theo; and, womanlike, forgetting her +resolution not to tell, Maggie told what she had seen and heard, +adding it as her firm belief that Hagar had made an attempt upon her +life. + +"I would advise you for the future to keep away from her, then," said +Madam Conway, to whom the suggestion seemed a very probable one. + +But Maggie knew full well that whatever Hagar might once have thought +to do, there was no danger to be apprehended from her now, and the +next day found her as usual on her way to the cottage. Bounding into +the room where the old woman sat at her knitting, she exclaimed: "I +know what it is! I know your secret!" + +There was a gathering mist before Hagar's eyes, and her face was +deathly white, as she gasped: "You know the secret! How? Where? Have +the dead come back to tell? Did anybody see me do it?" + +"Why, no," answered Maggie, beginning to grow a little mystified. "The +dead have nothing to do with it. You tried to poison me when I was a +baby, and that's what makes you crazy. Isn't it so? Grandma thought it +was, when I told her how you talked last night." + +There was a heavy load lifted from Hagar's heart, and she answered +calmly, but somewhat indignantly, "So you told--I thought I could +trust you, Maggie." + +Instantly the tears came to Maggie's eyes, and, coloring crimson, she +said: "I didn't mean to tell--indeed I didn't, but I forgot all about +your charge. Forgive me, Hagar, do," and, sinking on the floor, +she looked up in Hagar's face so pleadingly that the old woman was +softened, and answered gently: "You are like the rest of your sex, +Margaret. No woman but Hagar Warren ever kept a secret; and it's +killing her, you see!" + +"Don't keep it, then," said Maggie. "Tell it to me. Confess that you +tried to poison me because you envied grandma," and the soft eyes +looked with an anxious, expectant expression into the dark, wild orbs +of Hagar, who replied: "Envy was at the bottom of it all, but I never +tried to harm you, Margaret, in any way. I only thought to do you +good. You have not guessed it. You cannot, and you must not try." + +"Tell it to me, then. I want to know it so badly," persisted Maggie, +her curiosity each moment increasing. + +"Maggie Miller," said old Hagar, and the knitting dropped from her +fingers, which moved slowly on till they reached and touched the +little snowflake of a hand resting on her knee--"Maggie Miller, if +you knew that the telling of that secret would make you perfectly +wretched, would you wish to hear it?" + +For a moment Maggie was silent, and then, half laughingly, she +replied: "I'd risk it, Hagar, for I never wanted to know anything half +so bad in all my life. Tell it to me, won't you?" + +Very beautiful looked Maggie Miller then--her straw flat set jauntily +on one side of her head, her glossy hair combed smoothly back, her +soft lustrous eyes shining with eager curiosity, and her cheeks +flushed with excitement. Very, very beautiful she seemed to the old +woman, who, in her intense longing to take the bright creature to her +bosom, was, for an instant, sorely tempted. + +"Margaret!" she began, and at the sound of her voice the young girl +shuddered involuntarily. "Margaret!" she said again; but ere another +word was uttered the autumn wind, which for the last half-hour had +been rising rapidly, came roaring down the wide-mouthed chimney, and +the heavy fireboard fell upon the floor with a tremendous crash, +nearly crushing old Hagar's foot, and driving for a time all thoughts +of the secret from Maggie's mind. "Served me right," muttered Hagar, +as Maggie left the room for water with which to bathe the swollen +foot. "Served me right; and if ever I'm tempted to tell her again may +every bone in my body be smashed!" + +The foot was carefully cared for, Maggie's own hands tenderly +bandaging it up; and then with redoubled zeal she returned to +the attack, pressing old Hagar so hard that the large drops of +perspiration gathered thickly about her forehead and lips, which were +white as ashes. Wearied at last, Maggie gave it up for the time being, +but her curiosity was thoroughly aroused, and for many days she +persisted in her importunity, until at last, in self-defense, old +Hagar, when she saw her coming, would steal away to the low-roofed +chamber, and, hiding behind a pile of rubbish, would listen +breathlessly while Margaret hunted for her in vain. Then when she was +gone she would crawl out from her hiding-place, covered with cobwebs +and dust, and mutter to herself: "I never expected this, and it's more +than I can bear. Why will she torment me so, when a knowledge of the +secret would drive her mad!" + +This, however, Maggie Miller did not know. Blessed with an uncommon +degree of curiosity, which increased each time she saw old Hagar, she +resolved to solve the mystery, which she felt sure was connected with +herself, though in what manner she could not guess. "But I _will_ +know," she would say to herself when returning from a fruitless +quizzing of old Hagar, whose hiding-place she had at last discovered; +"I _will_ know what 'tis about me. I shall never be quite happy till I +do." + +Ah, Maggie, Maggie, be happy while you can, and leave the secret +alone! It will come to you soon enough--aye, soon enough! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +TRIFLES. + + +Very rapidly the winter passed away, and one morning early in March +Maggie went down to the cottage with the news that Madam Conway was +intending to start immediately for England, where she had business +which would probably detain her until fall. + +"Oh, won't I have fun in her absence!" she cried. "I'll visit every +family in the neighborhood. Here she's kept Theo and me caged up like +two wild animals, and now I am going to see a little of the world. I +don't mean to study a bit, and instead of visiting you once a day I +shall come at least three times." + +"Lord help me!" ejaculated old Hagar, who, much as she loved Maggie, +was beginning to dread her daily visits. + +"Why do you want help?" asked Maggie laughingly. "Are you tired of me, +Hagar? Don't you like me any more?" + +"Like you, Maggie Miller!--like you!" repeated old Hagar, and in the +tones of her voice there was a world of tenderness and love. "There +is nothing on earth I love as I do you. But you worry me to death +sometimes." + +"Oh, yes, I know," answered Maggie; "but I'm not going to tease you +for a while. I shall have so much else to do when grandma is gone that +I shall forget it. I wish she wasn't so proud," she continued, after a +moment. "I wish she'd let Theo and me see a little more of the world +than she does. I wonder how she ever expects us to get married, or be +anybody, if she keeps us here in the woods like young savages. Why, as +true as you live, Hagar, I have never been anywhere in my life, except +to church Sundays, once to Douglas' store in Worcester, once to Patty +Thompson's funeral, and once to a Methodist camp-meeting; and I never +spoke to more than a dozen men besides the minister and the school +boys! It's too bad!" and Maggie pouted quite becomingly at the +injustice done her by her grandmother in keeping her thus secluded. +"Theo don't care," she said. "She is prouder than I am, and does not +wish to know the Yankees, as grandma calls the folks in this country; +but I'm glad I am a Yankee. I wouldn't live in England for anything." + +"Why don't your grandmother take you with her?" asked Hagar, who in a +measure sympathized with Maggie for being thus isolated. + +"She says we are too young to go into society," answered Maggie. "It +will be time enough two years hence, when I am eighteen and Theo +twenty. Then I believe she intends taking us to London, where we can +show off our accomplishments, and practice that wonderful courtesy +which Mrs. Jeffrey has taught us. I dare say the queen will be +astonished at our qualifications;" and with a merry laugh, as she +thought of the appearance she should make at the Court of St. James, +Maggie leaped on Gritty's back and bounded away, while Hagar looked +wistfully after her, saying as she wiped the tears from her eyes: +"Heaven bless the girl! She might sit on the throne of England any +day, and Victoria wouldn't disgrace herself at all by doing her +reverence, even if she be a child of Hagar Warren." + +As Maggie had said, Madam Conway was going to England. At first she +thought of taking the young ladies with her, but, thinking they were +hardly old enough yet to be emancipated from the schoolroom, she +decided to leave them under the supervision of Mrs. Jeffrey, whose +niece she promised to bring with her on her return to America. Upon +her departure she bade Theo and Maggie a most affectionate adieu, +adding: + +"Be good girls while I am away, keep in the house, mind Mrs. Jeffrey, +and don't fall in love." + +This last injunction came involuntarily from the old lady, to whom +the idea of their falling in love was quite as preposterous as to +themselves. + +"Fall in love!" repeated Maggie, when her tears were dried, and she +with Theo was driving slowly home. "What could grandma mean! I wonder +who there is for us to love, unless it be John the coachman, or Bill +the gardener. I almost wish we could get in love though, just to see +how 'twould seem, don't you?" she continued. + +"Not with anybody here," answered Theo, her nose slightly elevated at +the thought of people whom she had been educated to despise. + +"Why not here as well as elsewhere?" asked Maggie. "I don't see any +difference. But grandma needn't be troubled, for such things as men's +boots never come near our house. It's a shame, though," she continued, +"that we don't know anybody, either male or female. Let's go down to +Worcester some day, and get acquainted. Don't you remember the two +handsome young men whom we saw five years ago in Douglas' store, and +how they winked at each other when grandma ran down their goods and +said there were not any darning needles fit to use this side of the +water?" + +On most subjects Theo's memory was treacherous, but she remembered +perfectly well the two young men, particularly the taller one, who had +given her a remnant of blue ribbon which he said was just the color +of her eyes. Still, the idea of going to Worcester did not strike her +favorably. "She wished Worcester would come to them," she said, "but +she should not dare to go there. They would surely get lost. Grandma +would not like it, and Mrs. Jeffrey would not let them go, even if +they wished." + +"A fig for Mrs. Jeffrey," said Maggie. "I shan't mind her much. I'm +going to have a real good time, doing as I please, and if you are wise +you'll have one too." + +"I suppose I shall do what you tell me to--I always do," answered Theo +submissively, and there the conversation ceased. + +Arrived at home they found dinner awaiting them, and Maggie, when +seated, suggested to Mrs. Jeffrey that she should give them a vacation +of a few weeks, just long enough for them to get rested and visit the +neighbors. But this Mrs. Jeffrey refused to do. + +She had her orders to keep them at their books, she said, and "study +was healthful"; at the same time she bade them be in the schoolroom on +the morrow. There was a wicked look in Maggie's eyes, but her tongue +told no tales, and when next morning she went with Theo demurely to +the schoolroom she seemed surprised at hearing from Mrs. Jeffrey that +every book had disappeared from the desk where they were usually kept; +and though the greatly disturbed and astonished lady had sought for +them nearly an hour, they were not to be found. + +"Maggie has hidden them, I know," said Theo, as she saw the +mischievous look on her sister's face. + +"Margaret wouldn't do such a thing, I'm sure," answered Mrs. Jeffrey, +her voice and manner indicating a little doubt, however, as to the +truth of her assertion. + +But Maggie had hidden them, and no amount of coaxing could persuade +her to bring them back. "You refused me a vacation when I asked for +it," she said, "so I'm going to have it perforce;" and, playfully +catching up the little dumpy figure of her governess, she carried her +out upon the piazza, and, seating her in a large easy-chair, bade her +take snuff, and comfort too, as long as she liked. + +Mrs. Jeffrey knew perfectly well that Maggie in reality was mistress +of the house, that whatever she did Madam Conway would ultimately +sanction; and as a rest was by no means disagreeable, she yielded +with a good grace, dividing her time between sleeping, snuffing, and +dressing, while Theo lounged upon the sofa and devoured some musty old +novels which Maggie, in her rummaging, had discovered. + +Meanwhile Maggie kept her promise of visiting the neighbors, and +almost every family had something to say in praise of the merry, +light-hearted girl of whom they had heretofore known but little. Her +favorite recreation, however, was riding on horseback, and almost +every day she galloped through the woods and over the fields, usually +terminating her ride with a call upon old Hagar, whom she still +continued to tease unmercifully for the secret, and who was glad when +at last an incident occurred which for a time drove all thoughts of +the secret from Maggie's mind. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE JUNIOR PARTNER. + + +One afternoon towards the middle of April, when Maggie as usual was +flying through the woods, she paused for a moment beneath the shadow +of a sycamore while Gritty drank from a small running brook. The pony +having quenched his thirst, she gathered up her reins for a fresh +gallop, when her ear caught the sound of another horse's hoofs; and, +looking back, she saw approaching her at a rapid rate a gentleman whom +she knew to be a stranger. Not caring to be overtaken, she chirruped +to the spirited Gritty, who, bounding over the velvety turf, left the +unknown rider far in the rear. + +"Who can she be?" thought the young man, admiring the utter +fearlessness with which she rode; then, feeling a little piqued, as he +saw how the distance between them was increasing, he exclaimed, "Be +she woman, or be she witch, I'll overtake her"; and, whistling to his +own fleet animal, he too dashed on at a furious rate. + +"Trying to catch me, are you?" thought Maggie. "I'd laugh to see you +do it." And entering at once into the spirit of the race, she rode +on for a time with headlong speed--then, by way of tantalizing her +pursuer, she paused for a moment until he had almost reached her, when +at a peculiar whistle Gritty sprang forward, while Maggie's mocking +laugh was borne back to the discomfited young man, whose interest in +the daring girl increased each moment. It was a long, long chase she +led him, over hills, across plains, and through the grassy valley, +until she stopped at last within a hundred yards of the deep, narrow +gorge through which the mill-stream ran. + +"I have you now," thought the stranger, who knew by the dull, roaring +sound of the water that a chasm lay between him and the opposite bank. + +But Maggie had not yet half displayed her daring feats of +horsemanship, and when he came so near that his waving brown locks and +handsome dark eyes were plainly discernible, she said to herself: "He +rides tolerably well. I'll see how good he is at a leap," and, setting +herself more firmly in the saddle, she patted Gritty upon the neck. +The well-trained animal understood the signal, and, rearing high in +the air, was fast nearing the bank, when the young man, suspecting her +design, shrieked out: "Stop, lady, stop! It's madness to attempt it." + +"Follow me if you can," was Maggie's defiant answer, and the next +moment she hung in mid-air over the dark abyss. + +Involuntarily the young man closed his eyes, while his ear listened +anxiously for the cry which would come next. But Maggie knew full well +what she was doing. She had leaped that narrow gorge often, and now +when the stranger's eyes unclosed she stood upon the opposite bank, +caressing the noble animal which had borne her safely there. + +"It shall never be said that Henry Warner was beaten by a schoolgirl," +muttered the stranger. "If she can clear that, I can, bad rider as I +am!" and burying his spurs deep in the sides of his horse, he pressed +on while Maggie held her breath in fear, for she knew that without +practice no one could do what she had done. + +There was a partially downward plunge--a fierce struggle on the +shelving bank, where the animal had struck a few feet from the +top--then the steed stood panting on terra firma, while a piercing +shriek broke the deep silence of the wood, and Maggie's cheeks +blanched to a marble hue. The rider, either from dizziness or fear, +had fallen at the moment the horse first struck the bank, and from the +ravine below there came no sound to tell if yet he lived. + +"He's dead; he's dead!" cried Maggie. "'Twas my own foolishness which +killed him," and springing from Gritty's back she gathered up her long +riding skirt and glided swiftly down the bank, until she came to a +wide, projecting rock, where the stranger lay, motionless and still, +his white face upturned to the sunlight, which came stealing down +through the overhanging boughs. In an instant she was at his side, and +his head was resting on her lap, while her trembling fingers parted +back from his pale brow the damp mass of curling hair. + +"The fall alone would not kill him," she said, as her eye measured the +distance, and then she looked anxiously round for water with which to +bathe his face. + +But water there was none, save in the stream below, whose murmuring +flow fell mockingly on her ears, for it seemed to say she could not +reach it. But Maggie Miller was equal to any emergency, and venturing +out to the very edge of the rock she poised herself on one foot, and +looked down the dizzy height to see if it were possible to descend. + +"I can try at least," she said, and glancing at the pale face of the +stranger unhesitatingly resolved to attempt it. + +The descent was less difficult than she had anticipated, and in an +incredibly short space of time she was dipping her pretty velvet cap +in the brook, whose sparkling foam had never before been disturbed by +the touch of a hand as soft and fair as hers. To ascend was not so +easy a matter; but, chamois-like, Maggie's feet trod safely the +dangerous path, and she soon knelt by the unconscious man, bathing his +forehead in the clear cold water, until he showed signs of returning +life. His lips moved slowly at last, as if he would speak; and Maggie, +bending low to catch the faintest sound, heard him utter the name of +"Rose." In Maggie's bosom there was no feeling for the stranger save +that of pity, and yet that one word "Rose" thrilled her with a strange +undefinable emotion, awaking at once a yearning desire to know +something of her who bore that beautiful name, and who to the young +man was undoubtedly the one in all the world most dear. + +"Rose," he said again, "is it you?" and his eyes, which opened slowly, +scanned with an eager, questioning look the face of Maggie, who, +open-hearted and impulsive as usual, answered somewhat sadly: "I am +nobody but Maggie Miller. I am not Rose, though I wish I was, if you +would like to see her." + +The tones of her voice recalled the stranger's wandering mind, and he +answered: "Your voice is like Rose, but I would rather see you, Maggie +Miller. I like your fearlessness, so unlike most of your sex. Rose is +far more gentle, more feminine than you, and if her very life depended +upon it she would never dare leap that gorge." + +The young man intended no reproof; but Maggie took his words as such, +and for the first time in her life began to think that possibly her +manner was not always as womanly as might be. At all events, she was +not like the gentle Rose, whom she instantly invested with every +possible grace and beauty, wishing that she herself was like her +instead of the wild madcap she was. Then, thinking that her conduct +required some apology, she answered, as none save one as fresh and +ingenuous as Maggie Miller would have answered: "I don't know any +better than to behave as I do. I've always lived in the woods--have +never been to school a day in my life--never been anywhere except to +camp-meeting, and once to Douglas' store in Worcester!" + +This was entirely a new phase of character to the man of the world, +who laughed aloud, and at the mention of Douglas' store started so +quickly that a spasm of pain distorted his features, causing Maggie to +ask if he were badly hurt. + +"Nothing but a broken leg," he answered; and Maggie, to whose mind +broken bones conveyed a world of pain and suffering, replied: "Oh, I +am so sorry for you! and it's my fault, too. Will you forgive me?" and +her hands clasped his so pleadingly that, raising himself upon his +elbow so as to obtain a better view of her bright face, he answered, +"I'd willingly break a hundred bones for the sake of meeting a girl +like you, Maggie Miller." + +Maggie was unused to flattery, save as it came from her grandmother, +Theo, or old Hagar, and now paying no heed to his remark she said: +"Can you stay here alone while I go for help? Our house is not far +away." + +"I'd rather you would remain with me," he replied; "but as you cannot +do both, I suppose you must go." + +"I shan't be gone long, and I'll send old Hagar to keep you company." +So saying, Maggie climbed the bank, and, mounting Gritty, who stood +quietly awaiting her, seized the other horse by the bridle and rode +swiftly away, leaving the young man to meditate upon the novel +situation in which he had so suddenly been placed. + +"Aint I in a pretty predicament!" said he, as he tried in vain to move +his swollen limb, which was broken in two places, but which being +partially benumbed did not now pain him much. "But it serves me right +for chasing a harum-scarum thing when I ought to have been minding my +own business and collecting bills for Douglas & Co. And she says she's +been there, too. I wonder who she is, the handsome sprite. I believe I +made her more than half jealous talking of my golden-haired Rose; but +she is far more beautiful than Rose, more beautiful than anyone I ever +saw. I wish she'd come back again," and, shutting his eyes, he tried +to recall the bright, animated face which had so lately bent anxiously +above him. "She tarries long," he said at last, beginning to grow +uneasy. "I wonder how far it is; and where the deuce can this old +Hagar be, of whom she spoke?" + +"She's here," answered a shrill voice, and looking up he saw before +him the bent form of Hagar Warren, at whose door Maggie had paused for +a moment while she told of the accident and begged of Hagar to hasten. + +Accordingly, equipped with a blanket and pillow, a brandy bottle and +camphor, old Hagar had come, but when she offered the latter for the +young man's acceptance he pushed it from him, saying that camphor was +his detestation, but he shouldn't object particularly to smelling of +the other bottle! + +"No, you don't," said Hagar, who thought him in not quite so +deplorable a condition as she had expected to find him. "My creed is +never to give young folks brandy except in cases of emergency." So +saying, she made him more comfortable by placing a pillow beneath his +head; and then, thinking possibly that this to herself was a "case of +emergency," she withdrew to a little distance, and sitting down upon +the gnarled roots of an upturned tree drank a swallow of the old +Cognac, while the young man, maimed and disabled, looked wistfully at +her. + +Not that he cared for the brandy, of which he seldom tasted; but he +needed something to relieve the deathlike faintness which occasionally +came over him, and which old Hagar, looking only at his mischievous +eyes, failed to observe. Only those who knew Henry Warner intimately +gave him credit for many admirable qualities he really possessed--so +full was he of fun. It was in his merry eyes and about his quizzically +shaped mouth that the principal difficulty lay; and most persons, +seeing him for the first time, fancied that in some way he was making +sport of them. This was old Hagar's impression, as she sat there in +dignified silence, rather enjoying, than otherwise, the occasional +groans which came from his white lips. There were intervals, however, +when he was comparatively free from pain, and these he improved by +questioning her with regard to Maggie, asking who she was and where +she lived. + +"She is Maggie Miller, and she lives in a house," answered the old +woman rather pettishly. + +"Ah, indeed--snappish, are you?" said the young man, attempting to +turn himself a little, the better to see his companion. "Confound that +leg!" he continued, as a fierce twinge gave him warning not to try +many experiments. "I know her name is Maggie Miller, and I supposed +she lived in a house; but who is she, anyway, and what is she?" + +"If you mean is she anybody, I can answer that question quick," +returned Hagar. "She calls Madam Conway her grandmother, and Madam +Conway came from one of the best families in England--that's who she +is; and as to what she is, she's the finest, handsomest, smartest girl +in America; and as long as old Hagar Warren lives no city chap with +strapped-down pantaloons and sneering mouth is going to fool with her +either!" + +"Confound my mouth--it's always getting me into trouble!" thought the +stranger, trying in vain to smooth down the corners of the offending +organ, which in spite of him would curve with what Hagar called a +sneer, and from which there finally broke a merry laugh, sadly at +variance with the suffering expression of his face. + +"Your leg must hurt you mightily, the way you go on," muttered Hagar; +and the young man answered: "It does almost murder me, but when a +laugh is in a fellow he can't help letting it out, can he? But where +the plague can that witch of a--I beg your pardon, Mrs. Hagar," he +added hastily, as he saw the frown settling on the old woman's face, +"I mean to say where can Miss Miller be? I shall faint away unless she +comes soon, or you give me a taste of the brandy!" + +This time there was something in the tone of his voice which prompted +Hagar to draw near, and she was about to offer him the brandy when +Maggie appeared, together with three men bearing a litter. The sight +of her produced a much better effect upon him than Hagar's brandy +would have done, and motioning the old woman aside he declared himself +ready to be removed. + +"Now, John, do pray be careful and not hurt him much!" cried Maggie, +as she saw how pale and faint he was, while even Hagar forgot the +curled lip, which the young man bit until the blood started through, +so intense was his agony when they lifted him upon the litter. "The +camphor, Hagar, the camphor!" said Maggie; and the stranger did not +push it aside when her hand poured it on his head, but the laughing +eyes, now dim with pain, smiled gratefully upon her, and the quivering +lips once murmured as she walked beside him, "Heaven bless you, Maggie +Miller!" + +Arrived at Hagar's cottage, the old woman suggested that he be carried +in there, saying as she met Maggie's questioning glance, "I can take +care of him better than anyone else." + +The pain by this time was intolerable, and scarcely knowing what he +said the stranger whispered, "Yes, yes, leave me here." + +For a moment the bearers paused, while Maggie, bending over the +wounded man, said softly: "Can't you bear it a little longer, until +our house is reached? You'll be more comfortable there. Grandma has +gone to England, and I'll take care of you myself!" + +This last was perfectly in accordance with Maggie's frank, impulsive +character, and it had the desired effect. Henry Warner would have +borne almost death itself for the sake of being nursed by the young +girl beside him, and he signified his willingness to proceed, while at +the same time his hand involuntarily grasped that of Maggie, as if in +the touch of her snowy fingers there were a mesmeric power to soothe +his pain. In the meantime a hurried consultation had been held between +Mrs. Jeffrey and Theo as to the room suitable for the stranger to be +placed in. + +"It's not likely he is much," said Theo; "and if grandma were here I +presume she would assign him the chamber over the kitchen. The wall +is low on one side, I know, but I dare say he is not accustomed to +anything better." + +Accordingly several articles of stray lumber were removed from the +chamber, which the ladies arranged with care, and which when completed +presented quite a respectable appearance. But Maggie had no idea of +putting her guest, as she considered him, in the kitchen chamber; and +when, as the party entered the house, Mrs. Jeffrey, from the head of +the stairs, called out, "This way, Maggie; tell them to come this +way," she waved her aside, and led the way to a large airy room over +the parlor, where, in a high, old-fashioned bed, surrounded on all +sides by heavy damask curtains, they laid the weary stranger. The +village surgeon arriving soon after, the fractured bones were set, and +then, as perfect quiet seemed necessary, the room was vacated by all +save Maggie, who glided noiselessly around the apartment, while the +eyes of the sick man followed her with eager, admiring glances, so +beautiful she looked to him in her new capacity of nurse. + +Henry Warner, as the stranger was called, was the junior partner of +the firm of Douglas & Co., Worcester, and his object in visiting the +Hillsdale neighborhood was to collect several bills which for a long +time had been due. He had left the cars at the depot, and, hiring a +livery horse, was taking the shortest route from the east side of town +to the west, when he came accidentally upon Maggie Miller, and, as we +have seen, brought his ride to a sudden close. All this he told to her +on the morning following the accident, retaining until the last the +name of the firm of which he was a member. + +"And you were once at our store?" he said. "How long ago?" + +"Five years," answered Maggie; "when I was eleven, and Theo thirteen;" +then, looking earnestly at him, she exclaimed. "And you are the very +one, the clerk with the saucy eyes whom grandma disliked so much +because she thought he made fun of her; but we didn't think so--Theo +and I," she added hastily, as she saw the curious expression on +Henry's mouth, and fancied he might be displeased. "We liked them both +very much, and knew they must of course be annoyed with grandma's +English whims." + +For a moment the saucy eyes studied intently the fair girlish face of +Maggie Miller, then slowly closed, while a train of thought something +like the following passed through the young man's mind: "A woman, and +yet a perfect child--innocent and unsuspecting as little Rose herself. +In one respect they are alike, knowing no evil and expecting none; and +if I, Henry Warner, do aught by thought or deed to injure this young +girl may I never again look on the light of day or breathe the air of +heaven." + +The vow had passed his lips. Henry Warner never broke his word, and +henceforth Maggie Miller was as safe with him as if she had been +an only and well-beloved sister. Thinking him to be asleep, Maggie +started to leave the room, but he called her back, saying, "Don't go; +stay with me, won't you?" + +"Certainly," she answered, drawing a chair to the bedside. "I supposed +you were sleeping." + +"I was not," he replied. "I was thinking of you and of Rose. Your +voices are much alike. I thought of it yesterday when I lay upon the +rock." + +"Who is Rose?" trembled on Maggie's lips, while at the sound of that +name she was conscious of the same undefinable emotion she had once +before experienced. But the question was not asked. "If she were +his sister he would tell me," she thought; "and if she is not his +sister--" + +She did not finish the sentence, neither did she understand that if +Rose to him was something dearer than a sister, she, Maggie Miller, +did not care to know it. + +"Is she beautiful as her name, this Rose?" she asked at last. + +"She is beautiful, but not so beautiful as you. There are few who +are," answered Henry; and his eyes fixed themselves upon Maggie to see +how she would bear the compliment. + +But she scarcely heeded it, so intent was she upon knowing something +more of the mysterious Rose. "She is beautiful, you say. Will you tell +me how she looks?" she continued; and Henry Warner answered, "She is a +frail, delicate little creature, almost dwarfish in size, but perfect +in form and feature." + +Involuntarily Maggie shrunk back in her chair, wishing her own queenly +form had been a very trifle shorter, while Mr. Warner continued, "She +has a sweet, angel face, Maggie, with eyes of lustrous blue and curls +of golden hair." + +"You must love her very dearly," said Maggie, the tone of her voice +indicating a partial dread of what the answer might be. + +"I do indeed love her," was Mr. Warner's reply--"love her better than +all the world beside. And she has made me what I am; but for her I +should have been a worthless, dissipated fellow. It's my natural +disposition; but Rose has saved me, and I almost worship her for it. +She is my good angel--my darling--my--" + +Here he paused abruptly, and leaning back upon his pillows rather +enjoyed than otherwise the look of disappointment plainly visible on +Maggie's face. She had fully expected to learn who Rose was; but this +knowledge he purposely kept from her. It did not need a very close +observer of human nature to read at a glance the ingenuous Maggie, +whose speaking face betrayed all she felt. She was unused to the +world. He was the first young gentleman whose acquaintance she had +ever made, and he knew that she already felt for him a deeper interest +than she supposed. To increase this interest was his object, and this +he thought to do by withholding from her, for a time, a knowledge of +the relation existing between him and the Rose of whom he had talked +so much. The ruse was successful, for during the remainder of the day +thoughts of the golden-haired Rose were running through Maggie's mind, +and it was late that night ere she could compose herself to sleep, so +absorbed was she in wondering what Rose was to Henry Warner. Not that +she cared particularly, she tried to persuade herself; but she would +very much like to be at ease upon the subject. + +To Theo she had communicated the fact that their guest was a partner +of Douglas & Co., and this tended greatly to raise the young man in +the estimation of a young lady like Theo Miller. Next to rank and +station, money was with her the one thing necessary to make a person +"somebody." Douglas, she had heard, was an immensely wealthy man; +possibly the junior partner was wealthy, too; and if so, the parlor +chamber to which she had at first objected was none too good for his +aristocratic bones. She would go herself and see him in the morning. + +Accordingly, on the morning of the second day she went with Maggie to +the sickroom, speaking to the stranger for the first time; but keeping +still at a respectable distance, until she should know something +definite concerning him. + +"We have met before, it seems," he said, after the first interchange +of civilities was over; "but I did not think our acquaintance would be +renewed in this manner." + +No answer from Theo, who, like many others, had taken a dislike to his +mouth, and felt puzzled to know whether he intended ridiculing her or +not. + +"I have a distinct recollection of your grandmother," he continued, +"and now I think of it I believe Douglas has once or twice mentioned +the elder of the two girls. That must be you?" and he looked at Theo, +whose face brightened perceptibly. + +"Douglas," she repeated. "He is the owner of the store; and the one I +saw, with black eyes and black hair, was only a clerk." + +"The veritable man himself!" cried Mr. Warner. "George Douglas, the +senior partner of the firm, said by some to be worth two hundred +thousand dollars, and only twenty-eight years old, and the best fellow +in the world, except that he pretends to dislike women." + +By this time Theo's proud blue eyes shone with delight, and when, +after a little further conversation, Mr. Warner expressed a wish to +write to his partner, she brought her own rosewood writing desk for +him to use, and then, seating herself by the window, waited until the +letter was written. + +"What shall I say for you, Miss Theo?" he asked, near the close; and, +coloring slightly, she answered, "Invite him to come out and see you." + +"Oh, that will be grand!" cried Maggie, who was far more enthusiastic, +though not more anxious, than her sister. + +Of her Henry Warner did not ask any message. He would not have written +it had she sent one; and folding the letter, after adding Theo's +invitation, he laid it aside. + +"I must write to Rose next," he said; "'tis a whole week since I have +written, and she has never been so long without hearing from me." + +Instantly there came a shadow over Maggie's face, while Theo, less +scrupulous, asked who Rose was. + +"A very dear friend of mine," said Henry; and, as Mrs. Jeffrey just +then sent for Theo, Maggie was left with him alone. + +"Wait one moment," she said, as she saw him about to commence the +letter. "Wait till I bring you a sheet of gilt-edged paper. It is more +worthy of Rose, I fancy, than the plainer kind." + +"Thank you," he said. "I will tell her of your suggestion." + +The paper was brought, and then seating herself by the window Maggie +looked out abstractedly, seeing nothing, and hearing nothing save the +sound of the pen, as it wrote down words of love for the gentle Rose. +It was not a long epistle; and, as at the close of the Douglas letter +he had asked a message from Theo, so now at the close of this he +claimed one from Maggie. + +"What shall I say for you?" he asked; and, coming toward him, Margaret +answered, "Tell her I love her, though I don't know who she is!" + +"Why have you never asked me?" queried Henry; and, coloring crimson, +Maggie answered hesitatingly, "I thought you would tell me if you +wished me to know." + +"Read this letter, and that will explain who she is," the young man +continued, offering the letter to Maggie, who, grasping it eagerly, +sat down opposite, so that every motion of her face was clearly +visible to him. + +The letter was as follows: + +"MY DARLING LITTLE ROSE: Do you fancy some direful calamity has +befallen me, because I have not written to you for more than a week? +Away with your fears, then, for nothing worse has come upon me than a +badly broken limb, which will probably keep me a prisoner here for two +months or more. Now don't be frightened, Rosa. I am not crippled for +life, and even if I were I could love you just the same, while you, +I'm sure, would love me more. + +"As you probably know, I left Worcester on Tuesday morning for the +purpose of collecting some bills in this neighborhood. Arrived at +Hillsdale I procured a horse, and was sauntering leisurely through +the woods, when I came suddenly upon a flying witch in the shape of a +beautiful young girl. She was the finest rider I ever saw; and such a +chase as she led me, until at last, to my dismay, she leaped across a +chasm down which a nervous little creature like you would be afraid to +look. Not wishing to be outdone, I followed her, and as a matter of +course broke my bones. + +"Were it not that the accident will somewhat incommode Douglas, and +greatly fidget you, I should not much regret it, for to me there is a +peculiar charm about this old stone house and its quaint surroundings. +But the greatest charm of all, perhaps, lies in my fair nurse, Maggie +Miller, for whom I risked my neck. You two would be fast friends in a +moment, and yet you are totally dissimilar, save that your voices are +much alike. + +"Write to me soon, dear Rose, and believe me ever + +"Your affectionate brother, + +"HENRY." + +"Oh!" said Maggie, catching her breath, which for a time had been +partially suspended, "Oh!" and in that single monosyllable there was +to the young man watching her a world of meaning. "She's your sister, +this little Rose," and the soft dark eyes flashed brightly upon him. + +"What did you suppose her to be?" he asked, and Maggie answered, "I +thought she might be your wife, though I should rather have her for a +sister if I were you." + +The young man smiled involuntarily, thinking to himself how his +fashionable city friends would be shocked at such perfect frankness, +which meant no more than their own studied airs. + +"You are a good girl, Maggie," he said at last, "and I wouldn't for +the world deceive you; Rose is my step-sister. We are in no way +connected save by marriage, still I love her all the same. We were +brought up together by a lady who is aunt to both, and Rose seems to +me like an own dear sister. She has saved me from almost everything. I +once loved the wine cup; but her kindly words and gentle influence won +me back, so that now I seldom taste it. And once I thought to run away +to sea, but Rose found it out, and, meeting me at the gate, persuaded +me to return. It is wonderful, the influence she has over me, keeping +my wild spirits in check; and if I am ever anything I shall owe it all +to her." + +"Does she live in Worcester?" asked Maggie; and Henry answered: "No; +in Leominster, which is not far distant. I go home once a month; and +I fancy I can see Rose now, just as she looks when she comes tripping +down the walk to meet me, her blue eyes shining like stars and her +golden curls blowing over her pale forehead. She is very, very frail; +and sometimes when I look upon her the dread fear steals over me that +there will come a time, ere long, when I shall have no sister." + +There were tears in Maggie's eyes, tears for the fair young girl whom +she had never seen, and she felt a yearning desire to look on the +beautiful face of her whom Henry called his sister. "I wish she would +come here; I want to see her," she said at last; and Henry replied: +"She does not go often from home. But I have her daguerreotype in +Worcester. I'll write to Douglas to bring it," and opening the letter, +which was not yet sealed, he added a few lines. "Come, Maggie," he +said, when this was finished, "you need exercise. Suppose you ride +over to the office with these letters?" + +Maggie would rather have remained with him; but she expressed her +willingness to go, and in a few moments was seated on Gritty's back +with the two letters clasped firmly in her hand. At one of these, the +one bearing the name of Rose Warner, she looked often and wistfully; +it was a most beautiful name, she thought, and she who bore it was +beautiful too. And then there arose within her a wish--shadowy and +undefined to herself, it is true; but still a wish--that she, Maggie +Miller, might one day call that gentle Rose her sister. "I shall see +her sometimes, anyway," she thought, "and this George Douglas, too. I +wish they'd visit us together;" and having by this time reached the +post-office she deposited the letters and galloped rapidly toward +home. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SENIOR PARTNER. + + +The establishment of Douglas & Co. was closed for the night. The +clerks had gone each to his own home; old Safford, the poor relation, +the man-of-all-work, who attended faithfully to everything, groaning +often and praying oftener over the careless habits of "the boys," as +he called the two young men, his employers, had sought his comfortless +bachelor attic, where he slept always with one ear open, listening for +any burglarious sound which might come from the store below, and which +had it come to him listening thus would have frightened him half +to death. George Douglas, too, the senior partner of the firm, had +retired to his own room, which was far more elegantly furnished than +that of the old man in the attic, and now in a velvet easy-chair he +sat reading the letter from Hillsdale, which had arrived that evening, +and a portion of which we subjoin for the reader's benefit. + +After giving an account of his accident, and the manner in which it +occurred, Warner continued: + +"They say 'tis a mighty bad wind which blows no one any good, and so, +though I verily believe I suffer all a man can suffer with a broken +bone, yet when I look at the fair face of Maggie Miller I feel that +I would not exchange this high old bed, to enter which needs a short +ladder, even for a seat by you on that three-legged stool behind the +old writing-desk. I never saw anything like her in my life. Everything +she thinks, she says, and as to flattering her, it can't be done. I've +told her a dozen times at least that she was beautiful, and she didn't +mind it any more than Rose does when I flatter her. Still, I fancy if +I were to talk to her of love it might make a difference, and perhaps +I shall ere I leave the place. + +"You know, George, I have always insisted there was but one female in +the world fit to be a wife, and as that one was my sister I should +probably never have the pleasure of paying any bills for Mrs. Henry +Warner; but I've half changed my mind, and I'm terribly afraid this +Maggie Miller, not content with breaking my bones, has made sad work +with another portion of the body, called by physiologists the heart. +I don't know how a man feels when he is in love; but when this Maggie +Miller looks me straight in the face with her sunshiny eyes, while her +little soft white hand pushes back my hair (which, by the way, I slyly +disarrange on purpose), I feel the blood tingle to the ends of my +toes, and still I dare not hint such a thing to her. 'Twould frighten +her off in a moment, and she'll send in her place either an old hag of +a woman called Hagar, or her proud sister Theo, whom I cannot endure. + +"By the way, George, this Theo will just suit you, who are fond of +aristocracy. She's proud as Lucifer; thinks because she was born +in England, and sprang from a high family, that there is no one in +America worthy of her ladyship's notice, unless indeed they chance to +have money. You ought to have seen how her eyes lighted up when I told +her you were said to be worth two hundred thousand dollars! She told +me directly to invite you out here, and this, I assure you, was a +good deal for her to do. So don your best attire, not forgetting the +diamond cross, and come for a day or two. Old Safford will attend to +the store. It's what he was made for, and he likes it. But as I am a +Warner, so shall I do my duty and warn you not to meddle with Maggie. +She is my own exclusive property, and altogether too good for a +worldly fellow like you. Theo will suit you better. She's just +aristocratic enough in her nature. I don't see how the two girls come +to be so wholly unlike as they are. Why, I'd sooner take Maggie for +Rose's sister than for Theo's! + +"Bless me, I had almost forgotten to ask if you remember that stiff +old English woman with the snuff-colored satin who came to our store +some five years ago, and found so much fault with Yankee goods, as she +called them? If you have forgotten her, you surely remember the +two girls in flats, one of whom seemed so much distressed at her +grandmother's remarks. She, the distressed one, was Maggie; the other +was Theo; and the old lady was Madam Conway, who, luckily for me, +chances at this time to be in England, buying up goods, I presume. +Maggie says that this trip to Worcester, together with a camp-meeting +held in the Hillsdale woods last year, is the extent of her travels, +and one would think so to see her. A perfect child of nature, full +of fun, beautiful as a Hebe, and possessing the kindest heart in the +world. If you wish to know more of her come and see for yourself; but +again I warn you, hands off; nobody is to flirt with her but myself, +and it is very doubtful whether even I can do it peaceably, for +that old Hagar, who, by the way, is a curious specimen, gave me to +understand when I lay on the rock, with her sitting by, as a sort of +ogress, that so long as she lived no city chap with strapped pants (do +pray, bring me a pair, George, without straps!) and sneering mouth was +going to fool with Margaret Miller. + +"So you see my mouth is at fault again. Hang it all, I can't imagine +what ails it, that everybody should think I'm making fun of them. +Even old Safford mutters about my making mouths at him when I haven't +thought of him in a month! Present my compliments to the old gentleman +and tell him one of 'the boys' thinks seriously of following his +advice, which you know is 'to sow our wild oats and get a wife.' Do, +pray, come, for I am only half myself without you. + +"Yours in the brotherhood, + +"HENRY WARNER." + +For a time after reading the above George Douglas sat wrapped in +thought, then bursting into a laugh as he thought how much the letter +was like the jovial, light-hearted fellow who wrote it, he put it +aside, and leaning back in his chair mused long and silently, not of +Theo, but of Maggie, half wishing he were in Warner's place instead of +being there in the dusty city. But as this could not be, he contented +himself with thinking that at some time not far distant he would visit +the old stone house--would see for himself this wonderful Maggie--and, +though he had been warned against it, would possibly win her from +his friend, who, unconsciously perhaps, had often crossed his path, +watching him jealously lest he should look too often and too long upon +the fragile Rose, blooming so sweetly in her bird's-nest of a home +among the tall old trees of Leominster. + +"But he need not fear," he said somewhat bitterly, "he need not fear +for her, for it is over now. She has refused me, this Rose Warner, and +though it touched my pride to hear her tell me no, I cannot hate her +for it. She had given her love to another, she said, and Warner is +blind or crazy that he does not see the truth. But it is not for me to +enlighten him. He may call her sister if he likes, though there is +no tie of blood between them. I'd far rather it would be thus, than +something nearer;" and, slowly rising up, George Douglas retired to +dream of a calm, almost heavenly face which but the day before had +been bathed in tears as he told to Rose Warner the story of his love. +Mingled, too, with that dream was another face, a laughing, sparkling, +merry face, upon which no man ever yet had looked and escaped with a +whole heart. + +The morning light dispelled the dream, and when in the store old +Safford inquired, "What news from the boy?" the senior partner +answered gravely that he was lying among the Hillsdale hills, with a +broken leg caused by a fall from his horse. + +"Always was a careless rider," muttered old Safford, mentally +deploring the increased amount of labor which would necessarily fall +upon him, but which he performed without a word of complaint. + +The fair May blossoms were faded, and the last June roses were +blooming ere George Douglas found time or inclination to accept the +invitation indirectly extended to him by Theo Miller. Rose Warner's +refusal had affected him more than he chose to confess, and the wound +must be slightly healed ere he could find pleasure in the sight of +another. Possessed of many excellent qualities, he had unfortunately +fallen into the error of thinking that almost anyone whom he should +select would take him for his money. And when Rose Warner, sitting by +his side in the shadowy twilight, had said, "I cannot be your wife," +the shock was sudden and hard to bear. But the first keen bitterness +was over now, and remembering "the wild girls of the woods," as he +mentally styled both Theo and Maggie, he determined at last to see +them for himself. + +Accordingly, on the last day of June he started for Hillsdale, where +he intended to remain until after the Fourth. To find the old house +was an easy matter, for almost everyone in town was familiar with its +locality, and towards the close of the afternoon he found himself +upon its broad steps applying vigorous strokes to the ponderous brass +knocker, and half hoping the summons would be answered by Maggie +herself. But it was not, and in the bent, white-haired woman who came +with measured footsteps we recognize old Hagar, who spent much of her +time at the house, and who came to the door in compliance with the +request of the young ladies, both of whom, from an upper window, were +curiously watching the stranger. + +"Just the old witch one would expect to find in this out-of-the-way +place," thought Mr. Douglas, while at the same time he asked if that +were Madam Conway's residence, and if a young man by the name of +Warner were staying there. + +"Another city beau!" muttered Hagar, as she answered in the +affirmative, and ushered him into the parlor. "Another city +beau--there'll be high carryings-on now, if he's anything like the +other one, who's come mighty nigh turning the house upside down." + +"What did you say?" asked George Douglas, catching the sound of her +muttering, and thinking she was addressing himself. + +"I wasn't speaking to you. I was talking to a likelier person," +answered old Hagar in an undertone, as she shuffled away in quest of +Henry Warner, who by this time was able to walk with the help of a +cane. + +The meeting between the young men was a joyful one, for though George +Douglas was a little sore on the subject of Rose, he would not suffer +a matter like that to come between him and Henry Warner, whom he had +known and liked from boyhood. Henry's first inquiries were naturally +of a business character, and then George Douglas spoke of the young +ladies, saying he was only anxious to see Maggie, for he knew of +course he should dislike the other. + +Such, however, is wayward human nature that the fair, pale face, and +quiet, dignified manner of Theo Miller had greater attractions for a +person of George Douglas' peculiar temperament than had the dashing, +brilliant Maggie. There was a resemblance, he imagined, between Theo +and Rose, and this of itself was sufficient to attract him towards +her. Theo, too, was equally pleased; and when, that evening, Madam +Jeffrey faintly interposed her fast-departing authority, telling her +quondam pupils it was time they were asleep, Theo did not, as usual, +heed the warning, but sat very still beneath the vine-wreathed +portico, listening while George Douglas told her of the world which +she had never seen. She was not proud towards him, for he possessed +the charm of money, and as he looked down upon her, conversing with +him so familiarly, he wondered how Henry could have called her cold +and haughty--she was merely dignified, high-bred, he thought; and +George Douglas liked anything which savored of aristocracy. + +Meanwhile Henry and Maggie had wandered to a little summer-house, +where, with the bright moonlight falling upon them, they sat together, +but not exactly as of old, for Maggie did not now look up into his +face as she was wont to do, and if she thought his eye was resting +upon her she moved uneasily, while the rich blood deepened on her +cheek. A change has come over Maggie Miller; it is the old story, +too--old to hundreds of thousands, but new to her, the blushing +maiden. Theo calls her nervous--Mrs. Jeffrey calls her sick--the +servants call her mighty queer--while old Hagar, hovering ever near, +and watching her with a jealous eye, knows she is in love. + +Faithfully and well had Hagar studied Henry Warner, to see if there +were aught in him of evil; and though he was not what she would have +chosen for the queenly Maggie she was satisfied if Margaret loved him +and he loved Margaret. But did he? He had never told her so; and +in Hagar Warren's wild black eyes there was a savage gleam, as she +thought, "He'll rue the day that he dares trifle with Maggie Miller." + +But Henry Warner was not trifling with her. He was only waiting a +favorable opportunity for telling her the story of his love; and now, +as they sit together in the moonlight, with the musical flow of the +mill-stream falling on his ear, he essays to speak--to tell how she +has grown into his heart; to ask her to go with him where he goes; to +make his home her home, and so be with him always; but ere the first +word was uttered Maggie asked if Mr. Douglas had brought the picture +of his sister. + +"Why, yes," he answered; "I had forgotten it entirely. Here it is;" +and taking it from his pocket he passed it to her. + +It was a face of almost ethereal loveliness that through the moonlight +looked up to Maggie Miller, and again she experienced the same +undefinable emotion, a mysterious, invisible something drawing her +towards the original of the beautiful likeness. + +"It is strange how thoughts of Rose always affect me," she said, +gazing earnestly upon the large eyes of blue shadowed forth upon the +picture. "It seems as though she must be nearer to me than an unknown +friend." + +"Seems she like a sister?" asked Henry Warner, coming so near that +Maggie felt his warm breath upon her cheek. + +"Yes, yes, that's it," she answered, with something of her olden +frankness. "And had I somewhere in the world an unknown sister I +should say it was Rose Warner!" + +There were a few low, whispered words, and when the full moon, which +for a time had hidden itself behind the clouds, again shone forth in +all its glory, Henry had asked Maggie Miller to be the sister of Rose +Warner, and Maggie had answered "Yes"! + +That night in Maggie's dreams there was a strange commingling +of thoughts. Thoughts of Henry Warner, as he told her of his +love--thoughts of the gentle girl whose eyes of blue had looked so +lovingly up to her, as if between them there was indeed a common bond +of sympathy--and, stranger far than all, thoughts of the little +grave beneath the pine where slept the so-called child of Hester +Hamilton--the child defrauded of its birthright, and who, in the misty +vagaries of dreamland, seemed to stand between her and the beautiful +Rose Warner! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +STARS AND STRIPES. + + +On the rude bench by her cabin door sat Hagar Warren, her black eyes +peering out into the woods and her quick ear turned to catch the first +sound of bounding footsteps, which came at last, and Maggie Miller was +sitting by her side. + +"What is it, darling?" Hagar asked, and her shriveled hand smoothed +caressingly the silken hair, as she looked into the glowing face of +the young girl, and half guessed what was written there. + +To Theo Maggie had whispered the words, "I am engaged," and Theo had +coldly answered: "Pshaw! Grandma will quickly break that up. Why, +Henry Warner is comparatively poor! Mr. Douglas told me so, or rather +I quizzed him until I found it out. He says, though, that Henry has +rare business talents, and he could not do without him." + +To the latter part of Theo's remark Maggie paid little heed; but the +mention of her grandmother troubled her. She would oppose it, Maggie +was sure of that, and it was to talk on this very subject that she had +come to Hagar's cottage. + +"Just the way I s'posed it would end," said Hagar, when Maggie, with +blushing, half-averted face, told the story of her engagement. "Just +the way I s'posed 'twould end, but I didn't think 'twould be so +quick." + +"Two months and a half is a great while, and then we have been +together so much," replied Maggie, at the same time asking if Hagar +did not approve her choice. + +"Henry Warner's well enough," answered Hagar. "I've watched him close +and see no evil in him; but he isn't the one for you, nor are you the +one for him. You are both too wild, too full of fun, and if yoked +together will go to destruction, I know. You need somebody to hold you +back, and so does he." + +Involuntarily Maggie thought of Rose, mentally resolving to be, if +possible, more like her. + +"You are not angry with me?" said Hagar, observing Maggie's silence. +"You asked my opinion, and I gave it to you. You are too young to know +who you like. Henry Warner is the first man you ever knew, and in two +years' time you'll tire of him." + +"Tire of him, Hagar? Tire of Henry Warner?" cried Maggie a little +indignantly. "You do not know me, if you think I'll ever tire of him; +and then, too, did I tell you grandma keeps writing to me about a Mr. +Carrollton, who she says is wealthy, fine-looking, highly educated, +and very aristocratic--and that last makes me hate him! I've heard so +much about aristocracy that I'm sick of it, and just for that reason +I would not have this Mr. Carrollton if I knew he'd make me queen of +England. But grandma's heart is set upon it, I know, and she thinks +of course he would marry me--says he is delighted with my +daguerreotype--that awful one, too, with the staring eyes. In +grandma's last letter he sent me a note. 'Twas beautifully written, +and I dare say he is a fine young man, at least he talks common sense, +but I shan't answer it; and, if you'll believe me, I used part of +it in lighting Henry's cigar, and with the rest I shall light +firecrackers on the Fourth of July; Henry has bought a lot of them, +and we're going to have fun. How grandma would scold!--but I shall +marry Henry Warner, anyway. Do you think she will oppose me, when she +sees how determined I am?" + +"Of course she will," answered Hagar. "I know those Carrolltons--they +are a haughty race; and if your grandmother has one of them in view +she'll turn you from her door sooner than see you married to another, +and an American, too." + +There was a moment's silence, and then, with an unnatural gleam in +her eye, old Hagar turned towards Maggie, and, grasping her shoulder, +said: "If she does this thing, Maggie Miller,--if she casts you +off,--will you take me for your grandmother? Will you let me live with +you? I'll be your drudge, your slave; say, Maggie, may I go with you? +Will you call me grandmother? I'd willingly die if only once I could +hear you speak to me thus, and know it was in love." + +For a moment Maggie looked at her in astonishment; then thinking to +herself, "She surely is half-crazed," she answered laughingly: "Yes, +Hagar, if grandma casts me off, you may go with me. I shall need your +care, but I can't promise to call you grandma, because you know you +are not." + +The corners of Hagar's mouth worked nervously, but her teeth shut +firmly over the thin, white lip, forcing back the wild words trembling +there, and the secret was not told. + +"Go home, Maggie Miller," she said at last, rising slowly to her feet. +"Go home now, and leave me alone. I am willing you should marry Henry +Warner--nay, I wish you to do it; but you must remember your promise." + +Maggie was about to answer, when her thoughts were directed to another +channel by the sight of George Douglas and Theo coming slowly down the +shaded pathway which led past Hagar's door. Old Hagar saw them too, +and, whispering to Maggie, said, "There's another marriage brewing, or +the signs do not tell true, and madam will sanction this one, too, for +there's money there, and gold can purify any blood." + +Ere Maggie could reply Theo called out, "You here, Maggie, as usual?" +adding, aside, to her companion: "She has the most unaccountable +taste, so different from me, who cannot endure anything low and +vulgar. Can you? But I need not ask," she continued, "for your +associations have been of a refined nature." + +George Douglas did not answer, for his thoughts were back in the brown +farmhouse at the foot of the hill, where his boyhood was passed, and +he wondered what the high-bred lady at his side would say if she could +see the sunburned man and plain, old-fashioned woman who called him +their son George Washington. He would not confess that he was ashamed +of his parentage, for he tried to be a kind and dutiful child, but he +would a little rather that Theo Miller should not know how democratic +had been his early training. So he made no answer, but, addressing +himself to Maggie, asked how she could find it in her heart to leave +her patient so long. + +"I'm going back directly," she said, and donning her hat she started +for home, thinking she had gained but little satisfaction from Hagar, +who, as Douglas and Theo passed on, resumed her seat by the door, and, +listening to the sound of Margaret's retreating footsteps, muttered: +"The old light-heartedness is gone. There are shadows gathering round +her; for once in love, she'll never be as free and joyous again. But +it can't be helped; it's the destiny of women, and I only hope this +Warner is worthy of her. But he aint. He's too wild--too full of what +Hagar Warren calls bedevilment. And Maggie does everything he tells +her to do. Not content with tearing down his bed-curtains, which have +hung there full twenty years, she's set things all cornerwise, because +the folks do so in Worcester, and has turned the parlor into a +smoking-room, till all the air of Hillsdale can't take away that +tobacco scent. Why, it almost knocks me down!" and the old lady +groaned aloud, as she recounted to herself the recent innovations upon +the time-honored habits of her mistress' house. + +Henry Warner was, indeed, rather a fast young man, but it needed the +suggestive presence of George Douglas to bring out his true character; +and for the four days succeeding the arrival of the latter there were +rare doings at the old stone house, where the astonished and rather +delighted servants looked on in amazement while the young men sang +their jovial songs and drank of the rare old wine which Maggie, +utterly fearless of what her grandmother might say, brought from the +cellar below. But when, on the morning of the Fourth, Henry Warner +suggested that they have a celebration, or at least hang out the +American flag by way of showing their patriotism, there were signs of +rebellion in the kitchen, while even Mrs. Jeffrey, who had long since +ceased to interfere, felt it her duty to remonstrate. Accordingly, she +descended to the parlor, where she found George Douglas and Maggie +dancing to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," which Theo played upon the +piano, while Henry Warner whistled a most stirring accompaniment! To +be heard above that din was impossible, and involuntarily patting her +own slippered foot to the lively strain the distressed little lady +went back to her room, wondering what Madam Conway would say if she +knew how her house was being desecrated. + +But Madam Conway did not know. She was three thousand miles away, and +with this distance between them Maggie dared do anything; so when the +flag was again mentioned, she answered apologetically, as if it were +something of which they ought to be ashamed: "We never had any, but +we can soon make one, I know. 'Twill be fun to see it float from the +housetop!" and, flying up the stairs to the dusty garret, she drew +from a huge oaken chest a scarlet coat which had belonged to the +former owner of the place, who little thought, as he sat in state, +that his favorite coat would one day furnish material for the emblem +of American freedom! + +No such thought as this, however, obtruded itself upon Maggie as she +bent over the chest. "The coat is of no use," she said, and gathering +it up she ran back to the parlor, where, throwing it across Henry's +lap, she told how it had belonged to her great-great-grandfather, who +at the time of the Revolution went home to England. The young men +exchanged a meaning look, and then burst into a laugh, but the cause +of their merriment they did not explain, lest the prejudices of the +girls should be aroused. + +"This is just the thing," said Henry, entering heart and soul into the +spirit of the fun. "This is grand. Can't you find some blue for the +groundwork of the stars?" + +Maggie thought a moment, and then exclaimed: "Oh, yes--I have it; +grandma has a blue satin bodice which she wore when she was a young +lady. She once gave me a part of the back for my doll's dress. She +won't care if I cut up the rest for a banner." + +"Of course not," answered George Douglas. "She'll be glad to have +it used for such a laudable purpose," and walking to the window +he laughed heartily as he saw in fancy the wrath of the proud +Englishwoman when she learned the use to which her satin bodice had +been appropriated. + +The waist was brought in a twinkling, and then, when Henry asked for +some white, Maggie cried, "A sheet will be just the thing--one of +grandma's small linen ones. It won't hurt it a bit," she added, as +she saw a shadow on Theo's brow, and, mounting to the top of the high +chest of drawers, she brought out a sheet of finest linen, which, with +rose leaves and fragrant herbs, had been carefully packed away. + +It was a long, delightful process, the making of that banner; and +Maggie's voice rang out loud and clear as she saw how cleverly Henry +Warner managed the shears, cutting the red coat into stripes. The +arrangement of the satin fell to Maggie's lot; and while George +Douglas made the stars, Theo looked on a little doubtfully--not that +her nationality was in any way affected, for what George Douglas +sanctioned was by this time right with her; but she felt some +misgiving as to what her grandmother might say; and, thinking if she +did nothing but look on and laugh the blame would fall on Maggie, she +stood aloof, making occasionally a suggestion, and seeming as pleased +as anyone when at last the flag was done. A quilting-frame served as +a flagstaff, and Maggie was chosen to plant it upon the top of the +house, where was a cupola, or miniature tower, overlooking the +surrounding country. Leading to this tower was a narrow staircase, and +up these stairs Maggie bore the flag, assisted by one of the servant +girls, whose birthplace was green Erin, and whose broad, good-humored +face shone with delight as she fastened the pole securely in its +place, and then shook aloft her checked apron, in answer to the cheer +which came up from below, when first the American banner waved over +the old stone house. + +Attracted by the noise, and wondering what fresh mischief they were +doing, Mrs. Jeffrey went out into the yard just in time to see the +flag of freedom as it shook itself out in the summer breeze. + +"Heaven help me!" she ejaculated; "the 'Stars and Stripes' on Madam +Conway's house!" and, resolutely shutting her eyes, lest they should +look again on what to her seemed sacrilege, she groped her way back +to the house; and, retiring to her room, wrote to Madam Conway an +exaggerated account of the proceedings, bidding her hasten home or +everything would be ruined. + +The letter being written, the good lady felt better--so much better, +indeed, that after an hour's deliberation she concluded not to send +it, inasmuch as it contained many complaints against the young lady +Margaret, who she knew was sure in the end to find favor in her +grandmother's eyes. This was the first time Mrs. Jeffrey had +attempted a letter to her employer, for Maggie had been the chosen +correspondent, Theo affecting to dislike anything like letter-writing. +On the day previous to Henry Warner's arrival at the stone house +Maggie had written to her grandmother, and ere the time came for her +to write again she had concluded to keep his presence there a secret: +so Madam Conway was, as yet, ignorant of his existence; and while +in the homes of the English nobility she bore herself like a royal +duchess, talking to young Arthur Carrollton of her beautiful +granddaughter, she little dreamed of the real state of affairs at +home. + +But it was not for Mrs. Jeffrey to enlighten her, and tearing her +letter in pieces the governess sat down in her easy-chair by the +window, mentally congratulating herself upon the fact that "the two +young savages," as she styled Douglas and Warner, were to leave on the +morrow. This last act of theirs, the hoisting of the banner, had been +the culminating point; and, too indignant to sit with them at the same +table, she resolutely kept her room throughout the entire day, poring +intently over Baxter's "Saints' Rest," her favorite volume when at all +flurried or excited. Occasionally, too, she would stop her ears with +jeweler's cotton, to shut out the sound of "Hail, Columbia!" as it +came up to her from the parlor below, where the young men were doing +their best to show their patriotism. + +Towards evening, alarmed by a whizzing sound, which seemed to be often +repeated, and wishing to know the cause, she stole halfway down the +stairs, when the mischievous Maggie greeted her with a "serpent," +which, hissing beneath her feet, sent her quickly back to her +room, from which she did not venture again. Mrs. Jeffrey was very +good-natured, and reflecting that "young folks must have fun," she +became at last comparatively calm, and at an early hour sought her +pillow. But thoughts of "stars and stripes" waving directly over her +head, as she knew they were, made her nervous, and the long clock +struck the hour of two, and she was yet restless and wakeful, +notwithstanding the near approach of dawn. + +"Maybe the 'Saints' Rest' will quiet me a trifle," she thought; and, +striking a light, she attempted to read; but in vain, for every word +was a star, every line a stripe, and every leaf a flag. Shutting the +book and hurriedly pacing the floor, she exclaimed: "It's of no use +trying to sleep, or meditate either. Baxter himself couldn't do it +with that thing over his head, and I mean to take it down. It's a duty +I owe to King George's memory, and to Madam Conway;" and, stealing +from her room, she groped her way up the dark, narrow stairway, until, +emerging into the bright moonlight, she stood directly beneath the +American banner, waving so gracefully in the night wind. "It's a +clever enough device," she said, gazing rather admiringly at it. "And +I'd let it be if I s'posed I could sleep a wink; but I can't. It's +worse for my nerves than strong green tea, and I'll not lie awake for +all the Yankee flags in Christendom." So saying, the resolute little +woman tugged at the quilt-frame until she loosened it from its +fastenings, and then started to return. + +But, alas! the way was narrow and dark, the banner was large and +cumbersome, while the lady that bore it was nervous and weak. It is +not strange, then, that Maggie, who slept at no great distance, was +awakened by a tremendous crash, as of someone falling the entire +length of the tower stairs, while a voice, frightened and faint, +called out; "Help me, Margaret, do! I am dead! I know I am!" + +Striking a light, Maggie hurried to the spot, while her merry laugh +aroused the servants, who came together in a body. Stretched upon the +floor, with one foot thrust entirely through the banner, which was +folded about her so that the quilt-frame lay directly upon her bosom, +was Mrs. Jeffrey, the broad frill of her cap standing up erect, and +herself asserting with every breath that "she was dead and buried, she +knew she was." + +"Wrapped in a winding-sheet, I'll admit," said Maggie, "but not +quite dead, I trust;" and, putting down her light, she attempted to +extricate her governess, who continued to apologize for what she had +done. "Not that I cared so much about your celebrating America; but I +couldn't sleep with the thing over my head; I was going to put it back +in the morning before you were up. There! there! careful! It's broken +short off!" she screamed, as Maggie tried to release her foot from the +rent in the linen sheet, a rent which the frightened woman persisted +in saying she could darn as good as new, while at the same time she +implored of Maggie to handle carefully her ankle, which had been +sprained by the fall. + +Maggie's recent experience in broken bones had made her quite an +adept, and taking the slight form of Mrs. Jeffrey in her arms she +carried her back to her room, where, growing more quiet, the old +lady told her how she happened to fall, saying she never thought of +stumbling, until she fancied that Washington and all his regiment were +after her, and when she turned her head to see, she lost her footing +and fell. + +Forcing back her merriment, which in spite of herself would +occasionally burst forth, Maggie made her teacher as comfortable as +possible, and then stayed with her until morning, when, leaving her +in charge of a servant, she went below to say farewell to her guests. +Between George Douglas and Theo there were a few low-spoken words, she +granting him permission to write, while he promised to visit her again +in the early autumn. He had not yet talked to her of love, for Rose +Warner had still a home in his heart, and she must be dislodged ere +another could take her place. But his affection for her was growing +gradually less. Theo suited him well; her family suited him better, +and when at parting he took her hand in his he resolved to ask her for +it when next he came to Hillsdale. + +Meanwhile between Henry Warner and Maggie there was a far more +affectionate farewell, he whispering to her of a time not far distant +when he would claim her as his own, and, she should go with him. He +would write to her every week, he said, and Rose should write too. He +would see Rose in a few days, and tell her of his engagement, which he +knew would please her. + +"Let me send her a line," said Maggie, and on a tiny sheet of paper +she wrote: "Dear Rose: Are you willing I should be your sister +Maggie?" + +Half an hour later, and Hagar Warren, coming through the garden gate, +looked after the carriage which bore the gentlemen to the depot, +muttering to herself: "I'm glad the high bucks have gone. A good +riddance to them both." + +In her disorderly chamber, too, Mrs. Jeffrey hobbled on one foot to +the window, where, with a deep sigh of relief, she sent after the +young men a not very complimentary adieu, which was echoed in part by +the servants below, while Theo, on the piazza, exclaimed against the +lonesome old house, which was never so lonesome before, and Maggie +seated herself upon the stairs and cried! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ROSE WARNER. + + +Nestled among the tall old trees which skirt the borders of Leominster +village was the bird's-nest of a cottage which Rose Warner called her +home, and which, with its wealth of roses, its trailing vines and +flowering shrubs, seemed fitted for the abode of one like her. Slight +as a child twelve summers old, and fair as the white pond lily when +first to the morning sun it unfolds its delicate petals, she seemed +too frail for earth; and both her aunt and he whom she called brother +watched carefully lest the cold north wind should blow too rudely on +the golden curls which shaded her childish brow. Very, very beautiful +was little Rose, and yet few ever looked upon her without a feeling of +sadness; for in the deep blue of her eyes there was a mournful, dreamy +look, as if the shadow of some great sorrow were resting thus early +upon her. + +And Rose Warner had a sorrow, too--a grief which none save one had +ever suspected. To him it had come with the words, "I cannot be your +wife for I love another; one who will never know how dear he is to +me." + +The words were involuntarily spoken, and George Douglas, looking down +upon her, guessed rightly that he who would never know how much he +was beloved was Henry Warner. To her the knowledge that Henry was +something dearer than a brother had come slowly, filling her heart +with pain, for she well knew that whether he clasped her to his bosom, +as he often did, or pressed his lips upon her brow, he thought of her +only as a brother thinks of a beautiful and idolized sister. It had +heretofore been some consolation to know that his affections were +untrammeled with thoughts of another, that she alone was the object of +his love, and hope had sometimes faintly whispered of what perchance +might be; but from that dream she was waking now, and her face grew +whiter still as there came to her from time to time letters fraught +with praises of Margaret Miller; and if in Rose Warner's nature there +had been a particle of bitterness, it would have been called forth +toward one who, she foresaw, would be her rival. But Rose knew no +malice, and she felt that she would sooner die than do aught to mar +the happiness of Maggie Miller. + +For nearly two weeks she had not heard from Henry, and she was +beginning to feel very anxious, when one morning, two or three days +succeeding the memorable Hillsdale celebration, as she sat in a small +arbor so thickly overgrown with the Michigan rose as to render her +invisible at a little distance, she was startled by hearing him call +her name, as he came in quest of her down the garden walk. The next +moment he held her in his arms, kissing her forehead, her lips, her +cheek; then holding her off, he looked to see if there had been in her +aught of change since last they met. + +"You are paler than you were, Rose darling," he said, "and your eyes +look as if they had of late been used to tears. What is it, dearest? +What troubles you?" + +Rose could not answer immediately, for his sudden coming had taken +away her breath, and as he saw a faint blush stealing over her face he +continued, "Can it be my little sister has been falling in love during +my absence?" + +Never before had he spoken to her thus; but a change had come over +him, his heart was full of a beautiful image, and fancying Rose might +have followed his example he asked her the question he did, without, +however, expecting or receiving a definite answer. + +"I am so lonely, Henry, when you are gone and do not write to me!" she +said; and in the tones of her voice there was a slight reproof, which +Henry felt keenly. + +He had been so engrossed with Maggie Miller and the free joyous life +he led in the Hillsdale woods, that for a time he had neglected Rose, +who, in his absence, depended so much on his letters for comfort. + +"I have been very selfish, I know," he said; "but I was so happy, that +for a time I forgot everything save Maggie Miller." + +An involuntary shudder ran through Rose's slender form; but, +conquering her emotion, she answered calmly: "What of this Maggie +Miller? Tell me of her, will you?" + +Winding his arm around her waist, and drawing her closely to his side, +Henry Warner rested her head upon his bosom, where it had often lain, +and, smoothing her golden curls, told her of Maggie Miller, of her +queenly beauty, of her dashing, independent spirit, her frank, +ingenuous manner, her kindness of heart; and last of all, bending very +low, lest the vine leaves and the fair blossoms of the rose should +hear, he told her of his love; and Rose, the fairest flower of all +which bloomed around that bower, clasped her hand upon her heart, lest +he should see its wild throbbings, and, forcing back the tears which +moistened her long lashes, listened to the knell of all her hopes. +Henceforth her love for him must be an idle mockery, and the time +would come when to love him as she loved him then would be a sin--a +wrong to herself, a wrong to him, and a wrong to Maggie Miller. + +"You are surely not asleep," he said at last, as she made him no +reply, and bending forward he saw the tear-drops resting on her cheek. +"Not asleep, but weeping!" he exclaimed. "What is it, darling? What +troubles you?" And lifting up her head, Rose Warner answered, "I was +thinking how this new love of yours would take you from me, and I +should be alone." + +"No, not alone," he said, wiping her tears away. "Maggie and I have +arranged that matter. You are to live with us, and instead of losing +me you are to gain another--a sister, Rose. You have often wished you +had one, and you could surely find none worthier than Maggie Miller." + +"Will she watch over you, Henry? Will she be to you what your wife +should be?" asked Rose; and Henry answered: "She is not at all like +you, my little sister. She relies implicitly upon my judgment; so you +see I shall need your blessed influence all the same, to make me what +your brother and Maggie's husband ought to be." + +"Did she send me no message?" asked Rose; and taking out the tiny +note, Henry passed it to her, just as his aunt called to him from the +house, whither he went, leaving her alone. + +There were blinding tears in Rose's eyes as she read the few lines, +and involuntarily she pressed her lips to the paper which she knew had +been touched by Maggie Miller's hands. + +"My sister--sister Maggie," she repeated; and at the sound of that +name her fast-beating heart grew still, for they seemed very sweet to +her, those words "my sister," thrilling her with a new and strange +emotion, and awakening within her a germ of the deep, undying love she +was yet to feel for her who had traced those words and asked to be her +sister. "I will do right," she thought; "I will conquer this foolish +heart of mine, or break it in the struggle, and Henry Warner shall +never know how sorely it was wrung." + +The resolution gave her strength, and, rising up, she too sought the +house, where, retiring to her room, she penned a hasty note to Maggie, +growing calmer with each word she wrote. + +"I grant your request [she said] and take you for a sister well +beloved. I had a half-sister once, they say, but she died when a +little babe. I never looked upon her face, and connected with her +birth there was too much of sorrow and humiliation for me to think +much of her, save as of one who, under other circumstances, might have +been dear to me. And yet as I grow older I often find myself wishing +she had lived, for my father's blood was in her veins. But I do not +even know where her grave was made, for we only heard one winter +morning, years ago, that she was dead with the mother who bore her. +Forgive me, Maggie dear, for saying so much about that little child. +Thoughts of you, who are to be my sister, make me think of her, who, +had she lived, would have been a young lady now nearly your own age. +So in the place of her, whom, knowing, I would have loved, I adopt +you, sweet Maggie Miller, my sister and my friend. May Heaven's +choicest blessings rest on you forever, and no shadow come between you +and the one you have chosen for your husband! To my partial eyes he is +worthy of you, Maggie, royal in bearing and queenly in form though you +be, and that you may be happy with him will be the daily prayer of + +"ROSE." + +The letter was finished, and Rose gave it to her brother, who, after +its perusal, kissed her, saying: "It is right, my darling. I will send +it to-morrow with mine; and now for a ride. I will see what a little +exercise can do for you. I do not like the color of your face." + +But neither the fragrant summer air, nor yet the presence of Henry +Warner, who tarried several days, could rouse the drooping Rose; and +when at last she was left alone she sought her bed, where for many +weeks she hovered between life and death, while her brother and her +aunt hung over her pillow, and Maggie, from her woodland home, sent +many an anxious inquiry and message of love to the sick girl. In the +close atmosphere of his counting-room George Douglas too again battled +manfully with his olden love, listening each day to hear that she was +dead. But not thus early was Rose to die, and with the waning summer +days she came slowly back to life. More beautiful than ever, because +more ethereal and fair, she walked the earth like one who, having +struggled with a mighty sorrow, had won the victory at last; and Henry +Warner, when he looked on her sweet, placid face, and listened to her +voice as she made plans for the future, when Maggie would be his wife, +dreamed not of the grave hidden in the deep recesses of her heart, +where grew no flower of hope or semblance of earthly joy. + +Thus little know mankind of each other! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +EXPECTED GUESTS. + + +On the Hillsdale hills the October sun was shining, and the forest +trees were donning their robes of scarlet and brown, when again the +old stone house presented an air of joyous expectancy. The large, dark +parlors were thrown open, the best chambers were aired, the bright, +autumnal flowers were gathered and in tastefully arranged bouquets +adorned the mantels, while Theo and Maggie, in their best attire, +flitted uneasily from room to room, running sometimes to the gate +to look down the grassy road which led from the highway, and again +mounting the tower stairs to obtain a more extended view. + +In her pleasant apartment, where last we left her with a sprained +ankle, Mrs. Jeffrey, too, fidgeted about, half sympathizing with her +pupils in their happiness, and half regretting the cause of that +happiness, which was the expected arrival of George Douglas and Henry +Warner, who, true to their promise, were coming again to try for a +week the Hillsdale air, and retrieve their character as fast young +men. So, at least, they told Mrs. Jeffrey, who, mindful of her exploit +with the banner, and wishing to make some amends, met them alone on +the threshhold, Maggie having at the last moment run away, while Theo +sat in a state of dignified perturbation upon the sofa. + +A few days prior to their arrival letters had been received from Madam +Conway saying she should probably, remain in England two or three +weeks longer, and thus the house was again clear to the young men, +who, forgetting to retrieve their characters, fairly outdid all they +had done before. The weather was remarkably clear and bracing, and the +greater part of each day was spent in the open air, either in fishing, +riding, or hunting; Maggie teaching Henry Warner how to ride and leap, +while he in turn taught her to shoot a bird upon the wing, until the +pupil was equal to her master. In these outdoor excursions George +Douglas and Theo did not always join, for he had something to say +which he would rather tell her in the silent parlor, and which, when +told, furnished food for many a quiet conversation; so Henry and +Maggie rode oftentimes alone; and old Hagar, when she saw them dashing +past her door, Maggie usually taking the lead, would shake her head +and mutter to herself: "'Twill never do--that match. He ought to hold +her back, instead of leading her on. I wish Madam Conway would, come +home and end it." + +Mrs. Jeffrey wished so too, as night after night her slumbers were +disturbed by the sounds of merriment which came up to her from the +parlor below, where the young people were "enjoying themselves," as +Maggie said when reproved for the noisy revels. The day previous +to the one set for their departure chanced to be Henry Warner's +twenty-seventh birthday, and this Maggie resolved to honor with an +extra supper, which was served at an unusually late hour in the dining +room, the door of which opened out upon a closely latticed piazza. + +"I wish we could think of something new to do," said Maggie, as she +presided at the table--"something real funny;" then, as her eyes fell +upon the dark piazza, where a single light was burning dimly, she +exclaimed: "Why can't we get up tableaux? There are heaps of the +queerest clothes in the big oaken chest in the garret. The servants +can be audience, and they need some recreation!" + +The suggestion was at once approved, and in half an hour's time the +floor was strewn with garments of every conceivable fashion, from long +stockings and small clothes to scarlet cloaks and gored skirts, the +latter of which were immediately donned by Henry Warner, to the +infinite delight of the servants, who enjoyed seeing the grotesque +costumes, even if they did not exactly understand what the tableaux +were intended to represent. The banner, too, was brought out, and +after bearing a conspicuous part in the performance was placed at the +end of the dining room, where it would be the first thing visible to a +person opening the door opposite. At a late hour the servants retired, +and then George Douglas, who took kindly to the luscious old wine, +which Maggie again had brought from her grandmother's choicest store, +filled a goblet to the brim, and, pledging first the health of the +young girls, drank to "the old lady across the water" with whose goods +they were thus making free! + +Henry Warner rarely tasted wine, for though miles away from Rose her +influence was around him--so, filling his glass with water, he too +drank to the wish that "the lady across the sea" would remain there +yet a while, or at all events not "stumble upon us to-night!" + +"What if she should!" thought Maggie, glancing around at the different +articles scattered all over the floor, and laughing as she saw in +fancy her grandmother's look of dismay should she by any possible +chance obtain a view of the room, where perfect order and quiet had +been wont to reign. + +But the good lady was undoubtedly taking her morning nap on the +shores of old England. There was no danger to be apprehended from her +unexpected arrival, they thought; and just as the clock struck one the +young men sought their rooms, greatly to the relief of Mrs. Jeffrey, +who, in her long night robe, with streaming candle in hand, had +more than a dozen times leaned over the banister, wondering if the +"carouse" would ever end. + +It did end at last; and, tired and sleepy, Theo went directly to her +chamber, while Maggie stayed below, thinking to arrange matters a +little, for their guests were to leave on the first train, and she had +ordered an early breakfast. But it was a hopeless task, the putting +of that room to rights; and trusting much to the good-nature of the +housekeeper, she finally gave it up and went to bed, forgetting in her +drowsiness to fasten the outer door, or yet to extinguish the lamp +which burned upon the sideboard. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +UNEXPECTED GUESTS. + + +At the delightful country seat of Arthur Carrollton Madam Conway had +passed many pleasant days, and was fully intending to while away +several more, when an unexpected summons from his father made it +necessary for the young man to go immediately to London; and, as an +American steamer was about to leave the port of Liverpool, Madam +Conway determined to start for home at once. Accordingly, she wrote +for Anna Jeffrey, whom she had promised to take with her, to meet her +in Liverpool, and a few days previous to the arrival of George Douglas +and Henry Warner at Hillsdale, the two ladies embarked with an endless +variety of luggage, to say nothing of Miss Anna's guitar-case, +bird-cage, and favorite lap-dog "Lottie." + +Once fairly on the sea, Madam Conway became exceedingly impatient and +disagreeable, complaining both of fare and speed, and at length came +on deck one morning with the firm belief that something dreadful had +happened to Maggie! She was dangerously sick, she knew, for never but +once before had she been visited with a like presentiment, and that +was just before her daughter died. Then it came to her just as this +had done, in her sleep, and very nervously the lady paced the vessel's +deck, counting the days as they passed, and almost weeping for joy +when told Boston was in sight. Immediately after landing she made +inquiries as to when the next train passing Hillsdale station would +leave the city, and though it was midnight she resolved at all hazards +to go on, for if Maggie were really ill there was no time to be lost! + +Accordingly, when at four o'clock A.M. Maggie, who was partially +awake, heard in the distance the shrill scream of the engine, as the +night express thundered through the town, she little dreamed of the +boxes, bundles, trunks, and bags which lined the platform of Hillsdale +station, nor yet of the resolute woman in brown who persevered until a +rude one-horse wagon was found in which to transport herself and her +baggage to the old stone house. The driver of the vehicle, in which, +under ordinary circumstances, Madam Conway would have scorned to +ride, was a long, lean, half-witted fellow, utterly unfitted for his +business. Still, he managed quite well until they turned into the +grassy by-road, and Madam Conway saw through the darkness the light +which Maggie had inadvertently left within the dining room! + +There was no longer a shadow of uncertainty. "Margaret was dead!" +and the lank Tim was ordered to drive faster, or the excited woman, +perched on one of her traveling-trunks, would be obliged to foot it! A +few vigorous strokes of the whip set the sorrel horse into a canter, +and as the night was dark, and the road wound round among the trees, +it is not at all surprising that Madam Conway, with her eye still on +the beacon light, found herself seated rather unceremoniously in the +midst of a brush heap, her goods and chattels rolling promiscuously +around her, while lying across a log, her right hand clutching at the +bird-cage, and her left grasping the shaggy hide of Lottie, who yelled +most furiously, was Anna Jeffrey, half blinded with mud, and bitterly +denouncing American drivers and Yankee roads! To gather themselves +together was not an easy matter, but the ten pieces were at last all +told, and then, holding up her skirts, bedraggled with dew, Madam +Conway resumed her seat in the wagon, which was this time driven in +safety to her door. Giving orders for her numerous boxes to be safely +bestowed, she hastened forward and soon stood upon the threshold. + +"Great Heaven!" she exclaimed, starting backward so suddenly that she +trod upon the foot of Lottie, who again sent forth an outcry, which +Anna Jeffrey managed to choke down. "Is this bedlam, or what?" And +stepping out upon the piazza, she looked to see if the blundering +driver had made a mistake. But no; it was the same old gray stone +house she had left some months before; and again pressing boldly +forward, she took the lamp from the sideboard and commenced to +reconnoiter. "My mother's wedding dress, as I live! and her scarlet +broadcloth, too!" she cried, holding to view the garments which +Henry Warner had thrown upon the arm of the long settee. A turban or +cushion, which she recognized as belonging to her grandmother, next +caught her view, together with the smallclothes of her sire. + +"The entire contents of the oaken chest," she continued, in a tone far +from calm and cool. "What can have happened! It's some of that crazy +Hagar's work, I know. I'll have her put in the--" But whatever the +evil was which threatened Hagar Warren it was not defined by words, +for at that moment the indignant lady caught sight of an empty bottle, +which she instantly recognized as having held her very oldest, +choicest wine. "The Lord help me!" she cried, "I've been robbed;" and +grasping the bottle by the neck, she leaned up against the banner +which she had not yet descried. + +"In the name of wonder, what's this?" she almost screamed, as the full +blaze of the lamp fell upon the flag, revealing the truth at once, and +partially stopping her breath. + +Robbery was nothing to insult; and, forgetting the wine, she gasped: +"'Stars and Stripes' in this house! In the house of my grandfather, +as loyal a subject as King George ever boasted! What can Margaret be +doing to suffer a thing like this?" + +A few steps further on, and Margaret herself might have been seen +peering out into the darkened upper hall, and listening anxiously +to her grandmother's voice. The sound of the rattling old wagon had +aroused her, and, curious to know who was stirring at this early hour, +she had cautiously opened her window, which overlooked the piazza, and +to her great dismay had recognized her grandmother as she gave orders +concerning her baggage. Flying back to her room, she awoke her sister, +who, springing up in bed, whispered faintly: "Will she kill us dead, +Maggie? Will she kill us dead?" + +"Pshaw! no," answered Maggie, her own courage rising with Theo's +fears. "She'll have to scold a spell, I suppose; but I can coax her, I +know!" + +By this time the old lady was ascending the stairs, and closing the +door Maggie applied her eye to the keyhole, listening breathlessly for +what might follow. George Douglas and Henry Warner occupied separate +rooms, and their boots were now standing outside their doors, ready +for the chore boy, Jim, who thus earned a quarter every day. Stumbling +first upon the pair belonging to George Douglas, the lady took them +up, ejaculating: "Boots! boots! Yes, men's boots, as I'm a living +woman! The like was never seen by me before in this hall. Another +pair!" she continued, as her eye fell on those of Henry Warner. +"Another pair, and in the best chamber, too! What will come next?" And +setting down her light, she wiped the drops of perspiration from her +face, at the same time looking around in some alarm lest the owners of +said boots should come forth. + +Just at that moment Mrs. Jeffrey appeared. Alarmed by the unusual +noise, and fancying the young gentlemen might be robbing the house as +a farewell performance, she had donned a calico wrapper, and tying a +black silk handkerchief over her cap, had taken her scissors, the only +weapon of defense she could find, and thus equipped for battle she had +sallied forth. She was prepared for burglars--nay, she would not +have been disappointed had she found the young men busily engaged in +removing the ponderous furniture from their rooms; but the sight of +Madam Conway, at that unseasonable hour, was wholly unexpected, and in +her fright she dropped the lamp which she had lighted in place of her +candle, and which was broken in fragments, deluging the carpet with +oil and eliciting a fresh groan from Madam Conway. + +"Jeffrey, Jeffrey!" she gasped; "what have you done?" + +"Great goodness!" ejaculated Mrs. Jeffrey, remembering her adventure +when once before she left her room in the night. "I certainly am the +most unfortunate of mortals. Catch me out of bed again, let what will +happen;" and turning, she was about to leave the hall, when Madam +Conway, anxious to know what had been done, called her back, saying +rather indignantly, "I'd like to know whose house I am in?" + +"A body would suppose 'twas Miss Margaret's, the way she's conducted," +answered Mrs. Jeffrey; and Madam Conway continued, pointing to the +boots: "Who have we here? These are not Margaret's, surely?" + +"No, ma'am, they belong to the young men who have turned the house +topsy-turvy with their tableaux, their Revolution celebration, their +banner, and carousing generally," said Mrs. Jeffrey, rather pleased +than otherwise at being the first to tell the news. + +"Young men!" repeated Madam Conway--"what young men? Where did they +come from, and why are they here?" + +"They are Douglas and Warner," said Mrs. Jeffrey, "two as big +scapegraces as there are this side of Old Bailey--that's what they +are. They came from Worcester, and if I've any discernment they are +after your girls, and your girls are after them." + +"After my girls! After Maggie! It can't be possible!" gasped Mrs. +Conway, thinking of Arthur Carrollton. + +"It's the very truth, though," returned Mrs. Jeffrey. "Henry Warner, +who, in my opinion, is the worst of the two, got to chasing Margaret +in the woods, as long ago as last April. She jumped Gritty across the +gorge, and he, like a fool, jumped after, breaking his leg--" + +"Pity it hadn't been his neck," interrupted Madam Conway; and Mrs. +Jeffrey continued: "Of course he was brought here, and Margaret took +care of him. After a while his comrade Douglas came out, and of all +the carousals you ever thought of, I reckon they had the worst. 