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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/15961-8.txt b/15961-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e433294 --- /dev/null +++ b/15961-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4904 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Turns of Fortune, by Mrs. S. C. Hall + +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: Turns of Fortune + And Other Tales + +Author: Mrs. S. C. Hall + +Release Date: May 31, 2005 [EBook #15961] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURNS OF FORTUNE *** + + + + +Produced by Internet Archive, University of Florida, PM +Childrens Library, William Flis, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +FRANCIS & CO.'S + +LITTLE LIBRARY: + +FOR YOUNG PERSONS OF VARIOUS AGES. + + * * * * * + +TURNS OF FORTUNE: + +BY MRS. S.C. HALL. + + + + +FRANCIS & CO.'S LITTLE LIBRARY. + +C.S. Francis & Co., New York, _have published a uniform Series of +Choice volumes for Young People, by some of the most distinguished +writers for Children. Neatly bound in cloth, and illustrated by +Engravings._ + +L. MARIA CHILD.--FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 1, for Children eight or +nine years old. + +---- FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 2, for Children three or four years +old. + +---- FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 3, for Children eleven or twelve years +old. + +MARY HOWITT.--FIRESIDE TALES. + +---- THE CHRISTMAS TREE: A Book of Stories. + +---- THE TURTLE DOVE OF CARMEL; and Other Stories. + +---- THE FAVORITE SCHOLAR; LITTLE CHATTERBOX; PERSEVERANCE, and other +Tales. By Mary Howitt, Mrs. S.C. Hall, and others. + +MRS. TRIMMER.--THE ROBBINS; OR DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE BIRDS. Designed +for the Instruction of Children respecting their Treatment of Animals. + +MISS LESLIE.--RUSSEL AND SIDNEY AND CHASE LORING: Tales of the +American Revolution. + +MRS. CAROLINE GILMAN.--THE LITTLE WREATH OF STORIES AND POEMS FOR +CHILDREN. + +---- STORIES AND POEMS FOR CHILDREN. + +HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.--A CHRISTMAS GREETING: Thirteen New Stories +from the Danish of Hans Christian Andersen. + +---- A PICTURE BOOK WITHOUT PICTURES; and other Stories: by Hans +Christian Andersen. Translated by Mary Howitt, with a Memoir of the +Author. + +---- A DANISH STORY BOOK. + +CLAUDINE; OR HUMILITY THE BASIS OF ALL THE VIRTUES. A Swiss Tale. By a +Mother; author of "Always Happy," "True Stories from History," &c. + +FACTS TO CORRECT FANCIES; or Short Narratives compiled from the +Memoirs of Remarkable Women. By a Mother. + +HOLIDAY STORIES. Containing five Moral Tales. + +MRS. HOFLAND.--THE HISTORY OF AN OFFICER'S WIDOW, and her Young +Family. + +---- THE CLERGYMAN'S WIDOW, and her Young Family. + +---- THE MERCHANT'S WIDOW, and her Young Family. + +MISS ABBOT.--KATE AND LIZZIE; OR SIX MONTHS OUT OF SCHOOL. + +MISS ELIZA ROBBINS.--CLASSIC TALES. Designed for the Instruction +and Amusement of Young Persons. By the author of "American Popular +Lessons," &c. + +MRS. S.C. HALL.--TURNS OF FORTUNE; ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS, &C. + +---- THE PRIVATE PURSE; CLEVERNESS, and other Tales. + + + + +NEW VOLUMES + +OF + +FRANCIS & CO.'S LITTLE LIBRARY. + +_Thirty volumes of this series have been published, including some +of the choicest books for young people, by Mary Howitt; Maria Child; +Mrs. Hofland; Mrs. Hall; Mrs. Gilman; Miss Leslie; Hans Andersen, and +others_. + +The Story Teller; TALES FROM THE DANISH of Hans Christian Andersen. + +_Containing_ Ole Lucköie; The Buckwheat: The Wild Swans; The Angel; +The Fellow-Traveler; The Elfin Mound; The Flying Trunk; The Bundle of +Matches. + +The Ugly Duck; AND OTHER TALES: by Hans Christian Andersen. + +_Containing_ The Ugly Duck; Top and Ball; The Little Mermaid; The +Storks; The Nightingale: The Rose of the Elf; Holger Danske; The +Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; The Dying Child. + +Little Ellie; AND OTHER TALES: by Hans Christian Andersen. + +_Containing_ Little Ellie; The Tinder Box; The Wicked King; The +Resolute Leaden Soldier; The Garden of Paradise; The Shepherdess and +Chimney-Sweep; Little Ida's Flowers; The Daisy; New Year's Eve. + +The Merchant's Daughter; AND OTHER TALES: by Mrs. S.C. Hall. + +How to Win Love; OR, RHODA'S LESSON. A story for the Young. + +"A delightful little book, which will not only attract the young, but +minister instruction to the _instructors_ of youth."--_Edin. Witness_. + + + +TURNS OF FORTUNE; + +AND OTHER TALES. + +BY MRS. S.C. HALL. + + + + +NEW-YORK. C.S. FRANCIS & CO., 252 BROADWAY. + +BOSTON: J.H. FRANCIS, 128 WASHINGTON-STREET. + +1851. + + + + +CONTENTS + + TURNS OF FORTUNE 9 + + "ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS" 63 + + "THERE IS NO HURRY" 143 + + + + +TURNS OF FORTUNE + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"Hush, Sarah!" exclaimed old Jacob Bond, as he sat up in his bed, +while the wind clattered and whistled through the shivering window +frames. "Hush! Is that Brindle's bark?" + +"No, father; it is one of the farm dogs near the village. Lie down, +dearest father; it is a cold night, and you are trembling." + +"I don't know why I should feel cold, Sarah," he replied, pointing his +shadowy fingers towards the grate, where an abundant fire blazed; "I +am sure you have put down as much wood as would roast an ox." + +"It is so very cold, father." + +"Still, we must not be wasteful, Sarah," he answered; "wilful waste +makes woful want." Sarah Bond covered the old man carefully over, +while he laid himself stiffly down upon his pallet, re-muttering his +favourite proverb over and over again. + +She then drew the curtains more closely, and seated herself in an +old-fashioned chair beside a little table in front of the fire. + +The room had been the drawing-room of the old house in which Mr. Bond +and his daughter resided, but for the sake of saving both labour and +expense, he had had his bed removed into it; and though anything but +comfortable, a solitary, impoverished, and yet gorgeous appearance +pervaded the whole, such as those who delineate interiors, loving +small lights and deep shadows, would covet to convey to their canvass. +The bed upon which the old man lay was canopied, and of heavy crimson +damask. In the dim light of that spacious room, it looked to the +worn-out eyes of Sarah Bond more like a hearse than a bed. Near it +was an old spinnet, upon which stood a labelled vial, a tea-cup, and +a spoon. When Sarah seated herself at the table, she placed her elbows +upon it, and pressed her folded hands across her eyes; no sigh or moan +escaped her, but her chest heaved convulsively; and when she removed +her hands, she drew a Bible toward her, trimmed the lamp, and began to +read. + +The voice of an old French clock echoed painfully through the chamber. +Sarah longed to stop it, and yet it was a companion in her watchings. +Once, a shy, suspicious, bright-eyed mouse rattled among the cinders, +and ran into the wainscot, and then came out again, and stared at +Sarah Bond, who, accustomed to such visits, did not raise her eyes +to inquire into the cause of the rustling which in a few more moments +took place upon a tray containing the remnants of some bread and +cheese, her frugal supper. + +"Sarah," croaked Mr. Bond; "what noise is that?" + +"Only the mice, father, as usual; do, father, try to sleep. I watch +carefully; there is nothing to fear." + +"Ay, ay, men and mice all the same; nothing but waste. When I am gone, +Sarah, keep what you will have; it won't be much, Sarah, my poor girl, +it won't be much; just enough to need care; but KEEP IT; don't lend +it, or give it, or spend it; you are fond of spending, my poor girl; +see that huge fire, enough for three nights; early bad habits. When +we lived in a small house and were poor, it was then you learned to be +extravagant; I had no money then, so did not know its value." + +"But we were happier then, father," said Sarah Bond; "we were so +cheerful and happy then, and so many poor people blessed my dear +mother, and Mary"-- + +"Hiss--ss," uttered the dying miser; "don't dare mention your sister, +who disgraced me by marrying a pauper; a pauper who threatened my +life, because I would not give him my money to save him from starving; +but he _did not_ get the old father-in-law's gold; no; he _starved, +and_"-- + +The words thus uttered by her father, who she knew had not many hours +to live--uttered, too, with such demoniac bitterness--forced the +gentle, patient woman to start from her seal, and pass rapidly across +the room to the side of his bed, where she sank upon her knees, and +seized his shrunken hands in hers. "Father!" she exclaimed, "I have +been your child for forty years, and you have said, that during that +period, by no act of my own, have I _ever_ angered you. Is it not so?" +The old man withdrew one hand gently, turned himself round, and looked +in her face: "Forty years! Is it forty years?" he repeated; "but it +must be; the fair brow is wrinkled, and the abundant hair grown thin +and gray. You were a pretty baby, Sarah, and a merry child; a cheerful +girl, too, until that foolish fancy. Well, dear, I'll say no more +about it; good, dutiful girl. You gave it up to please your father +full twenty years ago, and when he dies, you shall have _all_ his +gold--there's a good father! You must _keep_ it, Sarah, and not give +it, nor lend it. I know you won't marry, as _he_ is dead; nor see your +sister--mind that; if you see _her_, or serve her, the bitterest curse +that ever rose from a father's grave will compass you in on every +side." + +"My father!" she said, "oh! in mercy to yourself, revoke these words. +She knew nothing of her husband's conduct; he used her even worse than +he used you. Oh! for my sake say you will forgive Mary. It is all I +ask. Do what you please with your wealth, but forgive my sister." + +"You were always a fool, Sarah," he replied faintly and peevishly. "If +I could do as I please, I would take my property with me, for you will +surely spend it. But there is another condition, another promise you +must give me. Now, don't interrupt me again. We will talk of _her_ +by-and-bye, perhaps. As long as you live, Sarah, _as you value my +blessing_, you must not part with anything in this room. You will live +on in the old house, or perhaps sell it, and have a smaller; yet don't +spend money in new furnishing--don't; but never part with anything in +_this room_; never so much as a stick." + +This promise was willingly given; for, independently of her love for +her father, Sarah Bond had become attached to the inanimate objects +which had so long been before her. Again she endeavoured to lead +her father away from that avarice which had corrupted his soul, and +driven happiness and peace from their dwelling. She urged the duty of +forgiveness, and pleaded hard for her sister; but, though the hours +wore away, she made no impression upon him. Utterly unmindful of +her words, he did not either interrupt her or fall into his former +violence. On the contrary, he seemed involved in some intricate +calculation--counting on his fingers, or casting up lines of imaginary +figures upon the coverlit. + +Sarah, heart-broken, and silently weeping, retreated to the table, and +again, after turning the fire, betook her to her solace--the precious +volume that never fails to afford consolation to the afflicted. She +read a few passages, and then, though she looked upon the book, her +mind wandered. She recalled the happy days of her childhood, before +her father, by the extraordinary and most unexpected bequest of a +distant relative, became possessed of property to what extent she +could form no idea. She knew that this relative had quarrelled with +the heir-at-law, and left all to one he had never seen. This bequest +had closed up her father's heart; instead of being a blessing, so +perfectly avaricious had he grown, that it was a curse. Previously, he +had been an industrious farmer; and though a thrifty one, had evinced +none of the bitterness of avarice, none of its hardness or tyranny. +He could then sleep at nights, permit his wife and children to share +their frugal stores with those who needed, troll "Ere around the huge +oak," while his wife accompanied him on the spinnet, and encourage +his daughters to wed men in what was their then sphere of life, rather +than those who might not consider the gentle blood they inherited, and +their superior education, a sufficient set-off to their limited means +and humble station. Suddenly, riches poured in upon him: his eldest +daughter, true to the faith she plighted, would marry her humble +lover, and her father's subsequent harshness to her favourite +child broke the mother's heart. Sarah not only had less firmness of +character than her sister, but loved her father more devotedly, and +gave up the affection of her young heart to please him. His narrow +nature could not understand the sacrifice: and when her cheek faded, +and her really beautiful face contracted into the painful expression +of that pining melancholy which has neither words nor tears--to lull +his sympathy, he muttered to himself, "good girl, _she_ shall have +_all_ I have." + +No human passion grows with so steady, so imperceptible, yet so +rampant a growth as avarice. It takes as many shapes as Proteus, +and may be called, above all others, the vice of middle life, that +soddens into the gangrene of old age; gaining strength by vanquishing +all virtues and generous emotions, it is a creeping, sly, keen, +persevering, insidious sin, assuming various forms, to cheat even +itself; for it shames to name itself unto itself; a cowardly, +darkness-loving sin, never daring to look human nature in the face; +full of lean excuses for self-imposed starvation, only revelling +in the impurity and duskiness of its own shut-up heart. At last the +joy-bells ring its knell, while it crawls into eternity like a vile +reptile, leaving a slimy track upon the world. + +The inmates of the mansion enclosed in its old court-yard had long +ceased to attract the observation of their neighbours. Sometimes +Sarah called at the butcher's, but she exchanged smiles or greetings +with few; and the baker rang the rusty bell twice a-week, which was +answered by their only servant. When Mr. Bond first took possession +of the manor-house, he hired five domestics, and everybody said they +could not do with so few; and there were two men to look after the +gardens; but after his daughter's elopement and his wife's death, +three were discharged, and he let the lands and gardens; and then +another went, and Sarah felt the loneliness so great, that she made +the remaining one sleep in her own room. The house had been frequently +attacked; once, in a fit of despair, her brother-in-law had forced +his way in the night to the old man's side, and but for her prompt +interference, murder would have been done. No wonder, then, that her +shattered nerves trembled as she watched the shortening candle, and +heard the raving of the wind, saw the spectral shadows the broken +plumes that ornamented the canopy of the bed cast upon the fantastic +walls, _felt_ that _his_ hour was at hand, and feared that "he would +die and make no sign;" still, while those waving fantasies passing +to and fro through her active but weakened mind, made her tremble +in every limb, and ooze at every pore; and though unable to read +on steadily, her eyes continued fixed upon the book which her hand +grasped, with the same feeling that made those of old cling to the +altar of their God for sanctuary. Suddenly her father called--and she +started as from a dream--"Sarah!" + +She hastened to his side; "Dear father, what do you want?" + +"Child, the room is dark; and you had so much light just now. All +is dark. Where are you? But it was better, after all, to put out the +light; wilful waste makes"-- + +Before the miser had concluded his proverb, the light of _his_ +existence was extinguished for ever! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Several weeks elapsed before Sarah Bond recovered sufficiently from +the shock, ay, and genuine grief, occasioned by her father's death, +so as to investigate her affairs; the hardness and the tyranny she +had borne for so many years had become habitual, and her own will was +absolutely paralysed by inaction. Jacob Bond had always treated his +daughter as if she were a baby, and it was some time before she could +collect herself sufficiently to calculate upon her future plans. She +had no friends; and the sister to whom, despite her father's cruel +words, her heart clung so fondly, was far from her, she knew not +where. The mourning for herself and her servant was ordered from a +neighbouring shop, with a carelessness as to expense which made people +say that Sarah was of habits different from her father. + +The rector and curate of the parish both called, but she shrunk +from strangers. The very first act, however, of her liberty, was to +take a pew at church, a whole pew, to herself, which she ordered to +be curtained all round. Some said this indicated pride, some said +ostentation; but it was simply shyness. And soon after she placed in +the aisle a white marble tablet, "To the memory of Jacob Bond, who +died in the seventy-eighth year of his age, deeply lamented by his +sorrowing daughter." + +Some ladies connected with a society for clothing the poor, called +upon and explained to her their object; she poked five old guineas +into the hands of the spokeswoman, but forbade the insertion of her +donation in the visitor's book. During the following week she had +numerous applications from various charitable bodies, to whom she gave +generously, they said, while she reproached herself with narrowness; +to all, however, she positively refused to become a yearly subscriber; +and when closely urged by the rector to be one of the patrons of his +school, she answered, "Sir, my father received his property suddenly, +and I may be as suddenly deprived of it. I will give, but I will not +promise." Her impulse was to give, her habit to withhold. + +She added one more servant to her establishment; and as she did not +send out cards returning thanks for the 'inquiries,' which increased +daily, Sarah Bond was a very lonely woman; for though some, from +curiosity, others from want of occupation, others, again, from the +unfortunately universal desire to form acquaintance with the rich, +would have been glad, now the solitary old miser was gone, to make +fellowship with his gentle-looking and wealthy daughter, yet her +reserve and quietness prevented the fulfilment of their wishes. Weeks +and months rolled on; the old house had been repaired and beautified. +Mr. Cramp, Sarah's law agent and 'man of business,' advised her to let +the house, of which she occupied about as much as a wren could fill of +the nest of an eagle; and, strangely enough, finding that the house +of her childhood was to let, she took it, removing thither all the +furniture which her father made her promise never to part with. +The ceiling of the best bed-room was obliged to be raised to admit +the lofty bed with its plumes, and the spinnet was assigned a very +comfortable corner in a parlour, where the faded stately chairs +and gorgeous furniture formed a curious contrast to the bright +neatly-papered walls and drugget-covered floor; for in all matters +connected with her own personal expenses, Sarah Bond was exceedingly +frugal. + +_After_ her removal, though shy and strange as ever, still she +_looked_ kind things to her rich, and _did_ kind things to her poor +neighbours, only in a strange, unusual way; and her charity was given +by fits mid starts--not continuously. She moved silently about her +garden, and evinced much care for her plants and flowers. Closely +economical from long habit, rather than inclination, her domestic +arrangements were strangely at variance with what could not be called +public gifts, because she used every effort in her power to conceal +her munificence. She did not, it is true, think and calculate, how the +greatest good could be accomplished. She knew but one path to charity, +and that was paved with gold. She did not know how to offer sympathy, +or to enhance a gift by the manner of giving. Her father had +sacrificed everything to multiply and keep his wealth; all earthly +happiness had been given up for it; and unsatisfying as it had been +to her own heart, it had satisfied his. Inclination prompted to give, +habit to withhold; and certainly Sarah Bond felt far more enjoyment in +obeying inclination than in following habit; though sometimes what she +believed a duty triumphed over inclination. + +If Sarah Bond ministered to her sister's necessities, she did so +secretly, hardly venturing to confess she did so, but shielding +herself from her father's curse, by sending to her sister's child, and +not her sister. Receiving few letters, the village postman grumbled +far more at having to walk out to Greenfield, than if he was +accustomed to do so every day; and one morning in particular; when +he was obliged to do so while the rain poured, he exhibited a letter, +sealed with a large black seal, to the parish-clerk, saying he wished +with all his heart Miss Bond had remained at the old manor-house up +street, instead of changing; and where was the good of taking her +a mourning letter such a gloomy day? it would be very unkind, and +he would keep it "till the rain stopped;" and so he did, until the +next morning; then taking back word to the village postmaster that +Miss Bond wanted a post-chaise and four horses instantly, which +intelligence set not only the inn, but the whole village in commotion. +She, who had never wanted a post-chaise before, to want four horses to +it now, was really wonderful. + +"Which road shall I take, Miss?" inquired the post-boy, turning round +in his saddle, and touching his cap. + +"On straight," was the answer. Such a thrill of disappointment as +ran through the little crowd, who stood at the door to witness her +departure. "On straight!" Why, they must wait the post-boy's return +before they could possibly know which way she went. Such provoking +suspense was enough to drive the entire village demented. + +Miss Bond remained away a month, and then returned, bringing with her +her niece, a girl of about eight years old--her deceased sister's only +child, Mabel Graham. + +The following Sunday Sarah Bond went to church, leading her young +companion by the hand; both were in deep mourning, and yet the very +least observant of the congregation remarked, that they had never seen +Miss Bond look so happy as when, coming out after service, and finding +that the wind had changed to the north-east, she took off her scarf +in the church porch, and put it round the neck of the lovely girl, who +strongly remonstrated against the act. It was evident that Mabel had +been accustomed to have her own way; for when she found her aunt was +resolved her throat should be protected, she turned round, and in +a moment tore the silk into halves. "Now, dear aunt, neither of our +throats will suffer," she exclaimed; while Sarah Bond did not know +whether she ought to combat her wilfulness or applaud the tender +care of herself. It was soon talked of throughout the village, how +wonderfully Sarah Bond was changed; how cheerful and even gay she had +become. Instead of avoiding society, how willingly, yet how awkwardly, +she entered into it; how eagerly she sought to learn and to make +herself acquainted with every source and system of education. No +traveller in the parchy desert ever thirsted more for water than she +did for knowledge, and her desire seemed to increase with what it fed +upon. The more she had the more she required; and all this was for the +sake of imparting all she learned to Mabel. She fancied that teachers +might not be kind to this new-found idol; that she could transfer +information more gently and continuously; that the relative was the +best instructress; in short, the pent-up tenderness of her nature, the +restrained torrent of affections that had so long lain dormant, were +poured forth upon the little heiress, as she was already called; and +captious and determined she was, as ever heiress could be; but withal +of so loving a nature, and so guileless a heart, so confiding, so +generous, and so playful, and overflowing with mirth and mischief, +that it would have been impossible to fancy any living creature who +had felt the sunshine of fourteen summers more charming or tormenting. + +"I wish, dear aunt," exclaimed Mabel, one morning, as she sat at her +embroidery, the sun shining through the open window upon the abundant +glories of her hair, while her aunt sat, as she always did, opposite +to her, that she might, when she raised her eyes from off the +Italian lesson she was conning for her especial edification, have the +happiness of seeing her without an effort; "I wish, dear aunt, you +would send that old spinnet out of the room; it looks so odd by the +side of my beautiful piano." + +"My dear Mabel," replied her aunt, "I have put as much _new_ furniture +as you wished into this room, but I cannot part with the old"-- + +"Rubbish!" added Mabel, snapping her worsted with the impatience of +the movement. + +"It may be rubbish in _your_ eyes, Mabel, but I have told you before +that my dear father desired I should never part with the furniture of +the room he died in." + +Mabel _looked_ the truth--"that she was not more inclined toward the +old furniture on that account;" but she did not say so. "Have you got +the key of the old spinnet, aunt? I should like to hear its tone." + +"I have never found the key, my dear, though I have often looked for +it; I suppose my father lost it. I have danced to its music before now +to my mother's playing; but I am sure it has not a tone left." + +"I wish you would dance now, dear aunt," exclaimed Mabel, jumping up +at the idea; "you never told me you could dance; I never, somehow, +fancied you could dance, and I have been obliged to practise my +quadrilles with two high-backed chairs and my embroidery frame. Do, +dear aunt; put by that book, and dance." It would be impossible to +fancy a greater contrast than aunt and niece. Sarah Bond's erect and +perfectly flat figure was surmounted by a long head and face, round +which an abundance of gray hair was folded; for by no other term can +I describe its peculiar dress; her cap plain, but white as snow; and a +black silk gown, that had seen its best days, was pinned and _primmed_ +on, so as to sit as close as possible to a figure which would have +been greatly improved by heavy and abundant drapery. Mabel, lithe and +restless, buoyant and energetic, unable even to wish for more luxury +or more happiness than she possessed, so that her active mind was +_forced_ to employ its longings on trifles, as it really had nothing +else to desire; her face was round as those faces are which become +oval in time; and her bright laughing eyes sparkled like sunbeams +at the bare notion of making "aunt Sarah" take either the place of a +high-backed chair, or the embroidery frame in a quadrille. "Do dance," +she repeated. + +"My dear child, I know as little of your quadrilles as you do of my +country dances and reels. No, Mabel; I can neither open the spinnet +nor dance quadrilles; so you have been twice refused this morning; a +novelty, is it not, my dearest Mabel?" + +"But why do you not break open the spinnet? Do break it open, aunt; I +want to see the inside of it so much." + +"No, Mabel; the lock is a peculiar one, and could not be broken +without defacing the marquetre on the cover, which I should not like +to do. My poor mother was so proud of that cover, and used to dust and +polish it with her own hands." + +"What! herself?" exclaimed the pretty Mabel; "why did not her servants +do it?" + +"Because, my dear, she had but one." + +"But one! I remember when my poor mamma had none," sighed Mabel, "and +we were _so_ miserable." + +"But not from lack of attendants, I think," answered Sarah Bond. "If +they _are_ comforts, they are careful ones, and sadly wasteful. We +were never so happy as we were then. Your mother and I used to set +the milk, and mind the poultry, and make the butter, and cultivate the +flower-garden, and help to do the house work; and then in the evening +we would run in the meadows, come home laden with wild flowers, and +tired as we were by alternate work and play, my dear mother would play +on that old instrument, and my poor father sing, and we sisters wound +up the evening by a merry dance, your mother and myself trying hard +which could keep up the dance longest." + +Mabel resumed her embroidery without once speaking. Sarah Bond laid +down the book she had been reading, and moved restlessly about; her +manner, when either thoughtful or excited, prevented her features +from being disturbed; so her feelings were soothed by wandering from +place to place, or table to table; but after a considerable pause, +she said--"I wish you were a little older, Mabel; I wish you to be +older, that I might convince you, dear, that it is in vain to expect +happiness from the possession of wealth, unless we circulate it, share +it with others, and yet do so prudently and watchingly. Yet, my poor +dear father would be very angry if he heard me say that, Mabel." + +"Yes, I know," interrupted the thoughtless girl, "_for he was a +miser_." + +"Hush, Mabel!" exclaimed her aunt; "how can you say anything so harsh +of him from whom we inherit all we have. He was careful, peculiar, +very peculiar; but he saved all for me; and may God judge mercifully +between him and me if I cannot in all things do as he would have had +me," and then she paused, as if reasoning and arguing with herself; +apologising for the human throes in her own bosom that led her to act +so frequently in direct opposition to her father's desires; so that to +those who could not understand her motives and feelings, she appeared +every day more inconsistent. "It is difficult to judge of motives in +any case. I am sure, if he had only gone abroad into the world, and +seen distress as I have seen it, he could not have shut his heart +against his fellow-creatures: but his feelings were hardened against +some, whom he considered types of all, and he shut himself up; and +seeing no misery, at last believed, as many do, whom the world never +dreams of calling as you called him, Mabel--seeing no misery, believed +that it only existed in the popular whine. I am sure, if he had seen, +he would have relieved it. I always think _that_ when I am giving; it +is a great blessing to be able to give; and I would give more, were I +not fearful that it might injure you." + +"Injure me, dear aunt, how?" + +"Why, Mabel, my heart is greatly fixed upon seeing you a rich heiress, +and, in time, suitably established." + +"You have just been saying how much happier you were when you were all +poor together, and yet you want to make me rich." + +"People may be very happy in poverty before they have known riches; +but having once been rich, it would, I think, be absurd to suppose we +could ever be happy again in poverty." + +"I saw," replied the girl, "two children pass the gate this morning +while I was gathering flowers--bunches of the simple white jessamine +you love so much, dear aunt--and they asked so hard for bread, that I +sent them a shilling." + +"Too much," interrupted Sarah Bond, habitually rather than from +feeling; "too much, dear Mabel, to give to common beggars." + +"There were two, you know, and they looked wan and hungry. About three +hours after, I was cantering my pony down Swanbrook Lane--the grass +there is so soft and green, that you cannot hear his feet, while I can +hear every grasshopper that chirps--suddenly, I heard a child's voice +singing a tune full of mirth, and I went softly, softly on; and there, +under a tree, sat one of my morning acquaintances, making believe to +sing through a stick, while the other danced with bare feet, and her +very rags fluttered in time to the tune. They looked pale and hungry, +though a thick crust of bread upon the grass proved that they were +not the latter; but I never saw more joy in well-fed, well-clothed +children, for they paused and laughed, and then began again. Poverty +was no pain to _them_, at all events." + +"My dear," said Sarah Bond, "you forget the crust of bread was their +riches, for it was a superfluity." + +"And is it not very shocking that in England a crust of bread _should +be_ a superfluity," inquired Mabel. + +"Very, dear; _but a shilling was a great deal to give at the gate_," +observed her aunt, adding, after a pause, "and yet it shows how little +will make the poor happy. I am sure, if my father had looked abroad, +instead of staying at home to watch his--his--money, he would have +thought it right to share what he had. It is an unnatural thing to +shut one's self up from the duties of life; one gets no interest +for any other outlay to do the heart service; but though those poor +children danced their rags in the sunshine, and felt not the stones +they danced on, yet my dear Mabel could not dance with poverty as her +companion--my blessed, blessed child!" + +"I'd rather dance a jig with mirth than a minuet with melancholy," +laughed the girl; "and yet it would take a great deal to make me +miserable if I were with you, and you loved me, my dear aunt. Still, +I own I like to be rich, so as to have everything I want, and give +everybody what they want; and, aunt Sarah, you know very well I cannot +finish this rose without the pale floss silk, and my maid forgot both +that and to order the seed pearl." + +Mabel's complaint was interrupted by the entrance of the servant, who +told Miss Bond that Mr. Cramp, her attorney, wished to see her. + +"Show him in," said Miss Bond. + +"He wishes to see you alone, ma'am." + +"His wife is going to die, and he will want you to marry him!" +exclaimed Mabel, heedless of the servant's presence. "Do, dear aunt, +and let me be bride's-maid." + +Sarah Bond changed colour; and then, while stooping to kiss her +wayward niece, she called her "a foolish child." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Mr. Cramp, whom we introduced at the conclusion of the last chapter, +as Miss Bond's man of business, was a plain little man, skilled in the +turnings and windings of the law, beside which he could not be said to +know distinctly any other code of morals. + +On this particular morning, after a few common-place observations, +Mr. Cramp made a somewhat strange inquiry. "Had Miss Bond heard that +Mr. Alfred Bond had come over to England?" No; she had not heard +it. It was, Mr. Cramp _insinuated_ (for he never _said_ anything +directly)--it was rather an awkward circumstance Mr. Alfred Bond's +coming to England. He thought--he believed--he _hoped_ it would make +no difference to Miss Bond. + +Miss Bond opened her wide eyes still more widely. She knew that +Mr. Alfred Bond was the heir-at-law to the property bequeathed her +father; but what of that? he had never, that she heard of, dreamed of +disputing the will; and she had never felt one pang of insecurity as +to the possessions which had of late grown so deeply into her heart. +At this unexpected intimation she felt the blood rush through her +veins in a wild untameable manner. In all her trials--and they had +been many--in all her illnesses--not a few--she had never fainted, +never fallen into that symptom of weak-mindedness, a fit of hysterics; +but now she sat without power of speech, looking at Mr. Cramp's round +face. + +"My dear Miss Bond, you are not ill, I hope?" exclaimed Mr. Cramp. "I +pray you to bear up; what has been said is doubtless wrong--must be +wrong; a threat of the opposite party--an undefined threat, which +we must prepare ourselves to meet in a lawyer-like way. Hope for the +best, and prepare"-- + +"For what, sir?" inquired Miss Bond, gaspingly. + +"For any--anything--that is my plan. Unfortunately, the only way to +deal with the world, so as to meet it on equal terms, is to think +every man a rogue. It is a deeply painful view to take of human +nature, and it agonizes me to do so. Let me, however, entreat you to +bear up"-- + +"Against what, sir?" said Sarah Bond abruptly, and almost fiercely, +for now Mr. Cramp's face was reduced to its original size, and she +had collected her ideas. "There are few things I could _not_ bear up +against, but I must know what I have to sustain." + +"Your father's will, my dear lady, is safe; the document, leaving +everything to you, that is safe, and all other documents are safe +enough except Cornelius Bond Hobart's will--a will bequeathing the +property to your uncle. _Where_ is that will to be found? for if +Alfred Bond proceeds, the veritable document must be produced." + +"Why, so it can be, I suppose," said Sarah Bond, relapsing in some +degree into agitation; "it was produced when my father inherited the +property, as you know." + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Bond," he answered; "certainly not as I +_know_, for I had not the honour of being your father's legal adviser +at that time. It was my master and subsequent partner. I had not +the privilege of your father's confidence until after my colleague's +death." + +"No one," said Miss Bond, "ever had my father's _confidence_, properly +so called; he was very close in all money transactions. The will, +however, must be, I think, in Doctors' Commons! Go there immediately, +Mr. Cramp; and--stay--I will go with you; there it is, and there are +the names of the witnesses." + +"My dear lady!" expostulated the attorney, in the softest tones of his +soft voice, "I _have_ been there already. I wished to spare a lady of +your sensibility as much pain as possible; and so I went there myself, +with Mr. Alfred Bond's man of business, whom I happened to know; and I +was grieved--cut up, I may say, to the very heart's core, to hear what +he said; and he examined the document very closely too--very closely; +and, I assure you, spoke in the handsomest, I may say, the _very_ +handsomest manner of you, of your character, and usefulness, and +generosity, and Christian qualities; he did indeed; but we have all +our duties to perform in this world; paramount things are duties, Miss +Bond, and his is a very painful one." + +"What need of all these words to state a simple matter. Have you seen +the will?" said Sarah Bond. + +"I have." + +"Well, and what more is there to see, unless Mr. Alfred Bond denies +his relative's power to make a will?" + +"Which, I believe he does not do. He says he never made a will; that +is all." + +"But there _is_ the will," maintained Sarah Bond. + +"I am very sorry to wound you; but cannot you understand?" + +"Speak plainly if you can, sir," said Sarah Bond sternly; "speak +plainly if you can; I listen." + +"He maintains, on the part of his client, that the will is a forgery." + +"He maintains a falsehood, then," exclaimed Miss Bond, with a firm +determination and dignity of manner that astonished Mr. Cramp. "If +the will be forged, who is the forger? Certainly not my father; for +he inherited the property from his elder brother, who died insane. The +will is in _his_ favour, and not in my father's. Besides, neither of +them held any correspondence with the testator for twenty years; he +died abroad, and the will was sent to England after his death. Would +any one there do a gratuitous service to persons they had never +seen? Where could be the reason--the motive? How is it, that, till +now, Alfred Bond urged no claim. There are reasons," she continued, +"reasons to give the world. But I have within me, what passes all +reason--a feeling, a conviction, a true positive knowledge, that my +father was incapable of being a party to such a crime. He was a stern +man, loving money--I grant that--but honest in heart and soul. The +only creature he ever wronged was himself. He did _that_, I know. He +despoiled himself of peace and comfort, of rest and repose. In _that_ +he sinned against God's dispensation, who gives that we may give, not +merely to others, but lawfully to ourselves. After all, it would have +been but a small thing for him to have been without this property, for +it gave him no one additional luxury. I wonder, Mr. Cramp, that you, +as a man, have courage to stand before me, a poor unprotected woman, +and dare to say, that will is forged." + +While she spoke, Sarah Bond stood forth a new creature in the +astonished eyes of the sleek attorney. He absolutely quailed before +the vehemence and fervour of the usually mild woman. He assured her +she was mistaken; that _he_ had not yielded to the point that the will +was a forgery; that he never would confess that such was the case; +that it should be his business to disprove the charge; that he hoped +she did not suppose he yielded to the plaintiff, who was resolved to +bring the matter into a court of justice. He would only ask her one +little question; had she ever seen her father counterfeit different +hands? Yes, she said, she had; he could counterfeit, copy, any hand he +ever saw, so that the real writer could not tell the counterfeit from +the original. Mr. Cramp made no direct observation on this, except to +beg that she would not mention that "melancholy circumstance" to any +one else. + +Sarah Bond told him she should not feel bound to make this talent of +her father's a crime, by twisting into a _secret_ what he used to do +as an amusement. Mr. Cramp urged mildly the folly of this, when she +had a defence to make; but she stood all the more firmly upon what she +fearlessly considered the dignity of right and truth; at the same time +assuring him, she would to the last contest that _right_, not so much +for her own sake, or the sake of one who was dear to her beyond all +power of expression, but for the sake of _him_ in whose place she +stood, and whose honour she would preserve with her life. Mr. Cramp +was a good, shrewd man of business. He considered all Miss Bond's +energy, on the subject of her father's honour, as romance, though he +could not help believing _she_ was in earnest about it. He thought it +was perfectly in accordance with the old miser's character, that he +should procure or make such a document; though he considered it very +extraordinary, for many reasons, that it should have imposed upon men +more penetrating and learned than himself. + +Sarah Bond, after his departure, endeavoured to conceal her anxiety +from her niece; but in vain. Mabel was too clear-sighted; and it was +a relief, as much as an astonishment to her aunt, to see how bravely +she bore up against the evil news. Miss Bond did not remember that the +knowledge of the _power_ of wealth does not belong to sixteen summers. +Mabel knew and thought so little of its artificial influence, that +she believed her happiness sprang from birds and flowers, from music, +and dancing, and books--those silent but immortal tongues that live +through centuries, for our advantage; besides, her young heart welled +forth so much hope, that she really did not understand, even if they +lost their fortune, their "troublesome fortune," as she called +it, that it would seriously affect their happiness. There was no +philosophy, no heroism in this; it was simply the impulse of a bright, +sunny, beautiful young mind. + +The course of events promised soon to strip Mabel of all except her +own bright conceptions. Mr. Alfred Bond urged on his plea with all the +energy and bitterness of one who had been for many years despoiled +of his right. His solicitor, soon after his claim was first declared, +made an offer to Sarah Bond to settle an annuity on her and her niece +during the term of their natural lives; but this was indignantly +spurned by Sarah; from him she would accept no favour; she either had +or had not a right to the whole of the property originally left to +her uncle. Various circumstances, too tedious to enumerate, combined +to prove that the will deposited in Doctors Commons was not a true +document; the signature of Cornelius Bond Hobart was disproved by +many; but second only to one incident in strangeness was the fact, +that though sought in every direction, and widely advertised for in +the newspapers of the day, the witnesses to the disputed document +could not be found--they had vanished. + +The incident, so strange as to make more than one lawyer believe for +a time that really such a quality as honesty was to be found in the +world, was as follows:--Sarah Bond, be it remembered, had never seen +the disputed will; she was very anxious to do so; and yet, afterwards, +she did not like to visit Doctors Commons with any one. She feared, +she knew not what; and yet, above all things, did she desire to see +this will with her own eyes. + +Mr. Cramp was sitting in his office when a woman, muffled in a cloak, +and veiled, entered and seated herself without speaking. After a +moment she unclasped her cloak, loosened the wrapping from her throat, +threw back her veil, and asked for a glass of water. + +"Bless me, Miss Bond, is it you? I am sure I am much honoured--very +much!" + +"No honour, sir," she replied, "but necessity. I have been to Doctors +Commons; have seen the will--it is my father's writing!" + +"You confess this to me?" said Mr. Cramp, drawing back on his chair, +and almost gasping for breath. + +"I do," she answered; "I proclaim it; it is my father's _copy_ of the +original will. But how the copy could have been substituted for the +real will, I can only conjecture." + +"Surmise is something," replied the lawyer, a little relieved; +"conjecture sometimes leads to proof." + +"My father and uncle lived together when the will came into their +possession. They were in partnership as farmers. My father's habits +were precise: he always copied every writing, and endorsed his copies +with a large _C_; the very _C_ is marked upon the will I have just +seen at Doctors Commons." + +"That is singular," remarked Cramp; "but it does not show us the way +out of the difficulty; on the contrary, that increases. _Somebody_--I +don't for an instant suppose Mr. Jacob Bond--in proving the will must +have sworn that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, those were +the real, which are only copies of the signatures." + +"True--and such a mistake was extremely characteristic of my uncle, +who performed many strange acts before he was known to be insane. This +was doubtless one of them." + +"But _where_ is the original?" inquired the man of business. + +"Heaven knows! I cannot find it; but I am not the less assured of its +existence." + +"Then we must persist in our plea of the truth of the document in +Doctors Commons." + +"Certainly not," said Sarah; "you must not persist in a falsehood in +my name. If you do, I shall rise up in court, and contradict you! I +feel it my duty, having seen the will, to state my firm belief that it +is a copy of the original will, and nothing more." + +Poor Mr. Cramp was dreadfully annoyed. He could, he thought, manage +all sorts of clients. He reasoned, he proved, he entreated, he got +her counsel to call upon her, but all was in vain. She would go +into court, she said, herself, if her counsel deserted her. She +would _not_ give up the cause; she would plead for the sake of her +father's honour. She was well assured that the real will was still +in existence, and would be discovered--found--sooner or later--though +not, perhaps, till she was in her grave. + +The senior counsel was so provoked at what he called his client's +obstinacy, that he threw up his brief, and the junior took advantage +of the circumstance to make a most eloquent speech, enlarging upon +the singularity of no appeal having been previously made by the +plaintiff--of the extraordinary disappearance of the witnesses--of the +straight-forward, simple, and beautiful truthfulness of the defendant; +in short, he moved the court to tears, and laid the foundation of his +future fortune. But after that day, Sarah Bond and her niece, Mabel, +were homeless and houseless. Yet I should not say that; for the gates +of a jail gaped widely for the "miser's daughter," but only for a few +days; after which society rang with praises, loud and repeated, of Mr. +Alfred Bond's liberality, who had discharged the defendant's costs as +well as his own. In truth, people talked so much and so loudly about +this, that they altogether forgot to inquire what had become of Sarah +and Mabel. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The clergyman of the parish was their first visiter. He assisted +them to look into the future. It was, he who conveyed to Sarah Bond +Alfred's determination that she should be held scatheless. The good +man delivered this information with the manner of a person who feels +he comes with good news, and expects it will be so received; but +Sarah Bond could only regard Alfred as the calumniator of her father's +memory, the despoiler of her rights. The wild expression of joy in +Mabel's face, as she threw herself on her aunt's bosom, gave her to +understand that she ought to be thankful for what saved her from a +prison. + +Words struggled for utterance. She who had borne so much and so +bravely, was overcome. Again and again she tried to speak, but for +some hours she fell from one fainting fit into another. She had +borne up against all disasters, until the power of endurance was +overwhelmed; and now, she was attacked by an illness so violent, that +it threatened dissolution. At this very time, when she needed so much +sympathy, a stern and severe man, in whom there was no pity, a man who +had received large sums of money from Miss Bond as a tradesman, and +whose account had stood over from a particular request of his own, +believing that all was gone, and that he should lose, took advantage +of her illness to levy an execution upon the goods, and to demand a +sale. + +At this time her reason had quite deserted her, and poor Mabel was +incapable of thought beyond her duty to her aunt, which made her +remove her to a cottage-lodging from the turmoil of the town. No one +distinctly knew, except Mabel, why Sarah Bond was so attached to +the old furniture, and few cared. And yet more than one kind heart +remembered how she had liked the "rubbishing things," and bought in +several, resolved that, if she recovered, and ever had "a place of +her own again," they would offer them for her acceptance. Her illness +was so tedious, that except the humble curate and the good rector, +her inquirers had fallen off--for long sickness wears out friends. +Some would pause as they passed the cottage window, where the +closely-pinned down curtain told of the caution and quiet of sickness; +and then they would wonder how poor Miss Bond was; and if they entered +the little passage to inquire, they could scarcely recognise in the +plainly-dressed, jaded, bent girl, whose eyes knew no change but +from weeping to watching, and watching to weeping, the buoyant and +beautiful heiress whose words were law, and who once revelled in +luxury. The produce of the sale--though everything, of course, went +below its value--left a small surplus, after all debts and expenses +were paid; which the clergyman husbanded judiciously, and gave in +small portions to Mabel. Alfred Bond himself called to offer any +assistance that might be required, which Mabel declined, coldly and at +once. + +Patiently and devotedly did she watch beside the couch of her poor +aunt; one day suffering the most acute anxiety if the symptoms became +worse than usual; the next full of hope as they abated. Did I say +that one day after another this was the case? I should have written +it, one hour after another; for truly, at times she fluctuated so +considerably, that no one less hopeful than Mabel could have continued +faithful to hope. As Sarah Bond gained strength, she began to question +her as to the past. Mabel spoke cautiously; but, unused to any species +of dissimulation, could not conceal the fact, that the old furniture, +so valued by her uncle, and bequeathed with a conditional blessing, +was gone--sold! This had a most unhappy effect on the mind of Sarah +Bond. She felt as if her father's curse was upon her. She dared +not trust herself to speak upon the subject. When the good rector +(Mr. Goulding) alluded to the sale, and attempted to enter into +particulars, or give an account of the affairs he had so kindly and so +ably managed, she adjured him in so solemn a manner never to speak of +the past, if he wished her to retain her reason, that he, unconscious +of the motive, and believing it arose entirely from regret at her +changed fortunes, avoided it as much as she could desire; and thus +she had no opportunity of knowing how much had been saved by the +benevolence of a few kind persons. Sarah Bond fell into the very +common error of imagining that persons ought to _know_ her thoughts +and feelings, without her explaining them. But her mind and judgment +had been so enfeebled by illness and mental suffering, that, even +while she opposed her opinions, she absolutely leaned on Mabel--as +if the oak called to the woodbine to support its branches. What gave +Mabel the most uneasiness, was the determination she had formed to +leave the cottage as soon as she was able to be removed; and she +was seriously displeased because Mabel mentioned this intention to +Mr. Goulding. Despite all poor Mabel could urge to the contrary, +they quitted the neighbourhood--the sphere of Sarah Bond's sudden +elevation, and as sudden depression--alone, at night, and on foot. It +was a clear, moonlight evening, in midsummer, when the twilight can +hardly be said to give place to darkness; and when the moon shines out +so very brightly, that the stars are reduced to pale lone sparks of +_white_ rather than _light_, in the blue sky. It was a lovely evening; +the widow with whom they had lodged was not aware of their intention +until about an hour before their departure. She was very poor and +ignorant, but her nature was kind; and when Sarah Bond pressed upon +her, out of her own scanty store, a little present of money beyond her +stipulated rent, she would not take it, but accompanied them to the +little gate with many tears, receiving charge of a farewell letter +to the rector. "And haven't you one to leave me for the curate?" she +inquired. "Deary me! but I'm sure for every once the old gentleman +came when Miss Bond was so bad, the curate came three times; and no +letter for him! deary, oh, deary me!" + +"Why did you not put me in mind to write to Mr. Lycight, Mabel?" +inquired her aunt, after the gate, upon which the poor woman leaned, +had closed. + +Mabel made no reply; but Sarah felt the hand she held tightly within +hers tremble and throb. How did she then remember the days of her own +youth, as she thought, "Oh! in mercy _she_ might have escaped from +what only so causes the pulses to beat or the hand to tremble!" +Neither spoke; but Sarah had turned over the great page of Mabel's +heart, while Mabel did not confess, even to herself, that Mr. +Lycight's words, however slight, were more deeply cherished than Mr. +Goulding's precepts. They had a long walk to take that night, and +both wept at first; but however sad and oppressed the mind and spirits +maybe, there is a soothing and balmy influence in nature that lulls, +if it does not dispel, sorrow; every breeze was perfumed. As they +passed the hedges, there was a rustling and murmuring of birds amongst +the leaves; and Mabel could not forbear an exclamation of delight +when she saw a narrow river, now half-shadowed, then bright in the +moonbeams, bounding in one place like a thing of life, then brawling +around sundry large stones that impeded its progress, again subsiding +into silence, and flowing onward to where a little foot-bridge, over +which they had to pass, arched its course; beyond this was the church, +and there Mabel knew they were to await the coach which was to convey +them to a village many miles from their old homes, and where Sarah +Bond had accidentally heard there was a chance of establishing a +little school. Mabel paused for a moment to look at the venerable +church standing by the highway, the clergyman's house crouching in the +grove behind. The hooting and wheeling of the old owls in the ivied +tower was a link of life. Sarah Bond passed the turn-stile that led +into the church-yard, followed by Mabel, who shuddered when she found +herself surrounded by damp grass-green graves, and beneath the shadows +of old yew-trees. + +She knew not where her aunt was going, but followed her silently. +Sarah Bond led the way to a lowly grave, marked by a simple +head-stone. She knelt down by its side, and while her bosom throbbed, +she prayed earnestly, deeply, within her very soul--she prayed, now a +faded, aged woman--she prayed above the ashes, the crumbling bones of +him she had loved with a love that never changes--that is green when +the head is gray--that Mabel might never suffer as she had suffered. +Relieved by these devotional exercises, Sarah rose, and the humble +and stricken pair bade adieu to the melancholy scene, and betook +themselves to their toilsome journey. Fortunately the stage soon +overtook them, and having, with some difficulty, obtained seats, they +were in due time deposited in a village, where Sarah felt there would +be no eyes prying into their poverty, no ears to hear of it, no tongue +to tell thereof, and point them out "as the poor ladies that once were +rich." This was a great relief, though it came of pride, and she knew +it; and she said within herself, When health strengthens my body, I +will wrestle with this feeling, for it is unchristian. She never even +to Mabel alluded to what was heaviest on her mind--the loss of the old +furniture; though she cheered her niece by the assurance that, after +a few months, if the Almighty blessed the exertions they must make for +their own support, she would write to their friend Mr. Goulding, and +say where they were; by "that time," she said, she hoped to be humble, +as a Christian should be. After this assurance was given, it was +astonishing to see how Mabel revived. Her steps recovered their +elasticity, her eyes their brightness. Sarah Bond had always great +superiority in needlework, and this procured her employment; while +Mabel obtained at once, by her grace and correct speaking, two or +three day pupils. Her wild and wayward temper had been subdued by +change of circumstances; but if she had not found occupation it +would have become morose Here was not only occupation, but success; +success achieved by the most legitimate means--the exertion of +her own faculties; there were occasionally bitter tears and many +disappointments; and the young soft fingers, so slender and beautiful, +were obliged to work in earnest; and she was forced by necessity to +rise early and watch late; and then she had to think, not how pounds +could be spent, but pennies could be earned. We need not, however, +particularize their labours in this scene of tranquil usefulness. It +is sufficient to say that Mabel's little school increased; and both +she and her aunt came at length to feel and speak thankfully of the +uses of adversity, and bless God for taking as well as for giving. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Though Sarah Bond had used every means within her power to conceal her +place of retreat, yet she often felt bitterly pained that no one had +sought her out. She said she wished to be forgotten, unless she had +the power to clear away the imputation on her father's name. And yet, +unknown to herself, she cherished the hope, that some one would have +traced them, though only to say one cheering word of approbation +regarding their attempt at self-dependence. Sarah thanked the Almighty +greatly for one thing, that Mabel's cheerfulness was continued and +unfluctuating, and that her mind seemed to have gathered strength by +wholesome exercise. She believed her affections, if not free, were not +entangled, and that her pride had risen against her imagination; and +it was beautiful to see how, watching to avoid giving each other pain, +striving continually to show the bright side of every question, the +one to the other, and extract sweets instead of bitters from every +little incident, led to their actually enjoying even the privations +which exercised their tenderness towards each other. + +Time wore away many of their sorrows, which old father Time always +does; a kindness we forget to acknowledge, though we often arraign him +for spoiling our pleasures. Sarah and Mabel had been taking an evening +walk, wondering how little they existed upon, and feeling that it was +a wide step towards independence to have few wants. + +"I can see good working in all things," said Mabel; "for if I had +obtained the companionship of books, which I so eagerly desired at +first, I should not have had the same inducement to pursue my active +duties, to read my own heart, and the great book of nature, which is +opened alike to peer and peasant; I have found so much to learn, so +much to think of by studying objects and persons--reading persons +instead of books." + +"Yes," added Sarah Bond; "and seeing how much there is to admire in +every development of nature, and how much of God there is in every +human being." + +As they passed along the village street, Mabel observed that the +cottagers looked after them, and several of her little pupils darted +their heads in and out of their homes, and laughed; she thought that +some village fun was afloat, that some rural present of flowers, or +butter, or eggs, had been sent--a little mysterious offering for her +to guess at; and when she turned to fasten the wicket gate, there were +several of the peasants knotted together talking. A sudden exclamation +from her aunt, who had entered the cottage, confirmed her suspicion; +but it was soon dissipated. In their absence, their old friends Mr. +Goulding and the curate had arrived by the coach, and entered their +humble dwelling. From a wagon at the same time were lifted several +articles of old furniture, which were taken into the cottage, and +properly arranged. There were two old chairs, an embroidered stool, +a china vase, a cabinet, a table, and the spinnet. Strangely the +furniture looked on the sanded floor, but never was the spiciest +present from India more grateful to its receiver than these were to +the eyes of Sarah Bond. She felt as if a ban was removed from her +when she looked upon the old things so valued by her father. Absorbed +in the feelings of the moment, she did not even turn to inquire how +they had so unexpectedly come there. Nor did she note the cold and +constrained greeting which Mabel gave to Mr. Lycight. She herself, +after the first self-engrossed thoughts were past, turned to give both +gentlemen the cordial reception which their many former kindnesses, +not to speak of their apparent connexion with the present gratifying +occurrence, deserved. From Mr. Goulding she learnt that the furniture +had been bought up by a few old friends, and committed to him to be +sent to her as a mark of their goodwill; he had only delayed bringing +it to her, till she should have proved, as he knew she would, superior +to her misfortunes, by entering upon some industrious career. + +As the evening closed in, and the astonishment and feelings of their +first meeting subsided, Sarah Bond and Mr. Goulding conversed apart, +and then, indeed, she listened with a brimming heart and brimming +eyes. He told of his young friend's deep attachment to Mabel; how he +had prevailed upon him to pause before he declared it; to observe how +she endured her changed fortune; and to avoid engaging her affections +until he had a prospect of placing her beyond the reach of the most +harrowing of all poverties, that which keeps up an appearance above +its means. "Her cheerfulness, her industry, her goodness, have +all been noted," he continued. "She has proved herself capable of +accommodating herself to her circumstances; the most difficult of all +things to a young girl enervated by luxury and indulgence. And if my +friend can establish an interest in her affections, he has no higher +views of earthly happiness, and I think he ought to have no other. You +will, I am sure, forgive me for having counselled the trial. If deep +adversity had followed your exertions--if you had failed instead of +succeeded--I should have been at hand to succour and to aid." + +Sarah Bond had never forgotten the emotion of Mabel, caused by +the mention of the curate's name when they quitted their old +neighbourhood, and the very reserve Mabel showed proved to Sarah's +searching and clear judgment, that the feeling was unchanged. Truly +in that hour was her chastened heart joyful and grateful. "Mabel must +wait," she said, "until the prospect of advancement became a reality; +for it would be an ill return of disinterested love for a penniless +orphan to become a burden instead of a blessing. Mabel would grow more +worthy every day; they were doing well; ay, he might look round the +white-washed walls and smile, but they _were_ prosperous, healthful, +happy, and respected; and if she could only live to see the odium cast +upon her father's memory removed, she would not exchange her present +poverty for her past pride." She frequently afterwards thought of the +clergyman's rejoinder--"That riches, like mercy, were as blessed to +the giver as to the receiver, and that they only created evil when +hoarded, or bestowed by a heedless hand." + +They certainly were a happy group in that lowly cottage room that +evening. Mabel's proud bearing had given place, as if by magic, to a +blushing shyness; which she tried to shield from observation by every +possible attempt at ease. She talked to Mr. Goulding, and found a +thousand uses for the old furniture she had once so heartily despised. +"She would sit in the great high chair at the end of that table, +with her feet on the stool, and the china vase in the midst, filled +with humble cottage flowers--meadow-sweet and wild roses, and +sweet-williams, sea-pinks, woodbine, and wild convolvulus! Did Mr. +Goulding like cottage flowers best?" No; the clergyman said he did +not, but he thought Mr. Lycight did, and the young man assured her +that it was so; and then gazed on the only love his heart, his deep, +unworn, earnest heart, had throbbed to, with an admiration which +is always accompanied by fear, lest something should prevent the +realization of the one great earthly hope. And Mabel was more fitful +than her aunt had ever seen her. Fearful lest her secret, as she +thought it, should be discovered, she made as many turns and windings +as a hare; and yet, unskilled in disguising her feelings, after +spending many words in arranging and re-arranging, she suddenly wished +that the spinnet could be opened, "If," she exclaimed, "_that_ could +be opened, I should be able to teach Mary Godwin music; and her mother +seemed to wish it so much: surely we can open the instrument?" + +"It has not been opened for years," replied Miss Bond; "and I +remember, once before, Mabel wished it opened, and I refused, lest +forcing the lock might harm the marquetre, of which my poor mother was +so fond. It has never been opened since her death." But Mabel's desire +was of too much consequence, in her lover's eyes, to be passed over, +although all seemed agreed that if it were opened it could not be +played upon; so in a few minutes he procured a smith, who said he +would remove the hinges, and then unscrew the lock from the inside, +which would not injure the cover. This was done; but greatly to poor +Mabel's dismay, the cavity, where strings once had been, was filled +with old papers. + +"Now, is not this provoking?" said Mabel, flinging out first one and +then another bundle of letters. "Is not this provoking?" + +"No, no," exclaimed Sarah Bond, grasping a lean, long, parchment, +round which an abundance of tape was wound. "No. Who knows what may +be found here?" At once the idea was caught, Mabel thought no more +of the strings. "I cannot," said Sarah Bond to Mr. Goulding, "untie +this; can you?" Her fingers trembled, and she sank on her knees by the +clergyman's side. The eyes of the little group were fixed upon him; +not a word was spoken; every breath was hushed; slowly he unfastened +knot after knot; at last the parchment was unfolded; still, neither +Sarah Bond nor Mabel spoke; the latter gasped for breath--her lips +apart, her cheeks flushed; while Sarah's hands were clasped together, +locked upon her bosom, and every vestige of colour had deserted her +face. + +"Be calm, my dear friend," he said, after glancing his eyes over the +parchment; "be calm. You have experienced enough of the changes and +chances of this world not to build too quickly upon any foundation but +the one--the goodness of God; I do believe this is an especial proof +of His Providence, for I do think this is Cornelius Bond Hobart's +original will in your uncle's favour." + +It would be useless to attempt a description of the scene that +followed; but the joy at the _reality_ of the discovery was a heartful +temperate joy--the joy of chastened hearts. Sarah Bond, blessing God, +above all things, that, go the law as it would, her father's memory +would now be held as the memory of an honest man; that he had, as she +had said, copied, not forged the will. Mr. Goulding declared he should +find it difficult to forgive himself for having so long prevented the +old furniture from being sent, assuring her, the dread that Mabel was +unfit to contend with the privations to which the lives of humble men +are doomed, made him tremble for the happiness of the young friend who +had been consigned to his care by a dying mother; he feared to renew +the intercourse, until her character was developed; while poor Mabel +had little thought how closely she was watched along the humble and +thorny paths she had to traverse. + +Sarah Bond's spirit was so chastened, that she regretted nothing save +the shadow cast upon her father's grave; and now that was removed, +she was indeed happy. She assured the rector how useful adversity had +been to them--how healthful it had rendered Mabel's mind--and how much +better, if they recovered what had been lost, they should know how to +employ their means of usefulness. Mr. Lycight's congratulations were +not so hearty as Mr. Goulding's; he felt that _now_ he was the curate +and Mabel the heiress; and he heard the kind good night which Mabel +spoke with a tingling ear. _He_, was proud in his own way; and pride, +as well as his affection, had been gratified by the idea of elevating +her he loved. Mabel saw this, and she wept during the sleepless night, +that he should believe her so unworthy and so ungrateful. + +There was much to think of and to do; the witnesses were to be found, +and lawyers consulted, and proceedings taken, and much of the turmoil +and bitterness of the law to be endured, which it pains every honest +heart to think upon; and Mr. Cramp was seized with a sudden fit of +virtuous indignation against Mr. Alfred Bond, after Sarah Bond's +new "man of business" had succeeded in producing the only one of the +witnesses in existence, who, he also discovered, had been purposely +kept out of the way, on a former occasion, by some one or other. The +delays were vexatious, and the quirks and turns, and foldings, and +doubles innumerable; but they came to an end at last, and Mr. Alfred +Bond was obliged in his turn to vacate the old mansion, in which he +had revelled--a miser in selfish pleasures. + +I have dwelt longer than was perhaps necessary on the _minutiæ_ of +this relation, the principal events of which are so strongly impressed +upon my memory. But the more I have thought over the story, the more +I have been struck with the phases and impulses of Sarah Bond's +unobtrusive, but deep feeling mind; her self-sacrificing spirit, her +devotion to her father's will, her dread, when first in possession of +the property, that any _one_ act of liberality on her part might be +considered a reproach to his memory; her habits struggling with her +feelings, leading me to the conclusion that she would never have +become, even with the expanding love of her niece to enlarge her +views, thoroughly unmanacled from the parsimonious habits of her +father, but for her lesson in adversity, which, instead of teaching as +it does a worldly mind, the _value of money_, taught her higher nature +_its proper uses_. + +It was beautiful to see how Mabel grew into her aunt's virtues; and +even Mr. Goulding was startled by the energy and thoughtfulness of +her character. She soon convinced Mr. Lycight that her prospects grew +brighter in his love; and for a time he was romantic enough to wish +she had continued, penniless, and he had been born a peer, to prove +his disinterested affection. This, however, wore away, as man's +romance always does, and he absolutely became reconciled to his +bride's riches. Sarah Bond was living a very few years ago, beloved +and honoured, the fountain of prosperity and blessing to all who +needed. There was no useless expenditure, no show, no extravagance +in "the establishment" at the old manor house; but it was pleasant to +perceive the prosperity of the poor in the immediate neighbourhood; +there was evidence of good heads and kind hearts, superintending all +moral and intellectual improvements; there were flourishing schools, +and benevolent societies, and the constant exercise of individual +charities; and many said that Sarah Bond, and niece, and nephew, did +more good with hundreds than others did with thousands. From having +had practical experience of poverty, they understood how to remedy +its wants, and minister to its sorrows. And to the last hour of her +prolonged life, Sarah Bond remembered + +THE USES OF ADVERSITY. + + * * * * * + + + + +ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"There they go!" exclaimed old Mrs. Myles, looking after two +exceedingly beautiful children, as they passed hand in hand down +the street of the small town of Abbeyweld, to the only school, +that had "Seminary for Young Ladies," written in large hand, on a +proportionably large card, and placed against the bow window of an +ivied cottage. "There they go!" she repeated; "and though I'm their +grandmother, I may say a sweeter pair of children than Helen Marsh and +Rose Dillon never trod the main street of Abbeyweld--God bless them!" +She added earnestly, "God Almighty bless them!" + +"Amen!" responded a kind voice; and turning round, Mrs. Myles saw the +curate of the parish, the Reverend Mr. Stokes, standing just at the +entry of her own house. To curtsey with the respect which in the "good +old times" was customary towards those who "meekly taught, and led the +way," and invite the minister in, was the work of a moment; the next +beheld Mrs. Myles and her visiter tete-a-tete in the widow's small +parlour. It was a cheerful, pleasant room, such as is often met with +in the clean villages of England. There were two or three pieces of +embroidery, in frames of faded gilding; an old-fashioned semicircular +card-table stood opposite the window, and upon it rested a filagree +tea-caddy, based by a mark-a-tree work-box, flanked on one side by the +Bible, on the other by a prayer-book; while on the space in front was +placed "The Whole Art of Cookery," by Mrs. Glasse. High-backed chairs +of black mahogany were ranged along the white-washed walls; a corner +cupboard displayed upon its door the magnificence of King Solomon, and +the liberality of the Queen of Sheba, while within glittered engraved +glasses, and fairy-like cups and saucers, that would delight the +hearts of the fashionables of the present day. Indeed, Mrs. Myles knew +their value, and prided herself thereon, for whenever the squire or +any great lady paid her a visit, she was sure, before they entered, +to throw the cupboard door slyly open, so as to display its treasures; +and then a little bit of family pride would creep out--"Yes, every one +said they were pretty--and so she supposed they were--but they were +nothing to her grandmother's, where she remembered the servants eating +off real India _chaney_." The room also contained a high-backed sofa, +covered with chintz; very stately, hard, and uncomfortable it was to +sit upon; indeed, no one except visiters ever did sit upon it, save +on Sundays, when Helen and Rose were permitted so to do, "if they +kept quiet," which in truth they seldom did for more than five minutes +together. "Moonlight"--Mrs. Myles's large cat--Moonlight would take +a nap there sometimes; but as Mrs. Myles, while she _hushed_ him off, +declared he was a "clean creature," it may be said that Moonlight was +the only thing privileged to _enjoy_ the sofa to his heart's content. +Why he liked it, I could not understand. Now she invited Mr. Stokes +to sit upon it; but he knew better, and took the window seat in +preference. + +"They are fine children--are they not, sir?" inquired the good old +lady, reverting in the pride of her heart to her young charges. "Rose, +poor thing, will be obliged to shift for herself, for her father and +mother left her almost without provision: but when Helen's father +returns, I do hope he will be able to introduce her in the way she +seems born for. She has the heart of a princess--bless her!" added +Mrs. Myles, triumphantly. + +"I hope, my good friend, she will have a Christian's heart," said Mr. +Stokes. + +"Oh, certainly, sir, certainly, we all have that, I hope." + +"I hope so too; but I think you will act wisely in directing the +proud spirit of Helen into an humbler channel, while you rouse and +strengthen the modest and retiring one of Rose." + +"They are very, very different, sir," said the old lady, looking +particularly sagacious; "I don't mean as to talent, for they are both +very clever, nor as to goodness, for, thank God, they are both good; +but Helen has such a _noble_ spirit--such an uplooking way with her." + +"We should all look up to God." said the minister. + +"Oh, of course we all do." Mrs. Myles paused. "She has such a +lady-like, independent way with her, I'm sure she'll turn out +something _great_, sir. Well, there's no harm in a little ambition now +and then; we all, you know" want to be a little bit better off than we +are." + +"We are too apt to indulge in a desire for what is beyond our reach," +said the minister, gravely; "if every one was to reside on the hills, +who would cultivate the valleys? We should not forget that godliness, +with contentment, is great gain. It would be far better, Mrs. Myles, +if, instead of struggling to get _out _ of our sphere, we laboured to +do the best we could in it." + +"Ah, sir, and that's true," replied Mrs. Myles; "just what I say to +Mrs. Jones, who _will_ give bad sherry at her little tea-parties; good +gooseberry, I say, is better than bad sherry. Will you taste mine, +sir?" + +"No, thank you," said the good man, who at the very moment was +pondering over the art of self-deception, as practised by ourselves +_upon_ ourselves. "No, thank you; but do, my dear madam, imbue those +children with a contented spirit; there is nothing that keeps us so +truly at peace with the world as contentment--or with ourselves, for +it teaches peace--or with a Higher Power, for it is insulting to +His wisdom and love to go on repining through this beautiful world, +instead of enjoying what as Christians we can enjoy, and regarding +without envy that which we have not." + +"Exactly so, good sir. 'Be content,' I said to Helen only this very +morning--'be content, my dear, with your pink gingham; _who knows but +by and by you may have a silk dress for Sundays_?'" + +"Ah, my dear Mrs. Myles, you are sowing bad seed," said the clergyman. + +"What, sir, when I told her to be content with the little pink +gingham?" + +"No; but when you told her she might have a silk one hereafter. Don't +you see, instead of uprooting you were fostering pride?--instead of +directing her ambition to a noble object, and thereby elevating her +mind, you were lowering it by drawing it down to an inferior one?" + +"I did not see it," observed Mrs. Myles, simply; "but you know, sir, +there's no more harm in a silk than a cotton." + +"I must go now, my good lady," said the minister; "only observing +that there _is_ no more harm in one than in the other, except when the +desire to possess anything beyond our means leads to discontent, if +not to more actively dangerous faults. I must come and lecture the +little maids myself." + +"And welcome, sir, and thank you kindly besides; poor little dears, +they have no one to look after them but me. I daresay I am wrong +sometimes, but I do my best--I do my best." + +The curate thought she did according to her knowledge, but he lamented +that two such exquisitely beautiful children, possessed of such +natural gifts, should be left to the management of a vain old +woman--most vain--though kindly and good-hearted--giving kindness with +pleasure, and receiving it with gratitude--yet totally unfit to bring +up a _pair of beauties_, who, of all the female sex, require the most +discretion in the management. + +"I wonder," thought the Reverend Mr. Stokes--"I wonder when our +legislature will contrive to establish a school for mothers. If girls +are sent to school, the chances are that the contamination over +which the teacher can have no control--the contamination of evil +girls--renders them vicious; if, on the contrary, they are kept at +home, the folly of their mothers makes them fools--a pretty choice!" +Mr. Stokes turned down a lane that ran parallel with the garden +where the children went to school; and hearing Helen's voice in loud +dispute, he paused for a moment to ascertain the cause. + +"I tell you," said the little maid, "Rose may be what she likes, but +I'll be queen." + +"How unfit," quoth the curate to himself--"how utterly unfit is Mrs. +Myles to manage Helen!" The good man paused again; and to the no small +confusion of the little group, who had been making holiday under the +shadow of a spreading apple-tree, suddenly entered amongst them, +and read her a lecture, gently, kindly, and judicious. Having thus +performed what he conceived his duty, he walked on; but his progress +was arrested by a little hand being thrust into his; and when he +looked down, the beaming, innocent face of Rose Dillon was up-turned +towards him. + +"Do please, sir," she said, "let Helen Marsh be queen of the game; +if she is not, she won't play with a bit of heart--she won't, indeed, +sir. She will play to be sure, but not with any heart." + +"I cannot unsay what I have said, little Rose," he answered; "I +cannot; it is better for her to play without heart, as you call it, +than to have that heart too highly uplifted by play." + +Happy would it have been for Helen Marsh if she had always had a +judicious friend to correct her dangerous ambition. The good curate +admonished the one, and brought forward the other, of the cousins; but +what availed his occasional admonishing when counteracted by the weak +flattery of Mrs. Myles? + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Years passed; the lovely children, who tripped hand in hand down +the street of Abbeyweld, grew into ripe girlhood, and walked arm in +arm--the pride and admiration of every villager. The curate became at +last rector, and Mrs. Myles's absurdities increased with her years. +The perfect beauty of the cousins, both of face and form, rendered +them celebrated far and near. Each had a separate character as from +the first; and yet--but that Rose Dillon was a little shorter than +her cousin Helen Marsh, and that the _expression_ of her eyes was so +different that it was almost impossible to believe they were the +same shape and colour, the cousins might have been mistaken for each +other--I say _might_, because it is rather remarkable that they never +were. Helen's fine dark eyes had a lofty and forbidding aspect, while +Rose had not the power, if indeed she ever entertained the will, of +looking either the one or the other. I thought Rose the most graceful +of the two in her carriage, but there could be no doubt as to Helen's +being the most dignified; both girls were almost rustic in their +manners, but rusticity and vulgarity are very distinct in their +feelings and attributes. They _could not_ do or say aught that was +vulgar or at variance with the kindnesses of life--those tender +nothings which make up so large a something in the account of every +day's existence. Similar, withal, as the cousins were in appearance, +they grew up as dissimilar in feelings and opinions as it is possible +to conceive, and yet loving each other dearly. Still Helen never for a +moment fancied that any one in the village of Abbeyweld could compete +with her in any way. She had never questioned herself as to this +being the case, but the idea had been nourished since her earliest +infancy--had never been disputed, except perhaps when latterly a town +belle, or even a more conceited specimen, a country belle, visited in +the neighbourhood; but popular voice (and there _is_ a popular voice, +be it loud or gentle, everywhere) soon discovered that blonde, and +feathers, and flowers, had a good deal to do with this disturbing +of popular opinion; and after a few days, the good people invariably +returned to their allegiance. "Ah! ah!" old Mrs. Myles would observe +on these occasions--Ah! ah!"--I told you they'd soon find the fair +lady was shaded by her fine laces. I daresay now she's on the look-out +for a good match, poor thing! Not that Helen is handsome--don't look +in the glass, Helen, child! My grandmother always said that Old Nick +stood behind every young lady's shoulder when she looked in the glass, +with a rouge-pot all ready to make her look handsomer in her own eyes +than she really was; which shows how wicked it is to look much in a +glass. Only a little sometimes, Nell, darling--we'll forgive her for +looking _a little_; but certainly when I looked at the _new_ beauty in +church the other day, and then looked, I know where, I thought--but +no matter, Helen, no matter--I don't want to make either of my girls +_vain_." + +Why Mrs. Myles so decidedly preferred Helen to Rose, appeared a +mystery to all who did not know the secret sympathy, the silent +unsatisfied ambition, that lurked in the bosoms of both the old and +the young. Mrs. Myles had lived for a long time upon the reputation of +her own beauty; and whenever she needed _sympathy_ (a food which the +weak-minded devour rapidly,) she lamented to one or two intimates, +while indulging in the luxury of _tea_, that she was an ill-used +person, simply because she had not been a baronet's lady at the very +least. Helen's ambition echoed that of her grandmother; it was not the +longing of a village lass for a new bonnet or a brilliant dress--it +was an ambition of sufficient strength to have sprung up in a castle. +She resolved to be something beyond what she was; and there are very +few who have strength to give birth to, and cherish up a resolve, who +will not achieve a purpose, be it for good or bad, for weal or for wo. +Rose was altogether and perfectly simple and single-hearted: conscious +that she was an orphan, dependent upon her grandmother's slender +annuity for support, and that Helen's father could not provide both +for his daughter and his niece, her life was one of patient industry +and unregretted privation. Before she was fifteen, she had persuaded +her grandmother to part with her serving maiden, and with very little +assistance from Helen, she performed the labours of their cottage, +aided twice a-week by an elderly woman, who often declared that such +another girl as Rose Dillon was not to be found in the country. Both +were now verging on seventeen, and Helen received the addresses of a +young farmer in the neighbourhood--a youth of excellent yeoman family, +and of superior education and manners. + +The cousins walked out one evening together, and Rose turned into the +lane where they used frequently to meet Edward Lynne. + +"No, Rose," said Helen, "not there; I am not in a humour to meet +Edward to-night." + +"But you said you would," said Rose. + +"Well, do not look so solemn about it. I daresay I did--but lover's +promises--if indeed we are lovers. Do you know, Rose, I should be +very much obliged to you to take Edward off my hands--he is just the +husband for you, so rustic and quiet." + +"Edward to be taken off your hands, Helen!--Edward Lynne!--the +protector of our childhood--the pride of the village--the very +companion of Mr. Stokes--why, he dined with him last Sunday! Edward +Lynne! You jest, cousin! and"-- Rose Dillon paused suddenly, for she +was going to add, "You ought not to jest with me." She checked herself +in time; stooped down to gather some flowers to hide her agitation; +felt her cheeks flush, her heart beat, her head swim, and then a chill +creep through her frame. Helen had unconsciously awoke the hope which +Rose had never dared to confess unto herself. The waking was ecstatic; +but she knew the depth of Edward's love for Helen. She had been +his confidant--she believed it was a jest--how could her cousin do +otherwise than love Edward Lynne? And with this belief, she recovered +the self-possession which the necessity for subduing her feelings had +taught her even at that early age. + +"And Rose," said Helen, in a quiet voice, "did you really think I ever +intended to marry Edward Lynne?" + +"Certainly, cousin. Why, you love him, do you not! Besides, he is +rich--very rich in comparison to you--very, very rich. And if he were +not--oh, Helen!--is he not in himself--but I need not reason--you are +in your usual high spirits, and say what you do not mean." + +"I do not, Rose, now, at all events. Last evening, Edward was so +earnest, so affectionate, so very earnest, it is pleasant to have +a true and faithful lover; but I should not quite like to break his +heart--it would not be friendly, knowing him so long; for indeed," she +added, gaily, "though I don't like Edward Lynne well enough to marry +him, I like him too well to break his heart in downright earnest." + +There are women cold and coquettish by nature. The disposition +flourishes best in courtly scenes, but it will grow anywhere, ay, and +flourish anywhere. It unfortunately requires but little culture; still +Helen was in her novitiate. If she had not been so, she would not have +cared whether Edward broke his heart or not. + +"But Helen," stammered Rose, "surely--you--you have been very wrong." + +"I know it--I know--there, don't you _hear me_ say I know it, and +yet your lecturing face is as long as ever. Surely," she continued +pettishly, "I confess my crime; and even Mr. Stokes says, when +confessed it is amended." + +"Helen!" exclaimed Rose suddenly; "Helen!--if what you have now said +is really true, you have only told me half the truth. Helen Marsh, you +have seen some one you like better than Edward Lynne." + +"No!" was Helen's prompt reply, for she would not condescend to a +falsehood--her own pride was a sufficient barrier against that. +"No, Rose, I have not seen any one I like better than Edward. But, +Rose"--She buried her face in her hands, and as suddenly withdrew +them, and shaking back her luxuriant ringlets, while a bright +triumphant colour mounted to her cheeks, added--"There is no reason +_why_ I should be ashamed. I saw, last week, at Mrs. Howard's, one +whom I would rather marry." + +"I always thought," murmured Rose, weeping in the fulness of her +generous nature, as the idea of Edward's future misery came upon +her--"I always thought no good would come of your visiting a lady so +much above us." It would be impossible to describe the contemptuous +expression of Helen's finely moulded features, while she repeated, as +if to herself, "Above _us_!--above _me_!" And then she added aloud, +and with what seemed to Rose a forced expression of joy, "But good +_will_ come of it, Rose--good will surely come of it; never fear but +it will--it _must_. And when I am a great lady, Rosey, who but you, +sweet cousin, will be next my heart?" + +"I am satisfied to be _near_, even without being _next_ it, Helen," +she replied mournfully; "but why have you kept this matter concealed +from me so long? Why have you"-- + +"Found!" interrupted a well-known voice; and at the same moment Edward +Lynne shook a shower of perfumed hawthorn blossoms from the scattered +hedge which he struggled through; and repeating "Found!" in his full +echoing voice, stood panting before the startled girls. "I have had +such a hunt!" he exclaimed joyfully--"such a hunt for you, Helen! I +have been over Woodland brook, and up as far as Fairmill, where you +said you would be--oh, you truant! And I doubt if I should have caught +you at last, but for poor Dash"--and the sagacious dog sprung about, +as if conscious that he deserved a large portion of the praise. Rose +was astonished at the perfect self-possession with which, after the +first flush of surprise, Helen received her lover. Nor was poor Rose +unconscious that she herself occupied no portion of his attention +beyond the glance of recognition which he cast while throwing himself +on the sward at Helen's feet. + +"We must go home," said the triumphant beauty, after hearing a few of +those half-whispered nothings which are considered of such importance +in a lover's calendar; "the dew is falling, and I may catch cold." + +"The dew falling!" repeated Edward.--"Why, look, the sky is still +golden from the sun's rays; do not--do not, dearest Helen, go home +yet. Besides," he added, "your grandmother has plenty of employment; +there is Mrs. Howard's companion, and one or two strangers from the +hall, at your cottage--so she is not at all lonesome." + +"Who did you say?" inquired Helen, eagerly, now really losing her +self-command. + +"Oh, some of Mrs. Howard's fine friends. I never," he continued, "see +those sort of people in an humble village, without thinking of the +story of the agitation of all the little hedgerow birds, when they +first saw a paroquet amongst them, and began longing for his gay +feathers. Do not go, dear Helen--they will soon be gone; and I do so +want you to walk as far as Fairmill Lawn. I have planted with my own +hands this morning the silver firs you said you admired, just where +the bank juts over the stream. Do come." + +"Rose will go, and tell me all about it, but _I_ must get home. Granny +cannot do without me; besides, Mrs. Howard is so kind to me, that I +cannot suffer _her_ friends to be neglected. Nay, Edward, you may look +as you please, but I certainly _shall_ go." Edward Lynne remonstrated, +implored, and, finally, flew into a passion. At any other time Helen's +proud spirit would have risen so as to meet this outburst of temper +with one to the full as violent; but the knowledge of what had grown +to maturity in her own mind, and the presence of Rose, restrained her, +and she continued to walk home without reply. + +"And I shall go also," he said, bitterly, "but not with you." Even at +that moment Helen Marsh exulted in her own mind to find his words and +his steps at variance; he was still by her side. The most perilous of +all triumphs is the knowledge of possessing power over the affections +of our fellow creatures; it is so especially intoxicating to women as +to be greatly dangerous, and those who do not abuse such power deserve +much praise. Rose walked timidly behind them, wondering how Helen +could have imagined any alliance in the world more brilliant--but no, +that was not the idea--any alliance in the world so _happy_ as that +with Edward Lynne must be. When they reached the commencement of the +village, Edward said, for the fifth or sixth time, "Then you will go, +Helen?" + +"Certainly." + +"Very well, Helen. Good evening." + +"Good evening, Edward," was the cool reply. Not one word of adieu did +he bestow on Rose as he dashed into another path; while his dog stood +for a moment, uncertain as to whether his master would return or not, +and then rapidly followed. + +"Oh, Helen! what have you done?" murmured Rose. Helen replied by one +of those low murmuring laughs which sound like the very melody of +love; and the two girls, in a few moments more, were in their +own cottage, where Rose saw that evening, for the first time, the +gentleman whom Helen had declared she did not prefer to Edward, though +she would rather marry him. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +I think I have said before that the most trying and dangerous +position a young woman can occupy, is that where her station is not +defined--where she considers herself above the industrious classes +by whom she is surrounded--and where those with whom her tastes and +habits assimilate, consider her greatly beneath them. Superficial +observers (and the great mass of human beings are nothing more) +invariably look for happiness in the class one or two degrees above +their own. They would consider themselves absurd if they _at once_ +set their minds upon being dukes and princes; they only want to be a +_little_ bit higher, only the _smallest bit_, and never for a moment +look to what they call "_beneath_ them" for happiness. This was +particularly the case with these young girls. Their station was not +defined, yet how different their practice! One was ambitious of the +glittering tinsel of the world--the other, refined but not ambitious, +sought her happiness in the proper exercise of the affections; neither +could have described her particular feelings, but an accurate observer +could not fail to do so for them. That night neither girl had courage +to speak to the other on the occurrences of the past day, and yet each +thought of nothing else. They knelt down, side by side, as they +had done from infancy, repeating the usual prayers as they had been +accustomed to do. Helen's voice did not falter, but continued its +unvaried tone to the end: Rose (Helen thought) delivered the petition +of "lead us not into temptation" with deeper feeling than usual; and +instead of rising when Helen rose, and exchanging with her the kiss +of sisterly affection, Rose buried her face in her hands; while her +cousin, seated opposite the small glass which stood on their little +dressing-table, commenced curling her hair, as if that day, which had +completed a revolution in her way of thinking, had been as smooth as +all the other days of her short calendar. The candle was extinguished, +and Helen slept profoundly. The moon shone in brightly through the +latticed window, whose leaden cross-bars chequered the sanded floor. +Rose looked earnestly upon the face of the sleeper, and so bright it +was, that she saw, or fancied she saw, a smile of triumph curling +on her lip. She crept quietly out of bed, and leaned her throbbing +temples against the cool glass. How deserted the long street of +Abbeyweld appeared; the shadows of the opposite trees and houses +lay prostrate across the road--the aspect of the village street was +lonely, very lonely and sad--there was no hum from the school--no +inquisitive eyes peeped from the casements--no echoing steps upon +the neatly-gravelled footpath--the old elm-tree showed like a mighty +giant, standing out against the clear calm sky--and there was one +star, only one, sparkling amid its branches--a diamond of the heavens, +shedding its brightness on the earth. The stillness was positively +oppressive. Rose felt as if every time she inhaled the air, she +disturbed the death-like quiet of the scene. A huge shadow passed +along the ledge of the opposite cottage; her nerves were so unstrung +that she started back as it advanced. It was only their own gentle +cat, whose quick eye recognised its mistress, and without waiting for +invitation, crawled quickly from its eminence, and came rubbing itself +against the glass, and then moved stealthily away, intent upon the +destruction of some unsuspicious creature, who, taught by nature, +believes that with night comes safety. + +Almost at the end of the street, the darkness was as it were divided +by a ray of light, that neither flickered nor wavered. What a picture +it brought at once before her!--the pale, lame grandchild of old Jenny +Oram, watching by the dying bed of the only creature that had ever +loved her--her poor deaf grandmother. And the girl's great trouble +was, that the old woman could neither see to read the Word of God +herself, nor hear her when she read it to her; but the lame girl had +no time to waste with grief, so she plied her needle rapidly through +the night-watches, not daring to shed a tear upon the work, or damp +her needle with a sigh. Rose was not as sorry for her as she would +have been at any other time, for individual sorrow has few sympathies; +but the more she thought of the lonely lame girl, the less became her +own trouble, and she might have gone to bed with the consciousness +which, strange to say, brings consolation, that there was one very +near more wretched than herself, had she not seen the form of Edward +Lynne glide like a spectre from beneath the old elm-tree, and stand +before the window. Rose retreated, but still observed him; the moon +was shining on the window, so he must have seen the form, without, +perhaps, being able to distinguish whose it was. Rose watched him +until his silent death-like presence oppressed her heart and brain, +and she closed her eyes to shut out what had become too painful to +look upon. When she looked again, all was sleeping in the moonlight as +before; but he was gone. At the same moment Helen turned restlessly on +her pillow, and sobbed and muttered to herself. Rose felt that pillow +wet with tears. "Helen!" she exclaimed; "Helen, dear Helen! awake! +Awake, Helen!" Her cousin, at length aroused, flung her arms around +her neck; and the proud lip which she had left curled with the +consciousness of beauty and power, quivered and paled, while she sank +awake and weeping on Rose's bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Never had the bells of Abbeyweld, within the memory of living +man--within the memory of old Mrs. Myles herself, and _she_ was the +oldest living woman in the parish--rung so merry a peal as on the +morning that Helen Marsh was married to the handsome and Honourable +Mr. Ivers. He was young as well as handsome--honourable both by +name and nature--rich in possession and expectancy. On his part it +was purely and entirely what is called a "love match"--one of the +strangest of all strange things perpetrated by a young man of rank and +fashion. His wealth and position in society enabled him to select for +himself; and he did so, of course, to the disappointment of as many, +or perhaps a greater number of mothers than daughters, inasmuch as +it is the former whose speculations are the deepest laid and most +dangerous in arts matrimonial. + +Every body was astonished. Mrs. Howard--Helen's "kind friend"--Mrs. +Howard, little short of distracted for three weeks at the very least, +did nothing but exclaim, "Who would have thought it!" "Who, indeed!" +was the reply, in various tones of sympathy, envy, and surprise. +Poor Mrs. Howard, to the day of her death, never suffered another +portionless beauty to enter her doors while even the shadow of an +eldest son rested on its threshold. Mrs. Myles was of course in an +ecstacy of delight; her prophecy was fulfilled. Helen, _her_ Helen, +was the honourable wife of a doubly honourable man. What triumphant +glances did she cast over the railings of the communion-table at Mr. +Stokes--with what an air she marched down the aisle--how patronising +and condescending was her manner to those neighbours whom she +considered her inferiors--how bitterly did she lament that the +Honourable Mr. Ivers would not have any one to breakfast with them but +Mr. Stokes--and how surpassingly, though silently, angry was she with +Mr. Stokes for not glorying with her when the bride and bridegroom +drove off in their "own carriage," leaving her in a state of prideful +excitement, and Rose Dillon in a flood of tears. + +"Well, sir!" exclaimed the old lady--"well, sir, you see it _has_ +turned out exactly as I said it would; there's station--there's +happiness. Why, sir, if his brother dies without children, his own +valet told me, Mr. Ivers would be a lord and Helen a lady. Didn't she +look beautiful! Now, please, reverend sir, do speak, didn't she look +beautiful?" + +"She did." + +"Ah! it's a great gift that beauty; though," she added, resorting +to the strain of morality which persons of her character are apt to +consider a salve for sin--"though it's all vanity, all vanity. 'Flesh +is grass'--a beautiful text that was your reverence preached from last +Sunday--'All flesh is grass.' Ah, well-a-day! so it is. We ought not +to be puffed up or conceited--no, no. As I said to Mrs. Leicester, +'Don't be puffed up, my good woman, because your niece has what folk +call a pretty face, nor don't expect that she's to make a good market +of it--it's but skin deep; remember our good rector's sermon, 'All +flesh is grass.'' Ah, deary me! people do need such putting in mind; +and, if you believe me, sir, unless indeed it be Rose, poor child, who +never had a bit of love in her head yet, I'll be bound every girl is +looking above her station--there's a pity, sir. All are not born with +a coach and horses; no, no;" and so, stimulated a little, perhaps, by +a glass of _real_, not gooseberry, champagne, poor Mrs. Myles would +have galloped on with a strange commentary upon her own conduct (of +the motives to which she was perfectly ignorant,) had not the rector +suddenly exclaimed, "Where is Rose?" + +"Crying in her own room, I'll be bound; I'm sure she is. Why, +Rose--and I really must get your reverence to speak to her, she is +a sad girl--Rose Dillon, I say--so silent and homely-like--ah, dear! +Why, granddaughter--now, is it not undutiful of her, good sir, +when she knows how much I have suffered parting from my Helen. Rose +Dillon!" + +But Rose Dillon was not weeping in her room, nor did she hear her +grandmother's voice when the carriage, that bore the bride to a new +world, drove off. Rose ran down the garden, intending to keep the +equipage in sight as long as it could be distinguished from an +eminence that was called the Moat, and which commanded an extensive +view of the high road. There was a good deal of brushwood creeping +up the elevation, and at one side it was overshadowed by several tall +trees; in itself it was a sweet, sequestered spot, a silent watching +place. She could hardly hear the carriage wheels, though she saw +it whirled along, just as it passed within sight of the tall trees. +Helen's arm, with its glittering bracelet, waved an adieu; this little +act of remembrance touched Rose, and, falling on her knees, she sobbed +forth a prayer, earnest and heartfelt, for her cousin's happiness. + +"God bless you, Rose!" exclaimed the trembling voice of the discarded +lover, who, pale and wo-worn, had been unintentionally concealed among +the trees--"God bless you, Rose!--that prayer has done me good. +Amen to every word of it! She is quite, quite gone now--another's +bride--the wife of a gentleman--and so best; the ambition which fits +her for her present station unfitted her to be my wife. I say this, +and think this--I know it! But though I do know it, her face--that +face I loved from infancy, until it became a sin for me to love it +longer--that face comes between me and reason, and its brightness +destroys all that reason taught." + +Rose could not trust herself to reply. She longed to speak to him, +but she could not; she _dared_ not. He continued--"Did she leave no +message, speak no word, say nothing, to be said to me?" + +"She said," replied her cousin, "that she hoped you would be happy; +that you deserved to be so"-- + +"Deserved to be so!" he repeated bitterly; "and that was the reason +why _she_ made me miserable. Oh! the folly, the madness of the man who +trusts to woman's love--to woman's faith! But the spell _once_ broken, +the charm once dispelled, that is enough!" And yet it was not enough, +for Edward talked on, and more than once was interrupted by Rose, +who, whenever she could vindicate her cousin, did so bravely and +generously--not in a half-consenting, frigid manner, but as a true +woman does when she defends a woman, as, if she be either good or +wise, she will always do. + +Rose did not know enough of human nature to understand that the more +Edward complained of Helen's conduct and desertion, the less he really +felt it; and the generous portion of his own nature sympathised +with the very generosity which he argued against. He had found one, +who while she listened sweetly and patiently to his complaints, +vindicated, precisely as he would have desired, the idol of his +heart's first love. What we love appears so entirely our own, that +we question the right of others to blame it, whatever we may do +ourselves. If he had known the deep, the treasured secret that poor +Rose concealed within the sanctuary of her bosom, he would have +wondered at the unostentatious generosity of her pure and simple +nature. + +"It is evident," said Rose Dillon to herself, when she bade Edward +adieu; "it is quite evident he never will or can love another. Such +affection is everlasting." How blind she was! "Poor fellow! he will +either die in the flower of his age of a broken heart, or drag on a +miserable existence! And if he does," questioned the maiden, "and +if he does, _what is that to me_?" She did not, for a moment or two, +trust herself to frame an answer, though the tell-tale blood, first +mounting to and then receding from her cheek, replied; but then she +began to calculate how long she had known Edward, and thought how very +natural it was she should feel interested, deeply interested, in him. +He had no sister; why should she not be to him a sister? Ah, Rose, +Rose! that sisterly reasoning is of all others the most perilous. + +Time passed on. The bride wrote a letter, which, in its tone and +character, sounded pretty much like a long trumpet-note of exultation. +Mrs. Myles declared it to be a dear letter, a charming letter, a most +lady-like letter, and yet evidently she was not satisfied therewith. +She read scraps of it to all the neighbours, and vaunted Mrs. Ivers, +the Honourable Mrs. Ivers, up to the skies. Like all persons whose +dignity and station are not the result of inheritance, in the next +epistle she was even more anxious to impress her humble relatives +with an idea of her consequence. Mingled with a few epithets of love, +were a great many eulogiums on her new station. She was too honest to +regret, even in seeming, the rural delights of the country, (for Helen +could not stoop to deceit,) but she gave a list of titled visitors, +and said she would write more at length, were it not that every spare +moment was spent in qualifying herself to fill her station so as to do +credit to her husband." This old Mrs. Myles could not understand; she +considered Helen fit to be a queen, and said so. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +For more than two months, Rose and Edward did not meet again; for more +than four after that, he never entered the cottage which had contained +what he held most dear on earth; but one evening he called with Mr. +Stokes. The good rector might have had his own reasons for bringing +the young man to the cottage; but if he had he kept them to himself, +the best way of rendering them effective. + +After that, Edward often came, sometimes with a book from the rectory, +sometimes with a newspaper for Mrs. Myles, sometimes to know if he +could do anything for the old lady in the next town, where he was +going, sometimes for one thing, sometimes for another, but always with +some excuse, which Rose was happy to accept as the true one; satisfied +that she could see him, hear him, know that he was there. + +It so chanced that, calling one evening (evening calls are suspicious +where young people are concerned,) Edward was told that Mrs. Myles had +gone over to Lothery, the next post town, and that Miss Rose was out. +The servant (ever since Helen's marriage, Mrs. Myles had thought it +due to her dignity to employ such a person) said this with an air of +mystery, and Edward inquired which way Miss Rose had walked. Indeed, +she did not know. + +Edward therefore trusted to chance, and he had not gone very far down +a lane leading to the common of Abbeyweld, when he saw her seated +under a tree (where heroines are surely found at some period or other +of their life's eventful history) reading a letter. Of course he +interrupted her, and then apologised. + +"The letter," said Rose, frankly, "is from poor Helen." + +"Why do you call her poor?" he inquired. + +"Because she is very ill; and I am going to her to-morrow morning." + +"Ill!--to-morrow!--so suddenly--so soon!" stammered Edward. + +Rose turned homewards with an air of cold constraint. She could not +attribute Edward's agitation to any other cause than his anxiety on +Helen's account, and the conviction gave her intense pain. + +"Stay, Rose," he said. Rose walked steadily forward. "There is," he +continued bitterly, "a curse, a spell upon this place. Do you not +remember that it was here--_here_, within five yards of where we +stand--that _she_ first--. But where's the use of thinking of _that_, +or any thing else," he exclaimed with a sudden burst of passion, +"where a woman is concerned? They are all, _all_ alike, and I am a +double fool! But go, Rose, go--enjoy her splendour, and lie in wait, +as she did, for some rich idiot!" + +It was now Rose's turn to interrupt. Turning upon Edward, with an +expression of deeply insulted feeling, "Sir," she said; and before she +proceeded the cold monosyllable had entered his heart; "Sir, my cousin +Helen did _not_ lie in wait; a woman's beauty may be called a snare, +if you please, but it is not one of her own making; she was sought and +won, and not by an _idiot_; and it is ungenerous in you to speak thus +now, when time, and her being another's wife"-- + +Poor Rose had entered on perilous ground, and she felt it, and the +feeling prevented her proceeding. She trembled violently; and if +Edward could have seen her blanched cheek and quivering lip, he would +have checked his impetuosity, and bitterly reproached himself for the +rash words he had uttered. If he could but have known how devoutly +the poor fond beating heart loved him at that moment, he would, rustic +though he was, have fallen at her feet, and entreated her forgiveness. +Doubtless it was better as it was, for if men could see into women's +hearts, I very much fear their reliance on their own power would +increase, and _that_ would be neither pleasant nor profitable to +themselves or others; the very existence of love often depends on its +uncertainty. Some evil star at that moment shed its influence over +them, for Edward Lynne, catching at Rose's words, answered, + +"You need not, I assure you, entertain your cousin with an account of +how I grieve; and remember, believe me, I take good care to prevent +any woman's caprice from having power over me a second time." + +"You do quite right," replied Rose--"quite right." They walked on +together until they arrived within sight of the cottage door, but +neither spoke. + +"I have a great deal to do--much to prepare. I must wish you +good-night. Good-bye, and a kinder--temper." She faltered. + +"Going," said Edward--"going away in such haste; and to part thus. +There must be some mistake. I have watched you narrowly, suspiciously, +as men do who have been once deceived; and I have seen no trace +of unwomanly ambition in you; I little thought you would, on the +slightest hint, so willingly embrace the first opportunity of entering +into the sphere I thought you dreaded--as I do." + +"I told you Helen was ill." + +"A megrim--a whim--a"-- + +"You do her wrong; she has been a mother, and her child is dead." + +"A blow to her ambition," said Edward, so coldly that Rose (such is +human nature) breathed more freely. Was it possible, then--_could_ it +be possible--that his feelings had been excited not by the remembrance +of Helen, but the thought of her own departure? Yet still her simple +sense of justice urged her to say, "Again you do her wrong; Helen has +a great deal of feeling." + +"For herself," he answered tersely, "I dare say she has." + +"I did not think you could be so unjust and ungenerous," replied Rose; +"but you are out of sorts to-night, and will be sorry before morning. +You were always hasty, Edward. Good-night--good-bye." + +"Good-bye, then, Rose--good-bye;" and without taking her hand, without +one kind word, one sign of love, Edward Lynne rushed through the +garden gate and disappeared. + +Rose entered the little parlour, which of late had been well cared +for. The old sofa, though as stiff and hard as ever, triumphed in +green and yellow; and two cushions, with large yellow tassels, graced +the ends, and a huge square ottoman, which every country visitor +invariably tumbled over, stood exactly in front of the old seat. Upon +this Rose flung herself, and, covering her face with her hands, bent +down her head upon the stately seat. Her sobs were not loud but deep; +and as she was dealing with feelings, and not with time, she had +no idea how long she had remained in that state, until aroused by a +voice, whose every tone sent the blood throbbing and tingling through +her veins. + +"Rose--dear Rose!" + +Blushing--trembling--ashamed of an emotion she had not the power to +control--Rose could not move, did not at all events, until Edward was +on his knees beside her--until he had poured forth his affection--had +assured her how completely she had possessed herself of his respect +and admiration; that his feelings towards her not being of that +passionate nature which distracted him with love for Helen, he had not +truly felt her value until the idea of losing her for ever came upon +him; that then he indeed felt as though all hope of happiness was +to be taken away for ever--felt that he should lose a friend, one +on whose principles and truth he could rely--felt that in _her_ his +all was concentrated. It is only those who, having loved long and +hopelessly for years, find that love returned, and at the very moment +when they were completely bowed down by the weight of disappointment, +can understand what Rose experienced. She did not violate any of the +laws of maiden modesty, because she was pure in heart and single of +purpose; but she was too truthful to withhold the confession of her +love, and too sincere to conceal her happiness. + +"I will give you a promise; but receive none," said the generous +lover. "I should be indeed miserable if I, for a moment, fancied +you were controlled only by a _promise. I rely upon you solely and +entirely_; no matter with what temptations you may be surrounded. If +Helen is so much admired, you must be admired also; but I do not fear +you will forget me; for now my only astonishment is how I could have +preferred the spirit and power of the one to the tender and womanly +grace of the other." In the midst of these effusions, so dear to +lovers' hearts, Mrs. Myles entered. Many and many a time had she +prayed that Edward Lynne might transfer his affections to Rose Dillon; +it would be such "a capital match for her, poor thing." She would +repeat to herself, "_Yes_, quite the thing for _her_, though, of +course, for Helen I could not hear of it--yet quite the thing of all +others for her." This frame of mind continued until the invitation +arrived, and it was determined that Rose should visit her cousin. "It +is," argued the good woman in her own way, "it is only to nurse her +strong and well again, I dare say; but yet, who knows, she may see +some one, or some one may see her? She certainly is a very pretty, +modest-looking girl; and I have heard say that modest-looking girls +are sometimes greatly admired among the grandees in fashionable +places, because of their rarity. I shall certainly show the cold +shoulder to Edward Lynne the next time he comes, and give him a hint +as to the expectations I have for Rose. I must not suffer the poor +child to throw herself away--oh no!