'Twas +the Fourth of July, and if you'll believe it they made a banner, and +Maggie planted it herself on the housetop. They went off next morning; +but now they've come again, and last night the row beat all. I never +got a wink of sleep till after two o'clock." + +Here, entirely out of breath, the old lady paused, and, going to her +room, brought out a basin of water and a towel, with which she tried +to wipe off the oil. But Madam Conway paid little heed to the spoiled +carpet, so engrossed was she with what she had heard. + +"I am astonished at Margaret's want of discretion," said she, "and I +depended so much upon her, too." + +"I always knew you were deceived by her," said Mrs. Jeffrey, still +bending over the oil; "but it wasn't for me to say so, for you are +blinded towards that girl. She's got some of the queerest notions, and +then she's so high-strung. She won't listen to reason. But I did my +country good service once. I went up in the dead of night to take down +the flag, and I don't regret it either, even if it did pitch me to the +bottom of the stairs, and sprained my ankle." + +"Served you right," interposed Madam Conway, who, not at all pleased +at hearing Margaret thus censured, now turned the full force of her +wrath upon the poor little governess, blaming her for having suffered +such proceedings. "What did Margaret and Theo know, young things as +they were? and what was Mrs. Jeffrey there for if not to keep them +circumspect! But instead of doing this, she had undoubtedly encouraged +them in their folly, and then charged it upon Margaret." + +It was in vain that the greatly distressed and astonished lady +protested her innocence, pleading her sleepless nights and lame ankle +as proofs of having done her duty; Madam Conway would not listen. +"Somebody was of course to blame," and as it is a long-established +rule that a part of every teacher's duty is to be responsible for the +faults of the pupils, so Madam Conway now continued to chide Mrs. +Jeffrey as the prime-mover of everything, until that lady, overwhelmed +with the sense of injustice done her, left the oil and retired to her +room, saying as she closed the door: "I was never so injured in all my +life--never. To think that after all my trouble she should charge it +to me! It will break my heart, I know. Where shall I go for comfort or +rest?" + +This last word was opportune and suggestive. If rest could not be +found in Baxter's "Saints' Rest," it was not by her to be found at +all; and, sitting down by the window in the gray dawn of the morning, +she strove to draw comfort from the words of the good divine; but in +vain. It had never failed her before; but never before had she been so +deeply injured; and, closing the volume at last, she paced the floor +in a very perturbed state of mind. + +Meantime, Madam Conway had sought her granddaughter's chamber, where +Theo in her fright had taken refuge under the bed, while Maggie +feigned a deep, sound sleep. A few vigorous shakes, however, aroused +her, when, greatly to the amazement of her grandmother, she burst into +a merry laugh, and, winding her arms around the highly scandalized +lady's neck, said: "Forgive me, grandma, I've been awake ever since +you came home. I did not mean to leave the dining room in such +disorder, but I was so tired, and we had such fun! Hear me out," she +continued, laying her hand over the mouth of her grandmother, who +attempted to speak; "Mrs. Jeffrey told you how Mr. Warner broke his +leg, and was brought here. He is a real nice young man, and so is Mr. +Douglas, who came out to see him. They are partners in the firm of +Douglas & Co., Worcester." + +"Henry Warner is nothing but the Co., though; Mr. Douglas owns the +store, and is worth two hundred thousand dollars!" cried a smothered +voice under the bed; and Theo emerged into view, with a feather or +two ornamenting her hair, and herself looking a little uneasy and +frightened. + +The two hundred thousand dollars produced a magical effect upon the +old lady, exonerating George Douglas at once from all blame. But +towards Henry Warner she was not thus lenient; for, coward-like, Theo +charged him with having suggested everything, even to the cutting up +of the ancestral red coat for Freedom's banner! + +"What!" fairly screamed Madam Conway, who in her hasty glance at the +flag had not observed the material; "not taken my grandfather's coat +for a banner!" + +"Yes, he did," said Theo, "and Maggie cut up your blue satin bodice +for stars, and took one of your fine linen sheets for the foundation." + +"The wretch!" exclaimed Madam Conway, stamping her foot in her wrath, +and thinking only of Henry Warner; "I'll turn him from my door +instantly. My blue satin bodice, indeed!" + +"'Twas I, grandma--'twas I," interrupted Maggie, looking reproachfully +at Theo. "'Twas I who cut up the bodice. I who brought down the +scarlet coat." + +"And I didn't do a thing but look on," said Theo. "I knew you'd be +angry, and I tried to make Maggie behave, but she wouldn't." + +"I don't know as it is anything to you what Maggie does, and I think +it would look quite as well in you to take part of the blame yourself, +instead of putting it all upon your sister," was Madam Conway's reply; +and, feeling almost as deeply injured as Mrs. Jeffrey herself, Theo +began to cry, while Maggie, with a few masterly strokes, succeeded +in so far appeasing the anger of her grandmother that the good lady +consented for the young gentlemen to stay to breakfast, saying, +though, that "they should decamp immediately after, and never darken +her doors again." + +"But Mr. Douglas is rich," sobbed Theo from behind her pocket +handkerchief--"immensely rich, and of a very aristocratic family, I'm +sure, else where did he get his money?" + +This remark was timely, and when fifteen minutes later Madam Conway +was presented to the gentlemen in the hall her manner was far more +gracious towards George Douglas than it was towards Henry Warner, to +whom she merely nodded, deigning no answer whatever to his polite +apology for having made himself so much at home in her house. The +expression of his mouth was as usual against him, and, fancying he +intended adding insult to injury by laughing in her face, she coolly +turned her back upon him ere he had finished speaking, and walked +downstairs, leaving him to wind up his speech with "an old +she-dragon"! + +By this time both the sun and the servants had arisen, the former +shining into the disorderly dining room, and disclosing to the latter +the weary, jaded Anna, who, while Madam Conway was exploring the +house, had thrown herself upon the lounge and had fallen asleep. + +"Who is she, and where did she come from?" was anxiously inquired, +and they were about going in quest of Margaret when their mistress +appeared suddenly in their midst, and their noisy demonstrations of +joyful surprise awoke the sleeping girl, who, rubbing her red eyelids, +asked for her aunt, and why she did not come to meet her. + +"She has been a little excited, and forgot you, perhaps," answered +Madam Conway, at the same time bidding one of the servants to show the +young lady to Mrs. Jeffrey's room. + +The good lady had recovered her composure somewhat, and was just +wondering why her niece had not come with Madam Conway, as had +been arranged, when Anna appeared, and in her delight at once more +beholding a child of her only sister, and her husband's brother, she +forgot in a measure how injured she had felt. Ere long the breakfast +bell rang; but Anna declared herself too weary to go down, and as Mrs. +Jeffrey felt that she could not yet meet Madam Conway face to face, +they both remained in their room, Anna again falling away to sleep, +while her aunt, grown more calm, sought, and this time found, comfort +in her favorite volume. Very cool, indeed, was that breakfast, +partaken in almost unbroken silence below. The toast was cold, the +steak was cold, the coffee was cold, and frosty as an icicle was the +lady who sat where the merry Maggie had heretofore presided. Scarcely +a word was spoken by anyone; but in the laughing eyes of Maggie there +was a world of fun, to which the mischievous mouth of Henry Warner +responded by a curl exceedingly annoying to his stately hostess, who, +in passing him his coffee, turned her head in another direction lest +she should be too civil! + +Breakfast being over, George Douglas, who began to understand Madam +Conway tolerably well, asked of her a private interview, which was +granted, when he conciliated her first by apologizing for anything +ungentlemanly he might have done in her house, and startled her next +by asking for Theo as his wife. + +"You can," said he, "easily ascertain my character and standing in +Worcester, where for the last ten years I have been known first as +clerk, then as junior partner, and finally as proprietor of the large +establishment which I now conduct." + +Madam Conway was at first too astonished to speak. Had it been Maggie +for whom he asked, the matter would have been decided at once, +for Maggie was her pet, her pride, the intended bride of Arthur +Carrollton; but Theo was a different creature altogether, and +though the Conway blood flowing in her veins entitled her to much +consideration, she was neither showy nor brilliant, and if she could +marry two hundred thousand dollars, even though it were American coin, +she would perhaps be doing quite as well as could be expected. So +Madam Conway replied at last that she would consider the matter, +and if she found that Theo's feelings were fully enlisted she would +perhaps return a favorable answer. "I know the firm of Douglas & Co. +by reputation," said she, "and I know it to be a wealthy firm; but +with me family is quite as important as money." + +"My family, madam, are certainly respectable," interrupted George +Douglas, a deep flush overspreading his face. + +He was indignant at her presuming to question his respectability, +Madam Conway thought, and so she hastened to appease him by saying: +"Certainly, I have no doubt of it. There are marks by which I can +always tell." + +George Douglas bowed low to the far-seeing lady, while a train of +thought, not altogether complimentary to her discernment in this case, +passed through his mind. + +Not thus lenient would Madam Conway have been towards Henry Warner had +he presumed to ask her that morning for Maggie, but he knew better +than to broach the subject then. He would write her, he said, +immediately after his return to Worcester, and in the meantime Maggie, +if she saw proper, was to prepare her grandmother for it by herself +announcing the engagement. This, and much more, he said to Maggie as +they sat together in the library, so much absorbed in each other as +not to observe the approach of Madam Conway, who entered the door just +in time to see Henry Warner with his arm around Maggie's waist. She +was a woman of bitter prejudices, and had conceived a violent dislike +for Henry, not only on account of the "Stars and Stripes," but because +she read to a certain extent the true state of affairs. Her suspicions +were now confirmed, and rapidly crossing the floor she confronted him, +saying, "Let my granddaughter alone, young man, both now and forever." + +Something of Hagar's fiery spirit flashed from Maggie's dark eyes, but +forcing down her anger she answered half earnestly, half playfully, "I +am nearly old enough, grandma, to decide that matter for myself." + +A fierce expression of scorn passed over Madam Conway's face, and +harsh words might have ensued had not the carriage at that moment been +announced. Wringing Maggie's hand, Henry arose and left the room, +followed by the indignant lady, who would willingly have suffered him +to walk; but thinking two hundred thousand dollars quite too much +money to go on foot, she had ordered her carriage, and both the senior +and junior partner of Douglas & Co. Were ere long riding a second time +away from the old house by the mill. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE WATERS ARE TROUBLED. + + +"Grandma wishes to see you, Maggie, in her room," said Theo to her +sister one morning, three days after the departure of their guests. + +"Wishes to see me! For what?" asked Maggie; and Theo answered, "I +don't know, unless it is to talk with you about Arthur Carrollton." + +"Arthur Carrollton!" repeated Maggie. "Much good it will do her to +talk to me of him. I hate the very sound of his name;" and, rising, +she walked slowly to her grandmother's room, where in her stiff brown +satin dress, her golden spectacles planted firmly upon her nose, and +the Valenciennes border of her cap shading but not concealing the +determined look on her face, Madam Conway sat erect in her high-backed +chair, with an open letter upon her lap. + +It was from Henry. Maggie knew his handwriting in a moment, and there +was another too for her; but she was too proud to ask for it, and, +seating herself by the window, she waited for her grandmother to break +the silence, which she did ere long as follows: + +"I have just received a letter from that Warner, asking me to sanction +an engagement which he says exists between himself and you. Is it +true? Are you engaged to him?" + +"I am," answered Maggie, playing nervously with the tassel of her +wrapper, and wondering why Henry had written so soon, before she had +prepared the way by a little judicious coaxing. + +"Well, then," continued Madam Conway, "the sooner it is broken the +better. I am astonished that you should stoop to such an act, and I +hope you are not in earnest." + +"But I am," answered Maggie; and in the same cold, decided manner her +grandmother continued: "Then nothing remains for me but to forbid your +having any communication whatever with one whose conduct in my house +has been so unpardonably rude and vulgar. You will never marry him, +Margaret, never! Nay, I would sooner see you dead than the wife of +that low, mean, impertinent fellow!" + +In the large dark eyes there was a gleam decidedly "Hagarish" as +Maggie arose, and, standing before her grandmother, made answer: "You +must not, in my presence, speak thus of Henry Warner. He is neither +low, mean, vulgar, nor impertinent. You are prejudiced against him +because you think him comparatively poor, and because he has dared +to look at me, who have yet to understand why the fact of my being a +Conway makes me any better. I have promised to be Henry Warner's wife, +and Margaret Miller never yet has broken her word." + +"But in this instance you will," said Madam Conway, now thoroughly +aroused. "I will never suffer it; and to prove I am in earnest I will +here, before your face, burn the letter he has presumed to send you; +and this I will do to any others which may come to you from him." + +Maggie offered no remonstrance; but the fire of a volcano burned +within, as she watched the letter blackening upon the coals; and when +next her eyes met those of her grandmother there was in them a fierce, +determined look which prompted that lady at once to change her tactics +and try the power of persuasion rather than of force. Feigning a +smile, she said: "What ails you, child? You look to me like Hagar. It +was wrong in me, perhaps, to burn your letter, and had I reflected a +moment I might not have done it; but I cannot suffer you to receive +any more. I have other prospects in view for you, and have only waited +a favorable opportunity to tell you what they are. Sit down by me, +Margaret, while I talk with you on the subject." + +The burning of her letter had affected Margaret strangely, and with a +benumbed feeling at her heart she sat down without a word and listened +patiently to praises long and praises loud of Arthur Carrollton, who +was described as being every way desirable, both as a friend and a +husband. "His father, the elder Mr. Carrollton, was an intimate friend +of my husband," said Madam Conway, "and wishes our families to be more +closely united, by a marriage between you and his son Arthur, who is +rather fastidious in his taste, and though twenty-eight years old has +never yet seen a face which suited him. But he is pleased with you, +Maggie. He liked your picture, imperfect as it is, and he liked the +tone of your letters, which I read to him. They were so original, +he said, so much like what he fancied you to be. He has a splendid +country seat, and more than one nobleman's daughter would gladly share +it with him; but I think he fancies you. He has a large estate near +Montreal, and some difficulty connected with it will ere long bring +him to America. Of course he will visit here, and with a little tact +on your part you can, I'm sure, secure one of the best matches in +England. He is fine-looking, too. I have his daguerreotype;" and +opening her workbox she drew it forth and held it before Maggie, who +resolutely shut her eyes lest she should see the face of one she was +so determined to dislike. + +"What do you think of him?" asked Madam Conway as her arm began to +ache, and Maggie had not yet spoken. + +"I haven't looked at him," answered Maggie; "I hate him, and if he +comes here after me I'll tell him so, too. I hate him because he is +an Englishman. I hate him because he is aristocratic. I hate him for +everything, and before I marry him I'll run away!" + +Here, wholly overcome, Maggie burst into tears, and precipitately left +the room. An hour later, and Hagar, sitting by her fire, which the +coolness of the day rendered necessary, was startled by the abrupt +entrance of Maggie, who, throwing herself upon the floor, and burying +her face in the old woman's lap, sobbed bitterly. + +"What is it, child? What is it, darling?" asked Hagar; and in a +few words Maggie explained the whole. "I am persecuted, dreadfully +persecuted! Nobody before ever had so much trouble as I. Grandma +has burned a letter from Henry Warner, and would not give it to me. +Grandma said, too, I should never marry him, should never write to +him, nor see anything he might send to me. Oh, Hagar, Hagar, isn't +it cruel?" and the eyes, whose wrathful, defiant expression was now +quenched in tears, looked up in Hagar's face for sympathy. + +The right chord was touched, and much as Hagar might have disliked +Henry Warner she was his fast friend now. Her mistress' opposition and +Maggie's tears had wrought a change, and henceforth all her energies +should be given to the advancement of the young couple's cause. + +"I can manage it," she said, smoothing the long silken tresses which +lay in disorder upon her lap. "Richland post office is only four miles +from here; I can walk double that distance easy. Your grandmother +never thinks of going there, neither am I known to anyone in that +neighborhood. Write your letter to Henry Warner, and before the sun +goes down it shall be safe in the letter-box. He can write to the +same place, but he had better direct to me, as your name might excite +suspicion." + +This plan seemed perfectly feasible; but it struck Maggie +unpleasantly. She had never attempted to deceive in her life, and she +shrunk from the first deception. She would rather, she said, try again +to win her grandmother's consent. But this she found impossible; Madam +Conway was determined, and would not listen. + +"It grieves me sorely," she said, "thus to cross my favorite child, +whom I love better than my life; but it is for her good, and must be +done." + +So she wrote a cold and rather insulting letter to Henry Warner, +bidding him, as she had done before, "let her granddaughter alone," +and saying it was useless for him to attempt anything secret, for +Maggie would be closely watched, the moment there were indications of +a clandestine correspondence. + +This letter, which was read to Margaret, destroyed all hope, and +still she wavered, uncertain whether it would be right to deceive her +grandmother. But while she was yet undecided, Hagar's fingers, of late +unused to the pen, traced a few lines to Henry Warner, who, acting at +once upon her suggestion, wrote to Margaret a letter which he directed +to "Hagar Warren, Richland." + +In it he urged so many reasons why Maggie should avail herself of this +opportunity for communicating with him that she yielded at last, and +regularly each week old Hagar toiled through sunshine and through +storm to the Richland post office, feeling amply repaid for her +trouble when she saw the bright expectant face which almost always +greeted her return. Occasionally, by way of lulling the suspicions of +Madam Conway, Henry would direct a letter to Hillsdale, knowing full +well it would never meet the eyes of Margaret, over whom, for the time +being, a spy had been set, in the person of Anna Jeffrey. + +This young lady, though but little connected with our story, may +perhaps deserve a brief notice. Older than either Theo or Margaret, +she was neither remarkable for beauty nor talent. Dark-haired, +dark-eyed, dark-browed, and, as the servants said, "dark in her +disposition," she was naturally envious of those whose rank in life +entitled them to more attention than she was herself accustomed to +receive. For this reason Maggie Miller had from the first been to her +an object of dislike, and she was well pleased when Madam Conway, +enjoining the strictest secrecy, appointed her to watch that young +lady, and see that no letter was ever carried by her to the post +office which Madam Conway had not first examined. In the snaky eyes +there was a look of exultation as Anna Jeffrey promised to be faithful +to her trust, and for a time she became literally Maggie Miller's +shadow, following her here, following her there, and following her +everywhere, until Maggie complained so bitterly of the annoyance that +Madam Conway at last, feeling tolerably sure that no counterplot was +intended, revoked her orders, and bade Anna Jeffrey leave Margaret +free to do as she pleased. + +Thus relieved from espionage, Maggie became a little more like +herself, though a sense of the injustice done her by her grandmother, +together with the deception she knew she was practicing, wore upon +her; and the servants at their work listened in vain for the merry +laugh they had loved so well to hear. In the present state of +Margaret's feelings Madam Conway deemed it prudent to say nothing of +Arthur Carrollton, whose name was never mentioned save by Theo and +Anna, the latter of whom had seen him in England, and was never so +well pleased as when talking of his fine country seat, his splendid +park, his handsome horses, and last, though not least, of himself. "He +is," she said, "without exception, the most elegant and aristocratic +young man I have ever seen;" and then for more than an hour she would +entertain Theo with a repetition of the many agreeable things he had +said to her during the one day she had spent at his house while Madam +Conway was visiting there. + +In perfect indifference, Maggie, who was frequently present, would +listen to these stories, sometimes listlessly turning the leaves of a +book, and again smiling scornfully as she thought how impossible it +was that the fastidious Arthur Carrolton should have been at all +pleased with a girl like Anna Jeffrey; and positive as Maggie was that +she hated him, she insensibly began to feel a very slight degree of +interest in him; at least, she would like to know how he looked; and +one day when her grandmother and Theo were riding she stole cautiously +to the box where she knew his picture lay, and, taking it out, looked +to see if he were so very fine-looking. + +Yes, he was,--Maggie acknowledged that; and, sure that she hated +him terribly, she lingered long over that picture, admiring the +classically shaped head, the finely cut mouth, and more than all the +large dark eyes which seemed so full of goodness and truth. "Pshaw!" +she exclaimed at last, restoring the picture to its place; "if Henry +were only a little taller, and had as handsome eyes, he'd be a great +deal better-looking. Anyway, I like him, and I hate Arthur Carrollton, +who I know is domineering, and would try to make me mind. He has asked +for my daguerreotype, grandma says--one which looks as I do now. I'll +send it too," and she burst into a loud laugh at the novel idea which +had crossed her mind. + +That day when Madam Conway returned from her ride she was surprised at +Maggie's proposing that Theo and herself should have their likenesses +taken for Arthur Carrollton. + +"If he wants my picture," said she, "I am willing he shall have it. It +is all he'll ever get." + +Delighted at this unexpected concession, Madam Conway gave her +consent, and the next afternoon found Theo and Maggie at the +daguerrean gallery in Hillsdale, where the latter astonished both her +sister and the artist by declaring her intention of not only sitting +with her bonnet and shawl on; but also of turning her back to the +instrument! It was in vain that Theo remonstrated! "That position or +none," she said; and the picture was accordingly taken, presenting +a very correct likeness, when finished, of a bonnet, a veil, and a +shawl, beneath which Maggie Miller was supposed to be. + +Strange as it may seem, this freak struck Madam Conway favorably. +Arthur Carrollton knew that Maggie was unlike any other person, and +the joke, she thought, would increase, rather than diminish, the +interest he already felt in her. So she made no objection, and in a +few days it was on its way to England, together with a lock of Hagar's +snow-white hair, which Maggie had coaxed from the old lady, and, +unknown to her grandmother, placed in the casing at the last moment. + +Several weeks passed away, and then there came an answer--a letter so +full of wit and humor that Maggie confessed to herself that he must +be very clever to write so many shrewd things and to be withal so +perfectly refined. Accompanying the package was a small rosewood box, +containing a most exquisite little pin made of Hagar's frosty hair, +and richly ornamented with gold. Not a word was written concerning +it, and as Maggie kept her own counsel, both Theo and her grandmother +marveled greatly, admiring its beauty and wondering for whom it was +intended. + +"For me, of course," said Madam Conway. "The hair is Lady +Carrollton's, Arthur's grandmother. I know it by its soft, silky look. +She has sent it as a token of respect, for she was always fond of me;" +and going to the glass she very complacently ornamented her Honiton +collar with Hagar's hair, while Maggie, bursting with fun, beat a +hasty retreat from the room, lest she should betray herself. + +Thus the winter passed away, and early in the spring George Douglas, +to whom Madam Conway had long ago sent a favorable answer, came to +visit his betrothed, bringing to Maggie a note from Rose, who had once +or twice sent messages in Henry's letters. She was in Worcester now, +and her health was very delicate. "Sometimes," she wrote, "I fear +I shall never see you, Maggie Miller--shall never look into your +beautiful face, or listen to your voice; but whether in heaven or on +earth I am first to meet with you, my heart claims you as a sister, +the one whom of all the sisters in the world I would rather call my +own." + +"Darling Rose!" murmured Maggie, pressing the delicately traced lines +to her lips, "how near she seems to me! nearer almost than Theo;" and +then involuntarily her thoughts went backward to the night when Henry +Warner first told her of his love, and when in her dreams there had +been a strange blending together of herself, of Rose, and the little +grave beneath the pine! + +But not yet was that veil of mystery to be lifted. Hagar's secret must +be kept a little longer; and, unsuspicious of the truth, Maggie Miller +must dream on of sweet Rose Warner, whom she hopes one day to call her +sister! + +There was also a message from Henry, and this George Douglas delivered +in secret, for he did not care to displease his grandmother-elect, who +viewing him through a golden setting, thought he was not to be equaled +by anyone in America. "So gentlemanly," she said, "and so modest too," +basing her last conclusion upon his evident unwillingness to say +very much of himself or his family. Concerning the latter she had +questioned him in vain, eliciting nothing save the fact that they +lived in the country several miles from Worcester, and that his father +always stayed at home, and consequently his mother went but little +into society. + +"Despises the vulgar herd, I dare say," thought Madam Conway, +contemplating the pleasure she should undoubtedly derive from an +acquaintance with Mrs. Douglas, senior! + +"There was a sister, too," he said, and at this announcement Theo +opened wide her blue eyes, asking her name, and why he had never +mentioned her before. + +"I call her Jenny," said he, coloring slightly, and adding playfully, +as he caressed Theo's smooth, round cheek, "Wives do not usually like +their husbands' sisters." + +"But I shall like her, I know," said Theo. "She has a beautiful name, +Jenny Douglas--much prettier than Rose Warner, about whom Maggie talks +to me so much." + +A gathering frown on her grandmother's face warned Theo that she had +touched upon a forbidden subject, and as Mr. Douglas manifested no +desire to continue the conversation it ceased for a time, Theo wishing +she could see Jenny Douglas, and George wondering what she would say +when she did see her! + +For a few days longer he lingered, and ere his return it was arranged +that early in July Theo should be his bride. On the morning of his +departure, as he stood upon the steps alone with Madam Conway, she +said, "I think I can rely upon you, Mr. Douglas, not to carry either +letter, note, or message from Maggie to that young Warner. I've +forbidden him in my house, and I mean what I say." + +"I assure you, madam, she has not asked me to carry either," +answered George; who, though he knew perfectly well of the secret +correspondence, had kept it to himself. "You mistake Mr. Warner, I +think," he continued, after a moment. "I have known him long, and +esteem him highly." + +"Tastes differ," returned Madam Conway coldly. "No man of good +breeding would presume to cut up my grandfather's coat or drink up my +best wine." + +"He intended no disrespect, I'm sure," answered George. "He only +wanted a little fun with the 'Stars and Stripes.'" + +"It was fun for which he will pay most dearly, though," answered Madam +Conway, as she bade Mr. Douglas good-by; then, walking back to the +parlor, she continued speaking to herself: "'Stars and Stripes'! +I'll teach him to cut up my blue bodice for fun. I wouldn't give him +Margaret if his life depended upon it;" and sitting down she wrote to +Arthur Carrollton, asking if he really intended visiting America, and +when. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SOCIETY. + + +During the remainder of the spring matters at the old stone house +proceeded about as usual, Maggie writing regularly to Henry, who as +regularly answered, while old Hagar managed it so adroitly that no one +suspected the secret correspondence, and Madam Conway began to hope +her granddaughter had forgotten the foolish fancy. Arthur Carrollton +had replied that his visit to America, though sure to take place, was +postponed indefinitely, and so the good lady had nothing in particular +with which to busy herself, save the preparations for Theo's wedding, +which was to take place near the first of July. + +Though setting a high value upon money, Madam Conway was not +penurious, and the bridal trousseau far exceeded anything which Theo +had expected. As the young couple were not to keep house for a time, a +most elegant suite of rooms had been selected in a fashionable hotel; +and determining that Theo should not, in point of dress, be rivaled by +any of her fellow-boarders, Madam Conway spared neither time nor +money in making the outfit perfect. So for weeks the old stone house +presented a scene of great confusion. Chairs, tables, lounges, +and piano were piled with finery, on which Anna Jeffrey worked +industriously, assisted sometimes by her aunt, whom Madam Conway +pronounced altogether too superannuated for a governess, and who, +though really an excellent scholar, was herself far better pleased +with muslin robes and satin bows than with French idioms and Latin +verbs. Perfectly delighted, Maggie joined in the general excitement, +wondering occasionally when and where her own bridal would be. Once +she ventured to ask if Henry Warner and his sister might be invited to +Theo's wedding; but Madam Conway answered so decidedly in the negative +that she gave it up, consoling herself with thinking that she would +some time visit her sister, and see Henry in spite of her grandmother. + +The marriage was very quiet, for Madam Conway had no acquaintance, and +the family alone witnessed the ceremony. At first Madam Conway had +hoped that Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, senior, together with their daughter +Jenny, would be present, and she had accordingly requested George to +invite them, feeling greatly disappointed when she learned that they +could not come. + +"I wanted so much to see them," she said to Maggie, "and know whether +they are worthy to be related to the Conways--but of course they are, +as much so as any American family. George has every appearance of +refinement and high-breeding." + +"But his family, for all that, may be as ignorant as Farmer +Canfield's," answered Maggie; to which her grandmother replied: "You +needn't tell me that, for I'm not to be deceived in such matters. I +can tell at a glance if a person is low-born, no matter what their +education or advantages may have been. Who's that?" she added quickly, +and turning round she saw old Hagar, her eyes lighted up and her lips +moving with incoherent sounds. + +Hagar had come up to the wedding, and had reached the door of Madam +Conway's room just in time to hear the last remark, which roused her +at once. + +"Why don't she discover my secret, then," she muttered, "if she has so +much discernment? Why don't she see the Hagar blood in her? for it's +there, plain as day;" and she glanced proudly at Maggie, who, in her +simple robe of white, was far more beautiful than the bride. + +And still Theo, in her handsome traveling dress, was very fair to look +upon, and George Douglas felt proud that she was his, resolving, as he +kissed away the tears she shed at parting, that the vow he had just +made should never be broken. A few weeks of pleasant travel westward, +and then the newly wedded pair came back to what, for a time, was to +be their home. + +George Douglas was highly respected in Worcester, both as a man of +honor and a man of wealth; consequently, every possible attention was +paid to Theo, who was petted and admired, until she began to wonder +why neither Maggie nor yet her all-discerning grandmother had +discovered how charming and faultless she was! + +Among George's acquaintance was a Mrs. Morton, a dashing, fashionable +woman, who determined to honor the bride with a party, to which all +the elite of Worcester were invited, together with many Bostonians. +Madam Conway and Maggie were of course upon the list; and, as timely +notice was given them by Theo, Madam Conway went twice to Springfield +in quest of a suitable dress for Maggie. She wanted something +becoming, she said; and a delicate rose-colored satin, with a handsome +overskirt of lace, was at last decided upon. + +"She must have some pearls for her hair," thought Madam Conway; and +when next Maggie, who, girl-like, tried the effect of her first party +dress at least a dozen times, stood before the glass to see if it were +exactly the right length, she was presented with the pearls, which +Anna Jeffrey, with a feeling of envy at her heart, arranged in the +shining braids of her hair. + +"Oh, isn't it perfectly splendid!" cried Maggie, herself half inclined +to compliment the beautiful image reflected in the mirror. + +"You ought to see Arthur Carrollton's sister when she is dressed, if +you think you look handsome," answered Anna, adding that diamonds were +much more fashionable than pearls. + +"You have attended a great many parties and seen a great deal of +fashion, so I dare say you are right," Maggie answered ironically; and +then, as through the open window she saw Hagar approaching, she ran +out upon the _piazza_, to see what the old woman would say. + +Hagar had never seen her thus before, and now, throwing up her hands +in astonishment, she involuntarily dropped upon her knees, and, +while the tears rained over her timeworn face, whispered, "Hester's +child--my granddaughter--Heaven be praised!" + +"Do I look pretty?" Margaret asked; and Hagar answered: "More +beautiful than anyone I ever saw. I wish your mother could see you +now." + +Involuntarily Maggie glanced at the tall marble gleaming through +the distant trees, while Hagar's thoughts were down in that other +grave--the grave beneath the pine. The next day was the party, and +at an early hour Madam Conway was ready. Her rich purple satin and +Valenciennes laces, with which she hoped to impress Mrs. Douglas, +senior, were carefully packed up, together with Maggie's dress; and +then, shawled and bonneted, she waited impatiently for her carriage, +which she preferred to the cars. It came at last, but in place of +John, the usual coachman, Mike, a rather wild youth of twenty, was +mounted upon the box. His father, he said, had been taken suddenly +ill, and had deputized him to drive. + +For a time Madam Conway hesitated, for she knew Mike's one great +failing, and she hardly dared risk herself with him, lest she should +find a seat less desirable even than the memorable brush-heap. But +Mike protested loudly to having joined the "Sons of Temperance" only +the night before, and as in his new suit of blue, with shining brass +buttons, he presented a more stylish appearance than his father, his +mistress finally decided to try him, threatening all manner of evil if +in any way he broke his pledge, either to herself or the "Sons," the +latter of whom had probably never heard of him. He was perfectly +sober now, and drove them safely to Worcester, where they soon found +themselves in Theo's handsome rooms. Her wrappings removed and herself +snugly ensconced in a velvet-cushioned chair, Madam Conway asked the +young bride how long before Mrs. Douglas, senior, would probably +arrive. + +A slight shadow, which no one observed, passed over Theo's face as she +answered, "George's father seldom goes into society, and consequently +his mother will not come." + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" replied Madam Conway, thinking of the purple +satin, and continuing, "Nor the young lady, either?" + +"None of them," answered Theo, adding hastily, as if to change the +conversation, "Isn't my piano perfectly elegant?" and she ran her +fingers over an exquisitely carved instrument, which had inscribed +upon it simply "Theo"; and then, as young brides sometimes will, +she expatiated upon the kindness and generosity of George, showing, +withal, that her love for her husband was founded upon something far +more substantial than family or wealth. + +Her own happiness, it would seem, had rendered her less selfish and +more thoughtful for others; for once that afternoon, on returning to +her room after a brief absence, she whispered to Maggie that "someone +in the parlor below wished to see her." + +Then seating herself at her grandmother's feet, she entertained her so +well with a description of her travels that the good lady failed to +observe the absence of Maggie, who, face to face with Henry Warner, +was making amends for their long separation. Much they talked of the +past, and then Henry spoke of the future; but of this Maggie was less +hopeful. Her grandmother would never consent to their marriage, she +knew--the "Stars and Stripes" had decided that matter, even though +there were no Arthur Carrollton across the sea, and Maggie sighed +despondingly as she thought of the long years of single-blessedness in +store for her. + +"There is but one alternative left, then," said Henry. "If your +grandmother refuses her consent altogether, I must take you without +her consent." + +"I shan't run away," said Maggie; "I shall live an old maid, and you +must live an old bachelor, until grandma--" + +She did not have time to finish the sentence ere Henry commenced +unfolding the following plan: + +"It is necessary," he said, "for either myself or Mr. Douglas to go +to Cuba; and as Rose's health makes a change of climate advisable for +her, George has proposed to me to go and take my sister there for the +winter. And, Maggie," he continued, "will you go, too? We are to sail +the middle of October, stopping for a few weeks in Florida, until the +unhealthy season in Havana is passed. I will see your grandmother +to-morrow morning--will once more honorably ask her for your hand, and +if she still refuses, as you think she will, it cannot surely be wrong +in you to consult your own happiness instead of her prejudices. I will +meet you at old Hagar's cabin at the time appointed. Rose and my aunt, +who is to accompany her, will be in New York, whither we will go +immediately. A few moments more and you will be my wife, and beyond +the control of your grandmother. Do you approve my plan, Maggie, +darling? Will you go?" + +Maggie could not answer him then, for an elopement was something +from which she instinctively shrunk, and with a faint hope that her +grandmother might consent she went back to her sister's room, where +she had not yet been missed. Very rapidly the remainder of the +afternoon passed away, and at an early hour, wishing to know "exactly +how she was going to look," Maggie commenced her toilet. Theo, too, +desirous of displaying her white satin as long as possible, began to +dress; while Madam Conway, in no haste to don her purple satin, which +was uncomfortably tight, amused herself by watching the passers-by, +nodding at intervals, in her chair. + +While thus occupied, a perfumed note was brought to her, the contents +of which elicited from her an exclamation of surprise. + +"Can it be possible!" she said; and thrusting the note into her pocket +she hastily left the room. + +She was gone a long, long time; and when at last she returned, she was +evidently much excited, paying no attention whatever to Theo, who, in +her bridal robes, looked charming, but minutely inspecting Maggie, to +see if in her adornings there was aught out of its place. Her dress +was faultless, and she looked so radiantly beautiful, as she stood +before her grandmother, that the old lady kissed her fondly, +whispering, as she did so, "You are indeed beautiful!" It was a long +time ere Madam Conway commenced her own toilet, and then she proceeded +so slowly that George Douglas became impatient, and she finally +suggested that he and Theo should go without her, sending the carriage +back for herself and Maggie. To this proposition he at last yielded; +and when they were left alone Madam Conway greatly accelerated her +movements, dressing herself in a few moments, and then, much to +Maggie's surprise, going below without a word of explanation. A few +moments only elapsed ere a servant was sent to Maggie, saying that her +presence was desired at No. 40, a small private parlor adjoining the +public drawing rooms. + +"What can it mean? Is it possible that Henry is there?" Maggie asked +herself, as with a beating heart she descended the stairs. + +A moment more, and Maggie stood on the threshhold of No. 40. Seated +upon the sofa was Madam Conway, her purple satin seeming to have +taken a wide sweep, and her face betokening the immense degree of +satisfaction she felt in being there with the stylish, elegant-looking +stranger who stood at her side, with his deep, expressive eyes fixed +upon the door expectantly. Maggie knew him in a moment--knew it was +Arthur Carrollton; and, turning pale, she started backward, while he +advanced forward, and, offering her his hand, looked down upon her +with a winning smile, saying, as he did so: "Excuse my familiarity. +You are Maggie Miller, I am sure." + +For an instant Maggie could not reply, but soon becoming composed +she received the stranger gracefully, and then taking the chair he +politely brought her she listened while her grandmother told that +he had arrived at Montreal two weeks before; that he had reached +Hillsdale that morning, an hour or two after their departure, and, +learning their destination, had followed them in the cars; that she +had taken the liberty of informing Mrs. Morton of his arrival, and +that lady had of course extended to him an invitation to be present at +her party. + +"Which invitation I accept, provided Miss Maggie allows me to be her +escort," said the young man, and again his large black eyes rested +admiringly upon her. + +Maggie had anticipated a long, quiet talk with Henry Warner, and, +wishing the Englishman anywhere but there, she answered coldly, "I +cannot well decline your escort, Mr. Carrollton, so of course I accept +it." + +Madam Conway bit her lip, but Mr. Carrollton, who was prepared for +anything from Maggie Miller, was not in the least displeased, and, +consulting his diamond-set watch, which pointed to nearly ten, he +asked if it were not time to go. + +"Certainly," said Madam Conway. "You remain here, Maggie; I will bring +down your shawl," and she glided from the room, leaving them purposely +alone. + +Maggie was a good deal astonished, slightly embarrassed, and a little +provoked, all of which Arthur Carrollton readily saw; but this did +not prevent his talking to her, and during the few minutes of Madam +Conway's absence he decided that neither Margaret's beauty, nor yet +her originality, had been overrated by her partial grandmother, while +Maggie, on her part, mentally pronounced him "the finest-looking, the +most refined, the most gentlemanly, the proudest, and the hatefulest +man she had ever seen!" + +Wholly unconscious of her cogitation, he wrapped her shawl very +carefully about her, taking care to cover her white shoulders from the +night air; then offering his arm to her grandmother, he led the way to +the carriage, whither she followed him, wondering if Henry would be +jealous, and thinking her first act would be to tell him how she hated +Arthur Carrollton, and always should! + + * * * * * + +It was a gay, brilliant scene which Mrs. Morton's drawing room +presented; and, as yet the center of attraction, Theo, near the door, +was bowing to the many strangers who sought her acquaintance. Greatly +she marveled at the long delay of her grandmother and Maggie, and she +had just suggested to Henry that he should go in quest of them, when +she saw her sister ascending the stairs. + +On a sofa across the room sat a pale young girl arrayed in white, her +silken curls falling around her neck like a golden shower, and her +mournful eyes of blue scanning eagerly each newcomer, then a look of +disappointment drooping beneath the long lashes which rested wearily +upon her colorless cheek. It was Rose Warner, and the face she sought +was Maggie Miller's. She had seen no semblance of it yet, for Henry +had no daguerreotype. Still, she felt sure she would know it, and when +at last, in all her queenly beauty, Maggie came, leaning on Arthur +Carrollton's arm, Rose's heart made ready answer to the oft-repeated +question, "Who is she?" + +"Beautiful, gloriously beautiful!" she whispered softly, while from +the grave of her buried hopes there came one wild heart-throb, one +sudden burst of pain caused by the first sight of her rival, and then +Rose Warner grew calm again, and those who saw the pressure of her +hand upon her side dreamed not of the fierce pang within. She had +asked her brother not to tell Maggie she was to be there. She would +rather watch her a while, herself unknown; and now with eager, curious +eyes she followed Maggie, who was quickly surrounded by a host of +admirers. + +It was Maggie's first introduction into society, and yet so perfect +was her intuition of what was proper that neither by word or deed did +she do aught to shock the most fastidious. It is true her merry laugh +more than once rang out above the din of voices; but it was so joyous +that no one objected, particularly when they looked in her bright and +almost childish face. Arthur Carrollton, too, acting as her escort, +aided her materially, for it was soon whispered around that he was a +wealthy Englishman, and many were the comments made upon the handsome +couple, who seemed singularly adapted to each other. A glance had +convinced Arthur Carrollton that Maggie was by far the most beautiful +lady present, and feeling that on this her first introduction into +society she needed someone to shield her, as it were, from the many +foolish, flattering speeches which were sure to be made in her +hearing, he kept her at his side, where she was nothing loath to stay; +for, notwithstanding that she "hated" him so, there was about him a +fascination she did not try to resist. + +"They are a splendid couple," thought Rose, and then she looked to see +how Henry was affected by the attentions of the handsome foreigner. + +But Henry was not jealous; and, standing a little aloof, he felt more +pleasure than pain in watching Maggie as she received the homage of +the gay throng. Thoughts similar to those of Rose, however, forced +themselves upon him as he saw the dignified bearing of Mr. +Carrollton, and for the first time in his life he was conscious of an +uncomfortable feeling of inferiority to some thing or some body, he +hardly knew what. This feeling, however, passed away when Maggie came +at last to his side, with her winning smile and playful words. + +Very closely Madam Conway watched her now; but Maggie did not heed it, +and leaning on Henry's arm she seemed oblivious to all save him. +After a time he led her out upon a side piazza, where they would be +comparatively alone. Observing that she seemed a little chilly, he +left her for a moment while he went in quest of her shawl. Scarcely +was he gone when a slight, fairy form came flitting through the +moonlight to where Maggie sat, and, twining its snow-white arms around +her neck, looked lovingly into her eyes, whispering soft and low, "My +sister!" + +"My sister!" How Maggie's blood bounded at the sound of that name, +which even the night wind, sighing through the trees, seemed to take +up and repeat. "My sister!" What was there in those words thus to +affect her? Was that fair young creature, who hung so fondly over her, +naught to her save a common stranger? Was there no tie between them, +no bond of sympathy and love? We ask this of you, our reader, and not +of Maggie Miller, for to her there came no questioning like this. She +only knew that every pulsation of her heart responded to the name of +sister, when breathed by sweet Rose Warner, and, folding her arms +about her, she pillowed the golden head upon her bosom, and, pushing +back the clustering curls, gazed long and earnestly into a face which +seemed so heavenly and pure. + +Few were the words they uttered at first, for a mysterious, invisible +something prompted each to look into the other's eyes, to clasp the +other's hands, to kiss the other's lips, and lovingly to whisper the +other's name. + +"I have wished so much to see you, to know if you are worthy of my +noble brother," said Rose at last, thinking she must say something on +the subject uppermost in both their minds. + +"And am I worthy?" asked Maggie, the bright blushes stealing over her +cheek. "Will you let me be your sister?" + +"My heart would claim you for that, even though I had no brother," +answered Rose, and again her lips touched those of Maggie. + +Seeing them thus together, Henry tarried purposely a long time, and +when at last he rejoined them he proposed returning to the drawing +room, where many inquiries were making for Maggie. + +"I have looked for you a long time, Miss Maggie," said Mr. Carrollton. +"I wish to hear you play;" and, taking her arm in his, he led her to +the piano. + +From the moment of her first introduction to him Maggie had felt that +there was something commanding in his manner, something she could not +disobey; and now, though she fancied it was impossible to play before +that multitude, she seated herself mechanically, and while the keys +swam before her eyes, went through with a difficult piece which she +had never but once before executed correctly. + +"You have done well; much better than I anticipated," said Mr. +Carrollton, again offering her his arm; and though a little vexed, +those few words of commendation were worth more to Maggie than the +most flattering speech which Henry Warner had ever made to her. + +Soon after leaving the piano a young man approached and invited her to +waltz. This was something in which Maggie excelled; for two winters +before Madam Conway had hired a teacher to instruct her granddaughters +in dancing, and she was about to accept the invitation, when, drawing +her arm still closer within his own, Mr. Carrollton looked down upon +her, saying softly, "I wouldn't." + +Maggie had often waltzed with Henry at home. He saw no harm in it, and +now when Arthur Carrollton objected, she was provoked, while at the +same time she felt constrained to decline. + +"Some time, when I know you better, I will explain to you why I do +not think it proper for young girls to waltz with everyone," said Mr. +Carrollton; and, leading her from the drawing room, he devoted himself +to her for the remainder of the evening, making himself so perfectly +agreeable that Maggie forgot everything, even Henry Warner, who in +the meantime had tried to obtain recognition from Madam Conway as an +acquaintance. + +A cool nod, however, was all the token of recognition she had to give +him. This state of feeling augured ill for the success of his suit; +but when at a late hour that night, in spite of grandmother or +Englishman, he handed Maggie to the carriage, he whispered to her +softly, "I will see her to-morrow morning, and know the worst." + +The words caught the quick ear of Madam Conway; but, not wishing +Mr. Carrollton to know there was anything particular between her +granddaughter and Henry Warner, she said nothing, and when, arrived at +last at the hotel, she asked an explanation, Maggie, who hurried off +to bed, was too sleepy to give her any answer. + +"I shall know before long, anyway, if he sees me in the morning," she +thought, as she heard a distant clock strike two, and settling her +face into the withering frown with which she intended to annihilate +Henry Warner, the old lady was herself ere long much faster asleep +than the young girl at her side, who was thinking of Henry Warner, +wishing he was three inches taller, or herself three inches shorter, +and wondering if his square shoulders would not be somewhat improved +by braces! + +"I never noticed how short and crooked he was," she thought, "until I +saw him standing by the side of Mr. Carrollton, who is such a splendid +figure, so tall and straight; but big, overgrown girls like me always +get short husbands, they say;" and satisfied with this conclusion she +fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MADAM CONWAY'S DISASTERS. + + +At a comparatively early hour Madam Conway arose, and going to the +parlor found there Arthur Carrollton, who asked if Margaret were not +yet up. "Say that I wish her to ride with me on horseback," said he. +"The morning air will do her good;" and, quite delighted, Madam Conway +carried the message to her granddaughter. + +"Tell him I shan't do it," answered the sleepy Maggie, adjusting +herself for another nap. Then, as she thought how his eyes probably +looked as he said, "I wish her to ride," she felt impelled to obey, +and greatly to her grandmother's surprise she commenced dressing. + +Theo's riding dress was borrowed, and though it did not fit her +exactly she looked unusually well when she met Mr. Carrollton in the +lower hall, and once mounted upon the gay steed, and galloping away +into the country, she felt more than repaid for the loss of her +morning slumber. + +"You ride well," said Mr. Carrollton, when at last they paused upon +the brow of a hill overlooking the town, "but you have some faults +which, with your permission, I will correct," and in the most polite +and gentlemanly manner he proceeded to speak of a few points wherein +her riding might be improved. + +Among other things, he said she rode too fast for a lady; and, biting +her lip, Maggie thought, "If I only had Gritty here, I'd lead him such +a race as would either break his bones or his neck, I'm not particular +which." + +Still, she followed his directions implicitly, and when, ere they +reached home, he told her that she excelled many who had been for +years to riding schools, she felt repaid for his criticisms, which she +knew were just, even if they were not agreeable. Breakfast being over, +he announced his intention of going down to Boston, telling Maggie he +should probably return that evening and go with her to Hillsdale on +the morrow. + +Scarcely had he gone when Henry Warner appeared, asking an interview +with Madam Conway, who haughtily led the way into a private room. Very +candidly and honorably Henry made known to her his wishes, whereupon +a most stormy scene ensued, the lady so far forgetting herself as to +raise her voice several notes above its usual pitch, while Henry, +angered by her insulting words, bade her take the consequences of her +refusal, hinting that girls had been known to marry without their +guardian's consent. + +"An elopement, hey? He threatens me with an elopement, does he?" said +Madam Conway, as the door closed after him. "I am glad he warned me +in time," and then, trembling in every limb lest Maggie should be +spirited away before her very eyes, she determined upon going home +immediately and leaving Arthur Carrollton to follow in the cars. + +Accordingly, Maggie was bidden to pack her things at once, the excited +old lady keeping her eye constantly upon her to see that she did +not disappear through the window or some other improbable place. In +silence Maggie obeyed, pouting the while a very little, partly because +she should not again see Henry, partly because she had confidently +expected to ride home with Mr. Carrollton, and partly because she +wished to stay to the firemen's muster, which had long been talked +about, and was to take place on the morrow. They were ready at last, +and then in a very perturbed state of feeling Madam Conway waited +for her carriage, which was not forthcoming, and upon inquiry George +Douglas learned that, having counted upon another day in the city, +Mike was now going through with a series of plunge-baths, by way of +sobering himself ere appearing before his mistress. This, however, +George kept from Madam Conway, not wishing to alarm her; and when +after a time Mike appeared, sitting bolt upright upon the box, with +the lines grasped firmly in his hands, she did not suspect the truth, +nor know that he too was angry for being thus compelled to go home +before he saw the firemen. + +Thinking him sober enough to be perfectly safe, George Douglas felt no +fear, and, bowing to his new relatives, went back to comfort Theo, who +as a matter of course cried a little when the carriage drove away. +Worcester was left behind, and they were far out in the country ere +a word was exchanged between Madam Conway and Maggie; for while the +latter was pouting behind her veil, the former was wondering what +possessed Mike to drive into every rut and over every stone. + +"You, Mike!" she exclaimed at last, leaning from the window. "What +ails you?" + +"Nothing, as I'm a living man," answered Mike, halting so suddenly as +to jerk the lady backwards and mash the crown of her bonnet. + +Straightening herself up, and trying in vain to smooth the jam, Madam +Conway continued: "In liquor, I know. I wish I had stayed home." But +Mike loudly denied the charge, declaring he had spent the blessed +night at a meeting of the "Sons," where they passed around nothing +stronger than lemons and water, and if the horses chose to run off the +track it wasn't his fault--he couldn't help it; and with the air of +one deeply injured he again started forward, turning off ere long into +a cross road, which, as they advanced, grew more stony and rough, +while the farmhouses, as a general thing, presented a far less +respectable appearance than those on the Hillsdale route. + +"Mike, you villain!" ejaculated the lady, as they ran down into a +ditch, and she sprang to one side to keep the carriage from going +over. + +But ere she had time for anything further, one of the axletrees +snapped asunder, and to proceed further in their present condition was +impossible. Alighting from the carriage, and setting her little feet +upon the ground with a vengeance, Madam Conway first scolded Mike +unmercifully for his carelessness, and next chided Maggie for +manifesting no more concern. + +"You'd as lief go to destruction as not, I do believe!" said she, +looking carefully after the bandbox containing her purple satin. + +"I'd rather go there first," answered Maggie, pointing to a brown +old-fashioned farmhouse about a quarter of a mile away. + +At first Madam Conway objected, saying she preferred sitting on the +bank to intruding herself upon strangers; but as it was now noonday, +and the warm September sun poured fiercely down upon her, she finally +concluded to follow Maggie's advice, and gathering up her box and +parasol started for the house, which, with its tansy patch on the +right, and its single poplar tree in front, presented rather an +uninviting appearance. + +"Some vulgar creatures live there, I know. Just hear that old tin +horn!" she exclaimed, as a blast, loud and shrill, blown by practiced +lips, told the men in a distant field that dinner was ready. + +A nearer approach disclosed to view a slanting-roofed farmhouse such +as is often found in New England, with high, narrow windows, small +panes of glass, and the most indispensable paper curtains of blue +closely shading the windows of what was probably the "best room." In +the apartment opposite, however, they were rolled up, so as to show +the old-fashioned drapery of dimity, bordered with a netted fringe. +Half a dozen broken pitchers and pots held geraniums, verbenas, and +other plants, while the well-kept beds of hollyhocks, sunflowers, and +poppies indicated a taste for flowers in someone. Everything about +the house was faultlessly neat. The doorsill was scrubbed to a chalky +white, while the uncovered floor wore the same polished hue. + +All this Madam Conway saw at a glance, but it did not prevent her +from holding high her aristocratic skirts, lest they should be +contaminated, and when, in answer to her knock, an odd-looking, +peculiarly dressed woman appeared, she uttered an exclamation of +disgust, and, turning to Maggie, said, "You talk--I can't!" + +But the woman did not stand at all upon ceremony. For the last ten +minutes she had been watching the strangers as they toiled over the +sandy road, and when sure they were coming there had retreated into +her bedroom, donning a flaming red calico, which, guiltless of hoops, +clung to her tenaciously, showing her form to good advantage, and +rousing at once the risibility of Maggie. A black lace cap, ornamented +with ribbons of the same fanciful color as the dress, adorned her +head; and, with a dozen or more pins in her mouth, she now appeared, +hooking her sleeve and smoothing down the black collar upon her neck. + +In a few words Maggie explained to her their misfortune, and asked +permission to tarry there until the carriage was repaired. + +"Certing, certing," answered the woman, courtesying almost to the +floor. "Walk right in, if you can git in. It's my cheese day, or I +should have been cleared away sooner. Here, Betsy Jane, you have +prinked long enough; come and hist the winders in t'other room, and +wing 'em off, so the ladies can set in there out of this dirty place;" +then turning to Madam Conway, who was industriously freeing her +French kids from the sand they had accumulated during her walk, she +continued, "Have some of my shoes to rest your feet a spell"; and +diving into a recess or closet she brought forth a pair of slippers +large enough to hold both of Madam Conway's feet at once. + +With a haughty frown the lady declined the offer, while Maggie looked +on in delight, pleased with an adventure which promised so much fun. +After a moment Betsy Jane appeared, attired in a dress similar to that +of her mother, for whose lank appearance she made ample amends, in the +wonderful expansion of her robes, which, minus gather or fold at the +bottom, set out like a miniature tent, upsetting at once the bandbox, +which Madam Conway had placed upon a chair, and which, with its +contents, rolled promiscuously over the floor! + +"Betsy Jane! How can you wear them abominable things!" exclaimed the +distressed woman, stooping to pick up the purple satin which had +tumbled out. + +A look from the more fashionable daughter, as with a swinging sweep +she passed on into the parlor, silenced the mother on the subject of +hoops, and thinking her guests must necessarily be thirsty after their +walk she brought them a pitcher of water, asking if they'd "chuse it +clear, or with a little ginger and molasses," at the same time calling +to Betsy Jane to know if them windows was "wung" off! + +The answer was in the affirmative, whereupon the ladies were invited +to enter, which they did the more willingly as through the open door +they had caught glimpses of what proved to be a very handsome Brussels +carpet, which in that room seemed a little out of place, as did the +sofa, and handsome haircloth rocking-chair. In this last Madam Conway +seated herself, while Maggie reclined upon a lounge, wondering at the +difference in the various articles of furniture, some of which were +quite expensive, while others were of the most common kind. + +"Who can they be? She looks like someone I have seen," said Maggie as +Betsy Jane left the room. "I mean to ask their names;" but this her +grandmother would not suffer. "It was too much like familiarity," she +said, "and she did not believe in putting one's self on a level with +such people." + +Another loud blast from the horn was blown, for the bustling woman of +the house was evidently getting uneasy, and ere long three or four men +appeared, washing themselves from the spout of the pump, and wiping +upon a coarse towel which hung upon a roller near the back door. + +"I shan't eat at the same table with those creatures," said Madam +Conway, feeling intuitively that she would be invited to dinner. + +"Why, grandma, yes you will, if she asks you," answered Maggie. "Only +think how kind they are to us--perfect strangers!" + +What else she might have said was prevented by the entrance of Betsy +Jane, who informed them that dinner was ready, and with a mental +groan, as she thought how she was about to be martyred, Madam Conway +followed her to the dining room, where a plain, substantial farmer's +meal was spread. Standing at the head of the table, with her +good-humored face all in a glow, was the hostess, who, pointing Madam +Conway to? chair, said: "Now set right by, and make yourselves to hum. +Mebby I or to have set the table over, and I guess I should if I had +anything fit to eat. Be you fond of biled victuals?" and taking it for +granted they were, she loaded both Madam Conway's and Maggie's plate +with every variety of vegetables used in the preparation of the dish +known everywhere as "boiled victuals." + +By this time the men had ranged themselves in respectful silence upon +the opposite side of the table, each stealing an admiring though +modest glance at Maggie; for the masculine heart, whether it beats +beneath a homespun frock or coat of finest cloth, is alike susceptible +to glowing, youthful beauty like that of Maggie Miller. The head of +the house was absent--"had gone to town with a load of wood," so his +spouse informed the ladies, at the same time pouring out a cup of tea, +which she said she had tried to make strong enough to bear up an egg. +"Betsy Jane," she continued, casting a deprecating glance, first at +the blue sugar bowl and then at her daughter, "what possessed you to +put on this brown sugar, when I told you to get crush? Have some of +the apple sass? It's new--made this morning. Dew have some," she +continued, as Madam Conway shook her head. "Mebby it's better than +it looks. Seem's ef you wan't goin' to eat nothin'. Betsy Jane, +now you're up after the crush, fetch them china sassers for the +cowcumbers. Like enough she'll eat some of them." + +But, affecting a headache, Madam Conway declined everything save +the green tea and a Boston cracker, which, at the first mention of +headache, the distressed woman had brought her. Suddenly remembering +Mike, who, having fixed the carriage, was fast asleep on a wheelbarrow +under the woodshed, she exclaimed: "For the land of massy, if I hain't +forgot that young gentleman! Go, William, and call him this minute. +Are you sick at your stomach?" she asked, turning to Madam Conway, +who at the thought of eating with her drunken coachman had uttered +an exclamation of disgust. "Go, Betsy Jane, and fetch the camphire, +quick!" + +But Madam Conway did not need the camphor, and so she said, adding +that Mike was better where he was. Mike thought so too, and refused +to come, whereupon the woman insisted that he must. "There was room +enough," she said, "and no kind of sense in Betsy Jane's taking up the +hull side of the table with them rattans. She could set nearer the +young lady." + +"Certainly," answered Maggie, anxious to see how the "rattans" would +manage to squeeze in between herself and the table-leg, as they would +have to do if they came an inch nearer. + +This feat could not be done, and in attempting it Betsy Jane upset +Maggie's tea upon her handsome traveling dress, eliciting from her +mother the exclamation, "Betsy Jane Douglas, you allus was the +blunderin'est girl!" + +This little accident diverted the woman's mind from Mike, while +Madam Conway, starting at the name of Douglas, thought to herself: +"Douglas!--Douglas! I did not suppose 'twas so common a name. But then +it don't hurt George any, having these creatures bear his name." + +Dinner being over, Madam Conway and Maggie returned to the parlor, +where, while the former resumed her chair, the latter amused herself +by examining the books and odd-looking daguerreotypes which lay upon +the table. + +"Oh, grandmother!" she almost screamed, bounding to that lady's +side, "as I live, here's a picture of Theo and George Douglas taken +together," and she held up a handsome casing before the astonished +old lady, who, donning her golden spectacles in a twinkling, saw for +herself that what Maggie said was true. + +"They stole it!" she gasped. "We are in a den of thieves! Who knows +what they'll take from my bandbox?" and she was about to leave the +room when Maggie, whose quick mind saw farther ahead, bade her stop. + +"I may discover something more," said she, and taking up a handsomely +bound volume of Lamb, she turned to the fly-leaf, and read, "Jenny +Douglas, from her brother George, Worcester, January 8." + +It was plain to her now; but any mortification she might otherwise +have experienced was lost in the one absorbing thought, "What will +grandma say?" + +"Grandmother," said she, showing the book, "don't you remember the +mother of that girl called her Betsy Jane Douglas?" + +"Yes, yes!" gasped Madam Conway, raising both hands, while an +expression of deep, intense anxiety was visible upon her face. + +"And don't you know, too," continued Maggie, "that George always +seemed inclined to say as little as possible of his parents? Now, in +this country it is not unusual for the sons of just such people as +these to be among the most wealthy and respectable citizens." + +"Maggie, Maggie!" hoarsely whispered Madam Conway, grasping Maggie's +arm, "do you mean to insinuate--am I to understand that you believe +that odious woman and hideous girl to be the mother and sister of +George Douglas?" + +"I haven't a doubt of it," answered Maggie. "'Twas the resemblance +between Betsy Jane and George which I observed at first." + +Out of her chair to the floor tumbled Madam Conway, fainting entirely +away, while Maggie, stepping to the door, called for help. + +"I mistrusted she was awful sick at dinner," said Mrs. Douglas, taking +her hands from the dish-water, and running to the parlor. "I wish +she'd smelt of the camphire, as I wanted her to do. Does she have such +spells often?" + +By this time Betsy Jane brought a basin of water, which she dashed in +the face of the unconscious woman, who soon began to revive. + +"Pennyr'yal tea'll settle her stomach quicker'n anything else," said +Mrs. Douglas. "I'll clap a little right on the stove;" and, helping +Madam Conway to the sofa, she left the room. + +"There may possibly be a mistake, after all," thought Maggie. "I'll +question the girl;" and, turning to Betsy Jane, she said, taking up +the book which had before attracted her attention, "Is this 'Jenny +Douglas' intended for you?" + +"Yes, ma'am," answered the girl, coloring slightly. "Brother George +calls me Jenny, because he thinks Betsy so old-fashioned." + +An audible groan from the sofa, and Maggie continued, "Where does your +brother live?" + +"In Worcester, ma'am. He keeps a store there," answered Betsy, who was +going to say more, when her mother, re-entering the room, took up the +conversation by saying, "Was you tellin' 'em about George Washington? +Waal, he's a boy no mother need to be ashamed on, though my old man +sometimes says he's ashamed of us, we are so different. But, then, he +orto consider the advantages he's had. We only brung him up till he +was ten years old, and then an uncle he was named after took him +and gin him a college schoolin', and then put him into his store in +Worcester. Your head aches wus, don't it? Poor thing! The pennyr'yal +will be steeped directly," she added, in an aside to Madam Conway, +who had groaned aloud as if in pain. Then resuming her story, she +continued, "Better'n six year ago Uncle George, who was a bachelor, +died, leaving the heft of his property, seventy-five thousand dollars +or more, to my son, who is now top of the heap in the store, and worth +one hundred thousand dollars, I presume; some say two hundred thousand +dollars; but that's the way some folks have of agitatin' things." + +"Is he married?" asked Maggie, and Mrs. Douglas, mistaking the motive +which prompted the question, answered: "Yes, dear, he is. If he wan't, +I know of no darter-in-law I'd as soon have as you. I don't believe in +finding fault with my son's wife; but there's a proud look in her +face I don't like. This is her picter," and she passed to Maggie the +daguerreotype of Theo. + +"I've looked at it before," said Maggie; and the good woman proceeded: +"I hain't seen her yet; but he's going to bring her to Charlton +bime-by. He's a good boy, George is, free as water--gave me this +carpet, the sofy and chair, and has paid Betsy Jane's schoolin' one +winter at Leicester. But Betsy don't take to books much. She's more +like me, her father says. They had a big party for George last night, +but I wan't invited. Shouldn't 'a' gone if I had been; but for all +that a body don't want to be slighted, even if they don't belong to +the quality. If I'm good enough to be George's mother I'm good enough +to go to a party with his wife. But she wan't to blame, and I shan't +lay it up against her. I shall see her to-morrow, pretty likely, for +Sam Babbit's wife and I are goin' down to the firemen's muster. You've +heard on't, I suppose. The different engines are goin' to see which +will shute water the highest over a 180-foot pole. I wouldn't miss +goin' for anything, and of course I shall call on Theodoshy. I +calkerlate to like her, and when they go to housekeepin' I've got a +hull chest full of sheets and piller-biers and towels I'm goin' to +give her, besides three or four bedquilts I pieced myself, two in +herrin'-bone pattern, and one in risin' sun. I'll show 'em to you," +and leaving the room, she soon returned with three patchwork +quilts, wherein were all possible shades of color, red and yellow +predominating, and in one the "rising sun" forming a huge centerpiece. + +"Heavens!" faintly articulated Madam Conway, pressing her hands upon +her head, which was supposed to be aching dreadfully. The thought of +Theo reposing beneath the "risin' sun," or yet the "herrin'-bone," was +intolerable; and looking beseechingly at Maggie, she whispered, "Do +see if Mike is ready." + +"If it's the carriage you mean," chimed in Mrs. Douglas, "it's been +waiting quite a spell, but I thought you warn't fit to ride yet, so I +didn't tell you." + +Starting to her feet, Madam Conway's bonnet went on in a trice, and +taking her shawl in her hand she walked outdoors, barely expressing +her thanks to Mrs. Douglas, who, greatly distressed at her abrupt +departure, ran for the herb tea, and taking the tin cup in her hand +followed her guest to the carriage, urging her to "take a swaller just +to keep from vomiting." + +"She is better without it," said Maggie. "She seldom takes medicine," +and politely expressing her gratitude to Mrs. Douglas for her kindness +she bade Mike drive on. + +"Some crazy critter just out of the asylum, I'll bet," said Mrs. +Douglas, walking back to the house with her pennyroyal tea. "How queer +she acted! but that girl's a lady, every inch of her, and so handsome +too--I wonder who she is?" + +"Don't you believe the old woman felt a little above us?" suggested +Betsy Jane, who had more discernment than her mother. + +"Like enough she did, though I never thought on't. But she needn't. +I'm as good as she is, and I'll warrant as much thought on, where I'm +known;" and quite satisfied with her own position, Mrs. Douglas went +back to her dish-washing, while Betsy Jane stole away upstairs to +try the experiment of arranging her hair after the fashion in which +Margaret wore hers. + +In the meantime Mike, perfectly sobered, had turned his horses' heads +in the direction of Hillsdale, when Madam Conway called out, "To +Worcester, Mike--to Worcester, as fast as you can drive." + +"To Worcester! For what?" asked Maggie, and the excited woman +answered: "To stop it! To forbid the banns! I should think you'd ask +for what!" + +"To stop it," repeated Maggie. "I'd like to see you stop it, when +they've been married two months!" + +"So they have! so they have!" said Madam Conway, wringing her hands +in her despair, and crying out that a Conway should be so disgraced. +"What shall I do? What shall I do?" + +"Make the best of it, of course," answered Maggie. "I don't see +that George is any worse for his parentage. He is evidently greatly +respected in Worcester, where his family are undoubtedly known. He is +educated and refined, if they are not. Theo loves him, and that is +sufficient, unless I add that he has money." + +"But not as much as I supposed," moaned Madam Conway. "Theo told me +two hundred thousand dollars; but that woman said one. Oh, what will +become of me! Give me the hartshorn, Maggie. I feel so faint!" + +The hartshorn was handed her, but it could not quiet her distress. +Her family pride was sorely wounded, and had Theo been dead she would +hardly have felt worse than she did. + +"How will she bear it when it comes to her knowledge, as it +necessarily must? It will kill her, I know!" she exclaimed, after +Maggie had exhausted all her powers of reasoning in vain; then, as +she remembered the woman's avowed intention of visiting her +daughter-in-law on the morrow, she felt that she must turn back; she +must see Theo and break it to her gently, or the first sight of that +odious creature, claiming her for a daughter, might be of incalculable +injury. + +"Stop, Mike," she was about to say; but ere the words passed her lips +she reflected that to take Maggie back to Worcester was to throw her +again in Henry Warner's way, and this she could not do. There was +but one alternative. She could stop at the Charlton depot, not far +distant, and wait for the downward train, while Mike drove Maggie +home; and this she resolved to do. Mike was accordingly bidden to take +her at once to the depot, which he did, while she explained to Maggie +her reason for returning. + +"Theo is much better alone, and George will not thank you for +interfering," said Maggie, not at all pleased with her grandmother's +proceedings. + +But the old lady was determined. It was her duty, she said, to stand +by Theo in trouble; and if a visit from that horrid creature wasn't +trouble, she could not well define it. + +"When will you come home?" asked Maggie. + +"Not before to-morrow night. Now I have undertaken the matter, I +intend to see it through," said Madam Conway, referring to the +expected visit of Mrs. Douglas, senior. + +But Mike did not thus understand it, and thinking her only object in +turning back was to "see the doin's," as he designated the firemen's +muster, he muttered long and loud about being thus sent home while his +mistress went to see the fun. + +In the meantime, on a hard settee, at the rather uncomfortable depot, +Madam Conway awaited the arrival of the train, which came at last, +and in a short time she found herself again in Worcester. Once in +a carriage, and on her way to the "Bay State," she began to feel a +little nervous, half wishing she had followed Maggie's advice, and +left Theo alone. But it could not now be helped, and while trying to +think what she should say to her astonished granddaughter she was set +down at the door of the hotel, slightly bewildered and a good deal +perplexed, a feeling which was by no means diminished when she learned +that Mr. and Mrs. Douglas were both out of town. + +"Where have they gone, and when will they return?" she gasped, untying +her bonnet strings for easier respiration. + +To these queries the clerk, replied that he believed Mr. Douglas had +gone to Boston on business, that he might be home that night; at all +events, he would probably return in the morning; she could find Mr. +Warner, who would tell her all about it. "Shall I send for him?" he +continued, as he saw the scowl upon her face. + +"Certainly not," she answered; and taking the key, which had been left +in his charge, she repaired to Theo's rooms, and sinking into a large +easy-chair fanned herself furiously, wondering if they would return +that night, and what they would say when they found her there. "But I +don't care," she continued, speaking aloud and shaking her head very +decidedly at the excited woman whose image was reflected by the mirror +opposite, and who shook her head as decidedly in return. "George +Douglas has deceived us shamefully, and I'll tell him so, too. I wish +he'd come this minute!" + +But George Douglas knew well what he was doing. Very gradually was he +imparting to Theo a knowledge of his parents, and Theo, who really +loved her husband, was learning to prize him for himself, and not for +his family. Feeling certain that the firemen's muster would bring his +mother to town, and knowing that Theo was not yet prepared to see her, +he was greatly relieved at Madam Conway's sudden departure, and had +himself purposely left home, with the intention of staying away until +Friday night. This, however, Madam Conway did not know, and very +impatiently she awaited his coming, until the lateness of the hour +precluded the possibility of his arrival, and she retired to bed, +but not to sleep, for the city was full of firemen, and one company, +failing of finding lodgings elsewhere, had taken refuge in an +empty carriage-shop near by. The hard, bare floor was not the most +comfortable bed imaginable, and preferring the bright moonlight and +open air they made the night hideous with their noisy shouts, which +the watchmen tried in vain to hush. To sleep in that neighborhood was +impossible, and all night long Madam Conway vibrated between her bed +and the window, from which latter point she frowned wrathfully down +upon the red coats below, who, scoffing alike at law and order as +dispensed by the police, kept up their noisy revel, shouting lustily +for "Chelsea, No. 4" and "Washington, No. 2," until the dawn of day. + +"I wish to mercy I'd gone home!" sighed Madam Conway, as weak and +faint she crept down to the breakfast table, doing but little justice +to anything, and returning to her room pale, haggard, and weary. + +Ere long, however, she became interested in watching the crowds of +people who at an early hour filled the streets; and when at last the +different fire companies of the State paraded the town, in a seemingly +never-ending procession, she forgot in a measure her trouble, and +drawing her chair to the window sat down to enjoy the brilliant scene, +involuntarily nodding her head to the stirring music, as company after +company passed. Up and down the street, far as the eye could reach, +the sidewalks were crowded with men, women, and children, all eager +to see the sight. There were people from the city and people from the +country, the latter of whom, having anticipated the day for weeks and +months, were now unquestionably enjoying it to the last degree. + +Conspicuous among these was a middle-aged woman, who elicited remarks +from all who beheld her, both from the peculiarity of her dress and +the huge blue cotton umbrella she persisted in hoisting, to the great +annoyance of those in whose faces it was thrust, and who forgot in a +measure their vexation when they read the novel device it bore. Like +many other people, who can sympathize with the good woman, she +was always losing her umbrella, and at last, in self-defense, had +embroidered upon the blue in letters of white: + + "Steal me not, for fear of shame. + For here you see my owner's name: + + "CHARITY DOUGLAS." + +As the lettering was small and not very distinct, it required a +close observation to decipher it; but the plan was a successful one, +nevertheless, and for four long years the blue umbrella had done good +service to its mistress, shielding her alike from sunshine and from +storm, and now in the crowded city it performed a double part, +preventing those standing near from seeing, while at the same time it +kept the dust from settling on the thick green veil and leghorn bonnet +of its owner. At Betsy Jane's suggestion she wore a hoop to-day on +Theo's account, and that she was painfully conscious of the fact was +proved by the many anxious glances she cast at her chocolate-colored +muslin, through the thin folds of which it was plainly visible. + +"I wish I had left the pesky thing to hum," she thought, feeling +greatly relieved when at last, as the crowd became greater, it was +broken in several pieces and ceased to do its duty. + +From her seat near the window Madam Conway caught sight of the +umbrella as it swayed up and down amid the multitude, but she had no +suspicion that she who bore it thus aloft had even a better right +than herself to sit where she was sitting. In her excitement she had +forgotten Mrs. Douglas' intended visit, to prepare Theo for which she +had returned to Worcester, but it came to her at length, when, as +the last fire company passed, the blue umbrella was closed, and the +leghorn bonnet turned in the direction of the hotel. There was no +mistaking the broad, good-humored face which looked so eagerly up at +"George's window," and involuntarily Madam Conway glanced under the +bed with the view of fleeing thither for refuge! + +"What shall I do?" she cried, as she heard the umbrella on the stairs. +"I'll lock her out," she continued; and in an instant the key was in +her pocket, while, trembling in every limb, she awaited the result. + +Nearer and nearer the footsteps came; there was a knock upon the door, +succeeded by a louder one, and then, as both these failed to elicit a +response, the handle of the umbrella was vigorously applied. But all +in vain, and Madam Conway heard the discomfited outsider say, "They +told me Theodoshy's grandmarm was here, but I guess she's in the +street. I'll come agin bime-by," and Mrs. Douglas, senior, walked +disconsolately down the stairs, while Madam Conway thought it doubtful +whether she gained access to the room that day, come as often as she +might. + +Not long after, the gong sounded for dinner, and unlocking the door +Madam Conway was about descending to the dining room, when the thought +burst upon her: "What if she should be at the table! It's just like +her." + +The very idea was overwhelming, taking from her at once all desire for +dinner; and returning to her room she tried, by looking over the books +and examining the carpet, to forget how hungry and faint she was. +Whether she would have succeeded is doubtful, had not an hour or two +later brought another knock from the umbrella, and driven all thoughts +of eating from her mind. In grim silence she waited until her +tormentor was gone, and then wondering if it was not time for the +train she consulted her watch. But alas! 'twas only four; the cars did +not leave until six; and so another weary hour went by. At the end of +that time, however, thinking the depot preferable to being a prisoner +there, she resolved to go; and leaving the key with the clerk, she +called a carriage and was soon on her way to the cars. + +As she approached the depot she observed an immense crowd of people +gathered together, among which the red coats of the firemen were +conspicuous. A fight was evidently in progress, and as the horses +began to grow restive she begged of the driver to let her alight, +saying she could easily walk the remainder of the way. Scarcely, +however, was she on terra-firma when the yelling crowd made a +precipitate rush towards her, and in much alarm she climbed for safety +into an empty buggy, whereupon the horse, equally alarmed, began to +rear, and without pausing an instant the terrified lady sprang out on +the side opposite to that by which she had entered, catching her dress +upon the seat, and tearing half the gathers from the waist. + +"Heaven help me!" she cried, picking herself up, and beginning to wish +she had never troubled herself with Theo's mother-in-law. + +To reach the depot was now her great object, and, as the two +belligerent parties occupied the front, she thought to effect an +entrance at the rear. But the doors were locked, and as she turned the +corner of the building she suddenly found herself in the thickest of +the fight. To advance was impossible, to turn back equally so, and +while meditating some means of escape she lost her footing and fell +across a wheelbarrow which stood upon the platform, crumpling her +bonnet, and scratching her face upon a nail which protruded from the +vehicle. Nearer dead than alive, she made her way at last into the +depot, and from thence into the cars, where, sinking into a seat, and +drawing her shawl closely around her, the better to conceal the +sad condition of her dress, she indulged in meditations not wholly +complimentary to firemen in general and her late comrades in +particular. + +For half an hour she waited impatiently, but though the cars were +filling rapidly there were no indications of starting; and it was +almost seven ere the long and heavily loaded train moved slowly from +the depot. About fifteen minutes previous to their departure, as Madam +Conway was looking ruefully out upon the multitude, she was horrified +at seeing directly beneath her window the veritable woman from whom, +through the entire day, she had been hiding. Involuntarily she glanced +at the vacant seat in front of her, which, as she feared, was soon +occupied by Mrs. Douglas and her companion, who, as Madam Conway +divined, was "Sam Babbit's wife." + +Trembling nervously lest she should be discovered, she drew her veil +closely over her face, keeping very quiet, and looking intently from +the window into the gathering darkness without. But her fears were +groundless, for Mrs. Douglas had no suspicion that the crumpled bonnet +and sorry figure, sitting so disconsolately in the corner, was the +same which but the day before had honored her with a call. She was in +high spirits, having had, as she informed her neighbor, "a tip-top +time." On one point, however, she was disappointed. She meant as much +as could be to have seen "Theodoshy," but she "wan't to hum." "Her +grandmarm was in town," said she, "but if she was in the room she must +have been asleep, or dreadful deaf, for I pounded with all my might. +I'm sorry, for I'd like to scrape acquaintance with her, bein' we're +connected." + +An audible groan came from beneath the thick brown veil, whereupon +both ladies turned their heads. But the indignant woman made no sign; +and, in a whisper loud enough for Madam Conway to hear, Mrs. Douglas +said, "Some Irish critter in liquor, I presume. Look at her jammed +bonnet." + +This remark drew from Mrs. Babbit a very close inspection of the +veiled figure, who, smothering her wrath, felt greatly relieved when +the train started and prevented her from hearing anything more. At the +next station, however, Mrs. Douglas showed her companion a crochet +collar, which she had purchased for two shillings, and which, she +said, was almost exactly like the one worn by the woman who stopped at +her house the day before. + +Leaning forward, Madam Conway glanced contemptuously at the coarse +knit thing, which bore about the same resemblance to her own handsome +collar as cambric does to satin. + +"Vulgar, ignorant creatures!" she muttered, while Mrs. Babbit, after +duly praising the collar, proceeded to make some inquiries concerning +the strange lady who had shared Mrs. Douglas' hospitality. + +"I've no idee who she was," said Mrs. Douglas; "but I think it's purty +likely she was some crazy critter they was takin' to the hospital." + +Another groan from beneath the brown veil, and turning around the +kind-hearted Mrs. Douglas asked if she was sick, adding in an aside, +as there came no answer, "Been fightin', I'll warrant!" + +Fortunately for Madam Conway, the cars moved on, and when they stopped +again, to her great relief, the owner of the blue umbrella, together +with "Sam Babbit's wife," alighted, and amid the crowd assembled on +the platform she recognized Betsy Jane, who had come down to meet her +mother. The remainder of the way seemed tedious enough, for the train +moved but slowly, and it was near ten o'clock ere they reached the +Hillsdale station, where, to her great delight, Madam Conway found +Margaret awaiting her, together with Arthur Carrollton. The moment +she saw the former, who came eagerly forward to meet her, the weary, +worn-out woman burst into tears; but at the sight of Mr. Carrollton +she forced them back, saying, in reply to Maggie's inquiries, that +Theo was not at home, and that she had spent a dreadful day, and been +knocked down in a fight at the depot, in proof of which she pointed +to her torn dress, her crumpled bonnet, and scratched face. Maggie +laughed aloud in spite of herself, and though Mr. Carrollton's eyes +were several times turned reprovingly upon her she continued to +laugh at intervals at the sorry, forlorn appearance presented by her +grandmother, who for several days was confined to her bed from the +combined effects of fasting, fright, firemen's muster, and her late +encounter with Mrs. Douglas, senior! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ARTHUR CARROLLTON AND MAGGIE. + + +Mr. Carrollton had returned from Boston on Thursday afternoon, and, +finding them all gone from the hotel, had come on to Hillsdale on +the evening train, surprising Maggie as she sat in the parlor alone, +wishing herself in Worcester, or in some place where it was not as +lonely as there. With his presence the loneliness disappeared, and in +making his tea and listening to his agreeable conversation she forgot +everything, until, observing that she looked weary, he said: "Maggie, +I would willingly talk to you all night, were it not for the bad +effect it would have on you to-morrow. You must go to bed now," and he +showed her his watch, which pointed to the hour of midnight. + +Exceedingly mortified, Maggie was leaving the room, when, noticing her +evident chagrin, Mr. Carrollton came to her side, and laying his hand +very respectfully on hers, said kindly: "It is my fault, Maggie, +keeping you up so late, and I only send you away now because those +eyes are growing heavy, and I know that you need rest. Good-night to +you, and pleasant dreams." + +He went with her to the door, watching her until she disappeared up +the stairs; then, half wishing he had not sent her from him, he too +sought his chamber; but not to sleep, for Maggie, though absent, was +with him still in fancy. For more than a year he had been haunted by a +bright, sunshiny face, whose owner embodied the dashing, independent +spirit and softer qualities which made Maggie Miller so attractive. Of +this face he had often thought, wondering if the real would equal the +ideal, and now that he had met with her, had looked into her truthful +eyes, had gazed upon her sunny face, which mirrored faithfully every +thought and feeling, he was more than satisfied, and to love that +beautiful girl seemed to him an easy matter. She was so childlike, so +artless, so different from anyone whom he had ever known, that he was +interested in her at once. But Arthur Carrollton never did a thing +precipitately. She might have many glaring faults; he must see her +more, must know her better, ere he lavished upon her the love whose +deep fountains had never yet been stirred. + +After this manner he reasoned as he walked up and down his chamber, +while Maggie, on her sleepless pillow, was thinking, too, of him, +wondering if she did hate him as much as she intended, and if Henry +would be offended at her sitting up with him until after twelve +o'clock. + +It was nearly half-past nine when Maggie awoke next morning, and +making a hasty toilet she descended to the dining room, where she +found Mr. Carrollton awaiting her. He had been up a long time; but +when Anna Jeffrey, blessed with an uncommon appetite, fretted at the +delay of breakfast, and suggested calling Margaret, he objected, +saying she needed rest, and must not be disturbed. So, in something of +a pet, the young lady breakfasted alone with her aunt, Mr. Carrollton +preferring to wait for Maggie. + +"I am sorry I kept you waiting," said Maggie, seating herself at the +table and continuing to apologize for her tardiness. + +But Mr. Carrollton felt more than repaid by having her thus alone with +him, and many were the admiring glances he cast toward her, as, with +her shining hair, her happy face, her tasteful morning gown of pink, +and her beautiful white hands which handled so gracefully the silver +coffee-urn, she made a living, glowing picture such as any man might +delight to look upon. Breakfast being over, Mr. Carrollton proposed a +ride, and as Anna Jeffrey at that moment entered the parlor he invited +her to accompany them. There was a shadow on Maggie's brow as she left +the room to dress, a shadow which had not wholly disappeared when she +returned; and, observing this, Mr. Carrollton said, "Were I to consult +my own wishes, Maggie, I should leave Miss Jeffrey at home; but she is +a poor girl whose enjoyments are far less than ours, consequently I +invited her for this once, knowing how fond she is of riding." + +"How thoughtful you are of other people's happiness!" said Maggie, the +shadow leaving her brow at once. + +"I am glad that wrinkle has gone, at all events," returned Mr. +Carrollton laughingly, and laying his hand upon her forehead he +continued: "Were you my sister Helen I should probably kiss you for +having so soon got over your pet; but as you are Maggie Miller, I dare +not," and he looked earnestly at her, to see if he had spoken the +truth. + +Coloring crimson, as it became the affianced bride of Henry Warner to +do, Maggie turned away, thinking Helen must be a happy girl, and +half wishing she too were Arthur Carrollton's sister. It was a long, +delightful excursion they took, and Maggie, when she saw how Anna +Jeffrey enjoyed it, did not altogether regret her presence. On their +way home she proposed calling upon Hagar, whom she had not seen for +"three whole days." + +"And who, pray, is Hagar?" asked Mr. Carrollton; and Maggie replied, +"She is my old nurse--a strange, crazy creature, whom they say I +somewhat resemble." + +By this time they were near the cottage, in the door of which old +Hagar was standing, with her white hair falling round her face. + +"I see by your looks you don't care to call, but I shall," said +Maggie; and, bounding from her saddle, she ran up to Hagar, pressing +her hand and whispering that it would soon be time to hear from Henry. + +"Kissed her, I do believe!" said Anna Jeffrey. "She must have +admirable taste!" + +Mr. Carrollton said nothing, but with a half-comical, half-displeased +expression he watched the interview between that weird old woman and +the fair young girl, little suspecting how nearly they were allied. + +"Why didn't you come and speak to her?" said Maggie, as he alighted to +assist her in again mounting Gritty. "She used to see you in England, +when you were a baby, and if you won't be angry I'll tell you what she +said. It was that you were the crossest, ugliest young one she ever +saw! There, there; don't set me down so hard!" and the saucy eyes +looked mischievously at the proud Englishman, who, truth to say, did +place her in the saddle with a little more force than was at all +necessary. + +Not that he was angry. He was only annoyed at what he considered +Maggie's undue familiarity with a person like Hagar, but he wisely +forbore making any comments in Anna Jeffrey's presence, except, +indeed, to laugh heartily at Hagar's complimentary description of +himself when a baby. Arrived at home, and alone again with Maggie, he +found her so very good-natured and agreeable that he could not chide +her for anything, and Hagar was for a time forgotten. + +That evening, as the reader knows, they went together to the depot, +where they waited four long hours, but not impatiently; for sitting +there in the moonlight, with the winding Chicopee full in view, and +Margaret Miller at his side, Arthur Carrollton forgot the lapse +of time, especially when Maggie, thinking it no harm, gave a most +ludicrous description of her call upon Mrs. Douglas, senior, and of +her grandmother's distress at finding herself so nearly connected with +what she termed "a low, vulgar family." + +Arthur Carrollton was very proud, and had Theo been his sister he +might to some extent have shared in Madam Conway's chagrin; and so he +said to Maggie, at the same time fully agreeing with her that George +Douglas was a refined, agreeable man, and as such entitled to respect. +Still, had Theo known of his parentage, he said, it would probably +have made some difference; but now that it could not be helped it was +wise to make the best of it. + +These words were little heeded then by Maggie, but with most painful +distinctness they recurred to her in the after time, when, humbled in +the very dust, she had no hope that the highborn, haughty Carrollton +would stoop to a child of Hagar Warren! But no shadow of the dark +future was over her now, and very eagerly she drank in every word and +look of Arthur Carrollton, who, all unconsciously, was trampling on +another's rights and gradually weakening the fancied love she bore for +Henry Warner. + +The arrival of the train brought their pleasant conversation to a +close, and for a day or two Maggie's time was wholly occupied with +her grandmother, to whom she frankly acknowledged having told Mr. +Carrollton of Mrs. Douglas and her daughter Betsy Jane. The fact that +he knew of her disgrace and did not despise her was of great benefit +to Madam Conway, and after a few days she resumed her usual spirits, +and actually told of the remarks made by Mrs. Douglas concerning +herself and the "fight" she had been in! As time passed on she became +reconciled to the Douglases, having, as she thought, some well-founded +reasons for believing that for Theo's disgrace Maggie would make +amends by marrying Mr. Carrollton, whose attentions each day became +more and more marked, and were not apparently altogether disagreeable +to Maggie. On the contrary, his presence at Hillsdale was productive +of much pleasure to her, as well as a little annoyance. + +From the first he seemed to exercise over her an influence she could +not well resist--a power to make her do whatever he willed that she +should do; and though she sometimes rebelled she was pretty sure in +the end to yield the contest, and submit to one who was evidently +the ruling spirit. As yet nothing had been said of the hair ornament +which, out of compliment to him, her grandmother wore every morning +in her collar, but at last one day Madam Conway spoke of it herself, +asking if it were, as she had supposed, his grandmother's hair. + +"Why, no," he answered involuntarily; "it is a lock Maggie sent me in +that wonderful daguerreotype!" + +"The stupid thing!" thought Maggie, while her eyes fairly danced with +merriment as she anticipated the question she fancied was sure to +follow, but did not. + +One glance at her tell-tale face was sufficient for Madam Conway. In +her whole household there was but one head with locks as white as +that, and whatever her thoughts might have been, she said nothing, but +from that day forth Hagar's hair was never again seen ornamenting her +person! That afternoon Mr. Carrollton and Maggie went out to ride, and +in the course of their conversation he referred to the pin, asking +whose hair it was, and seeming much amused when told that it was +Hagar's. + +"But why did you not tell her when it first came?" he said; and Maggie +answered: "Oh, it was such fun to see her sporting Hagar's hair, when +she is so proud! It didn't hurt her either, for Hagar is as good as +anybody. I don't believe in making such a difference because one +person chances to be richer than another." + +"Neither do I," returned Mr. Carrollton. "I would not esteem a person +for wealth alone, but there are points of difference which should +receive consideration. For instance, this old Hagar may be well enough +in her way, but suppose she were nearly connected with you--your +grandmother, if you like--it would certainly make some difference in +your position. You would not be Maggie Miller, and I--" + +"Wouldn't ride with me, I dare say," interrupted Maggie; to which he +replied, "I presume not," adding, as he saw slight indications of +pouting, "And therefore I am glad you are Maggie Miller, and not +Hagar's grandchild." + +Mentally pronouncing him a "proud, hateful thing," Maggie rode on a +while in silence. But Mr. Carrollton knew well how to manage her, and +he too was silent until Maggie, who could never refrain from talking +any length of time, forgot herself and began chatting away as gayly as +before. During their excursion they came near to the gorge of Henry +Warner memory, and Maggie, who had never quite forgiven Mr. Carrollton +for criticising her horsemanship, resolved to show him what she could +do. The signal was accordingly given to Gritty, and ere her companion +was aware of her intention she was tearing over the ground at a speed +he could hardly equal. The ravine was just on the border of the wood, +and without pausing for an instant Gritty leaped across it, landing +safely on the other side, where he stopped, while half fearfully, half +exultingly, Maggie looked back to see what Mr. Carrollton would do. +At first he fancied Gritty beyond her control, and when he saw her +directly over the deep chasm he shuddered, involuntarily stretching +out his arms to save her; but the look she gave him as she turned +around convinced him that the risk she had run was done on purpose. +Still he had no intention of following her, for he feared his horse's +ability as well as his own to clear that pass. + +"Why don't you jump? Are you afraid?" and Maggie's eyes looked archly +out from beneath her tasteful riding cap. + +For half a moment he felt tempted to join her, but his better judgment +came to his aid, and he answered: "Yes, Maggie, I am afraid, having +never tried such an experiment. But I wish to be with you in some +way, and as I cannot come to you I ask you to come to me. You seem +accustomed to the leap!" + +He did not praise her. Nay, she fancied there was more of censure +in the tones of his voice; at all events, he had asked her rather +commandingly to return, and she "wouldn't do it." For a moment she +made no reply, and he said again, "Maggie, will you come?" then half +playfully, half reproachfully, she made answer, "A gallant Englishman +indeed! willing I should risk my neck where you dare not venture +yours. No, I shan't try the leap again to-day, I don't feel like it; +but I'll cross the long bridge half a mile from here--good-by;" and +fully expecting him to meet her, she galloped off, riding ere long +quite slowly, "so he'd have a nice long time to wait for her!" + +How, then, was she disappointed, when, on reaching the bridge, there +was nowhere a trace of him to be seen, neither could she hear +the sound of his horse's footsteps, though she listened long and +anxiously! + +"He is certainly the most provoking man I ever saw!" she exclaimed, +half crying with vexation. "Henry wouldn't have served me so, and I'm +glad I was engaged to him before I saw this hateful Carrollton, for +grandma might possibly have coaxed me into marrying him, and then +wouldn't Mr. Dog and Mrs. Cat have led a stormy life! No, we +wouldn't," she continued; "I should in time get accustomed to minding +him, and then I think he'd be splendid, though no better than Henry. I +wonder if Hagar has a letter for me!" and, chirruping to Gritty, she +soon stood at the door of the cabin. + +"Have you two been quarreling?" asked Hagar, noticing Maggie's flushed +cheeks. "Mr. Carrollton passed here twenty minutes or more ago, +looking mighty sober, and here you are with your face as red--What has +happened?" + +"Nothing," answered Maggie, a little testily, "only he's the meanest +man! Wouldn't follow me when I leaped the gorge, and I know he could +if he had tried." + +"Showed his good sense," interrupted Hagar, adding that Maggie mustn't +think every man was going to risk his neck for her. + +"I don't think so, of course," returned Maggie; "but he might act +better--almost commanded me to come back and join him, as though I was +a little child; but I wouldn't do it. I told him I'd go down to the +long bridge and cross, expecting, of course, he'd meet me there; and +instead of that he has gone off home. How did he know what accident +would befall me?" + +"Accident!" repeated Hagar; "accident befall you, who know every crook +and turn of these woods so much better than he does!" + +"Well, anyway, he might have waited for me," returned Maggie. "I don't +believe he'd care if I were to get killed. I mean to scare him and +see;" and, springing from Gritty's back, she gave a peculiar whistling +sound, at which the pony bounded away towards home, while she followed +Hagar into the cottage, where a letter from Henry awaited her. + +They were to sail for Cuba on the 15th of October, and he now wrote +asking if Maggie would go without her grandmother's consent. But, +though irresolute when he before broached the subject, Maggie was +decided now. She would not run away; and so she said to Hagar, to whom +she confided the whole affair. + +"I do not think it would be right to elope," she said. "In three years +more I shall be twenty-one, and free to do as I like; and if grandma +will not let me marry Henry now, he must wait. I can't run away. Rose +would not approve of it, I'm sure, and I almost know Mr. Carrollton +would not." + +"I can't see how his' approving or not approving can affect you," +said Hagar; then bending down, so that her wild eyes looked full in +Maggie's eyes, she said, "Are you beginning to like this Englishman?" + +"Why, no, I guess I aint," answered Maggie, coloring slightly. "I +dislike him dreadfully, he's so proud. Why, he did the same as to say +that if I were your grandchild he would not ride with me!" + +"My grandchild, Maggie Miller!