--oh no! Edward Lynne is a very +nice young man certainly; and if Rose had not been going to London"-- +She opened the parlour door as she so reasoned; and the peculiar +expression which passed over the countenances of both, convinced +her that every thing was proceeding in opposition to her "prudential +motives." Edward frankly expounded all, to her entire dissatisfaction. +"She did not," she said, "at all approve of engagements; she would not +sanction any engagement except at the altar; she thought _Mr._ Lynne +(Mr. Lynne! she had never in her life before called him any thing but +"Ned") she thought he ought to have spoken to _her_ first as became +_a gentleman_." And Edward, provoked beyond bearing at what always +upstirs a noble soul--mere worldly-mindedness--replied, "that he never +professed to be a _gentleman_; he was, and ever would be, a farmer, +and nothing more; and for all that, he thought a farmer--an honest, +upright, English farmer--might have as correct ideas as to right and +wrong as any gentleman." At this Mrs. Myles became very indignant; +like the frog in the fable, she endeavoured to think herself an ox, +and talked and looked magnificence itself, until at last she felt as +if being _her_ grand-children was enough to entitle Helen and Rose to +sit before a queen. She talked of Edward,--his occupation, his barns, +his cows, horses, and sheep--until Rose, all gentle as she was, +roused, and said, that for herself she had no ambition beyond that of +being the useful wife of an honest man; that Edward had honoured her, +and, sorry as she should be to displease the only parent she had ever +known, she had plighted her faith in the temple of her own heart to +him--and as long as the plight was of value in his eyes, it could not +be withdrawn. How truly did Edward Lynne feel that she indeed would be +a crown of glory to his old age, as well as to his manhood's prime! + +The scene--for there are "scenes" wherever human passion runs +wild--ended by Mrs. Myles working herself into the belief that she +was the most ill-used old lady in the British dominions. She commanded +Edward from her presence; and though Rose wept and knelt at her feet, +she refused to be pacified, declaring that if it had not been for the +rheumatism, she would herself act as nurse to Helen, and not suffer so +low-minded a creature as Rose Dillon to look on the splendour of her +cousin's house. What she thought of that splendour, an extract from +a letter--not the first or second--which replied to those she had +received from Edward, will best tell: + +"I have seen a great deal to astonish--every thing seems wonderful in +London--only I wish the people seemed more really happy. I have been +thinking that happiness is not a sudden thing like joy; it is more +quiet--_it takes time to be happy_--and the people here have no time. +In the midst of the gayest party, they do not suffer themselves +to enjoy it, but keep hurrying on to the next. I remember when we +were children, Helen and I, we have sat an hour over a bunch of +wildflowers, yet not discovered half their beauties; surely excitement +and happiness are not twin-born. Since Helen has been better, numbers +of ladies have called, so beautifully dressed, and so gentle-mannered +and reserved, one so very like the other, that they might have all +been brought up at the same school. They never appear to confide in +each other, but make a talk, after their own calm fashion, about small +things. Still, when they talk, _they do not say much_, considering how +highly bred they are. I have listened throughout an entire morning (a +fashionable morning, Edward, does not begin until three o'clock in the +afternoon), and really could not remember a single observation made +by a drawing-room full of ladies. _We_ could not talk ten minutes +with dear Mr. Stokes, without hearing something that we could not help +remembering all the days of our lives. It is wonderful how superior +Helen is (I am not afraid to tell you so) to every one around her; +there is a natural loftiness of mind and manner visible in her every +movement, that carries off her want of those pretty accomplishments +which the ladies value so highly. And then she is _so_ beautiful, and +her husband is so proud of having the handsomest woman in London for +his wife; and one artist begs to model her ear, another her hand--you +cannot think how fair and soft and 'do-nothing' it looks,--and as +to her portraits, they are in all those pretty painted books which +Mr. Stokes calls 'vanities.' There is a queer, quirky, little old +gentleman who visits here, who said that Helen owed her great success +in society to her 'tact.' Oh! Edward, she owes her sorrow to her +_ambition_. Would you believe it possible that she, the beauty +of Abbeyweld, who for so long a time seemed to us satisfied with +that distinction, is not satisfied now. Why, there is not such an +establishment, no, not at Mrs. Howard's, as that which she commands. +Oh! Edward, to have once loved Helen, is to be interested for her +always; there is something great in her very faults; there is nothing +poor or low about her. That little cranky old gentleman said the other +evening while looking at her, 'Miss Rose, a woman, to be happy, should +either have no ambition, or an ambition beyond this world.' Do ask Dr. +Stokes if that is true." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +After she had been a little longer in town, Rose saw more clearly the +workings of that ambition which had undermined her cousin's happiness. +She saw where the canker ate and withered, but she did not know how it +could be eradicated. Something which women understand, prevented her +laying open the secrets of the house to Edward; and yet she desired +counsel. Possessing much observation as to the workings of the human +heart, she had but little knowledge as to how those feelings might be +moulded for the best; and she naturally turned for advice, and with +the faith of a Christian spirit, to the pastor who had instructed +her youth. He had loved them both, and she longed for his counsel, in +the--alas! vain--hope that she, a right-minded but simple girl--simple +as regards the ambition of life's drama--might be able to turn her +cousin from the unsatisfied, unsatisfying longings after place and +station. The difference in their opinions was simply this--Rose +thought that Helen possessed everything that Helen could desire, while +Helen thought that Helen wanted all things. + +It was morning--not the morning that Rose had described to her lover, +but not more than seven o'clock--when Rose, who had been up late the +previous night, was awoke by her cousin's maid. On entering Helen's +dressing-room she found her already dressed, but so pale and +distressed in her appearance, that she could hardly recognise the +brilliant lawgiver of the evening's festivities in the pale, languid, +feverish beauty that was seated at her desk. + +"Dear Helen, you are weary; ill, perhaps," exclaimed her gentle +cousin. "You have entered too soon into gay society, and you suffer +for the public restraint in private." + +Her cousin looked steadily in her face, and then smiled one of those +bitter disdainful smiles which it is always painful to see upon a +woman's lip. + +"Sit down, Rose," she said; "sit down, and copy this letter. I +have been writing all night, and yet cannot get a sufficient number +finished in time, without your assistance." + +Rose did as she was desired, and, to her astonishment, found that +the letters were to the inhabitants of a borough, which Mr. Ivers +had expressed his desire to represent. Rose wrote and wrote; but the +longest task must have a termination. About one, the gentleman himself +came into the room, and, as Rose thought, somewhat indifferently, +expressed his surprise, that what he came to commence, was already +finished. Still he chid his fair wife for an exertion which he feared +might injure her health, and evinced the strongest desire to succeed +in rescuing the people of L---- from the power of a party to which he +was opposed; hinting, at the same time, that the contest would drain +his purse and many of his resources. + +"And let it," exclaimed Helen, when he left the room, "let it. I +care not for _that_, but I will overturn every thing that interposes +between me and the desire I have to humble the wife of the present +representative. Look, I would hold this hand in the fire, ay, and +suffer it to smoulder into ashes, to punish the woman who called me +a proud _parvenue_! She did so before I had been a week in London. +Her cold calm face has been a curse to me ever since. She has stood, +the destroying angel, at the gate of my paradise, poisoning every +enjoyment. Let me but humble _her_," she continued, rising proudly +from the sofa upon which she had been resting; "let me but humble +_her_, and I shall feel a triumphant woman! For that I have watched +and waited; _anxiety for that caused me the loss of my child_; but if +Ivers succeeds, I shall be repaid." + +Rose shuddered. Was it really true, that having achieved the wealth, +the distinction she panted for, she was still anxious to mount higher? +Was it possible that wealth, station, general admiration, and the +devoted affection of a tender husband did not satisfy the humbly-born +beauty of an obscure English village? Again Helen spoke; she told how +she had at last succeeded in rousing her husband to exertion--how, +with an art worthy a better cause, she had persuaded him that his +country demanded his assistance--how he had been led almost to believe +that the safety of England was in the hands of the freeholders of +L----; and then she pictured her own triumph, as the wife of the +successful candidate, over the woman who had called her a _parvenue_. +"And, after all," murmured poor Rose, "and after all, dear Helen, you +are really unhappy." + +"Miserable!" was the reply--"no creature was ever so perfectly +miserable as I am! The one drop of poison has poisoned the whole cup. +What to me was all this grandeur, when I felt that _that_ woman looked +down upon me, and induced others to do the same; that though I was +with them, I was not of them; and all through her means. Ivers could +not understand my feeling; and, besides, I dare not let him know +what had been said by one of his own clique, lest _he should become +inoculated by the same feeling_." + +"Another fruit," thought Rose Dillon, "of the evil which attends +unequal marriages." + +"But _my_ triumph will come!" she repeated; "Ivers must carry all +before him; and _who knows what may follow_?" + +"Still unsatisfied!" thought Rose, as she wandered through the +splendid rooms and inhaled the perfume of the most expensive exotics, +and gazed upon beautiful pictures, and listened to the roll of +carriages, and heard the kind fond voice of Helen's devoted husband +urging the physician, who made his daily calls, to pay his wife the +greatest attention. "Still unsatisfied!" she repeated; and then she +thought of one of Edward's homely but wise proverbs--"All is not +gold that glitters;" and she thought how quite as beautiful, and +more varied by the rich variety of nature, was the prospect from +the parlour-window of the farm-house, that was to be her own. "And +woodbine, roses, and mignonette breathe as sweet odours as exotics, +and belong of right to the cottages of England. Ah!" continued the +right-minded girl, "better is a little and content therewith, than all +the riches of wealth and art without it. If her ambition had even a +_great_ object I could forgive her; but all this for the littleness +of society." This train of thought led her back to the days of +their girlhood, and she remembered how the same desire to outshine +manifested itself in Helen's childhood. If Mr. Stokes had been there +he could have told her of the pink gingham, with her grandmother's +injudicious remark thereupon--"Be content with the pink gingham _now_, +Helen--_the time will come when you shall have a better_;" instead +of--"Be always content, Helen, with what befits your sphere of life." + +That day was an eventful one to Rose. In the evening she was seated +opposite the window, observing the lamplighter flying along with his +ladder and his link through the increasing fog, and wondering why the +dinner was delayed so much beyond the usual hour--when the little old +cranky gentleman, whose keen and clever observations had given Rose a +very good idea of his _head_, and a very bad one of his heart, stood +beside her. In a few brief words he explained, that seeing she was +different to London ladies, he had come to the determination of making +her his wife. He did not seem to apprehend any objection on her part +to this arrangement; but having concluded the business in as few words +as possible, stood, with his hands behind him, very much as if he +expected the lady he addressed to express her gratitude, and suffer +him to name the day. Firmly and respectfully Rose declined the honour, +declaring "she had no heart to give," and adding a few civil words of +thanks to the old gentleman, who would have evinced more sense had he +proposed to adopt, not marry her. Without a reply, the old gentleman +left the room; but presently her cousin entered, and in terms of +bitter scorn, inquired if she were mad enough to refuse such an +offer--one that would immediately take her out of her humble sphere, +and place her where she might be happy. Rose replied, with more than +usual firmness, that she had learned, since she had been with her, +the total insufficiency of rank and power to produce happiness. "I am +convinced," she continued, "that it is the most likely to dwell where +there are the fewest cares, and that the straining after distinction +is at variance with its existence. To be useful, and fulfil well +the duties of our native sphere, is the surest way to be happy. Oh! +Helen, you do not know what it is; you look too much to the future to +enjoy the present; and I have observed it ever since you threw away +the handful of jessamine we had gathered at the grey fountain of +Abbeyweld, because you could not have moss roses like the squire's +daughter." + +"Foolish girl!" she answered, "has not perseverance in the desire +obtained the moss roses?" + +"Yes," said her cousin, sadly, "but now you desire exotics. I should +despise myself if it were possible that I could forget the affection +of my heart in what appears to me the unsubstantial vanities of life. +Dear Helen, in sickness or sorrow let me ever be your friend; but I +must be free to keep on in my own humble sphere." + +It seemed as if poor Rose was doomed to undergo all trials. Helen was +not one to yield to circumstances; and though her physician prescribed +rest, she lived almost without it, avoiding repose, laying herself +under the most painful obligations to obtain her end, and enduring the +greatest mental anxiety. Not only this; she taunted poor Rose with her +increased anxieties, affirming, that if she had not rendered the old +gentleman her foe by the ill-timed refusal, he would have assisted, +not thwarted, her cherished object; that his influence was great, +and was now exerted against them. "If," she added, "you had only the +common tact of any other girl, you might have played him a little +until the election was over, and then acted as you pleased." + +This seemed very shocking to Rose, and she would have gone to +Abbeyweld immediately, but that she thought it cruel to leave her +cousin while she felt she was useful to her. "Ah, Rose!" she said, +when poor Rose hinted that in a short time she must return, "how can +you think of it?--how can you leave me in an _enemy's country_? I dare +not give even my husband my entire confidence, for he might fancy my +sensitiveness a low-born feeling. I can trust you, and none other." +Surrounded, according to the phrase, "with troops of friends," and +yet able to _trust_ "none other" than the simple companion of her +childhood! "And yet," murmured the thoughtful Rose, "amongst so many, +the blame cannot be all with the crowd; Helen herself is as incapable +of warm, disinterested friendship as those of whom she complains." + +Rose Dillon's constancy was subjected to a still greater trial. +Amongst the "troops of friends" who crowded more than ever round Mr. +Ivers while his election was pending, was a young man as superior to +the rest in mind as in fortune, and Rose Dillon's ready appreciation +of the good and beautiful led her to respect and admire him. + +"Is it true, Miss Dillon," he said to her one morning, after a lagging +conversation of some twenty minutes' duration--"is it true, Miss +Dillon, that you have discarded altogether the attentions of Mr. +----?" and he named the old gentleman whose offer had been so painful +to Rose, and who was now made painfully aware that the subject had +been publicly talked of. This confused her. "Nay," he continued, "I +think you ought to be very proud of the fact, for he is worth two +hundred thousand pounds." + +"If he were worth ten hundred thousand, it would make no difference to +me," was the reply. + +"Then, you admit the fact." + +Rose could not tell a falsehood, though she confessed her pain that +it should be known. "I intend," she added, "to remain in my own quiet +sphere of life; I am suited for no other." + +The gentleman made no direct reply, but from that hour he observed +Rose narrowly. The day of the election came, with its bribery and its +bustle. Suffice it, that the Honourable Mr. Ivers was declared duly +elected--that the splendour of the late member's wife's entertainments +and beauty, were perfectly eclipsed by the entertainments and beauty +of the wife of the successful candidate--that every house, _except_ +one, in the town was splendidly illuminated--and that the people +broke every pane of glass in the windows of that house, to prove their +attachment to the great principle of freedom of election. "God bless +you, cousin!" said Rose; "God bless you--your object is attained. I +hope you will sleep well to-night." + +"Sleep!" she exclaimed; "how can I sleep? Did you not hear the wife +of a mere city baronet inquire if late hours did not injure a country +constitution; and see the air with which she said it?" + +"And why did you not answer that a country constitution gave you +strength to sustain them? In the name of all that is right, dearest +Helen, why do you not assert your dignity as a woman, instead of +standing upon your rank? Why not, as a woman, boldly and bravely +revert to your former position, and at the same time prove your +determination to support your present? You were as far from shame +as Helen Marsh of Abbeyweld, as you are as the wife of an honourable +member. Be yourself. Be simply, firmly yourself, my own Helen, and you +will at once, from being the scorned, become the scorner." + +"This from you, who love a lowly state?" + +"I love my own birthright, lowly though it be. No one will attempt to +pull me down. I shall have no heartaches--suffer no affronts?" + +"Oh!" said Helen, "if I had but been born to what I possess." + +"Mr. Stokes said if you had been born an honourable, you would have +grasped at a coronet." + +"And I _may_ have it yet," replied the discontented beauty, with +a weary smile; "I _may_ have it yet; my husband's brother is still +childless. If I could be but certain that the grave would receive him +a childless man, how proudly I would take precedence of such a woman +as Lady G----" + +Rose looked at her as she spoke. In the glorious meridian of her +beauty--a creature so splendid--of such a fair outside--with energy, +and grace, and power--married by a weak ambition--an ambition achieved +by the accident of birth--an ambition having neither honour, nor +virtue, nor patriotism, nor any one laudable aim, for its object. And +she sorrowed in her inmost soul for her cousin Helen. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Rose never, of course, made one at the brilliant assemblies which Mrs. +Ivers gave and graced; she only saw those who breakfasted or lunched +in the square, or who, like the little old gentleman, and one or two +others, joined the family circle. The excitement of an election, +and the (_pro tem._) equality which such an event creates, brought +her more into contact with her cousin's acquaintances than she had +yet been, and gave the gentleman, who evidently admired her, an +opportunity of studying her character. There was something strange +in a young woman, situated as was Rose, preserving so entirely her +self-respect, that it encircled her like a halo; and wherever it is +so preserved, it invariably commands the respect of others. After the +first week or two had passed, Rose Dillon was perfectly undazzled by +the splendour with which she was surrounded, and was now engaged in +watching for a moment when she could escape from what she knew was +splendid misery. If Helen had been simply content to keep her own +position--if she had, as Rose's wisdom advised, sufficient moral +courage to resent a slight openly, not denying her humble birth, and +yet resolved to be treated as became her husband's wife--all would +have been happiness and peace. Proud as Mr. Ivers was of her, her +discontent and perpetual straining after rank and distinction, +watching every body's every look and movement to discover if it +concealed no _covert_ affront, rendered him, kind and careful +though he was, occasionally dissatisfied; and she interpreted every +manifestation of his displeasure, however slight, to contempt for +her birth. Rose suffered most acutely, for she saw how simple was the +remedy, and yet could not prevail on Helen to abate one jot of her +restless ambition. The true spirit of a Christian woman often moved +her to secret earnest prayer, that God, of His mercy, would infuse +an humbler and holier train of thought and feeling into Helen's mind; +and, above all, she prayed that it might not come too late. + +"You do not think with Mrs. Ivers in all things, I perceive," said the +gentleman I have twice alluded to. + +"I am hardly, from my situation," replied Rose, "privileged to think +her thoughts, though perhaps I may think of them." + +"A nice distinction," he answered. + +"Our lots in life are differently cast. In a week I return to +Abbeyweld; I only came to be her nurse in illness, and was induced to +remain a little longer because I was useful to her. They will go to +the Continent now, and I shall return to my native village." + +"But," said the gentleman, in a tone of the deepest interest, "shall +you really return without regret?" + +"Without regret? Oh yes!" + +"Regret nothing?" + +"Nothing." + +"Suppose," he continued, in a suppressed tone of deep +emotion--"suppose that a man, young, rich, and perfectly aware of +the value of your pure and unsullied nature, was to lay his hand and +heart"-- + +"I pray, I entreat you, say not another word," interrupted Rose, +breathlessly. "If there should be any such, which is hardly possible, +sooner than he should deign to make a proposal to me, I would tell him +that before I came to visit my cousin, only the very night before, I +became the betrothed of another." + +"Of some one, Rose, who took advantage of your ignorance of the +world--of your want of knowledge of society?" + +"Oh no!" she replied, covering her face with her hand; "oh no! he is +incapable of that. He would have suffered me to leave Abbeyweld free +of promise, but I would not." + +"And do you hold the same faith still Rose? Think, has not what you +have seen, and shared in, made you ambitious of something beyond a +country life? Your refined mind and genuine feeling, your taste--do +not, I implore you, deceive yourself." + +"I do not, sir; indeed, I do not. Pardon me; I would not speak +disrespectfully of those above me. Of course, I have not been admitted +into that familiarity which would lead me to comprehend what at +present appears to me even more disturbed by the littleness of life +than a country village. Conventional forms have, I fear, little to +do with elevation of mind; they seem to me the result of habit rather +than of thought or feeling. I know this, at least, 'All is not gold +that glitters.' I have seen a tree, fair to look at in the distance, +and covered with green leaves, but when approached closely, the trunk +was foul and hollowed by impurities, and when the blast came, it could +not stand; even so with many, fair without and foul within, and the +first adversity, the first great sorrow, over-throws them." + +"But this may be the case with the poor as well as the rich, in the +country as well as the town." + +"I am sure of it, sir. No station can be altogether free from +impurity; but in the country the incitements to evil seem to me less +numerous, and the temptations fewer by far; the most dangerous of all, +a desire to shine, to climb above our fellows, less continual. The +middle class is there more healthy and independent." + +"And all this owing to the mere circumstance, think you, of +situation?" interrupted the gentleman. + +"I am only country bred, sir, as you know," replied Rose, earnestly +but meekly; "and the only advantage I have had has been in the society +of one you have heard me mention before now--our worthy rector--and he +says it would make all that is wrong come right, if people would only +fear God and love their neighbour." + +"I believe," said the gentleman, "he is right, quite right; for out of +such religion springs contentment, and all the higher as well as the +humbler virtues. Yes, he is quite right." Much more he urged Rose, +with all the persuasive eloquence of warm affection, to discover, if +it were possible, she could change. He tried her on all points, but +she replied with the clear straightforward truthfulness that has +nothing to conceal. She wavered in nothing: firm to her love, steady +to her principles, right-thinking and clear-sighted, he felt that +Rose Dillon of Abbeyweld would have added the dignity of virtue to the +dignity of rank, but that her mind was of too high an order to bend to +the common influences that lead women along the beaten track of life. + +They parted to meet no more; and Rose shed tears at their parting. "I +did not wish you to make a declaration that did me too much honour," +she said; "but I entreat you to say nothing of it to Mrs. Ivers. My +own course is taken, and God knows how earnestly I will pray that you +may find one in every way worthy your high caste of mind and station." + +I wonder would Edward Lynne have quite approved of those tears; I +wonder would he have been pleased to have observed the cheek of his +affianced bride pressed against the drawing-room window, to catch a +last glimpse of the cab which dashed from Mr. Ivers' door. Perhaps +not--for the generous nature of woman's love and woman's friendship, +is often beyond man's comprehension--but he would have been pleased to +see, after she had paced the room for half an hour, the eagerness with +which she received and opened a letter from himself; to have witnessed +the warm kiss impressed upon his name; to hear the murmured "dear, +_dear_ Edward!" Her heart had never for a moment failed in its +truth--never for an instant wavered. + +That day week the cousins separated. "You must come to me when I +return, Rose," said Helen--"you must come and witness my triumphs. +My husband's brother is very ill--cannot live long--but _that_ is a +secret. I trust Ivers will make a figure in the lower, before called +to the upper house; if he does not, it will break my heart. There, God +bless you, Rose; you have been very affectionate, very sweet to me, +but I do, I confess, envy you that cheerful countenance--cheerful and +calm. I always think that contented people want mind and feeling; but +you do not, Rose. By the way, how strangely Mr. ---- disappeared; +I thought you had clipped his wings. Well, next season, perhaps. Of +course, after this, you will think no more of Edward." Fortunately for +Rose, Helen expected no replies, and after a few more words, as I have +said, they parted. + +In little more than three months, Rose Dillon and Edward Lynne were +married. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"It's a decent match enough," said old Mrs. Myles to the rector when +two years had elapsed, and she had become reconciled to it. "Of course +Rose never could have taken the same stand as Helen, who has been a +lady now more than a year; though she's a good, grateful girl, and +Edward very attentive--very attentive indeed--and I must say more so +than I expected. Helen, I mean my lady, you know, has, as she says in +her last letter, a great deal to do with her money--of course she must +have; and so, sir, pray do not let any one in Abbeyweld know that the +little annuity is not continued--regularly, I mean," she added, while +a certain twitching of her features evinced how much she felt, though +she did not at the moment confess it, the neglect of one she so dearly +loved. Like most talkative people, she frequently talked away her +sorrows; and, thinking she would be better if she opened her heart, +she recommenced, after wiping away a few natural tears: "You see, sir, +Helen--I mean her ladyship--said she would make it up by-and-bye to +me, and so she ought, poor dear thing; for I sacrificed both myself +and her cousin Rose for her advancement; and really I cannot tell how +the money goes with those great folk. Only think," proceeded the old +lady, bringing her face close to Mr. Stokes, and whispering--"only +think, she says she never has five pounds she can call her own. Now, +as I told Rose, this is very odd, because my lord is so very rich +since the death of his brother, ten times as rich as he was at first, +and yet Rose says they are poor now to what they used to be--is +not that very strange? She says it is because of the increased +expenditure, and that I don't understand; but it's very hard, very +hard in my old days. If she can't live upon thirty thousand a-year, +I wonder how she expects her poor old grandmother to live upon thirty +pounds, for that's all my certainty; and the little farm, I must say, +would have gone to destruction, but for Edward Lynne--he does every +thing for it, poor fellow. She never sends me a paper now, with +her presentations, and dresses, and fine parties, printed in it at +full-length; she's ashamed of her birth, that's it; though sure +you and your lady, sir, noticed them both like equals, and I never +even asked to go near her, though his lordship invited me more than +once--and he even came to see Rose, as you know, ay, and a good ten +mile out of his way it was to come--a good ten mile--and kissed her +baby, and said he wished he had one like it, which they say Helen +never will have. Oh, it was a pity that first one of her ladyship did +not live! It is so cruel of her not to let me see the papers with an +account of her fine doings, all in print--very cruel--I who loved her +so, and took care of her--I never could find out from Rose whether +or no she thought her happy. Ah, Rose is a good girl! not, however," +added the old lady, again wiping away her tears--"not, however, to be +compared to her ladyship; and I would not say what I have done to any +one in the world but you, sir, who have known them all their lives." + +So talked old Mrs. Myles, and so she continued to talk at intervals, +during the next five years, growing weaker in mind and body, until at +last she took to her bed. "I could die happy," said the old woman, "if +I were to see Helen once more; write to her, Rose, and tell her so; +she will not refuse to see me, her first friend--only once." + +Communications between the cousins had ceased for a long time, but +Rose wrote. Mrs. Myles sent twice every day to the post-office--and +her hopes, so constantly disappointed, increased her fever; at the end +of a week, a letter came. + +"Give it me, Rose, give it me!" exclaimed Mrs. Myles, "it is from +my own darling child, bless her!--my beauty! Oh, deary me! I'm sure +that's a beautiful seal, if I could only see it; prop me up--there. +How the jessamine blinds the window--now my spectacles--so"--She tried +hard to read, but the power of sight was gone. "She used to write the +best hand in the school, but this fashionable writing is hard to make +out," observed the old woman; "so do you read it, Rosy." + +"Here is ten pounds to begin with," said Rose, placing the gossamer +note before her.--Mrs. Myles mechanically took up the money, and +played with it as a child plays with a toy, and Rose read the few +words that accompanied the gift:--"Grieved to the heart to hear of the +illness of her ever dear relative--would be miserable about her but +from the knowledge of Rose being the best nurse in the world--begs she +will let her know how the dear invalid is by return of post, and also +if there is any thing she could send to alleviate her sufferings." + +While Rose was reading the letter, Mrs. Myles's long thin feeble +fingers were playing with the note, her dim eyes fixed upon the +window; large round tears coursed each other down her colourless +cheeks. "No word about coming, Rose--no word about coming," she +muttered, after a pause; "send her back this trash," she added, +bitterly--"send her back this trash, and tell her the last tears I +shed were shed not for my sins, but for her cruelty." She continued to +mutter much that they could not understand; but evening closed in, and +Rose told Edward that she slept at last; she did certainly, and Rose +soon discovered that it was her last sleep. The money was returned; +and again five years elapsed without Rose hearing, directly or +indirectly, from her rich and titled cousin. In the mean time, Edward +and Rose prospered exceedingly; three handsome, happy children blessed +their home. Their industry perfected whatever Providence bestowed; +nothing was wasted, nothing neglected; the best farmers in the +neighbourhood asked advice of Edward Lynne; and the "born ladies," +as poor Mrs. Myles would have called them, would have forgotten that +Rose was only a farmer's wife, if wise Rose had been herself disposed +to forget it. But great as their worldly prosperity had been, it was +nothing to the growth and continuance of that holy affection which +cheered and hallowed their happy dwelling--the chief characteristic +of which was a freedom from pretension of all kinds. Rose suffered +appearances to grow with their means, but never to precede them; +and though this is not the world's practice, the duty is not on that +account the less imperative. They were seated one evening round their +table, Edward reading, while his wife worked, when the master of the +post-office brought them a letter. + +"It has lain two days, Measter Lynne," said the man, "for you never +send but once a-week; only, as I thought by the seal it must be +something grand, whoy I brought it down myself." + +It was from Helen!--from the ambitious cousin--a few sad, mournful +lines, every one of which seemed dictated by a breaking heart. + +She was ill and wretched, and the physician had suggested change of +air; but above all her native air. Would Rose receive her for a little +time, just to try what its effect might be?--she was sure she would, +and she would be with her immediately. + +"Strange," said Edward, "how nature will assert and keep its power; +when luxury, art, skill, knowledge, fail to restore health, they tell +you of native air, trusting to the simple, pure restorative, which +is the peasant's birthright, as infallible. I wonder, Rose, how those +fine people like to be thrown back upon the nature they so outrage." + +"Poor Helen!" exclaimed Rose, "how dispirited she seems--how +melancholy! I ought to feel afraid of your meeting her, I suppose, +Edward; but I do not--you have grown satisfied with your poor Rose. We +shall be able to make her very comfortable, shall we not?"--and then +she smiled at the homeliness of the phrase, and wondered what Helen +would say if she heard her. + +It was not without sundry heartbeatings that Rose heard the carriage +stop, and assisted Helen to alight; nor could she conceal her +astonishment at the ravages which not past years but past emotions had +wrought on her once beautiful face. + +The habit of suppressing thoughts, feelings, and emotions, had +altogether destroyed the frank expression of her exquisitely chiselled +mouth, which, when it smiled now, smiled alone; for the eyes, so +finely formed, so exquisitely fringed, did not smile in unison; they +had acquired a piercing and searching expression, altogether different +from their former brilliancy. + +The elevated manners, the polished tone which high society alone +bestows, only increased the distance between the two cousins, though +Rose was certainly gratified by the exclamation of pleasure which told +how much better than she anticipated were the accommodations prepared +by her humble relative. + +"Such pretty rooms--such beautiful flowers! Rose, you must have grown +rich, and without growing unhappy. Strange, you look ten years younger +than I do!" + +"Late hours, public life, and anxieties," said Rose. + +"Yes, that last appointment his lordship obtained, the very thing +above all others I so desired for him, has completely divided him from +his home. We hardly ever meet now, except at what I may call our own +public dinners." + +"And he, who used to be so affectionate, so fond of domestic life!" +involuntarily exclaimed Rose. + +"And is so still; but the usages of society, the intrigues and bustle +of public business, quite overthrow every thing of that kind. Oh, it +is a weary, wearying world!" + +"But to a mind like yours, the achieving an object must be so +delightful!" + +"Ay, Rose, so it is; but that sort of thing soon passes away, and we +have no sooner obtained possession of one, than another still more +desirable presents itself. How peaceful and happy you seem. Well, an +idle mind must be a perpetual feast." + +"But I have not an idle mind, not an idle moment," replied Rose, +colouring a little; "my husband, my children, my humble household, the +care of the parochial schools, now that poor Mr. Stokes has grown so +infirm"-- + +"Yes, yes!" interrupted Helen; "and yet, Rose, when I look at you, +even now, I cannot but think you were fitted for better things." + +"Better than learning how to occupy time profitably, and training +souls for immortality!" she replied; "but you are worn and tired, let +me wait upon you this one night, as I used long, long ago to do--let +me wait upon my own dear cousin, instead of a menial, this one night, +and to-morrow you shall see Edward and the children." + +The worn-hearted woman of the great world laid her face upon her +cousin's shoulder, and then fairly hid it in her bosom. Why it was, He +only, who knows the mysterious workings of the human heart, can tell; +but she wept long and very bitterly, assigning no cause for her tears, +but sobbing and weeping like a sorrowing child, while the arms she had +flung round her cousin's neck prevented Rose from moving. Their tears +once more mingled, as they had often done in childhood--once more--but +not for long. + +"Leave me alone for a little, and I will ring for my maid," she said +at last; "I am too artificial to be waited upon by you, Rose. It was +otherwise when you used to twine gay poppies and bright flowers in my +hair, telling me, at the same time, how much wiser it would have been +to have chosen the less fading and more fragrant ones." + +"Her husband--and her children!" thought Helen; "if she had neither +children nor husband, she would have been of such value to me now; +noisy children, I dare say, troublesome and wearying. Native air! +native air, indeed, _ought_ to work wonders." It would be hardly +credited that Helen--the beauty--the admired--the woman of +rank--bestowed quite as much trouble upon her morning toilette as +if she had been in London. Such was her aching passion for universal +sway, that she could not bear to be thought faded by her old lover, +though he was only a farmer; and this trouble was taken despite bodily +pain that would have worn a strong man to a skeleton. + +It would be difficult to say whether Helen was pleased or displeased +at finding Edward Lynne what might, without any flattery, be termed a +country gentleman, betraying no emotion whatever at the sight of one +who had caused him so much suffering, and only anxious to gratify her +because she was his wife's relative. She thought, and she was right, +that she discovered pity, and not admiration, as he looked upon her. + +"You think me changed," she said. + +"Your ladyship has been ill and harassed." + +"Ah! we all change except Rose." + +"Ah!" replied the country bred husband, "she, indeed, is an exception; +she could not even change for the better." + +And then the children, two such glorious boys, fine, manly fellows. +"And what will you be?" inquired her ladyship of the eldest. + +"A farmer, my lady." + +"And you?" + +"A merchant, I hope." + +"Your boys are as unambitious as yourself, Rose." + +"I fear not," she answered; "this fellow wants to get into the middle +class; but Mr. Stokes says the prosperity of a country depends more +upon the middle class than upon either the high or the low." + +To this Helen made no reply, for her attention was occupied by +the loveliness of Rose's little girl. The child inherited, in +its perfection, the beauty of her family, and a grace and spirit +peculiarly her own. Rose could not find it in her heart to deprive +her cousin of the child's society, which seemed to interest and amuse +her, and the little creature performed so many acts of affection +and attention from the impulse of her own kind nature, that Helen, +unaccustomed to that sort of devotion, found her twine around +her sympathies in a novel and extraordinary manner; it was a new +sensation, and she could not account for its influence. After a +week had passed, she was able to walk out, and met by chance the +old clergyman. He kissed the child, and passed on with a bow, which, +perhaps, had more of bitterness in its civility than, strictly +speaking, befitted a Christian clergyman; but he thought of the +neglect she had evinced towards old Mrs. Myles, and if he had spoken, +it would have been to vent his displeasure, and reprove the woman +whose rank could not shield her from his scorn. She proceeded towards +the churchyard. "Look, lady!" said little Rose; "father put that stone +over that grave to please mother. The relation who is buried there +took care of my mother when she was a _littler_ girl than I am now, +and he told me to strew flowers over the grave, which we do. See, I +can read it--'Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Margaret Myles, who died +the seventeenth of June, eighteen hundred'--and something--I can +hardly read figures yet, lady. 'This stone was placed here by her +grateful relatives, E. and R.S.,' meaning Rose and Edward Lynne." + +The coldness of the clergyman was forgotten in the bitterness of +self-reproach. "I was a fool," she thought, as she turned away, "to +fancy that my native air could be untainted by the destiny which has +mocked me from my cradle." + +"Ah! lady dear," exclaimed a crone, rising from a grave where she +had been sitting, "don't you remember old Betty? They all said in the +village you'd be too proud to look on your grandmother's grave; but +you're not, I see. Well, that's good--that's good. We had a funeral +last week, and the vault of the old earl was broken in. The stupid +sexton stuck his pick in amongst the old bricks, and so the great +man's skull came tumbling out, and rolled beside the skull of Job +Martin, the old cobbler; and the sexton laid them both on the edge of +the grave, the earl's skull and the cobbler's skull, until he should +fetch a mason to mend the vault, and--what do you think?--when the +mason came, the sexton could not tell which was the earl's skull and +which was the cobbler's! Lady, you must understand how this is--it's +all the same in a hundred years, according to the saying; and so +it is. None of them could tell which was the earl's, and which the +cobbler's. My skull may lie next a lady's yet, and no one tell the +difference." + +The lady and child hastened from the churchyard, and the old woman +muttered, "To see that! She's not half as well to look at now as the +farmer's wife. Ah! 'All is not gold that glitters!'" How happy it is +for those who believe in the truth of this proverb, and from it learn +to be content! + +It might be a week after this occurrence that Helen sent for Rose. The +lady either was, or fancied herself better, and said so, adding, it +was in her (Rose's) power to make her happier than she had ever been. +Reverting to the period when her cousin visited her in London, she +alluded to what she had suffered in becoming a mother, and yet having +her hopes destroyed by the anxiety and impetuosity of her own nature. +"At first," she said, "the trouble was anything but deep-rooted, for I +fancied God would send many more, but it was not so; and now the title +I so desired must go to the child of a woman--Oh, Rose, how I _do_ +hate her!--a woman who publicly thanks God that no plebeian blood will +disgrace _my_ husband's title and _her_ family. I would peril my soul +to cause her the pain she has caused me." + +"You do so now," said Rose, gently but solemnly. "Oh! think that this +violence and revenge sins your own soul, and is every way unworthy of +you." + +Helen did not heed the interruption. "To add to my agony," she +continued, "my husband cherishes her son as if it were his own; the +boy stands even now between his affections and me. He has reproached +me for what he terms my insensibility to his perfections, and says +I ought to rejoice that he is so easily rendered happy--only imagine +this! Rose, you must give me your daughter, to be to me as my own. +Her beauty and sweetness will at once wean my husband's love from +this boy; and, moreover, children brought up together--do you not +see?--that boy will become attached to one of the 'plebeian blood,' +and wedding _her_ hereafter, scald to the core the proud heart of his +mother, as she has scalded mine!" + +"I cannot, Helen," replied Rose, after a pause, during which her +cousin's glittering inquiring eyes were fixed upon her face--"I +cannot; I could not answer to my God at the last day for delivering +the soul he gave to my care to be so tutored (forgive me) as to forget +Him in all things." + +"Forget God!" repeated Helen once or twice--"I forget God! Do you +think I am a heathen?" + +"No, cousin--no--for you have all knowledge of the truth; but +knowledge, and profiting by our knowledge, are different. My little +gentle-hearted girl will be happier far in her own sphere. I could not +see her degraded to bait a trap for any purpose; she will be happy, +happier in her own sphere." + +The lady bit her compressed lips; but during her whole life she never +gave up a point, nor an object, proving how necessary it is that the +strong mind should be well and highly directed. Small feeble minds +pass through the world doing little good and little harm, but to train +a large mind is worth the difficulty--worth the trouble it occasions: +its possession is either a great blessing or a great curse. To Helen +it was the latter, and curses never fall singly. "You have boys to +provide for," she said, "and if I adopted that child, I would not +suffer their station to disgrace their sister." + +"I am sure you mean us kindly and generously; nor am I blind to the +advantages of such an offer for my boys. Their father has prospered +greatly, and could at this moment place them in any profession they +chose--still influence would help them forward; but the advancement of +one child must not be purchased by"--Rose paused for a word--she did +not wish to hurt her cousin's feelings--and yet none suggested itself +but what she conceived to be the true one, and she repeated, lowly +and gently, her opinion, prefacing it with, "You will forgive in this +matter my plain speaking, but the advancement of one child must not be +purchased by the sacrifice of another." + +"Your prejudices have bewildered your understanding," exclaimed the +lady. "Whatever my ambition may be, my morality is unimpeached; a +vestal would lose none of her purity beneath my roof." + +"Granted, fully and truly; woman's first virtue is untainted, but that +is not her only one; forgive me. I have no right to judge or dictate, +nor to give an unasked opinion; I am grateful for your kindness; +but my child, given to me as a blessing for time and a treasure for +eternity, must remain beneath my roof until her mind and character are +formed." + +"You are mad, Rose; consider her future happiness"-- + +"Oh, Helen! are you more happy than your humble cousin?" + +"She would be brought up in the sphere I was thrust into, and have +none of the contentions I have had to endure," said Helen. + +"A sphere full of whirlpools and quicksands," replied the mother. "The +fancy you have taken to her might pass away. She might be taught the +bitterness of eating a dependant's bread, and the soft and luxurious +habits of her early days would unfit her for bearing so heavy a +burden; it would be in vain then to recall her to her humble home; +she would have lost all relish for it. It might please God to take +you after a few years, and my poor child would be returned to what she +would then consider poverty. Urge me no more, I entreat you." + +Helen's face grew red and pale by turns. "You mock at and mar my +purposes," she said. "My husband was struck by the beauty of that +child, and I longed to see her; but I am doomed to disappointment. I +never tried to grasp a substance that it did not fade into a shadow! +What am I now?" Her eyes rested upon the reflection, given by the +glass, of the two cousins. "Look! that tells the story--worn in heart +and spirit, blighted and bitter. You, Rose--even you, my own flesh and +blood--will not yield to me--the only creature, perhaps, that could +love me! Oh! the void, the desert of life, without affection!--a +childless mother--made so by"--She burst into tears, and Rose was +deeply affected. She felt far more inclined to yield her child to the +desolate heart of Helen Marsh, than to the proud array of Lady ----; +but she also knew her duty. + +"Will you grant me this favour," said Helen at last; "will you let the +child decide"-- + +"I would not yield to the child's decision, but you may, if you +please, prove her," answered her mother. + +The little girl came softly into the room, having already learned that +a bounding step was not meet for "my lady's chamber." + +"Rosa, listen; will you come with me to London, to ride in a fine +coach drawn by four horses--to wear a velvet frock--see beautiful +sights, and become a great lady. Will you, dear Rosa, and be my own +little girl?" + +"Oh, yes!" exclaimed the child, gleefully; "that I will; _that_ would +be so nice--a coach and four--a velvet frock--a great lady--oh! dear +me!" The mother felt her limbs tremble, her heart sink. "Oh! my own +dear mother, will not _that_ be nice? and the beautiful sights you +have told me of--St. Paul's and Westminster--oh! mother, we shall be +so happy!" + +"Not _me_, Rosa," answered Mrs. Lynne, with as firm a voice as she +could command. "Now, listen to me: you might ride _in_ a coach +and four, instead of _on_ your little pony--wear velvet instead of +cotton--see St. Paul's and Westminster--but have no more races on +the downs, no more peeping into birds' nests, no more seeing the old +church, or hearing its Sabbath bells. You _may_ become a great lady, +but you must leave and forget your father and me." + +"Leave you, and my father and brothers! You did not mean _that_ +surely--you could not mean that, my lady--could they not go with me?" + +"That would be impossible!" + +"Then I will stay here," said the little girl firmly; "I love them +better than every thing else in the world. Thank you, dear lady, but I +cannot leave them." + +"Leave _us_, then, Rosa," said Helen, proudly. The child obeyed with a +frightened look, wondering how she had displeased the "grand lady." + +If Helen had been steeped to the very lips in misery, she could not +have upbraided the world more bitterly than she did, giving vent to +long pent-up feelings, and reproaching Rose, not only for her folly +in not complying with her wish, but for her happiness and contentment, +which, while she envied, she affected to despise. + +"You cannot make me believe that the high-born and wealthy are what +you represent," said her cousin. "A class must not be condemned +because of an individual; and though I never felt inclined to achieve +rank, I honour many of its possessors. It is the unsatisfied longing +of your own heart that has made you miserable, dear Helen; and oh! +let me entreat you, by the remembrance of our early years, to suffer +yourself to enjoy what you possess." + +"What I possess!" she repeated; "the dread and dislike of my husband's +relatives--the reputation of 'she _was_ very handsome'--a broken +constitution--nothing to lean upon or love--a worn and weary heart!" + +"You have a mine of happiness in your husband's affection." + +"Not now," she answered bitterly; "not now--not now." And she was +right. + +The next day she left the farm, where peace and prosperity dwelt +together; despite herself, it pained her to witness such happiness. +It is possible that the practical and practised theories she had +witnessed might have changed her, had she not foolishly thought it +too late. Her disappointment had been great; from the adoption of that +child she had expected much of what, after all, is the creating and +existing principle of woman's nature--natural affection; but this was +refused by its mother's wisdom. Her worldly prospects had been doomed +to disappointment, because she hungered and thirsted after vanities +and distinctions, which never can afford sustenance to an immortal +spirit; and even when she desired to cultivate attachment, it did not +proceed from the pure love of woman--the natural stream was corrupted +by an unworthy motive. + +Again years rolled on. In the records of fashionable life, the +movements and fetes of Lady ---- continued to be occasionally noted +as the most brilliant of the season; then rumours became rife that +Lord and Lady ---- did not live as affectionately as heretofore; +then, after twenty years of union, separation ensued upon the public +ground of "incompatibility of temper"--his friends expressing their +astonishment how his lordship could have so long endured the pride +and caprice of one so lowly born, while hers--but friends! she had no +friends!--a few partizans of the "rights of women" there were, who, +for the sake of "the cause," defended the woman. She had been all her +life too restless for friendship, and when the sensation caused by +her separation from her husband had passed away, none of the gay world +seemed to remember her existence. Rose and her husband lived, loved, +and laboured together. It was astonishing how much good they did, and +how much they were beloved by their neighbours. Their names had never +been noted in any fashionable register, but it was engraved upon every +peasant heart in the district. "As happy as Edward and Rose Lynne," +became a proverb; and if any thing was needed to increase the love +the one felt for the other, it was perfected by the affection of their +children. + +"I think," said the old rector, as they sat round the evening +tea-table, "that our school may now vie with any in the +diocese--thanks to the two Roses; twin roses they might almost be +called, though Rosa hardly equals Rose. I wonder what Mrs. Myles would +say if she were to look upon this happy group. Ah dear!