--my grandchild!" shrieked Hagar. "What +put that into his head?" + +Thinking her emotion caused by anger at Arthur Carrollton, Maggie +mentally chided herself for having inadvertently said what she did, +while at the same time she tried to soothe old Hagar, who rocked to +and fro, as was her custom when her "crazy spells" were on. Growing a +little more composed, she said at last, "Marry Henry Warner, by all +means, Maggie; he aint as proud as Carrollton--he would not care as +much if he knew it." + +"Knew what?" asked Maggie; and, remembering herself in time, Hagar +answered adroitly: "Knew of your promise to let me live with you. You +remember it, don't you?" and she looked wistfully towards Maggie, who, +far more intent upon something else, answered: "Yes, I remember. But +hush! don't I hear horses' feet coming rapidly through the woods?" +and, running to the window, she saw Mr. Carrollton mounted upon +Gritty, and riding furiously towards the house. + +"You go out, Hagar, and see if he is looking for me," whispered +Maggie, stepping back, so he could not see. + +"Henry Warner must snare the bird quick, or he will lose it," muttered +Hagar, as she walked to the door, where, evidently much excited, Mr. +Carrollton asked if she knew aught of Miss Miller, and why Gritty had +come home alone. "It is such an unusual occurrence," said he, "that we +felt alarmed, and I have come in quest of her." + +From her post near the window Maggie could plainly see his face, which +was very pale, and expressive of much concern, while his voice, she +fancied, trembled as he spoke her name. + +"He does care," she thought; woman's pride was satisfied, and ere +Hagar could reply she ran out, saying laughingly: "And so you thought +maybe I was killed, but I'm not. I concluded to walk home and let +Gritty go on in advance. I did not mean to frighten grandma." + +"She was not as much alarmed as myself," said Mr. Carrollton, the +troubled expression of his countenance changing at once. "You do not +know how anxious I was when I saw Gritty come riderless to the door, +nor yet how relieved I am in finding you thus unharmed." + +Maggie knew she did not deserve this, and blushing like a guilty +child she offered no resistance when he lifted her into the saddle +gently--tenderly--as if she had indeed escaped from some great danger. + +"It is time you were home," said he, and throwing the bridle across +his arm he rested his hand upon the saddle and walked slowly by her +side. + +All his fancied coldness was forgotten; neither was the leap nor yet +the bridge once mentioned, for he was only too happy in having her +back alive, while she was doubting the propriety of an experiment +which, in the turn matters had taken, seemed to involve deception. +Observing at last that he occasionally pressed his hand upon his side, +she asked the cause, and was told that he had formerly been subject to +a pain in his side, which excitement or fright greatly augmented. "I +hoped I was free from it," he said, "but the sight of Gritty dashing +up to the door without you brought on a slight attack; for I knew if +you were harmed the fault was mine for having rather unceremoniously +deserted you." + +This was more than Maggie could endure in silence. The frank +ingenuousness of her nature prevailed, and turning towards him her +dark, beautiful eyes, in which tears were shining, she said: "Forgive +me, Mr. Carrollton. I sent Gritty home on purpose to see if you would +be annoyed, for I felt vexed because you would not humor my whim and +meet me at the bridge. I am sorry I caused you any uneasiness," she +continued, as she saw a shadow flit over his face. "Will you forgive +me?" + +Arthur Carrollton could not resist the pleading of those lustrous +eyes, nor yet refuse to take the ungloved hand she offered him; +and if, in token of reconciliation, he did press it a little more +fervently than Henry Warner would have thought at all necessary, he +only did what, under the circumstances, it was very natural he +should do. From the first Maggie Miller had been a puzzle to Arthur +Carrollton; but he was fast learning to read her--was beginning to +understand how perfectly artless she was--and this little incident +increased, rather than diminished, his admiration. + +"I will forgive you, Maggie," he said, "on one condition. You must +promise never again to experiment with my feelings in a similar +manner." + +The promise was readily given, and then they proceeded on as leisurely +as if at home there was no anxious grandmother vibrating between her +high-backed chair and the piazza, nor yet an Anna Jeffrey watching +them enviously as they came slowly up the road. + +That night there came to Mr. Carrollton a letter from Montreal, saying +his immediate presence was necessary there, on a business matter of +some importance; and he accordingly decided to go on the morrow. + +"When may we expect you back?" asked Madam Conway, as in the morning +he was preparing for his journey. + +"It will, perhaps, be two months at least, before I return," said +he, adding that there was a possibility of his being obliged to go +immediately to England. + +In the recess of the window Maggie was standing, thinking how lonely +the house would be without him, and wishing there was no such thing +as parting from those she liked--even as little as she did Arthur +Carrollton. + +"I won't let him know that I care, though," she thought, and forcing a +smile to her face she was about turning to bid him good-by, when she +heard him tell her grandmother of the possibility there was that he +would be obliged to go directly to England from Montreal. + +"Then I may never see him again," she thought; and the tears burst +forth involuntarily at the idea of parting with him forever. + +Faster and faster they came, until at last, fearing lest he should +see them, she ran away upstairs, and, mounting to the roof, sat down +behind the chimney, where, herself unobserved, she could watch him far +up the road. From the half-closed door of her chamber Anna Jeffrey had +seen Maggie stealing up the tower stairs; had seen, too, that she +was weeping, and, suspecting the cause, she went quietly down to the +parlor to hear what Arthur Carrollton would say. The carriage was +waiting, his trunk was in its place, his hat was in his hand; to Madam +Conway he said good-by, to Anna Jeffrey too; and still he lingered, +looking wistfully round in quest of something which evidently was not +there. + +"Where's Margaret?" he asked at last, and Madam Conway answered: +"Surely, where can she be? Have you seen her, Anna?" + +"I saw her on the stairs some time ago," said Anna, adding that +possibly she had gone to see Hagar, as she usually visited her at this +hour. + +A shade of disappointment passed over Mr. Carrollton's face as he +replied, "Tell her I am sorry she thinks more of Hagar than of me." + +The next moment he was gone, and leaning against the chimney Maggie +watched with tearful eyes the carriage as it wound up the grassy road. +On the brow of the hill, just before it would disappear from sight, it +suddenly stopped. Something was the matter with the harness, and while +John was busy adjusting it Mr. Carrollton leaned from the window, and, +looking back, started involuntarily as he caught sight of the figure +so clearly defined upon the housetop. A slight suspicion of the truth +came upon him, and kissing his hand he waved it gracefully towards +her. Maggie's handkerchief was wet with tears, but she shook it out in +the morning breeze, and sent to Arthur Carrollton, as she thought, her +last good-by. + +Fearing lest her grandmother should see her swollen eyes, she stole +down the stairs, and taking her shawl and bonnet from the table in the +hall ran off into the woods, going to a pleasant, mossy bank not far +from Hagar's cottage, where she had more than once sat with Arthur +Carrollton, and where she fancied she would never sit with him again. + +"I don't believe it's for him that I am crying," she thought, as she +tried in vain to stay her tears; "I always intended to hate him, and I +almost know I do; I'm only feeling badly because I won't run away, and +Henry and Rose will go without me so soon!" And fully satisfied at +having discovered the real cause of her grief, she laid her head upon +the bright autumn grass and wept bitterly, holding her breath, and +listening intently as she heard in the distance the sound of the +engine which was bearing Mr. Carrollton away. + +It did not occur to her that he could not yet have reached the depot, +and as she knew nothing of a change in the time of the trains she was +taken wholly by surprise when, fifteen minutes later, a manly form +bent over her, as she lay upon the bank, and a voice, earnest and +thrilling in tones, murmured softly, "Maggie, are those tears for me?" + +When about halfway to the station Mr. Carrollton had heard of the +change of time, and knowing he should not be in season had turned back +with the intention of waiting for the next train, which would pass in +a few hours. Learning that Maggie was in the woods, he had started in +quest of her, going naturally to the mossy bank, where, as we have +seen, he found her weeping on the grass. She was weeping for him--he +was sure of that. He was not indifferent to her, as he had sometimes +feared, and for an instant he felt tempted to take her in his arms and +tell her how dear she was to him. + +"I will speak to her first," he thought, and so he asked if the tears +were for him. + +Inexpressibly astonished and mortified at having him see her thus, +Maggie started to her feet, while angry words at being thus intruded +upon trembled on her lips. But winding his arm around her, Mr. +Carrollton drew her to his side, explaining to her in a few words how +he came to be there, and continuing: "I do not regret the delay, if by +its means I have discovered what I very much wish to know. Maggie, do +you care for me? Were you weeping because I had left you?" + +He drew her very closely to him--looking anxiously into her face, +which she covered with her hands. She knew he was in earnest, and +the knowledge that he loved her thrilled her for an instant with +indescribable happiness. A moment, however, and thoughts of her +engagement with another flashed upon her. "She must not sit there thus +with Arthur Carrollton--she would be true to Henry," and with +mingled feelings of sorrow, regret, and anger--though why she should +experience either she did not then understand--she drew herself from +him; and when he said again: "Will Maggie answer? Are those tears +for me?" she replied petulantly: "No; can't a body cry without being +bothered for a reason? I came down here to be alone!" + +"I did not mean to intrude, and I beg your pardon for having done +so," said Mr. Carrollton sadly, adding, as Maggie made no reply: "I +expected a different answer, Maggie. I almost hoped you liked me, and +I believe now that you do." + +In Maggie's bosom there was a fierce struggle of feeling. She did like +Arthur Carrollton--and she thought she liked Henry Warner--at all +events she was engaged to him, and half angry at the former for +having disturbed her, and still more angry at herself for being thus +disturbed, she exclaimed, as he again placed his arm around her: +"Leave me alone, Mr. Carrollton. I don't like you. I don't like +anybody!" and gathering up her shawl, which lay upon the grass, she +ran away to Hagar's cabin, hoping he would follow her. But he did not. +It was his first attempt at love-making, and very much disheartened he +walked slowly back to the house; and while Maggie, from Hagar's door, +was looking to see if he were coming, he, from the parlor window, was +watching, too, for her, with a shadow on his brow and a load upon his +heart. Madam Conway knew that something was wrong, but it was in vain +that she sought an explanation. Mr. Carrollton kept his own secret; +and consoling herself with his volunteered assurance that in case +it became necessary for him to return to England he should, before +embarking, visit Hillsdale, she bade him a second adieu. + +In the meantime Maggie, having given up all hopes of again seeing +Mr. Carrollton, was waiting impatiently the coming of Hagar, who was +absent, having, as Maggie readily conjectured, gone to Richland. It +was long past noon when she returned, and by that time the stains had +disappeared from Maggie's face, which looked nearly as bright as ever. +Still, it was with far less eagerness than usual that she took +from Hagar's hand the expected letter from Henry. It was a long, +affectionate epistle, urging her once more to accompany him, and +saying if she still refused she must let him know immediately, as they +were intending to start for New York in a few days. + +"I can't go," said Maggie; "it would not be right." And going to the +time-worn desk, where, since her secret correspondence, she had kept +materials for writing, she wrote to Henry a letter telling him she +felt badly to disappoint him, but she deemed it much wiser to defer +their marriage until her grandmother felt differently, or at least +until she was at an age to act for herself. This being done, she went +slowly back to the house, which to her seemed desolate indeed. Her +grandmother saw readily that something was the matter, and, rightly +guessing the cause, she forebore questioning her, neither did she once +that day mention Mr. Carrollton, although Anna Jeffrey did, telling +her what he had said about her thinking more of Hagar than of himself, +and giving as her opinion that he was much displeased with Maggie for +her rudeness in running away. + +"Nobody cares for his displeasure," answered Maggie, greatly vexed at +Anna, who took especial delight in annoying her. + +Thus a week went by, when one evening, as Madam Conway and Maggie sat +together in the parlor, they were surprised by the sudden appearance +of Henry Warner. He had accompanied his aunt and sister to New York, +where they were to remain for a few days, and then impelled by a +strong desire to see Margaret once more he had come with the vain +hope that at the last hour she would consent to fly with him, or her +grandmother consent to give her up. All the afternoon he had been at +Hagar's cottage waiting for Maggie, and at length determining to see +her he had ventured to the house. With a scowling frown Madam Conway +looked at him through her glasses, while Maggie, half joyfully, half +fearfully, went forward to meet him. In a few words he explained why +he was there, and then again asked of Madam Conway if Margaret could +go. + +"I do not believe she cares to go," thought Madam Conway, as she +glanced at Maggie's face; but she did not say so, lest she should +awaken within the young girl a feeling of opposition. + +She had watched Maggie closely, and felt sure that her affection +for Henry Warner was neither deep nor lasting. Arthur Carrollton's +presence had done much towards weakening it, and a few months more +would suffice to wear it away entirely. Still, from what had passed, +she fancied that opposition alone would only make the matter worse by +rousing Maggie at once. She knew far more of human nature than either +of the young people before her; and after a little reflection she +suggested that Henry should leave Maggie with her for a year, during +which time no communication whatever should pass between them, while +she would promise faithfully not to influence Margaret either way. + +"If at the end of the year," said she, "you both retain for each other +the feelings you have now, I will no longer object to the marriage, +but will make the best of it." + +At first Henry spurned the proposition, and when he saw that Margaret +thought well of it he reproached her with a want of feeling, saying +she did not love him as she had once done. + +"I shall not forget you, Henry," said Maggie, coming to his side and +taking his hand in hers, "neither will you forget me; and when the +year has passed away, only think how much pleasanter it will be for us +to be married here at home, with grandma's blessing on our union!" + +"If I only knew you would prove true!" said Henry, who missed +something in Maggie's manner. + +"I do mean to prove true," she answered sadly, though at that moment +another face, another form, stood between her and Henry Warner, who, +knowing that Madam Conway would not suffer her to go with him on +any terms, concluded at last to make a virtue of necessity, and +accordingly expressed his willingness to wait, provided Margaret were +allowed to write occasionally either to himself or Rose. + +But to this Madam Conway would not consent. She wished the test to +be perfect, she said, and unless he accepted her terms he must give +Maggie up, at once and forever. + +As there seemed no alternative, Henry rather ungraciously yielded +the point, promising to leave Maggie free for a year, while she too +promised not to write either to him or to Rose, except with her +grandmother's consent. Maggie Miller's word once passed, Madam Conway +knew it would not be broken, and she unhesitatingly left the young +people together while they said their parting words. A message of love +from Maggie to Rose--a hundred protestations of eternal fidelity, and +then they parted; Henry, sad and disappointed, slowly wending his way +back to the spot where Hagar impatiently awaited his coming, while +Maggie, leaning from her chamber window, and listening to the sound of +his retreating footsteps, brushed away a tear, wondering the while why +it was that she felt so relieved. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PERPLEXITY + + +Half in sorrow, half in joy, old Hagar listened to the story which +Henry told her, standing at her cottage door. In sorrow because she +had learned to like the young man, learned to think of him as Maggie's +husband, who would not wholly cast her oil, if her secret should +chance to be divulged; and in joy because her idol would be with her +yet a little longer. + +"Maggie will be faithful quite as long as you," she said, when he +expressed his fears of her forgetfulness; and, trying to console +himself with this assurance, he sprang into the carriage in which he +had come, and was driven rapidly away. + +He was too late for the night express, but taking the early morning +train he reached New York just as the sun was setting. + +"Alone! my brother, alone?" queried Rose, as he entered the private +parlor of the hotel where she was staying with her aunt. + +"Yes, alone; just as I expected," he answered somewhat bitterly. + +Then very briefly he related to her the particulars of his adventure, +to which she listened eagerly, one moment chiding herself for the +faint, shadowy hope which whispered that possibly Maggie Miller would +never be his wife, and again sympathizing in his disappointment. + +"A year will not be very long," she said, "and in the new scenes to +which you are going it will pass rapidly away;" and then, in her +childlike, guileless manner, she drew a glowing picture of the future, +when, her own health restored, they would return to their old home in +Leominster, where, after a few months more, he would bring to them his +bride. + +"You are my comforting angel, Rose," he said, folding her lovingly in +his arms and kissing her smooth white cheek. "With such a treasure as +you for a sister, I ought not to repine, even though Maggie Miller +should never be mine." + +The words were lightly spoken, and by him soon forgotten, but Rose +remembered them long, dwelling upon them in the wearisome nights, when +in her narrow berth she listened to the swelling sea as it dashed +against the vessel's side. Many a fond remembrance, too, she gave +to Maggie Miller, who, in her woodland home, thought often of the +travelers on the sea, never wishing that she was with them; but +experiencing always a feeling of pleasure in knowing that she was +Maggie Miller yet, and should be until next year's autumn leaves were +falling. + +Of Arthur Carrollton she thought frequently, wishing she had not been +so rude that morning in the woods, and feeling vexed because in his +letters to her grandmother he merely said, "Remember me to Margaret." + +"I wish he would write something besides that," she thought, "for I +remember him now altogether too much for my own good;" and then she +wondered what he would have said that morning, if she had not been so +cross. + +Very little was said to her of him by Madam Conway, who, having +learned that he was not going to England, and would ere long return to +them, concluded for a time to let the matter rest, particularly as +she knew how much Maggie was already interested in one whom she had +resolved to hate. Feeling thus confident that all would yet end well, +Madam Conway was in unusually good spirits save when thoughts of Mrs. +Douglas, senior, obtruded themselves upon her. Then, indeed, in a most +unenviable state of mind, she repined at the disgrace which Theo had +brought upon them, and charged Maggie repeatedly to keep it a secret +from Mrs. Jeffrey and Anna, the first of whom made many inquiries +concerning the family, which she supposed of course was very +aristocratic. + +One day towards the last of November there came to Madam Conway a +letter from Mrs. Douglas, senior, wonderful alike in composition and +appearance. Directed wrong side up, sealed with a wafer, and stamped +with a thimble, it bore an unmistakable resemblance to its writer, who +expressed many regrets that she had not known "in the time on't" who +her illustrious visitors were. + +"If I had known [she wrote] I should have sot the table in the parlor +certing, for though I'm plain and homespun I know as well as the next +one what good manners is, and do my endeavors to practice it. But do +tell a body [she continued] where you was muster day in Wooster. I +knocked and pounded enough to raise the dead, and nobody answered. I +never noticed you was deaf when you was here, though Betsy Jane thinks +she did. If you be, I'll send you up a receipt for a kind of intment +which Miss Sam Babbit invented, and which cures everything. + +"Theodoshy has been to see us, and though in my way of thinkin' she +aint as handsome as Margaret, she looks as well as the ginerality of +women. I liked her, too, and as soon as the men's winter clothes is +off my hands I calkerlate to have a quiltin', and finish up another +bed quilt to send her, for, man-like, George has furnished up his +rooms with all sorts of nicknacks, and got only two blankets, and two +Marsales spreads for his bed. So I've sent 'em down the herrin'-bone +and risin'-sun quilts for everyday wear, as I don't believe in usin' +your best things all the time. My old man says I'd better let 'em +alone; but he's got some queer ideas, thinks you'll sniff your nose at +my letter, and all that, but I've more charity for folks, and well I +might have, bein' that's my name. + +"CHARITY DOUGLAS." + +To this letter were appended three different postscripts. In the first +Madam Conway and Maggie were cordially invited to visit Charlton +again; in the second Betsy Jane sent her regrets; while in the third +Madam Conway was particularly requested to excuse haste and a bad pen. + +"Disgusting creature!" was Madam Conway's exclamation as she finished +the letter, then tossing it into the fire without a passing thought, +she took up another one, which had come by the same mail, and was from +Theo herself. + +After dwelling at length upon the numerous calls she made, the parties +she attended, the compliments she received, and her curiosity to know +why her grandmother came back that day, she spoke of her recent visit +in Charlton. + +"You have been there, it seems [she wrote], so I need not +particularize, though I know how shocked and disappointed you must +have been; and I think it was kind in you to say nothing upon the +subject except that you had called there, for George reads all my +letters, and I would not have his feelings hurt. He had prepared me +in a measure for the visit, but the reality was even worse than I +anticipated. And still they are the kindest-hearted people in the +world, while Mr. Douglas is a man, they say, of excellent sense. +George never lived at home much, and their heathenish ways mortify +him, I know, though he never says a word except that they are his +parents. + +"People here respect George, too, quite as much as if he were a +Conway, and I sometimes think they like him all the better for being +so kind to his old father, who comes frequently to the store. Grandma, +I begin to think differently of some things from what I did. Birth +and blood do not make much difference, in this country, at least; and +still I must acknowledge that I should feel dreadfully if I did not +love George and know that he is the kindest husband in the world." + +The letter closed with a playful insinuation that as Henry Warner +had gone, Maggie might possibly marry Arthur Carrollton, and so make +amends for the disgrace which Theo had unwittingly brought upon the +Conway line. + +For a long time after finishing the above, Madam Conway sat wrapped in +thought. Could it be possible that all her life she had labored under +a mistake? Were birth and family rank really of no consequence? Was +George just as worthy of respect as if he had descended directly from +the Scottish race of Douglas, instead of belonging to that vulgar +woman? "It may be so in America," she sighed, "but it is not true of +England," and, sincerely hoping that Theo's remark concerning Mr. +Carrollton might prove true, she laid aside the letter, and for the +remainder of the day busied herself with preparations for the return +of Arthur Carrollton, who had written that he should be with them on +the 1st of December. + +The day came, and, unusually excited, Maggie flitted from room to +room, seeing that everything was in order, and wondering how he would +meet her and if he had forgiven her for having been so cross at their +last interview in the woods. The effect of every suitable dress in her +wardrobe was tried, and she decided at last upon a crimson and black +merino, which harmonized well with her dark eyes and hair. The dress +was singularly becoming, and feeling quite well satisfied with the +face and form reflected by her mirror she descended to the parlor, +where any doubts she might have had concerning her personal appearance +were put to flight by Anna Jeffrey, who, with a feeling of envy, asked +if she had the scarlet fever, referring to her bright color, +and saying she did not think too red a face becoming to anyone, +particularly to Margaret, to whom it gave a "blowsy" look, such as she +had more than once heard Mr. Carrollton say he did not like to see. + +Margaret knew well that the dark-browed girl would give almost +anything for the roses blooming on her cheeks; so she made no reply, +but simply wished Anna would return to England, as for the last +two months she had talked of doing. It was not quite dark, and Mr. +Carrollton, if he came that night, would be with them soon. The car +whistle had sounded some time before, and Maggie's quick ear caught at +last the noise of the bells in the distance. Nearer and nearer they +came; the sleigh was at the door, and forgetting everything but her +own happiness Maggie ran out to meet their guest, nor turned her +glowing face away when he stooped down to kiss her. He had forgiven +her ill-nature, she was certain of that, and very joyfully she led the +way to the parlor, where as the full light of the lamp fell upon him +she started involuntarily, he seemed so changed. + +"Are you sick?" she asked; and her voice expressed the deep anxiety +she felt. + +Forcing back a slight cough, and smiling down upon her, he answered +cheerfully, "Oh, no, not sick! Canada air does not agree with me, +that's all. I took a severe cold soon after my arrival in Montreal," +and the cough he had attempted to stifle now burst forth, sounding to +Maggie, who thought only of consumption, like an echo from the grave. + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" she answered sadly, and her eyes filled with +tears, which she did not try to conceal, for looking through the +window across the snow-clad field, on which the winter moon was +shining, she saw instinctively another grave beside that of her +mother. + +Madam Conway had not yet appeared, and, as Anna Jeffrey just then +left the room, Mr. Carrollton was for some moments alone with Maggie. +Winding his arm around her waist, and giving her a most expressive +look, he said, "Maggie, are those tears for me?" + +Instantly the bright blushes stole over Maggie's face and neck, for +she remembered the time when once before he had asked her a similar +question. Not now, as then, did she turn away from 'him, but she +answered frankly: "Yes, they are. You look so pale and thin, I'm sure +you must be very ill." + +Whether Mr. Carrollton liked "blowsy" complexions or not, he certainly +admired Maggie's at that moment, and drawing her closer to his side, +he said, half playfully, half earnestly: "To see you thus anxious for +me, Maggie, more than atones for your waywardness when last we parted. +You are forgiven, but you are unnecessarily alarmed. I shall be better +soon. Hillsdale air will do me good, and I intend remaining here until +I am well again. Will you nurse me, Maggie, just as my sister Helen +would do were she here?" + +The right chord was touched, and all the soft, womanly qualities +of Maggie Miller's nature were called forth by Arthur Carrollton's +failing health. For several weeks after his arrival at Hillsdale he +was a confirmed invalid, lying all day upon the sofa in the parlor, +while Maggie read to him from books which he selected, partly for the +purpose of amusing himself, and more for the sake of benefiting her +and improving her taste for literature. At other times he would tell +her of his home beyond the sea, and Maggie, listening to him while +he described its airy halls, its noble parks, its shaded walks, and +musical fountains, would sometimes wish aloud that she might one day +see that spot which seemed to her so much like paradise. He wished +so too, and oftentimes when, with half-closed eyes, his mind was +wandering amid the scenes of his youth, he saw at his side a queenly +figure with features like those of Maggie Miller, who each day was +stealing more and more into his heart, where love for other than his +nearest friends had never before found entrance. She had many faults, +he knew, but these he possessed both the will and the power to +correct, and as day after day she sat reading at his side he watched +her bright, animated face, thinking what a splendid woman she +would make, and wondering if an American rose like her would bear +transplanting to English soil. + +Very complacently Madam Conway looked on, reading aright the +admiration which Arthur Carrollton evinced for Margaret, who in turn +was far from being uninterested in him. Anna Jeffrey, too, watched +them jealously, pondering in her own mind some means by which she +could, if possible, annoy Margaret. Had she known how far matters +had gone with Henry Warner, she would unhesitatingly have told it to +Arthur Carrollton; but so quietly had the affair been managed that she +knew comparatively little. This little, however, she determined to +tell him, together with any embellishments she might see fit to use. +Accordingly, one afternoon, when he had been there two months or more, +and Maggie had gone with her grandmother to ride, she went down to the +parlor under pretense of getting a book to read. He was much better +now, but, feeling somewhat fatigued from a walk he had taken in the +yard, he was reclining upon the sofa. Leaning over the rocking-chair +which stood near by, Anna inquired for his health, and then asked how +long since he had heard from home. + +He liked to talk of England, and as there was nothing to him +particularly disagreeable in Anna Jeffrey he bade her be seated. Very +willingly she complied with his request, and, after talking a while of +England, announced her intention of returning home the last of March. +"My aunt prefers remaining with Madam Conway, but I don't like +America," said she, "and I often wonder why I am here." + +"I supposed you came to be with your aunt, who, I am told, has been to +you a second mother," answered Mr. Carrollton; and Anna replied: "You +are right. She could not be easy until she got me here, where I know I +am not wanted--at least not altogether." + +Mr. Carrollton looked inquiringly at her, and Anna continued, "I fully +supposed I was to be a companion for Margaret; but instead of that she +treats me with the utmost coolness, making me feel keenly my position +as a dependent." + +"That does not seem at all like Maggie," said Mr. Carrollton; and, +with a meaning smile far more expressive than words, Anna answered: +"She may not always be alike. But hush! don't I hear bells?" and she +ran to the window, saying as she resumed her seat: "I thought they had +come: but I was mistaken. I dare say Maggie has coaxed her grandmother +to drive by the post office, thinking there might be a letter from +Henry Warner." + +Her manner affected Mr. Carrollton perceptibly, but he made no reply; +and Anna asked if he knew Mr. Warner. + +"I saw him in Worcester, I believe," he said; and Anna continued, "Do +you think him a suitable husband for a girl like Maggie?" + +There was a deep flush on Arthur Carrollton's cheek, and his lips were +whiter than their wont as he answered, "I know nothing of him, neither +did I suppose Miss Miller ever thought of him for a husband." + +"I know she did at one time," said his tormentor, turning the leaves +of her book with well-feigned indifference. "It was not any secret, or +I should not speak of it; of course Madam Conway was greatly opposed +to it too, and forbade her writing to him; but how the matter is now I +do not positively know, though I am quite sure they are engaged." + +"Isn't it very close here? Will you please to open the hall door?" +said Mr. Carrollton suddenly, panting for breath; and, satisfied with +her work, Anna did as desired and then left him alone. + +"Maggie engaged!" he said; "engaged!--when I hoped to win her for +myself!" and a sharp pang shot through his heart as he thought of +giving to another the beautiful girl who had grown so into his love. +"But I am glad I learned it in time," he continued, hurriedly walking +the floor, "knew it ere I had done Henry Warner a wrong by telling her +of my love, and asking her to go with me to my English home, which +will be desolate without her. This is why she repulsed me in the +woods. She knew I ought not to speak of love to her. Why didn't I see +it before, or why has not Madam Conway told me the truth! She at +least has deceived me;" and with a feeling of keen disappointment he +continued to pace the floor, one moment resolving to leave Hillsdale +at once, and again thinking how impossible it was to tear himself +away. + +Arthur Carrollton was a perfectly honorable man, and once assured of +Maggie's engagement he would neither by word nor deed do aught to +which the most fastidious lover could object, and Henry Warner's +rights were as safe with him as with the truest of friends. But was +Maggie really engaged? Might there not be some mistake? He hoped so at +least, and alternating between hope and fear he waited impatiently the +return of Maggie, who, with each thought of losing her, seemed tenfold +dearer to him than she had ever been before; and when at last she came +bounding in, he could scarcely refrain from folding her in his arms +and asking of her to think again ere she gave another than himself the +right of calling her his bride. But she is not mine, he thought; and +so he merely took her cold hands within his own, rubbing them until +they were warm. Then seating himself by her side upon the sofa he +spoke of her ride, asking casually if she called at the post office. + +"No, we did not drive that way," she answered readily, adding that the +post office had few attractions for her now, as no one wrote to her +save Theo. + +She evidently spoke the truth, and with a feeling of relief Mr. +Carrollton thought that possibly Miss Jeffrey might have been +mistaken; but he would know at all hazards, even though he ran the +risk of being thought extremely rude. Accordingly, that evening, after +Mrs. Jeffrey and Anna had retired to their room, and while Madam +Conway was giving some household directions in the kitchen, he asked +her to come and sit by him as he lay upon the sofa, himself placing +her chair where the lamplight would fall full upon her face and +reveal its every expression. Closing the piano, she complied with his +request, and then waited in silence for what he wanted to say. + +"Maggie," he began, "you may think me bold, but there is something I +very much wish to know, and which you, if you choose, can tell me. +From what I have heard, I am led to think you are engaged. Will you +tell me if this is true?" + +The bright color faded from Maggie's cheek, while her eyes grew darker +than before, and still she did not speak. Not that she was angry with +him for asking her that question; but because the answer, which, if +made at all, must be yes, was hard to utter. And yet why should she +hesitate to tell him the truth at once? + +Alas, for thee, Maggie Miller! The fancied love you feel for Henry +Warner is fading fast away. Arthur Carrollton is a dangerous rival, +and even now you cannot meet the glance of his expressive eyes without +a blush! Your better judgment acknowledged his superiority to Henry +long ago, and now in your heart there is room for none save him. + +"Maggie," he said, again stretching out his hand to take the +unresisting one which lay upon her lap, "you need not make me other +answer save that so plainly written on your face. You are engaged, and +may Heaven's blessing attend both you and yours!" + +At this moment Madam Conway appeared, and fearing her inability to +control her feelings longer Maggie precipitately left the room. Going +to her chamber, she burst into a passionate fit of weeping, one moment +blaming Mr. Carrollton for having learned her secret, and the next +chiding herself for wishing to withhold from him a knowledge of her +engagement. + +"It is not that I love Henry less, I am sure," she thought; and laying +her head upon her pillow she recalled everything which had passed +between herself and her affianced husband, trying to bring back the +olden happiness with which she had listened to his words of love. But +it would not come; there was a barrier in the way--Arthur Carrollton, +as he looked when he said so sadly, "You need not tell me, Maggie." + +"Oh, I wish he had not asked me that question!" she sighed. "It has +put such dreadful thoughts into my head. And yet I love Henry as well +as ever--I know I do; I am sure of it, or if I do not, I will," and +repeating to herself again and again the words, "I will, I will," she +fell asleep. + +Will, however, is not always subservient to one's wishes, and during +the first few days succeeding the incident of that night Maggie often +found herself wishing Arthur Carrollton had never come to Hillsdale, +he made her so wretched, so unhappy. Insensibly, too, she became +a very little unamiable, speaking pettishly to her grandmother, +disrespectfully to Mrs. Jeffrey, haughtily to Anna, and rarely to Mr. +Carrollton, who after the lapse of two or three weeks began to talk of +returning home in the same vessel with Anna Jeffrey, at which time his +health would be fully restored. Then, indeed, did Maggie awake to +the reality that while her hand was plighted to one, she loved +another--not as in days gone by she had loved Henry Warner, but with a +deeper, more absorbing love. With this knowledge, too, there came the +thought that Arthur Carrollton had once loved her, and but for the +engagement now so much regretted he would ere this have told her so. +But it was too late! too late! He would never feel toward her again as +he once had felt, and bitter tears she shed as she contemplated +the fast-coming future, when Arthur Carrollton would be gone, or +shudderingly thought of the time when Henry Warner would return to +claim her promise. + +"I cannot, cannot marry him," she cried, "until I've torn that other +image from my heart!" and then for many days she strove to recall the +olden love in vain; for, planted on the sandy soil of childhood, as it +were, it had been outgrown, and would never again spring into life. "I +will write to him exactly how it is," she said at last; "will tell +him that the affection I felt for him could not have been what a wife +should feel for her husband. I was young, had seen nothing of the +world, knew nothing of gentlemen's society, and when he came with his +handsome face and winning ways my interest was awakened. Sympathy, +too, for his misfortune increased that interest, which grandma's +opposition tended in no wise to diminish. But it has died out, that +fancied love, and I cannot bring it back. Still, if he insists, I will +keep my word, and when he comes next autumn I will not tell him 'No.'" + +Maggie was very calm when this decision was reached, and opening her +writing desk she wrote just as she said she would, begging him to +forgive her if she had done him wrong, and beseeching Rose to comfort +him as only a sister like her could do. "And remember," she wrote at +the close, "remember that sooner than see you very unhappy, I will +marry you, will try to be a faithful wife; though, Henry, I would +rather not--oh, so much rather not!" + +The letter was finished, and then Maggie took it to her grandmother, +who read it eagerly, for in it she saw a fulfillment of her wishes. +Very closely had she watched both Mr. Carrollton and Maggie, readily +divining the truth that something was wrong between them. But from +past experience she deemed it wiser not to interfere directly. Mr. +Carrollton's avowed intention of returning to England, however, +startled her, and she was revolving some method of procedure when +Margaret brought to her the letter. + +"I am happier than I can well express," she said, when she had +finished reading it. "Of course you have my permission to send it. But +what has changed you, Maggie? Has another taken the place of Henry +Warner?" + +"Don't ask me, grandma," cried Maggie, covering her face with her +hands; "don't ask me, for indeed I can only tell you that I am very +unhappy." + +A little skillful questioning on Madam Conway's part sufficed to +explain the whole--how constant association with Arthur Carrollton had +won for him a place in Maggie's heart which Henry Warner had never +filled; how the knowledge that she loved him as she could love no +other one had faintly revealed itself to her on the night when he +asked if she were engaged, and had burst upon her with overwhelming +power when she heard that he was going home. + +"He will never think of me again, I know," she said; "but, with my +present feelings, I cannot marry Henry, unless he insists upon it." + +"Men seldom wish to marry a woman who says she does not love them, and +Henry Warner will not prove an exception," answered Madam Conway; and, +comforted with this assurance, Maggie folded up her letter, which was +soon on its way to Cuba. + +The next evening, as Madam Conway sat alone with Mr. Carrollton, she +spoke of his return to England, expressing her sorrow, and asking why +he did not remain with them longer. + +"I will deal frankly with you, madam," said he, "and say that if I +followed my own inclination I should stay, for Hillsdale holds for +me an attraction which no other spot possesses. I refer to your +granddaughter, who, in the little time I have known her, has grown +very dear to me--so dear that I dare not stay longer where she is, +lest I should love her too well, and rebel against yielding her to +another." + +For a moment Madam Conway hesitated; but, thinking the case demanded +her speaking, she said: "Possibly Mr. Carrollton, I can make an +explanation which will show some points in a different light from that +in which you now see them. Margaret is engaged to Henry Warner, I will +admit; but the engagement has become irksome, and yesterday she wrote +asking a release, which he will grant, of course." + +Instantly the expression of Mr. Carrollton's face was changed, and +very intently he listened while Madam Conway frankly told him the +story of Margaret's engagement up to the present time, withholding +from him nothing, not even Maggie's confession of the interest she +felt in him, an interest which had weakened her girlish attachment for +Henry Warner. + +"You have made me very happy," Mr. Carrollton said to Madam Conway, +as, at a late hour, he bade her good-night--"happier than I can well +express; for without Margaret life to me would be dreary indeed." + +The next morning, at the breakfast table, Anna Jeffrey, who was +in high spirits with the prospect of having Mr. Carrollton for a +fellow-traveler, spoke of their intended voyage, saying she could +hardly wait for the time to come, and asking if he were not equally +impatient to leave so horrid a country as America. + +"On the contrary," he replied, "I should be sorry to leave America +just yet. I have therefore decided to remain a little longer;" and his +eyes sought the face of Maggie, who, in her joyful surprise, dropped +the knife with which she was helping herself to butter; while Anna +Jeffrey, quite as much astonished, upset her coffee, exclaiming: "Not +going home! What has changed your mind?" + +Mr. Carrollton made her no direct reply, and she continued her +breakfast in no very amiable mood; while Maggie, too much overjoyed +to eat, managed ere long to find an excuse for leaving the table. Mr. +Carrollton wished to do everything honorably, and so he decided to say +nothing to Maggie of the cause of this sudden change in his plan until +Henry Warner's answer was received, as she would then feel freer to +act as she felt. His resolution, however, was more easily made than +kept, and during the succeeding weeks, by actions, if not by words, +he more than once told Maggie Miller how much she was beloved; and +Maggie, trembling with fear lest the cup of happiness just within her +grasp should be rudely dashed aside, waited impatiently for the letter +which was to set her free. But weeks went by, and Maggie's heart grew +sick with hope deferred, for there came to her no message from the +distant Cuban shore, which in another chapter we shall visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BROTHER AND SISTER. + + +Brightly shone the moonlight on the sunny isle of Cuba, dancing +lightly on the wave, resting softly on the orange groves, and stealing +gently through the casement, into the room where a young girl +lay, whiter far than the flowers strewn upon her pillow. From the +commencement of the voyage Rose had drooped, growing weaker every day, +until at last all who looked upon her felt that the home of which she +talked so much would never again be gladdened by her presence. Very +tenderly Henry Warner nursed her, bearing her often in his arms up on +the vessel's deck, where she could breathe the fresh morning air as it +came rippling o'er the sea. But neither the ocean breeze, nor yet the +fragrant breath of Florida's aromatic bowers, where for a time they +stopped, had power to rouse her; and when at last Havana was reached +she laid her weary head upon her pillow, whispering to no one of the +love which was wearing her life away. With untold anguish at their +hearts, both her aunt and Henry watched her, the latter shrinking ever +from the thought of losing one who seemed a part of his very life. + +"I cannot give you up, my Rose. I cannot live without you," he said, +when once she talked to him of death. "You are all the world to me;" +and, laying his head upon her pillow, he wept as men will sometimes +weep over their one great sorrow. + +"Don't, Henry," she said, laying her tiny hand upon his hair. "Maggie +will comfort you when I am gone. She will talk to you of me, standing +at my grave, for, Henry, you must not leave me here alone. You must +carry me home and bury me in dear old Leominster, where my childhood +was passed, and where I learned to love you so much--oh, so much!" + +There was a mournful pathos in the tone with which the last words were +uttered, but Henry Warner did not understand it, and covering the +little blue-veined hand with kisses he promised that her grave should +be made at the foot of the garden in their far-off home, where the +sunlight fell softly and the moonbeams gently shone. That evening +Henry sat alone by Rose, who had fallen into a disturbed slumber. For +a time he took no notice of the disconnected words she uttered in her +dreams, but when at last he heard the sound of his own name he drew +near, and, bending low, listened with mingled emotions of joy, sorrow, +and surprise to a secret which, waking, she would never have told +him, above all others. She loved him,--the fair girl he called his +sister,--but not as a sister loves; and now, as he stood by her, with +the knowledge thrilling every nerve, he remembered many bygone scenes, +when but for his blindness he would have seen how every pulsation of +her heart throbbed alone for him whose hand was plighted to another, +and that other no unworthy rival. Beautiful, very beautiful, was the +shadowy form which at that moment seemed standing at his side, and +his heart went out towards her as the one above all others to be his +bride. + +"Had I known it sooner," he thought, "known it before I met the +peerless Maggie, I might have taken Rose to my bosom and loved her--it +may be with a deeper love than that I feel for Maggie Miller, for Rose +is everything to me. She has made and keeps me what I am, and how can +I let her die when I have the power to save her?" + +There was a movement upon the pillow. Rose was waking, and as her soft +blue eyes unclosed and looked up in his face he wound his arms around +her, kissing her lips as never before he had kissed her. She was +not his sister now--the veil was torn away--a new feeling had been +awakened, and as days and weeks went by there gradually crept in +between him and Maggie Miller a new love--even a love for the +fair-haired Rose, to whom he was kinder, if possible, than he had been +before, though he seldom kissed her lips or caressed her in any way. + +"It would be wrong," he said, "a wrong to myself--a wrong to her--and +a wrong to Maggie Miller, to whom my troth is plighted;" and he did +not wish it otherwise, he thought; though insensibly there came over +him a wish that Maggie herself might weary of the engagement and seek +to break it. Not that he loved her the less, he reasoned, but that he +pitied Rose the more. + +In this manner time passed on, until at last there came to him +Maggie's letter, which had been a long time on the sea. + +"I expected it," he thought, as he finished reading it, and though +conscious for a moment of a feeling of disappointment the letter +brought him far more pleasure than pain. + +Of Arthur Carrollton no mention had been made, but he readily guessed +the truth; and thinking, "It is well," he laid the letter aside and +went back to Rose, deciding to say nothing to her then. He would wait +until his own feelings were more perfectly defined. So a week went by, +and again, as he had often done before, he sat with her alone in the +quiet night, watching her as she slept, and thinking how beautiful +she was, with her golden hair shading her childish face, her long +eyelashes resting on her cheek, and her little hands folded meekly +upon her bosom. + +"She is too beautiful to die," he murmured, pressing a kiss upon her +lips. + +This act awoke her, and, turning towards him she said, "Was I +dreaming, Henry, or did you kiss me as you used to do?" + +"Not dreaming, Rose," he answered--then rather hurriedly he added: "I +have a letter from Maggie Miller, and ere I answer it I would read it +to you. Can you hear it now?" + +"Yes, yes," she whispered faintly; "read it to me, Henry;" and, +turning her face away, she listened while he read that Maggie Miller, +grown weary of her troth, asked a release from her engagement. + +He finished reading, and then waited in silence to hear what Rose +would say. But for a time she did not speak. All hope for herself had +long since died away, and now she experienced only sorrow for Henry's +disappointment. + +"My poor brother," she said at last, turning her face towards him and +taking his hand in hers; "I am sorry for you--to lose us both, Maggie +and me. What will you do?" + +"Rose," he said, bending so low that his brown locks mingled with the +yellow tresses of her hair--"Rose, I do not regret Maggie Miller's +decision, neither do I blame her for it. She is a noble, true-hearted +girl, and so long as I live I shall esteem her highly; but I too have +changed--have learned to love another. Will you sanction this new +love, dear Rose? Will you say that it is right?" + +The white lids closed over the eyes of blue, but they could not keep +back the tears which rolled down her face, as she asked somewhat +sadly, "Who is it, Henry?" + +There was another moment of silence, and then he whispered in her ear: +"People call her Rose; I once called her sister; but my heart now +claims her for something nearer. My Rose," he continued, "shall it be? +Will you live for my sake? Will you be my wife?" + +The shock was too sudden--too great; and neither on that night, nor +yet the succeeding day, had Rose the power to answer. But as the dew +of heaven is to the parched and dying flower, so were these words of +love to her, imparting at once new life and strength, making her as it +were another creature. The question asked that night so unexpectedly +was answered at last; and then with almost perfect happiness at her +heart, she too added a few lines to the letter which Henry sent to +Maggie Miller, over whose pathway, hitherto so bright, a fearful +shadow was falling. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE PEDDLER. + + +It was a rainy April day--a day which precluded all outdoor exercise, +and Hagar Warren, from the window of her lonely cabin, watched in vain +for the coming of Maggie Miller. It was now more than a week since she +had been there, for both Arthur Carrollton and herself had accompanied +the disappointed Anna Jeffrey to New York, going with her on board +the vessel which was to take her from a country she affected so to +dislike. + +"I dare say you'll be Maggie somebody else ere I meet you again," she +said to Maggie, at parting, and Mr. Carrollton, on the journey home, +found it hard to keep from asking her if for the "somebody else" she +would substitute his name, and so be "Maggie Carrollton." + +This, however, he did not do; but his attentions were so marked, and +his manner towards her so affectionate, that ere Hillsdale was reached +there was in Maggie's mind no longer a doubt as to the nature of his +feelings toward her. Arrived at home, he kept her constantly at +his side, while Hagar, who was suffering from a slight attack of +rheumatism, and could not go up to the stone house, waited and +watched, thinking herself almost willing to be teased for the secret, +if she could once more hear the sound of Maggie's voice. The secret, +however, had been forgotten in the exciting scenes through which +Maggie had passed since first she learned of its existence; and it was +now a long time since she had mentioned it to Hagar, who each day grew +more and more determined never to reveal it. + +"My life is almost ended," she thought, "and the secret shall go with +me to my grave. Margaret will be happier without it, and it shall not +be revealed." + +Thus she reasoned on that rainy afternoon, when she sat waiting for +Maggie, who, she heard, had returned the day before. Slowly the hours +dragged on, and the night shadows fell at last upon the forest +trees, creeping into the corners of Hagar's room, resting upon the +hearthstone, falling upon the window pane, creeping up the wall, and +affecting Hagar with a nameless fear of some impending evil. This fear +not even the flickering flame of the lamp, which she lighted at last +and placed upon the mantel, was able to dispel, for the shadows grew +darker, folding themselves around her heart, until she covered her +eyes with her hands, lest some goblin shape should spring into life +before her. + +The sound of the gate latch was heard, and footsteps were approaching +the door--not the bounding step of Maggie, but a tramping tread, +followed by a heavy knock, and next moment a tall, heavy-built man +appeared before her, asking shelter for the night. The pack he carried +showed him at once to be a peddler, and upon a nearer view Hagar +recognized in him a stranger who, years before, had craved her +hospitality. He had been civil to her then; she did not fear him now, +and she consented to his remaining, thinking his presence there might +dispel the mysterious terror hanging around her. But few words passed +between them that night, for Martin, as he called himself, was tired, +and after partaking of the supper that she prepared he retired to +rest. The next morning, however, he was more talkative, kindly +enlightening her with regard to his business, his family, and his +place of residence, which last he said was in Meriden, Conn. + +It was a long time since Hagar had heard that name, and now, turning +quickly towards him, she said, "Meriden? That is where my Hester +lived, and where her husband died." + +"I want to know!" returned the Yankee peddler. "What might have been +his name?" + +"Hamilton--Nathan Hamilton. Did you know him? He died nineteen years +ago this coming summer." + +"Egzactly!" ejaculated the peddler, setting down his pack and himself +taking a chair, preparatory to a long talk. "Egzactly; I knowed him +like a book. Old Squire Hampleton, the biggest man in Meriden, and you +don't say his last wife, that tall, handsome gal, was your darter?" + +"Yes, she was my daughter," answered Hagar, her whole face glowing +with the interest she felt in talking for the first time in her life +with one who had known her daughter's husband, Maggie's father. "You +knew her. You have seen her?" she continued; and Martin answered, +"Seen her a hundred times, I'll bet. Anyhow, I sold her the weddin' +gown; and now, I think on't, she favored you. She was a likely person, +and I allus thought that proud sister of his'n, the Widder Warner, +might have been in better business than takin' them children away as +she did, because he married his hired gal. But it's as well for them, +I s'pose, particularly for the boy, who is one of the fust young men +in Wooster now. Keeps a big store!" + +"Warner, Warner!" interrupted old Hagar, the nameless terror of the +night before creeping again into her heart. "Whose name did you say +was Warner?" + +"The hull on 'em, boy, girl, and all, is called Warner now--one Rose, +and t'other Henry," answered the peddler, perfectly delighted with the +interest manifested by his auditor, who, grasping at the bedpost and +moving her hand rapidly before her eyes, as if to clear away a mist +which had settled there, continued, "I remember now, Hester told me of +the children; but one, she said, was a stepchild--that was the boy, +wasn't it?" and her wild, black eyes had in them a look of unutterable +anxiety, wholly incomprehensible to the peddler, who, instead of +answering her question said: "What ails you woman? Your face is as +white as a piece of paper?" + +"Thinking of Hester always affects me so," she answered; and +stretching her hands beseechingly towards him, she entreated him to +say if Henry were not the stepchild. + +"No marm, he warn't," answered the peddler, who, like a great many +talkative people, pretended to know more than he really did, and who +in this particular instance was certainly mistaken. "I can tell you +egzactly how that is: Henry was the son of Mr. Hampleton's first +marriage--Henry Hampleton. The second wife, the one your darter lived +with, was the Widder Warner, and had a little gal, Rose, when she +married Mr. Hampleton. This Widder Warner's husband's brother married +Mr. Hampleton's sister, the woman who took the children, and had Henry +change his name to Warner. The Hampletons and Warners were mighty +big-feelin' folks, and the old squire's match mortified 'em +dreadfully." + +"Where are they now?" gasped Hagar, hoping there might be some +mistake. + +"There you've got me!" answered Martin. "I haven't seen 'em this +dozen year; but the last I heard, Miss Warner and Rose was livin' in +Leominster, and Henry was in a big store in Wooster. But what the +plague is the matter?" he continued, alarmed at the expression of +Hagar's face, as well as at the strangeness of her manner. + +Wringing her hands as if she would wrench her fingers from their +sockets, she clutched at her long white hair, and, rocking to and fro, +moaned, "Woe is me, and woe the day when I was born!" + +From everyone save her grandmother Margaret had kept the knowledge of +her changed feelings towards Henry Warner; and looking upon a marriage +between the two as an event surely to be expected, old Hagar was +overwhelmed with grief and fear. Falling at last upon her knees, she +cried: "Had you cut my throat from ear to ear, old man, you could not +have hurt me more! Oh, that I had died years and years ago! But I must +live now--live!" she screamed, springing to her feet--"live to prevent +the wrong my own wickedness has caused!" + +Perfectly astonished at what he saw and heard, the peddler attempted +to question her, but failing to obtain any satisfactory answers he +finally left, mentally pronouncing her "as crazy as a loon." This +opinion was confirmed by the people on whom he next called, for, +chancing to speak of Hagar, he was told that nothing which she did or +said was considered strange, as she had been called insane for years. +This satisfied Martin, who made no further mention of her, and +thus the scandal which his story might otherwise have produced was +prevented. + +In the meantime on her face lay old Hagar, moaning bitterly. "My sin +has found me out; and just when I thought it never need be known! For +myself I do not care; but Maggie, Maggie--how can I tell her that she +is bone of my bone, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh--and me old +Hagar Warren!" + +It would be impossible to describe the scorn and intense loathing +concentrated in the tones of Hagar's voice as she uttered these last +words, "and me old Hagar Warren!" Had she indeed been the veriest +wretch on earth, she could not have hated herself more than she did in +that hour of her humiliation, when, with a loud voice, she cried, "Let +me die, oh, let me die, and it will never be known!" Then, as she +reflected upon the terrible consequence which would ensue were she to +die and make no sign, she wrung her hands despairingly, crying: "Life, +life--yes, give me life to tell her of my guilt; and then it will be +a blessed rest to die. Oh, Margaret, my precious child, I'd give my +heart's blood, drop by drop, to save you; but it can't be; you must +not wed your father's son; oh, Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!" + +Fainter and fainter grew each succeeding word, and when the last was +spoken she fell again upon her face, unconscious and forgetful of her +woe. Higher and higher in the heavens rose the morning sun, stealing +across the window sill, and shining aslant the floor, where Hagar +still lay in a deep, deathlike swoon. An hour passed on, and then the +wretched woman came slowly back to life, her eyes lighting up with +joy, as she whispered, "It was a dream, thank Heaven, 'twas a dream!" +and then growing dim with tears, as the dread reality came over her. +The first fearful burst of grief was passed, for Hagar now could weep, +and tears did her good, quelling the feverish agony at her heart. Not +for herself did she suffer so much as for Maggie, trembling for the +effect the telling of the secret would have on her. For it must be +told. She knew that full well, and as the sun fast neared the western +horizon, she murmured, "Oh, will she come to-night, will she come +to-night?" + +Yes, Hagar, she will. Even now her feet, which, when they backward +turn, will tread less joyously, are threading the woodland path. The +halfway rock is reached--nearer and nearer she comes--her shadow +falls across the floor--her hand is on your arm--her voice in your +ear--Maggie Miller is at your side--Heaven help you both! + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE TELLING OF THE SECRET. + + +"Hagar! Hagar!" exclaimed Maggie, playfully bounding to her side, and +laying her hand upon her arm. "What aileth thee, Hagar?" + +The words were meet, for never Hagar in the desert, thirsting for the +gushing fountain, suffered more than did she who sat with covered face +and made no word of answer. Maggie was unusually happy that day, for +but a few hours before she had received Henry's letter making her +free--free to love Arthur Carrollton, who she well knew only waited a +favorable opportunity to tell her of his love; so with a heart full of +happiness she had stolen away to visit Hagar, reproaching herself as +she came for having neglected her so long. "But I'll make amends by +telling her what I'm sure she must have guessed," she thought, as she +entered the cottage, where, to her surprise, she found her weeping. +Thinking the old woman's distress might possibly be occasioned by her +neglect, she spoke again. "Are you crying for me, Hagar?" + +"Yes, Maggie Miller, for you--for you!" answered Hagar, lifting up a +face so ghastly white that Maggie started back in some alarm. + +"Poor Hagar, you are ill," she said, and advancing nearer she wound +her arms around the trembling form, and, pillowing the snowy head upon +her bosom, continued soothingly: "I did not mean to stay away long. I +will not do it again, but I am so happy, Hagar, so happy that I half +forgot myself." + +For a moment Hagar let her head repose upon the bosom of her child, +then murmuring softly, "It will never lie there again," she arose, +and, confronting Maggie, said, "Is it love which makes you so happy?" + +"Yes, Hagar, love," answered Margaret, the deep blushes stealing over +her glowing face. + +"And is it your intention to marry the man you love?" continued Hagar, +thinking only of Henry Warner, while Margaret, thinking only of Arthur +Carrollton, replied, "If he will marry me, I shall most surely marry +him." + +"It is enough. I must tell her," whispered Hagar; while Maggie asked, +"Tell me what?" + +For a moment the wild eyes fastened themselves upon her with a look +of yearning anguish, and then Hagar answered slowly, "Tell you what +you've often wished to know--my secret!" the last word dropping from +her lips more like a warning hiss than like a human sound. It was long +since Maggie had teased for the secret, so absorbed had she been in +other matters, but now that there was a prospect of knowing it +her curiosity was reawakened, and while her eyes glistened with +expectation, she said, "Yes, tell it to me, Hagar, and then I'll tell +you mine;" and all over her beautiful face there shone a joyous +light as she thought how Hagar, who had once pronounced Henry Warner +unworthy, would rejoice in her new love. + +"Not here, Maggie--not here in this room can I tell you," said old +Hagar; "but out in the open air, where my breath will come more +freely;" and, leading the way, she hobbled to the mossy bank where +Maggie had sat with Arthur Carrollton on the morning of his departure +for Montreal. + +Here she sat down, while Maggie threw herself upon the damp ground at +her feet, her face lighted with eager curiosity and her lustrous eyes +bright as stars with excitement. For a moment Hagar bent forward, and, +folding her hands one above the other, laid them upon the head of the +young girl as if to gather strength for what she was to say. But all +in vain; for when she essayed to speak her tongue clave to the roof of +her mouth, and her lips gave forth unmeaning sounds. + +"It must be something terrible to affect her so," thought Maggie, and, +taking the bony hands between her own, she said, "I would not tell it, +Hagar; I do not wish to hear." + +The voice aroused the half-fainting woman, and, withdrawing her hand +from Maggie's grasp, she replied, "Turn away your face, Margaret +Miller, so I cannot see the hatred settling over it, when I tell you +what I must." + +"Certainly; my back if you prefer it," answered Maggie, half +playfully; and turning round she leaned her head against the feeble +knees of Hagar. + +"Maggie, Maggie," began the poor old woman, lingering long and +lovingly over that dear name, "nineteen years ago, next December, I +took upon my soul the secret sin which has worn my life away, but I +did it for the love I had for you. Oh, Margaret, believe it, for the +love I had for you, more than for my own ambition;" and the long +fingers slid nervously over the bands of shining hair just within her +reach. + +At the touch of those fingers, Maggie shuddered involuntarily. There +was a vague, undefined terror stealing over her, and, impatient to +know the worst, she said, "Go on, tell me what you did." + +"I can't--I can't--and yet I must!" cried Hagar. "You were a beautiful +baby, Maggie, and the other one was sickly, pinched, and blue. I +had you both in my room the night after Hester died; and the +devil--Maggie, do you know how the devil will creep into the heart, +and whisper, whisper till the brain is all on fire? This thing he did +to me, Maggie, nineteen years ago, he whispered--whispered dreadful +things, and his whisperings were of you!" + +"Horrible, Hagar!" exclaimed Maggie. "Leave the devil, and tell me of +yourself." + +"That's it," answered Hagar. "If I had but left him then, this hour +would never have come to me; but I listened, and when he told me that +a handsome, healthy child would be more acceptable to the Conways than +a weakly, fretful one--when he said that Hagar Warren's grandchild had +far better be a lady than a drudge--that no one would ever know it, +for none had noticed either--I did it, Maggie Miller; I took you from +the pine-board cradle where you lay--I dressed you in the other baby's +clothes--I laid you on her pillow--I wrapped her in your coarse white +frock--I said that she was mine, and Margaret--oh, Heaven! can't you +see it? Don't you know that I, the shriveled, skinny hag who tells you +this, am your own grandmother!" + +There was no need for Maggie Miller to answer that appeal. The words +had burned into her soul--scorching her very life-blood, and maddening +her brain. It was a fearful blow--crushing her at once. She saw it +all, understood it all, and knew there was no hope. The family pride +at which she had often laughed was strong within her, and could not at +once be rooted out. All the fond household memories, though desecrated +and trampled down, were not so soon to be forgotten. She could not own +that half-crazed woman for her grandmother! As Hagar talked Maggie had +risen, and now, tall, and erect as the mountain ash which grew on her +native hills, she stood before Hagar, every vestige of color faded +from her face, her eyes dark as midnight and glowing like coals of +living fire, while her hands, locked despairingly together, moved +slowly towards Hagar, as if to thrust her aside. + +"Oh, speak again!" she said, "but not the dreadful words you said to +me just now. Tell me they are false--say that my father perished in +the storm, that my mother was she who held me on her bosom when she +died--that I--oh, Hagar, I am not--I will not be the creature you say +I am! Speak to me," she continued; "tell me; is it true?" and in her +voice there was not the olden sound. + +Hoarse--hollow--full of reproachful anguish it seemed; and, bowing her +head in very shame, old Hagar made her answer: "Would to Heaven 'twere +not true--but it is--it is! Kill me, Maggie," she continued, "strike +me dead, if you will, but take your eyes away! You must not look thus +at me, a heartbroken wretch." + +But not of Hagar Warren was Maggie thinking then. The past, the +present, and the future were all embodied in her thoughts. She had +been an intruder all her life; had ruled with a high hand people on +whom she had no claim, and who, had they known her parentage, would +have spurned her from them. Theo, whom she had held in her arms so +oft, calling her sister and loving her as such, was hers no longer; +nor yet the fond woman who had cherished her so tenderly--neither was +hers; and in fancy she saw the look of scorn upon that woman's face +when she should hear the tale, for it must be told--and she must tell +it, too. She would not be an impostor; and then there flashed upon her +the agonizing thought, before which all else seemed as naught--in the +proud heart of Arthur Carrollton was there a place for Hagar Warren's +grandchild? "No, no, no!" she moaned; and the next moment she lay at +Hagar's feet, white, rigid, and insensible. + +"She's dead!" cried Hagar; and for one brief instant she hoped that it +was so. + +But not then and there was Margaret to die; and slowly she came back +to life, shrinking from the touch of Hagar's hand when she felt it on +her brow. + +"There may be some mistake," she whispered; but Hagar answered, "There +is none"; at the same time relating so minutely the particulars of the +deception that Maggie was convinced, and, covering her face with her +hands, sobbed aloud, while Hagar, sitting by in silence, was nerving +herself to tell the rest. + +The sun had set, and the twilight shadows were stealing down upon +them, when, creeping abjectly upon her knees towards the wretched +girl, she said, "There is more, Maggie, more--I have not told you +all." + +But Maggie had heard enough, and, exerting all her strength, she +sprang to her feet, while Hagar clutched eagerly at her dress, which +was wrested from her grasp, as Maggie fled away--away--she knew not, +cared not, whither, so that she were beyond the reach of the trembling +voice which called after her to return. Alone in the deep woods, with +the darkness falling around her, she gave way to the mighty sorrow +which had come so suddenly upon her. She could not doubt what she had +heard. She knew that it was true, and as proof after proof crowded +upon her, until the chain of evidence was complete, she laid her head +upon the rain-wet grass, and shudderingly stopped her ears, to shut +out, if possible, the memory of the dreadful words, "I, the shriveled, +skinny hag who tells you this, am your own grandmother." For a long +time she lay there thus, weeping till the fountain of her tears seemed +dry; then, weary, faint, and sick, she started for her home. Opening +cautiously the outer door, she was gliding up the stairs when Madam +Conway, entering the hall with a lamp, discovered her, and uttered +an exclamation of surprise at the strangeness of her appearance. Her +dress, bedraggled and wet, was torn in several places by the briery +bushes she had passed; her hair, loosened from its confinement, hung +down her back, while her face was so white and ghastly that Madam +Conway in much alarm followed her up the stairs, asking what had +happened. + +"Something dreadful came to me in the woods," said Maggie; "but I +can't tell you to-night. To-morrow I shall be better--or dead--oh, I +wish I could be dead--before you hate me so, dear grand--No, I didn't +mean that--you aint; forgive me, do;" and sinking to the floor she +kissed the very hem of Madam Conway's dress. + +Unable to understand what she meant, Madam Conway divested her of her +damp clothing, and, placing her in bed, sat down beside her, saying +gently, "Can you tell me now what frightened you?" + +A faint cry was Maggie's only answer, and taking the lady's hand +she laid it upon her forehead, where the drops of perspiration were +standing thickly. All night long Madam Conway sat by her, going once +to communicate with Arthur Carrollton, who, anxious and alarmed, came +often to the door, asking if she slept. She did sleep at last--a +fitful feverish sleep; but ever at the sound of Mr. Carrollton's voice +a spasm of pain distorted her features, and a low moan came from her +lips. Maggie had been terribly excited, and when next morning she +awoke she was parched with burning fever, while her mind at intervals +seemed wandering; and ere two days passed she was raving with +delirium, brought on, the physician said, by some sudden shock, the +nature of which no one could even guess. + +For three weeks she hovered between life and death, whispering oft +of the horrid shape which had met her in the woods, robbing her of +happiness and life. Winding her feeble arms around Madam Conway's +neck, she would beg of her most piteously not to cast her off--not to +send her away from the only home she had ever known--"For I couldn't +help it," she would say. "I didn't know it, and I've loved you all so +much--so much! Say, grandma, may I call you grandma all the same? Will +you love poor Maggie a little?" and Madam Conway, listening to words +whose meaning she could not fathom, would answer by laying the aching +head upon her bosom, and trying to soothe the excited girl. Theo, too, +was summoned home, but at her Maggie at first refused to look, and, +covering her eyes with her hand, she whispered scornfully, "Pinched, +and blue, and pale; that's the very look. I couldn't see it when I +called you sister." + +Then her mood would change, and motioning Theo to her side she would +say to her, "Kiss me once, Theo, just as you used to do when I was +Maggie Miller." + +Towards Arthur Carrollton she from the first manifested fear, +shuddering whenever he approached her, and still exhibiting signs of +uneasiness if he left her sight. "He hates me," she said, "hates me +for what I could not help;" and when, as he often did, he came to her +bedside, speaking words of love, she would answer mournfully: "Don't, +Mr. Carrollton; your pride is stronger than your love. You will hate +me when you know all." + +Thus two weeks went by, and then with the first May day reason +returned again, bringing life and strength to the invalid, and joy to +those who had so anxiously watched over her. Almost her first rational +question was for Hagar, asking if she had been there. + +"She is confined to her bed with inflammatory rheumatism," answered +Madam Conway; "but she inquires for you every day, they say; and once +when told you could not live she started to crawl on her hands and +knees to see you, but fainted near the gate, and was carried back." + +"Poor old woman!" murmured Maggie, the tears rolling down her cheeks, +as she thought how strong must be the love that half-crazed creature +bore her, and how little it was returned, for every feeling of her +nature revolted from claiming a near relationship with one whom she +had hitherto regarded as a servant. The secret, too, seemed harder to +divulge, and day by day she put it off, saying to them when they asked +what had so much affected her that she could not tell them yet--she +must wait till she was stronger. + +So Theo went back to Worcester as mystified as ever, and Maggie was +left much alone with Arthur Carrollton, who strove in various ways to +win her from the melancholy into which she had fallen. All day long +she would sit by the open window, seemingly immovable, her large eyes, +now intensely black, fixed upon vacancy, and her white face giving no +sign of the fierce struggle within, save when Madam Conway, coming to +her side, would lay her hand caressingly on her in token of sympathy. +Then, indeed, her lips would quiver, and turning her head away, she +would say, "Don't touch me--don't!" + +To Arthur Carrollton she would listen with apparent composure, though +often as he talked her long, tapering nails left their impress in her +flesh, so hard she strove to seem indifferent. Once when they were +left together alone he drew her to his side, and bending very low, +so that his lips almost touched her marble cheek, he told her of his +love, and how full of anguish had been his heart when he thought that +she would die. + +"But God kindly gave you back to me," he said; "and now, my precious +Margaret, will you be my wife? Will you go with me to my English home, +from which I have tarried now too long because I would not leave you? +Will Maggie answer me?" and he folded her lovingly in his arms. + +Oh, how could she tell him No, when every fiber of her heart thrilled +with the answer Yes. She mistook him--mistook the character of Arthur +Carrollton, for, though pride was strong within him, he loved the +beautiful girl who lay trembling in his arms better than he loved his +pride; and had she told him then who and what she was, he would +not have deemed it a disgrace to love a child of Hagar Warren. But +Margaret did not know him, and when he said again, "Will Maggie answer +me?" there came from her lips a piteous, wailing cry, and turning her +face away she answered mournfully: "No, Mr. Carrollton, no, I cannot +be your wife. It breaks my heart to tell you so; but if you knew what +I know, you would never have spoken to me words of love. You would +have rather thrust me from you, for indeed I am unworthy." + +"Don't you love me, Maggie?" Mr. Carrollton said, and in the tones of +his voice there was so much tenderness that Maggie burst into tears, +and, involuntarily resting her head upon his bosom, answered sadly: "I +love you so much, Arthur Carrollton, that I would die a hundred deaths +could that make me worthy of you, as not long ago I thought I was. But +it cannot be. Something terrible has come between us." + +"Tell me what it is. Let me share your sorrow," he said; but Maggie +only answered: "Not yet, not yet! Let me live where you are a little +longer. Then I will tell you all, and go away forever." + +This was all the satisfaction he could obtain; but after a time she +promised that if he would not mention the subject to her until the +first of June, she would then tell him everything; and satisfied +with a promise which he knew would be kept, Mr. Carrollton waited +impatiently for the appointed time, while Maggie, too, counted each +sun as it rose and set, bringing nearer and nearer a trial she so much +dreaded. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RESULT. + + +Two days only remained ere the first of June, and in the solitude of +her chamber Maggie was weeping bitterly. "How can I tell them who I +am?" she thought. "How bear their pitying scorn, when they learn that +she whom they call Maggie Miller has no right to that name?--that +Hagar Warren's blood is flowing in her veins?--and Madam Conway thinks +so much of that! Oh, why was Hagar left to do me this great wrong? why +did she take me from the pine-board cradle where she says I lay, and +make me what I was not born to be?" and, falling on her knees, the +wretched girl prayed that it might prove a dream from which she would +ere long awake. + +Alas for thee, poor Maggie Miller! It is not a dream, but a stern +reality; and you who oft have spurned at birth and family, why +murmur now when both are taken from you? Are you not still the +same,--beautiful,--accomplished, and refined,--and can you ask for +more? Strange that theory and practice so seldom should accord. And +yet it was not the degradation which Maggie felt so keenly, it was +rather the loss of love she feared; without that the blood of royalty +could not avail to make her happy. + +Maggie was a warm-hearted girl, and she loved the stately lady she had +been wont to call her grandmother with a filial, clinging love which +could not be severed, and still this love was naught compared to what +she felt for Arthur Carrollton, and the giving up of him was the +hardest part of all. But it must be done, she thought; he had told her +once that were she Hagar Warren's grandchild he should not be riding +with her--how much less, then, would he make that child his wife! and +rather than meet the look of proud disdain on his face when first she +stood confessed before him, she resolved to go away where no one had +ever heard of her or Hagar Warren. She would leave behind a letter +telling why she went, and commending to Madam Conway's care poor +Hagar, who had been sorely punished for her sin. "But whither shall I +go, and what shall I do when I get there?" she cried, trembling at +the thoughts of a world of which she knew so little. Then, as she +remembered how many young girls of her age went out as teachers, she +determined to go at all events. "It will be better than staying here +where I have no claim," she thought; and, nerving herself for the +task, she sat down to write the letter which, on the first of June, +should tell to Madam Conway and Arthur Carrollton the story of her +birth. + +It was a harder task than she supposed, the writing that farewell, for +it seemed like severing every hallowed tie. Three times she wrote "My +dear grandma," then with a throb of anguish she dashed her pen across +the revered name, and wrote simply "Madam Conway." It was a rambling, +impassioned letter, full of tender love--of hope destroyed--of deep +despair--and though it shadowed forth no expectation that Madam Conway +or Mr. Carrollton would ever take her to their hearts again, it begged +of them most touchingly to think sometimes of "Maggie" when she was +gone forever. Hagar was then commended to Madam Conway's forgiveness +and care. "She is old," wrote Maggie, "her life is nearly ended, and +if you have in your heart one feeling of pity for her who used to call +you grandma, bestow it, I pray you, on poor old Hagar Warren." + +The letter was finished, and then suddenly remembering Hagar's words, +that "all had not been told," and feeling it her duty to see once more +the woman who had brought her so much sorrow, Maggie stole cautiously +from the house, and was soon walking down the woodland road, slowly, +sadly, for the world had changed to her since last she trod that path. +Maggie, too, was changed, and when at last she stood before Hagar, who +was now able to sit up, the latter could scarcely recognize in the +pale, haggard woman the blooming, merry-hearted girl once known as +Maggie Miller. + +"Margaret!" she cried, "you have come again--come to forgive your poor +old grand--No, no," she added, as she saw the look of pain flash over +Maggie's face, "I'll never insult you with that name. Only say that +you forgive me, will you, Miss Margaret?" and the trembling voice was +choked with sobs, while the aged form shook as with a palsied stroke. + +Hagar had been ill. Exposure to the damp air on that memorable night +had brought on a second severe attack of rheumatism, which had bent +her nearly double. Anxiety for Margaret, too, had wasted her to a +skeleton, and her thin, sharp face, now of a corpse-like pallor, +contrasted strangely with her eyes, from which the wildness all was +gone. Touched with pity, Maggie drew a chair to her side, and thus +replied: "I do forgive you, Hagar, for I know that what you did was +done in love; but by telling me what you have you've ruined all my +hopes of happiness. In the new scenes to which I go, and the new +associations I shall form, I may become contented with my lot, but +never can I forget that I once was Maggie Miller." + +"Magaret," gasped Hagar, and in her dim eye there was something of its +olden fire, "if by new associations you mean Henry Warner, it must not +be. Alas, that I should tell this! but Henry is your brother--your +father's only son. Oh, horror! horror!" and dreading what Margaret +would say, she covered her face with her cramped, distorted hands. + +But Margaret was not so much affected as Hagar had anticipated. She +had suffered severely, and could not now be greatly moved. There was +an involuntary shudder as she thought of her escape, and then her next +feeling was one of satisfaction in knowing that she was not quite +friendless and alone, for Henry would protect her, and Rose, indeed, +would be to her a sister. + +"Henry Warner my brother!" she exclaimed; "how came you by this +knowledge?" And very briefly Hagar explained to her what she knew, +saying that Hester had told her of two young children, but she had +forgotten entirely of their existence, and now that she was reminded +of it she could not help fancying that Hester said the stepchild was a +boy. But the peddler knew, of course, and she must have forgotten. + +"When the baby they thought was you died," said Hagar, "I wrote to the +minister in Meriden, telling him of it, but I did not sign my name, +and I thought that was the last I should ever hear of it. Why don't +you curse me?" she continued. "Haven't I taken from you your intended +husband, as well as your name?" + +Maggie understood perfectly now why the secret had been revealed, and +involuntarily she exclaimed, "Oh, had I told you first, this never +need have been!" and then hurriedly she explained to the repentant +Hagar how at the very moment when the dread confession was made she, +Maggie Miller, was free from Henry Warner. + +From the window Maggie saw in the distance the servant who had charge +of Hagar, and, dreading the presence of a third person, she arose to +go. Offering her hand to Hagar, she said: "Good-by. I may never see +you again, but if I do not, remember that I forgive you freely." + +"You are not going away, Maggie. Oh, are you going away!" and the +crippled arms were stretched imploringly towards Maggie, who answered: +"Yes, Hagar, I must go. Honor requires me to tell Madam Conway who +I am, and after that you know that I can not stay. I shall go to my +brother." + +Three times old Hagar essayed to speak, and at last between a whisper +and a moan, she found strength to say: "Will you kiss me once, Maggie +darling? 'Twill be something to remember, in the lonesome nights when +I am all alone. Just once, Maggie! Will you?" + +Maggie could not refuse, and gliding to the bowed woman's side she put +back the soft hair from off the wrinkled brow, and left there token of +her forgiveness. + + * * * * * + +The last May sun had set, and ere the first June morning rose Maggie +Miller would be nowhere found in the home her presence had made so +bright. Alone, with no eye upon her save that of the Most High, she +had visited the two graves, and, while her heart was bleeding at every +pore, had wept her last adieu over the sleeping dust so long held +sacred as her mother's. Then kneeling at the other grave, she +murmured, "Forgive me, Hester Hamilton, if in this parting hour my +heart clings most to her whose memory I was first taught to revere; +and if in the better world you know and love each other--oh, will both +bless and pity me, poor, wretched Maggie Miller!" + +Softly the night air moved through the pine that overshadowed the +humble grave, while the moonlight, flashing from the tall marble, +which stood a sentinel over the other mound, bathed Maggie's upturned +face as with a flood of glory, and her throbbing heart grew still as +if indeed at that hushed moment the two mothers had come to bless +their child. The parting with the dead was over, and Margaret sat +again in her room, waiting until all was still about the old stone +house. She did not add to her letter another line telling of her +discovery, for she did not think of it; her mind was too intent upon +escaping unobserved; and when sure the family had retired she moved +cautiously down the stairs, noiselessly unlocked the door, and without +once daring to look back, lest she should waver in her purpose, she +went forth, heartbroken and alone, from what for eighteen happy years +had been her home. Very rapidly she proceeded, coming at last to an +open field through which the railroad ran, the depot being nearly a +quarter of a mile away. Not until then had she reflected that her +appearance at the station at that hour of the night would excite +suspicion, and she was beginning to feel uneasy, when suddenly around +a curve the cars appeared in view. Fearing lest she should be too +late, she quickened her footsteps, when to her great surprise she +saw that the train was stopping! But not for her they waited; in the +bright moonlight the engineer had discovered a body lying across +the track, and had stopped in time to save the life of a man, who, +stupefied with drunkenness, had fallen asleep. The movement startled +the passengers, many of whom alighted and gathered around the +inebriate. + +In the meantime Margaret had come near, and, knowing she could not +now reach the depot in time, she mingled unobserved in the crowd, and +entering the rear car, took her seat near the door. The train at last +moved on, and as at the station no one save the agent was in waiting, +it is not strange that the conductor passed unheeded the veiled figure +which in the dark corner sat ready to pay her fare. + +"He will come to me by and by," thought Maggie, but he did not, and +when Worcester was reached the fare was still uncollected. Bewildered +and uncertain what to do next, she stepped upon the platform, deciding +finally to remain at the depot until morning, when a train would leave +for Leominster, where she confidently expected to find her brother. +Taking a seat in the ladies' room, she abandoned herself to her +sorrow, wondering what Theo would say could she see her then. But +Theo, though dreaming it may be of Maggie, dreamed not that she was +near, and so the night wore on, Margaret sleeping towards daylight, +and dreaming, too, of Arthur Carrollton, who she thought had followed +her--nay, was bending over her now and whispering in her ear, "Wake, +Maggie, wake." + +Starting up, she glanced anxiously around, uttering a faint cry when +she saw that it was not Arthur Carrollton, but a dark, rough-looking +stranger, who rather rudely asked her where she wished to go. + +"To Leominster," she answered, turning her face fully towards the man, +who became instantly respectful, telling her when the train would +leave, and saying that she must go to another depot, at the same time +asking if she had not better wait at some hotel. + +But Maggie preferred going at once to the Fitchburg depot, which she +accordingly did, and drawing her veil over her face, lest some one of +her few acquaintances in the city should recognize her, she sat there +until the time appointed for the cars to leave. Then, weary and faint, +she entered the train, her spirits in a measure rising as she felt +that she was drawing near to those who would love her for what she was +and not for what she had been. Rose would comfort her, and already her +heart bounded with the thought of seeing one whom she believed to be +her brother's wife, for Henry had written that ere his homeward voyage +was made Rose would be his bride. + +Ah, Maggie! there is for you a greater happiness in store--not a +brother, but a sister--your father's child is there to greet your +coming. And even at this early hour her snow-white fingers are +arranging the fair June blossoms into bouquets, with which she adorns +her home, saying to him who hovers at her side that somebody, she +knows not whom, is surely coming to-day; and then, with a blush +stealing over her cheek, she adds, "I wish it might be Margaret"; +while Henry, with a peculiar twist of his comical mouth, winds his arm +around her waist, and playfully responds, "Anyone save her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE SISTERS. + + +On a cool piazza overlooking a handsome flower garden the breakfast +table was tastefully arranged. It was Rose's idea to have it there, +and in her cambric wrapper, her golden curls combed smoothly back, and +her blue eyes shining with the light of a new joy, she occupies her +accustomed seat beside one who for several happy weeks has called her +his, loving her more and more each day, and wondering how thoughts of +any other could ever have filled his heart. There was much to be done +about his home, so long deserted, and as Rose was determined upon a +trip to the seaside he had made arrangements to be absent from +his business for two months or more, and was now enjoying all the +happiness of a quiet, domestic life, free from care of any kind. He +had heard of Maggie's illness, but she was better now, he supposed, +and when Theo hinted vaguely that a marriage between her and Arthur +Carrollton was not at all improbable, he hoped it would be so, for the +Englishman, he knew, was far better adapted to Margaret than he +had ever been. Of Theo's hints he was speaking to Rose as they sat +together at breakfast, and she had answered, "It will be a splendid +match," when the doorbell rang, and the servant announced, "A lady in +the parlor, who asks for Mr. Warner." + +"I told you someone would come," said Rose. "Do, pray, see who it is. +How does she look, Janet?" + +"Tall, white as a ghost, with big black eyes," was Janet's answer; +and, with his curiosity awakened, Henry Warner started for the parlor, +Rose following on tiptoe, and listening through the half-closed door +to what their visitor might say. + +Margaret had experienced no difficulty in finding the house of Mrs. +Warner, which seemed to her a second Paradise, so beautiful and cool +it looked, nestled amid the tall, green forest trees. Everything +around it betokened the fine taste of its occupants, and Maggie, as +she reflected that she too was nearly connected with this family, felt +her wounded pride in a measure soothed, for it was surely no disgrace +to claim such people as her friends. With a beating heart she rang the +bell, asking for Mr. Warner, and now, trembling in every limb, she +awaited his coming. He was not prepared to meet her, and at first he +did not know her, she was so changed; but when, throwing aside her +bonnet, she turned her face so that the light from the window opposite +shone fully upon her, he recognized her in a moment, and exclaimed, +"Margaret--Margaret Miller! why are you here?" + +The words reached Rose's ear, and darting forward she stood within +the door, just as Margaret, staggering a step or two towards Henry, +answered passionately, "I have come to tell you what I myself but +recently have learned"; and wringing her hands despairingly, she +continued, "I am not Maggie Miller, I am not anybody; I am Hagar +Warren's grandchild, the child of her daughter and your own father! +Oh, Henry, don't you see it? I am your sister. Take me as such, will +you? Love me as such, or I shall surely die. I have nobody now in the +wide world but you. They are all gone, all--Madam Conway, Theo too, +and--and--" She could not speak that name. It died upon her lips, and +tottering to a chair she would have fallen had not Henry caught her in +his arms. + +Leading her to the sofa, while Rose, perfectly confounded, still stood +within the door, he said to the half-crazed girl: "Margaret, I do not +understand you. I never had a sister, and my father died when I was +six months old. There must be some mistake. Will you tell me what you +mean?" + +Bewildered and perplexed, Margaret began a hasty repetition of Hagar's +story, but ere it was three-fourths told there came from the open door +a wild cry of delight, and quick as lightning a fairy form flew across +the floor, white arms were twined round Maggie's neck, kiss after kiss +was pressed upon her lips, and Rose's voice was in her ear, never +before half so sweet as now, when it murmured soft and low to the +weary girl: "My sister Maggie--mine you are--the child of my own +father, for I was Rose Hamilton, called Warner, first to please my +aunt, and next to please my Henry. Oh, Maggie darling, I am so happy +now!" and the little snowy hands smoothed caressingly the bands of +hair, so unlike her own fair waving tresses. + +It was, indeed, a time of almost perfect bliss to them all, and for +a moment Margaret forgot her pain, which, had Hagar known the truth, +need not have come to her. But she scarcely regretted it now, when she +felt Rose Warner's heart throbbing against her own, and knew their +father was the same. + +"You are tired," Rose said, at length, when much had been said by +both. "You must have rest, and then I will bring to you my aunt, our +aunt, Maggie--our father's sister. She has been a mother to me. +She will be one to you. But stay," she continued, "you have had no +breakfast. I will bring you some," and she tripped lightly from the +room. + +Maggie followed her with swimming eyes, then turning to Henry she +said, "You are very happy, I am sure." + +"Yes, very," he answered, coming to her side. "Happy in my wife, happy +in my newly found sister," and he laid his hand on hers with something +of his former familiarity. + +But the olden feeling was gone, and Maggie could now meet his glance +without a blush, while he could talk with her as calmly as if she +had never been aught to him save the sister of his wife. Thus often +changeth the human heart's first love. + +After a time Rose returned, bearing a silver tray heaped with the most +tempting viands: but Maggie's heart was too full to eat, and after +drinking a cup of the fragrant black tea, which Rose herself had made, +she laid her head upon the pillow which Henry brought, and, with Rose +sitting by, holding lovingly her hand, she fell into a quiet slumber. +For several hours she slept, and when she awoke at last the sun was +shining in at the western window, casting over the floor a glimmering +light, and reminding her so forcibly of the dancing shadows on the +grass which grew around the old stone house that her eyes filled with +tears, and, thinking herself alone, she murmured, "Will it never be my +home again?" + +A sudden movement, the rustling of a dress, startled her, and lifting +up her head she saw standing near a pleasant-looking, middle-aged +woman, who, she rightly guessed, was Mrs. Warner, her own aunt. + +"Maggie," the lady said, laying her hand on the fevered brow, "I have +heard a strange tale to-day. Heretofore I had supposed Rose to be my +only child, but though you take me by surprise you are not the less +welcome. There is room in my heart for you, Maggie Miller, room for +the youngest-born of my only brother. You are somewhat like him, too," +she continued, "though more like your mother;" and with the mention of +that name a flush stole over the lady's face, for she, too, was very +proud, and her brother's marriage with a servant girl had never been +quite forgiven. + +Mrs. Warner had seen much of the world, and Maggie knew her to be a +woman of refinement, a woman of whom even Madam Conway would not be +ashamed; and, winding her arms around her neck, she said impulsively, +"I am glad you are my aunt; and you will love me, I am sure, even if I +am poor Hagar's grandchild." + +Mrs. Warner knew nothing of Hagar save from Henry's amusing +description, the entire truth of which she somewhat doubted; but she +knew that whatever Hagar Warren might be, the beautiful girl before +her was not answerable for it, and very kindly she tried to soothe +her, telling her how happy they would be together. "Rose will leave me +in the autumn," she said, "and without you I should be all alone." Of +Hagar, too, she spoke kindly and considerately, and Maggie, listening +to her, felt somewhat reconciled to the fate which had made her what +she was. Still, there was much of pride to overcome ere she could +calmly think of herself as other than Madam Conway's grandchild; and +when that afternoon, as Henry and Rose were sitting with her, the +latter spoke of her mother, saying she had a faint remembrance of a +tall, handsome girl who sang her to sleep on the night when her own +mother died, there came a visible shadow over Maggie's face, and +instantly changing the conversation she asked why Henry had never told +her anything definite concerning himself and family. + +For a moment Henry seemed embarrassed. Both the Hamiltons and the +Warners were very aristocratic in their feelings, and by mutual +consent the name of Hester Warren was by them seldom spoken. +Consequently, if there existed a reason for Henry's silence with +regard to his own and Rose's history, it was that he disliked bringing +up a subject he had been taught to avoid, both by his aunt and the +mother of Mr. Hamilton, who for several years after her son's death +had lived with her daughter in Leominster, where she finally died. +This, however, he could not say to Margaret, and after a little +hesitancy he answered laughingly, "You never asked me for any +particulars; and, then, you know, I was more agreeably occupied than I +should have been had I spent my time in enlightening you with regard +to our genealogy"; and the saucy mouth smiled archly, first on +Rose, and then on Margaret, both of whom blushed slightly, the one +suspecting he had not told her the whole truth, and the other knowing +he had not. + +Very considerate was Rose of Maggie's feelings and not again that +afternoon did she speak of Hester, though she talked much of their +father; and Margaret, listening to his praises, felt herself +insensibly drawn towards this new claimant for her filial love. "I +wish I could have seen him," she said; and, starting to her feet, Rose +answered: "Strange I did not think of it before. We have his portrait. +Come this way," and she led the half-unwilling Maggie into an +adjoining room, where from the wall a portly, good-humored-looking man +gazed down upon the sisters, his eyes seeming to rest with mournful +tenderness on the face of her whom in life they had not looked upon. +He seemed older than Maggie had supposed, and the hair upon his head +was white, reminding her of Hagar. But she did not for this turn away +from him. There was something pleasing in the mild expression of his +face, and she whispered faintly, "'Tis my father." + +On the right of this portrait was another, the picture of a woman, in +whose curling lip and soft brown eyes Maggie recognized the mother of +Henry. To the left was another still, and she gazed upon the angel +face, with eyes of violet blue, and hair of golden brown, on which the +fading sunlight now was falling, encircling it as it were with a halo +of glory. + +"You are much like her," she said to Rose, who made no answer, for she +was thinking of another picture, which years before had been banished +to the garret by her haughty grandmother, as unworthy a place beside +him who had petted and caressed the young girl of plebeian birth and +kindred. + +"I can make amends for it, though," thought Rose, returning with +Maggie to the parlor. Then, seeking out her husband, she held with him +a whispered consultation, the result of which was that on the morrow +there was a rummaging in the garret, an absence from home for an +hour or two, and when about noon she returned there was a pleased +expression on her face, as if she had accomplished her purpose, +whatever it might have been. + +All that morning Maggie had been restless and uneasy, wandering +listlessly from room to room, looking anxiously down the street, +starting nervously at the sound of every footstep, while her cheeks +alternately flushed and then grew pale as the day passed on. Dinner +being over she sat alone in the parlor, her eyes fixed upon the +carpet, and her thoughts away with one who she vaguely hoped would +have followed her ere this. True, she had added no postscript to tell +him of her new discovery; but Hagar knew, and he would go to her for a +confirmation of the letter. She would tell him where Maggie was +gone, and he, if his love could survive that shock, would follow her +thither; nay, would be there that very day, and Maggie's heart grew +wearier, fainter, as time wore on and he did not come. "I might have +known it," she whispered sadly. "I knew that he would nevermore think +of me," and she wept silently over her ruined love. + +"Maggie, sister," came to her ear, and Rose was at her side. "I have a +surprise for you, darling. Can you bear it now?" + +Oh, how eagerly poor Maggie Miller looked up in Rose's face! The car +whistle had sounded half an hour before. Could it be that he had come? +Was he there? Did he love her still? No, Maggie, no; the surprise +awaiting you is of a far different nature, and the tears flow afresh +when Rose, in reply to the question "What is it, darling?" answers, +"It is this," at the same time placing in Maggie's hand an ambrotype +which she bade her examine. With a feeling of keen disappointment +Maggie opened the casing, involuntarily shutting her eyes as if to +gather strength for what she was to see. + +It was a young face--a handsome face--a face much like her own, while +in the curve of the upper lip and the expression of the large black +eyes there was a look like Hagar Warren. They had met together thus, +the one a living reality, the other a semblance of the dead, and she +who held that picture trembled violently. There was a fierce struggle +within, the wildly beating heart throbbing for one moment with a +newborn love, and then rebelling against taking that shadow, beautiful +though it was, in place of her whose memory she had so long revered. + +"Who is it, Maggie?" Rose asked, leaning over her shoulder. + +Maggie knew full well whose face it was she looked upon, but not yet +could she speak that name so interwoven with memories of another, and +she answered mournfully, "It is Hester Hamilton." + +"Yes, Margaret, your mother," said Rose. "I never called her by that +name, but I respect her for your sake. She was my father's pet, so +it has been said, for he was comparatively old, and she his young +girl-wife." + +"Where did you get this?" Maggie asked; and, coloring crimson, Rose +replied, "We have always had her portrait, but grandmother, who was +very old and foolishly proud about some things, was offended at our +father's last marriage, and when after his death the portraits were +brought here, she--Forgive her, Maggie--she did not know you, or she +would not have done it--" + +"I know," interrupted Maggie. "She despised this Hester Warren, and +consigned her portrait to some spot from which you have brought it and +had this taken from it." + +"Not despised her!" cried Rose, in great distress, as she saw a dark +expression stealing over the face of Maggie, in whose heart a chord of +sympathy had been struck when she thought of her mother banished from +her father's side. "Grandma could not despise her," continued Rose; +"she was so good, so beautiful." + +"Yes, she was beautiful," murmured Maggie, gazing earnestly upon the +fair, round face, the soft, black eyes, and raven hair of her who for +years had slept beneath the shadow of the Hillsdale woods. "Oh, I wish +I were dead like her!" she exclaimed at last, closing the ambrotype +and laying it upon the table. "I wish I was lying in that little grave +in the place of her who should have borne my name, and been what I +once was;" and bowing her face upon her hands she wept bitterly, while +Rose tried in vain to comfort her. "I am not sorry you are my sister," +sobbed Margaret through her tears. "That's the only comfort I have +left me now; but, Rose, I love Arthur Carrollton so much--oh, so much, +and how can I give him up!" + +"If he is the noble, true-hearted man he looks to be, he will not give +you up," answered Rose, and then for the first time since this meeting +she questioned Margaret concerning Mr. Carrollton and the relations +existing between them. "He will not cast you off," she said, when +Margaret had told her all she had to tell. "He may be proud, but he +will cling to you still. He will follow you, too--not to-day, perhaps, +nor to-morrow, but ere long he will surely come;" and, listening to +her sister's cheering words, Maggie herself grew hopeful, and that +evening talked animatedly with Henry and Rose of a trip to the seaside +that they were intending to make. "You will go, too, Maggie," said +Rose, caressing her sister's pale cheek, and whispering in her ear, +"Aunt Susan will be here to tell Mr. Carrollton where you are, if he +does not come before we go, which I am sure he will." + +Maggie tried to think so too, and her sleep that night was sweeter +than it had been before for many weeks--but the next day came, and the +next, and Maggie's eyes grew dim with watching and with tears, for up +and down the road, as far as she could see, there came no trace of him +for whom she waited. + +"I might have known it; it was foolish of me to think otherwise," she +sighed; and, turning sadly from the window where all the afternoon she +had been sitting, she laid her head wearily upon the lap of Rose. + +"Maggie," said Henry, "I am going to Worcester to-morrow, and perhaps +George can tell me something of Mr. Carrollton." + +For a moment Maggie's heart throbbed with delight at the thought of +hearing from him, even though she heard that he would leave her. But +anon her pride rose strong within her. She had told Hagar twice of +her destination, Hagar had told him, and if he chose he would have +followed her ere this; so somewhat bitterly she said: "Don't speak to +George of me. Don't tell him I am here. Promise me, will you?" + +The promise was given, and the next morning, which was Saturday, Henry +started for Worcester on the early train. The day seemed long to +Maggie, and when at nightfall he came to them again it was difficult +to tell which was the more pleased at his return, Margaret or Rose. + +"Did you see Theo?" asked the former; and Henry replied: "George told +me she had gone to Hillsdale. Madam Conway is very sick." + +"For me! for me! She's sick with mourning for me!" cried Maggie. +"Darling grandma! she does love me still, and I will go home to her at +once." + +Then the painful thought rushed over her: "If she wished for me, she +would send. It's the humiliation, not the love, that makes her sick. +They have cast me off--grandma, Theo, all, all!" and, sinking upon the +lounge, she wept aloud. + +"Margaret," said Henry, coming to her side, "but for my promise +I should have talked to George of you, for there was a troubled +expression on his face when he asked me if I had heard from +Hillsdale." + +"What did you say?" asked Maggie, holding her breath to catch the +answer, which was, "I told him you had not written to me since my +return from Cuba, and then he looked as if he would say more, but a +customer called him away, and our conversation was not resumed." + +For a moment Maggie was silent. Then she said: "I am glad you did not +intrude me upon him. If Theo has gone to Hillsdale, she knows that +I am here, and does not care to follow me. It is the disgrace that +troubles them, not the losing me!" and again burying her head in the +cushions of the lounge, she wept bitterly. It was useless for Henry +and Rose to try to comfort her, telling her it was possible that Hagar +had told nothing. "And if so," said Henry, "you well know that I am +the last one to whom you would be expected to flee for protection." +Margaret would not listen. She was resolved upon being unhappy, and +during the long hours of that night she tossed wakefully upon her +pillow, and when the morning came she was too weak to rise; so she +kept her room, listening to the music of the Sabbath bells, which to +her seemed sadly saying, "Home, home." "Alas! I have no home," she +said, turning away to weep, for in the tolling of those bells there +came to her no voice whispering of the darkness, the desolation, and +the sorrow that were in the home for which she so much mourned. + +Thus the day wore on, and ere another week was gone Rose insisted upon +a speedy removal to the seashore, notwithstanding it was so early in +the season, for by this means she hoped that Maggie's health would be +improved. Accordingly, Henry went once more to Worcester, ostensibly +for money, but really to see if George Douglas now would speak to him +of Margaret. But George was in New York, they said; and, somewhat +disappointed, Henry went back to Leominster, where everything was +in readiness for their journey. Monday was fixed upon for their +departure, and at an early hour Margaret looked back on what had +been to her a second home, smiling faintly as Rose whispered to her +cheerily, "I have a strong presentiment that somewhere in our travels +we shall meet with Arthur Carrollton." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE HOUSE OF MOURNING. + + +Come now over the hills to the westward. Come to the Hillsdale woods, +to the stone house by the mill, where all the day long there is heard +but one name, the servants breathing it softly and low, as if she who +had borne it were dead, the sister, dim-eyed now, and paler faced, +whispering it oft to herself, while the lady, so haughty and proud, +repeats it again and again, shuddering as naught but the echoing walls +reply to the heartbroken cry of, "Margaret, Margaret, where are you +now?" + +Yes, there was mourning in that household--mourning for the lost one, +the darling, the pet of them all. + +Brightly had the sun arisen on that June morning which brought to them +their sorrow, while the birds in the tall forest trees caroled as +gayly as if no storm-cloud were hovering near. At an early hour Mr. +Carrollton had arisen, thinking, as he looked forth from his window, +"She will tell me all to-day," and smiling as he thought how easy and +pleasant would be the task of winning her back to her olden gayety. +Madam Conway, too, was unusually excited, and very anxiously she +listened for the first sound of Maggie's footsteps on the stairs. + +"She sleeps late," she thought, when breakfast was announced, and +taking her accustomed seat she bade a servant see if Margaret were +ill. + +"She is not there," was the report the girl brought back. + +"Not there!" cried Mr. Carrollton. + +"Not there!" repeated Madam Conway, a shadowy foreboding of evil +stealing over her. "She seldom walks at this early hour," she +continued; and, rising, she went herself to Margaret's room. + +Everything was in perfect order, the bed was undisturbed, the chamber +empty; Margaret was gone, and on the dressing-table lay the fatal +letter telling why she went. At first Madam Conway did not see it; but +it soon caught her eye, and tremblingly she opened it, reading but the +first line, "I am going away forever." + +Then a loud shriek rang through the silent room, penetrating to Arthur +Carrollton's listening ear, and bringing him at once to her side. With +the letter still in her hand, and her face of a deathly hue, and her +eyes flashing with fear, Madam Conway turned to him as he entered, +saying, "Margaret has gone, left us forever--killed herself it may be! +Read!" And she handed him the letter, herself bending eagerly forward +to hear what he might say. + +But she listened in vain. With lightning rapidity Arthur Carrollton +read what Maggie had written--read that she, his idol, the chosen +bride of his bosom, was the daughter of a servant, the grandchild of +old Hagar! And for this she had fled from his presence, fled because +she knew of the mighty pride which now, in the first bitter moment +of his agony, did indeed rise up, a barrier between himself and the +beautiful girl he loved so well. Had she lain dead before him, dead +in all her youthful beauty, he could have folded her in his arms, and +then buried her from his sight, with a feeling of perfect happiness +compared to that which he now felt. + +"Oh, Maggie, my lost one, can it be!" he whispered to himself, and +pressing his hand upon his chest, which heaved with strong emotion, he +staggered to a seat, while the perspiration stood in beaded drops upon +his forehead and around his lips. + +"What is it, Mr. Carrollton? 'Tis something dreadful, sure," said Mrs. +Jeffrey, appearing in the door, but Madam Conway motioned her away, +and, tottering to his side, said, "Read it to me--read." + +The Sound of her voice recalled his wandering mind, and covering his +face with his hands he moaned in anguish; then, growing suddenly calm, +he snatched up the letter, which had fallen to the floor, and read it +aloud; while Madam Conway, stupefied with horror, sank at his feet, +and clasping her hands above her head, rocked to and fro, but made no +word of comment. Far down the long ago her thoughts were straying, and +gathering up many bygone scenes which told her that what she heard was +true. + +"Yes, 'tis true," she groaned; and then, powerless to speak another +word, she laid her head upon a chair, while Mr. Carrollton, preferring +to be alone, sought the solitude of his own room, where unobserved +he could wrestle with his sorrow and conquer his inborn pride, which +whispered to him that a Carrollton must not wed a bride so far beneath +him. + +Only a moment, though, and then the love he bore for Maggie Miller +rolled back upon him with an overwhelming power, while his better +judgment, with that love, came hand in hand, pleading for the fair +young girl, who, now that he had lost her, seemed a thousandfold +dearer than before. But he had not lost her; he would find her. She +was Maggie Miller still to him, and though old Hagar's blood were in +her veins he would not give her up. This resolution once made, it +could not be shaken, and when half an hour or more was passed he +walked with firm, unfaltering footsteps back to the apartment where +Madam Conway still sat upon the floor, her head resting upon the +chair, and her frame convulsed with grief. + +Her struggle had been a terrible one, and it was not over yet, for +with her it was more than a matter of pride and love. Her daughter's +rights had been set at naught; a wrong had been done to the dead; the +child who slept beneath the pine had been neglected; nay, in life, had +been, perhaps, despised for an intruder, for one who had no right to +call her grandmother; and shudderingly she cried, "Why was it suffered +thus to be?" Then as she thought of white-haired Hagar Warren, she +raised her hand to curse her, but the words died on her lips, for +Hagar's deed had brought to her much joy; and now, as she remembered +the bounding step, the merry laugh, the sunny face, and loving words +which had made her later years so happy, she involuntarily stretched +out her arms in empty air, moaning sadly: "I want her here. I want +her now, just as she used to be." Then, over the grave of her buried +daughter, over the grave of the sickly child, whose thin, blue face +came up before her just as it lay in its humble coffin, over the +deception of eighteen years, her heart bounded with one wild, yearning +throb, for every bleeding fiber clung with a deathlike grasp to her +who had been so suddenly taken from her. "I love her still!" she +cried; "but can I take her back?" And then commenced the fiercest +struggle of all, the battling of love and pride, the one rebelling +against the child of Hagar Warren, and the other clamoring loudly that +without that child the world to her was nothing. It was the hour of +Madam Conway's humiliation, and in bitterness of spirit she groaned: +"That I should come to this! Theo first, and Margaret, my bright, my +beautiful Margaret, next! Oh, how can I give her up when I loved her +best of all--best of all!" + +This was true, for all the deeper, stronger love of Madam Conway's +nature had gone forth to the merry, gleeful girl whose graceful, +independent bearing she had so often likened to herself and the +haughty race with which she claimed relationship. How was this +illusion dispelled! Margaret was not a Conway, nor yet a Davenport. A +servant-girl had been her mother, and of her father there was nothing +known. Madam Conway was one who seldom wept for grief. She had stood +calmly at the bedside of her dying husband, had buried her only +daughter from her sight, had met with many reverses, and shed for +all no tears, but now they fell like rain upon her face, burning, +blistering as they fell, but bringing no relief. + +"I shall miss her in the morning," she cried, "miss her at noon, +miss her in the lonesome nights, miss her everywhere--oh, Margaret, +Margaret, 'tis more than I can bear! Come back to me now, just as you +are. I want you here--here where the pain is hardest," and she clasped +her arms tightly over her heaving bosom. Then her pride returned +again, and with it came thoughts of Arthur Carrollton. He would scoff +at her as weak and sentimental; he would never take beyond the sea a +bride of "Hagarish" birth; and duty demanded that she too should be +firm, and sanction his decision. "But when he's gone," she whispered, +"when he has left America behind, I'll find her, if my life is spared. +I'll find poor Margaret, and see that she does not want, though I must +not take her back." + +This resolution, however, did not bring her comfort, and the hands +pressed so convulsively upon her side could not ease her pain. Surely +never before had so dark an hour infolded that haughty woman, and a +prayer that she might die was trembling on her lips when a footfall +echoed along the hall, and Arthur Carrollton stood before her. His +face was very pale, bearing marks of the storm he had passed through; +but he was calm, and his voice was natural as he said: "Possibly what +we have heard is false. It may be a vagary of Hagar's half-crazed +brain." + +For an instant Madam Conway had hoped so too; but when she reflected, +she knew that it was true. Old Hagar had been very minute in her +explanations to Margaret, who in turn had written exactly what she had +heard, and Madam Conway, when she recalled the past, could have no +doubt that it was true. She remembered everything, but more distinctly +the change of dress at the time of the baptism. There could be no +mistake. Margaret was not hers, and so she said to Arthur Carrollton, +turning her head away as if she too were in some way answerable for +the disgrace. + +"It matters not," he replied, "whose she has been. She is mine now, +and if you feel able we will consult together as to the surest method +of finding her." A sudden faintness came over Madam Conway, and, while +the expression of her face changed to one of joyful surprise, she +stammered out: "Can it be I hear aright? Do I understand you? Are you +willing to take poor Maggie back?" + +"I certainly have no other intention," he answered. "There was a +moment, the memory of which makes me ashamed, when my pride rebelled; +but it is over now, and though Maggie cannot in reality be again your +child, she can be my wife, and I must find her." + +"You make me so happy--oh, so happy!" said Madam Conway. "I feared you +would cast her off, and in that case it would have been my duty to do +so too, though I never loved a human being as at this moment I love +her." + +Mr. Carrollton looked as if he did not fully comprehend the woman who, +loving Margaret as she said she did, could yet be so dependent upon +his decision; but he made no comment, and when next he spoke he +announced his intention of calling upon Hagar, who possibly could +tell him where Margaret had gone. "At all events," said he, "I may +ascertain why the secret, so long kept, was at this late day divulged. +It may be well," he continued, "to say nothing to the servants as yet, +save that Maggie has gone. Mrs. Jeffrey, however, had better be let +into the secret at once. We can trust her, I think." + +Madam Conway bowed, and Mr. Carrollton left the room, starting +immediately for the cottage by the mine. As he approached the house he +saw the servant who for several weeks had been staying there, and who +now came out to meet him, telling him that since the night before +Hagar had been raving crazy, talking continually of Maggie, who, she +said, had gone where none would ever find her. + +In some anxiety Mr. Carrollton pressed on, until the cottage door was +reached, where for a moment he stood gazing silently upon the poor +woman before him. Upon the bed, her white hair falling over her round, +bent shoulders, and her large eyes shining with delirious light, old +Hagar sat, waving back and forth, and talking of Margaret, of Hester, +and "the little foolish child," who, with a sneer upon her lip, she +said, "was a fair specimen of the Conway race." + +"Hagar," said Mr. Carrollton; and at the sound of that voice Hagar +turned toward him her flashing eyes, then with a scream buried her +head in the bedclothes, saying: "Go away, Arthur Carrollton! Why are +you here? Don't you know who I am? Don't you know what Margaret is, +and don't you know how proud you are?" + +"Hagar," he said again, subduing, by a strong effort, the repugnance +he felt at questioning her, "I know all, except where Margaret has +gone, and if on this point you can give me any information, I shall +receive it most thankfully." + +"Gone!" shrieked Hagar, starting up in bed; "then she has gone. The +play is played out, the performance is ended--and I have sinned for +nothing!" + +"Hagar, will you tell me where Maggie is? I wish to follow her," said +Mr. Carrollton; and Hagar answered: "Maggie, Maggie--he said that +lovingly enough, but there's a catch somewhere. He does not wish to +follow her for any good--and though I know where she has gone I'll +surely never tell. I kept one secret nineteen years. I can keep +another as long"; and, folding her arms upon her chest, she commenced +singing, "I know full well, but I'll never tell." + +Biting his lips with vexation, Mr. Carrollton tried first by +persuasion, then by flattery, and lastly by threats, to obtain from +her the desired information, but in vain. Her only answer was, "I know +full well, but I'll never tell," save once, when tossing towards him +her long white hair, she shrieked: "Don't you see a resemblance--only +hers is black--and so was mine nineteen years ago--and so was Hester's +too--glossy and black as the raven's wing. The child is like the +mother--the mother was like the grandmother, and the grandmother is +like--me, Hagar Warren. Do you understand?" + +Mr. Carrollton made no answer, and with a feeling of disappointment +walked away, shuddering as he thought, "And she is Margaret's +grandmother." + +He found Madam Conway in hysterics on Margaret's bed, for she had +refused to leave the room, saying she would die there, or nowhere. +Gradually the reality of her loss had burst upon her, and now, +gasping, choking, and wringing her hands, she lay upon the pillows, +while Mrs. Jeffrey, worked up to a pitch of great nervous excitement, +fidgeted hither and thither, doing always the wrong thing, fanning the +lady when she did not wish to be fanned, and ceasing to fan her just +when she was "dying for want of air." + +As yet Mrs. Jeffrey knew nothing definite, except that something +dreadful had happened to Margaret; but very candidly Mr. Carrollton +told her all, bidding her keep silent on the subject; then, turning to +Madam Conway, he repeated to her the result of his call on old Hagar. + +"The wretch!" gasped Madam Conway, while Mrs. Jeffrey, running in her +fright from the window to the door, and from the door back to the +window again, exclaimed: "Margaret not a Conway, nor yet a Davenport, +after all! It is just what I expected. I always knew she came honestly +by those low-bred ways!" + +"Jeffrey," and the voice of the hysterical woman on the bed was +loud and distinct, as she grasped the arm of the terrified little +governess, who chanced to be within her reach. "Jeffrey, either leave +my house at once, or speak more deferentially of Miss Miller. You +will call her by that name, too. It matters not to Mr. Carrollton and +myself whose child she has been. She is ours now, and must be treated +with respect. Do you understand me?" + +"Yes, ma'am," meekly answered Jeffrey, rubbing her dumpy arm, which +bore the mark of a thumb and finger, and as her services were not just +then required she glided from the room to drown, if possible, her +grievance in the leather-bound London edition of Baxter! + +Meanwhile Madam Conway was consulting with Mr. Carrollton as to the +best mode of finding Margaret. "She took the cars, of course," said +Mr. Carrollton, adding that he should go at once to the depot and +ascertain which way she went. "If I do not return to-night you need +not be alarmed," he said, as he was leaving the room, whereupon Madam +Conway called him back, bidding him telegraph for Theo at once, as she +must have someone with her besides that vexatious Jeffrey. + +Mr. Carrollton promised compliance with her request, and then went +immediately to the depot, where he learned that no one had entered the +cars from that place on the previous night, and that Maggie, if she +took the train at all, must have done so at some other station. This +was not unlikely, and before the day was passed Mr. Carrollton had +visited several different stations, and had talked with the conductors +of the several trains, but all to no purpose; and, very much +disheartened, he returned at nightfall to the old stone house, where +to his surprise he found both Theo and her husband. The telegram had +done its mission, and feeling anxious to know the worst George had +come up with Theo to spend the night. It was the first time that Madam +Conway had seen him since her memorable encounter with his mother, +for though Theo had more than once been home, he had never before +accompanied her, and now when Madam Conway heard his voice in the hall +below she groaned afresh. The sight of his good-humored face, however, +and his kind offer to do whatever he could to find the fugitive, +restored her composure in a measure, and she partially forgot that he +was in any way connected with the blue umbrella, or the blue umbrella +connected with him! Never in her life had Theo felt very deeply upon +any subject, and now, though she seemed bewildered at what she heard, +she manifested no particular emotion, until her grandmother, wringing +her hands, exclaimed, "You have no sister now, my child, and I no +Margaret!" Then, indeed, her tears flowed, and when her husband +whispered to her, "We will love poor Maggie all the same," she cried +aloud, but not quite as demonstratively as Madam Conway wished; and, +in a very unamiable frame of mind, the old lady accused her of being +selfish and hard-hearted. + +At this stage of proceedings Mr. Carrollton returned, bringing no +tidings of Maggie, whereupon another fit of hysterics ensued, and as +Theo behaved much worse than Mrs. Jeffrey had done, the latter was +finally summoned again to the sickroom, and at last succeeded in +quieting the excited woman. The next morning George Douglas visited +old Hagar, but he too was unsuccessful, and that afternoon he returned +to Worcester, leaving Theo with her grandmother, who, though finding +fault with whatever she did, refused to let her go until Margaret was +found. + +During the remainder of the week Mr. Carrollton rode through the +country, making the most minute inquiries, and receiving always the +same discouraging answer. Once he thought to advertise, but from +making the affair thus public he instinctively shrank, and, resolving +to spare neither his time, his money, nor his health, he pursued his +weary way alone. Once, too, Madam Conway spoke of Henry Warner, saying +it was possible Maggie might have gone to him, as she had thought so +much of Rose; but Mr. Carrollton "knew better." A discarded lover, +he said, was the last person in the world to whom a young girl like +Margaret would go, particularly as Theo had said that Henry was now +the husband of another. + +Still the suggestion haunted him, and on the Monday following Henry +Warner's first visit to Worcester, he, too, went down to talk with Mr. +Douglas, asking him if it were possible that Maggie was in Leominster. + +"I know she is not," said George, repeating the particulars of his +interview with Henry, who, he said, was at the store on Saturday. +"Once I thought of telling him all," said he, "and then, considering +the relation which formerly existed between them, I concluded to keep +silent, especially as he manifested no desire to speak of her, +but appeared, I fancied, quite uneasy when I casually mentioned +Hillsdale." + +Thus was that matter decided, and while not many miles away Maggie +was watching hopelessly for the coming of Arthur Carrollton, he, with +George Douglas, was devising the best means for finding her, George +generously offering to assist in the search, and suggesting finally +that he should himself go to New York City, while Mr. Carrollton +explored Boston and its vicinity. It seemed quite probable that +Margaret would seek some of the large cities, as in her letter she +had said she could earn her livelihood by teaching music; and quite +hopeful of success, the young men parted, Mr. Carrollton going +immediately to Boston, while Mr. Douglas, after a day or two, started +for New York, whither, as the reader will remember, he had gone at the +time of Henry's last visit to Worcester. + +Here for a time we leave them, Hagar raving mad, Madam Conway in +strong hysterics, Theo wishing herself anywhere but at Hillsdale, Mrs. +Jeffrey ditto, George Douglas threading the crowded streets of the +noisy city, and Mr. Carrollton in Boston, growing paler and sadder as +day after day passed by, bringing him no trace of the lost one. Here, +I say, we leave them, while in another chapter we follow the footsteps +of her for whom this search was made. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +NIAGARA. + + +From the seaside to the mountains, from the mountains to Saratoga, +from Saratoga to Montreal, from Montreal to the Thousand Isles, +and thence they scarce knew where, the travelers wended their way, +stopping not long at any place, for Margaret was ever seeking change. +Greatly had she been admired, her pale, beautiful face attracting +attention at once; but from all flattery she turned away, saying to +Henry and Rose, "Let us go on." + +So onward still they went, pausing longest at Montreal, for it was +there Arthur Carrollton had been, there a part of his possessions +lay, and there Margaret willingly lingered, even after her companions +wished to be gone. + +"He may be here again," she said; and so she waited and watched, +scanning eagerly the passers-by, and noticing each new face as it +appeared at the table of the hotel where they were staying. But the +one she waited for never came. "And even if he does," she thought, "he +will not come for me." + +So she signified her willingness to depart, and early one bright July +morning she left, while the singing birds from the treetops, the +summer air from the Canada hills, and, more than all, a warning voice +within her, bade her "Tarry yet a little, stay till the sun was +set," for far out in the country, and many miles away, a train was +thundering on. It would reach the city at nightfall, and among its +jaded passengers was a worn and weary man. Hopeless, almost aimless +now, he would come, and why he came he scarcely knew. "She would not +be there, so far from home," he felt sure, but he was coming for the +sake of what he hoped and feared when last he trod those streets. +Listlessly he entered the same hotel from whose windows, for five long +days, a fair young face had looked for him. Listlessly he +registered his name, then carelessly turned the leaves +backward--backward--backward still, till only one remained between his +hand and the page bearing date five days before. He paused and was +about to move away, when a sudden breeze from the open window turned +the remaining leaf, and his eye caught the name, not of Maggie Miller, +but of "Henry Warner, lady, and sister." + +Thus it stood, and thus he repeated it to himself, dwelling upon the +last word "sister," as if to him it had another meaning. He had heard +from Madam Conway that neither Henry Warner nor Rose had a sister, but +she might be mistaken; probably she was; and dismissing the subject +from his mind, he walked away. Still the names haunted him, and +thinking at last that if Mr. Warner were now in Montreal he would +like to see him, he returned to the office, asking the clerk if the +occupants of Nos. ---- were there still. + +"Left this morning for the Falls," was the laconic answer; and, +without knowing why he should particularly wish to do so, Mr. +Carrollton resolved to follow them. + +He would as soon be at the Falls as in Montreal, he thought. +Accordingly he left the next morning for Niagara, taking the shortest +route by river and lake, and arriving there on the evening of the +second day after his departure from the city. But nowhere could a +trace be found of Henry Warner, and determining now to wait until he +came Mr. Carrollton took rooms at the International, where after a day +or two, worn out with travel, excitement, and hope deferred, he became +severely indisposed, and took his bed, forgetting entirely both Henry +Warner and the sister, whose name he had seen upon the hotel register. +Thoughts of Maggie Miller, however, were constantly in his mind, and +whether waking or asleep he saw always her face, sometimes radiant +with healthful beauty, as when he first beheld her, and again, pale, +troubled, and sad, as when he saw her last. + +"Oh, shall I ever find her?" he would sometimes say, as in the dim +twilight he lay listening to the noisy hum which came up from the +public room below. + +And once, as he lay there thus, he dreamed, and in his dreams there +came through the open window a clear, silvery voice, breathing the +loved name of Maggie. Again he heard it on the stairs, then little +tripping feet went past his door, followed by a slow, languid tread, +and with a nervous start the sick man awoke. The day had been cloudy +and dark, but the rain was over now, and the room was full of +sunshine--sunshine dancing on the walls, sunshine glimmering on the +floor, sunshine everywhere. Insensibly, too, there stole over Mr. +Carrollton's senses a feeling of quiet, of rest, and he slept ere long +again, dreaming this time that Margaret was there. + +Yes, Margaret was there--there, beneath the same roof which sheltered +him and the same sunshine which filled his room with light had bathed +her white brow, as, leaning from her window, she listened to the roar +of the falling water. They had lingered on their way, stopping at the +Thousand Isles, for Margaret would have it so; but they had come at +last, and the tripping footsteps in the hall, the silvery voice upon +the stairs, was that of the golden-haired Rose, who watched over +Margaret with all a sister's love and a mother's care. The frequent +jokes of the fun-loving Henry, too, were not without their good +effect, and Margaret was better now than she had been for many weeks. + +"I can rest here," she said, and a faint color came to her cheeks, +making her look more like herself than at any time since that terrible +night of sorrow in the woods. + +And so three days went by, and Mr. Carrollton, on his weary bed, +dreamed not that the slender form which sometimes, through his +half-closed door, cast a shadow in his room, was that of her for whom +he sought. The tripping footsteps, too, went often by, and a merry, +childish voice, which reminded him of Maggie, rang through the +spacious halls, until at last the sick man came to listen for that +party as they passed. They were a merry party, he thought, a very +merry party; and he pictured to himself her of the ringing voice; she +was dark-eyed, he said, with braids of shining hair, and when, as they +were passing once, he asked of his attendant if it were not as he had +fancied, he felt a pang of disappointment at the answer, which was, +"The girl the young gentleman hears so much has yellow curls and dark +blue eyes." + +"She is not like Maggie, then," he sighed, and when again he heard +that voice a part of its music was gone. Still, it cheered his +solitude, and he listened for it again, just as he had done before. + +Once, when he knew they were going out, he went to the window to see +them, but the large straw hats and close carriage revealed no secret, +and disappointed he turned away. + +"It is useless to stay here longer," he said; "I must be about my +work. I am able to leave, and I will go to-morrow. But first I will +visit the Falls once more. I may never see them again." + +Accordingly, next morning, after Margaret and Rose had left the house, +he came down the stairs, sprang into an open carriage, and was driven +to Goat Island, which, until his illness, had been his favorite +resort. + + * * * * * + +Beneath the tall forest trees which grow upon the island there is +a rustic seat. Just on the brink of the river it stands, and the +carriage road winds by. It is a comparatively retired spot, looking +out upon the foaming water rushing so madly on. Here the weary often +rest; here lovers sometimes come to be alone; and here Maggie Miller +sat on that summer morning, living over again the past, which to her +had been so bright, and musing sadly on the future, which would bring +her she knew not what. + +She had struggled to overcome her pride, nor deemed it now a disgrace +that she was not a Conway. Of Hagar, too, she often thought, pitying +the poor old half-crazed woman who for her sake had borne so much. But +not of her was she thinking now. Hagar was shriveled and bent and old, +while the image present in Margaret's mind was handsome, erect, and +young, like the gentleman riding by--the man whose carriage wheels, +grinding into the gravelly road, attracted no attention. Too intent +was she upon a shadow to heed aught else around, and she leaned +against a tree, nor turned her head aside, as Arthur Carrollton went +by! + +A little further on, and out of Maggie's sight, a fairy figure was +seated upon the grass; the hat was thrown aside, and her curls fell +back from her upturned face as she spoke to Henry Warner. But the +sentence was unfinished, for the carriage appeared in view, and +with woman's quick perception Rose exclaims, "'Tis surely Arthur +Carrollton!" + +Starting to her feet, she sprang involuntarily forward to meet him, +casting a rapid glance around for Margaret. He observed the +movement, and knew that somewhere in the world he had seen that face +before--those golden curls--those deep blue eyes--that childish +form--they were not wholly unfamiliar. Who was she, and why did she +advance towards him? + +"Rose," said Henry, who would call her back, "Rose!" and looking +towards the speaker Mr. Carrollton knew at once that Henry Warner and +his bride were standing there before him. + +In a moment he had joined them, and though he knew that Henry Warner +had once loved Maggie Miller he spoke of her without reserve, saying +to Rose, when she asked if he were there for pleasure: "I am looking +for Maggie Miller. A strange discovery has been made of late, and +Margaret has left us." + +"She is here--here with us!" cried Rose; and in the exuberance of +her joy she was darting away, when Henry held her back until further +explanations were made. + +This did not occupy them long, for sitting down again upon the bank +Rose briefly told him all she knew; and when with eager joy he asked +"Where is she now?" she pointed towards the spot, and then with Henry +walked away, for she knew that it was not for her to witness that glad +meeting. + +The river rolls on with its heaving swell, and the white foam is +tossed towards the shore, while the soft summer air still bears on its +wing the sound of the cataract's roar. But Margaret sees it not, hears +it not. There is a spell upon her now--a halo of joy; and she only +knows that a strong arm is around her, and a voice is in her ear, +whispering that the bosom on which her weary head is pillowed shall be +her resting place forever. + +It had come to her suddenly, sitting there thus--the footfall upon the +sand had not been heard--the shadow upon the grass had not been seen, +and his presence had not been felt, till, bending low, Mr. Carrollton +said aloud, "My Maggie!" + +Then indeed she started up, and turned to see who it was that thus so +much like him had called her name. She saw who it was, and looking +in his face she knew she was not hated, and with a moaning cry went +forward to the arm extended to receive her. + + * * * * * + +Four guests, instead of one, went forth that afternoon from the +International--four guests homeward bound, and eager to be there. No +more journeying now for happiness; no more searching for the lost; for +both are found; both are there--happiness and Maggie Miller. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +HOME. + + +Impatient, restless, and cross, Madam Conway lay in Margaret's room, +scolding Theo and chiding Mrs. Jeffrey, both of whom, though trying +their utmost to suit her, managed unfortunately to do always just what +she wished them not to do. Mrs. Jeffrey's hands were usually too cold, +and Theo's were too hot. Mrs. Jeffrey made the head of the bed too +high, Theo altogether too low. In short, neither of them ever did what +Margaret would have done had she been there, and so day after day the +lady complained, growing more and more unamiable, until at last Theo +began to talk seriously of following Margaret's example, and running +away herself, at least as far as Worcester; but the distressed Mrs. +Jeffrey, terrified at the thought of being left there alone, begged of +her to stay a little longer, offering the comforting assurance +that "it cannot be so bad always, for Madam Conway will either get +better--or something." + +So Theo stayed, enduring with a martyr's patience the caprices of +her grandmother, who kept the whole household in a constant state of +excitement, and who at last began to blame George Douglas entirely as +being the only one in fault. "He didn't half look," she said, "and +she doubted whether he knew enough to keep from losing himself in New +York. It was the most foolish thing Arthur Carrollton had ever done, +hiring George Douglas to search!" + +"Hiring him, grandma!" cried Theo; "George offered his services for +nothing," and the tears came to her eyes at the injustice done her +husband. + +But Madam Conway persisted in being unreasonable, and matters grew +gradually worse until the day when Margaret was found at the Falls. On +that morning Madam Conway determined upon riding. "Fresh air will +do me good," she said, "and you have kept me in a hot chamber long +enough." + +Accordingly, the carriage was brought out, and Madam Conway carefully +lifted in; but ere fifty rods were passed the coachman was ordered to +drive back, as she could not endure the jolt. "I told you I couldn't, +all the time;" and her eyes turned reprovingly upon poor Theo, sitting +silently in the opposite corner. + +"The Lord help me, if she isn't coming back so soon!" sighed Mrs. +Jeffrey, as she saw the carriage returning, and went to meet the +invalid, who had "taken her death of cold," just as she knew she +should when they insisted upon her going out. + +That day was far worse than any which had preceded it. It was probably +her last, Madam Conway said, and numerous were the charges she gave +to Theo concerning Margaret, should she ever be found. The house, the +farm, the furniture and plate were all to be hers, while to Theo was +given the lady's wardrobe, saving such articles as Margaret might +choose for herself, and if she never were found the house and farm +were to be Mr. Carrollton's. This was too much for Theo, who resolved +to go home on the morrow, at all hazards, and she had commenced making +preparations for leaving, when to her great joy her husband came, and +in recounting to him her trials she forgot in a measure how unhappy +she had been. George Douglas was vastly amused at what he heard, and +resolved to experiment a little with the lady, who was so weak as to +notice him only with a slight nod when he first entered the room. He +saw at a glance that nothing in particular was the matter, and when +towards night she lay panting for breath, with her eyes half closed, +he approached her and said, "Madam, in case you die--" + +"In case I die!" she whispered indignantly. "It doesn't admit of a +doubt. My feet are as cold as icicles now." + +"Certainly," said he. "I beg your pardon; of course you'll die." + +The lady turned away rather defiantly for a dying woman, and George +continued, "What I mean to say is this--if Margaret is never found, +you wish the house to be Mr. Carrollton's?" + +"Yes, everything, my wardrobe and all," came from beneath the +bedclothes; and George proceeded: "Mr. Carrollton cannot of course +take the house to England, and, as he will need a trusty tenant, would +you object greatly if my father and mother should come here to live? +They'd like it, I--" + +The sentence was unfinished--the bunches in the throat which for hours +had prevented the sick woman from speaking aloud, and were eventually +to choke her to death, disappeared; Madam Conway found her voice, and, +starting up, screamed out, "That abominable woman and heathenish girl +in this house, in my house; I'll live forever, first!" and her angry +eyes flashed forth their indignation. + +"I thought the mention of mother would revive her," said George, +aside, to Theo, who, convulsed with laughter, had hidden herself +behind the window curtain. + +Mr. Douglas was right, for not again that afternoon did Madam Conway +speak of dying, though she kept her bed until nightfall, when art +incident occurred which brought her at once to her feet, making her +forget that she had ever been otherwise than well. + +In her cottage by the mine old Hagar had raved and sung and wept, +talking much of Margaret, but never telling whither she had gone. +Latterly, however, she had grown more calm, talking far less than +heretofore, and sleeping a great portion of the day, so that the +servant who attended her became neglectful, leaving her many hours +alone, while she, at the stone house, passed her time more agreeably +than at the lonesome hut. On the afternoon of which we write she was +as usual at the house, and though the sun went down she did not hasten +back, for her patient, she said, was sure to sleep, and even if she +woke she did not need much care. + +Meantime old Hagar slumbered on. It was a deep, refreshing sleep, and +when at last she did awake, her reason was in a measure restored, and +she remembered everything distinctly up to the time of Margaret's last +visit, when she said she was going away. And Margaret had gone away, +she was sure of that, for she remembered Arthur Carrollton stood once +within that room, and besought of her to tell if she knew aught of +Maggie's destination. She did know, but she had not told, and perhaps +they had not found her yet. Raising herself in bed, she called aloud +to the servant, but there came no answer; and for an hour or more she +waited impatiently, growing each moment more and more excited. If +Margaret were found she wished to know it, and if she were not found +it was surely her duty to go at once and tell them where she was. +But could she walk? She stepped upon the floor and tried. Her limbs +trembled beneath her weight, and, sinking into a chair, she cried, "I +can't! I can't!" + +Half an hour later she heard the sound of wheels. A neighboring farmer +was returning home from Richland, and had taken the cross road as +his shortest route. "Perhaps he will let me ride," she thought, and, +hobbling to the door, she called after him, making known her request. +Wondering what "new freak" had entered her mind, the man consented, +and just as it was growing dark he set her down at Madam Conway's +gate, where, half fearfully, the bewildered woman gazed around. The +windows of Margaret's room were open, a figure moved before them; +Margaret might be there; and entering the hall door unobserved, she +began to ascend the stairs, crawling upon her hands and knees, and +pausing several times to rest. + +It was nearly dark in the sickroom, and as Mrs. Jeffrey had just gone +out, and Theo, in the parlor below, was enjoying a quiet talk with her +husband, Madam Conway was quite alone. For a time she lay thinking +of Margaret; then her thoughts turned upon George and his "amazing +proposition." "Such unheard of insolence!" she exclaimed, and she was +proceeding farther with her soliloquy, when a peculiar noise upon the +stairs caught her ear, and raising herself upon her elbow she listened +intently to the sound, which came nearer and nearer, and seemed like +someone creeping slowly, painfully, for she could hear at intervals a +long-drawn breath or groan, and with a vague feeling of uneasiness she +awaited anxiously the appearance of her visitor; nor waited long, for +the half-closed door swung slowly back, and through the gathering +darkness the shape came crawling on, over the threshold, into the +room, towards the corner, its limbs distorted and bent, its white hair +sweeping the floor. With a smothered cry Madam Conway hid beneath the +bedclothes, looking cautiously out at the singular object which came +creeping on until the bed was reached. It touched the counterpane, it +was struggling to regain its feet, and with a scream of horror the +terrified woman cried out, "Fiend, why are you here?" while a faint +voice replied, "I am looking for Margaret. I thought she was in bed"; +and, rising up from her crouching posture, Hagar Warren stood face to +face with the woman she had so long deceived. + +"Wretch!" exclaimed the latter, her pride returning as she recognized +old Hagar and thought of her as Maggie's grandmother. "Wretch, how +dare you come into my presence? Leave this room at once," and a shrill +cry of "Theo! Theo!" rang through the house, bringing Theo at once to +the chamber, where she started involuntarily at the sight which met +her view. + +"Who is it? who is it?" she exclaimed. + +"It's Hagar Warren. Take her away!" screamed Madam Conway; while +Hagar, raising her withered hand deprecatingly, said: "Hear me first. +Do you know where Margaret is? Has she been found?" + +"No, no," answered Theo, bounding to her side, while Madam Conway +forgot to scream, and bent eagerly forward to listen, her symptoms +of dissolution disappearing one by one as the strange narrative +proceeded, and ere its close she was nearly dressed, standing erect as +ever, her face glowing, and her eyes lighted up with joy. + +"Gone to Leominster! Henry Warner's half-sister!" she exclaimed. "Why +didn't she add a postscript to that letter, and tell us so? Though +the poor child couldn't think of everything;" and then, unmindful of +George Douglas, who at that moment entered the room, she continued: +"I should suppose Douglas might have found it out ere this. But the +moment I put my eyes upon _that woman_ I knew no child of hers would +ever know enough to find Margaret. The Warners are a tolerably good +family, I presume. I'll go after her at once. Theo, bring my broché +shawl, and wouldn't you wear my satin hood? 'Twill be warmer than my +leghorn." + +"Grandma," said Theo, in utter astonishment, "What do you mean? You +surely are not going to Leominster to-night, as sick as you are?" + +"Yes, I am going to Leominster to-night," answered the decided woman; +"and this gentleman," waving her hand majestically towards George, +"will oblige me much by seeing that the carriage is brought out." + +Theo was about to remonstrate, when George whispered: "Let her go; +Henry and Rose are probably not at home, but Margaret may be there. At +all events, a little airing will do the old lady good;" and, rather +pleased than otherwise with the expedition, he went after John, who +pronounced his mistress "crazier than Hagar." + +But it wasn't for him to dictate, and, grumbling at the prospect +before him, he harnessed his horses and drove them to the door, where +Madam Conway was already in waiting. + +"See that everything is in order for our return," she said to Theo, +who promised compliance, and then, herself bewildered, listened to the +carriage as it rolled away; it seemed so like a dream that the woman +who three hours before could scarcely speak aloud had now started for +a ride of many miles in the damp night air! But love can accomplish +miracles, and it made the eccentric lady strong, buoying up her +spirits, and prompting her to cheer on the coachman, until just as the +day grew rosy in the east Leominster appeared in view. The house was +found, the carriage steps let down, and then with a slight trembling +in her limbs Madam Conway alighted and walked up the graveled path, +casting eager, searching glances around and commenting as follows: + +"Everything is in good taste; they must be somebody, these Warners. +I'm glad it is no worse." And with each new indication of refinement +in Margaret's relatives the disgrace seemed less and less in the mind +of the proud Englishwoman. + +The ringing of the bell brought down Janet, who, with an inquisitive +look at the satin hood and bundle of shawls, ushered the stranger +into the parlor, and then went for her mistress. Taking the card her +servant brought, Mrs. Warner read with some little trepidation the +name "Madam Conway, Hillsdale." From what she had heard, she was not +prepossessed in the lady's favor; but, curious to know why she was +there at this early hour, she hastened the making of her toilet, and +went down to the parlor, where Madam Conway sat, coiled in one corner +of the sofa, which she had satisfied herself was covered with real +brocatel, as were also the chairs within the room. The tables of +rosewood and marble, and the expensive curtains had none of them +escaped her notice, and in a mood which more common furniture would +never have produced Madam Conway arose to meet Mrs. Warner, who +received her politely, and then waited to hear her errand. + +It was told in a few words. She had come for Margaret--Margaret, whom +she had loved for eighteen years, and could not now cast off, even +though she were not of the Conway and Davenport extraction. + +"I can easily understand how painful must have been the knowledge that +Maggie was not your own," returned Mrs. Warner, "for she is a girl +of whom anyone might be proud; but you are laboring under a +mistake--Henry is not her brother;" and then very briefly she +explained the matter to Madam Conway, who, having heard so much, was +now surprised at nothing, and who felt, it may be, a little gratified +in knowing that Henry was, after all, nothing to Margaret, save the +husband of her sister. But a terrible disappointment awaited her. +Margaret was not there; and so loud were her lamentations that some +time elapsed ere Mrs. Warner could make her listen while she explained +that Mr. Carrollton had found Maggie the day previous at the Falls, +that they were probably in Albany now, and would reach Hillsdale that +very day; such at least was the import of the telegram which Mrs. +Warner had received the evening before. "They wish to surprise you, +undoubtedly," she said, "and consequently have not telegraphed to +you." + +This seemed probable, and forgetting her weariness Madam Conway +resolved upon leaving John to drive home at his leisure, while she +took the Leominster cars, which reached Worcester in time for the +upward train. This matter adjusted, she tried to be quiet; but her +excitement increased each moment, and when at last breakfast was +served she did but little justice to the tempting viands which her +hostess set before her. Margaret's chamber was visited next, and very +lovingly she patted and smoothed the downy pillows, for the sake of +the bright head which had rested there, while to herself she whispered +abstractedly, "Yes, yes," though to what she was giving her assent +she could not tell. She only knew that she was very happy, and very +impatient to be gone, and when at last she did go it seemed to her an +age ere Worcester was reached. + +Resolutely turning her head away, lest she should see the scene of her +disaster when last in that city, she walked up and down the ladies' +room, her satin hood and heavy broché shawl, on that warm July +morning, attracting much attention. But little did she care. Margaret +was the burden of her thoughts, and the appearance of Mrs. Douglas +herself would scarcely have disturbed her. Much less, then, did the +presence of a queerly dressed young girl, who, entering the car with +her, occupied from necessity the same seat, feeling herself a little +annoyed at being thus obliged to sit so near one whom she mentally +pronounced "mighty unsociable," for not once did Madam Conway turn her +face that way, so intent was she upon watching their apparent speed, +and counting the number of miles they had come. + +When Charlton was reached, however, she did observe the women in a +shaker, who, with a pail of huckleberries on her arm, was evidently +waiting for someone. + +An audible groan from the depths of the satin hood, as Betsy Jane +passed out and the cars passed on, showed plainly that the mother and +sister of George Douglas were recognized, particularly as the former +wore the red and yellow calico, which, having been used as a "dress +up" the summer before, now did its owner service as a garment of +everyday wear. But not long did Madam Conway suffer her mind to dwell +upon matters so trivial. Hillsdale was not far away, and she came each +moment nearer. Two more stations were reached--the haunted swamp was +passed--Chicopee River was in sight--the bridge appeared in view--the +whistle sounded, and she was there. + +Half an hour later, and Theo, looking from her window, started in +surprise as she saw the village omnibus drive up to their door. + +"'Tis grandmother!" she cried, and running to meet her she asked why +she had returned so soon. + +"They are coming at noon," answered the excited woman--then, hurrying +into the house and throwing off her hood, she continued: "He's found +her at the Falls; they are between here and Albany now; tell +everybody to hurry as fast as they can; tell Hannah to make a +chicken pie--Maggie was fond of that; and turkey--tell her to kill a +turkey--it's Maggie's favorite dish--and ice cream, too! I wish I had +some this minute," and she wiped the perspiration from her burning +face. + +No more hysterics now; no more lonesome nights; no more thoughts of +death--for Margaret was coming home--the best loved of them all. +Joyfully the servants told to each other the glad news, disbelieving +entirely the report fast gaining circulation that the queenly Maggie +was lowly born--a grandchild of old Hagar. Up and down the stairs +Madam Conway ran, flitting from room to room, and tarrying longest +in that of Margaret, where the sunlight came in softly through the +half-closed blinds and the fair summer blossoms smiled a welcome for +the expected one. + +Suddenly the noontide stillness was broken by a sound, deafening and +shrill on ordinary occasions, but falling now like music on Madam +Conway's ear, for by that sound she knew that Margaret was near. +Wearily went the half-hour by, and then, from the head of the tower +stairs, Theo cried out, "She is coming!" while the grandmother buried +her face in the pillows of the lounge, and asked to be alone when she +took back to her bosom the child which was not hers. + +Earnestly, as if to read the inmost soul, each looked into the other's +eyes--Margaret and Theo--and while the voice of the latter was choked +with tears she wound her arms around the graceful neck, which bent to +the caress, and whispered low, "You are my sister still." + +Against the vine-wreathed balustrade a fairy form was leaning, holding +back her breath lest she should break the deep silence of that +meeting. In her bosom there was no pang of fear lest Theo should be +loved the best; and, even had there been, it could not surely have +remained, for stretching out her arm Margaret drew Rose to her side, +and placing her hand in that of Theo said, "You are both my sisters +now," while Arthur Carrollton, bending down, kissed the lips of the +three, saying as he did so, "Thus do I acknowledge your relationship +to me." + +"Why don't she come?" the waiting Madam Conway sighed, just as Theo, +pointing to the open door, bade Margaret go in. + +There was a blur before the lady's eyes--a buzzing in her ears--and +the footfall she had listened for so long was now unheard as it +came slowly to her side. But the light touch upon her arm--the +well-remembered voice within her ear, calling her "Madam Conway," +sent through her an electric thrill, and starting up she caught the +wanderer in her arms, crying imploringly, "Not that name, Maggie +darling; call me grandma, as you used to do--call me grandma still," +and smoothing back the long black tresses, she looked to see if grief +had left its impress upon her fair young face. It was paler now, and +thinner too, than it was wont to be, and while her tears fell fast +upon it, Madam Conway whispered: "You have suffered much, my child, +and so have I. Why did you go away? Say, Margaret, why did you leave +me all alone?" + +"To learn how much you loved me," answered Margaret, to whom this +moment brought happiness second only to that which she had felt when +on the river bank she sat with Arthur Carrollton, and heard him tell +how much she had been mourned--how lonesome was the house without +her--and how sad were all their hearts. But that was over now--no more +sadness, no more tears; the lost one had returned; Margaret was home +again--home in the hearts of all, and nothing could dislodge her--not +even the story of her birth, which Arthur Carrollton, spurning at +further deception, told to the listening servants, who, having always +respected old Hagar for her position in the household as well as for +her education, so superior to their own, set up a deafening shout, +first for "Hagar's grandchild," and next for "Miss Margaret forever!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +HAGAR. + + +By Theo's request old Hagar had been taken home the day before, +yielding submissively, for her frenzied mood was over--her strength +was gone--her life was nearly spent--and Hagar did not wish to live. +That for which she had sinned had been accomplished, and, though it +had cost her days and nights of anguish, she was satisfied at last. +Margaret was coming home again--would be a lady still--the bride of +Arthur Carrollton, for George Douglas had told her so, and she was +willing now to die, but not until she had seen her once again--had +looked into the beautiful face of which she had been so proud. + +Not to-day, however, does she expect her; and just as the sun was +setting, the sun which shines on Margaret at home, she falls away to +sleep. It was at this hour that Margaret was wont to visit her, and +now, as the treetops grew red in the day's departing glory, a graceful +form came down the woodland path, where for many weeks the grass +has not been crushed beneath her feet. They saw her as she left the +house,--Madam Conway, Theo, all,--but none asked whither she was +going. They knew, and one who loved her best of all followed slowly +after, waiting in the woods until that interview should end. + +Hagar lay calmly sleeping. The servant was as usual away, and there +was no eye watching Margaret as with burning cheeks and beating heart +she crossed the threshold of the door, pausing not, faltering not, +until the bed was reached--the bed where Hagar lay, her crippled hands +folded meekly upon her breast, her white hair shading a whiter face, +and a look about her half-shut mouth as if the thin, pale lips had +been much used of late to breathe the word "Forgive." Maggie had +never seen her thus before, and the worn-out, aged face had something +touching in its sad expression, and something startling too, bidding +her hasten, if to that woman she would speak. + +"Hagar," she essayed to say, but the word died on her lips, for +standing there alone, with the daylight fading from the earth, and the +lifelight fading from the form before her, it seemed not meet that she +should thus address the sleeper. There was a name, however, by which +she called another--a name of love, and it would make the withered +heart of Hagar Warren bound and beat and throb with untold joy. +And Margaret said that name at last, whispering it first softly to +herself; then, bending down so that her breath stirred the snow-white +hair, she repeated it aloud, starting involuntarily as the rude walls +echoed back the name "Grandmother!" + +"Grandmother!" Through the senses locked in sleep it penetrated, and +the dim eyes, once so fiery and black, grew large and bright again as +Hagar Warren woke. + +Was it a delusion, that beauteous form which met her view, that soft +hand on her brow, or was it Maggie Miller? + +"Grandmother," the low voice said again, "I am Maggie--Hester's child. +Can you see me? Do you know that I am here?" + +Yes, through the films of age, through the films of coming death, and +through the gathering darkness, old Hagar saw and knew, and with a +scream of joy her shrunken arms wound themselves convulsively around +the maiden's neck, drawing her nearer, and nearer still, until the +shriveled lips touched the cheek of her who did not turn away, but +returned that kiss of love. + +"Say it again, say that word once more," and the arms closed tighter +round the form of Margaret, who breathed it yet again, while the +childish woman sobbed aloud, "It is sweeter than the angels' song to +hear you call me so." + +She did not ask her when she came--she did not ask her where she had +been; but Maggie told her all, sitting by her side with the poor hands +clasped in her own; then, as the twilight shadows deepened in the +room, she struck a light, and coming nearer to Hagar, said, "Am I much +like my mother?" + +"Yes, yes, only more winsome," was the answer, and the half-blind eyes +looked proudly at the beautiful girl bending over the humble pillow. + +"Do you know that?" Maggie asked, holding to view the ambrotype of +Hester Hamilton. + +For an instant Hagar wavered, then hugging the picture to her bosom, +she laughed and cried together, whispering as she did so, "My little +girl, my Hester, my baby that I used to sing to sleep in our home away +over the sea." + +Hagar's mind was wandering amid the scenes of bygone years, but it +soon came back again to the present time, and she asked of Margaret +whence that picture came. In a few words Maggie told her, and then for +a time there was silence, which was broken at last by Hagar's voice, +weaker now than when she spoke before. + +"Maggie," she said, "what of this Arthur Carrollton? Will he make you +his bride?" + +"He has so promised," answered Maggie; and Hagar continued: "He will +take you to England, and you will be a lady, sure. Margaret, listen to +me. 'Tis the last time we shall ever talk together, you and I, and +I am glad that it is so. I have greatly sinned, but I have been +forgiven, and I am willing now to die. Everything I wished for has +come to pass, even the hearing you call me by that blessed name; but, +Maggie, when to-morrow they say that I am dead--when you come down to +look upon me lying here asleep, you needn't call me 'Grandmother,' you +may say 'poor Hagar!' with the rest; and, Maggie, is it too much +to ask that your own hands will arrange my hair, fix my cap, and +straighten my poor old crooked limbs for the coffin? And if I should +look decent, will you, when nobody sees you do it--Madam Conway, +Arthur Carrollton, nobody who is proud--will you, Maggie, kiss me once +for the sake of what I've suffered that you might be what you are?" + +"Yes, yes, I will," was Maggie's answer, her tears falling fast, and +a fear creeping into her heart, as by the dim candlelight she saw a +nameless shadow settling down on Hagar's face. + +The servant entered at this moment, and, glancing at old Hagar, sunk +into a chair, for she knew that shadow was death. + +"Maggie," and the voice was now a whisper, "I wish I could once more +see this Mr. Carrollton. 'Tis the nature of his kin to be sometimes +overbearing, and though I am only old Hagar Warren he might heed my +dying words, and be more thoughtful of your happiness. Do you think +that he would come?" + +Ere Maggie had time to answer there was a step upon the floor, and +Arthur Carrollton stood at her side. He had waited for her long, and +growing at last impatient had stolen to the open door, and when the +dying woman asked for him he had trampled down his pride and entered +the humble room. Winding his arm round Margaret, who trembled +violently, he said: "Hagar, I am here. Have you aught to say to me?" + +Quickly the glazed eyes turned towards him, and the clammy hand was +timidly extended. He took it unhesitatingly, while the pale lips +murmured faintly, "Maggie's too." Then, holding both between her own, +old Hagar said solemnly, "Young man, as you hope for heaven, deal +kindly with my child," and Arthur Carrollton answered her aloud, "As I +hope for heaven, I will," while Margaret fell upon her knees and wept. +Raising herself in bed, Hagar laid her hands upon the head of the +kneeling girl, breathing over her a whispered blessing; then the hands +pressed heavily, the fingers clung with a loving grasp, as it were, to +the bands of shining hair--the thin lips ceased to move--the head fell +back upon the pillow, motionless and still, and Arthur Carrollton, +leading Margaret away, gently told her that Hagar was dead. + + * * * * * + +Carefully, tenderly, as if she had been a wounded dove, did the whole +household demean themselves towards Margaret, seeing that everything +needful was done, but mentioning never in her presence the name of the +dead. And Margaret's position was a trying one, for though Hagar had +been her grandmother she had never regarded her as such, and she could +not now affect a grief she did not feel. Still, from her earliest +childhood she had loved the strange old woman, and she mourned for +her now, as friend mourneth for friend, when there is no tie of blood +between them. + +Her promise, too, was kept, and with her own hands she smoothed the +snow-white hair, tied on the muslin cap, folded the stiffened arms, +and then, unmindful who was looking on, kissed twice the placid face, +which seemed to smile on her in death. + + * * * * * + +By the side of Hester Hamilton they made another grave, and, with +Arthur Carrollton and Rose standing at either side, Margaret looked on +while the weary and worn was laid to rest; then slowly retraced her +steps, walking now with Madam Conway, for Arthur Carrollton and Rose +had lingered at the grave, talking together of a plan which had +presented itself to the minds of both as they stood by the humble +stone which told where Margaret's mother slept. To Margaret, however, +they said not a word, nor yet to Madam Conway, though they both united +in urging the two ladies to accompany Theo to Worcester for a few +days. + +"Mrs. Warner will help me keep house," Mr. Carrollton said, advancing +the while so many good reasons why Margaret at least should go, that +she finally consented, and went down to Worcester, together with Madam +Conway, George Douglas, Theo, and Henry, the latter of whom seemed +quite as forlorn as did she herself, for Rose was left behind, and +without her he was nothing. + +Madam Conway had been very gracious to him; his family were good, and +when as they passed the Charlton depot thoughts of the leghorn bonnet +and blue umbrella intruded themselves upon her, she half wished that +Henry had broken his leg in Theo's behalf, and so saved her from +bearing the name of Douglas. + +The week went by, passing rapidly as all weeks will, and Margaret was +again at home. Rose was there still, and just as the sun was setting +she took her sister's hand, and led her out into the open air toward +the resting-place of the dead, where a change had been wrought; and +Margaret, leaning over the iron gate, comprehended at once the feeling +which had prompted Mr. Carrollton and Rose to desire her absence for +a time. The humble stone was gone, and in its place there stood a +handsome monument, less imposing and less expensive than that of Mrs. +Miller, it is true, but still chaste and elegant, bearing upon it +simply the names of "Hester Hamilton, and her mother Hagar Warren," +with the years of their death. The little grave, too, where for many +years Maggie herself had been supposed to sleep, was not beneath the +pine tree now; that mound was leveled down, and another had been made, +just where the grass was growing rank and green beneath the shadow of +the taller stone, and there side by side they lay at last together, +the mother and her infant child. + +"It was kind in you to do this," Margaret said, and then, with her +arm round Rose's waist, she spoke of the coming time when the sun of +another hemisphere would be shining down upon her, saying she should +think often of that hour, that spot, and that sister, who answered: +"Every year when the spring rains fall I shall come to see that the +grave has been well kept, for you know that she was my mother, too," +and she pointed to the name of "Hester," deep cut in the polished +marble. + +"Not yours, Rose, but mine," said Maggie. "My mother she was, and as +such I will cherish her memory." Then, with her arm still around her +sister's waist, she walked slowly back to the house. + +A little later, and while Arthur Carrollton, with Maggie at his side, +was talking to her of something which made the blushes burn on her +still pale cheeks, Madam Conway herself walked out to witness the +improvements, lingering longest at the little grave, and saying to +herself, "It was very thoughtful in Arthur, very, to do what I +should have done myself ere this had I not been afraid of Margaret's +feelings." + +Then, turning to the new monument, she admired its chaste beauty, but +hardly knew whether she was pleased to have it there or not. + +"It's very handsome," she said, leaving the yard, and walking backward +to observe the effect. "And it adds much to the looks of the place. +There is no question about that. It is perfectly proper, too, or Mr. +Carrollton would never have put it here, for he knows what is right, +of course," and the still doubtful lady turned away, saying as she +did so, "On the whole, I think I am glad that Hester has a handsome +monument, and I know I am glad that Mrs. Miller's is a little the +taller of the two!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +AUGUST EIGHTEENTH, 1858. + + +Years hence, if the cable resting far down in the mermaids' home +shall prove a bond of perfect peace between the mother and her child, +thousands will recall the bright summer morning when through the +caverns of the mighty deep the first electric message came, thrilling +the nation's heart, quickening the nation's pulse, and, with the music +of the deep-toned bell and noise of the cannon's roar, proclaiming to +the listening multitude that the isle beyond the sea, and the lands +which to the westward lie, were bound together, shore to shore, by a +strange, mysterious tie. And two there are who, in their happy home, +will oft look back upon that day, that 18th day of August, which gave +to one of Britain's sons as fair and beautiful a bride as e'er went +forth from the New England hills to dwell beneath a foreign sky. + +They had not intended to be married so soon, for Margaret would wait +a little longer; but an unexpected and urgent summons home made it +necessary for Mr. Carrollton to go, and so by chance the bridal day +was fixed for the 18th. None save the family were present, and Madam +Conway's tears fell fast as the words were spoken which made them one, +for by those words she knew that she and Margaret must part. But not +forever; for when the next year's autumn leaves shall fall the old +house by the mill will again be without a mistress, while in a +handsome country-seat beyond the sea Madam Conway will demean herself +right proudly, as becometh the grandmother of Mrs. Arthur Carrollton. +Theo, too, and Rose will both be there, for their husbands have so +promised, and when the Christmas fires are kindled on the hearth and +the ancient pictures on the wall take a richer tinge from the ruddy +light, there will be a happy group assembled within the Carrollton +halls; and Margaret, the happiest of them all, will then almost +forget that ever in the Hillsdale woods, sitting at Hagar's feet, she +listened with a breaking heart to the story of her birth. + +But not the thoughts of a joyous future could dissipate entirely the +sadness of that bridal, for Margaret was well beloved, and the billows +which would roll ere long between her and her childhood's home +stretched many, many miles away. Still they tried to be cheerful, and +Henry Warner's merry jokes had called forth more than one gay laugh, +when the peal of bells and the roll of drums arrested their attention; +while the servants, who had learned the cause of the rejoicing, struck +up "God Save the Queen," and from an adjoining field a rival choir +sent back the stirring note of "Hail, Columbia, Happy Land." Mrs. +Jeffrey, too, was busy. In secret she had labored at the rent made +by her foot in the flag of bygone days, and now, perspiring at every +pore, she dragged it up the tower stairs, planting it herself upon the +housetop, where side by side with the royal banner it waved in the +summer breeze. And this she did, not because she cared aught for the +cable, in which she "didn't believe" and declared "would never work," +but because she would celebrate Margaret's wedding-day, and so make +some amends for her interference when once before the "Stars and +Stripes" had floated above the old stone house. + +And thus it was, amid smiles and tears, amid bells and drums, and +waving flags and merry song, amid noisy shout and booming guns, that +double bridal day was kept; and when the sun went down it left a glory +on the western clouds, as if they, too, had donned their best attire +in honor of the union. + + * * * * * + +It is moonlight on the land--glorious, beautiful moonlight. On Hagar's +peaceful grave it falls, and glancing from the polished stone shines +across the fields upon the old stone house, where all is cheerless +now, and still. No life--no sound--no bounding step--no gleeful song. +All is silent, all is sad. The light of the household has departed; +it went with the hour when first to each other the lonesome servants +said, "Margaret is gone." + +Yes, she is gone, and all through the darkened rooms there is found no +trace of her, but away to the eastward the moonlight falls upon the +sea, where a noble vessel rides. With sails unfurled to the evening +breeze, it speeds away--away from the loved hearts on the shore which +after that bark, and its precious freight, have sent many a throb of +love. Upon the deck of that gallant ship there stands a beautiful +bride, looking across the water with straining eye, and smiling +through her tears on him who wipes those tears away, and whispers in +her ear, "I will be more to you, my wife, than they have ever been." + +So, with the love-light shining on her heart, and the moonlight +shining on the wave, we bid adieu to one who bears no more the name of +Maggie Miller. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Maggie Miller, by Mary J. 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Holmes + +Release Date: February 25, 2004 [EBook #11280] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAGGIE MILLER *** + + + + +Produced by Kevin Handy, Dave Maddock, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +MAGGIE MILLER. + +THE STORY OF OLD HAGAR'S SECRET. + + +By MARY J. HOLMES, + +Author of "Lena Rivers," "Tempest and Sunshine," "English Orphans," +"Dora Deane," etc., etc. + +"Lead us not into temptation." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER + +I. THE OLD HOUSE BY THE MILL + +II. HAGAR'S SECRET + +III. HESTER AND MAGGIE + +IV. GIRLHOOD + +V. TRIFLES + +VI. THE JUNIOR PARTNER + +VII. THE SENIOR PARTNER + +VIII. STARS AND STRIPES + +IX. ROSE WARNER + +X. EXPECTED GUESTS + +XI. UNEXPECTED GUESTS + +XII. THE WATERS ARE TROUBLED + +XIII. SOCIETY + +XIV. MADAM CONWAY'S DISASTERS + +XV. ARTHUR CARROLLTON AND MAGGIE + +XVI. PERPLEXITY + +XVII. BROTHER AND SISTER + +XVIII. THE PEDDLER + +XIX. THE TELLING OF THE SECRET + +XX. THE RESULT + +XXI. THE SISTERS + +XXII. THE HOUSE OF MOURNING + +XXIII. NIAGARA + +XXIV. HOME + +XXV. HAGAR + +XXVI. AUGUST EIGHTEENTH, 1858 + + + + +MAGGIE MILLER. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE OLD HOUSE BY THE MILL. + + +'Mid the New England hills, and beneath the shadow of their dim old +woods, is a running brook whose deep waters were not always as merry +and frolicsome as now; for years before our story opens, pent up and +impeded in their course, they dashed angrily against their prison +walls, and turned the creaking wheel of an old sawmill with a sullen, +rebellious roar. The mill has gone to decay, and the sturdy men who +fed it with the giant oaks of the forest are sleeping quietly in the +village graveyard. The waters of the mill-pond, too, relieved from +their confinement, leap gayly over the ruined dam, tossing for a +moment in wanton glee their locks of snow-white foam, and then flowing +on, half fearfully as it were, through the deep gorge overhung with +the hemlock and the pine, where the shadows of twilight ever lie, and +where the rocks frown gloomily down upon the stream below, which, +emerging from the darkness, loses itself at last in the waters of the +gracefully winding Chicopee, and leaves far behind the moss-covered +walls of what is familiarly known as the "Old House by the Mill." + +'Tis a huge, old-fashioned building, distant nearly a mile from the +public highway, and surrounded so thickly by forest trees that the +bright sunlight, dancing merrily midst the rustling leaves above, +falls but seldom on the time-stained walls of dark gray stone, where +the damp and dews of more than a century have fallen, and where now +the green moss clings with a loving grasp, as if 'twere its rightful +resting-place. When the thunders of the Revolution shook the hills of +the Bay State, and the royal banner floated in the evening breeze, +the house was owned by an old Englishman who, loyal to his king and +country, denounced as rebels the followers of Washington. Against +these, however, he would not raise his hand, for among them were many +long-tried friends who had gathered with him around the festal board; +so he chose the only remaining alternative, and went back to his +native country, cherishing the hope that he should one day return to +the home he loved so well, and listen again to the musical flow of the +brook, which could be distinctly heard from the door of the mansion. +But his wish was vain, for when at last America was free and the +British troops recalled, he slept beneath the sod of England, and the +old house was for many years deserted. The Englishman had been greatly +beloved, and his property was unmolested, while the weeds and grass +grew tall and rank in the garden beds, and the birds of heaven built +their nests beneath the projecting roof or held a holiday in the +gloomy, silent rooms. + +As time passed on, however, and no one appeared to dispute their +right, different families occupied the house at intervals, until at +last, when nearly fifty years had elapsed, news was one day received +that Madam Conway, a granddaughter of the old Englishman, having met +with reverses at home, had determined to emigrate to the New World, +and remembering the "House by the Mill," of which she had heard so +much, she wished to know if peaceable possession of it would be +allowed her, in case she decided upon removing thither and making it +her future home. To this plan no objection was made, for the aged +people of Hillsdale still cherished the memory of the hospitable old +man whose locks were gray while they were yet but children, and the +younger portion of the community hoped for a renewal of the gayeties +which they had heard were once so common at the old stone house. + +But in this they were disappointed, for Madam Conway was a proud, +unsociable woman, desiring no acquaintance whatever with her +neighbors, who, after many ineffectual attempts at something like +friendly intercourse, concluded to leave her entirely alone, and +contented themselves with watching the progress of matters at "Mill +Farm," as she designated the place, which soon began to show visible +marks of improvement. The Englishman was a man of taste, and Madam +Conway's first work was an attempt to restore the grounds to something +of their former beauty. The yard and garden were cleared of weeds, +the walks and flower-beds laid out with care, and then the neighbors +looked to see her cut away a few of the multitude of trees which had +sprung up around her home. But this she had no intention of doing. +"They shut me out," she said, "from the prying eyes of the vulgar, and +I would rather it should be so." So the trees remained, throwing their +long shadows upon the high, narrow windows, and into the large square +rooms, where the morning light and the noonday heat seldom found +entrance, and which seemed like so many cold, silent caverns, with +their old-fashioned massive furniture, their dark, heavy curtains, and +the noiseless footfall of the stately lady, who moved ever with the +same measured tread, speaking always softly and low to the household +servants, who, having been trained in her service, had followed her +across the sea. + +From these the neighbors learned that Madam Conway had in London +a married daughter, Mrs. Miller; that old Hagar Warren, the +strange-looking woman who more than anyone else shared her mistress' +confidence, had grown up in the family, receiving a very good +education, and had nursed their young mistress, Miss Margaret, which +of course entitled her to more respect than was usually bestowed upon +menials like her; that Madam Conway was very aristocratic, very proud +of her high English blood; that though she lived alone she attended +strictly to all the formalities of high life, dressing each day with +the utmost precision for her solitary dinner--dining off a service +of solid silver, and presiding with great dignity in her straight, +high-backed chair. She was fond, too, of the ruby wine, and her cellar +was stored with the choicest liquors, some of which she had brought +with her from home, while others, it was said, had belonged to +her grandfather, and for half a century had remained unseen and +unmolested, while the cobwebs of time had woven around them a misty +covering, making them still more valuable to the lady, who knew full +well how age improved such things. + +Regularly each day she rode in her ponderous carriage, sometimes alone +and sometimes accompanied by Hester, the daughter of old Hagar, a +handsome, intelligent-looking girl, who, after two or three years +of comparative idleness at Mill Farm, went to Meriden, Conn., as +seamstress in a family which had advertised for such a person. With +her departed the only life of the house, and during the following year +there ensued a monotonous quiet, which was broken at last for Hagar by +the startling announcement that her daughter's young mistress had died +four months before, and the husband, a gray-haired, elderly man, had +proved conclusively that he was in his dotage by talking of marriage +to Hester, who, ere the letter reached her mother, would probably be +the third bride of one whose reputed wealth was the only possible +inducement to a girl like Hester Warren. + +With an immense degree of satisfaction Hagar read the letter through, +exulting that fortune had favored her at last. Possessed of many +sterling qualities, Hagar Warren had one glaring fault, which had +imbittered her whole life. Why others were rich while she was poor she +could not understand, and her heart rebelled at the fate which had +made her what she was. + +But Hester would be wealthy--nay, would perhaps one day rival the +haughty Mrs. Miller across the water, who had been her playmate; there +was comfort in that, and she wrote to her daughter expressing her +entire approbation, and hinting vaguely of the possibility that she +herself might some time cease to be a servant, and help do the honors +of Mr. Hamilton's house! To this there came no reply, and Hagar was +thinking seriously of making a visit to Meriden, when one rainy +autumnal night, nearly a year after Hester's marriage, there came +another letter sealed with black. With a sad foreboding Hagar opened +it, and read that Mr. Hamilton had failed; that his house and farm +were sold, and that he, overwhelmed with mortification both at his +failure and the opposition of his friends to his last marriage, had +died suddenly, leaving Hester with no home in the wide world unless +Madam Conway received her again into her family. + +"Just my luck!" was Hagar's mental comment, as she finished reading +the letter and carried it to her mistress, who had always liked +Hester, and who readily consented to give her a home, provided she put +on no airs from having been for a time the wife of a reputed wealthy +man. "Mustn't put on airs!" muttered Hagar, as she left the room. +"Just as if airs wasn't for anybody but high bloods!" And with the +canker-worm of envy at her heart she wrote to Hester, who came +immediately; and Hagar--when she heard her tell the story of her +wrongs, how her husband's sister, indignant at his marriage with a +sewing-girl, had removed from him the children, one a stepchild and +one his own, and how of all his vast fortune there was not left for +her a penny--experienced again the old bitterness of feeling, and +murmured that fate should thus deal with her and hers. + +With the next day's mail there came to Madam Conway a letter bearing +a foreign postmark, and bringing the sad news that her son-in-law had +been lost in a storm while crossing the English Channel, and that +her daughter Margaret, utterly crushed and heartbroken, would sail +immediately for America, where she wished only to lay her weary head +upon her mother's bosom and die. + +"So there is one person that has no respect for blood, and that is +Death," said old Hagar to her mistress, when she heard the news. "He +has served us both alike, he has taken my son-in-law first and yours +next." + +Frowning haughtily, Madam Conway bade her be silent, telling her at +the same time to see that the rooms in the north part of the building +were put in perfect order for Mrs. Miller, who would probably come in +the next vessel. In sullen silence Hagar withdrew, and for several +days worked half reluctantly in the "north rooms," as Madam Conway +termed a comparatively pleasant, airy suite of apartments, with a +balcony above, which looked out upon the old mill-dam and the brook +pouring over it. + +"There'll be big doings when my lady comes," said Hagar one day to her +daughter. "It'll be Hagar here, and Hagar there, and Hagar everywhere, +but I shan't hurry myself. I'm getting too old to wait on a chit like +her." + +"Don't talk so, mother," said Hester. "Margaret was always kind to me. +She is not to blame for being rich, while I am poor." + +"But somebody's to blame," interrupted old Hagar. "You was always +accounted the handsomest and cleverest of the two, and yet for all +you'll be nothing but a drudge to wait on her and the little girl." + +Hester only sighed in reply, while her thoughts went forward to +the future and what it would probably bring her. Hester Warren and +Margaret Conway had been children together, and in spite of the +difference of their stations they had loved each other dearly; and +when at last the weary traveler came, with her pale sad face and +mourning garb, none gave her so heartfelt a welcome as Hester; and +during the week when, from exhaustion and excitement, she was confined +to her bed, it was Hester who nursed her with the utmost care, +soothing her to sleep, and then amusing the little Theo, a child +of two years. Hagar, too, softened by her young mistress' sorrow, +repented of her harsh words, and watched each night with the invalid, +who once, when her mind seemed wandering far back in the past, +whispered softly, "Tell me the Lord's prayer, dear Hagar, just as you +told it to me years ago when I was a little child." + +It was a long time since Hagar had breathed that prayer, but at Mrs. +Miller's request she commenced it, repeating it correctly until she +came to the words, "Give us this day our daily bread"; then she +hesitated, and bending forward said, "What comes next, Miss Margaret? +Is it 'Lead us not into temptation?" + +"Yes, yes," whispered the half-unconscious lady. "'Lead us not into +temptation,' that's it." Then, as if there were around her a dim +foreboding of the great wrong Hagar was to do, she took her old +nurse's hand between her own, and continued, "Say it often, Hagar, +'Lead us not into temptation'; you have much need for that prayer." + +A moment more, and Margaret Miller slept, while beside her sat Hagar +Warren, half shuddering, she knew not why, as she thought of her +mistress' words, which seemed to her so much like the spirit of +prophecy. + +"Why do I need that prayer more than anyone else?" she said at last. +"I have never been tempted more than I could bear--never shall be +tempted--and if I am, old Hagar Warren, bad as she is, can resist +temptation without that prayer." + +Still, reason as she would, Hagar could not shake off the strange +feeling, and as she sat half dozing in her chair, with the dim +lamplight flickering over her dark face, she fancied that the October +wind, sighing so mournfully through the locust trees beneath the +window, and then dying away in the distance, bore upon its wing, +"'Lead us not into temptation.' Hagar, you have much need to say that +prayer." + +Aye, Hagar Warren--much need, much need! + + + + +CHAPTER II + +HAGAR'S SECRET. + + +The wintry winds were blowing cold and chill around the old stone +house, and the deep untrodden snow lay highly piled upon the ground. +For many days the gray, leaden clouds had frowned gloomily down upon +the earth below, covering it with a thick veil of white. But the storm +was over now; with the setting sun it had gone to rest, and the pale +moonlight stole softly into the silent chamber, where Madam Conway +bent anxiously down to see if but the faintest breath came from the +parted lips of her only daughter. There had been born to her that +night another grandchild--a little, helpless girl, which now in an +adjoining room was Hagar's special care; and Hagar, sitting there with +the wee creature upon her lap, and the dread fear at her heart that +her young mistress might die, forgot for once to repine at her lot, +and did cheerfully whatever was required of her to do. + +There was silence in the rooms below--silence in the chambers +above,--silence everywhere,--for the sick woman seemed fast nearing +the deep, dark river whose waters move onward, but never return. + +Almost a week went by, and then, in a room far more humble than where +Margaret Miller lay, another immortal being was given to the world; +and, with a softened light in her keen black eyes, old Hagar told to +her stately mistress, when she met her on the stair, that she too was +a grandmother. + +"You must not on that account neglect Margaret's child," was Madam +Conway's answer, as with a wave of her hand she passed on; and this +was all she said--not a word of sympathy or congratulation for the +peculiar old woman whose heart, so long benumbed, had been roused to +a better state of feeling, and who in the first joy of her newborn +happiness had hurried to her mistress, fancying for the moment that +she was almost her equal. + +"Don't neglect Margaret's child for that!" How the words rang in her +ears as she fled up the narrow stairs and through the dark hall, till +the low room was reached where lay the babe for whom Margaret's child +was not to be neglected. All the old bitterness had returned, and as +hour after hour went by, and Madam Conway came not near, while the +physician and the servants looked in for a moment only and then +hurried away to the other sickroom, where all their services were kept +in requisition, she muttered: "Little would they care if Hester died +upon my hands. And she will die too," she continued, as by the fading +daylight she saw the pallor deepen on her daughter's face. + +And Hagar was right, for Hester's sands were nearer run than those of +Mrs. Miller. The utmost care might not, perhaps, have saved her; but +the matter was not tested; and when the long clock at the head of the +stairs struck the hour of midnight she murmured: "It is getting dark +here, mother--so dark--and I am growing cold. Can it be death?" + +"Yes, Hester, 'tis death," answered Hagar, and her voice was +unnaturally calm as she laid her hand on the clammy brow of her +daughter. + +An hour later, and Madam Conway, who sat dozing in the parlor below, +ready for any summons which might come from Margaret's room, was +roused by the touch of a cold, hard hand, and Hagar Warren stood +before her. + +"Come," she said, "come with me;" and, thinking only of Margaret, +Madam Conway arose to follow her. "Not there--but this way," said +Hagar, as her mistress turned towards Mrs. Miller's door, and grasping +firmly the lady's arm she led to the room where Hester lay dead, with +her young baby clasped lovingly to her bosom. "Look at her--and pity +me now, if you never did before. She was all I had in the world to +love," said Hagar passionately. + +Madam Conway was not naturally a hard-hearted woman, and she answered +gently: "I do pity you, Hagar, and I did not think Hester was so ill. +Why haven't you let me know?" To this Hagar made no direct reply, and +after a few more inquiries Madam Conway left the room, saying she +would send up the servants to do whatever was necessary. When it was +known throughout the house that Hester was dead much surprise was +expressed and a good deal of sympathy manifested for old Hagar, who, +with a gloomy brow, hugged to her heart the demon of jealousy, which +kept whispering to her of the difference there would be were Margaret +to die. It was deemed advisable to keep Hester's death a secret from +Mrs. Miller; so, with as little ceremony as possible, the body was +buried at the close of the day, in an inclosure which had been set +apart as a family burying-ground; and when again the night shadows +fell Hagar Warren sat in her silent room, brooding over her grief, and +looking oft at the plain pine cradle where lay the little motherless +child, her granddaughter. Occasionally, too, her eye wandered towards +the mahogany crib, where another infant slept. Perfect quiet seemed +necessary for Mrs. Miller, and Madam Conway had ordered her baby to +be removed from the antechamber where first it had been kept, so that +Hagar had the two children in her own room. + +In the pine cradle there was a rustling sound; the baby was awaking, +and taking it upon her lap Hagar soothed it again to sleep, gazing +earnestly upon it to see if it were like its mother. It was a bright, +healthy-looking infant, and though five days younger than that of Mrs. +Miller was quite as large and looked as old. + +"And you will be a drudge, while she will be a lady," muttered Hagar, +as her tears fell on the face of the sleeping child. "Why need this +difference be?" + +Old Hagar had forgotten the words "Lead us not into temptation"; and +when the Tempter answered, "It need not be," she only started suddenly +as if smitten by a heavy blow; but she did not drive him from her, and +she sat there reasoning with herself that "it need not be." Neither +the physician nor Madam Conway had paid any attention to Margaret's +child; it had been her special care, while no one had noticed hers, +and newly born babies were so much alike that deception was an easy +matter. But could she do it? Could she bear that secret on her soul? +Madam Conway, though proud, had been kind to her, and could she thus +deceive her! Would her daughter, sleeping in her early grave, approve +the deed. "No, no," she answered aloud, "she would not!" and the great +drops of perspiration stood thick upon her dark, haggard face as she +arose and laid back in her cradle the child whom she had thought to +make an heiress. + +For a time the Tempter left her, but returned ere long, and creeping +into her heart sung to her beautiful songs of the future which might +be were Hester's baby a lady. And Hagar, listening to that song, +fell asleep, dreaming that the deed was done by other agency than +hers--that the little face resting on the downy pillow, and shaded +by the costly lace, was lowly born; while the child wrapped in the +coarser blanket came of nobler blood, even that of the Conways, who +boasted more than one lordly title. With a nervous start she awoke +at last, and creeping to the cradle of mahogany looked to see if her +dream were true; but it was not. She knew it by the pinched, blue +look about the nose, and the thin covering of hair. This was all the +difference which even her eye could see, and probably no other person +had noticed that, for the child had never been seen save in a darkened +room. + +The sin was growing gradually less heinous, and she could now calmly +calculate the chances for detection. Still, the conflict was long and +severe, and it was not until morning that the Tempter gained a point +by compromising the matter, and suggesting that while dressing the +infants she should change their clothes for once, just to see how +fine cambrics and soft flannels would look upon a grandchild of Hagar +Warren! "I can easily change them again--it is only an experiment," +she said, as with trembling hands she proceeded to divest the children +of their wrappings. But her fingers seemed all thumbs, and more than +one sharp pin pierced the tender flesh of her little grandchild as she +fastened together the embroidered slip, teaching her thus early, had +she been able to learn the lesson, that the pathway of the rich is not +free from thorns. + +Their toilet was completed at last--their cradle beds exchanged; and +then, with a strange, undefined feeling, old Hagar stood back and +looked to see how the little usurper became her new position. She +became it well, and to Hagar's partial eyes it seemed more meet that +she should lie there beneath the silken covering than the other one, +whose nose looked still more pinched and blue in the plain white dress +and cradle of pine. Still, there was a gnawing pain at Hagar's heart, +and she would perhaps have undone the wrong had not Madam Conway +appeared with inquiries for the baby's health. Hagar could not face +her mistress, so she turned away and pretended to busy herself with +the arrangement of the room, while the lady, bending over the cradle, +said, "I think she is improving, Hagar; I never saw her look so well"; +and she pushed back the window curtain to obtain a better view. + +With a wild, startled look in her eye, Hagar held her breath to hear +what might come next, but her fears were groundless; for, in her +anxiety for her daughter, Madam Conway had heretofore scarcely seen +her grandchild, and had no suspicion now that the sleeper before her +was of plebeian birth, nor yet that the other little one, at whom she +did not deign to look, was bone of her bone and flesh of her flesh. +She started to leave the room, but, impelled by some sudden impulse, +turned back and stooped to kiss the child. Involuntarily old Hagar +sprang forward to stay the act, and grasped the lady's arm, but she +was too late; the aristocratic lips had touched the cheek of Hagar +Warren's grandchild, and the secret, if now confessed, would never be +forgiven. + +"It can't be helped," muttered Hagar, and then, when Mrs. Conway asked +an explanation of her conduct, she answered, "I was afraid you'd wake +her up, and mercy knows I've had worry enough with both the brats." + +Not till then had Madam Conway observed how haggard and worn was +Hagar's face, and instead of reproving her for her boldness she said +gently: "You have indeed been sorely tried! Shall I send up Bertha to +relieve you!" + +"No, no," answered Hagar hurriedly, "I am better alone." + +The next moment Madam Conway was moving silently down the narrow +hall, while Hagar on her knees was weeping passionately. One word of +kindness had effected more than a thousand reproaches would have done; +and wringing her hands she cried, "I will not do it; I cannot." + +Approaching the cradle, she was about to lift the child, when again +Madam Conway was at the door. She had come, she said, to take the babe +to Margaret, who seemed better this morning, and had asked to see it. + +"Not now, not now. Wait till I put on her a handsomer dress, and I'll +bring her myself," pleaded Hagar. + +But Madam Conway saw no fault in the fine cambric wrapper, and +taking the infant in her arms she walked away, while Hagar followed +stealthily. Very lovingly the mother folded to her bosom the babe, +calling it her fatherless one, and wetting its face with her tears, +while through the half-closed door peered Hagar's wild dark eyes--one +moment lighting up with exultation as she muttered, "It's my flesh, +my blood, proud lady!" and the next growing dim with tears, as she +thought of the evil she had done. + +"I did not know she had so much hair," said Mrs. Miller, parting the +silken locks. "I think it will be like mine," and she gave the child +to her mother, while Hagar glided swiftly back to her room. + +That afternoon the clergyman whose church Mrs. Conway usually +attended, called to see Mrs. Miller, who suggested that both the +children should receive the rite of baptism. Hagar was accordingly +bidden to prepare them for the ceremony, and resolving to make one +more effort to undo what she had done she dressed the child whom she +had thought to wrong in its own clothes, and then anxiously awaited +her mistress' coming. + +"Hagar Warren! What does this mean? Are you crazy!" sternly demanded +Madam Conway, when the old nurse held up before her the child with the +blue nose. + +"No, not crazy yet; but I shall be, if you don't take this one first," +answered Hagar. + +More than once that day Madam Conway had heard the servants hint that +Hagar's grief had driven her insane; and now when she observed the +unnatural brightness in her eyes, and saw what she had done, she too +thought it possible that her mind was partially unsettled; so she said +gently, but firmly: "This is no time for foolishness, Hagar. They are +waiting for us in the sickroom; so make haste and change the baby's +dress." + +There was something authoritative in her manner, and Hagar obeyed, +whispering incoherently to herself, and thus further confirming +her mistress' suspicions that she was partially insane. During the +ceremony she stood tall and erect like some dark, grim statue, her +hands firmly locked together, and her eyes fixed upon the face of +the little one who was baptized Margaret Miller. As the clergyman +pronounced that name she uttered a low, gasping moan, but her face +betrayed no emotion, and very calmly she stepped forward with the +other child upon her arm. + +"What name?" asked the minister; and she answered, "Her mother's; call +her for her mother!" + +"Hester," said Madam Conway, turning to the clergyman, who understood +nothing from Hagar's reply. + +So Hester was the name given to the child in whose veins the blood of +English noblemen was flowing; and when the ceremony was ended Hagar +bore back to her room Hester Hamilton, the child defrauded of her +birthright, and Maggie Miller, the heroine of our story. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +HESTER AND MAGGIE. + + +"It is over now," old Hagar thought, as she laid the children upon +their pillows. "The deed is done, and by their own hands too. There is +nothing left for me now but a confession, and that I cannot make;" so +with a heavy weight upon her soul she sat down, resolving to keep her +own counsel and abide the consequence, whatever it might be. + +But it wore upon her terribly,--that secret,--and though it helped +in a measure to divert her mind from dwelling too much upon her +daughter's death it haunted her continually, making her a strange, +eccentric woman whom the servants persisted in calling crazy, while +even Madam Conway failed to comprehend her. Her face, always dark, +seemed to have acquired a darker, harder look, while her eyes wore a +wild, startled expression, as if she were constantly followed by some +tormenting fear. At first Mrs. Miller objected to trusting her with +the babe; but when Madam Conway suggested that the woman who had +charge of little Theo should also take care of Maggie she fell upon +her knees and begged most piteously that the child might not be taken +from her. "Everything I have ever loved has left me," said she, "and I +cannot give her up." + +"But they say you are crazy," answered Madam Conway, somewhat +surprised that Hagar should manifest so much affection for a child not +at all connected to her. "They say you are crazy, and no one trusts a +crazy woman." + +"Crazy!" repeated Hagar half-scornfully; "crazy--'tis not +craziness--'tis the trouble--the trouble--that's killing me! But I'll +hide it closer than it's hidden now," she continued, "if you'll let +her stay; and 'fore Heaven I swear that sooner than harm one hair of +Maggie's head I'd part with my own life;" and taking the sleeping +child in her arms she stood like a wild beast at bay. + +Madam Conway did not herself really believe in Hagar's insanity. She +had heretofore been perfectly faithful to whatever was committed to +her care, so she bade her be quiet, saying they would trust her for a +time. + +"It's the talking to myself," said Hagar, when left alone. "It's the +talking to myself which makes them call me crazy; and though I might +talk to many a worse woman than old Hagar Warren, I'll stop it; I'll +be still as the grave, and when next they gossip about me it shall be +of something besides craziness." + +So Hagar became suddenly silent and uncommunicative, mingling but +little with the servants, but staying all day long in her room, where +she watched the children with untiring care. Especially was she kind +to Hester, who as time passed on proved to be a puny, sickly thing, +never noticing anyone, but moaning frequently as if in pain. Very +tenderly old Hagar nursed her, carrying her often in her arms until +they ached from very weariness, while Madam Conway, who watched her +with a vigilant eye, complained that she neglected little Maggie. + +"And what if I do?" returned Hagar somewhat bitterly. "Aint there a +vast difference between the two? S'pose Hester was your own flesh and +blood, would you think I could do too much for the poor thing?" And +she glanced compassionately at the poor wasted form which lay upon her +lap, gasping for breath, and presenting a striking contrast to little +Maggie, who in her cradle was crowing and laughing in childish glee at +the bright firelight which blazed upon the hearth. + +Maggie was indeed a beautiful child. From her mother she had inherited +the boon of perfect health, and she throve well in spite of the bumped +heads and pinched fingers which frequently fell to her lot, when Hagar +was too busy with the feeble child to notice her. The plaything of the +whole house, she was greatly petted by the servants, who vied with +each other in tracing points of resemblance between her and the +Conways; while the grandmother prided herself particularly on the +arched eyebrows and finely cut upper lip, which she said were sure +marks of high blood, and never found in the lower ranks! With a +scornful expression on her face, old Hagar would listen to these +remarks, and then, when sure that no one heard her, she would mutter: +"Marks of blood! What nonsense! I'm almost glad I've solved the +riddle, and know 'taint blood that makes the difference. Just tell +her the truth once, and she'd quickly change her mind. Hester's blue, +pinched nose, which makes one think of fits, would be the very essence +of aristocracy, while Maggie's lip would come of the little Paddy +blood there is running in her veins!" + +And still Madam Conway herself was not one-half so proud of the +bright, playful Maggie as was old Hagar, who, when they were alone, +would hug her to her bosom, and gaze fondly on her fair, round face +and locks of silken hair, so like those now resting in the grave. In +the meantime Mrs. Miller, who since her daughter's birth, had never +left her room, was growing daily weaker, and when Maggie was nearly +nine months old she died, with the little one folded to her bosom, +just as Hester Hamilton had held it when she too passed from earth. + +"Doubly blessed," whispered old Hagar, who was present, and then when +she remembered that to poor little Hester a mother's blessing would +never be given she felt that her load of guilt was greater than she +could bear. "She will perhaps forgive me if I confess it to her +over Miss Margaret's coffin," she thought; and once when they stood +together by the sleeping dead, and Madam Conway, with Maggie in her +arms, was bidding the child kiss the clay-cold lips of its mother, old +Hagar attempted to tell her. "Could you bear Miss Margaret's death as +well," she said, "if Maggie, instead of being bright and playful +as she is, were weak and sick like Hester?" and her eyes fastened +themselves upon Madam Conway with an agonizing intensity which that +lady could not fathom. "Say, would you bear it as well--could you love +her as much--would you change with me, take Hester for your own, and +give me little Maggie?" she persisted, and Madam Conway, surprised +at her excited manner, which she attributed in a measure to envy, +answered coldly: "Of course not. Still, if God had seen fit to give me +a child like Hester, I should try to be reconciled, but I am thankful +he has not thus dealt with me." + +"'Tis enough. I am satisfied," thought Hagar. "She would not thank me +for telling her. The secret shall be kept;" and half exultingly she +anticipated the pride she should feel in seeing her granddaughter +grown up a lady and an heiress. + +Anon, however, there came stealing over her a feeling of remorse, as +she reflected that the child defrauded of its birthright would, if it +lived, be compelled to serve in the capacity of a servant; and many a +night, when all else was silent in the old stone house, she paced up +and down the room, her long hair, now fast turning gray, falling over +her shoulders, and her large eyes dimmed with tears, as she thought +what the future would bring to the infant she carried in her arms. + +But the evil she so much dreaded never came, for when the winter snows +were again falling they made a little grave beneath the same pine tree +where Hester Hamilton lay sleeping, and, while they dug that grave, +old Hagar sat, with folded arms and tearless eyes, gazing fixedly upon +the still white face and thin blue lips which would never again be +distorted with pain. Her habit of talking to herself had returned, and +as she sat there she would at intervals whisper: "Poor little babe! I +would willingly have cared for you all my life, but I am glad you +are gone to Miss Margaret, who, it may be, will wonder what little +thin-faced angel is calling her mother! But somebody'll introduce you, +somebody'll tell her who you are, and when she knows how proud her +mother is of Maggie she'll forgive old Hagar Warren!" + +"Gone stark mad!" was the report carried by the servants to their +mistress, who believed the story when Hagar herself came to her with +the request that Hester might be buried in some of Maggie's clothes. + +Touched with pity by her worn, haggard face, Madam Conway answered, +"Yes, take some of her common ones," and, choosing the cambric robe +which Hester had worn on the morning when the exchange was made, Hagar +dressed the body for the grave. When at last everything was ready, +and the tiny coffin stood upon the table, Madam Conway drew near and +looked for a moment on the emaciated form which rested quietly from +all its pain. Hovering at her side was Hagar, and feeling it her duty +to say a word of comfort the stately lady remarked that it was best +the babe should die; that were it her grandchild she should feel +relieved; for had it lived, it would undoubtedly have been physically +and intellectually feeble. + +"Thank you! I am considerably comforted," was the cool reply of Hagar, +who felt how cruel were the words, and who for a moment was strongly +tempted to claim the beautiful Maggie as her own, and give back to the +cold, proud woman the senseless clay on which she looked so calmly. + +But love for her grandchild conquered. There was nothing in the way of +her advancement now, and when at the grave she knelt her down to weep, +as the bystanders thought, over her dead, she was breathing there a +vow that never so long as she lived should the secret of Maggie's +birth be given to the world unless some circumstance then unforeseen +should make it absolutely and unavoidably necessary. To see Maggie +grow up into a beautiful, refined, and cultivated woman was now the +great object of Hagar's life; and, fearing lest by some inadvertent +word or action the secret should be disclosed, she wished to live by +herself, where naught but the winds of heaven could listen to the +incoherent whisperings which made her fellow-servants accuse her of +insanity. + +Down in the deepest shadow of the woods, and distant from the old +stone house nearly a mile, was a half-ruined cottage which, years +before, had been occupied by miners, who had dug in the hillside +for particles of yellow ore which they fancied to be gold. Long and +frequent were the night revels said to have been held in the old hut, +which had at last fallen into bad repute and been for years deserted. +To one like Hagar, however, there was nothing intimidating in its +creaking old floors, its rattling windows and noisome chimney, where +the bats and the swallows built their nests; and when one day Madam +Conway proposed giving little Maggie into the charge of a younger and +less nervous person than herself she made no objection, but surprised +her mistress by asking permission to live by herself in the "cottage +by the mine," as it was called. + +"It is better for me to be alone," said she, "for I may do something +terrible if I stay here, something I would sooner die than do," and +her eyes fell upon Maggie sleeping in her cradle. + +This satisfied Madam Conway that the half-crazed woman meditated harm +to her favorite grandchild, and she consented readily to her +removal to the cottage, which by her orders was made comparatively +comfortable. For several weeks, when she came, as she did each day, to +the house, Madam Conway kept Maggie carefully from her sight, until at +last she begged so hard to see her that her wish was gratified; and +as she manifested no disposition whatever to molest the child, Madam +Conway's fears gradually subsided, and Hagar was permitted to fondle +and caress her as often as she chose. + +Here now, for a time, we leave them; Hagar in her cottage by the mine; +Madam Conway in her gloomy home; Maggie in her nurse's arms; and Theo, +of whom as yet but little has been said, playing on the nursery floor; +while with our readers we pass silently over a period of time which +shall bring us to Maggie's girlhood. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +GIRLHOOD. + + +Fifteen years have passed away, and around the old stone house there +is outwardly no change. The moss still clings to the damp, dark wall, +just as it clung there long ago, while the swaying branches of the +forest trees still cast their shadows across the floor, or scream to +the autumn blast, just as they did in years gone by, when Hagar Warren +breathed that prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." Madam Conway, +stiff and straight and cold as ever, moves with the same measured +tread through her gloomy rooms, which are not as noiseless now as they +were wont to be, for girlhood--joyous, merry girlhood--has a home in +those dark rooms, and their silence is broken by the sound of other +feet, not moving stealthily and slow, as if following in a funeral +train, but dancing down the stairs, tripping through the halls, +skipping across the floor, and bounding over the grass, they go, never +tiring, never ceasing, till the birds and the sun have gone to rest. + +And do what she may, the good lady cannot check the gleeful mirth, or +hush the clear ringing laughter of one at least of the fair maidens, +who, since last we looked upon them, have grown up to womanhood. +Wondrously beautiful is Maggie Miller now, with her bright sunny face, +her soft dark eyes and raven hair, so glossy and smooth that her +sister, the pale-faced, blue-eyed Theo, likens it to a piece of +shining satin. Now, as ever, the pet and darling of the household, she +moves among them like a ray of sunshine; and the servants, when they +hear her bird-like voice waking the echoes of the weird old place, +pause in their work to listen, blessing Miss Margaret for the joy and +gladness her presence has brought them. + +Old Hagar, in her cottage by the mine, has kept her secret well, +whispering it only to the rushing wind and the running brook, which +have told no tales to the gay, light-hearted girl, save to murmur +in her ear that a life untrammeled by etiquette and form would be a +blissful life indeed. And Maggie, listening to the voices which speak +to her so oft in the autumn wind, the running brook, the opening +flower, and the falling leaf, has learned a lesson different far from +those taught her daily by the prim, stiff governess, who, imported +from England six years ago, has drilled both Theo and Maggie in all +the prescribed rules of high life as practiced in the Old World. She +has taught them how to sit and how to stand, how to eat and how to +drink, as becomes young ladies of Conway blood and birth. And Madam +Conway, through her golden spectacles, looks each day to see some good +from all this teaching come to the bold, dashing, untamable Maggie, +who, spurning birth and blood alike, laughs at form and etiquette as +taught by Mrs. Jeffrey, and, winding her arms around her grandmother's +neck, crumples her rich lace ruffle with a most unladylike hug, and +then bounds away to the stables, pretending not to hear the distressed +Mrs. Jeffrey calling after her not to run, "it is so Yankeefied and +vulgar"; or if she did hear, answering back, "I am a Yankee, native +born, and shall run for all Johnny Bull!" + +Greatly horrified at this evidence of total depravity, Mrs. Jeffrey +brushes down her black silk apron and goes back to Theo, her more +tractable pupil; while Maggie, emerging ere long from the stable, +clears the fence with one leap of her high-mettled pony, which John, +the coachman, had bought at an enormous price, of a traveling circus, +on purpose for his young mistress, who complained that grandma's +horses were all too lazy and aristocratic in their movements for her. + +In perfect amazement Madam Conway looked out when first Gritty, as the +pony was called, was led up to the door, prancing, pawing, chafing at +the bit, and impatient to be off. "Margaret shall never mount that +animal," she said; but Margaret had ruled for sixteen years, and now, +at a sign from John, she sprang gayly upon the back of the fiery +steed, who, feeling instinctively that the rider he carried was a +stranger to fear, became under her training perfectly gentle, obeying +her slightest command, and following her ere long like a sagacious +dog. Not thus easily could Madam Conway manage Maggie, and with a +groan she saw her each day fly over the garden gate and out into the +woods, which she scoured in all directions. + +"She'll break her neck, I know," the disturbed old lady would say, as +Maggie's flowing skirt and waving plumes disappeared in the shadow of +the trees. "She'll break her neck some day;" and thinking someone must +be in fault, her eyes would turn reprovingly upon Mrs. Jeffrey for +having failed in subduing Maggie, whom the old governess pronounced +the "veriest madcap" in the world. "There is nothing like her in all +England," she said; "and her low-bred ways must be the result of her +having been born on American soil." + +If Maggie was to be censured, Madam Conway chose to do it herself; and +on such occasions she would answer: "'Low-bred,' Mrs. Jeffrey, is not +a proper term to apply to Margaret. She's a little wild, I admit, but +no one with my blood in their veins can be low-bred;" and, in her +indignation at the governess, Madam would usually forget to reprove +her granddaughter when she came back from her ride, her cheeks flushed +and her eyes shining like stars with the healthful exercise. Throwing +herself upon a stool at her grandmother's feet, Maggie would lay her +head upon the lap of the proud lady, who very lovingly would smooth +the soft, shining hair, "so much like her own," she said. + +"Before you had to color it, you mean, don't you, grandma?" the +mischievous Maggie would rejoin, looking up archly to her grandmother, +who would call her a saucy child, and stroke still more fondly the +silken locks. + +Wholly unlike Maggie was Theo, a pale-faced, fair-haired girl, who was +called pretty, when not overshadowed by the queenly presence of her +more gifted sister. And Theo was very proud of this sister, too; proud +of the beautiful Maggie, to whom, though two years her junior, she +looked for counsel, willing always to abide by her judgment; for what +Maggie did must of course be right, and grandma would not scold. So if +at any time Theo was led into error, Maggie stood ready to bear the +blame, which was never very severe, for Mrs. Jeffrey had learned +not to censure her too much, lest by so doing she should incur the +displeasure of her employer, who in turn loved Maggie, if it were +possible, better than the daughter whose name she bore, and whom +Maggie called her mother. Well kept and beautiful was the spot where +that mother lay, and the grave was marked by a costly marble which +gleamed clear and white through the surrounding evergreens. This was +Maggie's favorite resort, and here she often sat in the moonlight, +musing of one who slept there, and who, they said, had held her on her +bosom when she died. + +At no great distance from this spot was another grave, where the grass +grew tall and green, and where the headstone, half sunken in the +earth, betokened that she who rested there was of humble origin. Here +Maggie seldom tarried long. The place had no attraction for her, for +rarely now was the name of Hester Hamilton heard at the old stone +house, and all save one seemed to have forgotten that such as she had +ever lived. This was Hagar Warren, who in her cottage by the mine has +grown older and more crazy-like since last we saw her. Her hair, once +so much like that which Madam Conway likens to her own, has bleached +as white as snow, and her tall form is shriveled now, and bent. The +secret is wearing her life away, and yet she does not regret what she +has done. She cannot, when she looks upon the beautiful girl who comes +each day to her lonely hut, and whom she worships with a species of +wild idolatry. Maggie knows not why it is, and yet to her there is a +peculiar fascination about that strange old woman, with her snow-white +hair, her wrinkled face, her bony hand, and wild, dark eyes, which, +when they rest on her, have in them a look of unutterable tenderness. + +Regularly each day, when the sun nears the western horizon, Maggie +steals away to the cottage, and the lonely woman, waiting for her on +the rude bench by the door, can tell her bounding footstep from all +others which pass that way. She does not say much now herself; but the +sound of Maggie's voice, talking to her in the gathering twilight, is +the sweetest she has ever heard; and so she sits and listens, while +her hands work nervously together, and her whole body trembles with a +longing, intense desire to clasp the young girl to her bosom and claim +her as her own. But this she dare not do, for Madam Conway's training +has had its effect, and in Maggie's bearing there is ever a degree of +pride which forbids anything like undue familiarity. And it was this +very pride which Hagar liked to see, whispering often to herself, +"Warren blood and Conway airs--the two go well together." + +Sometimes a word or a look would make her start, they reminded her so +forcibly of the dead; and once she said involuntarily: "You are like +your mother, Maggie. Exactly what she was at your age." + +"My mother!" answered Maggie. "You never talked to me of her; tell me +of her now. I did not suppose I was like her in anything." + +"Yes, in everything," said old Hagar; "the same dark eyes and hair, +the same bright red cheeks, the same--" + +"Why, Hagar, what can you mean?" interrupted Maggie. "My mother had +light blue eyes and fair brown hair, like Theo. Grandma says I am +not like her at all, while old Hannah, the cook, when she feels +ill-natured and wishes to tease me, says I am the very image of Hester +Hamilton." + +"And what if you are? What if you are?" eagerly rejoined old Hagar. +"Would you feel badly to know you looked like Hester?" and the old +woman bent anxiously forward to hear the answer: "Not for myself, +perhaps, provided Hester was handsome, for I think a good deal of +beauty, that's a fact; but it would annoy grandma terribly to have me +look like a servant. She might fancy I was Hester's daughter, for she +wonders every day where I get my low-bred ways, as she calls my liking +to sing and laugh and be natural." + +"And s'posin' Hester was your mother, would you care?" persisted +Hagar. + +"Of course I should," answered Maggie, her large eyes opening wide at +the strange question. "I wouldn't for the whole world be anybody +but Maggie Miller, just who I am. To be sure, I get awfully out of +patience with grandma and Mrs. Jeffrey for talking so much about birth +and blood and family, and all that sort of nonsense, but after all I +wouldn't for anything be poor and work as poor folks do." + +"I'll never tell her, never," muttered Hagar; and Maggie continued: +"What a queer habit you have of talking to yourself. Did you always do +so?" + +"Not always. It came upon me with the secret," Hagar answered +inadvertently; and eagerly catching at the last word, which to her +implied a world of romance and mystery, Maggie exclaimed: "The secret, +Hagar, the secret! If there's anything I delight in it's a secret!" +and, sliding down from the rude bench to the grass-plat at Hagar's +feet, she continued: "Tell it to me, Hagar, that's a dear old woman. +I'll never tell anybody as long as I live. I won't, upon my word," +she continued, as she saw the look of horror resting on Hagar's face; +"I'll help you keep it, and we'll have such grand times talking it +over. Did it concern yourself?" and Maggie folded her arms upon the +lap of the old woman, who answered in a voice so hoarse and unnatural +that Maggie involuntarily shuddered, "Old Hagar would die inch by inch +sooner than tell you, Maggie Miller, her secret." + +"Was it, then, so dreadful?" asked Maggie half fearfully, and casting +a stealthy glance at the dim woods, where the night shadows were +falling, and whose winding path she must traverse alone on her +homeward route. "Was it, then, so dreadful?" + +"Yes, dreadful, dreadful; and yet, Maggie, I have sometimes wished +you knew it. You would forgive me, perhaps. If you knew how I was +tempted," said Hagar, and her voice was full of yearning tenderness, +while her bony fingers parted lovingly the shining hair from off the +white brow of the young girl, who pleaded again, "Tell it to me, +Hagar." + +There was a fierce struggle in Hagar's bosom, but the night wind, +moving through the hemlock boughs, seemed to say, "Not yet--not yet"; +and, remembering her vow, she answered: "Leave me, Maggie Miller, I +cannot tell you the secret. You of all others. You would hate me for +it, and that I could not bear. Leave me alone, or the sight of you, so +beautiful, pleading for my secret, will kill me dead." + +There was command in the tones of her voice, and rising to her feet +Maggie walked away, with a dread feeling at her heart, a feeling which +whispered vaguely to her of a deed of blood--for what save this +could thus affect old Hagar? Her road home led near the little +burying-ground, and impelled by something she could not resist she +paused at her mother's grave. The moonlight was falling softly upon +it; and, seating herself within the shadow of the monument, she sat +a long time thinking, not of the dead, but of Hagar and the strange +words she had uttered. Suddenly, from the opposite side of the +graveyard, there came a sound as of someone walking; and, looking +up, Maggie saw approaching her the bent figure of the old woman, who +seemed unusually excited. Her first impulse was to fly, but knowing +how improbable it was that Hagar should seek to do her harm, and +thinking she might discover some clew to the mystery if she remained, +she sat still, while, kneeling on Hester's grave, old Hagar wept +bitterly, talking the while, but so incoherently that Maggie could +distinguish nothing save the words, "You, Hester, have forgiven me." + +"Can it be that she has killed her own child!" thought Maggie, and +starting to her feet she stood face to face with Hagar, who screamed: +"You here, Maggie Miller!--here with the others who know my secret! +But you shan't wring it from me. You shall never know it, unless the +dead rise up to tell you." + +"Hagar Warren," said Margaret sternly, "is murder your secret? Did +Hester Hamilton die at her mother's hands?" + +With a short gasping moan, Hagar staggered backward a pace or two, and +then, standing far more erect than Margaret had ever seen her before, +she answered: "No, Maggie Miller, no; murder is not my secret. These +hands," and she tossed in the air her shriveled arms, "these hands are +as free from blood as yours. And now go. Leave me alone with my dead, +and see that you tell no tales. You like secrets, you say. Let what +you have heard to-night be _your_ secret. Go." + +Maggie obeyed, and walked slowly homeward, feeling greatly relieved +that her suspicion was false, and experiencing a degree of +satisfaction in thinking that she too had a secret, which she would +guard most carefully from her grandmother and Theo. "She would never +tell them what she had seen and heard--never!" + +Seated upon the piazza were Madam Conway and Theo, the former of whom +chided her for staying so late at the cottage, while Theo asked what +queer things the old witch-woman had said to-night. + +With a very expressive look, which seemed to say, "I know, but I +shan't tell," Maggie seated herself at her grandmother's feet, and +asked how long Hagar had been crazy. "Did it come upon her when her +daughter died?" she inquired; and Madam Conway answered: "Yes, about +that time, or more particularly when the baby died. Then she began to +act so strangely that I removed you from her care, for, from something +she said, I fancied she meditated harm to you." + +For a moment Maggie sat wrapped in thought--then clapping her hands +together she exclaimed: "I have it; I know now what ails her! She felt +so badly to see you happy with me that she tried to poison me. She +said she was sorely tempted--and that's the secret which is killing +her." + +"Secret! What secret?" cried Theo; and, womanlike, forgetting her +resolution not to tell, Maggie told what she had seen and heard, +adding it as her firm belief that Hagar had made an attempt upon her +life. + +"I would advise you for the future to keep away from her, then," said +Madam Conway, to whom the suggestion seemed a very probable one. + +But Maggie knew full well that whatever Hagar might once have thought +to do, there was no danger to be apprehended from her now, and the +next day found her as usual on her way to the cottage. Bounding into +the room where the old woman sat at her knitting, she exclaimed: "I +know what it is! I know your secret!" + +There was a gathering mist before Hagar's eyes, and her face was +deathly white, as she gasped: "You know the secret! How? Where? Have +the dead come back to tell? Did anybody see me do it?" + +"Why, no," answered Maggie, beginning to grow a little mystified. "The +dead have nothing to do with it. You tried to poison me when I was a +baby, and that's what makes you crazy. Isn't it so? Grandma thought it +was, when I told her how you talked last night." + +There was a heavy load lifted from Hagar's heart, and she answered +calmly, but somewhat indignantly, "So you told--I thought I could +trust you, Maggie." + +Instantly the tears came to Maggie's eyes, and, coloring crimson, she +said: "I didn't mean to tell--indeed I didn't, but I forgot all about +your charge. Forgive me, Hagar, do," and, sinking on the floor, +she looked up in Hagar's face so pleadingly that the old woman was +softened, and answered gently: "You are like the rest of your sex, +Margaret. No woman but Hagar Warren ever kept a secret; and it's +killing her, you see!" + +"Don't keep it, then," said Maggie. "Tell it to me. Confess that you +tried to poison me because you envied grandma," and the soft eyes +looked with an anxious, expectant expression into the dark, wild orbs +of Hagar, who replied: "Envy was at the bottom of it all, but I never +tried to harm you, Margaret, in any way. I only thought to do you +good. You have not guessed it. You cannot, and you must not try." + +"Tell it to me, then. I want to know it so badly," persisted Maggie, +her curiosity each moment increasing. + +"Maggie Miller," said old Hagar, and the knitting dropped from her +fingers, which moved slowly on till they reached and touched the +little snowflake of a hand resting on her knee--"Maggie Miller, if +you knew that the telling of that secret would make you perfectly +wretched, would you wish to hear it?" + +For a moment Maggie was silent, and then, half laughingly, she +replied: "I'd risk it, Hagar, for I never wanted to know anything half +so bad in all my life. Tell it to me, won't you?" + +Very beautiful looked Maggie Miller then--her straw flat set jauntily +on one side of her head, her glossy hair combed smoothly back, her +soft lustrous eyes shining with eager curiosity, and her cheeks +flushed with excitement. Very, very beautiful she seemed to the old +woman, who, in her intense longing to take the bright creature to her +bosom, was, for an instant, sorely tempted. + +"Margaret!" she began, and at the sound of her voice the young girl +shuddered involuntarily. "Margaret!" she said again; but ere another +word was uttered the autumn wind, which for the last half-hour had +been rising rapidly, came roaring down the wide-mouthed chimney, and +the heavy fireboard fell upon the floor with a tremendous crash, +nearly crushing old Hagar's foot, and driving for a time all thoughts +of the secret from Maggie's mind. "Served me right," muttered Hagar, +as Maggie left the room for water with which to bathe the swollen +foot. "Served me right; and if ever I'm tempted to tell her again may +every bone in my body be smashed!" + +The foot was carefully cared for, Maggie's own hands tenderly +bandaging it up; and then with redoubled zeal she returned to +the attack, pressing old Hagar so hard that the large drops of +perspiration gathered thickly about her forehead and lips, which were +white as ashes. Wearied at last, Maggie gave it up for the time being, +but her curiosity was thoroughly aroused, and for many days she +persisted in her importunity, until at last, in self-defense, old +Hagar, when she saw her coming, would steal away to the low-roofed +chamber, and, hiding behind a pile of rubbish, would listen +breathlessly while Margaret hunted for her in vain. Then when she was +gone she would crawl out from her hiding-place, covered with cobwebs +and dust, and mutter to herself: "I never expected this, and it's more +than I can bear. Why will she torment me so, when a knowledge of the +secret would drive her mad!" + +This, however, Maggie Miller did not know. Blessed with an uncommon +degree of curiosity, which increased each time she saw old Hagar, she +resolved to solve the mystery, which she felt sure was connected with +herself, though in what manner she could not guess. "But I _will_ +know," she would say to herself when returning from a fruitless +quizzing of old Hagar, whose hiding-place she had at last discovered; +"I _will_ know what 'tis about me. I shall never be quite happy till I +do." + +Ah, Maggie, Maggie, be happy while you can, and leave the secret +alone! It will come to you soon enough--aye, soon enough! + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +TRIFLES. + + +Very rapidly the winter passed away, and one morning early in March +Maggie went down to the cottage with the news that Madam Conway was +intending to start immediately for England, where she had business +which would probably detain her until fall. + +"Oh, won't I have fun in her absence!" she cried. "I'll visit every +family in the neighborhood. Here she's kept Theo and me caged up like +two wild animals, and now I am going to see a little of the world. I +don't mean to study a bit, and instead of visiting you once a day I +shall come at least three times." + +"Lord help me!" ejaculated old Hagar, who, much as she loved Maggie, +was beginning to dread her daily visits. + +"Why do you want help?" asked Maggie laughingly. "Are you tired of me, +Hagar? Don't you like me any more?" + +"Like you, Maggie Miller!--like you!" repeated old Hagar, and in the +tones of her voice there was a world of tenderness and love. "There +is nothing on earth I love as I do you. But you worry me to death +sometimes." + +"Oh, yes, I know," answered Maggie; "but I'm not going to tease you +for a while. I shall have so much else to do when grandma is gone that +I shall forget it. I wish she wasn't so proud," she continued, after a +moment. "I wish she'd let Theo and me see a little more of the world +than she does. I wonder how she ever expects us to get married, or be +anybody, if she keeps us here in the woods like young savages. Why, as +true as you live, Hagar, I have never been anywhere in my life, except +to church Sundays, once to Douglas' store in Worcester, once to Patty +Thompson's funeral, and once to a Methodist camp-meeting; and I never +spoke to more than a dozen men besides the minister and the school +boys! It's too bad!" and Maggie pouted quite becomingly at the +injustice done her by her grandmother in keeping her thus secluded. +"Theo don't care," she said. "She is prouder than I am, and does not +wish to know the Yankees, as grandma calls the folks in this country; +but I'm glad I am a Yankee. I wouldn't live in England for anything." + +"Why don't your grandmother take you with her?" asked Hagar, who in a +measure sympathized with Maggie for being thus isolated. + +"She says we are too young to go into society," answered Maggie. "It +will be time enough two years hence, when I am eighteen and Theo +twenty. Then I believe she intends taking us to London, where we can +show off our accomplishments, and practice that wonderful courtesy +which Mrs. Jeffrey has taught us. I dare say the queen will be +astonished at our qualifications;" and with a merry laugh, as she +thought of the appearance she should make at the Court of St. James, +Maggie leaped on Gritty's back and bounded away, while Hagar looked +wistfully after her, saying as she wiped the tears from her eyes: +"Heaven bless the girl! She might sit on the throne of England any +day, and Victoria wouldn't disgrace herself at all by doing her +reverence, even if she be a child of Hagar Warren." + +As Maggie had said, Madam Conway was going to England. At first she +thought of taking the young ladies with her, but, thinking they were +hardly old enough yet to be emancipated from the schoolroom, she +decided to leave them under the supervision of Mrs. Jeffrey, whose +niece she promised to bring with her on her return to America. Upon +her departure she bade Theo and Maggie a most affectionate adieu, +adding: + +"Be good girls while I am away, keep in the house, mind Mrs. Jeffrey, +and don't fall in love." + +This last injunction came involuntarily from the old lady, to whom +the idea of their falling in love was quite as preposterous as to +themselves. + +"Fall in love!" repeated Maggie, when her tears were dried, and she +with Theo was driving slowly home. "What could grandma mean! I wonder +who there is for us to love, unless it be John the coachman, or Bill +the gardener. I almost wish we could get in love though, just to see +how 'twould seem, don't you?" she continued. + +"Not with anybody here," answered Theo, her nose slightly elevated at +the thought of people whom she had been educated to despise. + +"Why not here as well as elsewhere?" asked Maggie. "I don't see any +difference. But grandma needn't be troubled, for such things as men's +boots never come near our house. It's a shame, though," she continued, +"that we don't know anybody, either male or female. Let's go down to +Worcester some day, and get acquainted. Don't you remember the two +handsome young men whom we saw five years ago in Douglas' store, and +how they winked at each other when grandma ran down their goods and +said there were not any darning needles fit to use this side of the +water?" + +On most subjects Theo's memory was treacherous, but she remembered +perfectly well the two young men, particularly the taller one, who had +given her a remnant of blue ribbon which he said was just the color +of her eyes. Still, the idea of going to Worcester did not strike her +favorably. "She wished Worcester would come to them," she said, "but +she should not dare to go there. They would surely get lost. Grandma +would not like it, and Mrs. Jeffrey would not let them go, even if +they wished." + +"A fig for Mrs. Jeffrey," said Maggie. "I shan't mind her much. I'm +going to have a real good time, doing as I please, and if you are wise +you'll have one too." + +"I suppose I shall do what you tell me to--I always do," answered Theo +submissively, and there the conversation ceased. + +Arrived at home they found dinner awaiting them, and Maggie, when +seated, suggested to Mrs. Jeffrey that she should give them a vacation +of a few weeks, just long enough for them to get rested and visit the +neighbors. But this Mrs. Jeffrey refused to do. + +She had her orders to keep them at their books, she said, and "study +was healthful"; at the same time she bade them be in the schoolroom on +the morrow. There was a wicked look in Maggie's eyes, but her tongue +told no tales, and when next morning she went with Theo demurely to +the schoolroom she seemed surprised at hearing from Mrs. Jeffrey that +every book had disappeared from the desk where they were usually kept; +and though the greatly disturbed and astonished lady had sought for +them nearly an hour, they were not to be found. + +"Maggie has hidden them, I know," said Theo, as she saw the +mischievous look on her sister's face. + +"Margaret wouldn't do such a thing, I'm sure," answered Mrs. Jeffrey, +her voice and manner indicating a little doubt, however, as to the +truth of her assertion. + +But Maggie had hidden them, and no amount of coaxing could persuade +her to bring them back. "You refused me a vacation when I asked for +it," she said, "so I'm going to have it perforce;" and, playfully +catching up the little dumpy figure of her governess, she carried her +out upon the piazza, and, seating her in a large easy-chair, bade her +take snuff, and comfort too, as long as she liked. + +Mrs. Jeffrey knew perfectly well that Maggie in reality was mistress +of the house, that whatever she did Madam Conway would ultimately +sanction; and as a rest was by no means disagreeable, she yielded +with a good grace, dividing her time between sleeping, snuffing, and +dressing, while Theo lounged upon the sofa and devoured some musty old +novels which Maggie, in her rummaging, had discovered. + +Meanwhile Maggie kept her promise of visiting the neighbors, and +almost every family had something to say in praise of the merry, +light-hearted girl of whom they had heretofore known but little. Her +favorite recreation, however, was riding on horseback, and almost +every day she galloped through the woods and over the fields, usually +terminating her ride with a call upon old Hagar, whom she still +continued to tease unmercifully for the secret, and who was glad when +at last an incident occurred which for a time drove all thoughts of +the secret from Maggie's mind. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE JUNIOR PARTNER. + + +One afternoon towards the middle of April, when Maggie as usual was +flying through the woods, she paused for a moment beneath the shadow +of a sycamore while Gritty drank from a small running brook. The pony +having quenched his thirst, she gathered up her reins for a fresh +gallop, when her ear caught the sound of another horse's hoofs; and, +looking back, she saw approaching her at a rapid rate a gentleman whom +she knew to be a stranger. Not caring to be overtaken, she chirruped +to the spirited Gritty, who, bounding over the velvety turf, left the +unknown rider far in the rear. + +"Who can she be?" thought the young man, admiring the utter +fearlessness with which she rode; then, feeling a little piqued, as he +saw how the distance between them was increasing, he exclaimed, "Be +she woman, or be she witch, I'll overtake her"; and, whistling to his +own fleet animal, he too dashed on at a furious rate. + +"Trying to catch me, are you?" thought Maggie. "I'd laugh to see you +do it." And entering at once into the spirit of the race, she rode +on for a time with headlong speed--then, by way of tantalizing her +pursuer, she paused for a moment until he had almost reached her, when +at a peculiar whistle Gritty sprang forward, while Maggie's mocking +laugh was borne back to the discomfited young man, whose interest in +the daring girl increased each moment. It was a long, long chase she +led him, over hills, across plains, and through the grassy valley, +until she stopped at last within a hundred yards of the deep, narrow +gorge through which the mill-stream ran. + +"I have you now," thought the stranger, who knew by the dull, roaring +sound of the water that a chasm lay between him and the opposite bank. + +But Maggie had not yet half displayed her daring feats of +horsemanship, and when he came so near that his waving brown locks and +handsome dark eyes were plainly discernible, she said to herself: "He +rides tolerably well. I'll see how good he is at a leap," and, setting +herself more firmly in the saddle, she patted Gritty upon the neck. +The well-trained animal understood the signal, and, rearing high in +the air, was fast nearing the bank, when the young man, suspecting her +design, shrieked out: "Stop, lady, stop! It's madness to attempt it." + +"Follow me if you can," was Maggie's defiant answer, and the next +moment she hung in mid-air over the dark abyss. + +Involuntarily the young man closed his eyes, while his ear listened +anxiously for the cry which would come next. But Maggie knew full well +what she was doing. She had leaped that narrow gorge often, and now +when the stranger's eyes unclosed she stood upon the opposite bank, +caressing the noble animal which had borne her safely there. + +"It shall never be said that Henry Warner was beaten by a schoolgirl," +muttered the stranger. "If she can clear that, I can, bad rider as I +am!" and burying his spurs deep in the sides of his horse, he pressed +on while Maggie held her breath in fear, for she knew that without +practice no one could do what she had done. + +There was a partially downward plunge--a fierce struggle on the +shelving bank, where the animal had struck a few feet from the +top--then the steed stood panting on terra firma, while a piercing +shriek broke the deep silence of the wood, and Maggie's cheeks +blanched to a marble hue. The rider, either from dizziness or fear, +had fallen at the moment the horse first struck the bank, and from the +ravine below there came no sound to tell if yet he lived. + +"He's dead; he's dead!" cried Maggie. "'Twas my own foolishness which +killed him," and springing from Gritty's back she gathered up her long +riding skirt and glided swiftly down the bank, until she came to a +wide, projecting rock, where the stranger lay, motionless and still, +his white face upturned to the sunlight, which came stealing down +through the overhanging boughs. In an instant she was at his side, and +his head was resting on her lap, while her trembling fingers parted +back from his pale brow the damp mass of curling hair. + +"The fall alone would not kill him," she said, as her eye measured the +distance, and then she looked anxiously round for water with which to +bathe his face. + +But water there was none, save in the stream below, whose murmuring +flow fell mockingly on her ears, for it seemed to say she could not +reach it. But Maggie Miller was equal to any emergency, and venturing +out to the very edge of the rock she poised herself on one foot, and +looked down the dizzy height to see if it were possible to descend. + +"I can try at least," she said, and glancing at the pale face of the +stranger unhesitatingly resolved to attempt it. + +The descent was less difficult than she had anticipated, and in an +incredibly short space of time she was dipping her pretty velvet cap +in the brook, whose sparkling foam had never before been disturbed by +the touch of a hand as soft and fair as hers. To ascend was not so +easy a matter; but, chamois-like, Maggie's feet trod safely the +dangerous path, and she soon knelt by the unconscious man, bathing his +forehead in the clear cold water, until he showed signs of returning +life. His lips moved slowly at last, as if he would speak; and Maggie, +bending low to catch the faintest sound, heard him utter the name of +"Rose." In Maggie's bosom there was no feeling for the stranger save +that of pity, and yet that one word "Rose" thrilled her with a strange +undefinable emotion, awaking at once a yearning desire to know +something of her who bore that beautiful name, and who to the young +man was undoubtedly the one in all the world most dear. + +"Rose," he said again, "is it you?" and his eyes, which opened slowly, +scanned with an eager, questioning look the face of Maggie, who, +open-hearted and impulsive as usual, answered somewhat sadly: "I am +nobody but Maggie Miller. I am not Rose, though I wish I was, if you +would like to see her." + +The tones of her voice recalled the stranger's wandering mind, and he +answered: "Your voice is like Rose, but I would rather see you, Maggie +Miller. I like your fearlessness, so unlike most of your sex. Rose is +far more gentle, more feminine than you, and if her very life depended +upon it she would never dare leap that gorge." + +The young man intended no reproof; but Maggie took his words as such, +and for the first time in her life began to think that possibly her +manner was not always as womanly as might be. At all events, she was +not like the gentle Rose, whom she instantly invested with every +possible grace and beauty, wishing that she herself was like her +instead of the wild madcap she was. Then, thinking that her conduct +required some apology, she answered, as none save one as fresh and +ingenuous as Maggie Miller would have answered: "I don't know any +better than to behave as I do. I've always lived in the woods--have +never been to school a day in my life--never been anywhere except to +camp-meeting, and once to Douglas' store in Worcester!" + +This was entirely a new phase of character to the man of the world, +who laughed aloud, and at the mention of Douglas' store started so +quickly that a spasm of pain distorted his features, causing Maggie to +ask if he were badly hurt. + +"Nothing but a broken leg," he answered; and Maggie, to whose mind +broken bones conveyed a world of pain and suffering, replied: "Oh, I +am so sorry for you! and it's my fault, too. Will you forgive me?" and +her hands clasped his so pleadingly that, raising himself upon his +elbow so as to obtain a better view of her bright face, he answered, +"I'd willingly break a hundred bones for the sake of meeting a girl +like you, Maggie Miller." + +Maggie was unused to flattery, save as it came from her grandmother, +Theo, or old Hagar, and now paying no heed to his remark she said: +"Can you stay here alone while I go for help? Our house is not far +away." + +"I'd rather you would remain with me," he replied; "but as you cannot +do both, I suppose you must go." + +"I shan't be gone long, and I'll send old Hagar to keep you company." +So saying, Maggie climbed the bank, and, mounting Gritty, who stood +quietly awaiting her, seized the other horse by the bridle and rode +swiftly away, leaving the young man to meditate upon the novel +situation in which he had so suddenly been placed. + +"Aint I in a pretty predicament!" said he, as he tried in vain to move +his swollen limb, which was broken in two places, but which being +partially benumbed did not now pain him much. "But it serves me right +for chasing a harum-scarum thing when I ought to have been minding my +own business and collecting bills for Douglas & Co. And she says she's +been there, too. I wonder who she is, the handsome sprite. I believe I +made her more than half jealous talking of my golden-haired Rose; but +she is far more beautiful than Rose, more beautiful than anyone I ever +saw. I wish she'd come back again," and, shutting his eyes, he tried +to recall the bright, animated face which had so lately bent anxiously +above him. "She tarries long," he said at last, beginning to grow +uneasy. "I wonder how far it is; and where the deuce can this old +Hagar be, of whom she spoke?" + +"She's here," answered a shrill voice, and looking up he saw before +him the bent form of Hagar Warren, at whose door Maggie had paused for +a moment while she told of the accident and begged of Hagar to hasten. + +Accordingly, equipped with a blanket and pillow, a brandy bottle and +camphor, old Hagar had come, but when she offered the latter for the +young man's acceptance he pushed it from him, saying that camphor was +his detestation, but he shouldn't object particularly to smelling of +the other bottle! + +"No, you don't," said Hagar, who thought him in not quite so +deplorable a condition as she had expected to find him. "My creed is +never to give young folks brandy except in cases of emergency." So +saying, she made him more comfortable by placing a pillow beneath his +head; and then, thinking possibly that this to herself was a "case of +emergency," she withdrew to a little distance, and sitting down upon +the gnarled roots of an upturned tree drank a swallow of the old +Cognac, while the young man, maimed and disabled, looked wistfully at +her. + +Not that he cared for the brandy, of which he seldom tasted; but he +needed something to relieve the deathlike faintness which occasionally +came over him, and which old Hagar, looking only at his mischievous +eyes, failed to observe. Only those who knew Henry Warner intimately +gave him credit for many admirable qualities he really possessed--so +full was he of fun. It was in his merry eyes and about his quizzically +shaped mouth that the principal difficulty lay; and most persons, +seeing him for the first time, fancied that in some way he was making +sport of them. This was old Hagar's impression, as she sat there in +dignified silence, rather enjoying, than otherwise, the occasional +groans which came from his white lips. There were intervals, however, +when he was comparatively free from pain, and these he improved by +questioning her with regard to Maggie, asking who she was and where +she lived. + +"She is Maggie Miller, and she lives in a house," answered the old +woman rather pettishly. + +"Ah, indeed--snappish, are you?" said the young man, attempting to +turn himself a little, the better to see his companion. "Confound that +leg!" he continued, as a fierce twinge gave him warning not to try +many experiments. "I know her name is Maggie Miller, and I supposed +she lived in a house; but who is she, anyway, and what is she?" + +"If you mean is she anybody, I can answer that question quick," +returned Hagar. "She calls Madam Conway her grandmother, and Madam +Conway came from one of the best families in England--that's who she +is; and as to what she is, she's the finest, handsomest, smartest girl +in America; and as long as old Hagar Warren lives no city chap with +strapped-down pantaloons and sneering mouth is going to fool with her +either!" + +"Confound my mouth--it's always getting me into trouble!" thought the +stranger, trying in vain to smooth down the corners of the offending +organ, which in spite of him would curve with what Hagar called a +sneer, and from which there finally broke a merry laugh, sadly at +variance with the suffering expression of his face. + +"Your leg must hurt you mightily, the way you go on," muttered Hagar; +and the young man answered: "It does almost murder me, but when a +laugh is in a fellow he can't help letting it out, can he? But where +the plague can that witch of a--I beg your pardon, Mrs. Hagar," he +added hastily, as he saw the frown settling on the old woman's face, +"I mean to say where can Miss Miller be? I shall faint away unless she +comes soon, or you give me a taste of the brandy!" + +This time there was something in the tone of his voice which prompted +Hagar to draw near, and she was about to offer him the brandy when +Maggie appeared, together with three men bearing a litter. The sight +of her produced a much better effect upon him than Hagar's brandy +would have done, and motioning the old woman aside he declared himself +ready to be removed. + +"Now, John, do pray be careful and not hurt him much!" cried Maggie, +as she saw how pale and faint he was, while even Hagar forgot the +curled lip, which the young man bit until the blood started through, +so intense was his agony when they lifted him upon the litter. "The +camphor, Hagar, the camphor!" said Maggie; and the stranger did not +push it aside when her hand poured it on his head, but the laughing +eyes, now dim with pain, smiled gratefully upon her, and the quivering +lips once murmured as she walked beside him, "Heaven bless you, Maggie +Miller!" + +Arrived at Hagar's cottage, the old woman suggested that he be carried +in there, saying as she met Maggie's questioning glance, "I can take +care of him better than anyone else." + +The pain by this time was intolerable, and scarcely knowing what he +said the stranger whispered, "Yes, yes, leave me here." + +For a moment the bearers paused, while Maggie, bending over the +wounded man, said softly: "Can't you bear it a little longer, until +our house is reached? You'll be more comfortable there. Grandma has +gone to England, and I'll take care of you myself!" + +This last was perfectly in accordance with Maggie's frank, impulsive +character, and it had the desired effect. Henry Warner would have +borne almost death itself for the sake of being nursed by the young +girl beside him, and he signified his willingness to proceed, while at +the same time his hand involuntarily grasped that of Maggie, as if in +the touch of her snowy fingers there were a mesmeric power to soothe +his pain. In the meantime a hurried consultation had been held between +Mrs. Jeffrey and Theo as to the room suitable for the stranger to be +placed in. + +"It's not likely he is much," said Theo; "and if grandma were here I +presume she would assign him the chamber over the kitchen. The wall +is low on one side, I know, but I dare say he is not accustomed to +anything better." + +Accordingly several articles of stray lumber were removed from the +chamber, which the ladies arranged with care, and which when completed +presented quite a respectable appearance. But Maggie had no idea of +putting her guest, as she considered him, in the kitchen chamber; and +when, as the party entered the house, Mrs. Jeffrey, from the head of +the stairs, called out, "This way, Maggie; tell them to come this +way," she waved her aside, and led the way to a large airy room over +the parlor, where, in a high, old-fashioned bed, surrounded on all +sides by heavy damask curtains, they laid the weary stranger. The +village surgeon arriving soon after, the fractured bones were set, and +then, as perfect quiet seemed necessary, the room was vacated by all +save Maggie, who glided noiselessly around the apartment, while the +eyes of the sick man followed her with eager, admiring glances, so +beautiful she looked to him in her new capacity of nurse. + +Henry Warner, as the stranger was called, was the junior partner of +the firm of Douglas & Co., Worcester, and his object in visiting the +Hillsdale neighborhood was to collect several bills which for a long +time had been due. He had left the cars at the depot, and, hiring a +livery horse, was taking the shortest route from the east side of town +to the west, when he came accidentally upon Maggie Miller, and, as we +have seen, brought his ride to a sudden close. All this he told to her +on the morning following the accident, retaining until the last the +name of the firm of which he was a member. + +"And you were once at our store?" he said. "How long ago?" + +"Five years," answered Maggie; "when I was eleven, and Theo thirteen;" +then, looking earnestly at him, she exclaimed. "And you are the very +one, the clerk with the saucy eyes whom grandma disliked so much +because she thought he made fun of her; but we didn't think so--Theo +and I," she added hastily, as she saw the curious expression on +Henry's mouth, and fancied he might be displeased. "We liked them both +very much, and knew they must of course be annoyed with grandma's +English whims." + +For a moment the saucy eyes studied intently the fair girlish face of +Maggie Miller, then slowly closed, while a train of thought something +like the following passed through the young man's mind: "A woman, and +yet a perfect child--innocent and unsuspecting as little Rose herself. +In one respect they are alike, knowing no evil and expecting none; and +if I, Henry Warner, do aught by thought or deed to injure this young +girl may I never again look on the light of day or breathe the air of +heaven." + +The vow had passed his lips. Henry Warner never broke his word, and +henceforth Maggie Miller was as safe with him as if she had been +an only and well-beloved sister. Thinking him to be asleep, Maggie +started to leave the room, but he called her back, saying, "Don't go; +stay with me, won't you?" + +"Certainly," she answered, drawing a chair to the bedside. "I supposed +you were sleeping." + +"I was not," he replied. "I was thinking of you and of Rose. Your +voices are much alike. I thought of it yesterday when I lay upon the +rock." + +"Who is Rose?" trembled on Maggie's lips, while at the sound of that +name she was conscious of the same undefinable emotion she had once +before experienced. But the question was not asked. "If she were +his sister he would tell me," she thought; "and if she is not his +sister--" + +She did not finish the sentence, neither did she understand that if +Rose to him was something dearer than a sister, she, Maggie Miller, +did not care to know it. + +"Is she beautiful as her name, this Rose?" she asked at last. + +"She is beautiful, but not so beautiful as you. There are few who +are," answered Henry; and his eyes fixed themselves upon Maggie to see +how she would bear the compliment. + +But she scarcely heeded it, so intent was she upon knowing something +more of the mysterious Rose. "She is beautiful, you say. Will you tell +me how she looks?" she continued; and Henry Warner answered, "She is a +frail, delicate little creature, almost dwarfish in size, but perfect +in form and feature." + +Involuntarily Maggie shrunk back in her chair, wishing her own queenly +form had been a very trifle shorter, while Mr. Warner continued, "She +has a sweet, angel face, Maggie, with eyes of lustrous blue and curls +of golden hair." + +"You must love her very dearly," said Maggie, the tone of her voice +indicating a partial dread of what the answer might be. + +"I do indeed love her," was Mr. Warner's reply--"love her better than +all the world beside. And she has made me what I am; but for her I +should have been a worthless, dissipated fellow. It's my natural +disposition; but Rose has saved me, and I almost worship her for it. +She is my good angel--my darling--my--" + +Here he paused abruptly, and leaning back upon his pillows rather +enjoyed than otherwise the look of disappointment plainly visible on +Maggie's face. She had fully expected to learn who Rose was; but this +knowledge he purposely kept from her. It did not need a very close +observer of human nature to read at a glance the ingenuous Maggie, +whose speaking face betrayed all she felt. She was unused to the +world. He was the first young gentleman whose acquaintance she had +ever made, and he knew that she already felt for him a deeper interest +than she supposed. To increase this interest was his object, and this +he thought to do by withholding from her, for a time, a knowledge of +the relation existing between him and the Rose of whom he had talked +so much. The ruse was successful, for during the remainder of the day +thoughts of the golden-haired Rose were running through Maggie's mind, +and it was late that night ere she could compose herself to sleep, so +absorbed was she in wondering what Rose was to Henry Warner. Not that +she cared particularly, she tried to persuade herself; but she would +very much like to be at ease upon the subject. + +To Theo she had communicated the fact that their guest was a partner +of Douglas & Co., and this tended greatly to raise the young man in +the estimation of a young lady like Theo Miller. Next to rank and +station, money was with her the one thing necessary to make a person +"somebody." Douglas, she had heard, was an immensely wealthy man; +possibly the junior partner was wealthy, too; and if so, the parlor +chamber to which she had at first objected was none too good for his +aristocratic bones. She would go herself and see him in the morning. + +Accordingly, on the morning of the second day she went with Maggie to +the sickroom, speaking to the stranger for the first time; but keeping +still at a respectable distance, until she should know something +definite concerning him. + +"We have met before, it seems," he said, after the first interchange +of civilities was over; "but I did not think our acquaintance would be +renewed in this manner." + +No answer from Theo, who, like many others, had taken a dislike to his +mouth, and felt puzzled to know whether he intended ridiculing her or +not. + +"I have a distinct recollection of your grandmother," he continued, +"and now I think of it I believe Douglas has once or twice mentioned +the elder of the two girls. That must be you?" and he looked at Theo, +whose face brightened perceptibly. + +"Douglas," she repeated. "He is the owner of the store; and the one I +saw, with black eyes and black hair, was only a clerk." + +"The veritable man himself!" cried Mr. Warner. "George Douglas, the +senior partner of the firm, said by some to be worth two hundred +thousand dollars, and only twenty-eight years old, and the best fellow +in the world, except that he pretends to dislike women." + +By this time Theo's proud blue eyes shone with delight, and when, +after a little further conversation, Mr. Warner expressed a wish to +write to his partner, she brought her own rosewood writing desk for +him to use, and then, seating herself by the window, waited until the +letter was written. + +"What shall I say for you, Miss Theo?" he asked, near the close; and, +coloring slightly, she answered, "Invite him to come out and see you." + +"Oh, that will be grand!" cried Maggie, who was far more enthusiastic, +though not more anxious, than her sister. + +Of her Henry Warner did not ask any message. He would not have written +it had she sent one; and folding the letter, after adding Theo's +invitation, he laid it aside. + +"I must write to Rose next," he said; "'tis a whole week since I have +written, and she has never been so long without hearing from me." + +Instantly there came a shadow over Maggie's face, while Theo, less +scrupulous, asked who Rose was. + +"A very dear friend of mine," said Henry; and, as Mrs. Jeffrey just +then sent for Theo, Maggie was left with him alone. + +"Wait one moment," she said, as she saw him about to commence the +letter. "Wait till I bring you a sheet of gilt-edged paper. It is more +worthy of Rose, I fancy, than the plainer kind." + +"Thank you," he said. "I will tell her of your suggestion." + +The paper was brought, and then seating herself by the window Maggie +looked out abstractedly, seeing nothing, and hearing nothing save the +sound of the pen, as it wrote down words of love for the gentle Rose. +It was not a long epistle; and, as at the close of the Douglas letter +he had asked a message from Theo, so now at the close of this he +claimed one from Maggie. + +"What shall I say for you?" he asked; and, coming toward him, Margaret +answered, "Tell her I love her, though I don't know who she is!" + +"Why have you never asked me?" queried Henry; and, coloring crimson, +Maggie answered hesitatingly, "I thought you would tell me if you +wished me to know." + +"Read this letter, and that will explain who she is," the young man +continued, offering the letter to Maggie, who, grasping it eagerly, +sat down opposite, so that every motion of her face was clearly +visible to him. + +The letter was as follows: + +"MY DARLING LITTLE ROSE: Do you fancy some direful calamity has +befallen me, because I have not written to you for more than a week? +Away with your fears, then, for nothing worse has come upon me than a +badly broken limb, which will probably keep me a prisoner here for two +months or more. Now don't be frightened, Rosa. I am not crippled for +life, and even if I were I could love you just the same, while you, +I'm sure, would love me more. + +"As you probably know, I left Worcester on Tuesday morning for the +purpose of collecting some bills in this neighborhood. Arrived at +Hillsdale I procured a horse, and was sauntering leisurely through +the woods, when I came suddenly upon a flying witch in the shape of a +beautiful young girl. She was the finest rider I ever saw; and such a +chase as she led me, until at last, to my dismay, she leaped across a +chasm down which a nervous little creature like you would be afraid to +look. Not wishing to be outdone, I followed her, and as a matter of +course broke my bones. + +"Were it not that the accident will somewhat incommode Douglas, and +greatly fidget you, I should not much regret it, for to me there is a +peculiar charm about this old stone house and its quaint surroundings. +But the greatest charm of all, perhaps, lies in my fair nurse, Maggie +Miller, for whom I risked my neck. You two would be fast friends in a +moment, and yet you are totally dissimilar, save that your voices are +much alike. + +"Write to me soon, dear Rose, and believe me ever + +"Your affectionate brother, + +"HENRY." + +"Oh!" said Maggie, catching her breath, which for a time had been +partially suspended, "Oh!" and in that single monosyllable there was +to the young man watching her a world of meaning. "She's your sister, +this little Rose," and the soft dark eyes flashed brightly upon him. + +"What did you suppose her to be?" he asked, and Maggie answered, "I +thought she might be your wife, though I should rather have her for a +sister if I were you." + +The young man smiled involuntarily, thinking to himself how his +fashionable city friends would be shocked at such perfect frankness, +which meant no more than their own studied airs. + +"You are a good girl, Maggie," he said at last, "and I wouldn't for +the world deceive you; Rose is my step-sister. We are in no way +connected save by marriage, still I love her all the same. We were +brought up together by a lady who is aunt to both, and Rose seems to +me like an own dear sister. She has saved me from almost everything. I +once loved the wine cup; but her kindly words and gentle influence won +me back, so that now I seldom taste it. And once I thought to run away +to sea, but Rose found it out, and, meeting me at the gate, persuaded +me to return. It is wonderful, the influence she has over me, keeping +my wild spirits in check; and if I am ever anything I shall owe it all +to her." + +"Does she live in Worcester?" asked Maggie; and Henry answered: "No; +in Leominster, which is not far distant. I go home once a month; and +I fancy I can see Rose now, just as she looks when she comes tripping +down the walk to meet me, her blue eyes shining like stars and her +golden curls blowing over her pale forehead. She is very, very frail; +and sometimes when I look upon her the dread fear steals over me that +there will come a time, ere long, when I shall have no sister." + +There were tears in Maggie's eyes, tears for the fair young girl whom +she had never seen, and she felt a yearning desire to look on the +beautiful face of her whom Henry called his sister. "I wish she would +come here; I want to see her," she said at last; and Henry replied: +"She does not go often from home. But I have her daguerreotype in +Worcester. I'll write to Douglas to bring it," and opening the letter, +which was not yet sealed, he added a few lines. "Come, Maggie," he +said, when this was finished, "you need exercise. Suppose you ride +over to the office with these letters?" + +Maggie would rather have remained with him; but she expressed her +willingness to go, and in a few moments was seated on Gritty's back +with the two letters clasped firmly in her hand. At one of these, the +one bearing the name of Rose Warner, she looked often and wistfully; +it was a most beautiful name, she thought, and she who bore it was +beautiful too. And then there arose within her a wish--shadowy and +undefined to herself, it is true; but still a wish--that she, Maggie +Miller, might one day call that gentle Rose her sister. "I shall see +her sometimes, anyway," she thought, "and this George Douglas, too. I +wish they'd visit us together;" and having by this time reached the +post-office she deposited the letters and galloped rapidly toward +home. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE SENIOR PARTNER. + + +The establishment of Douglas & Co. was closed for the night. The +clerks had gone each to his own home; old Safford, the poor relation, +the man-of-all-work, who attended faithfully to everything, groaning +often and praying oftener over the careless habits of "the boys," as +he called the two young men, his employers, had sought his comfortless +bachelor attic, where he slept always with one ear open, listening for +any burglarious sound which might come from the store below, and which +had it come to him listening thus would have frightened him half +to death. George Douglas, too, the senior partner of the firm, had +retired to his own room, which was far more elegantly furnished than +that of the old man in the attic, and now in a velvet easy-chair he +sat reading the letter from Hillsdale, which had arrived that evening, +and a portion of which we subjoin for the reader's benefit. + +After giving an account of his accident, and the manner in which it +occurred, Warner continued: + +"They say 'tis a mighty bad wind which blows no one any good, and so, +though I verily believe I suffer all a man can suffer with a broken +bone, yet when I look at the fair face of Maggie Miller I feel that +I would not exchange this high old bed, to enter which needs a short +ladder, even for a seat by you on that three-legged stool behind the +old writing-desk. I never saw anything like her in my life. Everything +she thinks, she says, and as to flattering her, it can't be done. I've +told her a dozen times at least that she was beautiful, and she didn't +mind it any more than Rose does when I flatter her. Still, I fancy if +I were to talk to her of love it might make a difference, and perhaps +I shall ere I leave the place. + +"You know, George, I have always insisted there was but one female in +the world fit to be a wife, and as that one was my sister I should +probably never have the pleasure of paying any bills for Mrs. Henry +Warner; but I've half changed my mind, and I'm terribly afraid this +Maggie Miller, not content with breaking my bones, has made sad work +with another portion of the body, called by physiologists the heart. +I don't know how a man feels when he is in love; but when this Maggie +Miller looks me straight in the face with her sunshiny eyes, while her +little soft white hand pushes back my hair (which, by the way, I slyly +disarrange on purpose), I feel the blood tingle to the ends of my +toes, and still I dare not hint such a thing to her. 'Twould frighten +her off in a moment, and she'll send in her place either an old hag of +a woman called Hagar, or her proud sister Theo, whom I cannot endure. + +"By the way, George, this Theo will just suit you, who are fond of +aristocracy. She's proud as Lucifer; thinks because she was born +in England, and sprang from a high family, that there is no one in +America worthy of her ladyship's notice, unless indeed they chance to +have money. You ought to have seen how her eyes lighted up when I told +her you were said to be worth two hundred thousand dollars! She told +me directly to invite you out here, and this, I assure you, was a +good deal for her to do. So don your best attire, not forgetting the +diamond cross, and come for a day or two. Old Safford will attend to +the store. It's what he was made for, and he likes it. But as I am a +Warner, so shall I do my duty and warn you not to meddle with Maggie. +She is my own exclusive property, and altogether too good for a +worldly fellow like you. Theo will suit you better. She's just +aristocratic enough in her nature. I don't see how the two girls come +to be so wholly unlike as they are. Why, I'd sooner take Maggie for +Rose's sister than for Theo's! + +"Bless me, I had almost forgotten to ask if you remember that stiff +old English woman with the snuff-colored satin who came to our store +some five years ago, and found so much fault with Yankee goods, as she +called them? If you have forgotten her, you surely remember the +two girls in flats, one of whom seemed so much distressed at her +grandmother's remarks. She, the distressed one, was Maggie; the other +was Theo; and the old lady was Madam Conway, who, luckily for me, +chances at this time to be in England, buying up goods, I presume. +Maggie says that this trip to Worcester, together with a camp-meeting +held in the Hillsdale woods last year, is the extent of her travels, +and one would think so to see her. A perfect child of nature, full +of fun, beautiful as a Hebe, and possessing the kindest heart in the +world. If you wish to know more of her come and see for yourself; but +again I warn you, hands off; nobody is to flirt with her but myself, +and it is very doubtful whether even I can do it peaceably, for +that old Hagar, who, by the way, is a curious specimen, gave me to +understand when I lay on the rock, with her sitting by, as a sort of +ogress, that so long as she lived no city chap with strapped pants (do +pray, bring me a pair, George, without straps!) and sneering mouth was +going to fool with Margaret Miller. + +"So you see my mouth is at fault again. Hang it all, I can't imagine +what ails it, that everybody should think I'm making fun of them. +Even old Safford mutters about my making mouths at him when I haven't +thought of him in a month! Present my compliments to the old gentleman +and tell him one of 'the boys' thinks seriously of following his +advice, which you know is 'to sow our wild oats and get a wife.' Do, +pray, come, for I am only half myself without you. + +"Yours in the brotherhood, + +"HENRY WARNER." + +For a time after reading the above George Douglas sat wrapped in +thought, then bursting into a laugh as he thought how much the letter +was like the jovial, light-hearted fellow who wrote it, he put it +aside, and leaning back in his chair mused long and silently, not of +Theo, but of Maggie, half wishing he were in Warner's place instead of +being there in the dusty city. But as this could not be, he contented +himself with thinking that at some time not far distant he would visit +the old stone house--would see for himself this wonderful Maggie--and, +though he had been warned against it, would possibly win her from +his friend, who, unconsciously perhaps, had often crossed his path, +watching him jealously lest he should look too often and too long upon +the fragile Rose, blooming so sweetly in her bird's-nest of a home +among the tall old trees of Leominster. + +"But he need not fear," he said somewhat bitterly, "he need not fear +for her, for it is over now. She has refused me, this Rose Warner, and +though it touched my pride to hear her tell me no, I cannot hate her +for it. She had given her love to another, she said, and Warner is +blind or crazy that he does not see the truth. But it is not for me to +enlighten him. He may call her sister if he likes, though there is +no tie of blood between them. I'd far rather it would be thus, than +something nearer;" and, slowly rising up, George Douglas retired to +dream of a calm, almost heavenly face which but the day before had +been bathed in tears as he told to Rose Warner the story of his love. +Mingled, too, with that dream was another face, a laughing, sparkling, +merry face, upon which no man ever yet had looked and escaped with a +whole heart. + +The morning light dispelled the dream, and when in the store old +Safford inquired, "What news from the boy?" the senior partner +answered gravely that he was lying among the Hillsdale hills, with a +broken leg caused by a fall from his horse. + +"Always was a careless rider," muttered old Safford, mentally +deploring the increased amount of labor which would necessarily fall +upon him, but which he performed without a word of complaint. + +The fair May blossoms were faded, and the last June roses were +blooming ere George Douglas found time or inclination to accept the +invitation indirectly extended to him by Theo Miller. Rose Warner's +refusal had affected him more than he chose to confess, and the wound +must be slightly healed ere he could find pleasure in the sight of +another. Possessed of many excellent qualities, he had unfortunately +fallen into the error of thinking that almost anyone whom he should +select would take him for his money. And when Rose Warner, sitting by +his side in the shadowy twilight, had said, "I cannot be your wife," +the shock was sudden and hard to bear. But the first keen bitterness +was over now, and remembering "the wild girls of the woods," as he +mentally styled both Theo and Maggie, he determined at last to see +them for himself. + +Accordingly, on the last day of June he started for Hillsdale, where +he intended to remain until after the Fourth. To find the old house +was an easy matter, for almost everyone in town was familiar with its +locality, and towards the close of the afternoon he found himself +upon its broad steps applying vigorous strokes to the ponderous brass +knocker, and half hoping the summons would be answered by Maggie +herself. But it was not, and in the bent, white-haired woman who came +with measured footsteps we recognize old Hagar, who spent much of her +time at the house, and who came to the door in compliance with the +request of the young ladies, both of whom, from an upper window, were +curiously watching the stranger. + +"Just the old witch one would expect to find in this out-of-the-way +place," thought Mr. Douglas, while at the same time he asked if that +were Madam Conway's residence, and if a young man by the name of +Warner were staying there. + +"Another city beau!" muttered Hagar, as she answered in the +affirmative, and ushered him into the parlor. "Another city +beau--there'll be high carryings-on now, if he's anything like the +other one, who's come mighty nigh turning the house upside down." + +"What did you say?" asked George Douglas, catching the sound of her +muttering, and thinking she was addressing himself. + +"I wasn't speaking to you. I was talking to a likelier person," +answered old Hagar in an undertone, as she shuffled away in quest of +Henry Warner, who by this time was able to walk with the help of a +cane. + +The meeting between the young men was a joyful one, for though George +Douglas was a little sore on the subject of Rose, he would not suffer +a matter like that to come between him and Henry Warner, whom he had +known and liked from boyhood. Henry's first inquiries were naturally +of a business character, and then George Douglas spoke of the young +ladies, saying he was only anxious to see Maggie, for he knew of +course he should dislike the other. + +Such, however, is wayward human nature that the fair, pale face, and +quiet, dignified manner of Theo Miller had greater attractions for a +person of George Douglas' peculiar temperament than had the dashing, +brilliant Maggie. There was a resemblance, he imagined, between Theo +and Rose, and this of itself was sufficient to attract him towards +her. Theo, too, was equally pleased; and when, that evening, Madam +Jeffrey faintly interposed her fast-departing authority, telling her +quondam pupils it was time they were asleep, Theo did not, as usual, +heed the warning, but sat very still beneath the vine-wreathed +portico, listening while George Douglas told her of the world which +she had never seen. She was not proud towards him, for he possessed +the charm of money, and as he looked down upon her, conversing with +him so familiarly, he wondered how Henry could have called her cold +and haughty--she was merely dignified, high-bred, he thought; and +George Douglas liked anything which savored of aristocracy. + +Meanwhile Henry and Maggie had wandered to a little summer-house, +where, with the bright moonlight falling upon them, they sat together, +but not exactly as of old, for Maggie did not now look up into his +face as she was wont to do, and if she thought his eye was resting +upon her she moved uneasily, while the rich blood deepened on her +cheek. A change has come over Maggie Miller; it is the old story, +too--old to hundreds of thousands, but new to her, the blushing +maiden. Theo calls her nervous--Mrs. Jeffrey calls her sick--the +servants call her mighty queer--while old Hagar, hovering ever near, +and watching her with a jealous eye, knows she is in love. + +Faithfully and well had Hagar studied Henry Warner, to see if there +were aught in him of evil; and though he was not what she would have +chosen for the queenly Maggie she was satisfied if Margaret loved him +and he loved Margaret. But did he? He had never told her so; and +in Hagar Warren's wild black eyes there was a savage gleam, as she +thought, "He'll rue the day that he dares trifle with Maggie Miller." + +But Henry Warner was not trifling with her. He was only waiting a +favorable opportunity for telling her the story of his love; and now, +as they sit together in the moonlight, with the musical flow of the +mill-stream falling on his ear, he essays to speak--to tell how she +has grown into his heart; to ask her to go with him where he goes; to +make his home her home, and so be with him always; but ere the first +word was uttered Maggie asked if Mr. Douglas had brought the picture +of his sister. + +"Why, yes," he answered; "I had forgotten it entirely. Here it is;" +and taking it from his pocket he passed it to her. + +It was a face of almost ethereal loveliness that through the moonlight +looked up to Maggie Miller, and again she experienced the same +undefinable emotion, a mysterious, invisible something drawing her +towards the original of the beautiful likeness. + +"It is strange how thoughts of Rose always affect me," she said, +gazing earnestly upon the large eyes of blue shadowed forth upon the +picture. "It seems as though she must be nearer to me than an unknown +friend." + +"Seems she like a sister?" asked Henry Warner, coming so near that +Maggie felt his warm breath upon her cheek. + +"Yes, yes, that's it," she answered, with something of her olden +frankness. "And had I somewhere in the world an unknown sister I +should say it was Rose Warner!" + +There were a few low, whispered words, and when the full moon, which +for a time had hidden itself behind the clouds, again shone forth in +all its glory, Henry had asked Maggie Miller to be the sister of Rose +Warner, and Maggie had answered "Yes"! + +That night in Maggie's dreams there was a strange commingling +of thoughts. Thoughts of Henry Warner, as he told her of his +love--thoughts of the gentle girl whose eyes of blue had looked so +lovingly up to her, as if between them there was indeed a common bond +of sympathy--and, stranger far than all, thoughts of the little +grave beneath the pine where slept the so-called child of Hester +Hamilton--the child defrauded of its birthright, and who, in the misty +vagaries of dreamland, seemed to stand between her and the beautiful +Rose Warner! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +STARS AND STRIPES. + + +On the rude bench by her cabin door sat Hagar Warren, her black eyes +peering out into the woods and her quick ear turned to catch the first +sound of bounding footsteps, which came at last, and Maggie Miller was +sitting by her side. + +"What is it, darling?" Hagar asked, and her shriveled hand smoothed +caressingly the silken hair, as she looked into the glowing face of +the young girl, and half guessed what was written there. + +To Theo Maggie had whispered the words, "I am engaged," and Theo had +coldly answered: "Pshaw! Grandma will quickly break that up. Why, +Henry Warner is comparatively poor! Mr. Douglas told me so, or rather +I quizzed him until I found it out. He says, though, that Henry has +rare business talents, and he could not do without him." + +To the latter part of Theo's remark Maggie paid little heed; but the +mention of her grandmother troubled her. She would oppose it, Maggie +was sure of that, and it was to talk on this very subject that she had +come to Hagar's cottage. + +"Just the way I s'posed it would end," said Hagar, when Maggie, with +blushing, half-averted face, told the story of her engagement. "Just +the way I s'posed 'twould end, but I didn't think 'twould be so +quick." + +"Two months and a half is a great while, and then we have been +together so much," replied Maggie, at the same time asking if Hagar +did not approve her choice. + +"Henry Warner's well enough," answered Hagar. "I've watched him close +and see no evil in him; but he isn't the one for you, nor are you the +one for him. You are both too wild, too full of fun, and if yoked +together will go to destruction, I know. You need somebody to hold you +back, and so does he." + +Involuntarily Maggie thought of Rose, mentally resolving to be, if +possible, more like her. + +"You are not angry with me?" said Hagar, observing Maggie's silence. +"You asked my opinion, and I gave it to you. You are too young to know +who you like. Henry Warner is the first man you ever knew, and in two +years' time you'll tire of him." + +"Tire of him, Hagar? Tire of Henry Warner?" cried Maggie a little +indignantly. "You do not know me, if you think I'll ever tire of him; +and then, too, did I tell you grandma keeps writing to me about a Mr. +Carrollton, who she says is wealthy, fine-looking, highly educated, +and very aristocratic--and that last makes me hate him! I've heard so +much about aristocracy that I'm sick of it, and just for that reason +I would not have this Mr. Carrollton if I knew he'd make me queen of +England. But grandma's heart is set upon it, I know, and she thinks +of course he would marry me--says he is delighted with my +daguerreotype--that awful one, too, with the staring eyes. In +grandma's last letter he sent me a note. 'Twas beautifully written, +and I dare say he is a fine young man, at least he talks common sense, +but I shan't answer it; and, if you'll believe me, I used part of +it in lighting Henry's cigar, and with the rest I shall light +firecrackers on the Fourth of July; Henry has bought a lot of them, +and we're going to have fun. How grandma would scold!--but I shall +marry Henry Warner, anyway. Do you think she will oppose me, when she +sees how determined I am?" + +"Of course she will," answered Hagar. "I know those Carrolltons--they +are a haughty race; and if your grandmother has one of them in view +she'll turn you from her door sooner than see you married to another, +and an American, too." + +There was a moment's silence, and then, with an unnatural gleam in +her eye, old Hagar turned towards Maggie, and, grasping her shoulder, +said: "If she does this thing, Maggie Miller,--if she casts you +off,--will you take me for your grandmother? Will you let me live with +you? I'll be your drudge, your slave; say, Maggie, may I go with you? +Will you call me grandmother? I'd willingly die if only once I could +hear you speak to me thus, and know it was in love." + +For a moment Maggie looked at her in astonishment; then thinking to +herself, "She surely is half-crazed," she answered laughingly: "Yes, +Hagar, if grandma casts me off, you may go with me. I shall need your +care, but I can't promise to call you grandma, because you know you +are not." + +The corners of Hagar's mouth worked nervously, but her teeth shut +firmly over the thin, white lip, forcing back the wild words trembling +there, and the secret was not told. + +"Go home, Maggie Miller," she said at last, rising slowly to her feet. +"Go home now, and leave me alone. I am willing you should marry Henry +Warner--nay, I wish you to do it; but you must remember your promise." + +Maggie was about to answer, when her thoughts were directed to another +channel by the sight of George Douglas and Theo coming slowly down the +shaded pathway which led past Hagar's door. Old Hagar saw them too, +and, whispering to Maggie, said, "There's another marriage brewing, or +the signs do not tell true, and madam will sanction this one, too, for +there's money there, and gold can purify any blood." + +Ere Maggie could reply Theo called out, "You here, Maggie, as usual?" +adding, aside, to her companion: "She has the most unaccountable +taste, so different from me, who cannot endure anything low and +vulgar. Can you? But I need not ask," she continued, "for your +associations have been of a refined nature." + +George Douglas did not answer, for his thoughts were back in the brown +farmhouse at the foot of the hill, where his boyhood was passed, and +he wondered what the high-bred lady at his side would say if she could +see the sunburned man and plain, old-fashioned woman who called him +their son George Washington. He would not confess that he was ashamed +of his parentage, for he tried to be a kind and dutiful child, but he +would a little rather that Theo Miller should not know how democratic +had been his early training. So he made no answer, but, addressing +himself to Maggie, asked how she could find it in her heart to leave +her patient so long. + +"I'm going back directly," she said, and donning her hat she started +for home, thinking she had gained but little satisfaction from Hagar, +who, as Douglas and Theo passed on, resumed her seat by the door, and, +listening to the sound of Margaret's retreating footsteps, muttered: +"The old light-heartedness is gone. There are shadows gathering round +her; for once in love, she'll never be as free and joyous again. But +it can't be helped; it's the destiny of women, and I only hope this +Warner is worthy of her. But he aint. He's too wild--too full of what +Hagar Warren calls bedevilment. And Maggie does everything he tells +her to do. Not content with tearing down his bed-curtains, which have +hung there full twenty years, she's set things all cornerwise, because +the folks do so in Worcester, and has turned the parlor into a +smoking-room, till all the air of Hillsdale can't take away that +tobacco scent. Why, it almost knocks me down!" and the old lady +groaned aloud, as she recounted to herself the recent innovations upon +the time-honored habits of her mistress' house. + +Henry Warner was, indeed, rather a fast young man, but it needed the +suggestive presence of George Douglas to bring out his true character; +and for the four days succeeding the arrival of the latter there were +rare doings at the old stone house, where the astonished and rather +delighted servants looked on in amazement while the young men sang +their jovial songs and drank of the rare old wine which Maggie, +utterly fearless of what her grandmother might say, brought from the +cellar below. But when, on the morning of the Fourth, Henry Warner +suggested that they have a celebration, or at least hang out the +American flag by way of showing their patriotism, there were signs of +rebellion in the kitchen, while even Mrs. Jeffrey, who had long since +ceased to interfere, felt it her duty to remonstrate. Accordingly, she +descended to the parlor, where she found George Douglas and Maggie +dancing to the tune of "Yankee Doodle," which Theo played upon the +piano, while Henry Warner whistled a most stirring accompaniment! To +be heard above that din was impossible, and involuntarily patting her +own slippered foot to the lively strain the distressed little lady +went back to her room, wondering what Madam Conway would say if she +knew how her house was being desecrated. + +But Madam Conway did not know. She was three thousand miles away, and +with this distance between them Maggie dared do anything; so when the +flag was again mentioned, she answered apologetically, as if it were +something of which they ought to be ashamed: "We never had any, but +we can soon make one, I know. 'Twill be fun to see it float from the +housetop!" and, flying up the stairs to the dusty garret, she drew +from a huge oaken chest a scarlet coat which had belonged to the +former owner of the place, who little thought, as he sat in state, +that his favorite coat would one day furnish material for the emblem +of American freedom! + +No such thought as this, however, obtruded itself upon Maggie as she +bent over the chest. "The coat is of no use," she said, and gathering +it up she ran back to the parlor, where, throwing it across Henry's +lap, she told how it had belonged to her great-great-grandfather, who +at the time of the Revolution went home to England. The young men +exchanged a meaning look, and then burst into a laugh, but the cause +of their merriment they did not explain, lest the prejudices of the +girls should be aroused. + +"This is just the thing," said Henry, entering heart and soul into the +spirit of the fun. "This is grand. Can't you find some blue for the +groundwork of the stars?" + +Maggie thought a moment, and then exclaimed: "Oh, yes--I have it; +grandma has a blue satin bodice which she wore when she was a young +lady. She once gave me a part of the back for my doll's dress. She +won't care if I cut up the rest for a banner." + +"Of course not," answered George Douglas. "She'll be glad to have +it used for such a laudable purpose," and walking to the window +he laughed heartily as he saw in fancy the wrath of the proud +Englishwoman when she learned the use to which her satin bodice had +been appropriated. + +The waist was brought in a twinkling, and then, when Henry asked for +some white, Maggie cried, "A sheet will be just the thing--one of +grandma's small linen ones. It won't hurt it a bit," she added, as +she saw a shadow on Theo's brow, and, mounting to the top of the high +chest of drawers, she brought out a sheet of finest linen, which, with +rose leaves and fragrant herbs, had been carefully packed away. + +It was a long, delightful process, the making of that banner; and +Maggie's voice rang out loud and clear as she saw how cleverly Henry +Warner managed the shears, cutting the red coat into stripes. The +arrangement of the satin fell to Maggie's lot; and while George +Douglas made the stars, Theo looked on a little doubtfully--not that +her nationality was in any way affected, for what George Douglas +sanctioned was by this time right with her; but she felt some +misgiving as to what her grandmother might say; and, thinking if she +did nothing but look on and laugh the blame would fall on Maggie, she +stood aloof, making occasionally a suggestion, and seeming as pleased +as anyone when at last the flag was done. A quilting-frame served as +a flagstaff, and Maggie was chosen to plant it upon the top of the +house, where was a cupola, or miniature tower, overlooking the +surrounding country. Leading to this tower was a narrow staircase, and +up these stairs Maggie bore the flag, assisted by one of the servant +girls, whose birthplace was green Erin, and whose broad, good-humored +face shone with delight as she fastened the pole securely in its +place, and then shook aloft her checked apron, in answer to the cheer +which came up from below, when first the American banner waved over +the old stone house. + +Attracted by the noise, and wondering what fresh mischief they were +doing, Mrs. Jeffrey went out into the yard just in time to see the +flag of freedom as it shook itself out in the summer breeze. + +"Heaven help me!" she ejaculated; "the 'Stars and Stripes' on Madam +Conway's house!" and, resolutely shutting her eyes, lest they should +look again on what to her seemed sacrilege, she groped her way back +to the house; and, retiring to her room, wrote to Madam Conway an +exaggerated account of the proceedings, bidding her hasten home or +everything would be ruined. + +The letter being written, the good lady felt better--so much better, +indeed, that after an hour's deliberation she concluded not to send +it, inasmuch as it contained many complaints against the young lady +Margaret, who she knew was sure in the end to find favor in her +grandmother's eyes. This was the first time Mrs. Jeffrey had +attempted a letter to her employer, for Maggie had been the chosen +correspondent, Theo affecting to dislike anything like letter-writing. +On the day previous to Henry Warner's arrival at the stone house +Maggie had written to her grandmother, and ere the time came for her +to write again she had concluded to keep his presence there a secret: +so Madam Conway was, as yet, ignorant of his existence; and while +in the homes of the English nobility she bore herself like a royal +duchess, talking to young Arthur Carrollton of her beautiful +granddaughter, she little dreamed of the real state of affairs at +home. + +But it was not for Mrs. Jeffrey to enlighten her, and tearing her +letter in pieces the governess sat down in her easy-chair by the +window, mentally congratulating herself upon the fact that "the two +young savages," as she styled Douglas and Warner, were to leave on the +morrow. This last act of theirs, the hoisting of the banner, had been +the culminating point; and, too indignant to sit with them at the same +table, she resolutely kept her room throughout the entire day, poring +intently over Baxter's "Saints' Rest," her favorite volume when at all +flurried or excited. Occasionally, too, she would stop her ears with +jeweler's cotton, to shut out the sound of "Hail, Columbia!" as it +came up to her from the parlor below, where the young men were doing +their best to show their patriotism. + +Towards evening, alarmed by a whizzing sound, which seemed to be often +repeated, and wishing to know the cause, she stole halfway down the +stairs, when the mischievous Maggie greeted her with a "serpent," +which, hissing beneath her feet, sent her quickly back to her +room, from which she did not venture again. Mrs. Jeffrey was very +good-natured, and reflecting that "young folks must have fun," she +became at last comparatively calm, and at an early hour sought her +pillow. But thoughts of "stars and stripes" waving directly over her +head, as she knew they were, made her nervous, and the long clock +struck the hour of two, and she was yet restless and wakeful, +notwithstanding the near approach of dawn. + +"Maybe the 'Saints' Rest' will quiet me a trifle," she thought; and, +striking a light, she attempted to read; but in vain, for every word +was a star, every line a stripe, and every leaf a flag. Shutting the +book and hurriedly pacing the floor, she exclaimed: "It's of no use +trying to sleep, or meditate either. Baxter himself couldn't do it +with that thing over his head, and I mean to take it down. It's a duty +I owe to King George's memory, and to Madam Conway;" and, stealing +from her room, she groped her way up the dark, narrow stairway, until, +emerging into the bright moonlight, she stood directly beneath the +American banner, waving so gracefully in the night wind. "It's a +clever enough device," she said, gazing rather admiringly at it. "And +I'd let it be if I s'posed I could sleep a wink; but I can't. It's +worse for my nerves than strong green tea, and I'll not lie awake for +all the Yankee flags in Christendom." So saying, the resolute little +woman tugged at the quilt-frame until she loosened it from its +fastenings, and then started to return. + +But, alas! the way was narrow and dark, the banner was large and +cumbersome, while the lady that bore it was nervous and weak. It is +not strange, then, that Maggie, who slept at no great distance, was +awakened by a tremendous crash, as of someone falling the entire +length of the tower stairs, while a voice, frightened and faint, +called out; "Help me, Margaret, do! I am dead! I know I am!" + +Striking a light, Maggie hurried to the spot, while her merry laugh +aroused the servants, who came together in a body. Stretched upon the +floor, with one foot thrust entirely through the banner, which was +folded about her so that the quilt-frame lay directly upon her bosom, +was Mrs. Jeffrey, the broad frill of her cap standing up erect, and +herself asserting with every breath that "she was dead and buried, she +knew she was." + +"Wrapped in a winding-sheet, I'll admit," said Maggie, "but not +quite dead, I trust;" and, putting down her light, she attempted to +extricate her governess, who continued to apologize for what she had +done. "Not that I cared so much about your celebrating America; but I +couldn't sleep with the thing over my head; I was going to put it back +in the morning before you were up. There! there! careful! It's broken +short off!" she screamed, as Maggie tried to release her foot from the +rent in the linen sheet, a rent which the frightened woman persisted +in saying she could darn as good as new, while at the same time she +implored of Maggie to handle carefully her ankle, which had been +sprained by the fall. + +Maggie's recent experience in broken bones had made her quite an +adept, and taking the slight form of Mrs. Jeffrey in her arms she +carried her back to her room, where, growing more quiet, the old +lady told her how she happened to fall, saying she never thought of +stumbling, until she fancied that Washington and all his regiment were +after her, and when she turned her head to see, she lost her footing +and fell. + +Forcing back her merriment, which in spite of herself would +occasionally burst forth, Maggie made her teacher as comfortable as +possible, and then stayed with her until morning, when, leaving her +in charge of a servant, she went below to say farewell to her guests. +Between George Douglas and Theo there were a few low-spoken words, she +granting him permission to write, while he promised to visit her again +in the early autumn. He had not yet talked to her of love, for Rose +Warner had still a home in his heart, and she must be dislodged ere +another could take her place. But his affection for her was growing +gradually less. Theo suited him well; her family suited him better, +and when at parting he took her hand in his he resolved to ask her for +it when next he came to Hillsdale. + +Meanwhile between Henry Warner and Maggie there was a far more +affectionate farewell, he whispering to her of a time not far distant +when he would claim her as his own, and, she should go with him. He +would write to her every week, he said, and Rose should write too. He +would see Rose in a few days, and tell her of his engagement, which he +knew would please her. + +"Let me send her a line," said Maggie, and on a tiny sheet of paper +she wrote: "Dear Rose: Are you willing I should be your sister +Maggie?" + +Half an hour later, and Hagar Warren, coming through the garden gate, +looked after the carriage which bore the gentlemen to the depot, +muttering to herself: "I'm glad the high bucks have gone. A good +riddance to them both." + +In her disorderly chamber, too, Mrs. Jeffrey hobbled on one foot to +the window, where, with a deep sigh of relief, she sent after the +young men a not very complimentary adieu, which was echoed in part by +the servants below, while Theo, on the piazza, exclaimed against the +lonesome old house, which was never so lonesome before, and Maggie +seated herself upon the stairs and cried! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +ROSE WARNER. + + +Nestled among the tall old trees which skirt the borders of Leominster +village was the bird's-nest of a cottage which Rose Warner called her +home, and which, with its wealth of roses, its trailing vines and +flowering shrubs, seemed fitted for the abode of one like her. Slight +as a child twelve summers old, and fair as the white pond lily when +first to the morning sun it unfolds its delicate petals, she seemed +too frail for earth; and both her aunt and he whom she called brother +watched carefully lest the cold north wind should blow too rudely on +the golden curls which shaded her childish brow. Very, very beautiful +was little Rose, and yet few ever looked upon her without a feeling of +sadness; for in the deep blue of her eyes there was a mournful, dreamy +look, as if the shadow of some great sorrow were resting thus early +upon her. + +And Rose Warner had a sorrow, too--a grief which none save one had +ever suspected. To him it had come with the words, "I cannot be your +wife for I love another; one who will never know how dear he is to +me." + +The words were involuntarily spoken, and George Douglas, looking down +upon her, guessed rightly that he who would never know how much he +was beloved was Henry Warner. To her the knowledge that Henry was +something dearer than a brother had come slowly, filling her heart +with pain, for she well knew that whether he clasped her to his bosom, +as he often did, or pressed his lips upon her brow, he thought of her +only as a brother thinks of a beautiful and idolized sister. It had +heretofore been some consolation to know that his affections were +untrammeled with thoughts of another, that she alone was the object of +his love, and hope had sometimes faintly whispered of what perchance +might be; but from that dream she was waking now, and her face grew +whiter still as there came to her from time to time letters fraught +with praises of Margaret Miller; and if in Rose Warner's nature there +had been a particle of bitterness, it would have been called forth +toward one who, she foresaw, would be her rival. But Rose knew no +malice, and she felt that she would sooner die than do aught to mar +the happiness of Maggie Miller. + +For nearly two weeks she had not heard from Henry, and she was +beginning to feel very anxious, when one morning, two or three days +succeeding the memorable Hillsdale celebration, as she sat in a small +arbor so thickly overgrown with the Michigan rose as to render her +invisible at a little distance, she was startled by hearing him call +her name, as he came in quest of her down the garden walk. The next +moment he held her in his arms, kissing her forehead, her lips, her +cheek; then holding her off, he looked to see if there had been in her +aught of change since last they met. + +"You are paler than you were, Rose darling," he said, "and your eyes +look as if they had of late been used to tears. What is it, dearest? +What troubles you?" + +Rose could not answer immediately, for his sudden coming had taken +away her breath, and as he saw a faint blush stealing over her face he +continued, "Can it be my little sister has been falling in love during +my absence?" + +Never before had he spoken to her thus; but a change had come over +him, his heart was full of a beautiful image, and fancying Rose might +have followed his example he asked her the question he did, without, +however, expecting or receiving a definite answer. + +"I am so lonely, Henry, when you are gone and do not write to me!" she +said; and in the tones of her voice there was a slight reproof, which +Henry felt keenly. + +He had been so engrossed with Maggie Miller and the free joyous life +he led in the Hillsdale woods, that for a time he had neglected Rose, +who, in his absence, depended so much on his letters for comfort. + +"I have been very selfish, I know," he said; "but I was so happy, that +for a time I forgot everything save Maggie Miller." + +An involuntary shudder ran through Rose's slender form; but, +conquering her emotion, she answered calmly: "What of this Maggie +Miller? Tell me of her, will you?" + +Winding his arm around her waist, and drawing her closely to his side, +Henry Warner rested her head upon his bosom, where it had often lain, +and, smoothing her golden curls, told her of Maggie Miller, of her +queenly beauty, of her dashing, independent spirit, her frank, +ingenuous manner, her kindness of heart; and last of all, bending very +low, lest the vine leaves and the fair blossoms of the rose should +hear, he told her of his love; and Rose, the fairest flower of all +which bloomed around that bower, clasped her hand upon her heart, lest +he should see its wild throbbings, and, forcing back the tears which +moistened her long lashes, listened to the knell of all her hopes. +Henceforth her love for him must be an idle mockery, and the time +would come when to love him as she loved him then would be a sin--a +wrong to herself, a wrong to him, and a wrong to Maggie Miller. + +"You are surely not asleep," he said at last, as she made him no +reply, and bending forward he saw the tear-drops resting on her cheek. +"Not asleep, but weeping!" he exclaimed. "What is it, darling? What +troubles you?" And lifting up her head, Rose Warner answered, "I was +thinking how this new love of yours would take you from me, and I +should be alone." + +"No, not alone," he said, wiping her tears away. "Maggie and I have +arranged that matter. You are to live with us, and instead of losing +me you are to gain another--a sister, Rose. You have often wished you +had one, and you could surely find none worthier than Maggie Miller." + +"Will she watch over you, Henry? Will she be to you what your wife +should be?" asked Rose; and Henry answered: "She is not at all like +you, my little sister. She relies implicitly upon my judgment; so you +see I shall need your blessed influence all the same, to make me what +your brother and Maggie's husband ought to be." + +"Did she send me no message?" asked Rose; and taking out the tiny +note, Henry passed it to her, just as his aunt called to him from the +house, whither he went, leaving her alone. + +There were blinding tears in Rose's eyes as she read the few lines, +and involuntarily she pressed her lips to the paper which she knew had +been touched by Maggie Miller's hands. + +"My sister--sister Maggie," she repeated; and at the sound of that +name her fast-beating heart grew still, for they seemed very sweet to +her, those words "my sister," thrilling her with a new and strange +emotion, and awakening within her a germ of the deep, undying love she +was yet to feel for her who had traced those words and asked to be her +sister. "I will do right," she thought; "I will conquer this foolish +heart of mine, or break it in the struggle, and Henry Warner shall +never know how sorely it was wrung." + +The resolution gave her strength, and, rising up, she too sought the +house, where, retiring to her room, she penned a hasty note to Maggie, +growing calmer with each word she wrote. + +"I grant your request [she said] and take you for a sister well +beloved. I had a half-sister once, they say, but she died when a +little babe. I never looked upon her face, and connected with her +birth there was too much of sorrow and humiliation for me to think +much of her, save as of one who, under other circumstances, might have +been dear to me. And yet as I grow older I often find myself wishing +she had lived, for my father's blood was in her veins. But I do not +even know where her grave was made, for we only heard one winter +morning, years ago, that she was dead with the mother who bore her. +Forgive me, Maggie dear, for saying so much about that little child. +Thoughts of you, who are to be my sister, make me think of her, who, +had she lived, would have been a young lady now nearly your own age. +So in the place of her, whom, knowing, I would have loved, I adopt +you, sweet Maggie Miller, my sister and my friend. May Heaven's +choicest blessings rest on you forever, and no shadow come between you +and the one you have chosen for your husband! To my partial eyes he is +worthy of you, Maggie, royal in bearing and queenly in form though you +be, and that you may be happy with him will be the daily prayer of + +"ROSE." + +The letter was finished, and Rose gave it to her brother, who, after +its perusal, kissed her, saying: "It is right, my darling. I will send +it to-morrow with mine; and now for a ride. I will see what a little +exercise can do for you. I do not like the color of your face." + +But neither the fragrant summer air, nor yet the presence of Henry +Warner, who tarried several days, could rouse the drooping Rose; and +when at last she was left alone she sought her bed, where for many +weeks she hovered between life and death, while her brother and her +aunt hung over her pillow, and Maggie, from her woodland home, sent +many an anxious inquiry and message of love to the sick girl. In the +close atmosphere of his counting-room George Douglas too again battled +manfully with his olden love, listening each day to hear that she was +dead. But not thus early was Rose to die, and with the waning summer +days she came slowly back to life. More beautiful than ever, because +more ethereal and fair, she walked the earth like one who, having +struggled with a mighty sorrow, had won the victory at last; and Henry +Warner, when he looked on her sweet, placid face, and listened to her +voice as she made plans for the future, when Maggie would be his wife, +dreamed not of the grave hidden in the deep recesses of her heart, +where grew no flower of hope or semblance of earthly joy. + +Thus little know mankind of each other! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +EXPECTED GUESTS. + + +On the Hillsdale hills the October sun was shining, and the forest +trees were donning their robes of scarlet and brown, when again the +old stone house presented an air of joyous expectancy. The large, dark +parlors were thrown open, the best chambers were aired, the bright, +autumnal flowers were gathered and in tastefully arranged bouquets +adorned the mantels, while Theo and Maggie, in their best attire, +flitted uneasily from room to room, running sometimes to the gate +to look down the grassy road which led from the highway, and again +mounting the tower stairs to obtain a more extended view. + +In her pleasant apartment, where last we left her with a sprained +ankle, Mrs. Jeffrey, too, fidgeted about, half sympathizing with her +pupils in their happiness, and half regretting the cause of that +happiness, which was the expected arrival of George Douglas and Henry +Warner, who, true to their promise, were coming again to try for a +week the Hillsdale air, and retrieve their character as fast young +men. So, at least, they told Mrs. Jeffrey, who, mindful of her exploit +with the banner, and wishing to make some amends, met them alone on +the threshhold, Maggie having at the last moment run away, while Theo +sat in a state of dignified perturbation upon the sofa. + +A few days prior to their arrival letters had been received from Madam +Conway saying she should probably, remain in England two or three +weeks longer, and thus the house was again clear to the young men, +who, forgetting to retrieve their characters, fairly outdid all they +had done before. The weather was remarkably clear and bracing, and the +greater part of each day was spent in the open air, either in fishing, +riding, or hunting; Maggie teaching Henry Warner how to ride and leap, +while he in turn taught her to shoot a bird upon the wing, until the +pupil was equal to her master. In these outdoor excursions George +Douglas and Theo did not always join, for he had something to say +which he would rather tell her in the silent parlor, and which, when +told, furnished food for many a quiet conversation; so Henry and +Maggie rode oftentimes alone; and old Hagar, when she saw them dashing +past her door, Maggie usually taking the lead, would shake her head +and mutter to herself: "'Twill never do--that match. He ought to hold +her back, instead of leading her on. I wish Madam Conway would, come +home and end it." + +Mrs. Jeffrey wished so too, as night after night her slumbers were +disturbed by the sounds of merriment which came up to her from the +parlor below, where the young people were "enjoying themselves," as +Maggie said when reproved for the noisy revels. The day previous +to the one set for their departure chanced to be Henry Warner's +twenty-seventh birthday, and this Maggie resolved to honor with an +extra supper, which was served at an unusually late hour in the dining +room, the door of which opened out upon a closely latticed piazza. + +"I wish we could think of something new to do," said Maggie, as she +presided at the table--"something real funny;" then, as her eyes fell +upon the dark piazza, where a single light was burning dimly, she +exclaimed: "Why can't we get up tableaux? There are heaps of the +queerest clothes in the big oaken chest in the garret. The servants +can be audience, and they need some recreation!" + +The suggestion was at once approved, and in half an hour's time the +floor was strewn with garments of every conceivable fashion, from long +stockings and small clothes to scarlet cloaks and gored skirts, the +latter of which were immediately donned by Henry Warner, to the +infinite delight of the servants, who enjoyed seeing the grotesque +costumes, even if they did not exactly understand what the tableaux +were intended to represent. The banner, too, was brought out, and +after bearing a conspicuous part in the performance was placed at the +end of the dining room, where it would be the first thing visible to a +person opening the door opposite. At a late hour the servants retired, +and then George Douglas, who took kindly to the luscious old wine, +which Maggie again had brought from her grandmother's choicest store, +filled a goblet to the brim, and, pledging first the health of the +young girls, drank to "the old lady across the water" with whose goods +they were thus making free! + +Henry Warner rarely tasted wine, for though miles away from Rose her +influence was around him--so, filling his glass with water, he too +drank to the wish that "the lady across the sea" would remain there +yet a while, or at all events not "stumble upon us to-night!" + +"What if she should!" thought Maggie, glancing around at the different +articles scattered all over the floor, and laughing as she saw in +fancy her grandmother's look of dismay should she by any possible +chance obtain a view of the room, where perfect order and quiet had +been wont to reign. + +But the good lady was undoubtedly taking her morning nap on the +shores of old England. There was no danger to be apprehended from her +unexpected arrival, they thought; and just as the clock struck one the +young men sought their rooms, greatly to the relief of Mrs. Jeffrey, +who, in her long night robe, with streaming candle in hand, had +more than a dozen times leaned over the banister, wondering if the +"carouse" would ever end. + +It did end at last; and, tired and sleepy, Theo went directly to her +chamber, while Maggie stayed below, thinking to arrange matters a +little, for their guests were to leave on the first train, and she had +ordered an early breakfast. But it was a hopeless task, the putting +of that room to rights; and trusting much to the good-nature of the +housekeeper, she finally gave it up and went to bed, forgetting in her +drowsiness to fasten the outer door, or yet to extinguish the lamp +which burned upon the sideboard. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +UNEXPECTED GUESTS. + + +At the delightful country seat of Arthur Carrollton Madam Conway had +passed many pleasant days, and was fully intending to while away +several more, when an unexpected summons from his father made it +necessary for the young man to go immediately to London; and, as an +American steamer was about to leave the port of Liverpool, Madam +Conway determined to start for home at once. Accordingly, she wrote +for Anna Jeffrey, whom she had promised to take with her, to meet her +in Liverpool, and a few days previous to the arrival of George Douglas +and Henry Warner at Hillsdale, the two ladies embarked with an endless +variety of luggage, to say nothing of Miss Anna's guitar-case, +bird-cage, and favorite lap-dog "Lottie." + +Once fairly on the sea, Madam Conway became exceedingly impatient and +disagreeable, complaining both of fare and speed, and at length came +on deck one morning with the firm belief that something dreadful had +happened to Maggie! She was dangerously sick, she knew, for never but +once before had she been visited with a like presentiment, and that +was just before her daughter died. Then it came to her just as this +had done, in her sleep, and very nervously the lady paced the vessel's +deck, counting the days as they passed, and almost weeping for joy +when told Boston was in sight. Immediately after landing she made +inquiries as to when the next train passing Hillsdale station would +leave the city, and though it was midnight she resolved at all hazards +to go on, for if Maggie were really ill there was no time to be lost! + +Accordingly, when at four o'clock A.M. Maggie, who was partially +awake, heard in the distance the shrill scream of the engine, as the +night express thundered through the town, she little dreamed of the +boxes, bundles, trunks, and bags which lined the platform of Hillsdale +station, nor yet of the resolute woman in brown who persevered until a +rude one-horse wagon was found in which to transport herself and her +baggage to the old stone house. The driver of the vehicle, in which, +under ordinary circumstances, Madam Conway would have scorned to +ride, was a long, lean, half-witted fellow, utterly unfitted for his +business. Still, he managed quite well until they turned into the +grassy by-road, and Madam Conway saw through the darkness the light +which Maggie had inadvertently left within the dining room! + +There was no longer a shadow of uncertainty. "Margaret was dead!" +and the lank Tim was ordered to drive faster, or the excited woman, +perched on one of her traveling-trunks, would be obliged to foot it! A +few vigorous strokes of the whip set the sorrel horse into a canter, +and as the night was dark, and the road wound round among the trees, +it is not at all surprising that Madam Conway, with her eye still on +the beacon light, found herself seated rather unceremoniously in the +midst of a brush heap, her goods and chattels rolling promiscuously +around her, while lying across a log, her right hand clutching at the +bird-cage, and her left grasping the shaggy hide of Lottie, who yelled +most furiously, was Anna Jeffrey, half blinded with mud, and bitterly +denouncing American drivers and Yankee roads! To gather themselves +together was not an easy matter, but the ten pieces were at last all +told, and then, holding up her skirts, bedraggled with dew, Madam +Conway resumed her seat in the wagon, which was this time driven in +safety to her door. Giving orders for her numerous boxes to be safely +bestowed, she hastened forward and soon stood upon the threshold. + +"Great Heaven!" she exclaimed, starting backward so suddenly that she +trod upon the foot of Lottie, who again sent forth an outcry, which +Anna Jeffrey managed to choke down. "Is this bedlam, or what?" And +stepping out upon the piazza, she looked to see if the blundering +driver had made a mistake. But no; it was the same old gray stone +house she had left some months before; and again pressing boldly +forward, she took the lamp from the sideboard and commenced to +reconnoiter. "My mother's wedding dress, as I live! and her scarlet +broadcloth, too!" she cried, holding to view the garments which +Henry Warner had thrown upon the arm of the long settee. A turban or +cushion, which she recognized as belonging to her grandmother, next +caught her view, together with the smallclothes of her sire. + +"The entire contents of the oaken chest," she continued, in a tone far +from calm and cool. "What can have happened! It's some of that crazy +Hagar's work, I know. I'll have her put in the--" But whatever the +evil was which threatened Hagar Warren it was not defined by words, +for at that moment the indignant lady caught sight of an empty bottle, +which she instantly recognized as having held her very oldest, +choicest wine. "The Lord help me!" she cried, "I've been robbed;" and +grasping the bottle by the neck, she leaned up against the banner +which she had not yet descried. + +"In the name of wonder, what's this?" she almost screamed, as the full +blaze of the lamp fell upon the flag, revealing the truth at once, and +partially stopping her breath. + +Robbery was nothing to insult; and, forgetting the wine, she gasped: +"'Stars and Stripes' in this house! In the house of my grandfather, +as loyal a subject as King George ever boasted! What can Margaret be +doing to suffer a thing like this?" + +A few steps further on, and Margaret herself might have been seen +peering out into the darkened upper hall, and listening anxiously +to her grandmother's voice. The sound of the rattling old wagon had +aroused her, and, curious to know who was stirring at this early hour, +she had cautiously opened her window, which overlooked the piazza, and +to her great dismay had recognized her grandmother as she gave orders +concerning her baggage. Flying back to her room, she awoke her sister, +who, springing up in bed, whispered faintly: "Will she kill us dead, +Maggie? Will she kill us dead?" + +"Pshaw! no," answered Maggie, her own courage rising with Theo's +fears. "She'll have to scold a spell, I suppose; but I can coax her, I +know!" + +By this time the old lady was ascending the stairs, and closing the +door Maggie applied her eye to the keyhole, listening breathlessly for +what might follow. George Douglas and Henry Warner occupied separate +rooms, and their boots were now standing outside their doors, ready +for the chore boy, Jim, who thus earned a quarter every day. Stumbling +first upon the pair belonging to George Douglas, the lady took them +up, ejaculating: "Boots! boots! Yes, men's boots, as I'm a living +woman! The like was never seen by me before in this hall. Another +pair!" she continued, as her eye fell on those of Henry Warner. +"Another pair, and in the best chamber, too! What will come next?" And +setting down her light, she wiped the drops of perspiration from her +face, at the same time looking around in some alarm lest the owners of +said boots should come forth. + +Just at that moment Mrs. Jeffrey appeared. Alarmed by the unusual +noise, and fancying the young gentlemen might be robbing the house as +a farewell performance, she had donned a calico wrapper, and tying a +black silk handkerchief over her cap, had taken her scissors, the only +weapon of defense she could find, and thus equipped for battle she had +sallied forth. She was prepared for burglars--nay, she would not +have been disappointed had she found the young men busily engaged in +removing the ponderous furniture from their rooms; but the sight of +Madam Conway, at that unseasonable hour, was wholly unexpected, and in +her fright she dropped the lamp which she had lighted in place of her +candle, and which was broken in fragments, deluging the carpet with +oil and eliciting a fresh groan from Madam Conway. + +"Jeffrey, Jeffrey!" she gasped; "what have you done?" + +"Great goodness!" ejaculated Mrs. Jeffrey, remembering her adventure +when once before she left her room in the night. "I certainly am the +most unfortunate of mortals. Catch me out of bed again, let what will +happen;" and turning, she was about to leave the hall, when Madam +Conway, anxious to know what had been done, called her back, saying +rather indignantly, "I'd like to know whose house I am in?" + +"A body would suppose 'twas Miss Margaret's, the way she's conducted," +answered Mrs. Jeffrey; and Madam Conway continued, pointing to the +boots: "Who have we here? These are not Margaret's, surely?" + +"No, ma'am, they belong to the young men who have turned the house +topsy-turvy with their tableaux, their Revolution celebration, their +banner, and carousing generally," said Mrs. Jeffrey, rather pleased +than otherwise at being the first to tell the news. + +"Young men!" repeated Madam Conway--"what young men? Where did they +come from, and why are they here?" + +"They are Douglas and Warner," said Mrs. Jeffrey, "two as big +scapegraces as there are this side of Old Bailey--that's what they +are. They came from Worcester, and if I've any discernment they are +after your girls, and your girls are after them." + +"After my girls! After Maggie! It can't be possible!" gasped Mrs. +Conway, thinking of Arthur Carrollton. + +"It's the very truth, though," returned Mrs. Jeffrey. "Henry Warner, +who, in my opinion, is the worst of the two, got to chasing Margaret +in the woods, as long ago as last April. She jumped Gritty across the +gorge, and he, like a fool, jumped after, breaking his leg--" + +"Pity it hadn't been his neck," interrupted Madam Conway; and Mrs. +Jeffrey continued: "Of course he was brought here, and Margaret took +care of him. After a while his comrade Douglas came out, and of all +the carousals you ever thought of, I reckon they had the worst. 'Twas +the Fourth of July, and if you'll believe it they made a banner, and +Maggie planted it herself on the housetop. They went off next morning; +but now they've come again, and last night the row beat all. I never +got a wink of sleep till after two o'clock." + +Here, entirely out of breath, the old lady paused, and, going to her +room, brought out a basin of water and a towel, with which she tried +to wipe off the oil. But Madam Conway paid little heed to the spoiled +carpet, so engrossed was she with what she had heard. + +"I am astonished at Margaret's want of discretion," said she, "and I +depended so much upon her, too." + +"I always knew you were deceived by her," said Mrs. Jeffrey, still +bending over the oil; "but it wasn't for me to say so, for you are +blinded towards that girl. She's got some of the queerest notions, and +then she's so high-strung. She won't listen to reason. But I did my +country good service once. I went up in the dead of night to take down +the flag, and I don't regret it either, even if it did pitch me to the +bottom of the stairs, and sprained my ankle." + +"Served you right," interposed Madam Conway, who, not at all pleased +at hearing Margaret thus censured, now turned the full force of her +wrath upon the poor little governess, blaming her for having suffered +such proceedings. "What did Margaret and Theo know, young things as +they were? and what was Mrs. Jeffrey there for if not to keep them +circumspect! But instead of doing this, she had undoubtedly encouraged +them in their folly, and then charged it upon Margaret." + +It was in vain that the greatly distressed and astonished lady +protested her innocence, pleading her sleepless nights and lame ankle +as proofs of having done her duty; Madam Conway would not listen. +"Somebody was of course to blame," and as it is a long-established +rule that a part of every teacher's duty is to be responsible for the +faults of the pupils, so Madam Conway now continued to chide Mrs. +Jeffrey as the prime-mover of everything, until that lady, overwhelmed +with the sense of injustice done her, left the oil and retired to her +room, saying as she closed the door: "I was never so injured in all my +life--never. To think that after all my trouble she should charge it +to me! It will break my heart, I know. Where shall I go for comfort or +rest?" + +This last word was opportune and suggestive. If rest could not be +found in Baxter's "Saints' Rest," it was not by her to be found at +all; and, sitting down by the window in the gray dawn of the morning, +she strove to draw comfort from the words of the good divine; but in +vain. It had never failed her before; but never before had she been so +deeply injured; and, closing the volume at last, she paced the floor +in a very perturbed state of mind. + +Meantime, Madam Conway had sought her granddaughter's chamber, where +Theo in her fright had taken refuge under the bed, while Maggie +feigned a deep, sound sleep. A few vigorous shakes, however, aroused +her, when, greatly to the amazement of her grandmother, she burst into +a merry laugh, and, winding her arms around the highly scandalized +lady's neck, said: "Forgive me, grandma, I've been awake ever since +you came home. I did not mean to leave the dining room in such +disorder, but I was so tired, and we had such fun! Hear me out," she +continued, laying her hand over the mouth of her grandmother, who +attempted to speak; "Mrs. Jeffrey told you how Mr. Warner broke his +leg, and was brought here. He is a real nice young man, and so is Mr. +Douglas, who came out to see him. They are partners in the firm of +Douglas & Co., Worcester." + +"Henry Warner is nothing but the Co., though; Mr. Douglas owns the +store, and is worth two hundred thousand dollars!" cried a smothered +voice under the bed; and Theo emerged into view, with a feather or +two ornamenting her hair, and herself looking a little uneasy and +frightened. + +The two hundred thousand dollars produced a magical effect upon the +old lady, exonerating George Douglas at once from all blame. But +towards Henry Warner she was not thus lenient; for, coward-like, Theo +charged him with having suggested everything, even to the cutting up +of the ancestral red coat for Freedom's banner! + +"What!" fairly screamed Madam Conway, who in her hasty glance at the +flag had not observed the material; "not taken my grandfather's coat +for a banner!" + +"Yes, he did," said Theo, "and Maggie cut up your blue satin bodice +for stars, and took one of your fine linen sheets for the foundation." + +"The wretch!" exclaimed Madam Conway, stamping her foot in her wrath, +and thinking only of Henry Warner; "I'll turn him from my door +instantly. My blue satin bodice, indeed!" + +"'Twas I, grandma--'twas I," interrupted Maggie, looking reproachfully +at Theo. "'Twas I who cut up the bodice. I who brought down the +scarlet coat." + +"And I didn't do a thing but look on," said Theo. "I knew you'd be +angry, and I tried to make Maggie behave, but she wouldn't." + +"I don't know as it is anything to you what Maggie does, and I think +it would look quite as well in you to take part of the blame yourself, +instead of putting it all upon your sister," was Madam Conway's reply; +and, feeling almost as deeply injured as Mrs. Jeffrey herself, Theo +began to cry, while Maggie, with a few masterly strokes, succeeded +in so far appeasing the anger of her grandmother that the good lady +consented for the young gentlemen to stay to breakfast, saying, +though, that "they should decamp immediately after, and never darken +her doors again." + +"But Mr. Douglas is rich," sobbed Theo from behind her pocket +handkerchief--"immensely rich, and of a very aristocratic family, I'm +sure, else where did he get his money?" + +This remark was timely, and when fifteen minutes later Madam Conway +was presented to the gentlemen in the hall her manner was far more +gracious towards George Douglas than it was towards Henry Warner, to +whom she merely nodded, deigning no answer whatever to his polite +apology for having made himself so much at home in her house. The +expression of his mouth was as usual against him, and, fancying he +intended adding insult to injury by laughing in her face, she coolly +turned her back upon him ere he had finished speaking, and walked +downstairs, leaving him to wind up his speech with "an old +she-dragon"! + +By this time both the sun and the servants had arisen, the former +shining into the disorderly dining room, and disclosing to the latter +the weary, jaded Anna, who, while Madam Conway was exploring the +house, had thrown herself upon the lounge and had fallen asleep. + +"Who is she, and where did she come from?" was anxiously inquired, +and they were about going in quest of Margaret when their mistress +appeared suddenly in their midst, and their noisy demonstrations of +joyful surprise awoke the sleeping girl, who, rubbing her red eyelids, +asked for her aunt, and why she did not come to meet her. + +"She has been a little excited, and forgot you, perhaps," answered +Madam Conway, at the same time bidding one of the servants to show the +young lady to Mrs. Jeffrey's room. + +The good lady had recovered her composure somewhat, and was just +wondering why her niece had not come with Madam Conway, as had +been arranged, when Anna appeared, and in her delight at once more +beholding a child of her only sister, and her husband's brother, she +forgot in a measure how injured she had felt. Ere long the breakfast +bell rang; but Anna declared herself too weary to go down, and as Mrs. +Jeffrey felt that she could not yet meet Madam Conway face to face, +they both remained in their room, Anna again falling away to sleep, +while her aunt, grown more calm, sought, and this time found, comfort +in her favorite volume. Very cool, indeed, was that breakfast, +partaken in almost unbroken silence below. The toast was cold, the +steak was cold, the coffee was cold, and frosty as an icicle was the +lady who sat where the merry Maggie had heretofore presided. Scarcely +a word was spoken by anyone; but in the laughing eyes of Maggie there +was a world of fun, to which the mischievous mouth of Henry Warner +responded by a curl exceedingly annoying to his stately hostess, who, +in passing him his coffee, turned her head in another direction lest +she should be too civil! + +Breakfast being over, George Douglas, who began to understand Madam +Conway tolerably well, asked of her a private interview, which was +granted, when he conciliated her first by apologizing for anything +ungentlemanly he might have done in her house, and startled her next +by asking for Theo as his wife. + +"You can," said he, "easily ascertain my character and standing in +Worcester, where for the last ten years I have been known first as +clerk, then as junior partner, and finally as proprietor of the large +establishment which I now conduct." + +Madam Conway was at first too astonished to speak. Had it been Maggie +for whom he asked, the matter would have been decided at once, +for Maggie was her pet, her pride, the intended bride of Arthur +Carrollton; but Theo was a different creature altogether, and +though the Conway blood flowing in her veins entitled her to much +consideration, she was neither showy nor brilliant, and if she could +marry two hundred thousand dollars, even though it were American coin, +she would perhaps be doing quite as well as could be expected. So +Madam Conway replied at last that she would consider the matter, +and if she found that Theo's feelings were fully enlisted she would +perhaps return a favorable answer. "I know the firm of Douglas & Co. +by reputation," said she, "and I know it to be a wealthy firm; but +with me family is quite as important as money." + +"My family, madam, are certainly respectable," interrupted George +Douglas, a deep flush overspreading his face. + +He was indignant at her presuming to question his respectability, +Madam Conway thought, and so she hastened to appease him by saying: +"Certainly, I have no doubt of it. There are marks by which I can +always tell." + +George Douglas bowed low to the far-seeing lady, while a train of +thought, not altogether complimentary to her discernment in this case, +passed through his mind. + +Not thus lenient would Madam Conway have been towards Henry Warner had +he presumed to ask her that morning for Maggie, but he knew better +than to broach the subject then. He would write her, he said, +immediately after his return to Worcester, and in the meantime Maggie, +if she saw proper, was to prepare her grandmother for it by herself +announcing the engagement. This, and much more, he said to Maggie as +they sat together in the library, so much absorbed in each other as +not to observe the approach of Madam Conway, who entered the door just +in time to see Henry Warner with his arm around Maggie's waist. She +was a woman of bitter prejudices, and had conceived a violent dislike +for Henry, not only on account of the "Stars and Stripes," but because +she read to a certain extent the true state of affairs. Her suspicions +were now confirmed, and rapidly crossing the floor she confronted him, +saying, "Let my granddaughter alone, young man, both now and forever." + +Something of Hagar's fiery spirit flashed from Maggie's dark eyes, but +forcing down her anger she answered half earnestly, half playfully, "I +am nearly old enough, grandma, to decide that matter for myself." + +A fierce expression of scorn passed over Madam Conway's face, and +harsh words might have ensued had not the carriage at that moment been +announced. Wringing Maggie's hand, Henry arose and left the room, +followed by the indignant lady, who would willingly have suffered him +to walk; but thinking two hundred thousand dollars quite too much +money to go on foot, she had ordered her carriage, and both the senior +and junior partner of Douglas & Co. Were ere long riding a second time +away from the old house by the mill. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE WATERS ARE TROUBLED. + + +"Grandma wishes to see you, Maggie, in her room," said Theo to her +sister one morning, three days after the departure of their guests. + +"Wishes to see me! For what?" asked Maggie; and Theo answered, "I +don't know, unless it is to talk with you about Arthur Carrollton." + +"Arthur Carrollton!" repeated Maggie. "Much good it will do her to +talk to me of him. I hate the very sound of his name;" and, rising, +she walked slowly to her grandmother's room, where in her stiff brown +satin dress, her golden spectacles planted firmly upon her nose, and +the Valenciennes border of her cap shading but not concealing the +determined look on her face, Madam Conway sat erect in her high-backed +chair, with an open letter upon her lap. + +It was from Henry. Maggie knew his handwriting in a moment, and there +was another too for her; but she was too proud to ask for it, and, +seating herself by the window, she waited for her grandmother to break +the silence, which she did ere long as follows: + +"I have just received a letter from that Warner, asking me to sanction +an engagement which he says exists between himself and you. Is it +true? Are you engaged to him?" + +"I am," answered Maggie, playing nervously with the tassel of her +wrapper, and wondering why Henry had written so soon, before she had +prepared the way by a little judicious coaxing. + +"Well, then," continued Madam Conway, "the sooner it is broken the +better. I am astonished that you should stoop to such an act, and I +hope you are not in earnest." + +"But I am," answered Maggie; and in the same cold, decided manner her +grandmother continued: "Then nothing remains for me but to forbid your +having any communication whatever with one whose conduct in my house +has been so unpardonably rude and vulgar. You will never marry him, +Margaret, never! Nay, I would sooner see you dead than the wife of +that low, mean, impertinent fellow!" + +In the large dark eyes there was a gleam decidedly "Hagarish" as +Maggie arose, and, standing before her grandmother, made answer: "You +must not, in my presence, speak thus of Henry Warner. He is neither +low, mean, vulgar, nor impertinent. You are prejudiced against him +because you think him comparatively poor, and because he has dared +to look at me, who have yet to understand why the fact of my being a +Conway makes me any better. I have promised to be Henry Warner's wife, +and Margaret Miller never yet has broken her word." + +"But in this instance you will," said Madam Conway, now thoroughly +aroused. "I will never suffer it; and to prove I am in earnest I will +here, before your face, burn the letter he has presumed to send you; +and this I will do to any others which may come to you from him." + +Maggie offered no remonstrance; but the fire of a volcano burned +within, as she watched the letter blackening upon the coals; and when +next her eyes met those of her grandmother there was in them a fierce, +determined look which prompted that lady at once to change her tactics +and try the power of persuasion rather than of force. Feigning a +smile, she said: "What ails you, child? You look to me like Hagar. It +was wrong in me, perhaps, to burn your letter, and had I reflected a +moment I might not have done it; but I cannot suffer you to receive +any more. I have other prospects in view for you, and have only waited +a favorable opportunity to tell you what they are. Sit down by me, +Margaret, while I talk with you on the subject." + +The burning of her letter had affected Margaret strangely, and with a +benumbed feeling at her heart she sat down without a word and listened +patiently to praises long and praises loud of Arthur Carrollton, who +was described as being every way desirable, both as a friend and a +husband. "His father, the elder Mr. Carrollton, was an intimate friend +of my husband," said Madam Conway, "and wishes our families to be more +closely united, by a marriage between you and his son Arthur, who is +rather fastidious in his taste, and though twenty-eight years old has +never yet seen a face which suited him. But he is pleased with you, +Maggie. He liked your picture, imperfect as it is, and he liked the +tone of your letters, which I read to him. They were so original, +he said, so much like what he fancied you to be. He has a splendid +country seat, and more than one nobleman's daughter would gladly share +it with him; but I think he fancies you. He has a large estate near +Montreal, and some difficulty connected with it will ere long bring +him to America. Of course he will visit here, and with a little tact +on your part you can, I'm sure, secure one of the best matches in +England. He is fine-looking, too. I have his daguerreotype;" and +opening her workbox she drew it forth and held it before Maggie, who +resolutely shut her eyes lest she should see the face of one she was +so determined to dislike. + +"What do you think of him?" asked Madam Conway as her arm began to +ache, and Maggie had not yet spoken. + +"I haven't looked at him," answered Maggie; "I hate him, and if he +comes here after me I'll tell him so, too. I hate him because he is +an Englishman. I hate him because he is aristocratic. I hate him for +everything, and before I marry him I'll run away!" + +Here, wholly overcome, Maggie burst into tears, and precipitately left +the room. An hour later, and Hagar, sitting by her fire, which the +coolness of the day rendered necessary, was startled by the abrupt +entrance of Maggie, who, throwing herself upon the floor, and burying +her face in the old woman's lap, sobbed bitterly. + +"What is it, child? What is it, darling?" asked Hagar; and in a +few words Maggie explained the whole. "I am persecuted, dreadfully +persecuted! Nobody before ever had so much trouble as I. Grandma +has burned a letter from Henry Warner, and would not give it to me. +Grandma said, too, I should never marry him, should never write to +him, nor see anything he might send to me. Oh, Hagar, Hagar, isn't +it cruel?" and the eyes, whose wrathful, defiant expression was now +quenched in tears, looked up in Hagar's face for sympathy. + +The right chord was touched, and much as Hagar might have disliked +Henry Warner she was his fast friend now. Her mistress' opposition and +Maggie's tears had wrought a change, and henceforth all her energies +should be given to the advancement of the young couple's cause. + +"I can manage it," she said, smoothing the long silken tresses which +lay in disorder upon her lap. "Richland post office is only four miles +from here; I can walk double that distance easy. Your grandmother +never thinks of going there, neither am I known to anyone in that +neighborhood. Write your letter to Henry Warner, and before the sun +goes down it shall be safe in the letter-box. He can write to the +same place, but he had better direct to me, as your name might excite +suspicion." + +This plan seemed perfectly feasible; but it struck Maggie +unpleasantly. She had never attempted to deceive in her life, and she +shrunk from the first deception. She would rather, she said, try again +to win her grandmother's consent. But this she found impossible; Madam +Conway was determined, and would not listen. + +"It grieves me sorely," she said, "thus to cross my favorite child, +whom I love better than my life; but it is for her good, and must be +done." + +So she wrote a cold and rather insulting letter to Henry Warner, +bidding him, as she had done before, "let her granddaughter alone," +and saying it was useless for him to attempt anything secret, for +Maggie would be closely watched, the moment there were indications of +a clandestine correspondence. + +This letter, which was read to Margaret, destroyed all hope, and +still she wavered, uncertain whether it would be right to deceive her +grandmother. But while she was yet undecided, Hagar's fingers, of late +unused to the pen, traced a few lines to Henry Warner, who, acting at +once upon her suggestion, wrote to Margaret a letter which he directed +to "Hagar Warren, Richland." + +In it he urged so many reasons why Maggie should avail herself of this +opportunity for communicating with him that she yielded at last, and +regularly each week old Hagar toiled through sunshine and through +storm to the Richland post office, feeling amply repaid for her +trouble when she saw the bright expectant face which almost always +greeted her return. Occasionally, by way of lulling the suspicions of +Madam Conway, Henry would direct a letter to Hillsdale, knowing full +well it would never meet the eyes of Margaret, over whom, for the time +being, a spy had been set, in the person of Anna Jeffrey. + +This young lady, though but little connected with our story, may +perhaps deserve a brief notice. Older than either Theo or Margaret, +she was neither remarkable for beauty nor talent. Dark-haired, +dark-eyed, dark-browed, and, as the servants said, "dark in her +disposition," she was naturally envious of those whose rank in life +entitled them to more attention than she was herself accustomed to +receive. For this reason Maggie Miller had from the first been to her +an object of dislike, and she was well pleased when Madam Conway, +enjoining the strictest secrecy, appointed her to watch that young +lady, and see that no letter was ever carried by her to the post +office which Madam Conway had not first examined. In the snaky eyes +there was a look of exultation as Anna Jeffrey promised to be faithful +to her trust, and for a time she became literally Maggie Miller's +shadow, following her here, following her there, and following her +everywhere, until Maggie complained so bitterly of the annoyance that +Madam Conway at last, feeling tolerably sure that no counterplot was +intended, revoked her orders, and bade Anna Jeffrey leave Margaret +free to do as she pleased. + +Thus relieved from espionage, Maggie became a little more like +herself, though a sense of the injustice done her by her grandmother, +together with the deception she knew she was practicing, wore upon +her; and the servants at their work listened in vain for the merry +laugh they had loved so well to hear. In the present state of +Margaret's feelings Madam Conway deemed it prudent to say nothing of +Arthur Carrollton, whose name was never mentioned save by Theo and +Anna, the latter of whom had seen him in England, and was never so +well pleased as when talking of his fine country seat, his splendid +park, his handsome horses, and last, though not least, of himself. "He +is," she said, "without exception, the most elegant and aristocratic +young man I have ever seen;" and then for more than an hour she would +entertain Theo with a repetition of the many agreeable things he had +said to her during the one day she had spent at his house while Madam +Conway was visiting there. + +In perfect indifference, Maggie, who was frequently present, would +listen to these stories, sometimes listlessly turning the leaves of a +book, and again smiling scornfully as she thought how impossible it +was that the fastidious Arthur Carrolton should have been at all +pleased with a girl like Anna Jeffrey; and positive as Maggie was that +she hated him, she insensibly began to feel a very slight degree of +interest in him; at least, she would like to know how he looked; and +one day when her grandmother and Theo were riding she stole cautiously +to the box where she knew his picture lay, and, taking it out, looked +to see if he were so very fine-looking. + +Yes, he was,--Maggie acknowledged that; and, sure that she hated +him terribly, she lingered long over that picture, admiring the +classically shaped head, the finely cut mouth, and more than all the +large dark eyes which seemed so full of goodness and truth. "Pshaw!" +she exclaimed at last, restoring the picture to its place; "if Henry +were only a little taller, and had as handsome eyes, he'd be a great +deal better-looking. Anyway, I like him, and I hate Arthur Carrollton, +who I know is domineering, and would try to make me mind. He has asked +for my daguerreotype, grandma says--one which looks as I do now. I'll +send it too," and she burst into a loud laugh at the novel idea which +had crossed her mind. + +That day when Madam Conway returned from her ride she was surprised at +Maggie's proposing that Theo and herself should have their likenesses +taken for Arthur Carrollton. + +"If he wants my picture," said she, "I am willing he shall have it. It +is all he'll ever get." + +Delighted at this unexpected concession, Madam Conway gave her +consent, and the next afternoon found Theo and Maggie at the +daguerrean gallery in Hillsdale, where the latter astonished both her +sister and the artist by declaring her intention of not only sitting +with her bonnet and shawl on; but also of turning her back to the +instrument! It was in vain that Theo remonstrated! "That position or +none," she said; and the picture was accordingly taken, presenting +a very correct likeness, when finished, of a bonnet, a veil, and a +shawl, beneath which Maggie Miller was supposed to be. + +Strange as it may seem, this freak struck Madam Conway favorably. +Arthur Carrollton knew that Maggie was unlike any other person, and +the joke, she thought, would increase, rather than diminish, the +interest he already felt in her. So she made no objection, and in a +few days it was on its way to England, together with a lock of Hagar's +snow-white hair, which Maggie had coaxed from the old lady, and, +unknown to her grandmother, placed in the casing at the last moment. + +Several weeks passed away, and then there came an answer--a letter so +full of wit and humor that Maggie confessed to herself that he must +be very clever to write so many shrewd things and to be withal so +perfectly refined. Accompanying the package was a small rosewood box, +containing a most exquisite little pin made of Hagar's frosty hair, +and richly ornamented with gold. Not a word was written concerning +it, and as Maggie kept her own counsel, both Theo and her grandmother +marveled greatly, admiring its beauty and wondering for whom it was +intended. + +"For me, of course," said Madam Conway. "The hair is Lady +Carrollton's, Arthur's grandmother. I know it by its soft, silky look. +She has sent it as a token of respect, for she was always fond of me;" +and going to the glass she very complacently ornamented her Honiton +collar with Hagar's hair, while Maggie, bursting with fun, beat a +hasty retreat from the room, lest she should betray herself. + +Thus the winter passed away, and early in the spring George Douglas, +to whom Madam Conway had long ago sent a favorable answer, came to +visit his betrothed, bringing to Maggie a note from Rose, who had once +or twice sent messages in Henry's letters. She was in Worcester now, +and her health was very delicate. "Sometimes," she wrote, "I fear +I shall never see you, Maggie Miller--shall never look into your +beautiful face, or listen to your voice; but whether in heaven or on +earth I am first to meet with you, my heart claims you as a sister, +the one whom of all the sisters in the world I would rather call my +own." + +"Darling Rose!" murmured Maggie, pressing the delicately traced lines +to her lips, "how near she seems to me! nearer almost than Theo;" and +then involuntarily her thoughts went backward to the night when Henry +Warner first told her of his love, and when in her dreams there had +been a strange blending together of herself, of Rose, and the little +grave beneath the pine! + +But not yet was that veil of mystery to be lifted. Hagar's secret must +be kept a little longer; and, unsuspicious of the truth, Maggie Miller +must dream on of sweet Rose Warner, whom she hopes one day to call her +sister! + +There was also a message from Henry, and this George Douglas delivered +in secret, for he did not care to displease his grandmother-elect, who +viewing him through a golden setting, thought he was not to be equaled +by anyone in America. "So gentlemanly," she said, "and so modest too," +basing her last conclusion upon his evident unwillingness to say +very much of himself or his family. Concerning the latter she had +questioned him in vain, eliciting nothing save the fact that they +lived in the country several miles from Worcester, and that his father +always stayed at home, and consequently his mother went but little +into society. + +"Despises the vulgar herd, I dare say," thought Madam Conway, +contemplating the pleasure she should undoubtedly derive from an +acquaintance with Mrs. Douglas, senior! + +"There was a sister, too," he said, and at this announcement Theo +opened wide her blue eyes, asking her name, and why he had never +mentioned her before. + +"I call her Jenny," said he, coloring slightly, and adding playfully, +as he caressed Theo's smooth, round cheek, "Wives do not usually like +their husbands' sisters." + +"But I shall like her, I know," said Theo. "She has a beautiful name, +Jenny Douglas--much prettier than Rose Warner, about whom Maggie talks +to me so much." + +A gathering frown on her grandmother's face warned Theo that she had +touched upon a forbidden subject, and as Mr. Douglas manifested no +desire to continue the conversation it ceased for a time, Theo wishing +she could see Jenny Douglas, and George wondering what she would say +when she did see her! + +For a few days longer he lingered, and ere his return it was arranged +that early in July Theo should be his bride. On the morning of his +departure, as he stood upon the steps alone with Madam Conway, she +said, "I think I can rely upon you, Mr. Douglas, not to carry either +letter, note, or message from Maggie to that young Warner. I've +forbidden him in my house, and I mean what I say." + +"I assure you, madam, she has not asked me to carry either," +answered George; who, though he knew perfectly well of the secret +correspondence, had kept it to himself. "You mistake Mr. Warner, I +think," he continued, after a moment. "I have known him long, and +esteem him highly." + +"Tastes differ," returned Madam Conway coldly. "No man of good +breeding would presume to cut up my grandfather's coat or drink up my +best wine." + +"He intended no disrespect, I'm sure," answered George. "He only +wanted a little fun with the 'Stars and Stripes.'" + +"It was fun for which he will pay most dearly, though," answered Madam +Conway, as she bade Mr. Douglas good-by; then, walking back to the +parlor, she continued speaking to herself: "'Stars and Stripes'! +I'll teach him to cut up my blue bodice for fun. I wouldn't give him +Margaret if his life depended upon it;" and sitting down she wrote to +Arthur Carrollton, asking if he really intended visiting America, and +when. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +SOCIETY. + + +During the remainder of the spring matters at the old stone house +proceeded about as usual, Maggie writing regularly to Henry, who as +regularly answered, while old Hagar managed it so adroitly that no one +suspected the secret correspondence, and Madam Conway began to hope +her granddaughter had forgotten the foolish fancy. Arthur Carrollton +had replied that his visit to America, though sure to take place, was +postponed indefinitely, and so the good lady had nothing in particular +with which to busy herself, save the preparations for Theo's wedding, +which was to take place near the first of July. + +Though setting a high value upon money, Madam Conway was not +penurious, and the bridal trousseau far exceeded anything which Theo +had expected. As the young couple were not to keep house for a time, a +most elegant suite of rooms had been selected in a fashionable hotel; +and determining that Theo should not, in point of dress, be rivaled by +any of her fellow-boarders, Madam Conway spared neither time nor +money in making the outfit perfect. So for weeks the old stone house +presented a scene of great confusion. Chairs, tables, lounges, +and piano were piled with finery, on which Anna Jeffrey worked +industriously, assisted sometimes by her aunt, whom Madam Conway +pronounced altogether too superannuated for a governess, and who, +though really an excellent scholar, was herself far better pleased +with muslin robes and satin bows than with French idioms and Latin +verbs. Perfectly delighted, Maggie joined in the general excitement, +wondering occasionally when and where her own bridal would be. Once +she ventured to ask if Henry Warner and his sister might be invited to +Theo's wedding; but Madam Conway answered so decidedly in the negative +that she gave it up, consoling herself with thinking that she would +some time visit her sister, and see Henry in spite of her grandmother. + +The marriage was very quiet, for Madam Conway had no acquaintance, and +the family alone witnessed the ceremony. At first Madam Conway had +hoped that Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, senior, together with their daughter +Jenny, would be present, and she had accordingly requested George to +invite them, feeling greatly disappointed when she learned that they +could not come. + +"I wanted so much to see them," she said to Maggie, "and know whether +they are worthy to be related to the Conways--but of course they are, +as much so as any American family. George has every appearance of +refinement and high-breeding." + +"But his family, for all that, may be as ignorant as Farmer +Canfield's," answered Maggie; to which her grandmother replied: "You +needn't tell me that, for I'm not to be deceived in such matters. I +can tell at a glance if a person is low-born, no matter what their +education or advantages may have been. Who's that?" she added quickly, +and turning round she saw old Hagar, her eyes lighted up and her lips +moving with incoherent sounds. + +Hagar had come up to the wedding, and had reached the door of Madam +Conway's room just in time to hear the last remark, which roused her +at once. + +"Why don't she discover my secret, then," she muttered, "if she has so +much discernment? Why don't she see the Hagar blood in her? for it's +there, plain as day;" and she glanced proudly at Maggie, who, in her +simple robe of white, was far more beautiful than the bride. + +And still Theo, in her handsome traveling dress, was very fair to look +upon, and George Douglas felt proud that she was his, resolving, as he +kissed away the tears she shed at parting, that the vow he had just +made should never be broken. A few weeks of pleasant travel westward, +and then the newly wedded pair came back to what, for a time, was to +be their home. + +George Douglas was highly respected in Worcester, both as a man of +honor and a man of wealth; consequently, every possible attention was +paid to Theo, who was petted and admired, until she began to wonder +why neither Maggie nor yet her all-discerning grandmother had +discovered how charming and faultless she was! + +Among George's acquaintance was a Mrs. Morton, a dashing, fashionable +woman, who determined to honor the bride with a party, to which all +the elite of Worcester were invited, together with many Bostonians. +Madam Conway and Maggie were of course upon the list; and, as timely +notice was given them by Theo, Madam Conway went twice to Springfield +in quest of a suitable dress for Maggie. She wanted something +becoming, she said; and a delicate rose-colored satin, with a handsome +overskirt of lace, was at last decided upon. + +"She must have some pearls for her hair," thought Madam Conway; and +when next Maggie, who, girl-like, tried the effect of her first party +dress at least a dozen times, stood before the glass to see if it were +exactly the right length, she was presented with the pearls, which +Anna Jeffrey, with a feeling of envy at her heart, arranged in the +shining braids of her hair. + +"Oh, isn't it perfectly splendid!" cried Maggie, herself half inclined +to compliment the beautiful image reflected in the mirror. + +"You ought to see Arthur Carrollton's sister when she is dressed, if +you think you look handsome," answered Anna, adding that diamonds were +much more fashionable than pearls. + +"You have attended a great many parties and seen a great deal of +fashion, so I dare say you are right," Maggie answered ironically; and +then, as through the open window she saw Hagar approaching, she ran +out upon the _piazza_, to see what the old woman would say. + +Hagar had never seen her thus before, and now, throwing up her hands +in astonishment, she involuntarily dropped upon her knees, and, +while the tears rained over her timeworn face, whispered, "Hester's +child--my granddaughter--Heaven be praised!" + +"Do I look pretty?" Margaret asked; and Hagar answered: "More +beautiful than anyone I ever saw. I wish your mother could see you +now." + +Involuntarily Maggie glanced at the tall marble gleaming through +the distant trees, while Hagar's thoughts were down in that other +grave--the grave beneath the pine. The next day was the party, and +at an early hour Madam Conway was ready. Her rich purple satin and +Valenciennes laces, with which she hoped to impress Mrs. Douglas, +senior, were carefully packed up, together with Maggie's dress; and +then, shawled and bonneted, she waited impatiently for her carriage, +which she preferred to the cars. It came at last, but in place of +John, the usual coachman, Mike, a rather wild youth of twenty, was +mounted upon the box. His father, he said, had been taken suddenly +ill, and had deputized him to drive. + +For a time Madam Conway hesitated, for she knew Mike's one great +failing, and she hardly dared risk herself with him, lest she should +find a seat less desirable even than the memorable brush-heap. But +Mike protested loudly to having joined the "Sons of Temperance" only +the night before, and as in his new suit of blue, with shining brass +buttons, he presented a more stylish appearance than his father, his +mistress finally decided to try him, threatening all manner of evil if +in any way he broke his pledge, either to herself or the "Sons," the +latter of whom had probably never heard of him. He was perfectly +sober now, and drove them safely to Worcester, where they soon found +themselves in Theo's handsome rooms. Her wrappings removed and herself +snugly ensconced in a velvet-cushioned chair, Madam Conway asked the +young bride how long before Mrs. Douglas, senior, would probably +arrive. + +A slight shadow, which no one observed, passed over Theo's face as she +answered, "George's father seldom goes into society, and consequently +his mother will not come." + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" replied Madam Conway, thinking of the purple +satin, and continuing, "Nor the young lady, either?" + +"None of them," answered Theo, adding hastily, as if to change the +conversation, "Isn't my piano perfectly elegant?" and she ran her +fingers over an exquisitely carved instrument, which had inscribed +upon it simply "Theo"; and then, as young brides sometimes will, +she expatiated upon the kindness and generosity of George, showing, +withal, that her love for her husband was founded upon something far +more substantial than family or wealth. + +Her own happiness, it would seem, had rendered her less selfish and +more thoughtful for others; for once that afternoon, on returning to +her room after a brief absence, she whispered to Maggie that "someone +in the parlor below wished to see her." + +Then seating herself at her grandmother's feet, she entertained her so +well with a description of her travels that the good lady failed to +observe the absence of Maggie, who, face to face with Henry Warner, +was making amends for their long separation. Much they talked of the +past, and then Henry spoke of the future; but of this Maggie was less +hopeful. Her grandmother would never consent to their marriage, she +knew--the "Stars and Stripes" had decided that matter, even though +there were no Arthur Carrollton across the sea, and Maggie sighed +despondingly as she thought of the long years of single-blessedness in +store for her. + +"There is but one alternative left, then," said Henry. "If your +grandmother refuses her consent altogether, I must take you without +her consent." + +"I shan't run away," said Maggie; "I shall live an old maid, and you +must live an old bachelor, until grandma--" + +She did not have time to finish the sentence ere Henry commenced +unfolding the following plan: + +"It is necessary," he said, "for either myself or Mr. Douglas to go +to Cuba; and as Rose's health makes a change of climate advisable for +her, George has proposed to me to go and take my sister there for the +winter. And, Maggie," he continued, "will you go, too? We are to sail +the middle of October, stopping for a few weeks in Florida, until the +unhealthy season in Havana is passed. I will see your grandmother +to-morrow morning--will once more honorably ask her for your hand, and +if she still refuses, as you think she will, it cannot surely be wrong +in you to consult your own happiness instead of her prejudices. I will +meet you at old Hagar's cabin at the time appointed. Rose and my aunt, +who is to accompany her, will be in New York, whither we will go +immediately. A few moments more and you will be my wife, and beyond +the control of your grandmother. Do you approve my plan, Maggie, +darling? Will you go?" + +Maggie could not answer him then, for an elopement was something +from which she instinctively shrunk, and with a faint hope that her +grandmother might consent she went back to her sister's room, where +she had not yet been missed. Very rapidly the remainder of the +afternoon passed away, and at an early hour, wishing to know "exactly +how she was going to look," Maggie commenced her toilet. Theo, too, +desirous of displaying her white satin as long as possible, began to +dress; while Madam Conway, in no haste to don her purple satin, which +was uncomfortably tight, amused herself by watching the passers-by, +nodding at intervals, in her chair. + +While thus occupied, a perfumed note was brought to her, the contents +of which elicited from her an exclamation of surprise. + +"Can it be possible!" she said; and thrusting the note into her pocket +she hastily left the room. + +She was gone a long, long time; and when at last she returned, she was +evidently much excited, paying no attention whatever to Theo, who, in +her bridal robes, looked charming, but minutely inspecting Maggie, to +see if in her adornings there was aught out of its place. Her dress +was faultless, and she looked so radiantly beautiful, as she stood +before her grandmother, that the old lady kissed her fondly, +whispering, as she did so, "You are indeed beautiful!" It was a long +time ere Madam Conway commenced her own toilet, and then she proceeded +so slowly that George Douglas became impatient, and she finally +suggested that he and Theo should go without her, sending the carriage +back for herself and Maggie. To this proposition he at last yielded; +and when they were left alone Madam Conway greatly accelerated her +movements, dressing herself in a few moments, and then, much to +Maggie's surprise, going below without a word of explanation. A few +moments only elapsed ere a servant was sent to Maggie, saying that her +presence was desired at No. 40, a small private parlor adjoining the +public drawing rooms. + +"What can it mean? Is it possible that Henry is there?" Maggie asked +herself, as with a beating heart she descended the stairs. + +A moment more, and Maggie stood on the threshhold of No. 40. Seated +upon the sofa was Madam Conway, her purple satin seeming to have +taken a wide sweep, and her face betokening the immense degree of +satisfaction she felt in being there with the stylish, elegant-looking +stranger who stood at her side, with his deep, expressive eyes fixed +upon the door expectantly. Maggie knew him in a moment--knew it was +Arthur Carrollton; and, turning pale, she started backward, while he +advanced forward, and, offering her his hand, looked down upon her +with a winning smile, saying, as he did so: "Excuse my familiarity. +You are Maggie Miller, I am sure." + +For an instant Maggie could not reply, but soon becoming composed +she received the stranger gracefully, and then taking the chair he +politely brought her she listened while her grandmother told that +he had arrived at Montreal two weeks before; that he had reached +Hillsdale that morning, an hour or two after their departure, and, +learning their destination, had followed them in the cars; that she +had taken the liberty of informing Mrs. Morton of his arrival, and +that lady had of course extended to him an invitation to be present at +her party. + +"Which invitation I accept, provided Miss Maggie allows me to be her +escort," said the young man, and again his large black eyes rested +admiringly upon her. + +Maggie had anticipated a long, quiet talk with Henry Warner, and, +wishing the Englishman anywhere but there, she answered coldly, "I +cannot well decline your escort, Mr. Carrollton, so of course I accept +it." + +Madam Conway bit her lip, but Mr. Carrollton, who was prepared for +anything from Maggie Miller, was not in the least displeased, and, +consulting his diamond-set watch, which pointed to nearly ten, he +asked if it were not time to go. + +"Certainly," said Madam Conway. "You remain here, Maggie; I will bring +down your shawl," and she glided from the room, leaving them purposely +alone. + +Maggie was a good deal astonished, slightly embarrassed, and a little +provoked, all of which Arthur Carrollton readily saw; but this did +not prevent his talking to her, and during the few minutes of Madam +Conway's absence he decided that neither Margaret's beauty, nor yet +her originality, had been overrated by her partial grandmother, while +Maggie, on her part, mentally pronounced him "the finest-looking, the +most refined, the most gentlemanly, the proudest, and the hatefulest +man she had ever seen!" + +Wholly unconscious of her cogitation, he wrapped her shawl very +carefully about her, taking care to cover her white shoulders from the +night air; then offering his arm to her grandmother, he led the way to +the carriage, whither she followed him, wondering if Henry would be +jealous, and thinking her first act would be to tell him how she hated +Arthur Carrollton, and always should! + + * * * * * + +It was a gay, brilliant scene which Mrs. Morton's drawing room +presented; and, as yet the center of attraction, Theo, near the door, +was bowing to the many strangers who sought her acquaintance. Greatly +she marveled at the long delay of her grandmother and Maggie, and she +had just suggested to Henry that he should go in quest of them, when +she saw her sister ascending the stairs. + +On a sofa across the room sat a pale young girl arrayed in white, her +silken curls falling around her neck like a golden shower, and her +mournful eyes of blue scanning eagerly each newcomer, then a look of +disappointment drooping beneath the long lashes which rested wearily +upon her colorless cheek. It was Rose Warner, and the face she sought +was Maggie Miller's. She had seen no semblance of it yet, for Henry +had no daguerreotype. Still, she felt sure she would know it, and when +at last, in all her queenly beauty, Maggie came, leaning on Arthur +Carrollton's arm, Rose's heart made ready answer to the oft-repeated +question, "Who is she?" + +"Beautiful, gloriously beautiful!" she whispered softly, while from +the grave of her buried hopes there came one wild heart-throb, one +sudden burst of pain caused by the first sight of her rival, and then +Rose Warner grew calm again, and those who saw the pressure of her +hand upon her side dreamed not of the fierce pang within. She had +asked her brother not to tell Maggie she was to be there. She would +rather watch her a while, herself unknown; and now with eager, curious +eyes she followed Maggie, who was quickly surrounded by a host of +admirers. + +It was Maggie's first introduction into society, and yet so perfect +was her intuition of what was proper that neither by word or deed did +she do aught to shock the most fastidious. It is true her merry laugh +more than once rang out above the din of voices; but it was so joyous +that no one objected, particularly when they looked in her bright and +almost childish face. Arthur Carrollton, too, acting as her escort, +aided her materially, for it was soon whispered around that he was a +wealthy Englishman, and many were the comments made upon the handsome +couple, who seemed singularly adapted to each other. A glance had +convinced Arthur Carrollton that Maggie was by far the most beautiful +lady present, and feeling that on this her first introduction into +society she needed someone to shield her, as it were, from the many +foolish, flattering speeches which were sure to be made in her +hearing, he kept her at his side, where she was nothing loath to stay; +for, notwithstanding that she "hated" him so, there was about him a +fascination she did not try to resist. + +"They are a splendid couple," thought Rose, and then she looked to see +how Henry was affected by the attentions of the handsome foreigner. + +But Henry was not jealous; and, standing a little aloof, he felt more +pleasure than pain in watching Maggie as she received the homage of +the gay throng. Thoughts similar to those of Rose, however, forced +themselves upon him as he saw the dignified bearing of Mr. +Carrollton, and for the first time in his life he was conscious of an +uncomfortable feeling of inferiority to some thing or some body, he +hardly knew what. This feeling, however, passed away when Maggie came +at last to his side, with her winning smile and playful words. + +Very closely Madam Conway watched her now; but Maggie did not heed it, +and leaning on Henry's arm she seemed oblivious to all save him. +After a time he led her out upon a side piazza, where they would be +comparatively alone. Observing that she seemed a little chilly, he +left her for a moment while he went in quest of her shawl. Scarcely +was he gone when a slight, fairy form came flitting through the +moonlight to where Maggie sat, and, twining its snow-white arms around +her neck, looked lovingly into her eyes, whispering soft and low, "My +sister!" + +"My sister!" How Maggie's blood bounded at the sound of that name, +which even the night wind, sighing through the trees, seemed to take +up and repeat. "My sister!" What was there in those words thus to +affect her? Was that fair young creature, who hung so fondly over her, +naught to her save a common stranger? Was there no tie between them, +no bond of sympathy and love? We ask this of you, our reader, and not +of Maggie Miller, for to her there came no questioning like this. She +only knew that every pulsation of her heart responded to the name of +sister, when breathed by sweet Rose Warner, and, folding her arms +about her, she pillowed the golden head upon her bosom, and, pushing +back the clustering curls, gazed long and earnestly into a face which +seemed so heavenly and pure. + +Few were the words they uttered at first, for a mysterious, invisible +something prompted each to look into the other's eyes, to clasp the +other's hands, to kiss the other's lips, and lovingly to whisper the +other's name. + +"I have wished so much to see you, to know if you are worthy of my +noble brother," said Rose at last, thinking she must say something on +the subject uppermost in both their minds. + +"And am I worthy?" asked Maggie, the bright blushes stealing over her +cheek. "Will you let me be your sister?" + +"My heart would claim you for that, even though I had no brother," +answered Rose, and again her lips touched those of Maggie. + +Seeing them thus together, Henry tarried purposely a long time, and +when at last he rejoined them he proposed returning to the drawing +room, where many inquiries were making for Maggie. + +"I have looked for you a long time, Miss Maggie," said Mr. Carrollton. +"I wish to hear you play;" and, taking her arm in his, he led her to +the piano. + +From the moment of her first introduction to him Maggie had felt that +there was something commanding in his manner, something she could not +disobey; and now, though she fancied it was impossible to play before +that multitude, she seated herself mechanically, and while the keys +swam before her eyes, went through with a difficult piece which she +had never but once before executed correctly. + +"You have done well; much better than I anticipated," said Mr. +Carrollton, again offering her his arm; and though a little vexed, +those few words of commendation were worth more to Maggie than the +most flattering speech which Henry Warner had ever made to her. + +Soon after leaving the piano a young man approached and invited her to +waltz. This was something in which Maggie excelled; for two winters +before Madam Conway had hired a teacher to instruct her granddaughters +in dancing, and she was about to accept the invitation, when, drawing +her arm still closer within his own, Mr. Carrollton looked down upon +her, saying softly, "I wouldn't." + +Maggie had often waltzed with Henry at home. He saw no harm in it, and +now when Arthur Carrollton objected, she was provoked, while at the +same time she felt constrained to decline. + +"Some time, when I know you better, I will explain to you why I do +not think it proper for young girls to waltz with everyone," said Mr. +Carrollton; and, leading her from the drawing room, he devoted himself +to her for the remainder of the evening, making himself so perfectly +agreeable that Maggie forgot everything, even Henry Warner, who in +the meantime had tried to obtain recognition from Madam Conway as an +acquaintance. + +A cool nod, however, was all the token of recognition she had to give +him. This state of feeling augured ill for the success of his suit; +but when at a late hour that night, in spite of grandmother or +Englishman, he handed Maggie to the carriage, he whispered to her +softly, "I will see her to-morrow morning, and know the worst." + +The words caught the quick ear of Madam Conway; but, not wishing +Mr. Carrollton to know there was anything particular between her +granddaughter and Henry Warner, she said nothing, and when, arrived at +last at the hotel, she asked an explanation, Maggie, who hurried off +to bed, was too sleepy to give her any answer. + +"I shall know before long, anyway, if he sees me in the morning," she +thought, as she heard a distant clock strike two, and settling her +face into the withering frown with which she intended to annihilate +Henry Warner, the old lady was herself ere long much faster asleep +than the young girl at her side, who was thinking of Henry Warner, +wishing he was three inches taller, or herself three inches shorter, +and wondering if his square shoulders would not be somewhat improved +by braces! + +"I never noticed how short and crooked he was," she thought, "until I +saw him standing by the side of Mr. Carrollton, who is such a splendid +figure, so tall and straight; but big, overgrown girls like me always +get short husbands, they say;" and satisfied with this conclusion she +fell asleep. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +MADAM CONWAY'S DISASTERS. + + +At a comparatively early hour Madam Conway arose, and going to the +parlor found there Arthur Carrollton, who asked if Margaret were not +yet up. "Say that I wish her to ride with me on horseback," said he. +"The morning air will do her good;" and, quite delighted, Madam Conway +carried the message to her granddaughter. + +"Tell him I shan't do it," answered the sleepy Maggie, adjusting +herself for another nap. Then, as she thought how his eyes probably +looked as he said, "I wish her to ride," she felt impelled to obey, +and greatly to her grandmother's surprise she commenced dressing. + +Theo's riding dress was borrowed, and though it did not fit her +exactly she looked unusually well when she met Mr. Carrollton in the +lower hall, and once mounted upon the gay steed, and galloping away +into the country, she felt more than repaid for the loss of her +morning slumber. + +"You ride well," said Mr. Carrollton, when at last they paused upon +the brow of a hill overlooking the town, "but you have some faults +which, with your permission, I will correct," and in the most polite +and gentlemanly manner he proceeded to speak of a few points wherein +her riding might be improved. + +Among other things, he said she rode too fast for a lady; and, biting +her lip, Maggie thought, "If I only had Gritty here, I'd lead him such +a race as would either break his bones or his neck, I'm not particular +which." + +Still, she followed his directions implicitly, and when, ere they +reached home, he told her that she excelled many who had been for +years to riding schools, she felt repaid for his criticisms, which she +knew were just, even if they were not agreeable. Breakfast being over, +he announced his intention of going down to Boston, telling Maggie he +should probably return that evening and go with her to Hillsdale on +the morrow. + +Scarcely had he gone when Henry Warner appeared, asking an interview +with Madam Conway, who haughtily led the way into a private room. Very +candidly and honorably Henry made known to her his wishes, whereupon +a most stormy scene ensued, the lady so far forgetting herself as to +raise her voice several notes above its usual pitch, while Henry, +angered by her insulting words, bade her take the consequences of her +refusal, hinting that girls had been known to marry without their +guardian's consent. + +"An elopement, hey? He threatens me with an elopement, does he?" said +Madam Conway, as the door closed after him. "I am glad he warned me +in time," and then, trembling in every limb lest Maggie should be +spirited away before her very eyes, she determined upon going home +immediately and leaving Arthur Carrollton to follow in the cars. + +Accordingly, Maggie was bidden to pack her things at once, the excited +old lady keeping her eye constantly upon her to see that she did +not disappear through the window or some other improbable place. In +silence Maggie obeyed, pouting the while a very little, partly because +she should not again see Henry, partly because she had confidently +expected to ride home with Mr. Carrollton, and partly because she +wished to stay to the firemen's muster, which had long been talked +about, and was to take place on the morrow. They were ready at last, +and then in a very perturbed state of feeling Madam Conway waited +for her carriage, which was not forthcoming, and upon inquiry George +Douglas learned that, having counted upon another day in the city, +Mike was now going through with a series of plunge-baths, by way of +sobering himself ere appearing before his mistress. This, however, +George kept from Madam Conway, not wishing to alarm her; and when +after a time Mike appeared, sitting bolt upright upon the box, with +the lines grasped firmly in his hands, she did not suspect the truth, +nor know that he too was angry for being thus compelled to go home +before he saw the firemen. + +Thinking him sober enough to be perfectly safe, George Douglas felt no +fear, and, bowing to his new relatives, went back to comfort Theo, who +as a matter of course cried a little when the carriage drove away. +Worcester was left behind, and they were far out in the country ere +a word was exchanged between Madam Conway and Maggie; for while the +latter was pouting behind her veil, the former was wondering what +possessed Mike to drive into every rut and over every stone. + +"You, Mike!" she exclaimed at last, leaning from the window. "What +ails you?" + +"Nothing, as I'm a living man," answered Mike, halting so suddenly as +to jerk the lady backwards and mash the crown of her bonnet. + +Straightening herself up, and trying in vain to smooth the jam, Madam +Conway continued: "In liquor, I know. I wish I had stayed home." But +Mike loudly denied the charge, declaring he had spent the blessed +night at a meeting of the "Sons," where they passed around nothing +stronger than lemons and water, and if the horses chose to run off the +track it wasn't his fault--he couldn't help it; and with the air of +one deeply injured he again started forward, turning off ere long into +a cross road, which, as they advanced, grew more stony and rough, +while the farmhouses, as a general thing, presented a far less +respectable appearance than those on the Hillsdale route. + +"Mike, you villain!" ejaculated the lady, as they ran down into a +ditch, and she sprang to one side to keep the carriage from going +over. + +But ere she had time for anything further, one of the axletrees +snapped asunder, and to proceed further in their present condition was +impossible. Alighting from the carriage, and setting her little feet +upon the ground with a vengeance, Madam Conway first scolded Mike +unmercifully for his carelessness, and next chided Maggie for +manifesting no more concern. + +"You'd as lief go to destruction as not, I do believe!" said she, +looking carefully after the bandbox containing her purple satin. + +"I'd rather go there first," answered Maggie, pointing to a brown +old-fashioned farmhouse about a quarter of a mile away. + +At first Madam Conway objected, saying she preferred sitting on the +bank to intruding herself upon strangers; but as it was now noonday, +and the warm September sun poured fiercely down upon her, she finally +concluded to follow Maggie's advice, and gathering up her box and +parasol started for the house, which, with its tansy patch on the +right, and its single poplar tree in front, presented rather an +uninviting appearance. + +"Some vulgar creatures live there, I know. Just hear that old tin +horn!" she exclaimed, as a blast, loud and shrill, blown by practiced +lips, told the men in a distant field that dinner was ready. + +A nearer approach disclosed to view a slanting-roofed farmhouse such +as is often found in New England, with high, narrow windows, small +panes of glass, and the most indispensable paper curtains of blue +closely shading the windows of what was probably the "best room." In +the apartment opposite, however, they were rolled up, so as to show +the old-fashioned drapery of dimity, bordered with a netted fringe. +Half a dozen broken pitchers and pots held geraniums, verbenas, and +other plants, while the well-kept beds of hollyhocks, sunflowers, and +poppies indicated a taste for flowers in someone. Everything about +the house was faultlessly neat. The doorsill was scrubbed to a chalky +white, while the uncovered floor wore the same polished hue. + +All this Madam Conway saw at a glance, but it did not prevent her +from holding high her aristocratic skirts, lest they should be +contaminated, and when, in answer to her knock, an odd-looking, +peculiarly dressed woman appeared, she uttered an exclamation of +disgust, and, turning to Maggie, said, "You talk--I can't!" + +But the woman did not stand at all upon ceremony. For the last ten +minutes she had been watching the strangers as they toiled over the +sandy road, and when sure they were coming there had retreated into +her bedroom, donning a flaming red calico, which, guiltless of hoops, +clung to her tenaciously, showing her form to good advantage, and +rousing at once the risibility of Maggie. A black lace cap, ornamented +with ribbons of the same fanciful color as the dress, adorned her +head; and, with a dozen or more pins in her mouth, she now appeared, +hooking her sleeve and smoothing down the black collar upon her neck. + +In a few words Maggie explained to her their misfortune, and asked +permission to tarry there until the carriage was repaired. + +"Certing, certing," answered the woman, courtesying almost to the +floor. "Walk right in, if you can git in. It's my cheese day, or I +should have been cleared away sooner. Here, Betsy Jane, you have +prinked long enough; come and hist the winders in t'other room, and +wing 'em off, so the ladies can set in there out of this dirty place;" +then turning to Madam Conway, who was industriously freeing her +French kids from the sand they had accumulated during her walk, she +continued, "Have some of my shoes to rest your feet a spell"; and +diving into a recess or closet she brought forth a pair of slippers +large enough to hold both of Madam Conway's feet at once. + +With a haughty frown the lady declined the offer, while Maggie looked +on in delight, pleased with an adventure which promised so much fun. +After a moment Betsy Jane appeared, attired in a dress similar to that +of her mother, for whose lank appearance she made ample amends, in the +wonderful expansion of her robes, which, minus gather or fold at the +bottom, set out like a miniature tent, upsetting at once the bandbox, +which Madam Conway had placed upon a chair, and which, with its +contents, rolled promiscuously over the floor! + +"Betsy Jane! How can you wear them abominable things!" exclaimed the +distressed woman, stooping to pick up the purple satin which had +tumbled out. + +A look from the more fashionable daughter, as with a swinging sweep +she passed on into the parlor, silenced the mother on the subject of +hoops, and thinking her guests must necessarily be thirsty after their +walk she brought them a pitcher of water, asking if they'd "chuse it +clear, or with a little ginger and molasses," at the same time calling +to Betsy Jane to know if them windows was "wung" off! + +The answer was in the affirmative, whereupon the ladies were invited +to enter, which they did the more willingly as through the open door +they had caught glimpses of what proved to be a very handsome Brussels +carpet, which in that room seemed a little out of place, as did the +sofa, and handsome haircloth rocking-chair. In this last Madam Conway +seated herself, while Maggie reclined upon a lounge, wondering at the +difference in the various articles of furniture, some of which were +quite expensive, while others were of the most common kind. + +"Who can they be? She looks like someone I have seen," said Maggie as +Betsy Jane left the room. "I mean to ask their names;" but this her +grandmother would not suffer. "It was too much like familiarity," she +said, "and she did not believe in putting one's self on a level with +such people." + +Another loud blast from the horn was blown, for the bustling woman of +the house was evidently getting uneasy, and ere long three or four men +appeared, washing themselves from the spout of the pump, and wiping +upon a coarse towel which hung upon a roller near the back door. + +"I shan't eat at the same table with those creatures," said Madam +Conway, feeling intuitively that she would be invited to dinner. + +"Why, grandma, yes you will, if she asks you," answered Maggie. "Only +think how kind they are to us--perfect strangers!" + +What else she might have said was prevented by the entrance of Betsy +Jane, who informed them that dinner was ready, and with a mental +groan, as she thought how she was about to be martyred, Madam Conway +followed her to the dining room, where a plain, substantial farmer's +meal was spread. Standing at the head of the table, with her +good-humored face all in a glow, was the hostess, who, pointing Madam +Conway to? chair, said: "Now set right by, and make yourselves to hum. +Mebby I or to have set the table over, and I guess I should if I had +anything fit to eat. Be you fond of biled victuals?" and taking it for +granted they were, she loaded both Madam Conway's and Maggie's plate +with every variety of vegetables used in the preparation of the dish +known everywhere as "boiled victuals." + +By this time the men had ranged themselves in respectful silence upon +the opposite side of the table, each stealing an admiring though +modest glance at Maggie; for the masculine heart, whether it beats +beneath a homespun frock or coat of finest cloth, is alike susceptible +to glowing, youthful beauty like that of Maggie Miller. The head of +the house was absent--"had gone to town with a load of wood," so his +spouse informed the ladies, at the same time pouring out a cup of tea, +which she said she had tried to make strong enough to bear up an egg. +"Betsy Jane," she continued, casting a deprecating glance, first at +the blue sugar bowl and then at her daughter, "what possessed you to +put on this brown sugar, when I told you to get crush? Have some of +the apple sass? It's new--made this morning. Dew have some," she +continued, as Madam Conway shook her head. "Mebby it's better than +it looks. Seem's ef you wan't goin' to eat nothin'. Betsy Jane, +now you're up after the crush, fetch them china sassers for the +cowcumbers. Like enough she'll eat some of them." + +But, affecting a headache, Madam Conway declined everything save +the green tea and a Boston cracker, which, at the first mention of +headache, the distressed woman had brought her. Suddenly remembering +Mike, who, having fixed the carriage, was fast asleep on a wheelbarrow +under the woodshed, she exclaimed: "For the land of massy, if I hain't +forgot that young gentleman! Go, William, and call him this minute. +Are you sick at your stomach?" she asked, turning to Madam Conway, +who at the thought of eating with her drunken coachman had uttered +an exclamation of disgust. "Go, Betsy Jane, and fetch the camphire, +quick!" + +But Madam Conway did not need the camphor, and so she said, adding +that Mike was better where he was. Mike thought so too, and refused +to come, whereupon the woman insisted that he must. "There was room +enough," she said, "and no kind of sense in Betsy Jane's taking up the +hull side of the table with them rattans. She could set nearer the +young lady." + +"Certainly," answered Maggie, anxious to see how the "rattans" would +manage to squeeze in between herself and the table-leg, as they would +have to do if they came an inch nearer. + +This feat could not be done, and in attempting it Betsy Jane upset +Maggie's tea upon her handsome traveling dress, eliciting from her +mother the exclamation, "Betsy Jane Douglas, you allus was the +blunderin'est girl!" + +This little accident diverted the woman's mind from Mike, while +Madam Conway, starting at the name of Douglas, thought to herself: +"Douglas!--Douglas! I did not suppose 'twas so common a name. But then +it don't hurt George any, having these creatures bear his name." + +Dinner being over, Madam Conway and Maggie returned to the parlor, +where, while the former resumed her chair, the latter amused herself +by examining the books and odd-looking daguerreotypes which lay upon +the table. + +"Oh, grandmother!" she almost screamed, bounding to that lady's +side, "as I live, here's a picture of Theo and George Douglas taken +together," and she held up a handsome casing before the astonished +old lady, who, donning her golden spectacles in a twinkling, saw for +herself that what Maggie said was true. + +"They stole it!" she gasped. "We are in a den of thieves! Who knows +what they'll take from my bandbox?" and she was about to leave the +room when Maggie, whose quick mind saw farther ahead, bade her stop. + +"I may discover something more," said she, and taking up a handsomely +bound volume of Lamb, she turned to the fly-leaf, and read, "Jenny +Douglas, from her brother George, Worcester, January 8." + +It was plain to her now; but any mortification she might otherwise +have experienced was lost in the one absorbing thought, "What will +grandma say?" + +"Grandmother," said she, showing the book, "don't you remember the +mother of that girl called her Betsy Jane Douglas?" + +"Yes, yes!" gasped Madam Conway, raising both hands, while an +expression of deep, intense anxiety was visible upon her face. + +"And don't you know, too," continued Maggie, "that George always +seemed inclined to say as little as possible of his parents? Now, in +this country it is not unusual for the sons of just such people as +these to be among the most wealthy and respectable citizens." + +"Maggie, Maggie!" hoarsely whispered Madam Conway, grasping Maggie's +arm, "do you mean to insinuate--am I to understand that you believe +that odious woman and hideous girl to be the mother and sister of +George Douglas?" + +"I haven't a doubt of it," answered Maggie. "'Twas the resemblance +between Betsy Jane and George which I observed at first." + +Out of her chair to the floor tumbled Madam Conway, fainting entirely +away, while Maggie, stepping to the door, called for help. + +"I mistrusted she was awful sick at dinner," said Mrs. Douglas, taking +her hands from the dish-water, and running to the parlor. "I wish +she'd smelt of the camphire, as I wanted her to do. Does she have such +spells often?" + +By this time Betsy Jane brought a basin of water, which she dashed in +the face of the unconscious woman, who soon began to revive. + +"Pennyr'yal tea'll settle her stomach quicker'n anything else," said +Mrs. Douglas. "I'll clap a little right on the stove;" and, helping +Madam Conway to the sofa, she left the room. + +"There may possibly be a mistake, after all," thought Maggie. "I'll +question the girl;" and, turning to Betsy Jane, she said, taking up +the book which had before attracted her attention, "Is this 'Jenny +Douglas' intended for you?" + +"Yes, ma'am," answered the girl, coloring slightly. "Brother George +calls me Jenny, because he thinks Betsy so old-fashioned." + +An audible groan from the sofa, and Maggie continued, "Where does your +brother live?" + +"In Worcester, ma'am. He keeps a store there," answered Betsy, who was +going to say more, when her mother, re-entering the room, took up the +conversation by saying, "Was you tellin' 'em about George Washington? +Waal, he's a boy no mother need to be ashamed on, though my old man +sometimes says he's ashamed of us, we are so different. But, then, he +orto consider the advantages he's had. We only brung him up till he +was ten years old, and then an uncle he was named after took him +and gin him a college schoolin', and then put him into his store in +Worcester. Your head aches wus, don't it? Poor thing! The pennyr'yal +will be steeped directly," she added, in an aside to Madam Conway, +who had groaned aloud as if in pain. Then resuming her story, she +continued, "Better'n six year ago Uncle George, who was a bachelor, +died, leaving the heft of his property, seventy-five thousand dollars +or more, to my son, who is now top of the heap in the store, and worth +one hundred thousand dollars, I presume; some say two hundred thousand +dollars; but that's the way some folks have of agitatin' things." + +"Is he married?" asked Maggie, and Mrs. Douglas, mistaking the motive +which prompted the question, answered: "Yes, dear, he is. If he wan't, +I know of no darter-in-law I'd as soon have as you. I don't believe in +finding fault with my son's wife; but there's a proud look in her +face I don't like. This is her picter," and she passed to Maggie the +daguerreotype of Theo. + +"I've looked at it before," said Maggie; and the good woman proceeded: +"I hain't seen her yet; but he's going to bring her to Charlton +bime-by. He's a good boy, George is, free as water--gave me this +carpet, the sofy and chair, and has paid Betsy Jane's schoolin' one +winter at Leicester. But Betsy don't take to books much. She's more +like me, her father says. They had a big party for George last night, +but I wan't invited. Shouldn't 'a' gone if I had been; but for all +that a body don't want to be slighted, even if they don't belong to +the quality. If I'm good enough to be George's mother I'm good enough +to go to a party with his wife. But she wan't to blame, and I shan't +lay it up against her. I shall see her to-morrow, pretty likely, for +Sam Babbit's wife and I are goin' down to the firemen's muster. You've +heard on't, I suppose. The different engines are goin' to see which +will shute water the highest over a 180-foot pole. I wouldn't miss +goin' for anything, and of course I shall call on Theodoshy. I +calkerlate to like her, and when they go to housekeepin' I've got a +hull chest full of sheets and piller-biers and towels I'm goin' to +give her, besides three or four bedquilts I pieced myself, two in +herrin'-bone pattern, and one in risin' sun. I'll show 'em to you," +and leaving the room, she soon returned with three patchwork +quilts, wherein were all possible shades of color, red and yellow +predominating, and in one the "rising sun" forming a huge centerpiece. + +"Heavens!" faintly articulated Madam Conway, pressing her hands upon +her head, which was supposed to be aching dreadfully. The thought of +Theo reposing beneath the "risin' sun," or yet the "herrin'-bone," was +intolerable; and looking beseechingly at Maggie, she whispered, "Do +see if Mike is ready." + +"If it's the carriage you mean," chimed in Mrs. Douglas, "it's been +waiting quite a spell, but I thought you warn't fit to ride yet, so I +didn't tell you." + +Starting to her feet, Madam Conway's bonnet went on in a trice, and +taking her shawl in her hand she walked outdoors, barely expressing +her thanks to Mrs. Douglas, who, greatly distressed at her abrupt +departure, ran for the herb tea, and taking the tin cup in her hand +followed her guest to the carriage, urging her to "take a swaller just +to keep from vomiting." + +"She is better without it," said Maggie. "She seldom takes medicine," +and politely expressing her gratitude to Mrs. Douglas for her kindness +she bade Mike drive on. + +"Some crazy critter just out of the asylum, I'll bet," said Mrs. +Douglas, walking back to the house with her pennyroyal tea. "How queer +she acted! but that girl's a lady, every inch of her, and so handsome +too--I wonder who she is?" + +"Don't you believe the old woman felt a little above us?" suggested +Betsy Jane, who had more discernment than her mother. + +"Like enough she did, though I never thought on't. But she needn't. +I'm as good as she is, and I'll warrant as much thought on, where I'm +known;" and quite satisfied with her own position, Mrs. Douglas went +back to her dish-washing, while Betsy Jane stole away upstairs to +try the experiment of arranging her hair after the fashion in which +Margaret wore hers. + +In the meantime Mike, perfectly sobered, had turned his horses' heads +in the direction of Hillsdale, when Madam Conway called out, "To +Worcester, Mike--to Worcester, as fast as you can drive." + +"To Worcester! For what?" asked Maggie, and the excited woman +answered: "To stop it! To forbid the banns! I should think you'd ask +for what!" + +"To stop it," repeated Maggie. "I'd like to see you stop it, when +they've been married two months!" + +"So they have! so they have!" said Madam Conway, wringing her hands +in her despair, and crying out that a Conway should be so disgraced. +"What shall I do? What shall I do?" + +"Make the best of it, of course," answered Maggie. "I don't see +that George is any worse for his parentage. He is evidently greatly +respected in Worcester, where his family are undoubtedly known. He is +educated and refined, if they are not. Theo loves him, and that is +sufficient, unless I add that he has money." + +"But not as much as I supposed," moaned Madam Conway. "Theo told me +two hundred thousand dollars; but that woman said one. Oh, what will +become of me! Give me the hartshorn, Maggie. I feel so faint!" + +The hartshorn was handed her, but it could not quiet her distress. +Her family pride was sorely wounded, and had Theo been dead she would +hardly have felt worse than she did. + +"How will she bear it when it comes to her knowledge, as it +necessarily must? It will kill her, I know!" she exclaimed, after +Maggie had exhausted all her powers of reasoning in vain; then, as +she remembered the woman's avowed intention of visiting her +daughter-in-law on the morrow, she felt that she must turn back; she +must see Theo and break it to her gently, or the first sight of that +odious creature, claiming her for a daughter, might be of incalculable +injury. + +"Stop, Mike," she was about to say; but ere the words passed her lips +she reflected that to take Maggie back to Worcester was to throw her +again in Henry Warner's way, and this she could not do. There was +but one alternative. She could stop at the Charlton depot, not far +distant, and wait for the downward train, while Mike drove Maggie +home; and this she resolved to do. Mike was accordingly bidden to take +her at once to the depot, which he did, while she explained to Maggie +her reason for returning. + +"Theo is much better alone, and George will not thank you for +interfering," said Maggie, not at all pleased with her grandmother's +proceedings. + +But the old lady was determined. It was her duty, she said, to stand +by Theo in trouble; and if a visit from that horrid creature wasn't +trouble, she could not well define it. + +"When will you come home?" asked Maggie. + +"Not before to-morrow night. Now I have undertaken the matter, I +intend to see it through," said Madam Conway, referring to the +expected visit of Mrs. Douglas, senior. + +But Mike did not thus understand it, and thinking her only object in +turning back was to "see the doin's," as he designated the firemen's +muster, he muttered long and loud about being thus sent home while his +mistress went to see the fun. + +In the meantime, on a hard settee, at the rather uncomfortable depot, +Madam Conway awaited the arrival of the train, which came at last, +and in a short time she found herself again in Worcester. Once in +a carriage, and on her way to the "Bay State," she began to feel a +little nervous, half wishing she had followed Maggie's advice, and +left Theo alone. But it could not now be helped, and while trying to +think what she should say to her astonished granddaughter she was set +down at the door of the hotel, slightly bewildered and a good deal +perplexed, a feeling which was by no means diminished when she learned +that Mr. and Mrs. Douglas were both out of town. + +"Where have they gone, and when will they return?" she gasped, untying +her bonnet strings for easier respiration. + +To these queries the clerk, replied that he believed Mr. Douglas had +gone to Boston on business, that he might be home that night; at all +events, he would probably return in the morning; she could find Mr. +Warner, who would tell her all about it. "Shall I send for him?" he +continued, as he saw the scowl upon her face. + +"Certainly not," she answered; and taking the key, which had been left +in his charge, she repaired to Theo's rooms, and sinking into a large +easy-chair fanned herself furiously, wondering if they would return +that night, and what they would say when they found her there. "But I +don't care," she continued, speaking aloud and shaking her head very +decidedly at the excited woman whose image was reflected by the mirror +opposite, and who shook her head as decidedly in return. "George +Douglas has deceived us shamefully, and I'll tell him so, too. I wish +he'd come this minute!" + +But George Douglas knew well what he was doing. Very gradually was he +imparting to Theo a knowledge of his parents, and Theo, who really +loved her husband, was learning to prize him for himself, and not for +his family. Feeling certain that the firemen's muster would bring his +mother to town, and knowing that Theo was not yet prepared to see her, +he was greatly relieved at Madam Conway's sudden departure, and had +himself purposely left home, with the intention of staying away until +Friday night. This, however, Madam Conway did not know, and very +impatiently she awaited his coming, until the lateness of the hour +precluded the possibility of his arrival, and she retired to bed, +but not to sleep, for the city was full of firemen, and one company, +failing of finding lodgings elsewhere, had taken refuge in an +empty carriage-shop near by. The hard, bare floor was not the most +comfortable bed imaginable, and preferring the bright moonlight and +open air they made the night hideous with their noisy shouts, which +the watchmen tried in vain to hush. To sleep in that neighborhood was +impossible, and all night long Madam Conway vibrated between her bed +and the window, from which latter point she frowned wrathfully down +upon the red coats below, who, scoffing alike at law and order as +dispensed by the police, kept up their noisy revel, shouting lustily +for "Chelsea, No. 4" and "Washington, No. 2," until the dawn of day. + +"I wish to mercy I'd gone home!" sighed Madam Conway, as weak and +faint she crept down to the breakfast table, doing but little justice +to anything, and returning to her room pale, haggard, and weary. + +Ere long, however, she became interested in watching the crowds of +people who at an early hour filled the streets; and when at last the +different fire companies of the State paraded the town, in a seemingly +never-ending procession, she forgot in a measure her trouble, and +drawing her chair to the window sat down to enjoy the brilliant scene, +involuntarily nodding her head to the stirring music, as company after +company passed. Up and down the street, far as the eye could reach, +the sidewalks were crowded with men, women, and children, all eager +to see the sight. There were people from the city and people from the +country, the latter of whom, having anticipated the day for weeks and +months, were now unquestionably enjoying it to the last degree. + +Conspicuous among these was a middle-aged woman, who elicited remarks +from all who beheld her, both from the peculiarity of her dress and +the huge blue cotton umbrella she persisted in hoisting, to the great +annoyance of those in whose faces it was thrust, and who forgot in a +measure their vexation when they read the novel device it bore. Like +many other people, who can sympathize with the good woman, she +was always losing her umbrella, and at last, in self-defense, had +embroidered upon the blue in letters of white: + + "Steal me not, for fear of shame. + For here you see my owner's name: + + "CHARITY DOUGLAS." + +As the lettering was small and not very distinct, it required a +close observation to decipher it; but the plan was a successful one, +nevertheless, and for four long years the blue umbrella had done good +service to its mistress, shielding her alike from sunshine and from +storm, and now in the crowded city it performed a double part, +preventing those standing near from seeing, while at the same time it +kept the dust from settling on the thick green veil and leghorn bonnet +of its owner. At Betsy Jane's suggestion she wore a hoop to-day on +Theo's account, and that she was painfully conscious of the fact was +proved by the many anxious glances she cast at her chocolate-colored +muslin, through the thin folds of which it was plainly visible. + +"I wish I had left the pesky thing to hum," she thought, feeling +greatly relieved when at last, as the crowd became greater, it was +broken in several pieces and ceased to do its duty. + +From her seat near the window Madam Conway caught sight of the +umbrella as it swayed up and down amid the multitude, but she had no +suspicion that she who bore it thus aloft had even a better right +than herself to sit where she was sitting. In her excitement she had +forgotten Mrs. Douglas' intended visit, to prepare Theo for which she +had returned to Worcester, but it came to her at length, when, as +the last fire company passed, the blue umbrella was closed, and the +leghorn bonnet turned in the direction of the hotel. There was no +mistaking the broad, good-humored face which looked so eagerly up at +"George's window," and involuntarily Madam Conway glanced under the +bed with the view of fleeing thither for refuge! + +"What shall I do?" she cried, as she heard the umbrella on the stairs. +"I'll lock her out," she continued; and in an instant the key was in +her pocket, while, trembling in every limb, she awaited the result. + +Nearer and nearer the footsteps came; there was a knock upon the door, +succeeded by a louder one, and then, as both these failed to elicit a +response, the handle of the umbrella was vigorously applied. But all +in vain, and Madam Conway heard the discomfited outsider say, "They +told me Theodoshy's grandmarm was here, but I guess she's in the +street. I'll come agin bime-by," and Mrs. Douglas, senior, walked +disconsolately down the stairs, while Madam Conway thought it doubtful +whether she gained access to the room that day, come as often as she +might. + +Not long after, the gong sounded for dinner, and unlocking the door +Madam Conway was about descending to the dining room, when the thought +burst upon her: "What if she should be at the table! It's just like +her." + +The very idea was overwhelming, taking from her at once all desire for +dinner; and returning to her room she tried, by looking over the books +and examining the carpet, to forget how hungry and faint she was. +Whether she would have succeeded is doubtful, had not an hour or two +later brought another knock from the umbrella, and driven all thoughts +of eating from her mind. In grim silence she waited until her +tormentor was gone, and then wondering if it was not time for the +train she consulted her watch. But alas! 'twas only four; the cars did +not leave until six; and so another weary hour went by. At the end of +that time, however, thinking the depot preferable to being a prisoner +there, she resolved to go; and leaving the key with the clerk, she +called a carriage and was soon on her way to the cars. + +As she approached the depot she observed an immense crowd of people +gathered together, among which the red coats of the firemen were +conspicuous. A fight was evidently in progress, and as the horses +began to grow restive she begged of the driver to let her alight, +saying she could easily walk the remainder of the way. Scarcely, +however, was she on terra-firma when the yelling crowd made a +precipitate rush towards her, and in much alarm she climbed for safety +into an empty buggy, whereupon the horse, equally alarmed, began to +rear, and without pausing an instant the terrified lady sprang out on +the side opposite to that by which she had entered, catching her dress +upon the seat, and tearing half the gathers from the waist. + +"Heaven help me!" she cried, picking herself up, and beginning to wish +she had never troubled herself with Theo's mother-in-law. + +To reach the depot was now her great object, and, as the two +belligerent parties occupied the front, she thought to effect an +entrance at the rear. But the doors were locked, and as she turned the +corner of the building she suddenly found herself in the thickest of +the fight. To advance was impossible, to turn back equally so, and +while meditating some means of escape she lost her footing and fell +across a wheelbarrow which stood upon the platform, crumpling her +bonnet, and scratching her face upon a nail which protruded from the +vehicle. Nearer dead than alive, she made her way at last into the +depot, and from thence into the cars, where, sinking into a seat, and +drawing her shawl closely around her, the better to conceal the +sad condition of her dress, she indulged in meditations not wholly +complimentary to firemen in general and her late comrades in +particular. + +For half an hour she waited impatiently, but though the cars were +filling rapidly there were no indications of starting; and it was +almost seven ere the long and heavily loaded train moved slowly from +the depot. About fifteen minutes previous to their departure, as Madam +Conway was looking ruefully out upon the multitude, she was horrified +at seeing directly beneath her window the veritable woman from whom, +through the entire day, she had been hiding. Involuntarily she glanced +at the vacant seat in front of her, which, as she feared, was soon +occupied by Mrs. Douglas and her companion, who, as Madam Conway +divined, was "Sam Babbit's wife." + +Trembling nervously lest she should be discovered, she drew her veil +closely over her face, keeping very quiet, and looking intently from +the window into the gathering darkness without. But her fears were +groundless, for Mrs. Douglas had no suspicion that the crumpled bonnet +and sorry figure, sitting so disconsolately in the corner, was the +same which but the day before had honored her with a call. She was in +high spirits, having had, as she informed her neighbor, "a tip-top +time." On one point, however, she was disappointed. She meant as much +as could be to have seen "Theodoshy," but she "wan't to hum." "Her +grandmarm was in town," said she, "but if she was in the room she must +have been asleep, or dreadful deaf, for I pounded with all my might. +I'm sorry, for I'd like to scrape acquaintance with her, bein' we're +connected." + +An audible groan came from beneath the thick brown veil, whereupon +both ladies turned their heads. But the indignant woman made no sign; +and, in a whisper loud enough for Madam Conway to hear, Mrs. Douglas +said, "Some Irish critter in liquor, I presume. Look at her jammed +bonnet." + +This remark drew from Mrs. Babbit a very close inspection of the +veiled figure, who, smothering her wrath, felt greatly relieved when +the train started and prevented her from hearing anything more. At the +next station, however, Mrs. Douglas showed her companion a crochet +collar, which she had purchased for two shillings, and which, she +said, was almost exactly like the one worn by the woman who stopped at +her house the day before. + +Leaning forward, Madam Conway glanced contemptuously at the coarse +knit thing, which bore about the same resemblance to her own handsome +collar as cambric does to satin. + +"Vulgar, ignorant creatures!" she muttered, while Mrs. Babbit, after +duly praising the collar, proceeded to make some inquiries concerning +the strange lady who had shared Mrs. Douglas' hospitality. + +"I've no idee who she was," said Mrs. Douglas; "but I think it's purty +likely she was some crazy critter they was takin' to the hospital." + +Another groan from beneath the brown veil, and turning around the +kind-hearted Mrs. Douglas asked if she was sick, adding in an aside, +as there came no answer, "Been fightin', I'll warrant!" + +Fortunately for Madam Conway, the cars moved on, and when they stopped +again, to her great relief, the owner of the blue umbrella, together +with "Sam Babbit's wife," alighted, and amid the crowd assembled on +the platform she recognized Betsy Jane, who had come down to meet her +mother. The remainder of the way seemed tedious enough, for the train +moved but slowly, and it was near ten o'clock ere they reached the +Hillsdale station, where, to her great delight, Madam Conway found +Margaret awaiting her, together with Arthur Carrollton. The moment +she saw the former, who came eagerly forward to meet her, the weary, +worn-out woman burst into tears; but at the sight of Mr. Carrollton +she forced them back, saying, in reply to Maggie's inquiries, that +Theo was not at home, and that she had spent a dreadful day, and been +knocked down in a fight at the depot, in proof of which she pointed +to her torn dress, her crumpled bonnet, and scratched face. Maggie +laughed aloud in spite of herself, and though Mr. Carrollton's eyes +were several times turned reprovingly upon her she continued to +laugh at intervals at the sorry, forlorn appearance presented by her +grandmother, who for several days was confined to her bed from the +combined effects of fasting, fright, firemen's muster, and her late +encounter with Mrs. Douglas, senior! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ARTHUR CARROLLTON AND MAGGIE. + + +Mr. Carrollton had returned from Boston on Thursday afternoon, and, +finding them all gone from the hotel, had come on to Hillsdale on +the evening train, surprising Maggie as she sat in the parlor alone, +wishing herself in Worcester, or in some place where it was not as +lonely as there. With his presence the loneliness disappeared, and in +making his tea and listening to his agreeable conversation she forgot +everything, until, observing that she looked weary, he said: "Maggie, +I would willingly talk to you all night, were it not for the bad +effect it would have on you to-morrow. You must go to bed now," and he +showed her his watch, which pointed to the hour of midnight. + +Exceedingly mortified, Maggie was leaving the room, when, noticing her +evident chagrin, Mr. Carrollton came to her side, and laying his hand +very respectfully on hers, said kindly: "It is my fault, Maggie, +keeping you up so late, and I only send you away now because those +eyes are growing heavy, and I know that you need rest. Good-night to +you, and pleasant dreams." + +He went with her to the door, watching her until she disappeared up +the stairs; then, half wishing he had not sent her from him, he too +sought his chamber; but not to sleep, for Maggie, though absent, was +with him still in fancy. For more than a year he had been haunted by a +bright, sunshiny face, whose owner embodied the dashing, independent +spirit and softer qualities which made Maggie Miller so attractive. Of +this face he had often thought, wondering if the real would equal the +ideal, and now that he had met with her, had looked into her truthful +eyes, had gazed upon her sunny face, which mirrored faithfully every +thought and feeling, he was more than satisfied, and to love that +beautiful girl seemed to him an easy matter. She was so childlike, so +artless, so different from anyone whom he had ever known, that he was +interested in her at once. But Arthur Carrollton never did a thing +precipitately. She might have many glaring faults; he must see her +more, must know her better, ere he lavished upon her the love whose +deep fountains had never yet been stirred. + +After this manner he reasoned as he walked up and down his chamber, +while Maggie, on her sleepless pillow, was thinking, too, of him, +wondering if she did hate him as much as she intended, and if Henry +would be offended at her sitting up with him until after twelve +o'clock. + +It was nearly half-past nine when Maggie awoke next morning, and +making a hasty toilet she descended to the dining room, where she +found Mr. Carrollton awaiting her. He had been up a long time; but +when Anna Jeffrey, blessed with an uncommon appetite, fretted at the +delay of breakfast, and suggested calling Margaret, he objected, +saying she needed rest, and must not be disturbed. So, in something of +a pet, the young lady breakfasted alone with her aunt, Mr. Carrollton +preferring to wait for Maggie. + +"I am sorry I kept you waiting," said Maggie, seating herself at the +table and continuing to apologize for her tardiness. + +But Mr. Carrollton felt more than repaid by having her thus alone with +him, and many were the admiring glances he cast toward her, as, with +her shining hair, her happy face, her tasteful morning gown of pink, +and her beautiful white hands which handled so gracefully the silver +coffee-urn, she made a living, glowing picture such as any man might +delight to look upon. Breakfast being over, Mr. Carrollton proposed a +ride, and as Anna Jeffrey at that moment entered the parlor he invited +her to accompany them. There was a shadow on Maggie's brow as she left +the room to dress, a shadow which had not wholly disappeared when she +returned; and, observing this, Mr. Carrollton said, "Were I to consult +my own wishes, Maggie, I should leave Miss Jeffrey at home; but she is +a poor girl whose enjoyments are far less than ours, consequently I +invited her for this once, knowing how fond she is of riding." + +"How thoughtful you are of other people's happiness!" said Maggie, the +shadow leaving her brow at once. + +"I am glad that wrinkle has gone, at all events," returned Mr. +Carrollton laughingly, and laying his hand upon her forehead he +continued: "Were you my sister Helen I should probably kiss you for +having so soon got over your pet; but as you are Maggie Miller, I dare +not," and he looked earnestly at her, to see if he had spoken the +truth. + +Coloring crimson, as it became the affianced bride of Henry Warner to +do, Maggie turned away, thinking Helen must be a happy girl, and +half wishing she too were Arthur Carrollton's sister. It was a long, +delightful excursion they took, and Maggie, when she saw how Anna +Jeffrey enjoyed it, did not altogether regret her presence. On their +way home she proposed calling upon Hagar, whom she had not seen for +"three whole days." + +"And who, pray, is Hagar?" asked Mr. Carrollton; and Maggie replied, +"She is my old nurse--a strange, crazy creature, whom they say I +somewhat resemble." + +By this time they were near the cottage, in the door of which old +Hagar was standing, with her white hair falling round her face. + +"I see by your looks you don't care to call, but I shall," said +Maggie; and, bounding from her saddle, she ran up to Hagar, pressing +her hand and whispering that it would soon be time to hear from Henry. + +"Kissed her, I do believe!" said Anna Jeffrey. "She must have +admirable taste!" + +Mr. Carrollton said nothing, but with a half-comical, half-displeased +expression he watched the interview between that weird old woman and +the fair young girl, little suspecting how nearly they were allied. + +"Why didn't you come and speak to her?" said Maggie, as he alighted to +assist her in again mounting Gritty. "She used to see you in England, +when you were a baby, and if you won't be angry I'll tell you what she +said. It was that you were the crossest, ugliest young one she ever +saw! There, there; don't set me down so hard!" and the saucy eyes +looked mischievously at the proud Englishman, who, truth to say, did +place her in the saddle with a little more force than was at all +necessary. + +Not that he was angry. He was only annoyed at what he considered +Maggie's undue familiarity with a person like Hagar, but he wisely +forbore making any comments in Anna Jeffrey's presence, except, +indeed, to laugh heartily at Hagar's complimentary description of +himself when a baby. Arrived at home, and alone again with Maggie, he +found her so very good-natured and agreeable that he could not chide +her for anything, and Hagar was for a time forgotten. + +That evening, as the reader knows, they went together to the depot, +where they waited four long hours, but not impatiently; for sitting +there in the moonlight, with the winding Chicopee full in view, and +Margaret Miller at his side, Arthur Carrollton forgot the lapse +of time, especially when Maggie, thinking it no harm, gave a most +ludicrous description of her call upon Mrs. Douglas, senior, and of +her grandmother's distress at finding herself so nearly connected with +what she termed "a low, vulgar family." + +Arthur Carrollton was very proud, and had Theo been his sister he +might to some extent have shared in Madam Conway's chagrin; and so he +said to Maggie, at the same time fully agreeing with her that George +Douglas was a refined, agreeable man, and as such entitled to respect. +Still, had Theo known of his parentage, he said, it would probably +have made some difference; but now that it could not be helped it was +wise to make the best of it. + +These words were little heeded then by Maggie, but with most painful +distinctness they recurred to her in the after time, when, humbled in +the very dust, she had no hope that the highborn, haughty Carrollton +would stoop to a child of Hagar Warren! But no shadow of the dark +future was over her now, and very eagerly she drank in every word and +look of Arthur Carrollton, who, all unconsciously, was trampling on +another's rights and gradually weakening the fancied love she bore for +Henry Warner. + +The arrival of the train brought their pleasant conversation to a +close, and for a day or two Maggie's time was wholly occupied with +her grandmother, to whom she frankly acknowledged having told Mr. +Carrollton of Mrs. Douglas and her daughter Betsy Jane. The fact that +he knew of her disgrace and did not despise her was of great benefit +to Madam Conway, and after a few days she resumed her usual spirits, +and actually told of the remarks made by Mrs. Douglas concerning +herself and the "fight" she had been in! As time passed on she became +reconciled to the Douglases, having, as she thought, some well-founded +reasons for believing that for Theo's disgrace Maggie would make +amends by marrying Mr. Carrollton, whose attentions each day became +more and more marked, and were not apparently altogether disagreeable +to Maggie. On the contrary, his presence at Hillsdale was productive +of much pleasure to her, as well as a little annoyance. + +From the first he seemed to exercise over her an influence she could +not well resist--a power to make her do whatever he willed that she +should do; and though she sometimes rebelled she was pretty sure in +the end to yield the contest, and submit to one who was evidently +the ruling spirit. As yet nothing had been said of the hair ornament +which, out of compliment to him, her grandmother wore every morning +in her collar, but at last one day Madam Conway spoke of it herself, +asking if it were, as she had supposed, his grandmother's hair. + +"Why, no," he answered involuntarily; "it is a lock Maggie sent me in +that wonderful daguerreotype!" + +"The stupid thing!" thought Maggie, while her eyes fairly danced with +merriment as she anticipated the question she fancied was sure to +follow, but did not. + +One glance at her tell-tale face was sufficient for Madam Conway. In +her whole household there was but one head with locks as white as +that, and whatever her thoughts might have been, she said nothing, but +from that day forth Hagar's hair was never again seen ornamenting her +person! That afternoon Mr. Carrollton and Maggie went out to ride, and +in the course of their conversation he referred to the pin, asking +whose hair it was, and seeming much amused when told that it was +Hagar's. + +"But why did you not tell her when it first came?" he said; and Maggie +answered: "Oh, it was such fun to see her sporting Hagar's hair, when +she is so proud! It didn't hurt her either, for Hagar is as good as +anybody. I don't believe in making such a difference because one +person chances to be richer than another." + +"Neither do I," returned Mr. Carrollton. "I would not esteem a person +for wealth alone, but there are points of difference which should +receive consideration. For instance, this old Hagar may be well enough +in her way, but suppose she were nearly connected with you--your +grandmother, if you like--it would certainly make some difference in +your position. You would not be Maggie Miller, and I--" + +"Wouldn't ride with me, I dare say," interrupted Maggie; to which he +replied, "I presume not," adding, as he saw slight indications of +pouting, "And therefore I am glad you are Maggie Miller, and not +Hagar's grandchild." + +Mentally pronouncing him a "proud, hateful thing," Maggie rode on a +while in silence. But Mr. Carrollton knew well how to manage her, and +he too was silent until Maggie, who could never refrain from talking +any length of time, forgot herself and began chatting away as gayly as +before. During their excursion they came near to the gorge of Henry +Warner memory, and Maggie, who had never quite forgiven Mr. Carrollton +for criticising her horsemanship, resolved to show him what she could +do. The signal was accordingly given to Gritty, and ere her companion +was aware of her intention she was tearing over the ground at a speed +he could hardly equal. The ravine was just on the border of the wood, +and without pausing for an instant Gritty leaped across it, landing +safely on the other side, where he stopped, while half fearfully, half +exultingly, Maggie looked back to see what Mr. Carrollton would do. +At first he fancied Gritty beyond her control, and when he saw her +directly over the deep chasm he shuddered, involuntarily stretching +out his arms to save her; but the look she gave him as she turned +around convinced him that the risk she had run was done on purpose. +Still he had no intention of following her, for he feared his horse's +ability as well as his own to clear that pass. + +"Why don't you jump? Are you afraid?" and Maggie's eyes looked archly +out from beneath her tasteful riding cap. + +For half a moment he felt tempted to join her, but his better judgment +came to his aid, and he answered: "Yes, Maggie, I am afraid, having +never tried such an experiment. But I wish to be with you in some +way, and as I cannot come to you I ask you to come to me. You seem +accustomed to the leap!" + +He did not praise her. Nay, she fancied there was more of censure +in the tones of his voice; at all events, he had asked her rather +commandingly to return, and she "wouldn't do it." For a moment she +made no reply, and he said again, "Maggie, will you come?" then half +playfully, half reproachfully, she made answer, "A gallant Englishman +indeed! willing I should risk my neck where you dare not venture +yours. No, I shan't try the leap again to-day, I don't feel like it; +but I'll cross the long bridge half a mile from here--good-by;" and +fully expecting him to meet her, she galloped off, riding ere long +quite slowly, "so he'd have a nice long time to wait for her!" + +How, then, was she disappointed, when, on reaching the bridge, there +was nowhere a trace of him to be seen, neither could she hear +the sound of his horse's footsteps, though she listened long and +anxiously! + +"He is certainly the most provoking man I ever saw!" she exclaimed, +half crying with vexation. "Henry wouldn't have served me so, and I'm +glad I was engaged to him before I saw this hateful Carrollton, for +grandma might possibly have coaxed me into marrying him, and then +wouldn't Mr. Dog and Mrs. Cat have led a stormy life! No, we +wouldn't," she continued; "I should in time get accustomed to minding +him, and then I think he'd be splendid, though no better than Henry. I +wonder if Hagar has a letter for me!" and, chirruping to Gritty, she +soon stood at the door of the cabin. + +"Have you two been quarreling?" asked Hagar, noticing Maggie's flushed +cheeks. "Mr. Carrollton passed here twenty minutes or more ago, +looking mighty sober, and here you are with your face as red--What has +happened?" + +"Nothing," answered Maggie, a little testily, "only he's the meanest +man! Wouldn't follow me when I leaped the gorge, and I know he could +if he had tried." + +"Showed his good sense," interrupted Hagar, adding that Maggie mustn't +think every man was going to risk his neck for her. + +"I don't think so, of course," returned Maggie; "but he might act +better--almost commanded me to come back and join him, as though I was +a little child; but I wouldn't do it. I told him I'd go down to the +long bridge and cross, expecting, of course, he'd meet me there; and +instead of that he has gone off home. How did he know what accident +would befall me?" + +"Accident!" repeated Hagar; "accident befall you, who know every crook +and turn of these woods so much better than he does!" + +"Well, anyway, he might have waited for me," returned Maggie. "I don't +believe he'd care if I were to get killed. I mean to scare him and +see;" and, springing from Gritty's back, she gave a peculiar whistling +sound, at which the pony bounded away towards home, while she followed +Hagar into the cottage, where a letter from Henry awaited her. + +They were to sail for Cuba on the 15th of October, and he now wrote +asking if Maggie would go without her grandmother's consent. But, +though irresolute when he before broached the subject, Maggie was +decided now. She would not run away; and so she said to Hagar, to whom +she confided the whole affair. + +"I do not think it would be right to elope," she said. "In three years +more I shall be twenty-one, and free to do as I like; and if grandma +will not let me marry Henry now, he must wait. I can't run away. Rose +would not approve of it, I'm sure, and I almost know Mr. Carrollton +would not." + +"I can't see how his' approving or not approving can affect you," +said Hagar; then bending down, so that her wild eyes looked full in +Maggie's eyes, she said, "Are you beginning to like this Englishman?" + +"Why, no, I guess I aint," answered Maggie, coloring slightly. "I +dislike him dreadfully, he's so proud. Why, he did the same as to say +that if I were your grandchild he would not ride with me!" + +"My grandchild, Maggie Miller!--my grandchild!" shrieked Hagar. "What +put that into his head?" + +Thinking her emotion caused by anger at Arthur Carrollton, Maggie +mentally chided herself for having inadvertently said what she did, +while at the same time she tried to soothe old Hagar, who rocked to +and fro, as was her custom when her "crazy spells" were on. Growing a +little more composed, she said at last, "Marry Henry Warner, by all +means, Maggie; he aint as proud as Carrollton--he would not care as +much if he knew it." + +"Knew what?" asked Maggie; and, remembering herself in time, Hagar +answered adroitly: "Knew of your promise to let me live with you. You +remember it, don't you?" and she looked wistfully towards Maggie, who, +far more intent upon something else, answered: "Yes, I remember. But +hush! don't I hear horses' feet coming rapidly through the woods?" +and, running to the window, she saw Mr. Carrollton mounted upon +Gritty, and riding furiously towards the house. + +"You go out, Hagar, and see if he is looking for me," whispered +Maggie, stepping back, so he could not see. + +"Henry Warner must snare the bird quick, or he will lose it," muttered +Hagar, as she walked to the door, where, evidently much excited, Mr. +Carrollton asked if she knew aught of Miss Miller, and why Gritty had +come home alone. "It is such an unusual occurrence," said he, "that we +felt alarmed, and I have come in quest of her." + +From her post near the window Maggie could plainly see his face, which +was very pale, and expressive of much concern, while his voice, she +fancied, trembled as he spoke her name. + +"He does care," she thought; woman's pride was satisfied, and ere +Hagar could reply she ran out, saying laughingly: "And so you thought +maybe I was killed, but I'm not. I concluded to walk home and let +Gritty go on in advance. I did not mean to frighten grandma." + +"She was not as much alarmed as myself," said Mr. Carrollton, the +troubled expression of his countenance changing at once. "You do not +know how anxious I was when I saw Gritty come riderless to the door, +nor yet how relieved I am in finding you thus unharmed." + +Maggie knew she did not deserve this, and blushing like a guilty +child she offered no resistance when he lifted her into the saddle +gently--tenderly--as if she had indeed escaped from some great danger. + +"It is time you were home," said he, and throwing the bridle across +his arm he rested his hand upon the saddle and walked slowly by her +side. + +All his fancied coldness was forgotten; neither was the leap nor yet +the bridge once mentioned, for he was only too happy in having her +back alive, while she was doubting the propriety of an experiment +which, in the turn matters had taken, seemed to involve deception. +Observing at last that he occasionally pressed his hand upon his side, +she asked the cause, and was told that he had formerly been subject to +a pain in his side, which excitement or fright greatly augmented. "I +hoped I was free from it," he said, "but the sight of Gritty dashing +up to the door without you brought on a slight attack; for I knew if +you were harmed the fault was mine for having rather unceremoniously +deserted you." + +This was more than Maggie could endure in silence. The frank +ingenuousness of her nature prevailed, and turning towards him her +dark, beautiful eyes, in which tears were shining, she said: "Forgive +me, Mr. Carrollton. I sent Gritty home on purpose to see if you would +be annoyed, for I felt vexed because you would not humor my whim and +meet me at the bridge. I am sorry I caused you any uneasiness," she +continued, as she saw a shadow flit over his face. "Will you forgive +me?" + +Arthur Carrollton could not resist the pleading of those lustrous +eyes, nor yet refuse to take the ungloved hand she offered him; +and if, in token of reconciliation, he did press it a little more +fervently than Henry Warner would have thought at all necessary, he +only did what, under the circumstances, it was very natural he +should do. From the first Maggie Miller had been a puzzle to Arthur +Carrollton; but he was fast learning to read her--was beginning to +understand how perfectly artless she was--and this little incident +increased, rather than diminished, his admiration. + +"I will forgive you, Maggie," he said, "on one condition. You must +promise never again to experiment with my feelings in a similar +manner." + +The promise was readily given, and then they proceeded on as leisurely +as if at home there was no anxious grandmother vibrating between her +high-backed chair and the piazza, nor yet an Anna Jeffrey watching +them enviously as they came slowly up the road. + +That night there came to Mr. Carrollton a letter from Montreal, saying +his immediate presence was necessary there, on a business matter of +some importance; and he accordingly decided to go on the morrow. + +"When may we expect you back?" asked Madam Conway, as in the morning +he was preparing for his journey. + +"It will, perhaps, be two months at least, before I return," said +he, adding that there was a possibility of his being obliged to go +immediately to England. + +In the recess of the window Maggie was standing, thinking how lonely +the house would be without him, and wishing there was no such thing +as parting from those she liked--even as little as she did Arthur +Carrollton. + +"I won't let him know that I care, though," she thought, and forcing a +smile to her face she was about turning to bid him good-by, when she +heard him tell her grandmother of the possibility there was that he +would be obliged to go directly to England from Montreal. + +"Then I may never see him again," she thought; and the tears burst +forth involuntarily at the idea of parting with him forever. + +Faster and faster they came, until at last, fearing lest he should +see them, she ran away upstairs, and, mounting to the roof, sat down +behind the chimney, where, herself unobserved, she could watch him far +up the road. From the half-closed door of her chamber Anna Jeffrey had +seen Maggie stealing up the tower stairs; had seen, too, that she +was weeping, and, suspecting the cause, she went quietly down to the +parlor to hear what Arthur Carrollton would say. The carriage was +waiting, his trunk was in its place, his hat was in his hand; to Madam +Conway he said good-by, to Anna Jeffrey too; and still he lingered, +looking wistfully round in quest of something which evidently was not +there. + +"Where's Margaret?" he asked at last, and Madam Conway answered: +"Surely, where can she be? Have you seen her, Anna?" + +"I saw her on the stairs some time ago," said Anna, adding that +possibly she had gone to see Hagar, as she usually visited her at this +hour. + +A shade of disappointment passed over Mr. Carrollton's face as he +replied, "Tell her I am sorry she thinks more of Hagar than of me." + +The next moment he was gone, and leaning against the chimney Maggie +watched with tearful eyes the carriage as it wound up the grassy road. +On the brow of the hill, just before it would disappear from sight, it +suddenly stopped. Something was the matter with the harness, and while +John was busy adjusting it Mr. Carrollton leaned from the window, and, +looking back, started involuntarily as he caught sight of the figure +so clearly defined upon the housetop. A slight suspicion of the truth +came upon him, and kissing his hand he waved it gracefully towards +her. Maggie's handkerchief was wet with tears, but she shook it out in +the morning breeze, and sent to Arthur Carrollton, as she thought, her +last good-by. + +Fearing lest her grandmother should see her swollen eyes, she stole +down the stairs, and taking her shawl and bonnet from the table in the +hall ran off into the woods, going to a pleasant, mossy bank not far +from Hagar's cottage, where she had more than once sat with Arthur +Carrollton, and where she fancied she would never sit with him again. + +"I don't believe it's for him that I am crying," she thought, as she +tried in vain to stay her tears; "I always intended to hate him, and I +almost know I do; I'm only feeling badly because I won't run away, and +Henry and Rose will go without me so soon!" And fully satisfied at +having discovered the real cause of her grief, she laid her head upon +the bright autumn grass and wept bitterly, holding her breath, and +listening intently as she heard in the distance the sound of the +engine which was bearing Mr. Carrollton away. + +It did not occur to her that he could not yet have reached the depot, +and as she knew nothing of a change in the time of the trains she was +taken wholly by surprise when, fifteen minutes later, a manly form +bent over her, as she lay upon the bank, and a voice, earnest and +thrilling in tones, murmured softly, "Maggie, are those tears for me?" + +When about halfway to the station Mr. Carrollton had heard of the +change of time, and knowing he should not be in season had turned back +with the intention of waiting for the next train, which would pass in +a few hours. Learning that Maggie was in the woods, he had started in +quest of her, going naturally to the mossy bank, where, as we have +seen, he found her weeping on the grass. She was weeping for him--he +was sure of that. He was not indifferent to her, as he had sometimes +feared, and for an instant he felt tempted to take her in his arms and +tell her how dear she was to him. + +"I will speak to her first," he thought, and so he asked if the tears +were for him. + +Inexpressibly astonished and mortified at having him see her thus, +Maggie started to her feet, while angry words at being thus intruded +upon trembled on her lips. But winding his arm around her, Mr. +Carrollton drew her to his side, explaining to her in a few words how +he came to be there, and continuing: "I do not regret the delay, if by +its means I have discovered what I very much wish to know. Maggie, do +you care for me? Were you weeping because I had left you?" + +He drew her very closely to him--looking anxiously into her face, +which she covered with her hands. She knew he was in earnest, and +the knowledge that he loved her thrilled her for an instant with +indescribable happiness. A moment, however, and thoughts of her +engagement with another flashed upon her. "She must not sit there thus +with Arthur Carrollton--she would be true to Henry," and with +mingled feelings of sorrow, regret, and anger--though why she should +experience either she did not then understand--she drew herself from +him; and when he said again: "Will Maggie answer? Are those tears +for me?" she replied petulantly: "No; can't a body cry without being +bothered for a reason? I came down here to be alone!" + +"I did not mean to intrude, and I beg your pardon for having done +so," said Mr. Carrollton sadly, adding, as Maggie made no reply: "I +expected a different answer, Maggie. I almost hoped you liked me, and +I believe now that you do." + +In Maggie's bosom there was a fierce struggle of feeling. She did like +Arthur Carrollton--and she thought she liked Henry Warner--at all +events she was engaged to him, and half angry at the former for +having disturbed her, and still more angry at herself for being thus +disturbed, she exclaimed, as he again placed his arm around her: +"Leave me alone, Mr. Carrollton. I don't like you. I don't like +anybody!" and gathering up her shawl, which lay upon the grass, she +ran away to Hagar's cabin, hoping he would follow her. But he did not. +It was his first attempt at love-making, and very much disheartened he +walked slowly back to the house; and while Maggie, from Hagar's door, +was looking to see if he were coming, he, from the parlor window, was +watching, too, for her, with a shadow on his brow and a load upon his +heart. Madam Conway knew that something was wrong, but it was in vain +that she sought an explanation. Mr. Carrollton kept his own secret; +and consoling herself with his volunteered assurance that in case +it became necessary for him to return to England he should, before +embarking, visit Hillsdale, she bade him a second adieu. + +In the meantime Maggie, having given up all hopes of again seeing +Mr. Carrollton, was waiting impatiently the coming of Hagar, who was +absent, having, as Maggie readily conjectured, gone to Richland. It +was long past noon when she returned, and by that time the stains had +disappeared from Maggie's face, which looked nearly as bright as ever. +Still, it was with far less eagerness than usual that she took +from Hagar's hand the expected letter from Henry. It was a long, +affectionate epistle, urging her once more to accompany him, and +saying if she still refused she must let him know immediately, as they +were intending to start for New York in a few days. + +"I can't go," said Maggie; "it would not be right." And going to the +time-worn desk, where, since her secret correspondence, she had kept +materials for writing, she wrote to Henry a letter telling him she +felt badly to disappoint him, but she deemed it much wiser to defer +their marriage until her grandmother felt differently, or at least +until she was at an age to act for herself. This being done, she went +slowly back to the house, which to her seemed desolate indeed. Her +grandmother saw readily that something was the matter, and, rightly +guessing the cause, she forebore questioning her, neither did she once +that day mention Mr. Carrollton, although Anna Jeffrey did, telling +her what he had said about her thinking more of Hagar than of himself, +and giving as her opinion that he was much displeased with Maggie for +her rudeness in running away. + +"Nobody cares for his displeasure," answered Maggie, greatly vexed at +Anna, who took especial delight in annoying her. + +Thus a week went by, when one evening, as Madam Conway and Maggie sat +together in the parlor, they were surprised by the sudden appearance +of Henry Warner. He had accompanied his aunt and sister to New York, +where they were to remain for a few days, and then impelled by a +strong desire to see Margaret once more he had come with the vain +hope that at the last hour she would consent to fly with him, or her +grandmother consent to give her up. All the afternoon he had been at +Hagar's cottage waiting for Maggie, and at length determining to see +her he had ventured to the house. With a scowling frown Madam Conway +looked at him through her glasses, while Maggie, half joyfully, half +fearfully, went forward to meet him. In a few words he explained why +he was there, and then again asked of Madam Conway if Margaret could +go. + +"I do not believe she cares to go," thought Madam Conway, as she +glanced at Maggie's face; but she did not say so, lest she should +awaken within the young girl a feeling of opposition. + +She had watched Maggie closely, and felt sure that her affection +for Henry Warner was neither deep nor lasting. Arthur Carrollton's +presence had done much towards weakening it, and a few months more +would suffice to wear it away entirely. Still, from what had passed, +she fancied that opposition alone would only make the matter worse by +rousing Maggie at once. She knew far more of human nature than either +of the young people before her; and after a little reflection she +suggested that Henry should leave Maggie with her for a year, during +which time no communication whatever should pass between them, while +she would promise faithfully not to influence Margaret either way. + +"If at the end of the year," said she, "you both retain for each other +the feelings you have now, I will no longer object to the marriage, +but will make the best of it." + +At first Henry spurned the proposition, and when he saw that Margaret +thought well of it he reproached her with a want of feeling, saying +she did not love him as she had once done. + +"I shall not forget you, Henry," said Maggie, coming to his side and +taking his hand in hers, "neither will you forget me; and when the +year has passed away, only think how much pleasanter it will be for us +to be married here at home, with grandma's blessing on our union!" + +"If I only knew you would prove true!" said Henry, who missed +something in Maggie's manner. + +"I do mean to prove true," she answered sadly, though at that moment +another face, another form, stood between her and Henry Warner, who, +knowing that Madam Conway would not suffer her to go with him on +any terms, concluded at last to make a virtue of necessity, and +accordingly expressed his willingness to wait, provided Margaret were +allowed to write occasionally either to himself or Rose. + +But to this Madam Conway would not consent. She wished the test to +be perfect, she said, and unless he accepted her terms he must give +Maggie up, at once and forever. + +As there seemed no alternative, Henry rather ungraciously yielded +the point, promising to leave Maggie free for a year, while she too +promised not to write either to him or to Rose, except with her +grandmother's consent. Maggie Miller's word once passed, Madam Conway +knew it would not be broken, and she unhesitatingly left the young +people together while they said their parting words. A message of love +from Maggie to Rose--a hundred protestations of eternal fidelity, and +then they parted; Henry, sad and disappointed, slowly wending his way +back to the spot where Hagar impatiently awaited his coming, while +Maggie, leaning from her chamber window, and listening to the sound of +his retreating footsteps, brushed away a tear, wondering the while why +it was that she felt so relieved. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +PERPLEXITY + + +Half in sorrow, half in joy, old Hagar listened to the story which +Henry told her, standing at her cottage door. In sorrow because she +had learned to like the young man, learned to think of him as Maggie's +husband, who would not wholly cast her oil, if her secret should +chance to be divulged; and in joy because her idol would be with her +yet a little longer. + +"Maggie will be faithful quite as long as you," she said, when he +expressed his fears of her forgetfulness; and, trying to console +himself with this assurance, he sprang into the carriage in which he +had come, and was driven rapidly away. + +He was too late for the night express, but taking the early morning +train he reached New York just as the sun was setting. + +"Alone! my brother, alone?" queried Rose, as he entered the private +parlor of the hotel where she was staying with her aunt. + +"Yes, alone; just as I expected," he answered somewhat bitterly. + +Then very briefly he related to her the particulars of his adventure, +to which she listened eagerly, one moment chiding herself for the +faint, shadowy hope which whispered that possibly Maggie Miller would +never be his wife, and again sympathizing in his disappointment. + +"A year will not be very long," she said, "and in the new scenes to +which you are going it will pass rapidly away;" and then, in her +childlike, guileless manner, she drew a glowing picture of the future, +when, her own health restored, they would return to their old home in +Leominster, where, after a few months more, he would bring to them his +bride. + +"You are my comforting angel, Rose," he said, folding her lovingly in +his arms and kissing her smooth white cheek. "With such a treasure as +you for a sister, I ought not to repine, even though Maggie Miller +should never be mine." + +The words were lightly spoken, and by him soon forgotten, but Rose +remembered them long, dwelling upon them in the wearisome nights, when +in her narrow berth she listened to the swelling sea as it dashed +against the vessel's side. Many a fond remembrance, too, she gave +to Maggie Miller, who, in her woodland home, thought often of the +travelers on the sea, never wishing that she was with them; but +experiencing always a feeling of pleasure in knowing that she was +Maggie Miller yet, and should be until next year's autumn leaves were +falling. + +Of Arthur Carrollton she thought frequently, wishing she had not been +so rude that morning in the woods, and feeling vexed because in his +letters to her grandmother he merely said, "Remember me to Margaret." + +"I wish he would write something besides that," she thought, "for I +remember him now altogether too much for my own good;" and then she +wondered what he would have said that morning, if she had not been so +cross. + +Very little was said to her of him by Madam Conway, who, having +learned that he was not going to England, and would ere long return to +them, concluded for a time to let the matter rest, particularly as +she knew how much Maggie was already interested in one whom she had +resolved to hate. Feeling thus confident that all would yet end well, +Madam Conway was in unusually good spirits save when thoughts of Mrs. +Douglas, senior, obtruded themselves upon her. Then, indeed, in a most +unenviable state of mind, she repined at the disgrace which Theo had +brought upon them, and charged Maggie repeatedly to keep it a secret +from Mrs. Jeffrey and Anna, the first of whom made many inquiries +concerning the family, which she supposed of course was very +aristocratic. + +One day towards the last of November there came to Madam Conway a +letter from Mrs. Douglas, senior, wonderful alike in composition and +appearance. Directed wrong side up, sealed with a wafer, and stamped +with a thimble, it bore an unmistakable resemblance to its writer, who +expressed many regrets that she had not known "in the time on't" who +her illustrious visitors were. + +"If I had known [she wrote] I should have sot the table in the parlor +certing, for though I'm plain and homespun I know as well as the next +one what good manners is, and do my endeavors to practice it. But do +tell a body [she continued] where you was muster day in Wooster. I +knocked and pounded enough to raise the dead, and nobody answered. I +never noticed you was deaf when you was here, though Betsy Jane thinks +she did. If you be, I'll send you up a receipt for a kind of intment +which Miss Sam Babbit invented, and which cures everything. + +"Theodoshy has been to see us, and though in my way of thinkin' she +aint as handsome as Margaret, she looks as well as the ginerality of +women. I liked her, too, and as soon as the men's winter clothes is +off my hands I calkerlate to have a quiltin', and finish up another +bed quilt to send her, for, man-like, George has furnished up his +rooms with all sorts of nicknacks, and got only two blankets, and two +Marsales spreads for his bed. So I've sent 'em down the herrin'-bone +and risin'-sun quilts for everyday wear, as I don't believe in usin' +your best things all the time. My old man says I'd better let 'em +alone; but he's got some queer ideas, thinks you'll sniff your nose at +my letter, and all that, but I've more charity for folks, and well I +might have, bein' that's my name. + +"CHARITY DOUGLAS." + +To this letter were appended three different postscripts. In the first +Madam Conway and Maggie were cordially invited to visit Charlton +again; in the second Betsy Jane sent her regrets; while in the third +Madam Conway was particularly requested to excuse haste and a bad pen. + +"Disgusting creature!" was Madam Conway's exclamation as she finished +the letter, then tossing it into the fire without a passing thought, +she took up another one, which had come by the same mail, and was from +Theo herself. + +After dwelling at length upon the numerous calls she made, the parties +she attended, the compliments she received, and her curiosity to know +why her grandmother came back that day, she spoke of her recent visit +in Charlton. + +"You have been there, it seems [she wrote], so I need not +particularize, though I know how shocked and disappointed you must +have been; and I think it was kind in you to say nothing upon the +subject except that you had called there, for George reads all my +letters, and I would not have his feelings hurt. He had prepared me +in a measure for the visit, but the reality was even worse than I +anticipated. And still they are the kindest-hearted people in the +world, while Mr. Douglas is a man, they say, of excellent sense. +George never lived at home much, and their heathenish ways mortify +him, I know, though he never says a word except that they are his +parents. + +"People here respect George, too, quite as much as if he were a +Conway, and I sometimes think they like him all the better for being +so kind to his old father, who comes frequently to the store. Grandma, +I begin to think differently of some things from what I did. Birth +and blood do not make much difference, in this country, at least; and +still I must acknowledge that I should feel dreadfully if I did not +love George and know that he is the kindest husband in the world." + +The letter closed with a playful insinuation that as Henry Warner +had gone, Maggie might possibly marry Arthur Carrollton, and so make +amends for the disgrace which Theo had unwittingly brought upon the +Conway line. + +For a long time after finishing the above, Madam Conway sat wrapped in +thought. Could it be possible that all her life she had labored under +a mistake? Were birth and family rank really of no consequence? Was +George just as worthy of respect as if he had descended directly from +the Scottish race of Douglas, instead of belonging to that vulgar +woman? "It may be so in America," she sighed, "but it is not true of +England," and, sincerely hoping that Theo's remark concerning Mr. +Carrollton might prove true, she laid aside the letter, and for the +remainder of the day busied herself with preparations for the return +of Arthur Carrollton, who had written that he should be with them on +the 1st of December. + +The day came, and, unusually excited, Maggie flitted from room to +room, seeing that everything was in order, and wondering how he would +meet her and if he had forgiven her for having been so cross at their +last interview in the woods. The effect of every suitable dress in her +wardrobe was tried, and she decided at last upon a crimson and black +merino, which harmonized well with her dark eyes and hair. The dress +was singularly becoming, and feeling quite well satisfied with the +face and form reflected by her mirror she descended to the parlor, +where any doubts she might have had concerning her personal appearance +were put to flight by Anna Jeffrey, who, with a feeling of envy, asked +if she had the scarlet fever, referring to her bright color, +and saying she did not think too red a face becoming to anyone, +particularly to Margaret, to whom it gave a "blowsy" look, such as she +had more than once heard Mr. Carrollton say he did not like to see. + +Margaret knew well that the dark-browed girl would give almost +anything for the roses blooming on her cheeks; so she made no reply, +but simply wished Anna would return to England, as for the last +two months she had talked of doing. It was not quite dark, and Mr. +Carrollton, if he came that night, would be with them soon. The car +whistle had sounded some time before, and Maggie's quick ear caught at +last the noise of the bells in the distance. Nearer and nearer they +came; the sleigh was at the door, and forgetting everything but her +own happiness Maggie ran out to meet their guest, nor turned her +glowing face away when he stooped down to kiss her. He had forgiven +her ill-nature, she was certain of that, and very joyfully she led the +way to the parlor, where as the full light of the lamp fell upon him +she started involuntarily, he seemed so changed. + +"Are you sick?" she asked; and her voice expressed the deep anxiety +she felt. + +Forcing back a slight cough, and smiling down upon her, he answered +cheerfully, "Oh, no, not sick! Canada air does not agree with me, +that's all. I took a severe cold soon after my arrival in Montreal," +and the cough he had attempted to stifle now burst forth, sounding to +Maggie, who thought only of consumption, like an echo from the grave. + +"Oh, I am so sorry!" she answered sadly, and her eyes filled with +tears, which she did not try to conceal, for looking through the +window across the snow-clad field, on which the winter moon was +shining, she saw instinctively another grave beside that of her +mother. + +Madam Conway had not yet appeared, and, as Anna Jeffrey just then +left the room, Mr. Carrollton was for some moments alone with Maggie. +Winding his arm around her waist, and giving her a most expressive +look, he said, "Maggie, are those tears for me?" + +Instantly the bright blushes stole over Maggie's face and neck, for +she remembered the time when once before he had asked her a similar +question. Not now, as then, did she turn away from 'him, but she +answered frankly: "Yes, they are. You look so pale and thin, I'm sure +you must be very ill." + +Whether Mr. Carrollton liked "blowsy" complexions or not, he certainly +admired Maggie's at that moment, and drawing her closer to his side, +he said, half playfully, half earnestly: "To see you thus anxious for +me, Maggie, more than atones for your waywardness when last we parted. +You are forgiven, but you are unnecessarily alarmed. I shall be better +soon. Hillsdale air will do me good, and I intend remaining here until +I am well again. Will you nurse me, Maggie, just as my sister Helen +would do were she here?" + +The right chord was touched, and all the soft, womanly qualities +of Maggie Miller's nature were called forth by Arthur Carrollton's +failing health. For several weeks after his arrival at Hillsdale he +was a confirmed invalid, lying all day upon the sofa in the parlor, +while Maggie read to him from books which he selected, partly for the +purpose of amusing himself, and more for the sake of benefiting her +and improving her taste for literature. At other times he would tell +her of his home beyond the sea, and Maggie, listening to him while +he described its airy halls, its noble parks, its shaded walks, and +musical fountains, would sometimes wish aloud that she might one day +see that spot which seemed to her so much like paradise. He wished +so too, and oftentimes when, with half-closed eyes, his mind was +wandering amid the scenes of his youth, he saw at his side a queenly +figure with features like those of Maggie Miller, who each day was +stealing more and more into his heart, where love for other than his +nearest friends had never before found entrance. She had many faults, +he knew, but these he possessed both the will and the power to +correct, and as day after day she sat reading at his side he watched +her bright, animated face, thinking what a splendid woman she +would make, and wondering if an American rose like her would bear +transplanting to English soil. + +Very complacently Madam Conway looked on, reading aright the +admiration which Arthur Carrollton evinced for Margaret, who in turn +was far from being uninterested in him. Anna Jeffrey, too, watched +them jealously, pondering in her own mind some means by which she +could, if possible, annoy Margaret. Had she known how far matters +had gone with Henry Warner, she would unhesitatingly have told it to +Arthur Carrollton; but so quietly had the affair been managed that she +knew comparatively little. This little, however, she determined to +tell him, together with any embellishments she might see fit to use. +Accordingly, one afternoon, when he had been there two months or more, +and Maggie had gone with her grandmother to ride, she went down to the +parlor under pretense of getting a book to read. He was much better +now, but, feeling somewhat fatigued from a walk he had taken in the +yard, he was reclining upon the sofa. Leaning over the rocking-chair +which stood near by, Anna inquired for his health, and then asked how +long since he had heard from home. + +He liked to talk of England, and as there was nothing to him +particularly disagreeable in Anna Jeffrey he bade her be seated. Very +willingly she complied with his request, and, after talking a while of +England, announced her intention of returning home the last of March. +"My aunt prefers remaining with Madam Conway, but I don't like +America," said she, "and I often wonder why I am here." + +"I supposed you came to be with your aunt, who, I am told, has been to +you a second mother," answered Mr. Carrollton; and Anna replied: "You +are right. She could not be easy until she got me here, where I know I +am not wanted--at least not altogether." + +Mr. Carrollton looked inquiringly at her, and Anna continued, "I fully +supposed I was to be a companion for Margaret; but instead of that she +treats me with the utmost coolness, making me feel keenly my position +as a dependent." + +"That does not seem at all like Maggie," said Mr. Carrollton; and, +with a meaning smile far more expressive than words, Anna answered: +"She may not always be alike. But hush! don't I hear bells?" and she +ran to the window, saying as she resumed her seat: "I thought they had +come: but I was mistaken. I dare say Maggie has coaxed her grandmother +to drive by the post office, thinking there might be a letter from +Henry Warner." + +Her manner affected Mr. Carrollton perceptibly, but he made no reply; +and Anna asked if he knew Mr. Warner. + +"I saw him in Worcester, I believe," he said; and Anna continued, "Do +you think him a suitable husband for a girl like Maggie?" + +There was a deep flush on Arthur Carrollton's cheek, and his lips were +whiter than their wont as he answered, "I know nothing of him, neither +did I suppose Miss Miller ever thought of him for a husband." + +"I know she did at one time," said his tormentor, turning the leaves +of her book with well-feigned indifference. "It was not any secret, or +I should not speak of it; of course Madam Conway was greatly opposed +to it too, and forbade her writing to him; but how the matter is now I +do not positively know, though I am quite sure they are engaged." + +"Isn't it very close here? Will you please to open the hall door?" +said Mr. Carrollton suddenly, panting for breath; and, satisfied with +her work, Anna did as desired and then left him alone. + +"Maggie engaged!" he said; "engaged!--when I hoped to win her for +myself!" and a sharp pang shot through his heart as he thought of +giving to another the beautiful girl who had grown so into his love. +"But I am glad I learned it in time," he continued, hurriedly walking +the floor, "knew it ere I had done Henry Warner a wrong by telling her +of my love, and asking her to go with me to my English home, which +will be desolate without her. This is why she repulsed me in the +woods. She knew I ought not to speak of love to her. Why didn't I see +it before, or why has not Madam Conway told me the truth! She at +least has deceived me;" and with a feeling of keen disappointment he +continued to pace the floor, one moment resolving to leave Hillsdale +at once, and again thinking how impossible it was to tear himself +away. + +Arthur Carrollton was a perfectly honorable man, and once assured of +Maggie's engagement he would neither by word nor deed do aught to +which the most fastidious lover could object, and Henry Warner's +rights were as safe with him as with the truest of friends. But was +Maggie really engaged? Might there not be some mistake? He hoped so at +least, and alternating between hope and fear he waited impatiently the +return of Maggie, who, with each thought of losing her, seemed tenfold +dearer to him than she had ever been before; and when at last she came +bounding in, he could scarcely refrain from folding her in his arms +and asking of her to think again ere she gave another than himself the +right of calling her his bride. But she is not mine, he thought; and +so he merely took her cold hands within his own, rubbing them until +they were warm. Then seating himself by her side upon the sofa he +spoke of her ride, asking casually if she called at the post office. + +"No, we did not drive that way," she answered readily, adding that the +post office had few attractions for her now, as no one wrote to her +save Theo. + +She evidently spoke the truth, and with a feeling of relief Mr. +Carrollton thought that possibly Miss Jeffrey might have been +mistaken; but he would know at all hazards, even though he ran the +risk of being thought extremely rude. Accordingly, that evening, after +Mrs. Jeffrey and Anna had retired to their room, and while Madam +Conway was giving some household directions in the kitchen, he asked +her to come and sit by him as he lay upon the sofa, himself placing +her chair where the lamplight would fall full upon her face and +reveal its every expression. Closing the piano, she complied with his +request, and then waited in silence for what he wanted to say. + +"Maggie," he began, "you may think me bold, but there is something I +very much wish to know, and which you, if you choose, can tell me. +From what I have heard, I am led to think you are engaged. Will you +tell me if this is true?" + +The bright color faded from Maggie's cheek, while her eyes grew darker +than before, and still she did not speak. Not that she was angry with +him for asking her that question; but because the answer, which, if +made at all, must be yes, was hard to utter. And yet why should she +hesitate to tell him the truth at once? + +Alas, for thee, Maggie Miller! The fancied love you feel for Henry +Warner is fading fast away. Arthur Carrollton is a dangerous rival, +and even now you cannot meet the glance of his expressive eyes without +a blush! Your better judgment acknowledged his superiority to Henry +long ago, and now in your heart there is room for none save him. + +"Maggie," he said, again stretching out his hand to take the +unresisting one which lay upon her lap, "you need not make me other +answer save that so plainly written on your face. You are engaged, and +may Heaven's blessing attend both you and yours!" + +At this moment Madam Conway appeared, and fearing her inability to +control her feelings longer Maggie precipitately left the room. Going +to her chamber, she burst into a passionate fit of weeping, one moment +blaming Mr. Carrollton for having learned her secret, and the next +chiding herself for wishing to withhold from him a knowledge of her +engagement. + +"It is not that I love Henry less, I am sure," she thought; and laying +her head upon her pillow she recalled everything which had passed +between herself and her affianced husband, trying to bring back the +olden happiness with which she had listened to his words of love. But +it would not come; there was a barrier in the way--Arthur Carrollton, +as he looked when he said so sadly, "You need not tell me, Maggie." + +"Oh, I wish he had not asked me that question!" she sighed. "It has +put such dreadful thoughts into my head. And yet I love Henry as well +as ever--I know I do; I am sure of it, or if I do not, I will," and +repeating to herself again and again the words, "I will, I will," she +fell asleep. + +Will, however, is not always subservient to one's wishes, and during +the first few days succeeding the incident of that night Maggie often +found herself wishing Arthur Carrollton had never come to Hillsdale, +he made her so wretched, so unhappy. Insensibly, too, she became +a very little unamiable, speaking pettishly to her grandmother, +disrespectfully to Mrs. Jeffrey, haughtily to Anna, and rarely to Mr. +Carrollton, who after the lapse of two or three weeks began to talk of +returning home in the same vessel with Anna Jeffrey, at which time his +health would be fully restored. Then, indeed, did Maggie awake to +the reality that while her hand was plighted to one, she loved +another--not as in days gone by she had loved Henry Warner, but with a +deeper, more absorbing love. With this knowledge, too, there came the +thought that Arthur Carrollton had once loved her, and but for the +engagement now so much regretted he would ere this have told her so. +But it was too late! too late! He would never feel toward her again as +he once had felt, and bitter tears she shed as she contemplated +the fast-coming future, when Arthur Carrollton would be gone, or +shudderingly thought of the time when Henry Warner would return to +claim her promise. + +"I cannot, cannot marry him," she cried, "until I've torn that other +image from my heart!" and then for many days she strove to recall the +olden love in vain; for, planted on the sandy soil of childhood, as it +were, it had been outgrown, and would never again spring into life. "I +will write to him exactly how it is," she said at last; "will tell +him that the affection I felt for him could not have been what a wife +should feel for her husband. I was young, had seen nothing of the +world, knew nothing of gentlemen's society, and when he came with his +handsome face and winning ways my interest was awakened. Sympathy, +too, for his misfortune increased that interest, which grandma's +opposition tended in no wise to diminish. But it has died out, that +fancied love, and I cannot bring it back. Still, if he insists, I will +keep my word, and when he comes next autumn I will not tell him 'No.'" + +Maggie was very calm when this decision was reached, and opening her +writing desk she wrote just as she said she would, begging him to +forgive her if she had done him wrong, and beseeching Rose to comfort +him as only a sister like her could do. "And remember," she wrote at +the close, "remember that sooner than see you very unhappy, I will +marry you, will try to be a faithful wife; though, Henry, I would +rather not--oh, so much rather not!" + +The letter was finished, and then Maggie took it to her grandmother, +who read it eagerly, for in it she saw a fulfillment of her wishes. +Very closely had she watched both Mr. Carrollton and Maggie, readily +divining the truth that something was wrong between them. But from +past experience she deemed it wiser not to interfere directly. Mr. +Carrollton's avowed intention of returning to England, however, +startled her, and she was revolving some method of procedure when +Margaret brought to her the letter. + +"I am happier than I can well express," she said, when she had +finished reading it. "Of course you have my permission to send it. But +what has changed you, Maggie? Has another taken the place of Henry +Warner?" + +"Don't ask me, grandma," cried Maggie, covering her face with her +hands; "don't ask me, for indeed I can only tell you that I am very +unhappy." + +A little skillful questioning on Madam Conway's part sufficed to +explain the whole--how constant association with Arthur Carrollton had +won for him a place in Maggie's heart which Henry Warner had never +filled; how the knowledge that she loved him as she could love no +other one had faintly revealed itself to her on the night when he +asked if she were engaged, and had burst upon her with overwhelming +power when she heard that he was going home. + +"He will never think of me again, I know," she said; "but, with my +present feelings, I cannot marry Henry, unless he insists upon it." + +"Men seldom wish to marry a woman who says she does not love them, and +Henry Warner will not prove an exception," answered Madam Conway; and, +comforted with this assurance, Maggie folded up her letter, which was +soon on its way to Cuba. + +The next evening, as Madam Conway sat alone with Mr. Carrollton, she +spoke of his return to England, expressing her sorrow, and asking why +he did not remain with them longer. + +"I will deal frankly with you, madam," said he, "and say that if I +followed my own inclination I should stay, for Hillsdale holds for +me an attraction which no other spot possesses. I refer to your +granddaughter, who, in the little time I have known her, has grown +very dear to me--so dear that I dare not stay longer where she is, +lest I should love her too well, and rebel against yielding her to +another." + +For a moment Madam Conway hesitated; but, thinking the case demanded +her speaking, she said: "Possibly Mr. Carrollton, I can make an +explanation which will show some points in a different light from that +in which you now see them. Margaret is engaged to Henry Warner, I will +admit; but the engagement has become irksome, and yesterday she wrote +asking a release, which he will grant, of course." + +Instantly the expression of Mr. Carrollton's face was changed, and +very intently he listened while Madam Conway frankly told him the +story of Margaret's engagement up to the present time, withholding +from him nothing, not even Maggie's confession of the interest she +felt in him, an interest which had weakened her girlish attachment for +Henry Warner. + +"You have made me very happy," Mr. Carrollton said to Madam Conway, +as, at a late hour, he bade her good-night--"happier than I can well +express; for without Margaret life to me would be dreary indeed." + +The next morning, at the breakfast table, Anna Jeffrey, who was +in high spirits with the prospect of having Mr. Carrollton for a +fellow-traveler, spoke of their intended voyage, saying she could +hardly wait for the time to come, and asking if he were not equally +impatient to leave so horrid a country as America. + +"On the contrary," he replied, "I should be sorry to leave America +just yet. I have therefore decided to remain a little longer;" and his +eyes sought the face of Maggie, who, in her joyful surprise, dropped +the knife with which she was helping herself to butter; while Anna +Jeffrey, quite as much astonished, upset her coffee, exclaiming: "Not +going home! What has changed your mind?" + +Mr. Carrollton made her no direct reply, and she continued her +breakfast in no very amiable mood; while Maggie, too much overjoyed +to eat, managed ere long to find an excuse for leaving the table. Mr. +Carrollton wished to do everything honorably, and so he decided to say +nothing to Maggie of the cause of this sudden change in his plan until +Henry Warner's answer was received, as she would then feel freer to +act as she felt. His resolution, however, was more easily made than +kept, and during the succeeding weeks, by actions, if not by words, +he more than once told Maggie Miller how much she was beloved; and +Maggie, trembling with fear lest the cup of happiness just within her +grasp should be rudely dashed aside, waited impatiently for the letter +which was to set her free. But weeks went by, and Maggie's heart grew +sick with hope deferred, for there came to her no message from the +distant Cuban shore, which in another chapter we shall visit. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +BROTHER AND SISTER. + + +Brightly shone the moonlight on the sunny isle of Cuba, dancing +lightly on the wave, resting softly on the orange groves, and stealing +gently through the casement, into the room where a young girl +lay, whiter far than the flowers strewn upon her pillow. From the +commencement of the voyage Rose had drooped, growing weaker every day, +until at last all who looked upon her felt that the home of which she +talked so much would never again be gladdened by her presence. Very +tenderly Henry Warner nursed her, bearing her often in his arms up on +the vessel's deck, where she could breathe the fresh morning air as it +came rippling o'er the sea. But neither the ocean breeze, nor yet the +fragrant breath of Florida's aromatic bowers, where for a time they +stopped, had power to rouse her; and when at last Havana was reached +she laid her weary head upon her pillow, whispering to no one of the +love which was wearing her life away. With untold anguish at their +hearts, both her aunt and Henry watched her, the latter shrinking ever +from the thought of losing one who seemed a part of his very life. + +"I cannot give you up, my Rose. I cannot live without you," he said, +when once she talked to him of death. "You are all the world to me;" +and, laying his head upon her pillow, he wept as men will sometimes +weep over their one great sorrow. + +"Don't, Henry," she said, laying her tiny hand upon his hair. "Maggie +will comfort you when I am gone. She will talk to you of me, standing +at my grave, for, Henry, you must not leave me here alone. You must +carry me home and bury me in dear old Leominster, where my childhood +was passed, and where I learned to love you so much--oh, so much!" + +There was a mournful pathos in the tone with which the last words were +uttered, but Henry Warner did not understand it, and covering the +little blue-veined hand with kisses he promised that her grave should +be made at the foot of the garden in their far-off home, where the +sunlight fell softly and the moonbeams gently shone. That evening +Henry sat alone by Rose, who had fallen into a disturbed slumber. For +a time he took no notice of the disconnected words she uttered in her +dreams, but when at last he heard the sound of his own name he drew +near, and, bending low, listened with mingled emotions of joy, sorrow, +and surprise to a secret which, waking, she would never have told +him, above all others. She loved him,--the fair girl he called his +sister,--but not as a sister loves; and now, as he stood by her, with +the knowledge thrilling every nerve, he remembered many bygone scenes, +when but for his blindness he would have seen how every pulsation of +her heart throbbed alone for him whose hand was plighted to another, +and that other no unworthy rival. Beautiful, very beautiful, was the +shadowy form which at that moment seemed standing at his side, and +his heart went out towards her as the one above all others to be his +bride. + +"Had I known it sooner," he thought, "known it before I met the +peerless Maggie, I might have taken Rose to my bosom and loved her--it +may be with a deeper love than that I feel for Maggie Miller, for Rose +is everything to me. She has made and keeps me what I am, and how can +I let her die when I have the power to save her?" + +There was a movement upon the pillow. Rose was waking, and as her soft +blue eyes unclosed and looked up in his face he wound his arms around +her, kissing her lips as never before he had kissed her. She was +not his sister now--the veil was torn away--a new feeling had been +awakened, and as days and weeks went by there gradually crept in +between him and Maggie Miller a new love--even a love for the +fair-haired Rose, to whom he was kinder, if possible, than he had been +before, though he seldom kissed her lips or caressed her in any way. + +"It would be wrong," he said, "a wrong to myself--a wrong to her--and +a wrong to Maggie Miller, to whom my troth is plighted;" and he did +not wish it otherwise, he thought; though insensibly there came over +him a wish that Maggie herself might weary of the engagement and seek +to break it. Not that he loved her the less, he reasoned, but that he +pitied Rose the more. + +In this manner time passed on, until at last there came to him +Maggie's letter, which had been a long time on the sea. + +"I expected it," he thought, as he finished reading it, and though +conscious for a moment of a feeling of disappointment the letter +brought him far more pleasure than pain. + +Of Arthur Carrollton no mention had been made, but he readily guessed +the truth; and thinking, "It is well," he laid the letter aside and +went back to Rose, deciding to say nothing to her then. He would wait +until his own feelings were more perfectly defined. So a week went by, +and again, as he had often done before, he sat with her alone in the +quiet night, watching her as she slept, and thinking how beautiful +she was, with her golden hair shading her childish face, her long +eyelashes resting on her cheek, and her little hands folded meekly +upon her bosom. + +"She is too beautiful to die," he murmured, pressing a kiss upon her +lips. + +This act awoke her, and, turning towards him she said, "Was I +dreaming, Henry, or did you kiss me as you used to do?" + +"Not dreaming, Rose," he answered--then rather hurriedly he added: "I +have a letter from Maggie Miller, and ere I answer it I would read it +to you. Can you hear it now?" + +"Yes, yes," she whispered faintly; "read it to me, Henry;" and, +turning her face away, she listened while he read that Maggie Miller, +grown weary of her troth, asked a release from her engagement. + +He finished reading, and then waited in silence to hear what Rose +would say. But for a time she did not speak. All hope for herself had +long since died away, and now she experienced only sorrow for Henry's +disappointment. + +"My poor brother," she said at last, turning her face towards him and +taking his hand in hers; "I am sorry for you--to lose us both, Maggie +and me. What will you do?" + +"Rose," he said, bending so low that his brown locks mingled with the +yellow tresses of her hair--"Rose, I do not regret Maggie Miller's +decision, neither do I blame her for it. She is a noble, true-hearted +girl, and so long as I live I shall esteem her highly; but I too have +changed--have learned to love another. Will you sanction this new +love, dear Rose? Will you say that it is right?" + +The white lids closed over the eyes of blue, but they could not keep +back the tears which rolled down her face, as she asked somewhat +sadly, "Who is it, Henry?" + +There was another moment of silence, and then he whispered in her ear: +"People call her Rose; I once called her sister; but my heart now +claims her for something nearer. My Rose," he continued, "shall it be? +Will you live for my sake? Will you be my wife?" + +The shock was too sudden--too great; and neither on that night, nor +yet the succeeding day, had Rose the power to answer. But as the dew +of heaven is to the parched and dying flower, so were these words of +love to her, imparting at once new life and strength, making her as it +were another creature. The question asked that night so unexpectedly +was answered at last; and then with almost perfect happiness at her +heart, she too added a few lines to the letter which Henry sent to +Maggie Miller, over whose pathway, hitherto so bright, a fearful +shadow was falling. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +THE PEDDLER. + + +It was a rainy April day--a day which precluded all outdoor exercise, +and Hagar Warren, from the window of her lonely cabin, watched in vain +for the coming of Maggie Miller. It was now more than a week since she +had been there, for both Arthur Carrollton and herself had accompanied +the disappointed Anna Jeffrey to New York, going with her on board +the vessel which was to take her from a country she affected so to +dislike. + +"I dare say you'll be Maggie somebody else ere I meet you again," she +said to Maggie, at parting, and Mr. Carrollton, on the journey home, +found it hard to keep from asking her if for the "somebody else" she +would substitute his name, and so be "Maggie Carrollton." + +This, however, he did not do; but his attentions were so marked, and +his manner towards her so affectionate, that ere Hillsdale was reached +there was in Maggie's mind no longer a doubt as to the nature of his +feelings toward her. Arrived at home, he kept her constantly at +his side, while Hagar, who was suffering from a slight attack of +rheumatism, and could not go up to the stone house, waited and +watched, thinking herself almost willing to be teased for the secret, +if she could once more hear the sound of Maggie's voice. The secret, +however, had been forgotten in the exciting scenes through which +Maggie had passed since first she learned of its existence; and it was +now a long time since she had mentioned it to Hagar, who each day grew +more and more determined never to reveal it. + +"My life is almost ended," she thought, "and the secret shall go with +me to my grave. Margaret will be happier without it, and it shall not +be revealed." + +Thus she reasoned on that rainy afternoon, when she sat waiting for +Maggie, who, she heard, had returned the day before. Slowly the hours +dragged on, and the night shadows fell at last upon the forest +trees, creeping into the corners of Hagar's room, resting upon the +hearthstone, falling upon the window pane, creeping up the wall, and +affecting Hagar with a nameless fear of some impending evil. This fear +not even the flickering flame of the lamp, which she lighted at last +and placed upon the mantel, was able to dispel, for the shadows grew +darker, folding themselves around her heart, until she covered her +eyes with her hands, lest some goblin shape should spring into life +before her. + +The sound of the gate latch was heard, and footsteps were approaching +the door--not the bounding step of Maggie, but a tramping tread, +followed by a heavy knock, and next moment a tall, heavy-built man +appeared before her, asking shelter for the night. The pack he carried +showed him at once to be a peddler, and upon a nearer view Hagar +recognized in him a stranger who, years before, had craved her +hospitality. He had been civil to her then; she did not fear him now, +and she consented to his remaining, thinking his presence there might +dispel the mysterious terror hanging around her. But few words passed +between them that night, for Martin, as he called himself, was tired, +and after partaking of the supper that she prepared he retired to +rest. The next morning, however, he was more talkative, kindly +enlightening her with regard to his business, his family, and his +place of residence, which last he said was in Meriden, Conn. + +It was a long time since Hagar had heard that name, and now, turning +quickly towards him, she said, "Meriden? That is where my Hester +lived, and where her husband died." + +"I want to know!" returned the Yankee peddler. "What might have been +his name?" + +"Hamilton--Nathan Hamilton. Did you know him? He died nineteen years +ago this coming summer." + +"Egzactly!" ejaculated the peddler, setting down his pack and himself +taking a chair, preparatory to a long talk. "Egzactly; I knowed him +like a book. Old Squire Hampleton, the biggest man in Meriden, and you +don't say his last wife, that tall, handsome gal, was your darter?" + +"Yes, she was my daughter," answered Hagar, her whole face glowing +with the interest she felt in talking for the first time in her life +with one who had known her daughter's husband, Maggie's father. "You +knew her. You have seen her?" she continued; and Martin answered, +"Seen her a hundred times, I'll bet. Anyhow, I sold her the weddin' +gown; and now, I think on't, she favored you. She was a likely person, +and I allus thought that proud sister of his'n, the Widder Warner, +might have been in better business than takin' them children away as +she did, because he married his hired gal. But it's as well for them, +I s'pose, particularly for the boy, who is one of the fust young men +in Wooster now. Keeps a big store!" + +"Warner, Warner!" interrupted old Hagar, the nameless terror of the +night before creeping again into her heart. "Whose name did you say +was Warner?" + +"The hull on 'em, boy, girl, and all, is called Warner now--one Rose, +and t'other Henry," answered the peddler, perfectly delighted with the +interest manifested by his auditor, who, grasping at the bedpost and +moving her hand rapidly before her eyes, as if to clear away a mist +which had settled there, continued, "I remember now, Hester told me of +the children; but one, she said, was a stepchild--that was the boy, +wasn't it?" and her wild, black eyes had in them a look of unutterable +anxiety, wholly incomprehensible to the peddler, who, instead of +answering her question said: "What ails you woman? Your face is as +white as a piece of paper?" + +"Thinking of Hester always affects me so," she answered; and +stretching her hands beseechingly towards him, she entreated him to +say if Henry were not the stepchild. + +"No marm, he warn't," answered the peddler, who, like a great many +talkative people, pretended to know more than he really did, and who +in this particular instance was certainly mistaken. "I can tell you +egzactly how that is: Henry was the son of Mr. Hampleton's first +marriage--Henry Hampleton. The second wife, the one your darter lived +with, was the Widder Warner, and had a little gal, Rose, when she +married Mr. Hampleton. This Widder Warner's husband's brother married +Mr. Hampleton's sister, the woman who took the children, and had Henry +change his name to Warner. The Hampletons and Warners were mighty +big-feelin' folks, and the old squire's match mortified 'em +dreadfully." + +"Where are they now?" gasped Hagar, hoping there might be some +mistake. + +"There you've got me!" answered Martin. "I haven't seen 'em this +dozen year; but the last I heard, Miss Warner and Rose was livin' in +Leominster, and Henry was in a big store in Wooster. But what the +plague is the matter?" he continued, alarmed at the expression of +Hagar's face, as well as at the strangeness of her manner. + +Wringing her hands as if she would wrench her fingers from their +sockets, she clutched at her long white hair, and, rocking to and fro, +moaned, "Woe is me, and woe the day when I was born!" + +From everyone save her grandmother Margaret had kept the knowledge of +her changed feelings towards Henry Warner; and looking upon a marriage +between the two as an event surely to be expected, old Hagar was +overwhelmed with grief and fear. Falling at last upon her knees, she +cried: "Had you cut my throat from ear to ear, old man, you could not +have hurt me more! Oh, that I had died years and years ago! But I must +live now--live!" she screamed, springing to her feet--"live to prevent +the wrong my own wickedness has caused!" + +Perfectly astonished at what he saw and heard, the peddler attempted +to question her, but failing to obtain any satisfactory answers he +finally left, mentally pronouncing her "as crazy as a loon." This +opinion was confirmed by the people on whom he next called, for, +chancing to speak of Hagar, he was told that nothing which she did or +said was considered strange, as she had been called insane for years. +This satisfied Martin, who made no further mention of her, and +thus the scandal which his story might otherwise have produced was +prevented. + +In the meantime on her face lay old Hagar, moaning bitterly. "My sin +has found me out; and just when I thought it never need be known! For +myself I do not care; but Maggie, Maggie--how can I tell her that she +is bone of my bone, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh--and me old +Hagar Warren!" + +It would be impossible to describe the scorn and intense loathing +concentrated in the tones of Hagar's voice as she uttered these last +words, "and me old Hagar Warren!" Had she indeed been the veriest +wretch on earth, she could not have hated herself more than she did in +that hour of her humiliation, when, with a loud voice, she cried, "Let +me die, oh, let me die, and it will never be known!" Then, as she +reflected upon the terrible consequence which would ensue were she to +die and make no sign, she wrung her hands despairingly, crying: "Life, +life--yes, give me life to tell her of my guilt; and then it will be +a blessed rest to die. Oh, Margaret, my precious child, I'd give my +heart's blood, drop by drop, to save you; but it can't be; you must +not wed your father's son; oh, Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!" + +Fainter and fainter grew each succeeding word, and when the last was +spoken she fell again upon her face, unconscious and forgetful of her +woe. Higher and higher in the heavens rose the morning sun, stealing +across the window sill, and shining aslant the floor, where Hagar +still lay in a deep, deathlike swoon. An hour passed on, and then the +wretched woman came slowly back to life, her eyes lighting up with +joy, as she whispered, "It was a dream, thank Heaven, 'twas a dream!" +and then growing dim with tears, as the dread reality came over her. +The first fearful burst of grief was passed, for Hagar now could weep, +and tears did her good, quelling the feverish agony at her heart. Not +for herself did she suffer so much as for Maggie, trembling for the +effect the telling of the secret would have on her. For it must be +told. She knew that full well, and as the sun fast neared the western +horizon, she murmured, "Oh, will she come to-night, will she come +to-night?" + +Yes, Hagar, she will. Even now her feet, which, when they backward +turn, will tread less joyously, are threading the woodland path. The +halfway rock is reached--nearer and nearer she comes--her shadow +falls across the floor--her hand is on your arm--her voice in your +ear--Maggie Miller is at your side--Heaven help you both! + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE TELLING OF THE SECRET. + + +"Hagar! Hagar!" exclaimed Maggie, playfully bounding to her side, and +laying her hand upon her arm. "What aileth thee, Hagar?" + +The words were meet, for never Hagar in the desert, thirsting for the +gushing fountain, suffered more than did she who sat with covered face +and made no word of answer. Maggie was unusually happy that day, for +but a few hours before she had received Henry's letter making her +free--free to love Arthur Carrollton, who she well knew only waited a +favorable opportunity to tell her of his love; so with a heart full of +happiness she had stolen away to visit Hagar, reproaching herself as +she came for having neglected her so long. "But I'll make amends by +telling her what I'm sure she must have guessed," she thought, as she +entered the cottage, where, to her surprise, she found her weeping. +Thinking the old woman's distress might possibly be occasioned by her +neglect, she spoke again. "Are you crying for me, Hagar?" + +"Yes, Maggie Miller, for you--for you!" answered Hagar, lifting up a +face so ghastly white that Maggie started back in some alarm. + +"Poor Hagar, you are ill," she said, and advancing nearer she wound +her arms around the trembling form, and, pillowing the snowy head upon +her bosom, continued soothingly: "I did not mean to stay away long. I +will not do it again, but I am so happy, Hagar, so happy that I half +forgot myself." + +For a moment Hagar let her head repose upon the bosom of her child, +then murmuring softly, "It will never lie there again," she arose, +and, confronting Maggie, said, "Is it love which makes you so happy?" + +"Yes, Hagar, love," answered Margaret, the deep blushes stealing over +her glowing face. + +"And is it your intention to marry the man you love?" continued Hagar, +thinking only of Henry Warner, while Margaret, thinking only of Arthur +Carrollton, replied, "If he will marry me, I shall most surely marry +him." + +"It is enough. I must tell her," whispered Hagar; while Maggie asked, +"Tell me what?" + +For a moment the wild eyes fastened themselves upon her with a look +of yearning anguish, and then Hagar answered slowly, "Tell you what +you've often wished to know--my secret!" the last word dropping from +her lips more like a warning hiss than like a human sound. It was long +since Maggie had teased for the secret, so absorbed had she been in +other matters, but now that there was a prospect of knowing it +her curiosity was reawakened, and while her eyes glistened with +expectation, she said, "Yes, tell it to me, Hagar, and then I'll tell +you mine;" and all over her beautiful face there shone a joyous +light as she thought how Hagar, who had once pronounced Henry Warner +unworthy, would rejoice in her new love. + +"Not here, Maggie--not here in this room can I tell you," said old +Hagar; "but out in the open air, where my breath will come more +freely;" and, leading the way, she hobbled to the mossy bank where +Maggie had sat with Arthur Carrollton on the morning of his departure +for Montreal. + +Here she sat down, while Maggie threw herself upon the damp ground at +her feet, her face lighted with eager curiosity and her lustrous eyes +bright as stars with excitement. For a moment Hagar bent forward, and, +folding her hands one above the other, laid them upon the head of the +young girl as if to gather strength for what she was to say. But all +in vain; for when she essayed to speak her tongue clave to the roof of +her mouth, and her lips gave forth unmeaning sounds. + +"It must be something terrible to affect her so," thought Maggie, and, +taking the bony hands between her own, she said, "I would not tell it, +Hagar; I do not wish to hear." + +The voice aroused the half-fainting woman, and, withdrawing her hand +from Maggie's grasp, she replied, "Turn away your face, Margaret +Miller, so I cannot see the hatred settling over it, when I tell you +what I must." + +"Certainly; my back if you prefer it," answered Maggie, half +playfully; and turning round she leaned her head against the feeble +knees of Hagar. + +"Maggie, Maggie," began the poor old woman, lingering long and +lovingly over that dear name, "nineteen years ago, next December, I +took upon my soul the secret sin which has worn my life away, but I +did it for the love I had for you. Oh, Margaret, believe it, for the +love I had for you, more than for my own ambition;" and the long +fingers slid nervously over the bands of shining hair just within her +reach. + +At the touch of those fingers, Maggie shuddered involuntarily. There +was a vague, undefined terror stealing over her, and, impatient to +know the worst, she said, "Go on, tell me what you did." + +"I can't--I can't--and yet I must!" cried Hagar. "You were a beautiful +baby, Maggie, and the other one was sickly, pinched, and blue. I +had you both in my room the night after Hester died; and the +devil--Maggie, do you know how the devil will creep into the heart, +and whisper, whisper till the brain is all on fire? This thing he did +to me, Maggie, nineteen years ago, he whispered--whispered dreadful +things, and his whisperings were of you!" + +"Horrible, Hagar!" exclaimed Maggie. "Leave the devil, and tell me of +yourself." + +"That's it," answered Hagar. "If I had but left him then, this hour +would never have come to me; but I listened, and when he told me that +a handsome, healthy child would be more acceptable to the Conways than +a weakly, fretful one--when he said that Hagar Warren's grandchild had +far better be a lady than a drudge--that no one would ever know it, +for none had noticed either--I did it, Maggie Miller; I took you from +the pine-board cradle where you lay--I dressed you in the other baby's +clothes--I laid you on her pillow--I wrapped her in your coarse white +frock--I said that she was mine, and Margaret--oh, Heaven! can't you +see it? Don't you know that I, the shriveled, skinny hag who tells you +this, am your own grandmother!" + +There was no need for Maggie Miller to answer that appeal. The words +had burned into her soul--scorching her very life-blood, and maddening +her brain. It was a fearful blow--crushing her at once. She saw it +all, understood it all, and knew there was no hope. The family pride +at which she had often laughed was strong within her, and could not at +once be rooted out. All the fond household memories, though desecrated +and trampled down, were not so soon to be forgotten. She could not own +that half-crazed woman for her grandmother! As Hagar talked Maggie had +risen, and now, tall, and erect as the mountain ash which grew on her +native hills, she stood before Hagar, every vestige of color faded +from her face, her eyes dark as midnight and glowing like coals of +living fire, while her hands, locked despairingly together, moved +slowly towards Hagar, as if to thrust her aside. + +"Oh, speak again!" she said, "but not the dreadful words you said to +me just now. Tell me they are false--say that my father perished in +the storm, that my mother was she who held me on her bosom when she +died--that I--oh, Hagar, I am not--I will not be the creature you say +I am! Speak to me," she continued; "tell me; is it true?" and in her +voice there was not the olden sound. + +Hoarse--hollow--full of reproachful anguish it seemed; and, bowing her +head in very shame, old Hagar made her answer: "Would to Heaven 'twere +not true--but it is--it is! Kill me, Maggie," she continued, "strike +me dead, if you will, but take your eyes away! You must not look thus +at me, a heartbroken wretch." + +But not of Hagar Warren was Maggie thinking then. The past, the +present, and the future were all embodied in her thoughts. She had +been an intruder all her life; had ruled with a high hand people on +whom she had no claim, and who, had they known her parentage, would +have spurned her from them. Theo, whom she had held in her arms so +oft, calling her sister and loving her as such, was hers no longer; +nor yet the fond woman who had cherished her so tenderly--neither was +hers; and in fancy she saw the look of scorn upon that woman's face +when she should hear the tale, for it must be told--and she must tell +it, too. She would not be an impostor; and then there flashed upon her +the agonizing thought, before which all else seemed as naught--in the +proud heart of Arthur Carrollton was there a place for Hagar Warren's +grandchild? "No, no, no!" she moaned; and the next moment she lay at +Hagar's feet, white, rigid, and insensible. + +"She's dead!" cried Hagar; and for one brief instant she hoped that it +was so. + +But not then and there was Margaret to die; and slowly she came back +to life, shrinking from the touch of Hagar's hand when she felt it on +her brow. + +"There may be some mistake," she whispered; but Hagar answered, "There +is none"; at the same time relating so minutely the particulars of the +deception that Maggie was convinced, and, covering her face with her +hands, sobbed aloud, while Hagar, sitting by in silence, was nerving +herself to tell the rest. + +The sun had set, and the twilight shadows were stealing down upon +them, when, creeping abjectly upon her knees towards the wretched +girl, she said, "There is more, Maggie, more--I have not told you +all." + +But Maggie had heard enough, and, exerting all her strength, she +sprang to her feet, while Hagar clutched eagerly at her dress, which +was wrested from her grasp, as Maggie fled away--away--she knew not, +cared not, whither, so that she were beyond the reach of the trembling +voice which called after her to return. Alone in the deep woods, with +the darkness falling around her, she gave way to the mighty sorrow +which had come so suddenly upon her. She could not doubt what she had +heard. She knew that it was true, and as proof after proof crowded +upon her, until the chain of evidence was complete, she laid her head +upon the rain-wet grass, and shudderingly stopped her ears, to shut +out, if possible, the memory of the dreadful words, "I, the shriveled, +skinny hag who tells you this, am your own grandmother." For a long +time she lay there thus, weeping till the fountain of her tears seemed +dry; then, weary, faint, and sick, she started for her home. Opening +cautiously the outer door, she was gliding up the stairs when Madam +Conway, entering the hall with a lamp, discovered her, and uttered +an exclamation of surprise at the strangeness of her appearance. Her +dress, bedraggled and wet, was torn in several places by the briery +bushes she had passed; her hair, loosened from its confinement, hung +down her back, while her face was so white and ghastly that Madam +Conway in much alarm followed her up the stairs, asking what had +happened. + +"Something dreadful came to me in the woods," said Maggie; "but I +can't tell you to-night. To-morrow I shall be better--or dead--oh, I +wish I could be dead--before you hate me so, dear grand--No, I didn't +mean that--you aint; forgive me, do;" and sinking to the floor she +kissed the very hem of Madam Conway's dress. + +Unable to understand what she meant, Madam Conway divested her of her +damp clothing, and, placing her in bed, sat down beside her, saying +gently, "Can you tell me now what frightened you?" + +A faint cry was Maggie's only answer, and taking the lady's hand +she laid it upon her forehead, where the drops of perspiration were +standing thickly. All night long Madam Conway sat by her, going once +to communicate with Arthur Carrollton, who, anxious and alarmed, came +often to the door, asking if she slept. She did sleep at last--a +fitful feverish sleep; but ever at the sound of Mr. Carrollton's voice +a spasm of pain distorted her features, and a low moan came from her +lips. Maggie had been terribly excited, and when next morning she +awoke she was parched with burning fever, while her mind at intervals +seemed wandering; and ere two days passed she was raving with +delirium, brought on, the physician said, by some sudden shock, the +nature of which no one could even guess. + +For three weeks she hovered between life and death, whispering oft +of the horrid shape which had met her in the woods, robbing her of +happiness and life. Winding her feeble arms around Madam Conway's +neck, she would beg of her most piteously not to cast her off--not to +send her away from the only home she had ever known--"For I couldn't +help it," she would say. "I didn't know it, and I've loved you all so +much--so much! Say, grandma, may I call you grandma all the same? Will +you love poor Maggie a little?" and Madam Conway, listening to words +whose meaning she could not fathom, would answer by laying the aching +head upon her bosom, and trying to soothe the excited girl. Theo, too, +was summoned home, but at her Maggie at first refused to look, and, +covering her eyes with her hand, she whispered scornfully, "Pinched, +and blue, and pale; that's the very look. I couldn't see it when I +called you sister." + +Then her mood would change, and motioning Theo to her side she would +say to her, "Kiss me once, Theo, just as you used to do when I was +Maggie Miller." + +Towards Arthur Carrollton she from the first manifested fear, +shuddering whenever he approached her, and still exhibiting signs of +uneasiness if he left her sight. "He hates me," she said, "hates me +for what I could not help;" and when, as he often did, he came to her +bedside, speaking words of love, she would answer mournfully: "Don't, +Mr. Carrollton; your pride is stronger than your love. You will hate +me when you know all." + +Thus two weeks went by, and then with the first May day reason +returned again, bringing life and strength to the invalid, and joy to +those who had so anxiously watched over her. Almost her first rational +question was for Hagar, asking if she had been there. + +"She is confined to her bed with inflammatory rheumatism," answered +Madam Conway; "but she inquires for you every day, they say; and once +when told you could not live she started to crawl on her hands and +knees to see you, but fainted near the gate, and was carried back." + +"Poor old woman!" murmured Maggie, the tears rolling down her cheeks, +as she thought how strong must be the love that half-crazed creature +bore her, and how little it was returned, for every feeling of her +nature revolted from claiming a near relationship with one whom she +had hitherto regarded as a servant. The secret, too, seemed harder to +divulge, and day by day she put it off, saying to them when they asked +what had so much affected her that she could not tell them yet--she +must wait till she was stronger. + +So Theo went back to Worcester as mystified as ever, and Maggie was +left much alone with Arthur Carrollton, who strove in various ways to +win her from the melancholy into which she had fallen. All day long +she would sit by the open window, seemingly immovable, her large eyes, +now intensely black, fixed upon vacancy, and her white face giving no +sign of the fierce struggle within, save when Madam Conway, coming to +her side, would lay her hand caressingly on her in token of sympathy. +Then, indeed, her lips would quiver, and turning her head away, she +would say, "Don't touch me--don't!" + +To Arthur Carrollton she would listen with apparent composure, though +often as he talked her long, tapering nails left their impress in her +flesh, so hard she strove to seem indifferent. Once when they were +left together alone he drew her to his side, and bending very low, +so that his lips almost touched her marble cheek, he told her of his +love, and how full of anguish had been his heart when he thought that +she would die. + +"But God kindly gave you back to me," he said; "and now, my precious +Margaret, will you be my wife? Will you go with me to my English home, +from which I have tarried now too long because I would not leave you? +Will Maggie answer me?" and he folded her lovingly in his arms. + +Oh, how could she tell him No, when every fiber of her heart thrilled +with the answer Yes. She mistook him--mistook the character of Arthur +Carrollton, for, though pride was strong within him, he loved the +beautiful girl who lay trembling in his arms better than he loved his +pride; and had she told him then who and what she was, he would +not have deemed it a disgrace to love a child of Hagar Warren. But +Margaret did not know him, and when he said again, "Will Maggie answer +me?" there came from her lips a piteous, wailing cry, and turning her +face away she answered mournfully: "No, Mr. Carrollton, no, I cannot +be your wife. It breaks my heart to tell you so; but if you knew what +I know, you would never have spoken to me words of love. You would +have rather thrust me from you, for indeed I am unworthy." + +"Don't you love me, Maggie?" Mr. Carrollton said, and in the tones of +his voice there was so much tenderness that Maggie burst into tears, +and, involuntarily resting her head upon his bosom, answered sadly: "I +love you so much, Arthur Carrollton, that I would die a hundred deaths +could that make me worthy of you, as not long ago I thought I was. But +it cannot be. Something terrible has come between us." + +"Tell me what it is. Let me share your sorrow," he said; but Maggie +only answered: "Not yet, not yet! Let me live where you are a little +longer. Then I will tell you all, and go away forever." + +This was all the satisfaction he could obtain; but after a time she +promised that if he would not mention the subject to her until the +first of June, she would then tell him everything; and satisfied +with a promise which he knew would be kept, Mr. Carrollton waited +impatiently for the appointed time, while Maggie, too, counted each +sun as it rose and set, bringing nearer and nearer a trial she so much +dreaded. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RESULT. + + +Two days only remained ere the first of June, and in the solitude of +her chamber Maggie was weeping bitterly. "How can I tell them who I +am?" she thought. "How bear their pitying scorn, when they learn that +she whom they call Maggie Miller has no right to that name?--that +Hagar Warren's blood is flowing in her veins?--and Madam Conway thinks +so much of that! Oh, why was Hagar left to do me this great wrong? why +did she take me from the pine-board cradle where she says I lay, and +make me what I was not born to be?" and, falling on her knees, the +wretched girl prayed that it might prove a dream from which she would +ere long awake. + +Alas for thee, poor Maggie Miller! It is not a dream, but a stern +reality; and you who oft have spurned at birth and family, why +murmur now when both are taken from you? Are you not still the +same,--beautiful,--accomplished, and refined,--and can you ask for +more? Strange that theory and practice so seldom should accord. And +yet it was not the degradation which Maggie felt so keenly, it was +rather the loss of love she feared; without that the blood of royalty +could not avail to make her happy. + +Maggie was a warm-hearted girl, and she loved the stately lady she had +been wont to call her grandmother with a filial, clinging love which +could not be severed, and still this love was naught compared to what +she felt for Arthur Carrollton, and the giving up of him was the +hardest part of all. But it must be done, she thought; he had told her +once that were she Hagar Warren's grandchild he should not be riding +with her--how much less, then, would he make that child his wife! and +rather than meet the look of proud disdain on his face when first she +stood confessed before him, she resolved to go away where no one had +ever heard of her or Hagar Warren. She would leave behind a letter +telling why she went, and commending to Madam Conway's care poor +Hagar, who had been sorely punished for her sin. "But whither shall I +go, and what shall I do when I get there?" she cried, trembling at +the thoughts of a world of which she knew so little. Then, as she +remembered how many young girls of her age went out as teachers, she +determined to go at all events. "It will be better than staying here +where I have no claim," she thought; and, nerving herself for the +task, she sat down to write the letter which, on the first of June, +should tell to Madam Conway and Arthur Carrollton the story of her +birth. + +It was a harder task than she supposed, the writing that farewell, for +it seemed like severing every hallowed tie. Three times she wrote "My +dear grandma," then with a throb of anguish she dashed her pen across +the revered name, and wrote simply "Madam Conway." It was a rambling, +impassioned letter, full of tender love--of hope destroyed--of deep +despair--and though it shadowed forth no expectation that Madam Conway +or Mr. Carrollton would ever take her to their hearts again, it begged +of them most touchingly to think sometimes of "Maggie" when she was +gone forever. Hagar was then commended to Madam Conway's forgiveness +and care. "She is old," wrote Maggie, "her life is nearly ended, and +if you have in your heart one feeling of pity for her who used to call +you grandma, bestow it, I pray you, on poor old Hagar Warren." + +The letter was finished, and then suddenly remembering Hagar's words, +that "all had not been told," and feeling it her duty to see once more +the woman who had brought her so much sorrow, Maggie stole cautiously +from the house, and was soon walking down the woodland road, slowly, +sadly, for the world had changed to her since last she trod that path. +Maggie, too, was changed, and when at last she stood before Hagar, who +was now able to sit up, the latter could scarcely recognize in the +pale, haggard woman the blooming, merry-hearted girl once known as +Maggie Miller. + +"Margaret!" she cried, "you have come again--come to forgive your poor +old grand--No, no," she added, as she saw the look of pain flash over +Maggie's face, "I'll never insult you with that name. Only say that +you forgive me, will you, Miss Margaret?" and the trembling voice was +choked with sobs, while the aged form shook as with a palsied stroke. + +Hagar had been ill. Exposure to the damp air on that memorable night +had brought on a second severe attack of rheumatism, which had bent +her nearly double. Anxiety for Margaret, too, had wasted her to a +skeleton, and her thin, sharp face, now of a corpse-like pallor, +contrasted strangely with her eyes, from which the wildness all was +gone. Touched with pity, Maggie drew a chair to her side, and thus +replied: "I do forgive you, Hagar, for I know that what you did was +done in love; but by telling me what you have you've ruined all my +hopes of happiness. In the new scenes to which I go, and the new +associations I shall form, I may become contented with my lot, but +never can I forget that I once was Maggie Miller." + +"Magaret," gasped Hagar, and in her dim eye there was something of its +olden fire, "if by new associations you mean Henry Warner, it must not +be. Alas, that I should tell this! but Henry is your brother--your +father's only son. Oh, horror! horror!" and dreading what Margaret +would say, she covered her face with her cramped, distorted hands. + +But Margaret was not so much affected as Hagar had anticipated. She +had suffered severely, and could not now be greatly moved. There was +an involuntary shudder as she thought of her escape, and then her next +feeling was one of satisfaction in knowing that she was not quite +friendless and alone, for Henry would protect her, and Rose, indeed, +would be to her a sister. + +"Henry Warner my brother!" she exclaimed; "how came you by this +knowledge?" And very briefly Hagar explained to her what she knew, +saying that Hester had told her of two young children, but she had +forgotten entirely of their existence, and now that she was reminded +of it she could not help fancying that Hester said the stepchild was a +boy. But the peddler knew, of course, and she must have forgotten. + +"When the baby they thought was you died," said Hagar, "I wrote to the +minister in Meriden, telling him of it, but I did not sign my name, +and I thought that was the last I should ever hear of it. Why don't +you curse me?" she continued. "Haven't I taken from you your intended +husband, as well as your name?" + +Maggie understood perfectly now why the secret had been revealed, and +involuntarily she exclaimed, "Oh, had I told you first, this never +need have been!" and then hurriedly she explained to the repentant +Hagar how at the very moment when the dread confession was made she, +Maggie Miller, was free from Henry Warner. + +From the window Maggie saw in the distance the servant who had charge +of Hagar, and, dreading the presence of a third person, she arose to +go. Offering her hand to Hagar, she said: "Good-by. I may never see +you again, but if I do not, remember that I forgive you freely." + +"You are not going away, Maggie. Oh, are you going away!" and the +crippled arms were stretched imploringly towards Maggie, who answered: +"Yes, Hagar, I must go. Honor requires me to tell Madam Conway who +I am, and after that you know that I can not stay. I shall go to my +brother." + +Three times old Hagar essayed to speak, and at last between a whisper +and a moan, she found strength to say: "Will you kiss me once, Maggie +darling? 'Twill be something to remember, in the lonesome nights when +I am all alone. Just once, Maggie! Will you?" + +Maggie could not refuse, and gliding to the bowed woman's side she put +back the soft hair from off the wrinkled brow, and left there token of +her forgiveness. + + * * * * * + +The last May sun had set, and ere the first June morning rose Maggie +Miller would be nowhere found in the home her presence had made so +bright. Alone, with no eye upon her save that of the Most High, she +had visited the two graves, and, while her heart was bleeding at every +pore, had wept her last adieu over the sleeping dust so long held +sacred as her mother's. Then kneeling at the other grave, she +murmured, "Forgive me, Hester Hamilton, if in this parting hour my +heart clings most to her whose memory I was first taught to revere; +and if in the better world you know and love each other--oh, will both +bless and pity me, poor, wretched Maggie Miller!" + +Softly the night air moved through the pine that overshadowed the +humble grave, while the moonlight, flashing from the tall marble, +which stood a sentinel over the other mound, bathed Maggie's upturned +face as with a flood of glory, and her throbbing heart grew still as +if indeed at that hushed moment the two mothers had come to bless +their child. The parting with the dead was over, and Margaret sat +again in her room, waiting until all was still about the old stone +house. She did not add to her letter another line telling of her +discovery, for she did not think of it; her mind was too intent upon +escaping unobserved; and when sure the family had retired she moved +cautiously down the stairs, noiselessly unlocked the door, and without +once daring to look back, lest she should waver in her purpose, she +went forth, heartbroken and alone, from what for eighteen happy years +had been her home. Very rapidly she proceeded, coming at last to an +open field through which the railroad ran, the depot being nearly a +quarter of a mile away. Not until then had she reflected that her +appearance at the station at that hour of the night would excite +suspicion, and she was beginning to feel uneasy, when suddenly around +a curve the cars appeared in view. Fearing lest she should be too +late, she quickened her footsteps, when to her great surprise she +saw that the train was stopping! But not for her they waited; in the +bright moonlight the engineer had discovered a body lying across +the track, and had stopped in time to save the life of a man, who, +stupefied with drunkenness, had fallen asleep. The movement startled +the passengers, many of whom alighted and gathered around the +inebriate. + +In the meantime Margaret had come near, and, knowing she could not +now reach the depot in time, she mingled unobserved in the crowd, and +entering the rear car, took her seat near the door. The train at last +moved on, and as at the station no one save the agent was in waiting, +it is not strange that the conductor passed unheeded the veiled figure +which in the dark corner sat ready to pay her fare. + +"He will come to me by and by," thought Maggie, but he did not, and +when Worcester was reached the fare was still uncollected. Bewildered +and uncertain what to do next, she stepped upon the platform, deciding +finally to remain at the depot until morning, when a train would leave +for Leominster, where she confidently expected to find her brother. +Taking a seat in the ladies' room, she abandoned herself to her +sorrow, wondering what Theo would say could she see her then. But +Theo, though dreaming it may be of Maggie, dreamed not that she was +near, and so the night wore on, Margaret sleeping towards daylight, +and dreaming, too, of Arthur Carrollton, who she thought had followed +her--nay, was bending over her now and whispering in her ear, "Wake, +Maggie, wake." + +Starting up, she glanced anxiously around, uttering a faint cry when +she saw that it was not Arthur Carrollton, but a dark, rough-looking +stranger, who rather rudely asked her where she wished to go. + +"To Leominster," she answered, turning her face fully towards the man, +who became instantly respectful, telling her when the train would +leave, and saying that she must go to another depot, at the same time +asking if she had not better wait at some hotel. + +But Maggie preferred going at once to the Fitchburg depot, which she +accordingly did, and drawing her veil over her face, lest some one of +her few acquaintances in the city should recognize her, she sat there +until the time appointed for the cars to leave. Then, weary and faint, +she entered the train, her spirits in a measure rising as she felt +that she was drawing near to those who would love her for what she was +and not for what she had been. Rose would comfort her, and already her +heart bounded with the thought of seeing one whom she believed to be +her brother's wife, for Henry had written that ere his homeward voyage +was made Rose would be his bride. + +Ah, Maggie! there is for you a greater happiness in store--not a +brother, but a sister--your father's child is there to greet your +coming. And even at this early hour her snow-white fingers are +arranging the fair June blossoms into bouquets, with which she adorns +her home, saying to him who hovers at her side that somebody, she +knows not whom, is surely coming to-day; and then, with a blush +stealing over her cheek, she adds, "I wish it might be Margaret"; +while Henry, with a peculiar twist of his comical mouth, winds his arm +around her waist, and playfully responds, "Anyone save her." + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE SISTERS. + + +On a cool piazza overlooking a handsome flower garden the breakfast +table was tastefully arranged. It was Rose's idea to have it there, +and in her cambric wrapper, her golden curls combed smoothly back, and +her blue eyes shining with the light of a new joy, she occupies her +accustomed seat beside one who for several happy weeks has called her +his, loving her more and more each day, and wondering how thoughts of +any other could ever have filled his heart. There was much to be done +about his home, so long deserted, and as Rose was determined upon a +trip to the seaside he had made arrangements to be absent from +his business for two months or more, and was now enjoying all the +happiness of a quiet, domestic life, free from care of any kind. He +had heard of Maggie's illness, but she was better now, he supposed, +and when Theo hinted vaguely that a marriage between her and Arthur +Carrollton was not at all improbable, he hoped it would be so, for the +Englishman, he knew, was far better adapted to Margaret than he +had ever been. Of Theo's hints he was speaking to Rose as they sat +together at breakfast, and she had answered, "It will be a splendid +match," when the doorbell rang, and the servant announced, "A lady in +the parlor, who asks for Mr. Warner." + +"I told you someone would come," said Rose. "Do, pray, see who it is. +How does she look, Janet?" + +"Tall, white as a ghost, with big black eyes," was Janet's answer; +and, with his curiosity awakened, Henry Warner started for the parlor, +Rose following on tiptoe, and listening through the half-closed door +to what their visitor might say. + +Margaret had experienced no difficulty in finding the house of Mrs. +Warner, which seemed to her a second Paradise, so beautiful and cool +it looked, nestled amid the tall, green forest trees. Everything +around it betokened the fine taste of its occupants, and Maggie, as +she reflected that she too was nearly connected with this family, felt +her wounded pride in a measure soothed, for it was surely no disgrace +to claim such people as her friends. With a beating heart she rang the +bell, asking for Mr. Warner, and now, trembling in every limb, she +awaited his coming. He was not prepared to meet her, and at first he +did not know her, she was so changed; but when, throwing aside her +bonnet, she turned her face so that the light from the window opposite +shone fully upon her, he recognized her in a moment, and exclaimed, +"Margaret--Margaret Miller! why are you here?" + +The words reached Rose's ear, and darting forward she stood within +the door, just as Margaret, staggering a step or two towards Henry, +answered passionately, "I have come to tell you what I myself but +recently have learned"; and wringing her hands despairingly, she +continued, "I am not Maggie Miller, I am not anybody; I am Hagar +Warren's grandchild, the child of her daughter and your own father! +Oh, Henry, don't you see it? I am your sister. Take me as such, will +you? Love me as such, or I shall surely die. I have nobody now in the +wide world but you. They are all gone, all--Madam Conway, Theo too, +and--and--" She could not speak that name. It died upon her lips, and +tottering to a chair she would have fallen had not Henry caught her in +his arms. + +Leading her to the sofa, while Rose, perfectly confounded, still stood +within the door, he said to the half-crazed girl: "Margaret, I do not +understand you. I never had a sister, and my father died when I was +six months old. There must be some mistake. Will you tell me what you +mean?" + +Bewildered and perplexed, Margaret began a hasty repetition of Hagar's +story, but ere it was three-fourths told there came from the open door +a wild cry of delight, and quick as lightning a fairy form flew across +the floor, white arms were twined round Maggie's neck, kiss after kiss +was pressed upon her lips, and Rose's voice was in her ear, never +before half so sweet as now, when it murmured soft and low to the +weary girl: "My sister Maggie--mine you are--the child of my own +father, for I was Rose Hamilton, called Warner, first to please my +aunt, and next to please my Henry. Oh, Maggie darling, I am so happy +now!" and the little snowy hands smoothed caressingly the bands of +hair, so unlike her own fair waving tresses. + +It was, indeed, a time of almost perfect bliss to them all, and for +a moment Margaret forgot her pain, which, had Hagar known the truth, +need not have come to her. But she scarcely regretted it now, when she +felt Rose Warner's heart throbbing against her own, and knew their +father was the same. + +"You are tired," Rose said, at length, when much had been said by +both. "You must have rest, and then I will bring to you my aunt, our +aunt, Maggie--our father's sister. She has been a mother to me. +She will be one to you. But stay," she continued, "you have had no +breakfast. I will bring you some," and she tripped lightly from the +room. + +Maggie followed her with swimming eyes, then turning to Henry she +said, "You are very happy, I am sure." + +"Yes, very," he answered, coming to her side. "Happy in my wife, happy +in my newly found sister," and he laid his hand on hers with something +of his former familiarity. + +But the olden feeling was gone, and Maggie could now meet his glance +without a blush, while he could talk with her as calmly as if she +had never been aught to him save the sister of his wife. Thus often +changeth the human heart's first love. + +After a time Rose returned, bearing a silver tray heaped with the most +tempting viands: but Maggie's heart was too full to eat, and after +drinking a cup of the fragrant black tea, which Rose herself had made, +she laid her head upon the pillow which Henry brought, and, with Rose +sitting by, holding lovingly her hand, she fell into a quiet slumber. +For several hours she slept, and when she awoke at last the sun was +shining in at the western window, casting over the floor a glimmering +light, and reminding her so forcibly of the dancing shadows on the +grass which grew around the old stone house that her eyes filled with +tears, and, thinking herself alone, she murmured, "Will it never be my +home again?" + +A sudden movement, the rustling of a dress, startled her, and lifting +up her head she saw standing near a pleasant-looking, middle-aged +woman, who, she rightly guessed, was Mrs. Warner, her own aunt. + +"Maggie," the lady said, laying her hand on the fevered brow, "I have +heard a strange tale to-day. Heretofore I had supposed Rose to be my +only child, but though you take me by surprise you are not the less +welcome. There is room in my heart for you, Maggie Miller, room for +the youngest-born of my only brother. You are somewhat like him, too," +she continued, "though more like your mother;" and with the mention of +that name a flush stole over the lady's face, for she, too, was very +proud, and her brother's marriage with a servant girl had never been +quite forgiven. + +Mrs. Warner had seen much of the world, and Maggie knew her to be a +woman of refinement, a woman of whom even Madam Conway would not be +ashamed; and, winding her arms around her neck, she said impulsively, +"I am glad you are my aunt; and you will love me, I am sure, even if I +am poor Hagar's grandchild." + +Mrs. Warner knew nothing of Hagar save from Henry's amusing +description, the entire truth of which she somewhat doubted; but she +knew that whatever Hagar Warren might be, the beautiful girl before +her was not answerable for it, and very kindly she tried to soothe +her, telling her how happy they would be together. "Rose will leave me +in the autumn," she said, "and without you I should be all alone." Of +Hagar, too, she spoke kindly and considerately, and Maggie, listening +to her, felt somewhat reconciled to the fate which had made her what +she was. Still, there was much of pride to overcome ere she could +calmly think of herself as other than Madam Conway's grandchild; and +when that afternoon, as Henry and Rose were sitting with her, the +latter spoke of her mother, saying she had a faint remembrance of a +tall, handsome girl who sang her to sleep on the night when her own +mother died, there came a visible shadow over Maggie's face, and +instantly changing the conversation she asked why Henry had never told +her anything definite concerning himself and family. + +For a moment Henry seemed embarrassed. Both the Hamiltons and the +Warners were very aristocratic in their feelings, and by mutual +consent the name of Hester Warren was by them seldom spoken. +Consequently, if there existed a reason for Henry's silence with +regard to his own and Rose's history, it was that he disliked bringing +up a subject he had been taught to avoid, both by his aunt and the +mother of Mr. Hamilton, who for several years after her son's death +had lived with her daughter in Leominster, where she finally died. +This, however, he could not say to Margaret, and after a little +hesitancy he answered laughingly, "You never asked me for any +particulars; and, then, you know, I was more agreeably occupied than I +should have been had I spent my time in enlightening you with regard +to our genealogy"; and the saucy mouth smiled archly, first on +Rose, and then on Margaret, both of whom blushed slightly, the one +suspecting he had not told her the whole truth, and the other knowing +he had not. + +Very considerate was Rose of Maggie's feelings and not again that +afternoon did she speak of Hester, though she talked much of their +father; and Margaret, listening to his praises, felt herself +insensibly drawn towards this new claimant for her filial love. "I +wish I could have seen him," she said; and, starting to her feet, Rose +answered: "Strange I did not think of it before. We have his portrait. +Come this way," and she led the half-unwilling Maggie into an +adjoining room, where from the wall a portly, good-humored-looking man +gazed down upon the sisters, his eyes seeming to rest with mournful +tenderness on the face of her whom in life they had not looked upon. +He seemed older than Maggie had supposed, and the hair upon his head +was white, reminding her of Hagar. But she did not for this turn away +from him. There was something pleasing in the mild expression of his +face, and she whispered faintly, "'Tis my father." + +On the right of this portrait was another, the picture of a woman, in +whose curling lip and soft brown eyes Maggie recognized the mother of +Henry. To the left was another still, and she gazed upon the angel +face, with eyes of violet blue, and hair of golden brown, on which the +fading sunlight now was falling, encircling it as it were with a halo +of glory. + +"You are much like her," she said to Rose, who made no answer, for she +was thinking of another picture, which years before had been banished +to the garret by her haughty grandmother, as unworthy a place beside +him who had petted and caressed the young girl of plebeian birth and +kindred. + +"I can make amends for it, though," thought Rose, returning with +Maggie to the parlor. Then, seeking out her husband, she held with him +a whispered consultation, the result of which was that on the morrow +there was a rummaging in the garret, an absence from home for an +hour or two, and when about noon she returned there was a pleased +expression on her face, as if she had accomplished her purpose, +whatever it might have been. + +All that morning Maggie had been restless and uneasy, wandering +listlessly from room to room, looking anxiously down the street, +starting nervously at the sound of every footstep, while her cheeks +alternately flushed and then grew pale as the day passed on. Dinner +being over she sat alone in the parlor, her eyes fixed upon the +carpet, and her thoughts away with one who she vaguely hoped would +have followed her ere this. True, she had added no postscript to tell +him of her new discovery; but Hagar knew, and he would go to her for a +confirmation of the letter. She would tell him where Maggie was +gone, and he, if his love could survive that shock, would follow her +thither; nay, would be there that very day, and Maggie's heart grew +wearier, fainter, as time wore on and he did not come. "I might have +known it," she whispered sadly. "I knew that he would nevermore think +of me," and she wept silently over her ruined love. + +"Maggie, sister," came to her ear, and Rose was at her side. "I have a +surprise for you, darling. Can you bear it now?" + +Oh, how eagerly poor Maggie Miller looked up in Rose's face! The car +whistle had sounded half an hour before. Could it be that he had come? +Was he there? Did he love her still? No, Maggie, no; the surprise +awaiting you is of a far different nature, and the tears flow afresh +when Rose, in reply to the question "What is it, darling?" answers, +"It is this," at the same time placing in Maggie's hand an ambrotype +which she bade her examine. With a feeling of keen disappointment +Maggie opened the casing, involuntarily shutting her eyes as if to +gather strength for what she was to see. + +It was a young face--a handsome face--a face much like her own, while +in the curve of the upper lip and the expression of the large black +eyes there was a look like Hagar Warren. They had met together thus, +the one a living reality, the other a semblance of the dead, and she +who held that picture trembled violently. There was a fierce struggle +within, the wildly beating heart throbbing for one moment with a +newborn love, and then rebelling against taking that shadow, beautiful +though it was, in place of her whose memory she had so long revered. + +"Who is it, Maggie?" Rose asked, leaning over her shoulder. + +Maggie knew full well whose face it was she looked upon, but not yet +could she speak that name so interwoven with memories of another, and +she answered mournfully, "It is Hester Hamilton." + +"Yes, Margaret, your mother," said Rose. "I never called her by that +name, but I respect her for your sake. She was my father's pet, so +it has been said, for he was comparatively old, and she his young +girl-wife." + +"Where did you get this?" Maggie asked; and, coloring crimson, Rose +replied, "We have always had her portrait, but grandmother, who was +very old and foolishly proud about some things, was offended at our +father's last marriage, and when after his death the portraits were +brought here, she--Forgive her, Maggie--she did not know you, or she +would not have done it--" + +"I know," interrupted Maggie. "She despised this Hester Warren, and +consigned her portrait to some spot from which you have brought it and +had this taken from it." + +"Not despised her!" cried Rose, in great distress, as she saw a dark +expression stealing over the face of Maggie, in whose heart a chord of +sympathy had been struck when she thought of her mother banished from +her father's side. "Grandma could not despise her," continued Rose; +"she was so good, so beautiful." + +"Yes, she was beautiful," murmured Maggie, gazing earnestly upon the +fair, round face, the soft, black eyes, and raven hair of her who for +years had slept beneath the shadow of the Hillsdale woods. "Oh, I wish +I were dead like her!" she exclaimed at last, closing the ambrotype +and laying it upon the table. "I wish I was lying in that little grave +in the place of her who should have borne my name, and been what I +once was;" and bowing her face upon her hands she wept bitterly, while +Rose tried in vain to comfort her. "I am not sorry you are my sister," +sobbed Margaret through her tears. "That's the only comfort I have +left me now; but, Rose, I love Arthur Carrollton so much--oh, so much, +and how can I give him up!" + +"If he is the noble, true-hearted man he looks to be, he will not give +you up," answered Rose, and then for the first time since this meeting +she questioned Margaret concerning Mr. Carrollton and the relations +existing between them. "He will not cast you off," she said, when +Margaret had told her all she had to tell. "He may be proud, but he +will cling to you still. He will follow you, too--not to-day, perhaps, +nor to-morrow, but ere long he will surely come;" and, listening to +her sister's cheering words, Maggie herself grew hopeful, and that +evening talked animatedly with Henry and Rose of a trip to the seaside +that they were intending to make. "You will go, too, Maggie," said +Rose, caressing her sister's pale cheek, and whispering in her ear, +"Aunt Susan will be here to tell Mr. Carrollton where you are, if he +does not come before we go, which I am sure he will." + +Maggie tried to think so too, and her sleep that night was sweeter +than it had been before for many weeks--but the next day came, and the +next, and Maggie's eyes grew dim with watching and with tears, for up +and down the road, as far as she could see, there came no trace of him +for whom she waited. + +"I might have known it; it was foolish of me to think otherwise," she +sighed; and, turning sadly from the window where all the afternoon she +had been sitting, she laid her head wearily upon the lap of Rose. + +"Maggie," said Henry, "I am going to Worcester to-morrow, and perhaps +George can tell me something of Mr. Carrollton." + +For a moment Maggie's heart throbbed with delight at the thought of +hearing from him, even though she heard that he would leave her. But +anon her pride rose strong within her. She had told Hagar twice of +her destination, Hagar had told him, and if he chose he would have +followed her ere this; so somewhat bitterly she said: "Don't speak to +George of me. Don't tell him I am here. Promise me, will you?" + +The promise was given, and the next morning, which was Saturday, Henry +started for Worcester on the early train. The day seemed long to +Maggie, and when at nightfall he came to them again it was difficult +to tell which was the more pleased at his return, Margaret or Rose. + +"Did you see Theo?" asked the former; and Henry replied: "George told +me she had gone to Hillsdale. Madam Conway is very sick." + +"For me! for me! She's sick with mourning for me!" cried Maggie. +"Darling grandma! she does love me still, and I will go home to her at +once." + +Then the painful thought rushed over her: "If she wished for me, she +would send. It's the humiliation, not the love, that makes her sick. +They have cast me off--grandma, Theo, all, all!" and, sinking upon the +lounge, she wept aloud. + +"Margaret," said Henry, coming to her side, "but for my promise +I should have talked to George of you, for there was a troubled +expression on his face when he asked me if I had heard from +Hillsdale." + +"What did you say?" asked Maggie, holding her breath to catch the +answer, which was, "I told him you had not written to me since my +return from Cuba, and then he looked as if he would say more, but a +customer called him away, and our conversation was not resumed." + +For a moment Maggie was silent. Then she said: "I am glad you did not +intrude me upon him. If Theo has gone to Hillsdale, she knows that +I am here, and does not care to follow me. It is the disgrace that +troubles them, not the losing me!" and again burying her head in the +cushions of the lounge, she wept bitterly. It was useless for Henry +and Rose to try to comfort her, telling her it was possible that Hagar +had told nothing. "And if so," said Henry, "you well know that I am +the last one to whom you would be expected to flee for protection." +Margaret would not listen. She was resolved upon being unhappy, and +during the long hours of that night she tossed wakefully upon her +pillow, and when the morning came she was too weak to rise; so she +kept her room, listening to the music of the Sabbath bells, which to +her seemed sadly saying, "Home, home." "Alas! I have no home," she +said, turning away to weep, for in the tolling of those bells there +came to her no voice whispering of the darkness, the desolation, and +the sorrow that were in the home for which she so much mourned. + +Thus the day wore on, and ere another week was gone Rose insisted upon +a speedy removal to the seashore, notwithstanding it was so early in +the season, for by this means she hoped that Maggie's health would be +improved. Accordingly, Henry went once more to Worcester, ostensibly +for money, but really to see if George Douglas now would speak to him +of Margaret. But George was in New York, they said; and, somewhat +disappointed, Henry went back to Leominster, where everything was +in readiness for their journey. Monday was fixed upon for their +departure, and at an early hour Margaret looked back on what had +been to her a second home, smiling faintly as Rose whispered to her +cheerily, "I have a strong presentiment that somewhere in our travels +we shall meet with Arthur Carrollton." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE HOUSE OF MOURNING. + + +Come now over the hills to the westward. Come to the Hillsdale woods, +to the stone house by the mill, where all the day long there is heard +but one name, the servants breathing it softly and low, as if she who +had borne it were dead, the sister, dim-eyed now, and paler faced, +whispering it oft to herself, while the lady, so haughty and proud, +repeats it again and again, shuddering as naught but the echoing walls +reply to the heartbroken cry of, "Margaret, Margaret, where are you +now?" + +Yes, there was mourning in that household--mourning for the lost one, +the darling, the pet of them all. + +Brightly had the sun arisen on that June morning which brought to them +their sorrow, while the birds in the tall forest trees caroled as +gayly as if no storm-cloud were hovering near. At an early hour Mr. +Carrollton had arisen, thinking, as he looked forth from his window, +"She will tell me all to-day," and smiling as he thought how easy and +pleasant would be the task of winning her back to her olden gayety. +Madam Conway, too, was unusually excited, and very anxiously she +listened for the first sound of Maggie's footsteps on the stairs. + +"She sleeps late," she thought, when breakfast was announced, and +taking her accustomed seat she bade a servant see if Margaret were +ill. + +"She is not there," was the report the girl brought back. + +"Not there!" cried Mr. Carrollton. + +"Not there!" repeated Madam Conway, a shadowy foreboding of evil +stealing over her. "She seldom walks at this early hour," she +continued; and, rising, she went herself to Margaret's room. + +Everything was in perfect order, the bed was undisturbed, the chamber +empty; Margaret was gone, and on the dressing-table lay the fatal +letter telling why she went. At first Madam Conway did not see it; but +it soon caught her eye, and tremblingly she opened it, reading but the +first line, "I am going away forever." + +Then a loud shriek rang through the silent room, penetrating to Arthur +Carrollton's listening ear, and bringing him at once to her side. With +the letter still in her hand, and her face of a deathly hue, and her +eyes flashing with fear, Madam Conway turned to him as he entered, +saying, "Margaret has gone, left us forever--killed herself it may be! +Read!" And she handed him the letter, herself bending eagerly forward +to hear what he might say. + +But she listened in vain. With lightning rapidity Arthur Carrollton +read what Maggie had written--read that she, his idol, the chosen +bride of his bosom, was the daughter of a servant, the grandchild of +old Hagar! And for this she had fled from his presence, fled because +she knew of the mighty pride which now, in the first bitter moment +of his agony, did indeed rise up, a barrier between himself and the +beautiful girl he loved so well. Had she lain dead before him, dead +in all her youthful beauty, he could have folded her in his arms, and +then buried her from his sight, with a feeling of perfect happiness +compared to that which he now felt. + +"Oh, Maggie, my lost one, can it be!" he whispered to himself, and +pressing his hand upon his chest, which heaved with strong emotion, he +staggered to a seat, while the perspiration stood in beaded drops upon +his forehead and around his lips. + +"What is it, Mr. Carrollton? 'Tis something dreadful, sure," said Mrs. +Jeffrey, appearing in the door, but Madam Conway motioned her away, +and, tottering to his side, said, "Read it to me--read." + +The Sound of her voice recalled his wandering mind, and covering his +face with his hands he moaned in anguish; then, growing suddenly calm, +he snatched up the letter, which had fallen to the floor, and read it +aloud; while Madam Conway, stupefied with horror, sank at his feet, +and clasping her hands above her head, rocked to and fro, but made no +word of comment. Far down the long ago her thoughts were straying, and +gathering up many bygone scenes which told her that what she heard was +true. + +"Yes, 'tis true," she groaned; and then, powerless to speak another +word, she laid her head upon a chair, while Mr. Carrollton, preferring +to be alone, sought the solitude of his own room, where unobserved +he could wrestle with his sorrow and conquer his inborn pride, which +whispered to him that a Carrollton must not wed a bride so far beneath +him. + +Only a moment, though, and then the love he bore for Maggie Miller +rolled back upon him with an overwhelming power, while his better +judgment, with that love, came hand in hand, pleading for the fair +young girl, who, now that he had lost her, seemed a thousandfold +dearer than before. But he had not lost her; he would find her. She +was Maggie Miller still to him, and though old Hagar's blood were in +her veins he would not give her up. This resolution once made, it +could not be shaken, and when half an hour or more was passed he +walked with firm, unfaltering footsteps back to the apartment where +Madam Conway still sat upon the floor, her head resting upon the +chair, and her frame convulsed with grief. + +Her struggle had been a terrible one, and it was not over yet, for +with her it was more than a matter of pride and love. Her daughter's +rights had been set at naught; a wrong had been done to the dead; the +child who slept beneath the pine had been neglected; nay, in life, had +been, perhaps, despised for an intruder, for one who had no right to +call her grandmother; and shudderingly she cried, "Why was it suffered +thus to be?" Then as she thought of white-haired Hagar Warren, she +raised her hand to curse her, but the words died on her lips, for +Hagar's deed had brought to her much joy; and now, as she remembered +the bounding step, the merry laugh, the sunny face, and loving words +which had made her later years so happy, she involuntarily stretched +out her arms in empty air, moaning sadly: "I want her here. I want +her now, just as she used to be." Then, over the grave of her buried +daughter, over the grave of the sickly child, whose thin, blue face +came up before her just as it lay in its humble coffin, over the +deception of eighteen years, her heart bounded with one wild, yearning +throb, for every bleeding fiber clung with a deathlike grasp to her +who had been so suddenly taken from her. "I love her still!" she +cried; "but can I take her back?" And then commenced the fiercest +struggle of all, the battling of love and pride, the one rebelling +against the child of Hagar Warren, and the other clamoring loudly that +without that child the world to her was nothing. It was the hour of +Madam Conway's humiliation, and in bitterness of spirit she groaned: +"That I should come to this! Theo first, and Margaret, my bright, my +beautiful Margaret, next! Oh, how can I give her up when I loved her +best of all--best of all!" + +This was true, for all the deeper, stronger love of Madam Conway's +nature had gone forth to the merry, gleeful girl whose graceful, +independent bearing she had so often likened to herself and the +haughty race with which she claimed relationship. How was this +illusion dispelled! Margaret was not a Conway, nor yet a Davenport. A +servant-girl had been her mother, and of her father there was nothing +known. Madam Conway was one who seldom wept for grief. She had stood +calmly at the bedside of her dying husband, had buried her only +daughter from her sight, had met with many reverses, and shed for +all no tears, but now they fell like rain upon her face, burning, +blistering as they fell, but bringing no relief. + +"I shall miss her in the morning," she cried, "miss her at noon, +miss her in the lonesome nights, miss her everywhere--oh, Margaret, +Margaret, 'tis more than I can bear! Come back to me now, just as you +are. I want you here--here where the pain is hardest," and she clasped +her arms tightly over her heaving bosom. Then her pride returned +again, and with it came thoughts of Arthur Carrollton. He would scoff +at her as weak and sentimental; he would never take beyond the sea a +bride of "Hagarish" birth; and duty demanded that she too should be +firm, and sanction his decision. "But when he's gone," she whispered, +"when he has left America behind, I'll find her, if my life is spared. +I'll find poor Margaret, and see that she does not want, though I must +not take her back." + +This resolution, however, did not bring her comfort, and the hands +pressed so convulsively upon her side could not ease her pain. Surely +never before had so dark an hour infolded that haughty woman, and a +prayer that she might die was trembling on her lips when a footfall +echoed along the hall, and Arthur Carrollton stood before her. His +face was very pale, bearing marks of the storm he had passed through; +but he was calm, and his voice was natural as he said: "Possibly what +we have heard is false. It may be a vagary of Hagar's half-crazed +brain." + +For an instant Madam Conway had hoped so too; but when she reflected, +she knew that it was true. Old Hagar had been very minute in her +explanations to Margaret, who in turn had written exactly what she had +heard, and Madam Conway, when she recalled the past, could have no +doubt that it was true. She remembered everything, but more distinctly +the change of dress at the time of the baptism. There could be no +mistake. Margaret was not hers, and so she said to Arthur Carrollton, +turning her head away as if she too were in some way answerable for +the disgrace. + +"It matters not," he replied, "whose she has been. She is mine now, +and if you feel able we will consult together as to the surest method +of finding her." A sudden faintness came over Madam Conway, and, while +the expression of her face changed to one of joyful surprise, she +stammered out: "Can it be I hear aright? Do I understand you? Are you +willing to take poor Maggie back?" + +"I certainly have no other intention," he answered. "There was a +moment, the memory of which makes me ashamed, when my pride rebelled; +but it is over now, and though Maggie cannot in reality be again your +child, she can be my wife, and I must find her." + +"You make me so happy--oh, so happy!" said Madam Conway. "I feared you +would cast her off, and in that case it would have been my duty to do +so too, though I never loved a human being as at this moment I love +her." + +Mr. Carrollton looked as if he did not fully comprehend the woman who, +loving Margaret as she said she did, could yet be so dependent upon +his decision; but he made no comment, and when next he spoke he +announced his intention of calling upon Hagar, who possibly could +tell him where Margaret had gone. "At all events," said he, "I may +ascertain why the secret, so long kept, was at this late day divulged. +It may be well," he continued, "to say nothing to the servants as yet, +save that Maggie has gone. Mrs. Jeffrey, however, had better be let +into the secret at once. We can trust her, I think." + +Madam Conway bowed, and Mr. Carrollton left the room, starting +immediately for the cottage by the mine. As he approached the house he +saw the servant who for several weeks had been staying there, and who +now came out to meet him, telling him that since the night before +Hagar had been raving crazy, talking continually of Maggie, who, she +said, had gone where none would ever find her. + +In some anxiety Mr. Carrollton pressed on, until the cottage door was +reached, where for a moment he stood gazing silently upon the poor +woman before him. Upon the bed, her white hair falling over her round, +bent shoulders, and her large eyes shining with delirious light, old +Hagar sat, waving back and forth, and talking of Margaret, of Hester, +and "the little foolish child," who, with a sneer upon her lip, she +said, "was a fair specimen of the Conway race." + +"Hagar," said Mr. Carrollton; and at the sound of that voice Hagar +turned toward him her flashing eyes, then with a scream buried her +head in the bedclothes, saying: "Go away, Arthur Carrollton! Why are +you here? Don't you know who I am? Don't you know what Margaret is, +and don't you know how proud you are?" + +"Hagar," he said again, subduing, by a strong effort, the repugnance +he felt at questioning her, "I know all, except where Margaret has +gone, and if on this point you can give me any information, I shall +receive it most thankfully." + +"Gone!" shrieked Hagar, starting up in bed; "then she has gone. The +play is played out, the performance is ended--and I have sinned for +nothing!" + +"Hagar, will you tell me where Maggie is? I wish to follow her," said +Mr. Carrollton; and Hagar answered: "Maggie, Maggie--he said that +lovingly enough, but there's a catch somewhere. He does not wish to +follow her for any good--and though I know where she has gone I'll +surely never tell. I kept one secret nineteen years. I can keep +another as long"; and, folding her arms upon her chest, she commenced +singing, "I know full well, but I'll never tell." + +Biting his lips with vexation, Mr. Carrollton tried first by +persuasion, then by flattery, and lastly by threats, to obtain from +her the desired information, but in vain. Her only answer was, "I know +full well, but I'll never tell," save once, when tossing towards him +her long white hair, she shrieked: "Don't you see a resemblance--only +hers is black--and so was mine nineteen years ago--and so was Hester's +too--glossy and black as the raven's wing. The child is like the +mother--the mother was like the grandmother, and the grandmother is +like--me, Hagar Warren. Do you understand?" + +Mr. Carrollton made no answer, and with a feeling of disappointment +walked away, shuddering as he thought, "And she is Margaret's +grandmother." + +He found Madam Conway in hysterics on Margaret's bed, for she had +refused to leave the room, saying she would die there, or nowhere. +Gradually the reality of her loss had burst upon her, and now, +gasping, choking, and wringing her hands, she lay upon the pillows, +while Mrs. Jeffrey, worked up to a pitch of great nervous excitement, +fidgeted hither and thither, doing always the wrong thing, fanning the +lady when she did not wish to be fanned, and ceasing to fan her just +when she was "dying for want of air." + +As yet Mrs. Jeffrey knew nothing definite, except that something +dreadful had happened to Margaret; but very candidly Mr. Carrollton +told her all, bidding her keep silent on the subject; then, turning to +Madam Conway, he repeated to her the result of his call on old Hagar. + +"The wretch!" gasped Madam Conway, while Mrs. Jeffrey, running in her +fright from the window to the door, and from the door back to the +window again, exclaimed: "Margaret not a Conway, nor yet a Davenport, +after all! It is just what I expected. I always knew she came honestly +by those low-bred ways!" + +"Jeffrey," and the voice of the hysterical woman on the bed was +loud and distinct, as she grasped the arm of the terrified little +governess, who chanced to be within her reach. "Jeffrey, either leave +my house at once, or speak more deferentially of Miss Miller. You +will call her by that name, too. It matters not to Mr. Carrollton and +myself whose child she has been. She is ours now, and must be treated +with respect. Do you understand me?" + +"Yes, ma'am," meekly answered Jeffrey, rubbing her dumpy arm, which +bore the mark of a thumb and finger, and as her services were not just +then required she glided from the room to drown, if possible, her +grievance in the leather-bound London edition of Baxter! + +Meanwhile Madam Conway was consulting with Mr. Carrollton as to the +best mode of finding Margaret. "She took the cars, of course," said +Mr. Carrollton, adding that he should go at once to the depot and +ascertain which way she went. "If I do not return to-night you need +not be alarmed," he said, as he was leaving the room, whereupon Madam +Conway called him back, bidding him telegraph for Theo at once, as she +must have someone with her besides that vexatious Jeffrey. + +Mr. Carrollton promised compliance with her request, and then went +immediately to the depot, where he learned that no one had entered the +cars from that place on the previous night, and that Maggie, if she +took the train at all, must have done so at some other station. This +was not unlikely, and before the day was passed Mr. Carrollton had +visited several different stations, and had talked with the conductors +of the several trains, but all to no purpose; and, very much +disheartened, he returned at nightfall to the old stone house, where +to his surprise he found both Theo and her husband. The telegram had +done its mission, and feeling anxious to know the worst George had +come up with Theo to spend the night. It was the first time that Madam +Conway had seen him since her memorable encounter with his mother, +for though Theo had more than once been home, he had never before +accompanied her, and now when Madam Conway heard his voice in the hall +below she groaned afresh. The sight of his good-humored face, however, +and his kind offer to do whatever he could to find the fugitive, +restored her composure in a measure, and she partially forgot that he +was in any way connected with the blue umbrella, or the blue umbrella +connected with him! Never in her life had Theo felt very deeply upon +any subject, and now, though she seemed bewildered at what she heard, +she manifested no particular emotion, until her grandmother, wringing +her hands, exclaimed, "You have no sister now, my child, and I no +Margaret!" Then, indeed, her tears flowed, and when her husband +whispered to her, "We will love poor Maggie all the same," she cried +aloud, but not quite as demonstratively as Madam Conway wished; and, +in a very unamiable frame of mind, the old lady accused her of being +selfish and hard-hearted. + +At this stage of proceedings Mr. Carrollton returned, bringing no +tidings of Maggie, whereupon another fit of hysterics ensued, and as +Theo behaved much worse than Mrs. Jeffrey had done, the latter was +finally summoned again to the sickroom, and at last succeeded in +quieting the excited woman. The next morning George Douglas visited +old Hagar, but he too was unsuccessful, and that afternoon he returned +to Worcester, leaving Theo with her grandmother, who, though finding +fault with whatever she did, refused to let her go until Margaret was +found. + +During the remainder of the week Mr. Carrollton rode through the +country, making the most minute inquiries, and receiving always the +same discouraging answer. Once he thought to advertise, but from +making the affair thus public he instinctively shrank, and, resolving +to spare neither his time, his money, nor his health, he pursued his +weary way alone. Once, too, Madam Conway spoke of Henry Warner, saying +it was possible Maggie might have gone to him, as she had thought so +much of Rose; but Mr. Carrollton "knew better." A discarded lover, +he said, was the last person in the world to whom a young girl like +Margaret would go, particularly as Theo had said that Henry was now +the husband of another. + +Still the suggestion haunted him, and on the Monday following Henry +Warner's first visit to Worcester, he, too, went down to talk with Mr. +Douglas, asking him if it were possible that Maggie was in Leominster. + +"I know she is not," said George, repeating the particulars of his +interview with Henry, who, he said, was at the store on Saturday. +"Once I thought of telling him all," said he, "and then, considering +the relation which formerly existed between them, I concluded to keep +silent, especially as he manifested no desire to speak of her, +but appeared, I fancied, quite uneasy when I casually mentioned +Hillsdale." + +Thus was that matter decided, and while not many miles away Maggie +was watching hopelessly for the coming of Arthur Carrollton, he, with +George Douglas, was devising the best means for finding her, George +generously offering to assist in the search, and suggesting finally +that he should himself go to New York City, while Mr. Carrollton +explored Boston and its vicinity. It seemed quite probable that +Margaret would seek some of the large cities, as in her letter she +had said she could earn her livelihood by teaching music; and quite +hopeful of success, the young men parted, Mr. Carrollton going +immediately to Boston, while Mr. Douglas, after a day or two, started +for New York, whither, as the reader will remember, he had gone at the +time of Henry's last visit to Worcester. + +Here for a time we leave them, Hagar raving mad, Madam Conway in +strong hysterics, Theo wishing herself anywhere but at Hillsdale, Mrs. +Jeffrey ditto, George Douglas threading the crowded streets of the +noisy city, and Mr. Carrollton in Boston, growing paler and sadder as +day after day passed by, bringing him no trace of the lost one. Here, +I say, we leave them, while in another chapter we follow the footsteps +of her for whom this search was made. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +NIAGARA. + + +From the seaside to the mountains, from the mountains to Saratoga, +from Saratoga to Montreal, from Montreal to the Thousand Isles, +and thence they scarce knew where, the travelers wended their way, +stopping not long at any place, for Margaret was ever seeking change. +Greatly had she been admired, her pale, beautiful face attracting +attention at once; but from all flattery she turned away, saying to +Henry and Rose, "Let us go on." + +So onward still they went, pausing longest at Montreal, for it was +there Arthur Carrollton had been, there a part of his possessions +lay, and there Margaret willingly lingered, even after her companions +wished to be gone. + +"He may be here again," she said; and so she waited and watched, +scanning eagerly the passers-by, and noticing each new face as it +appeared at the table of the hotel where they were staying. But the +one she waited for never came. "And even if he does," she thought, "he +will not come for me." + +So she signified her willingness to depart, and early one bright July +morning she left, while the singing birds from the treetops, the +summer air from the Canada hills, and, more than all, a warning voice +within her, bade her "Tarry yet a little, stay till the sun was +set," for far out in the country, and many miles away, a train was +thundering on. It would reach the city at nightfall, and among its +jaded passengers was a worn and weary man. Hopeless, almost aimless +now, he would come, and why he came he scarcely knew. "She would not +be there, so far from home," he felt sure, but he was coming for the +sake of what he hoped and feared when last he trod those streets. +Listlessly he entered the same hotel from whose windows, for five long +days, a fair young face had looked for him. Listlessly he +registered his name, then carelessly turned the leaves +backward--backward--backward still, till only one remained between his +hand and the page bearing date five days before. He paused and was +about to move away, when a sudden breeze from the open window turned +the remaining leaf, and his eye caught the name, not of Maggie Miller, +but of "Henry Warner, lady, and sister." + +Thus it stood, and thus he repeated it to himself, dwelling upon the +last word "sister," as if to him it had another meaning. He had heard +from Madam Conway that neither Henry Warner nor Rose had a sister, but +she might be mistaken; probably she was; and dismissing the subject +from his mind, he walked away. Still the names haunted him, and +thinking at last that if Mr. Warner were now in Montreal he would +like to see him, he returned to the office, asking the clerk if the +occupants of Nos. ---- were there still. + +"Left this morning for the Falls," was the laconic answer; and, +without knowing why he should particularly wish to do so, Mr. +Carrollton resolved to follow them. + +He would as soon be at the Falls as in Montreal, he thought. +Accordingly he left the next morning for Niagara, taking the shortest +route by river and lake, and arriving there on the evening of the +second day after his departure from the city. But nowhere could a +trace be found of Henry Warner, and determining now to wait until he +came Mr. Carrollton took rooms at the International, where after a day +or two, worn out with travel, excitement, and hope deferred, he became +severely indisposed, and took his bed, forgetting entirely both Henry +Warner and the sister, whose name he had seen upon the hotel register. +Thoughts of Maggie Miller, however, were constantly in his mind, and +whether waking or asleep he saw always her face, sometimes radiant +with healthful beauty, as when he first beheld her, and again, pale, +troubled, and sad, as when he saw her last. + +"Oh, shall I ever find her?" he would sometimes say, as in the dim +twilight he lay listening to the noisy hum which came up from the +public room below. + +And once, as he lay there thus, he dreamed, and in his dreams there +came through the open window a clear, silvery voice, breathing the +loved name of Maggie. Again he heard it on the stairs, then little +tripping feet went past his door, followed by a slow, languid tread, +and with a nervous start the sick man awoke. The day had been cloudy +and dark, but the rain was over now, and the room was full of +sunshine--sunshine dancing on the walls, sunshine glimmering on the +floor, sunshine everywhere. Insensibly, too, there stole over Mr. +Carrollton's senses a feeling of quiet, of rest, and he slept ere long +again, dreaming this time that Margaret was there. + +Yes, Margaret was there--there, beneath the same roof which sheltered +him and the same sunshine which filled his room with light had bathed +her white brow, as, leaning from her window, she listened to the roar +of the falling water. They had lingered on their way, stopping at the +Thousand Isles, for Margaret would have it so; but they had come at +last, and the tripping footsteps in the hall, the silvery voice upon +the stairs, was that of the golden-haired Rose, who watched over +Margaret with all a sister's love and a mother's care. The frequent +jokes of the fun-loving Henry, too, were not without their good +effect, and Margaret was better now than she had been for many weeks. + +"I can rest here," she said, and a faint color came to her cheeks, +making her look more like herself than at any time since that terrible +night of sorrow in the woods. + +And so three days went by, and Mr. Carrollton, on his weary bed, +dreamed not that the slender form which sometimes, through his +half-closed door, cast a shadow in his room, was that of her for whom +he sought. The tripping footsteps, too, went often by, and a merry, +childish voice, which reminded him of Maggie, rang through the +spacious halls, until at last the sick man came to listen for that +party as they passed. They were a merry party, he thought, a very +merry party; and he pictured to himself her of the ringing voice; she +was dark-eyed, he said, with braids of shining hair, and when, as they +were passing once, he asked of his attendant if it were not as he had +fancied, he felt a pang of disappointment at the answer, which was, +"The girl the young gentleman hears so much has yellow curls and dark +blue eyes." + +"She is not like Maggie, then," he sighed, and when again he heard +that voice a part of its music was gone. Still, it cheered his +solitude, and he listened for it again, just as he had done before. + +Once, when he knew they were going out, he went to the window to see +them, but the large straw hats and close carriage revealed no secret, +and disappointed he turned away. + +"It is useless to stay here longer," he said; "I must be about my +work. I am able to leave, and I will go to-morrow. But first I will +visit the Falls once more. I may never see them again." + +Accordingly, next morning, after Margaret and Rose had left the house, +he came down the stairs, sprang into an open carriage, and was driven +to Goat Island, which, until his illness, had been his favorite +resort. + + * * * * * + +Beneath the tall forest trees which grow upon the island there is +a rustic seat. Just on the brink of the river it stands, and the +carriage road winds by. It is a comparatively retired spot, looking +out upon the foaming water rushing so madly on. Here the weary often +rest; here lovers sometimes come to be alone; and here Maggie Miller +sat on that summer morning, living over again the past, which to her +had been so bright, and musing sadly on the future, which would bring +her she knew not what. + +She had struggled to overcome her pride, nor deemed it now a disgrace +that she was not a Conway. Of Hagar, too, she often thought, pitying +the poor old half-crazed woman who for her sake had borne so much. But +not of her was she thinking now. Hagar was shriveled and bent and old, +while the image present in Margaret's mind was handsome, erect, and +young, like the gentleman riding by--the man whose carriage wheels, +grinding into the gravelly road, attracted no attention. Too intent +was she upon a shadow to heed aught else around, and she leaned +against a tree, nor turned her head aside, as Arthur Carrollton went +by! + +A little further on, and out of Maggie's sight, a fairy figure was +seated upon the grass; the hat was thrown aside, and her curls fell +back from her upturned face as she spoke to Henry Warner. But the +sentence was unfinished, for the carriage appeared in view, and +with woman's quick perception Rose exclaims, "'Tis surely Arthur +Carrollton!" + +Starting to her feet, she sprang involuntarily forward to meet him, +casting a rapid glance around for Margaret. He observed the +movement, and knew that somewhere in the world he had seen that face +before--those golden curls--those deep blue eyes--that childish +form--they were not wholly unfamiliar. Who was she, and why did she +advance towards him? + +"Rose," said Henry, who would call her back, "Rose!" and looking +towards the speaker Mr. Carrollton knew at once that Henry Warner and +his bride were standing there before him. + +In a moment he had joined them, and though he knew that Henry Warner +had once loved Maggie Miller he spoke of her without reserve, saying +to Rose, when she asked if he were there for pleasure: "I am looking +for Maggie Miller. A strange discovery has been made of late, and +Margaret has left us." + +"She is here--here with us!" cried Rose; and in the exuberance of +her joy she was darting away, when Henry held her back until further +explanations were made. + +This did not occupy them long, for sitting down again upon the bank +Rose briefly told him all she knew; and when with eager joy he asked +"Where is she now?" she pointed towards the spot, and then with Henry +walked away, for she knew that it was not for her to witness that glad +meeting. + +The river rolls on with its heaving swell, and the white foam is +tossed towards the shore, while the soft summer air still bears on its +wing the sound of the cataract's roar. But Margaret sees it not, hears +it not. There is a spell upon her now--a halo of joy; and she only +knows that a strong arm is around her, and a voice is in her ear, +whispering that the bosom on which her weary head is pillowed shall be +her resting place forever. + +It had come to her suddenly, sitting there thus--the footfall upon the +sand had not been heard--the shadow upon the grass had not been seen, +and his presence had not been felt, till, bending low, Mr. Carrollton +said aloud, "My Maggie!" + +Then indeed she started up, and turned to see who it was that thus so +much like him had called her name. She saw who it was, and looking +in his face she knew she was not hated, and with a moaning cry went +forward to the arm extended to receive her. + + * * * * * + +Four guests, instead of one, went forth that afternoon from the +International--four guests homeward bound, and eager to be there. No +more journeying now for happiness; no more searching for the lost; for +both are found; both are there--happiness and Maggie Miller. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +HOME. + + +Impatient, restless, and cross, Madam Conway lay in Margaret's room, +scolding Theo and chiding Mrs. Jeffrey, both of whom, though trying +their utmost to suit her, managed unfortunately to do always just what +she wished them not to do. Mrs. Jeffrey's hands were usually too cold, +and Theo's were too hot. Mrs. Jeffrey made the head of the bed too +high, Theo altogether too low. In short, neither of them ever did what +Margaret would have done had she been there, and so day after day the +lady complained, growing more and more unamiable, until at last Theo +began to talk seriously of following Margaret's example, and running +away herself, at least as far as Worcester; but the distressed Mrs. +Jeffrey, terrified at the thought of being left there alone, begged of +her to stay a little longer, offering the comforting assurance +that "it cannot be so bad always, for Madam Conway will either get +better--or something." + +So Theo stayed, enduring with a martyr's patience the caprices of +her grandmother, who kept the whole household in a constant state of +excitement, and who at last began to blame George Douglas entirely as +being the only one in fault. "He didn't half look," she said, "and +she doubted whether he knew enough to keep from losing himself in New +York. It was the most foolish thing Arthur Carrollton had ever done, +hiring George Douglas to search!" + +"Hiring him, grandma!" cried Theo; "George offered his services for +nothing," and the tears came to her eyes at the injustice done her +husband. + +But Madam Conway persisted in being unreasonable, and matters grew +gradually worse until the day when Margaret was found at the Falls. On +that morning Madam Conway determined upon riding. "Fresh air will +do me good," she said, "and you have kept me in a hot chamber long +enough." + +Accordingly, the carriage was brought out, and Madam Conway carefully +lifted in; but ere fifty rods were passed the coachman was ordered to +drive back, as she could not endure the jolt. "I told you I couldn't, +all the time;" and her eyes turned reprovingly upon poor Theo, sitting +silently in the opposite corner. + +"The Lord help me, if she isn't coming back so soon!" sighed Mrs. +Jeffrey, as she saw the carriage returning, and went to meet the +invalid, who had "taken her death of cold," just as she knew she +should when they insisted upon her going out. + +That day was far worse than any which had preceded it. It was probably +her last, Madam Conway said, and numerous were the charges she gave +to Theo concerning Margaret, should she ever be found. The house, the +farm, the furniture and plate were all to be hers, while to Theo was +given the lady's wardrobe, saving such articles as Margaret might +choose for herself, and if she never were found the house and farm +were to be Mr. Carrollton's. This was too much for Theo, who resolved +to go home on the morrow, at all hazards, and she had commenced making +preparations for leaving, when to her great joy her husband came, and +in recounting to him her trials she forgot in a measure how unhappy +she had been. George Douglas was vastly amused at what he heard, and +resolved to experiment a little with the lady, who was so weak as to +notice him only with a slight nod when he first entered the room. He +saw at a glance that nothing in particular was the matter, and when +towards night she lay panting for breath, with her eyes half closed, +he approached her and said, "Madam, in case you die--" + +"In case I die!" she whispered indignantly. "It doesn't admit of a +doubt. My feet are as cold as icicles now." + +"Certainly," said he. "I beg your pardon; of course you'll die." + +The lady turned away rather defiantly for a dying woman, and George +continued, "What I mean to say is this--if Margaret is never found, +you wish the house to be Mr. Carrollton's?" + +"Yes, everything, my wardrobe and all," came from beneath the +bedclothes; and George proceeded: "Mr. Carrollton cannot of course +take the house to England, and, as he will need a trusty tenant, would +you object greatly if my father and mother should come here to live? +They'd like it, I--" + +The sentence was unfinished--the bunches in the throat which for hours +had prevented the sick woman from speaking aloud, and were eventually +to choke her to death, disappeared; Madam Conway found her voice, and, +starting up, screamed out, "That abominable woman and heathenish girl +in this house, in my house; I'll live forever, first!" and her angry +eyes flashed forth their indignation. + +"I thought the mention of mother would revive her," said George, +aside, to Theo, who, convulsed with laughter, had hidden herself +behind the window curtain. + +Mr. Douglas was right, for not again that afternoon did Madam Conway +speak of dying, though she kept her bed until nightfall, when art +incident occurred which brought her at once to her feet, making her +forget that she had ever been otherwise than well. + +In her cottage by the mine old Hagar had raved and sung and wept, +talking much of Margaret, but never telling whither she had gone. +Latterly, however, she had grown more calm, talking far less than +heretofore, and sleeping a great portion of the day, so that the +servant who attended her became neglectful, leaving her many hours +alone, while she, at the stone house, passed her time more agreeably +than at the lonesome hut. On the afternoon of which we write she was +as usual at the house, and though the sun went down she did not hasten +back, for her patient, she said, was sure to sleep, and even if she +woke she did not need much care. + +Meantime old Hagar slumbered on. It was a deep, refreshing sleep, and +when at last she did awake, her reason was in a measure restored, and +she remembered everything distinctly up to the time of Margaret's last +visit, when she said she was going away. And Margaret had gone away, +she was sure of that, for she remembered Arthur Carrollton stood once +within that room, and besought of her to tell if she knew aught of +Maggie's destination. She did know, but she had not told, and perhaps +they had not found her yet. Raising herself in bed, she called aloud +to the servant, but there came no answer; and for an hour or more she +waited impatiently, growing each moment more and more excited. If +Margaret were found she wished to know it, and if she were not found +it was surely her duty to go at once and tell them where she was. +But could she walk? She stepped upon the floor and tried. Her limbs +trembled beneath her weight, and, sinking into a chair, she cried, "I +can't! I can't!" + +Half an hour later she heard the sound of wheels. A neighboring farmer +was returning home from Richland, and had taken the cross road as +his shortest route. "Perhaps he will let me ride," she thought, and, +hobbling to the door, she called after him, making known her request. +Wondering what "new freak" had entered her mind, the man consented, +and just as it was growing dark he set her down at Madam Conway's +gate, where, half fearfully, the bewildered woman gazed around. The +windows of Margaret's room were open, a figure moved before them; +Margaret might be there; and entering the hall door unobserved, she +began to ascend the stairs, crawling upon her hands and knees, and +pausing several times to rest. + +It was nearly dark in the sickroom, and as Mrs. Jeffrey had just gone +out, and Theo, in the parlor below, was enjoying a quiet talk with her +husband, Madam Conway was quite alone. For a time she lay thinking +of Margaret; then her thoughts turned upon George and his "amazing +proposition." "Such unheard of insolence!" she exclaimed, and she was +proceeding farther with her soliloquy, when a peculiar noise upon the +stairs caught her ear, and raising herself upon her elbow she listened +intently to the sound, which came nearer and nearer, and seemed like +someone creeping slowly, painfully, for she could hear at intervals a +long-drawn breath or groan, and with a vague feeling of uneasiness she +awaited anxiously the appearance of her visitor; nor waited long, for +the half-closed door swung slowly back, and through the gathering +darkness the shape came crawling on, over the threshold, into the +room, towards the corner, its limbs distorted and bent, its white hair +sweeping the floor. With a smothered cry Madam Conway hid beneath the +bedclothes, looking cautiously out at the singular object which came +creeping on until the bed was reached. It touched the counterpane, it +was struggling to regain its feet, and with a scream of horror the +terrified woman cried out, "Fiend, why are you here?" while a faint +voice replied, "I am looking for Margaret. I thought she was in bed"; +and, rising up from her crouching posture, Hagar Warren stood face to +face with the woman she had so long deceived. + +"Wretch!" exclaimed the latter, her pride returning as she recognized +old Hagar and thought of her as Maggie's grandmother. "Wretch, how +dare you come into my presence? Leave this room at once," and a shrill +cry of "Theo! Theo!" rang through the house, bringing Theo at once to +the chamber, where she started involuntarily at the sight which met +her view. + +"Who is it? who is it?" she exclaimed. + +"It's Hagar Warren. Take her away!" screamed Madam Conway; while +Hagar, raising her withered hand deprecatingly, said: "Hear me first. +Do you know where Margaret is? Has she been found?" + +"No, no," answered Theo, bounding to her side, while Madam Conway +forgot to scream, and bent eagerly forward to listen, her symptoms +of dissolution disappearing one by one as the strange narrative +proceeded, and ere its close she was nearly dressed, standing erect as +ever, her face glowing, and her eyes lighted up with joy. + +"Gone to Leominster! Henry Warner's half-sister!" she exclaimed. "Why +didn't she add a postscript to that letter, and tell us so? Though +the poor child couldn't think of everything;" and then, unmindful of +George Douglas, who at that moment entered the room, she continued: +"I should suppose Douglas might have found it out ere this. But the +moment I put my eyes upon _that woman_ I knew no child of hers would +ever know enough to find Margaret. The Warners are a tolerably good +family, I presume. I'll go after her at once. Theo, bring my broche +shawl, and wouldn't you wear my satin hood? 'Twill be warmer than my +leghorn." + +"Grandma," said Theo, in utter astonishment, "What do you mean? You +surely are not going to Leominster to-night, as sick as you are?" + +"Yes, I am going to Leominster to-night," answered the decided woman; +"and this gentleman," waving her hand majestically towards George, +"will oblige me much by seeing that the carriage is brought out." + +Theo was about to remonstrate, when George whispered: "Let her go; +Henry and Rose are probably not at home, but Margaret may be there. At +all events, a little airing will do the old lady good;" and, rather +pleased than otherwise with the expedition, he went after John, who +pronounced his mistress "crazier than Hagar." + +But it wasn't for him to dictate, and, grumbling at the prospect +before him, he harnessed his horses and drove them to the door, where +Madam Conway was already in waiting. + +"See that everything is in order for our return," she said to Theo, +who promised compliance, and then, herself bewildered, listened to the +carriage as it rolled away; it seemed so like a dream that the woman +who three hours before could scarcely speak aloud had now started for +a ride of many miles in the damp night air! But love can accomplish +miracles, and it made the eccentric lady strong, buoying up her +spirits, and prompting her to cheer on the coachman, until just as the +day grew rosy in the east Leominster appeared in view. The house was +found, the carriage steps let down, and then with a slight trembling +in her limbs Madam Conway alighted and walked up the graveled path, +casting eager, searching glances around and commenting as follows: + +"Everything is in good taste; they must be somebody, these Warners. +I'm glad it is no worse." And with each new indication of refinement +in Margaret's relatives the disgrace seemed less and less in the mind +of the proud Englishwoman. + +The ringing of the bell brought down Janet, who, with an inquisitive +look at the satin hood and bundle of shawls, ushered the stranger +into the parlor, and then went for her mistress. Taking the card her +servant brought, Mrs. Warner read with some little trepidation the +name "Madam Conway, Hillsdale." From what she had heard, she was not +prepossessed in the lady's favor; but, curious to know why she was +there at this early hour, she hastened the making of her toilet, and +went down to the parlor, where Madam Conway sat, coiled in one corner +of the sofa, which she had satisfied herself was covered with real +brocatel, as were also the chairs within the room. The tables of +rosewood and marble, and the expensive curtains had none of them +escaped her notice, and in a mood which more common furniture would +never have produced Madam Conway arose to meet Mrs. Warner, who +received her politely, and then waited to hear her errand. + +It was told in a few words. She had come for Margaret--Margaret, whom +she had loved for eighteen years, and could not now cast off, even +though she were not of the Conway and Davenport extraction. + +"I can easily understand how painful must have been the knowledge that +Maggie was not your own," returned Mrs. Warner, "for she is a girl +of whom anyone might be proud; but you are laboring under a +mistake--Henry is not her brother;" and then very briefly she +explained the matter to Madam Conway, who, having heard so much, was +now surprised at nothing, and who felt, it may be, a little gratified +in knowing that Henry was, after all, nothing to Margaret, save the +husband of her sister. But a terrible disappointment awaited her. +Margaret was not there; and so loud were her lamentations that some +time elapsed ere Mrs. Warner could make her listen while she explained +that Mr. Carrollton had found Maggie the day previous at the Falls, +that they were probably in Albany now, and would reach Hillsdale that +very day; such at least was the import of the telegram which Mrs. +Warner had received the evening before. "They wish to surprise you, +undoubtedly," she said, "and consequently have not telegraphed to +you." + +This seemed probable, and forgetting her weariness Madam Conway +resolved upon leaving John to drive home at his leisure, while she +took the Leominster cars, which reached Worcester in time for the +upward train. This matter adjusted, she tried to be quiet; but her +excitement increased each moment, and when at last breakfast was +served she did but little justice to the tempting viands which her +hostess set before her. Margaret's chamber was visited next, and very +lovingly she patted and smoothed the downy pillows, for the sake of +the bright head which had rested there, while to herself she whispered +abstractedly, "Yes, yes," though to what she was giving her assent +she could not tell. She only knew that she was very happy, and very +impatient to be gone, and when at last she did go it seemed to her an +age ere Worcester was reached. + +Resolutely turning her head away, lest she should see the scene of her +disaster when last in that city, she walked up and down the ladies' +room, her satin hood and heavy broche shawl, on that warm July +morning, attracting much attention. But little did she care. Margaret +was the burden of her thoughts, and the appearance of Mrs. Douglas +herself would scarcely have disturbed her. Much less, then, did the +presence of a queerly dressed young girl, who, entering the car with +her, occupied from necessity the same seat, feeling herself a little +annoyed at being thus obliged to sit so near one whom she mentally +pronounced "mighty unsociable," for not once did Madam Conway turn her +face that way, so intent was she upon watching their apparent speed, +and counting the number of miles they had come. + +When Charlton was reached, however, she did observe the women in a +shaker, who, with a pail of huckleberries on her arm, was evidently +waiting for someone. + +An audible groan from the depths of the satin hood, as Betsy Jane +passed out and the cars passed on, showed plainly that the mother and +sister of George Douglas were recognized, particularly as the former +wore the red and yellow calico, which, having been used as a "dress +up" the summer before, now did its owner service as a garment of +everyday wear. But not long did Madam Conway suffer her mind to dwell +upon matters so trivial. Hillsdale was not far away, and she came each +moment nearer. Two more stations were reached--the haunted swamp was +passed--Chicopee River was in sight--the bridge appeared in view--the +whistle sounded, and she was there. + +Half an hour later, and Theo, looking from her window, started in +surprise as she saw the village omnibus drive up to their door. + +"'Tis grandmother!" she cried, and running to meet her she asked why +she had returned so soon. + +"They are coming at noon," answered the excited woman--then, hurrying +into the house and throwing off her hood, she continued: "He's found +her at the Falls; they are between here and Albany now; tell +everybody to hurry as fast as they can; tell Hannah to make a +chicken pie--Maggie was fond of that; and turkey--tell her to kill a +turkey--it's Maggie's favorite dish--and ice cream, too! I wish I had +some this minute," and she wiped the perspiration from her burning +face. + +No more hysterics now; no more lonesome nights; no more thoughts of +death--for Margaret was coming home--the best loved of them all. +Joyfully the servants told to each other the glad news, disbelieving +entirely the report fast gaining circulation that the queenly Maggie +was lowly born--a grandchild of old Hagar. Up and down the stairs +Madam Conway ran, flitting from room to room, and tarrying longest +in that of Margaret, where the sunlight came in softly through the +half-closed blinds and the fair summer blossoms smiled a welcome for +the expected one. + +Suddenly the noontide stillness was broken by a sound, deafening and +shrill on ordinary occasions, but falling now like music on Madam +Conway's ear, for by that sound she knew that Margaret was near. +Wearily went the half-hour by, and then, from the head of the tower +stairs, Theo cried out, "She is coming!" while the grandmother buried +her face in the pillows of the lounge, and asked to be alone when she +took back to her bosom the child which was not hers. + +Earnestly, as if to read the inmost soul, each looked into the other's +eyes--Margaret and Theo--and while the voice of the latter was choked +with tears she wound her arms around the graceful neck, which bent to +the caress, and whispered low, "You are my sister still." + +Against the vine-wreathed balustrade a fairy form was leaning, holding +back her breath lest she should break the deep silence of that +meeting. In her bosom there was no pang of fear lest Theo should be +loved the best; and, even had there been, it could not surely have +remained, for stretching out her arm Margaret drew Rose to her side, +and placing her hand in that of Theo said, "You are both my sisters +now," while Arthur Carrollton, bending down, kissed the lips of the +three, saying as he did so, "Thus do I acknowledge your relationship +to me." + +"Why don't she come?" the waiting Madam Conway sighed, just as Theo, +pointing to the open door, bade Margaret go in. + +There was a blur before the lady's eyes--a buzzing in her ears--and +the footfall she had listened for so long was now unheard as it +came slowly to her side. But the light touch upon her arm--the +well-remembered voice within her ear, calling her "Madam Conway," +sent through her an electric thrill, and starting up she caught the +wanderer in her arms, crying imploringly, "Not that name, Maggie +darling; call me grandma, as you used to do--call me grandma still," +and smoothing back the long black tresses, she looked to see if grief +had left its impress upon her fair young face. It was paler now, and +thinner too, than it was wont to be, and while her tears fell fast +upon it, Madam Conway whispered: "You have suffered much, my child, +and so have I. Why did you go away? Say, Margaret, why did you leave +me all alone?" + +"To learn how much you loved me," answered Margaret, to whom this +moment brought happiness second only to that which she had felt when +on the river bank she sat with Arthur Carrollton, and heard him tell +how much she had been mourned--how lonesome was the house without +her--and how sad were all their hearts. But that was over now--no more +sadness, no more tears; the lost one had returned; Margaret was home +again--home in the hearts of all, and nothing could dislodge her--not +even the story of her birth, which Arthur Carrollton, spurning at +further deception, told to the listening servants, who, having always +respected old Hagar for her position in the household as well as for +her education, so superior to their own, set up a deafening shout, +first for "Hagar's grandchild," and next for "Miss Margaret forever!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +HAGAR. + + +By Theo's request old Hagar had been taken home the day before, +yielding submissively, for her frenzied mood was over--her strength +was gone--her life was nearly spent--and Hagar did not wish to live. +That for which she had sinned had been accomplished, and, though it +had cost her days and nights of anguish, she was satisfied at last. +Margaret was coming home again--would be a lady still--the bride of +Arthur Carrollton, for George Douglas had told her so, and she was +willing now to die, but not until she had seen her once again--had +looked into the beautiful face of which she had been so proud. + +Not to-day, however, does she expect her; and just as the sun was +setting, the sun which shines on Margaret at home, she falls away to +sleep. It was at this hour that Margaret was wont to visit her, and +now, as the treetops grew red in the day's departing glory, a graceful +form came down the woodland path, where for many weeks the grass +has not been crushed beneath her feet. They saw her as she left the +house,--Madam Conway, Theo, all,--but none asked whither she was +going. They knew, and one who loved her best of all followed slowly +after, waiting in the woods until that interview should end. + +Hagar lay calmly sleeping. The servant was as usual away, and there +was no eye watching Margaret as with burning cheeks and beating heart +she crossed the threshold of the door, pausing not, faltering not, +until the bed was reached--the bed where Hagar lay, her crippled hands +folded meekly upon her breast, her white hair shading a whiter face, +and a look about her half-shut mouth as if the thin, pale lips had +been much used of late to breathe the word "Forgive." Maggie had +never seen her thus before, and the worn-out, aged face had something +touching in its sad expression, and something startling too, bidding +her hasten, if to that woman she would speak. + +"Hagar," she essayed to say, but the word died on her lips, for +standing there alone, with the daylight fading from the earth, and the +lifelight fading from the form before her, it seemed not meet that she +should thus address the sleeper. There was a name, however, by which +she called another--a name of love, and it would make the withered +heart of Hagar Warren bound and beat and throb with untold joy. +And Margaret said that name at last, whispering it first softly to +herself; then, bending down so that her breath stirred the snow-white +hair, she repeated it aloud, starting involuntarily as the rude walls +echoed back the name "Grandmother!" + +"Grandmother!" Through the senses locked in sleep it penetrated, and +the dim eyes, once so fiery and black, grew large and bright again as +Hagar Warren woke. + +Was it a delusion, that beauteous form which met her view, that soft +hand on her brow, or was it Maggie Miller? + +"Grandmother," the low voice said again, "I am Maggie--Hester's child. +Can you see me? Do you know that I am here?" + +Yes, through the films of age, through the films of coming death, and +through the gathering darkness, old Hagar saw and knew, and with a +scream of joy her shrunken arms wound themselves convulsively around +the maiden's neck, drawing her nearer, and nearer still, until the +shriveled lips touched the cheek of her who did not turn away, but +returned that kiss of love. + +"Say it again, say that word once more," and the arms closed tighter +round the form of Margaret, who breathed it yet again, while the +childish woman sobbed aloud, "It is sweeter than the angels' song to +hear you call me so." + +She did not ask her when she came--she did not ask her where she had +been; but Maggie told her all, sitting by her side with the poor hands +clasped in her own; then, as the twilight shadows deepened in the +room, she struck a light, and coming nearer to Hagar, said, "Am I much +like my mother?" + +"Yes, yes, only more winsome," was the answer, and the half-blind eyes +looked proudly at the beautiful girl bending over the humble pillow. + +"Do you know that?" Maggie asked, holding to view the ambrotype of +Hester Hamilton. + +For an instant Hagar wavered, then hugging the picture to her bosom, +she laughed and cried together, whispering as she did so, "My little +girl, my Hester, my baby that I used to sing to sleep in our home away +over the sea." + +Hagar's mind was wandering amid the scenes of bygone years, but it +soon came back again to the present time, and she asked of Margaret +whence that picture came. In a few words Maggie told her, and then for +a time there was silence, which was broken at last by Hagar's voice, +weaker now than when she spoke before. + +"Maggie," she said, "what of this Arthur Carrollton? Will he make you +his bride?" + +"He has so promised," answered Maggie; and Hagar continued: "He will +take you to England, and you will be a lady, sure. Margaret, listen to +me. 'Tis the last time we shall ever talk together, you and I, and +I am glad that it is so. I have greatly sinned, but I have been +forgiven, and I am willing now to die. Everything I wished for has +come to pass, even the hearing you call me by that blessed name; but, +Maggie, when to-morrow they say that I am dead--when you come down to +look upon me lying here asleep, you needn't call me 'Grandmother,' you +may say 'poor Hagar!' with the rest; and, Maggie, is it too much +to ask that your own hands will arrange my hair, fix my cap, and +straighten my poor old crooked limbs for the coffin? And if I should +look decent, will you, when nobody sees you do it--Madam Conway, +Arthur Carrollton, nobody who is proud--will you, Maggie, kiss me once +for the sake of what I've suffered that you might be what you are?" + +"Yes, yes, I will," was Maggie's answer, her tears falling fast, and +a fear creeping into her heart, as by the dim candlelight she saw a +nameless shadow settling down on Hagar's face. + +The servant entered at this moment, and, glancing at old Hagar, sunk +into a chair, for she knew that shadow was death. + +"Maggie," and the voice was now a whisper, "I wish I could once more +see this Mr. Carrollton. 'Tis the nature of his kin to be sometimes +overbearing, and though I am only old Hagar Warren he might heed my +dying words, and be more thoughtful of your happiness. Do you think +that he would come?" + +Ere Maggie had time to answer there was a step upon the floor, and +Arthur Carrollton stood at her side. He had waited for her long, and +growing at last impatient had stolen to the open door, and when the +dying woman asked for him he had trampled down his pride and entered +the humble room. Winding his arm round Margaret, who trembled +violently, he said: "Hagar, I am here. Have you aught to say to me?" + +Quickly the glazed eyes turned towards him, and the clammy hand was +timidly extended. He took it unhesitatingly, while the pale lips +murmured faintly, "Maggie's too." Then, holding both between her own, +old Hagar said solemnly, "Young man, as you hope for heaven, deal +kindly with my child," and Arthur Carrollton answered her aloud, "As I +hope for heaven, I will," while Margaret fell upon her knees and wept. +Raising herself in bed, Hagar laid her hands upon the head of the +kneeling girl, breathing over her a whispered blessing; then the hands +pressed heavily, the fingers clung with a loving grasp, as it were, to +the bands of shining hair--the thin lips ceased to move--the head fell +back upon the pillow, motionless and still, and Arthur Carrollton, +leading Margaret away, gently told her that Hagar was dead. + + * * * * * + +Carefully, tenderly, as if she had been a wounded dove, did the whole +household demean themselves towards Margaret, seeing that everything +needful was done, but mentioning never in her presence the name of the +dead. And Margaret's position was a trying one, for though Hagar had +been her grandmother she had never regarded her as such, and she could +not now affect a grief she did not feel. Still, from her earliest +childhood she had loved the strange old woman, and she mourned for +her now, as friend mourneth for friend, when there is no tie of blood +between them. + +Her promise, too, was kept, and with her own hands she smoothed the +snow-white hair, tied on the muslin cap, folded the stiffened arms, +and then, unmindful who was looking on, kissed twice the placid face, +which seemed to smile on her in death. + + * * * * * + +By the side of Hester Hamilton they made another grave, and, with +Arthur Carrollton and Rose standing at either side, Margaret looked on +while the weary and worn was laid to rest; then slowly retraced her +steps, walking now with Madam Conway, for Arthur Carrollton and Rose +had lingered at the grave, talking together of a plan which had +presented itself to the minds of both as they stood by the humble +stone which told where Margaret's mother slept. To Margaret, however, +they said not a word, nor yet to Madam Conway, though they both united +in urging the two ladies to accompany Theo to Worcester for a few +days. + +"Mrs. Warner will help me keep house," Mr. Carrollton said, advancing +the while so many good reasons why Margaret at least should go, that +she finally consented, and went down to Worcester, together with Madam +Conway, George Douglas, Theo, and Henry, the latter of whom seemed +quite as forlorn as did she herself, for Rose was left behind, and +without her he was nothing. + +Madam Conway had been very gracious to him; his family were good, and +when as they passed the Charlton depot thoughts of the leghorn bonnet +and blue umbrella intruded themselves upon her, she half wished that +Henry had broken his leg in Theo's behalf, and so saved her from +bearing the name of Douglas. + +The week went by, passing rapidly as all weeks will, and Margaret was +again at home. Rose was there still, and just as the sun was setting +she took her sister's hand, and led her out into the open air toward +the resting-place of the dead, where a change had been wrought; and +Margaret, leaning over the iron gate, comprehended at once the feeling +which had prompted Mr. Carrollton and Rose to desire her absence for +a time. The humble stone was gone, and in its place there stood a +handsome monument, less imposing and less expensive than that of Mrs. +Miller, it is true, but still chaste and elegant, bearing upon it +simply the names of "Hester Hamilton, and her mother Hagar Warren," +with the years of their death. The little grave, too, where for many +years Maggie herself had been supposed to sleep, was not beneath the +pine tree now; that mound was leveled down, and another had been made, +just where the grass was growing rank and green beneath the shadow of +the taller stone, and there side by side they lay at last together, +the mother and her infant child. + +"It was kind in you to do this," Margaret said, and then, with her +arm round Rose's waist, she spoke of the coming time when the sun of +another hemisphere would be shining down upon her, saying she should +think often of that hour, that spot, and that sister, who answered: +"Every year when the spring rains fall I shall come to see that the +grave has been well kept, for you know that she was my mother, too," +and she pointed to the name of "Hester," deep cut in the polished +marble. + +"Not yours, Rose, but mine," said Maggie. "My mother she was, and as +such I will cherish her memory." Then, with her arm still around her +sister's waist, she walked slowly back to the house. + +A little later, and while Arthur Carrollton, with Maggie at his side, +was talking to her of something which made the blushes burn on her +still pale cheeks, Madam Conway herself walked out to witness the +improvements, lingering longest at the little grave, and saying to +herself, "It was very thoughtful in Arthur, very, to do what I +should have done myself ere this had I not been afraid of Margaret's +feelings." + +Then, turning to the new monument, she admired its chaste beauty, but +hardly knew whether she was pleased to have it there or not. + +"It's very handsome," she said, leaving the yard, and walking backward +to observe the effect. "And it adds much to the looks of the place. +There is no question about that. It is perfectly proper, too, or Mr. +Carrollton would never have put it here, for he knows what is right, +of course," and the still doubtful lady turned away, saying as she +did so, "On the whole, I think I am glad that Hester has a handsome +monument, and I know I am glad that Mrs. Miller's is a little the +taller of the two!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +AUGUST EIGHTEENTH, 1858. + + +Years hence, if the cable resting far down in the mermaids' home +shall prove a bond of perfect peace between the mother and her child, +thousands will recall the bright summer morning when through the +caverns of the mighty deep the first electric message came, thrilling +the nation's heart, quickening the nation's pulse, and, with the music +of the deep-toned bell and noise of the cannon's roar, proclaiming to +the listening multitude that the isle beyond the sea, and the lands +which to the westward lie, were bound together, shore to shore, by a +strange, mysterious tie. And two there are who, in their happy home, +will oft look back upon that day, that 18th day of August, which gave +to one of Britain's sons as fair and beautiful a bride as e'er went +forth from the New England hills to dwell beneath a foreign sky. + +They had not intended to be married so soon, for Margaret would wait +a little longer; but an unexpected and urgent summons home made it +necessary for Mr. Carrollton to go, and so by chance the bridal day +was fixed for the 18th. None save the family were present, and Madam +Conway's tears fell fast as the words were spoken which made them one, +for by those words she knew that she and Margaret must part. But not +forever; for when the next year's autumn leaves shall fall the old +house by the mill will again be without a mistress, while in a +handsome country-seat beyond the sea Madam Conway will demean herself +right proudly, as becometh the grandmother of Mrs. Arthur Carrollton. +Theo, too, and Rose will both be there, for their husbands have so +promised, and when the Christmas fires are kindled on the hearth and +the ancient pictures on the wall take a richer tinge from the ruddy +light, there will be a happy group assembled within the Carrollton +halls; and Margaret, the happiest of them all, will then almost +forget that ever in the Hillsdale woods, sitting at Hagar's feet, she +listened with a breaking heart to the story of her birth. + +But not the thoughts of a joyous future could dissipate entirely the +sadness of that bridal, for Margaret was well beloved, and the billows +which would roll ere long between her and her childhood's home +stretched many, many miles away. Still they tried to be cheerful, and +Henry Warner's merry jokes had called forth more than one gay laugh, +when the peal of bells and the roll of drums arrested their attention; +while the servants, who had learned the cause of the rejoicing, struck +up "God Save the Queen," and from an adjoining field a rival choir +sent back the stirring note of "Hail, Columbia, Happy Land." Mrs. +Jeffrey, too, was busy. In secret she had labored at the rent made +by her foot in the flag of bygone days, and now, perspiring at every +pore, she dragged it up the tower stairs, planting it herself upon the +housetop, where side by side with the royal banner it waved in the +summer breeze. And this she did, not because she cared aught for the +cable, in which she "didn't believe" and declared "would never work," +but because she would celebrate Margaret's wedding-day, and so make +some amends for her interference when once before the "Stars and +Stripes" had floated above the old stone house. + +And thus it was, amid smiles and tears, amid bells and drums, and +waving flags and merry song, amid noisy shout and booming guns, that +double bridal day was kept; and when the sun went down it left a glory +on the western clouds, as if they, too, had donned their best attire +in honor of the union. + + * * * * * + +It is moonlight on the land--glorious, beautiful moonlight. On Hagar's +peaceful grave it falls, and glancing from the polished stone shines +across the fields upon the old stone house, where all is cheerless +now, and still. No life--no sound--no bounding step--no gleeful song. +All is silent, all is sad. The light of the household has departed; +it went with the hour when first to each other the lonesome servants +said, "Margaret is gone." + +Yes, she is gone, and all through the darkened rooms there is found no +trace of her, but away to the eastward the moonlight falls upon the +sea, where a noble vessel rides. With sails unfurled to the evening +breeze, it speeds away--away from the loved hearts on the shore which +after that bark, and its precious freight, have sent many a throb of +love. Upon the deck of that gallant ship there stands a beautiful +bride, looking across the water with straining eye, and smiling +through her tears on him who wipes those tears away, and whispers in +her ear, "I will be more to you, my wife, than they have ever been." + +So, with the love-light shining on her heart, and the moonlight +shining on the wave, we bid adieu to one who bears no more the name of +Maggie Miller. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Maggie Miller, by Mary J. 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