--well God is +very good to permit such a foretaste of heaven as is met with here." +And the benevolent countenance of the good pastor beamed upon the +happy family. "I have brought you the weekly paper," he continued; +"the Saturday paper. I had not time to look at it myself, but here +it is. Now, Edward, read us the news." The farther people are removed +from the busy scenes of life, the more anxious they are to hear of +their proceedings; and Edward read leading articles, debates, reviews, +until, under the head of "Paris," he read as follows--"Considerable +sensation has been excited here by the sudden death of the beautiful +Lady ----." + +Rose screamed, and the paper trembled in Edward's hand. "This is too +horrid," he said. + +"Do let me hear it all!" exclaimed his wife. + +It was many minutes before Edward Lynne could tell her, that there +was more than an insinuation, that, wearied of existence, she, the +brilliant, the beautiful, the _fortunate_ Lady ----, wearied of life, +had abridged it herself. + +Before they separated that evening, the Holy Word was read with more +than usual feeling and solemnity by Mr. Stokes, and yet he could not +read as much as usual. "All flesh is grass," brought tears into his +eyes. His prayer that all might long enjoy the perpetual feast of a +contented mind, was echoed by every heart; and the gratitude all felt +for God's goodness to them was mingled with regret for Helen; all +intermediate time was forgotten, and the elders of that little party +only remembered the bright and beautiful girl, the pride of Abbeyweld. + +"God bless my beloved pupil!" said the venerable clergyman, as he +departed; "without a holy grace all is indeed vanity. May Rosa learn, +as early as her mother did, that + +'ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS.'" + + * * * * * + + + + +THERE IS NO HURRY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +I do not tell you whether the village of Repton, where the two +brothers, John and Charles Adams, originally resided, is near or far +from London: it is a pretty village to this day; and when John Adams, +some five-and-thirty years ago, stood on the top of Repton Hill and +looked down upon the houses--the little church, whose simple gate was +flanked by two noble yew trees, beneath whose branches he had often +sat--the murmuring river in which he had often fished--the cherry +orchards, where the ripe fruit hung like balls of coral; when he +looked down upon all these dear domestic sights--for so every native +of Repton considered them--John Adams might have been supposed to +question if he had acted wisely in selling to his brother Charles the +share of the well-cultivated farm, which had been equally divided at +their father's death. It extended to the left of the spot on which he +was standing, almost within a ring fence; the meadows, fresh shorn +of their produce, and fragrant with the perfume of new hay--the crops +full of promise, and the lazy cattle laving themselves in the standing +pond of the abundant farmyard; in a paddock, set apart for his +especial use, was the old blind horse his father had bestrode during +the last fifteen years of his life; it leant its sightless head +upon the gate, half up-turned, he fancied, to where he stood. It +is wonderful what small things will sometimes stir up the hearts of +strong men, ay, and what is still more difficult, even of ambitious +men. Yet he did not feel at that moment a regret for the fair acres he +had parted with; he was full of the importance which the possession +of a considerable sum of money gives a young man, who has been fagging +almost unsuccessfully in an arduous profession, and one which requires +a certain appearance of success to command success--for John Adams +even then placed M.D. after his plain name; yet still, despite the +absence of sorrow, and the consciousness of increased power, he +continued to look at poor old Ball until his eyes swam in tears. + +With the presence of his father, which the sight of the old horse had +conjured up, came the remembrance of his peculiarities, his habits, +his expressions; and he wondered, as they passed in review before him, +how he could ever have thought the dear old man testy or tedious; +even his frequent quotations from "Poor Richard" appeared to him, +for the first time, the results of common prudence; and his rude but +wise rhyme, when, in the joy of his heart, he told his father he had +absolutely received five guineas as one fee from an ancient dame who +had three middle-aged daughters (he had not, however, acquainted his +father with _that_ fact,) came more forcibly to his memory than it had +ever done to his ear-- + + "For want and age save while you may, + No morning sun shines all the day." + +He repeated the last line over and over again, as his father had done; +but as his "morning sun" was at that moment shining, it is not matter +of astonishment that the remembrance was evanescent, and that it did +not make the impression upon him his father had desired _long_ before. + +A young, unmarried, handsome physician, with about three thousand +pounds in his pocket, and "good expectations," might be excused for +building "des chateaux en Espagne." A very wise old lady said once +to me--"Those who have none on earth may be forgiven for building +them in the air; but those who have them on earth should be content +therewith." Not so, however, was John Adams; he built and built, and +then by degrees descended to the realities of his position. What power +would not that three thousand pounds give him! He wondered if Dr. Lee +would turn his back upon him now when they met in consultation; and +Mr. Chubb, the county apothecary, would he laugh and ask him if he +could read his own prescriptions? Then he recurred to a dream--for +it was so vague at that time as to be little more--whether it would +not be better to abandon altogether country practice, and establish +himself in the metropolis--London. A thousand pounds, advantageously +spent, with a few introductions, would do a great deal in London, and +that was not a third of what he had. And this great idea banished all +remembrance of the past, all sense of the present--the young aspirant +thought only of the future. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Five years have passed. Dr. John Adams was "settled" in a small +"showy" house in the vicinity of Mayfair; he had, the world said, made +an excellent match. He married a very pretty girl, "highly connected," +and was considered to be possessed of personal property, because, +for so young a physician, Dr. Adams lived in "a superior style." His +brother Charles was still residing in the old farm-house, to which, +beyond the mere keeping it in repair, he had done but little, except, +indeed, adding a wife to his establishment--a very gentle, loving, +yet industrious girl, whose dower was too small to have been her only +attraction. Thus both brothers might be said to be fairly launched in +life. + +It might be imagined that Charles Adams, having determined to reside +in his native village, and remain, what his father and grandfather +had been, a simple gentleman farmer, and that rather on a small than +a large scale, was altogether without that feeling of ambition which +stimulates exertion and elevates the mind. Charles Adams had quite +enough of this--which may be said, like fire, to be "a good servant, +but a bad master"--but he made it subservient to the dictates of +prudence--and a forethought, the gift, perhaps, that, above all +others, we should most earnestly covet for those whose prosperity we +would secure. To save his brother's portion of the freehold from going +into the hands of strangers, he incurred a debt; and wisely--while +he gave to his land all that was necessary to make it yield its +increase--he abridged all other expenses, and was ably seconded in +this by his wife, who _resolved_, until principal and interest were +discharged, to live quietly and carefully. Charles contended that +every appearance made beyond a man's means was an attempted fraud upon +the public; while John shook his head, and answered that it might +do very well for Charles to say so, as no one expected the sack that +brought the grain to market to be of fine Holland, but that no man in +a profession could get on in London without making "an appearance." +At this Charles shrugged his shoulders, and thanked God he lived at +Repton. + +The brothers, as years moved rapidly on--engaged as they were by their +mutual industry and success in their several fields of action--met but +seldom. It was impossible to say which of the two continued the most +prosperous. Dr. Adams made several lucky hits; and having so obtained +a position, was fortunate in having an abundance of patients in an +intermediate sort of state--that is, neither very well nor very ill. +Of a really bland and courteous nature, he was kind and attentive +to all, and it was certain that such of his patients as were only in +moderate circumstances, got well long before those who were rich; his +friends attributed this to his humanity as much as to his skill; his +enemies said he did not like "poor patients." Perhaps there was a +mingling of truth in both statements. The money he had received for +his portion of the land was spent, certainly, before his receipts +equalled his expenditure; and strangely enough, by the time the farmer +had paid off his debt, the doctor was involved, not to a large amount, +but enough to render his "appearance" to a certain degree fictitious. +This embarrassment, to do him justice, was not of long continuance; +he became the fashion; and before prosperity had turned his head by +an influx of wealth, so as to render him careless, he got rid of his +debt, and then his wife agreed with him "that they might live as they +pleased." + +It so happened that Charles Adams was present when this observation +was made, and it spoke well for both the brothers that their different +positions in society had not in the smallest degree cooled their +boyhood's affection; not even the money transactions of former times, +which so frequently create disunion, had changed them; they met less +frequently, but they always met with pleasure, and separated with +regret. + +"Well!" exclaimed the doctor triumphantly, as he glanced around his +splendid rooms, and threw himself into a _chaise longue_--then a new +luxury--"well, it is certainly a charming feeling to be entirely out +of debt." + +"And yet," said his wife, "it would not be wise to confess it in our +circle." + +"Why?" inquired Charles. + +"Because it would prove that we had been in it," answered the lady. + +"At all events," said John, "now I shall not have to reproach myself +with every extra expense, and think I ought to pay my debts first; now +I may live exactly as I please." + +"I do not think so," said Charles. + +"Not think so!" repeated Mrs. Adams in a tone of astonishment. + +"Not think so!" exclaimed John; "do I not make the money myself?" + +"Granted, my dear fellow; to be sure you do," said Charles. + +"Then why should I not spend it as pleases me best? Is there any +reason why I should not?" + +As if to give the strongest dramatic effect to Charles's opinion, the +nurse at that moment opened the drawing-room door, and four little +laughing children rushed into the room. + +"There--are four reasons against your spending your income exactly as +you please; unless, indeed, part of your plan be to provide for them," +answered Charles very seriously. + +"I am sure," observed Mrs. Adams, with the half-offended air of a weak +woman when she hears the truth, "John need not be told his duty to his +children; he has always been a most affectionate father." + +"A father may be fond and foolish," said Charles, who was peculiarly +English in his mode of giving an opinion. "For my part, I could not +kiss my little Mary and Anne when I go to bed at night, if I did +not feel I had already formed an accumulating fund for their future +support--a support they will need all the more when their parents are +taken from them, as they must be, in the course of time." + +"They must marry," said Mrs. Adams. + +"That is a chance," replied Charles; "women hang on hands now-a-days. +At all events, by God's blessing, I am resolved that, if they are +beauties, they shall never be forced by poverty to accept unworthy +matches; if they are plain, they shall have enough to live upon +without husbands." + +"That is easy enough for you, Charles," said the doctor, "who have +had your broad acres to support you, and no necessity for expenditure +or show of any kind; who might go from Monday morning till Saturday +night in home-spun, and never give any thing beyond home-brewed and +gooseberry wine, with a chance bottle of port to your visiters--while +I, Heaven help me! was obliged to dash in a well-appointed equipage, +entertain, and appear to be doing a great deal in my profession, when +a guinea would pine in solitude for a week together in my pocket." + +"I do not want to talk with you of the past, John," said Charles; "our +ideas are more likely to agree now than they were ten or twelve years +ago; I will speak of the future and present. You are now out of debt, +in the very prime of life, and in the receipt of a splendid income; +but do not, let me entreat you, spend it as it comes; lay by something +for those children; provide for them either by insurance, or some of +the many means that are open to us all. Do not, my dear brother, be +betrayed by health, or the temptation for display, to live up to an +income the nature of which is so essentially precarious." + +"Really," murmured Mrs. Adams, "you put one into very low spirits." + +Charles remained silent, waiting his brother's reply. + +"My dear Charles," he said at last, "there is a great deal of truth in +what you say--certainly a great deal; but I cannot change my style of +living, strange as it may seem. If I did, I should lose my practice. +And then I must educate my children; _that_ is an imperative duty, is +it not?" + +"Certainly it is; it is a _part_ of the provision I have spoken of, +but not the whole--a portion only. If you have the means to do both, +it is your duty to do both; and you _have_ the means. Nay, my dear +sister, do not seem angry or annoyed with me; it is for the sake of +your children I speak; it is to prevent their ever knowing practically +what we do know theoretically--that the world is a hard world; +hard and unfeeling to those who need its aid. It is to prevent the +possibility of their feeling _a reverse_." + +Mrs. Adams burst into tears, and walked out of the room. Charles was +convinced that _she_ would not uphold his opinion. + +"Certainly," said John, "I intend to provide for my children; but +_there is no hurry_, and"-- + +"There should be no hesitation in the case," interrupted Charles; +"every man _intends_ to provide for his children. God forbid that I +should imagine any man to be sufficiently wicked to say--I have been +the means of bringing this child into existence--I have brought it up +in the indulgence of all the luxuries with which I indulged myself; +and now I intend to withdraw them all from it, and leave it to fight +its own way through the world. No man could look on the face of the +innocent child nestling in your bosom and say _that_; but if you do +not appropriate a portion of the means you possess to save that child +from the 'hereafter,' you act as if you had resolved so to cast it on +the wild waters of a turbulent world." + +"But, Charles, I intend to do all that you counsel; no wonder poor +Lucy could not bear these words, when I, your own and only brother, +find them stern and reproachful; no wonder that such should be the +case; of course I _intend_ to provide for my children." + +"Then DO IT," said Charles. + +"Why, so I will; but cannot in a moment. I have already said there is +no hurry. You must give a little time." + +"The time may come, my dear John, when TIME will give you no time. You +have been spending over and above your debt--more than, as the father +of four children, you have any right to spend. The duty parents owe +their children in this respect has preyed more strongly on my mind +than usual, as I have been called on lately to witness its effects--to +see its misery. One family at Repton, a family of eight children, has +been left entirely without provision, by a man who enjoyed a situation +of five hundred a-year in quarterly payments." + +"That man is, however, guiltless. What could he save out of five +hundred a-year? How could he live on less?" replied the doctor. + +"Live upon four, and insure his life for the benefit of those +children. Nay," continued Charles, in the vehemence of his feelings, +"the man who does not provide means of existence for his helpless +children, until they are able to provide for themselves, cannot +be called a reasonable person; and the legislature ought to oblige +such to contribute to a fund to prevent the spread of the worst sort +of pauperism--that which comes upon well-born children from the +carelessness or selfishness of their parents. God in his wisdom, and +certainly in his mercy, removed the poor broken-hearted widow of the +person I alluded to a month after his death; and the infant, whose +nourishment from its birth had been mingled with bitterness, followed +in a few days. I saw myself seven children crowd round the coffin +that was provided by charity; I saw three taken to the workhouse, and +the elder four distributed amongst kind-hearted hard-working people, +who are trying to inure the young soft hands, accustomed to silken +idleness, to the toils of homely industry. I ask you, John Adams, how +the husband of that woman, the father of those children, can meet +his God, when it is required of him to give an account of his +stewardship?" + +"It is very true--very shocking indeed," observed Dr. Adams. "I +certainly will do something to secure my wife and children from the +possibility of any thing like _that_, although, whatever were to +happen to me, I am sure Lucy's family would prevent"-- + +Charles broke in upon the sentence his brother found it difficult +to complete--"And can you expect distant or even near relatives to +perform what you, whose duty it is, neglect? Or would you leave those +dear ones to the bitterness of dependence, when, by the sacrifice or +curtailment of those luxurious habits which, if not closely watched, +increase in number, and at last become necessaries, you could leave +them in comfort and independence! We all hope for the leisure of a +death-bed--awful enough, come as it may--awful, even when beyond its +gloom we see the risen Sun of Righteousness in all his glory--awful, +though our faith be strong in Him who is our strength; but if the +consciousness of having neglected those duties which we were sent on +earth to perform be with us then, dark, indeed, will be the Valley of +the Shadow of Death. I do not want, however, to read a homily, my dear +brother, but to impress a truth; and I do hope that you will prevent +the possibility of these dear children feeling what they must feel, +enduring what they must endure, if _you_ passed into another world +without performing your duty towards them, and through them to +society, in this." + +Mrs. Adams met her brother-in-law that day (people five-and-twenty +years ago did dine by day) at dinner, with an air of offence. She was, +of course, lady-like and quiet, but it was evident she was displeased. +Every thing at table was perfect according to its kind. There was +no guest present who was not superior in wealth and position to the +doctor himself, and each was quite aware of the fact. Those who climb +boldly sometimes take a false step, but at all times make dangerous +ones. When Charles looked round upon the splendid plate and stylish +servants--when the children were ushered in after dinner, and +every tongue was loud in praises of their beauty--an involuntary +shudder passed through his heart, and he almost accused himself of +selfishness, when he was comforted by the remembrance of the provision +made for his own little ones, who were as pretty, as well educated, +and as happy in their cheerful country home. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The next morning he was on his return to Repton, happy in the +assurance his brother had given him before they parted, that he would +really lay by a large sum for the regular insurance of his life. + +"My dear John," said the doctor's wife, "when does the new carriage +come home? I thought we were to have had it this week. The old chariot +looked so dull to-day, just as you were going out, when Dr. Fitzlane's +new chocolate-colour passed; certainly that chocolate-coloured +carriage picked out with blue and those blue liveries are very, very +pretty." + +"Well, Lucy, I think them too gay--the liveries I mean--for an +M.D.; quieter colours do best; and as to the new carriage, I had not +absolutely ordered it. I don't see why I cannot go on with the jobs; +and I almost think I shall do so, and appropriate the money I intended +for _my own_ carriage to another purpose." + +"What purpose?" + +"Why, to effect an insurance on my life. There was a great deal +of truth in what Charles said the other day, although he said it +coarsely, which is not usual with him; but he felt the subject, and +I feel it also; so I think of, as I said, going quietly on with the +jobs--at all events till next year--and devoting this money to the +insurance." + +It is difficult to believe how any woman, situated as Mrs. Adams was, +could have objected to a plan so evidently for her advantage and the +advantage of her family; but she was one of those who never like to +think of the possibility of a reverse of fortune--who thrust care off +as long as they can, and who feel more pleasure in being lavish as to +the present than in saving for the future. + +"I am sure," she answered, in the half-petted half-peevish tone that +evinces a weak mind--"I am sure if any thing was to happen to you, I +would break my heart at once, and my family, of course, would provide +for the children. I could not bear the idea of reaping any advantage +by your death; and really the jobs are so very inferior to what they +used to be--and Dr. Leeswor, next door but one, has purchased such a +handsome chariot--you have at least twice his practice; and--Why, dear +John, you never were in such health; there will be no necessity for +this painful insurance. And after you have set up your _own_ carriage, +you can begin and lay by, and in a few years there will be plenty for +the children; and I shall not have the galling feeling that any living +thing would profit by your death. Dear John, pray do not think of this +painful insurance; it may do very well for a man like your brother--a +man with out refinement; but just fancy the mental torture of such a +provision." + +Much more Mrs. Adams talked; and the doctor, who loved display, and +had no desire to see Dr. Leeswor, his particular rival, or even +Dr. Fitzlane, better appointed than himself, felt strongly inclined +towards the new carriage, and thought it would certainly be pleasanter +to save than to insure, and resolved to begin immediately _after_ the +purchase of his new equipage. + +When persons are very prosperous, a few ten or twenty pounds do not +much signify, but the principle of careless expenditure is hard to +curb. + +Various things occurred to put off the doctor's plan of laying by. +Mrs. Adams had an illness, that rendered a residence abroad necessary +for a winter or two. The eldest boy must go to Eton. As their mamma +was not at home, the little girls were sent to school. Bad as Mrs. +Adams's management was, it was better than no management at all. If +the doctor had given up his entertainments, his "friends" would have +said he was going down in the world, and his patients would have +imagined him less skilful; besides, notwithstanding his increased +expenditure, he found he had ample means, not to lay by, but to spend +on without debt or difficulty. Sometimes his promise to his brother +would cross his mind, but it was soon dispelled by what he had led +himself to believe was the impossibility of attending to it then. When +Mrs. Adams returned, she complained that the children were too much +for her nerves and strength, and her husband's tenderness induced him +to yield his favourite plan of bringing up his girls under his own +roof. In process of time two little ones were added to the four, and +still his means kept pace with his expenses; in short, for ten years +he was a favourite with the class of persons who render favouritism +fortune. It is impossible, within the compass of a tale, to trace the +minutiæ of the brothers' history; the children of both were handsome, +intelligent, and in the world's opinion, well educated; John's eldest +daughter was one amongst a thousand for beauty of mind and person; +hers was no glaring display of figure or information. She was gentle, +tender, and affectionate; of a disposition sensitive and attuned to +all those rare virtues in her sphere, which form at once the treasures +of domestic life and the ornaments of society. She it was who soothed +the nervous irritability of her mother's sick chamber and perpetual +peevishness, and graced her father's drawing-room by a presence +that was attractive to both old and young, from its sweetness and +unpretending modesty; her two younger sisters called forth all +her tenderness, from the extreme delicacy of their health; but her +brothers were even greater objects of solicitude--handsome spirited +lads--the eldest waiting for a situation, promised, but not given; the +second also waiting for a cadetship; while the youngest was still at +Eton. These three young men thought it incumbent on them to evince +their belief in their father's prosperity by their expenditure, and +accordingly they spent much more than the sons of a professional man +ought to spend under any circumstances. Of all waitings, the waiting +upon patronage is the most tedious and the most enervating to the +waiter. Dr. Adams felt it in all its bitterness when his sons' bills +came to be paid; but he consoled himself, also, for his dilatoriness +with regard to a provision for his daughters--it was impossible to lay +by while his children were being educated; but the moment his eldest +sons got the appointments they were promised, he would certainly save, +or insure, or do something. + +People who only _talk_ about doing "something," generally end by doing +"nothing." Another year passed; Mrs. Adams was still an invalid, the +younger girls more delicate than ever, the boys waiting, as before, +their promised appointments, and more extravagant than ever; and Miss +Adams had made a conquest which even her father thought worthy of her. + +The gentleman who had become really attached to this beautiful girl +was of a high family, who were sufficiently charmed with the object +of his affections to give their full sanction, as far as person +and position were concerned; but the prudent father of the would-be +bridegroom thought it right to take an early opportunity of waiting +upon the doctor, stating his son's prospects, and frankly asking what +sum Dr. Adams proposed settling on his daughter. Great, indeed, was +his astonishment at the reply--"He should not be able to give his +daughter anything _immediately_, but at his death." The doctor, for +the first time for many years, felt the bitterness of his _false +position_. He hesitated, degraded by the knowledge that he must sink +in the opinion of the man of the world by whom he was addressed; he +was irritated at his want of available funds being known; and though +well aware that the affections of his darling child were bound up in +the son of the very gentlemanly but most prudent person who sat before +him, he was so high and so irritable in his bearing, that the fathers +parted, not in anger, but in any thing but good feeling. + +Sir Augustus Barry was not slow to set before his son the +disadvantages of a union where the extravagant habits of Miss Adams +had no more stable support than her father's life; he argued that a +want of forethought in the parents would be likely to produce a want +of forethought in the children; and knowing well what could be done +with such means as Dr. Adams had had at his command for years, he was +not inclined to put a kind construction upon so total a want of the +very quality which he considered the best a man could possess; after +some delay, and much consideration of the matter, he told his son that +he really could not consent to his marriage with a penniless bride. +And Dr. Adams, finding that the old gentleman, with a total want of +that delicacy which moneyed men do not frequently possess, had spoken +of what he termed too truly and too strongly his "heartless" want of +forethought, and characterised as a selfishness the indulgence of a +love for display and extravagance, when children were to be placed in +the world and portioned--insulted the son for the fault of the father, +and forbade his daughter to receive him. + +Mary Adams endeavoured to bear this as meekly as she had borne the +flattery and the tenderness which had been lavished on her since her +birth. The bitter, bitter knowledge that she was considered by her +lover's family as a girl who, with the chance of being penniless, +lived like a princess, was inconceivably galling; and though she had +dismissed her lover, and knew that her father had insulted him, still +she wondered how he could so soon forget her, and never write even a +line of farewell. From her mother she did not expect sympathy; she +was too tender and too proud to seek it; and her father, more occupied +than ever, was seldom in his own house. Her uncle, who had not been in +town for some years, at last arrived, and was not less struck by the +extreme grace and beauty of his niece, than by the deep melancholy +which saddened her voice and weighed down her spirits. He was +evidently anxious to mention something which made him joyous and +happy; and when the doctor entered the library with him, he said, "And +may not Mary come in also?" Mary did come in; and her gentle presence +subdued her uncle's spirits. "I had meant to tell the intended change +in my family only to you, brother John; but it has occurred to me we +were all wrong about my niece; they said at home, 'Do not invite my +cousin, she is too fine, too gay to come to a country wedding; she +would not like it;' but I think, surrounded as she is by luxuries, +that the fresh air of Repton, the fresh flowers, fresh fields, and +fresh smiles of her cousins would do my niece good, great good, and +we shall be quite gay in our own homely way--the gaiety that upsprings +from hearts grateful to the Almighty for his goodness. The fact is, +that in about three weeks _my_ Mary is to be married to our rector's +eldest son! In three weeks. As he is only his father's curate, they +could not have afforded to marry for five or six years, if I had not +been able to tell down a handsome sum for Mary's fortune; it was a +proud thing to be able to make a good child happy by care in time. +'Care in time,' that's my stronghold! How glad we were to look back +and think, that while we educated them properly, we denied ourselves +to perform our duty to the children God had given to our care. We have +not been as _gay_ as our neighbours, whose means were less than ours; +we could not be so, seeing we had to provide for five children; but +our pleasure has been to elevate and render those children happy and +prosperous. Mary will be so happy, dear child--so happy! Only think, +John, she will be six years the sooner happy from our _care in time_!" +This was more than his niece could bear. The good father was so +full of his daughter's happiness, and the doctor so overwhelmed with +self-reproach--never felt so bitterly as at that moment--that neither +perceived the death-like paleness that overspread the less fortunate +Mary's face. She got up to leave the room, staggered, and fell at her +father's feet. + +"We have murdered her between us," muttered Dr. Adams, while he raised +her up; "murdered her; but _I_ struck the first blow. God forgive me! +God forgive me!" + +That night the brothers spent in deep and earnest converse. The +certainty of his own prosperity, the self-gratulation that follows +a just and careful discharge of duties imposed alike by reason and +religion, had not raised Charles above his brother in his own esteem. +Pained beyond description at the suffering he had so unconsciously +inflicted on his niece--horror-struck at the fact, that thousands +upon thousands had been lavished, yet nothing done for hereafter, the +hereafter that _must_ come, he urged upon John the danger of delay, +the uncertainty of life. Circumstances increased his influence. Dr. +Adams had been made painfully aware that gilding was not gold. The +beauty, position, and talents of his beloved child, although fully +acknowledged, had failed to establish her in life. "Look, Charles," he +said, after imparting all to his brother, absolutely weeping over the +state of uncomplaining but deep sorrow to which his child was reduced, +"if I could command the necessary sum, I would to-morrow insure my +life for a sum that would place them beyond the possible reach of +necessity of any kind." + +"Do not wait for that," was the generous reply of Charles Adams; "I +have some unemployed hundreds at this moment. Come with me to-morrow; +do not delay a day, no, nor an hour; and take my word for it you will +have reason to bless your resolve. Only imagine what would be the +case if God called you to give an account of your stewardship." But he +checked himself; he saw that more was not necessary; and the brothers +separated for a few hours, both anxious for the morning. It was +impossible to say which of the two hurried over breakfast with the +greatest rapidity. The carriage was at the door; and Dr. Adams +left word with his butler that he was gone into the city on urgent +business, and would be back in two hours. + +"I don't think," exclaimed Charles, rubbing his hands gleefully, "I +don't think, that if my dear niece were happy, I should ever have been +so happy in all my life as I am at this moment." + +"I feel already," replied John, "as if a great weight were removed +from my heart; and were it not for the debt which I have contracted +to you--Ah, Charles, I little dreamt, when I looked down from the +hill over Repton, and thought my store inexhaustible, that I should +be obliged to you thus late in life. And yet I protest I hardly know +where I could have drawn in; one expense grows so out of another. +These boys have been so very extravagant; but I shall soon have the +two eldest off; they cannot keep them much longer waiting." + +"Work is better than waiting; but let the lads fight their way; +they have had, I suppose, a good education; they ought to have +had professions. There is something to me awfully lazy in your +'appointments;' a young man of spirit will appoint himself; but it is +the females of a family, brought up, as yours have been, who are to +be considered. Women's position in society is changed from what it +was some years ago; it was expected that they must marry; and so they +were left, before their marriage, dependent upon fathers and brothers, +as creatures that could do nothing for themselves. Now, poor things, +I really don't know why, but girls do not marry off as they used. +They become old, and frequently--owing to the expectation of their +settling--without the provision necessary for a comfortable old age. +This is the parent of those despicable tricks and arts which women +resort to to get married, as they have no acknowledged position +independent of matrimony. Something ought to be done to prevent this. +And when the country steadies a little from the great revolution +of past years, I suppose something may be thought of by improved +teaching--and systems to enable women to assist themselves, and be +recompensed for the assistance they yield others. Now, imagine your +dear girls, those younger ones particularly, deprived of you"-- + +"Here is the patient upon whom I must call, _en route_" interrupted +the doctor. + +The carriage drew up. + +"I wish," said Charles, "you had called here on your return. I wanted +the insurance to have been your first business to-day." + +"I shall not be five minutes," was the reply. The servant let down +the step, and the doctor bounded up towards the open door. In his +progress, he trod upon a bit, a mere shred, of orange-peel; it was the +mischief of a moment; he slipped, and his temple struck against the +sharp column of an iron-scraper. Within one hour, Dr. John Adams had +ceased to exist. What the mental and bodily agony of that one hour +was, you can better understand than I can describe. He was fully +conscious that he was dying--and he knew all the misery that was to +follow. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Mary my dear niece," said Charles Adams, as he seated himself by her +side; "my dear, dear niece, can you fix your thoughts, and give me +your attention for half an hour, now that all is over, and the demands +of the world press upon us. I want to speak about the future. Your +mother bursts into such fits of despair that I can do nothing with +her; and your brother is so ungovernable--talks as if he could command +the bank of England, and is so full of his mother's connexions and +their influence, that I have left him to himself. Can you, my dear +Mary, restrain your feelings, and give me your attention?" + +Mary Adams looked firmly in her uncle's face, and said, "I will try. +I have been thinking and planning all the morning, but I do not know +how to begin being useful. If I once began, I could go on. The sooner +we are out of this huge expensive house the better; if I could get +my mother to go with the little girls to the sea-side. Take her away +altogether from this home--take her"-- + +"Where?" inquired Mr. Adams; "she will not accept shelter in my +house." + +"I do not know," answered his niece, relapsing into all +the helplessness of first grief; "indeed I do not know; her +brother-in-law, Sir James Ashbroke, invited her to the Pleasaunce, +but my brother objects to her going there, his uncle has behaved so +neglectfully about his appointment." + +"Foolish boy!" muttered Charles; "this is no time to quarrel about +trifles. The fact is, Mary, that the sooner you are all out of this +house the better; there are one or two creditors, not for large sums +certainly, but still men who will have their money; and if we do +not quietly sell off, they will force us. The house might have been +disposed of last week by private contract, but your mother would not +hear of it, because the person who offered was a medical rival of my +poor brother." + +Mary did not hear the concluding observation; her eyes wandered from +object to object in the room--the harp--the various things known from +childhood. "Any thing you and your mother wish, my dear niece," +said her kind uncle, "shall be preserved--the family pictures--your +harp--your piano--they are all hallowed memorials, and shall be kept +sacred." + +Mary burst into tears. "I do not," she said, "shrink from considering +those instruments the means of my support; but although I know the +necessity for so considering, I feel I cannot tell what at quitting +the home of my childhood; people are all kind; you, my dear uncle, +from whom we expected so little, the kindest of all; but I see, even +in these early days of a first sorrow, indications of falling off. My +aunt's husband has really behaved very badly about the appointment of +my eldest brother; and as to the cadetship for the second--we had such +a brief dry letter from our Indian friend--so many first on the list, +and the necessity for waiting, that I do not know how it will end." + +"I wish, my dear, you could prevail on your mother, and sister, and +all, to come to Repton," said Mr. Adams. "If your mother dislikes +being in my house, I would find her a cottage near us; I will do all +I can. My wife joins me in the determination to think that we have six +additional children to look to. We differ from you in our habits; but +our hearts and affections are no less true to you all. My Mary and you +will be as sisters." + +His niece could bear no more kindness. She had been far more bitterly +disappointed than she had confessed even to her uncle; and yet the +very bitterness of the disappointment had been the first thing that +had driven her father's dying wail from her ears--that cry repeated +so often and so bitterly in the brief moments left after his +accident--"My children! My children!" He had not sufficient faith +to commit them to God's mercy; he knew he had not been a faithful +steward; and he could not bring himself from the depths of his +spiritual blindness to call upon the Fountain that is never dried up +to those who would humbly and earnestly partake of its living waters. + +It was all a scene as of another world to the young, beautiful, +petted, and feted girl; it had made her forget the disappointment +of her love, at least for a time. While her brothers dared the +thunder-cloud that burst above their heads, her mother and sisters +wept beneath its influence. Mary had looked forth, and if she did +not hope, she thought, and tried to pray; now, she fell weeping upon +her uncle's shoulder; when she could speak, she said, "Forgive me; +in a little time I shall be able to conquer this; at present, I am +overwhelmed; I feel as if knowledge and sorrow came together; I seem +to have read more of human nature within the last three days than in +all my past life." + +"It all depends, Mary, upon the person you meet," said Mr. Adams, "as +upon the book you read; if you choose a foolish book or a bad book, +you can expect nothing but vice or foolishness; if you choose a +foolish companion, surely you cannot expect kindness or strength." The +kind-hearted man repeated to her all he had before said. "I cannot," +he added, "be guilty of injustice to my children; but I can merge all +my own luxuries into the one of being a father to the fatherless." + +But to all the plans of Charles Adams, objections were raised by his +eldest nephew and his mother; the youth could not brook the control +of a simple straight-minded country man, whose only claim to be +considered a gentleman, in his opinion, arose from his connexion +with "his family." He was also indignant with his maternal uncle for +his broken promise, and these feelings were strengthened by his +mother's folly. Two opportunities for disposing of the house and its +magnificent furniture were missed; and when Mrs. Adams complained to +her nearest and most influential connexions that her brother-in-law +refused to make her any allowance unless she consented to live at +Repton--expecting that they would be loud in their indignation at his +hardness--they advised her by all means to do what he wished, as he +was really the only person she had to depend upon. Others were lavish +of their sympathy, but sympathy wears out quickly; others invited her +to spend a month with them at their country-seat, for change of air; +one hinted how valuable Miss Adams' exquisite musical talent would +be _now_. Mary coloured, and said, "Yes," with the dignity of proper +feeling; but her mother asked the lady what she meant, and a little +scene followed, which caused the lady to visit all the families in +town of her acquaintance, for the purpose of expressing her sympathy +with "those poor dear Adamses, who were so proud, poor things, that +really there was nothing hut starvation and the workhouse before +them!" Another of those well-meaning persons--strong-minded and +kind-hearted, but without a particle of delicacy--came to poor Mary, +with all _prestige_ of conferring a favour. + +"My dear young lady, it is the commonest thing in the world--very +painful but very common; the families of professional men are +frequently left without provision. Such a pity!--because, if they +cannot save, they can insure. We _all_ can do _that_, but they do +_not_ do it, and consequently everywhere the families of professional +men are found in distress; so, as I said, it is common; and I wanted +you to suggest to your mother, that, if she would not feel hurt at it, +the thing being so common--dear Dr. Adams having been so popular, so +very popular--that while every one is talking about him and you all, +a very handsome subscription could be got up. I would begin it with +a sum large enough to invite still larger. I had a great regard for +him--I had indeed." + +Mary felt her heart sink and rise, and her throat swell, so that +she could not speak. She had brought herself to the determination of +employing her talents for her own support, but she was not prepared +to come with her family before the world as paupers. "We have no claim +upon the public," she said at last. "I am sure you mean us kindly, but +we have no claim. My dear father forwarded no public work--no public +object; he gave his advice, and received his payment. If we are not +provided for, it is no public fault. Besides, my father's children are +able and willing to support themselves. I am sure you mean us kindly, +but we have no claim upon public sympathy, and an appeal to it would +crush us to the earth. I am very glad you did not speak first to my +mother. My uncle Charles would not suffer it, even suppose she wished +it." + +This friend also departed to excite new speculations as to the +pride and poverty of "poor dear Dr. Adams's family." In the world, +however--the busy busy London world--it is idle to expect any thing +to create even a nine days' wonder. When the house and furniture were +at last offered for sale, the feeling was somewhat revived; and Mary, +whose beauty, exquisite as it was, had so unobtrusive a character as +never to have created a foe, was remembered with tears by many: even +the father of her old lover, when he was congratulated by one more +worldly-minded than himself on the escape of his son in not marrying +a portionless girl, reproved the unfeeling speaker with a wish that he +only hoped his son might have as good a wife as Mary Adams would have +been. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The bills were taken down, the house purified from the +auction-mob--every thing changed; a new name occupied the doctor's +place in the "Court Guide"--and in three months the family seemed +as completely forgotten amongst those of whom they once formed a +prominent part, as if they had never existed. When one sphere of life +closes against a family, they find room in another. Many kind-hearted +persons in Mrs. Adams's first circle would have been rejoiced to be +of service to her and hers, but they were exactly the people upon whom +she had no claim. Of a high but poor family, her relatives had little +power. What family so situated ever had any influence beyond what +they absolutely needed for themselves? With an ill grace she at +last acceded to the kind offer made by Mr. Charles Adams, and took +possession of the cottage he fixed upon, until something could be done +for his brother's children. In a fit of proud despair the eldest son +enlisted into a regiment of dragoons; the second was fortunate enough +to obtain a cadetship through a stranger's interference; and his +uncle thought it might be possible to get the youngest forward in +his father's profession. The expense of the necessary arrangements +was severely felt by the prudent and careful country gentleman. The +younger girls were too delicate for even the common occupations of +daily life; and Mary, instead of receiving the welcome she had been +led to expect from her aunt and cousins, felt that every hour she +spent at the Grange was an intrusion. + +The sudden death of Dr. Adams had postponed the intended wedding of +Charles Adams's eldest daughter; and although her mother agreed that +it was their duty to forward the orphan children, she certainly felt, +as most affectionate mothers whose hearts are not very much enlarged +would feel, that much of their own savings--much of the produce of +her husband's hard labour--labour during a series of years when +her sister-in-law and her children were enjoying all the luxuries +of life--would now be expended for their support; this to an +all-sacrificing mother, despite _her sense of the duty of kindness_, +was hard to bear. As long as they were not on the spot, she theorised +continually, and derived much satisfaction from the sympathising +observations of her neighbours, and was proud, _very_ proud, of +the praise bestowed upon her husband's benevolence; but when her +sister-in-law's expensive habits were in daily array before her (the +cottage being close to the Grange,) when she knew, to use her own +expression, "that she never put her hand to a single thing;" that she +could not live without port wine, when she herself never drank even +gooseberry, except on Sundays; never ironed a collar, never dusted +the chimney-piece, or ate a shoulder of mutton--roast one day, cold +the next, and hashed the third. While each day brought some fresh +illustration of her thoughtlessness to the eyes of the wife of the +wealthy tiller of the soil, the widow of the physician thought herself +in the daily practice of the most rigid self-denial. "I am sure," +was her constant observation to her all-patient daughter--"I am sure +I never thought it would come to this. I had not an idea of going +through so much. I wonder your uncle and his wife can permit me to +live in the way I do--they ought to consider how I was brought up." +It was in vain Mary represented that they were existing upon charity; +that they ought to be most grateful for what they received, coming as +it did from those who, in their days of prosperity, professed nothing, +while those who professed all things had done nothing. Mary would so +reason, and then retire to her own chamber to weep alone over things +more hard to bear. + +It is painful to observe what bitterness will creep into the heart +and manner of really kind girls where a lover is in the case, or even +where a common-place dangling sort of flirtation is going forward; +this depreciating ill nature, one of the other, is not confined by any +means to the fair sex. Young men pick each other to pieces with even +more fierceness, but less ingenuity; they deal in a cut-and-hack sort +of sarcasm, and do not hesitate to use terms and insinuations of the +harshest kind, when a lady is in the case. Mary (to distinguish her +from her high-bred cousin, she was generally called Mary Charles) was +certainly disappointed when her wedding was postponed in consequence +of her uncle's death; but a much more painful feeling followed, when +she saw the admiration her lover, Edwin Lechmere, bestowed upon her +beautiful cousin. Mary Charles was herself a beauty--fair, open-eyed, +warm-hearted--_the_ beauty of Repton; but though feature by feature, +inch by inch, she was as handsome as Mary, yet in her cousin was the +grace and spirit given only by good society; the manners elevated by a +higher mind, and toned down by sorrow; a gentle softness, which a keen +observer of human nature told me once no woman ever possessed unless +she had deeply loved, and suffered from disappointed affection; +in short, she was far more refined, far more fascinating, than her +country cousin: besides, she was unfortunate, and that at once gave +her a hold upon the sympathies of the young curate: it did no more: +but Mary Charles did not understand these nice distinctions, and +nothing could exceed the change of manner she evinced when her cousin +and her betrothed were together. + +Mary thought her cousin rude and petulant; but the true cause of the +change never occurred to her. Accustomed to the high-toned courtesy +of well-bred men, which is so little practised in the middle class of +English society, it never suggested itself, that placing her chair, +or opening the door for her to go out, or rising courteously when she +came into a room, was more than, as a lady, she had a right to expect; +in truth, she did not notice it at all; but she did notice and feel +deeply her cousin's alternate coldness and snappishness of manner. "I +would not," thought Mary, "have behaved so to her if she had been left +desolate; but in a little time, when my mother is more content, I will +leave Repton, and become independent by my talents." Never did she +think of the power delegated to her by, the Almighty without feeling +herself raised--ay, higher than she had ever been in the days of her +splendour--in the scale of moral usefulness; as every one must feel +whose mind is rightly framed. She had not yet known what it was to +have her abilities trampled on or insulted; she had never experienced +the bitterness consequent upon having the acquirements--which in the +days of her prosperity commanded silence and admiration--sneered at +or openly ridiculed.--She had yet to learn that the Solons, the +law-givers of English society, lavish their attentions and praise upon +those who learn, not upon those who teach. + +Mary had not been six months fatherless, when she was astonished, +first by a letter, and then by a visit, from her former lover; he came +to renew his engagement, and to wed her even then if she would have +him; but Mary's high principle was stronger than he imagined. "No," +she said, "you are not independent of your father, and whatever I +feel, I have no right to draw _you_ down into poverty. You may fancy +now that you could bear it; but a time would come--if not to you, +to me--when the utter selfishness of such conduct would goad me to +a death of early misery." The young man appealed to her uncle, +who thought her feelings overstrained, but respected her for it +nevertheless; and in the warmth of his admiration, he communicated the +circumstance to his wife and daughter. + +"Refuse her old lover under present circumstances," repeated her +cousin to herself as she left the room; "there must be some other +reason than that; she could not be so foolish as to reject such an +offer at such a time." Unfortunately, she saw Edwin Lechmere walking +by Mary's side, under the shadow of some trees. She watched them until +the foliage screened them from her sight, and then she shut herself +into her own room, and yielded to a long and violent burst of tears. +"It is not enough," she exclaimed, in the bitterness of her feelings, +"that the comforts of my parents' declining years should be abridged +by the overwhelming burden to their exertions--another family added +to their own; it is not enough that an uncomfortable feeling has grown +between my father and mother on this account, and that cold looks and +sharp words have come where they never came before, but my peace of +mind must be destroyed. Gladly would I have taken a smaller portion, +if I could have kept the affections which I see but too plainly +my cousin has stolen from me. And my thoughtless aunt to say, only +yesterday, that 'at all events her husband was no man's enemy but his +own.' Has not his want of prudent forethought been the ruin of his own +children? and will my parents ever recover the anxiety, the pain, the +sacrifices, brought on by one man's culpable neglect? Oh, uncle! if +you could look from your grave upon the misery you have caused!"--and +then, exhausted by her own emotion, the affectionate but jealous girl +began to question herself as to what she should do. After what she +considered mature deliberation, she made up her mind to upbraid her +cousin with treachery, and she put her design into execution that same +evening. + +It was no easy matter to oblige her cousin to understand what she +meant; but at last the declaration that she had refused her old lover +because she had placed her affections upon Edwin Lechmere, whom she +was endeavouring to "entrap," was not to be mistaken; and the country +girl was altogether unprepared for the burst of indignant feeling, +mingled with much bitterness, which repelled the untruth. A strong fit +of hysterics, into which Mary Charles worked herself, was terminated +by a scene of the most painful kind, her father being upbraided by +her mother with "loving other people's children better than his own," +while the curate himself knelt by the side of his betrothed, assuring +her of his unaltered affection. From such a scene Miss Adams hastened +with a throbbing brow and a bursting heart. She had no one to counsel +or console her; no one to whom she could apply for aid. For the first +time since she had experienced her uncle's tenderness, she felt she +had been the means of disturbing his domestic peace; the knowledge of +the burden she and hers were considered, weighed her to the earth; and +in a paroxysm of anguish she fell on her knees, exclaiming, "Oh, why +are the dependent born into the world! Father, father, why did you +leave us, whom you so loved, to such a fate!" And then she reproached +herself for having uttered a word reflecting on his memory. One of the +every-day occurrences of life--so common as to be hardly observed--is +to find really kind, good-natured people not "weary of well-doing." +"Oh, really I was worn out with so-and-so; they are so decidedly +unfortunate that it is impossible to help them," is a general excuse +for deserting those whose continuing misfortunes ought to render them +greater objects of sympathy. + +Mr. Charles Adams was, as has been shown in our little narrative, a +kind-hearted man. Estranged as his brother and himself had been for +a number of years, he had done much to forward, and still more to +protect, his children. At first, this was a pleasure; but somehow his +"benevolence," and "kindness," and "generosity," had been so talked +about, so eulogised, and he had been so seriously inconvenienced +by the waywardness of his nephews, the thoughtless pride of his +sister-in-law, the helplessness of his younger nieces, as to feel +seriously oppressed by his responsibility. And now the one who +had never given him aught but pleasure, seemed, according to his +daughter's representations, to be the cause of increased sorrow, the +destroyer of his dear child's happiness. What to do he could not tell. +His daughter, wrought upon by her own jealousy, had evinced, under +its influence, so much temper she had never displayed before, that it +seemed more than likely the cherished match would be broken off. His +high-minded niece saved him any farther anxiety as far as she was +concerned. She sent for and convinced him fully and entirely of her +total freedom from the base design imputed to her. "Was it likely," +she said, "that I should reject the man I love lest I should drag him +into poverty, and plunge at once with one I do not care for into the +abyss I dread? This is the common sense view of the case; but there +is yet another. Is it to be borne that I would seek to rob _your_ +child of her happiness? The supposition is an insult too gross to be +endured. I will leave my mother to-morrow. An old school-fellow, older +and more fortunate than myself, wished me to educate her little girl. +I had one or two strong objections to living in her house; but the +desire to be independent and away has overcome them." She then, with +many tears, entreated her uncle still to protect her mother; urged how +she had been sorely tried; and communicated fears, she had reason to +believe were too well founded, that her eldest brother, feeling the +reverse more than he could bear, had deserted from his regiment. + +Charles Adams was deeply moved by the nobleness of his niece, and +reproved his daughter more harshly than he had ever done before, for +the feebleness that created so strong and unjust a passion. This had +the contrary effect to what he had hoped for: she did not hesitate to +say that her cousin had endeavoured to rob her both of the affection +of her lover and her father. The injured cousin left Repton bowed +beneath an accumulation of troubles, not one of which was of her +own creating, not one of which she deserved; and all springing from +the unproviding nature of him who, had he been asked the question, +would have declared himself ready to sacrifice his own life for the +advantage of that daughter, now compelled to work for her own bread. +To trace the career of Mary Adams in her new calling, would be to +repeat what I have said before. The more refined, the more informed +the governess, the more she suffers. Being with one whom she had known +in better days, made it even more hard to bend; yet she did her duty, +and _that_ is one of the highest privileges a woman can enjoy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Leaving Mary for a moment, let us return to Repton. Here discord, +having once entered, was making sad ravages, and all were suffering +from it. It was but too true that the eldest of the Adamses had +deserted; his mother clinging with a parent's fondness to her +child, concealed him, and thus offended Charles Adams beyond all +reconciliation. The third lad, who was walking the London hospitals, +and exerting himself beyond his strength, was everything that a youth +could be; but his declining health was represented to his uncle, by +one of those whom his mother's pride had insulted, as a cloak for +indolence. In short, before another year had quite passed, the family +of the once rich and fashionable Dr. Adams had shared the fate of +all dependents--worn out the benevolence, or patience, or whatever it +really is, of their "best friends." Nor was this the only consequence +of the physician's neglect of a duty due alike to God and society; his +brother had really done so much for the bereaved family, as to give +what the world called "just grounds" to Mrs. Charles Adams's repeated +complaints, "that now her husband was ruining his industrious family +to keep the lazy widow of his spend-thrift brother and her favourite +children in idleness. Why could she not live upon the 'fine folk' +she was always throwing in her face?" The daughter, too, of whose +approaching union the fond father had been so proud, was now, like +her cousin whom she had wronged by her mean suspicions, deserted; the +match broken off after much bickering; one quarrel having brought on +another, until they separated by mutual consent. Her temper and her +health were both materially impaired; and her beauty was converted +into hardness and acidity. + +Oh! how utterly groundless is the idea, that in our social state, +where one human being must so much depend upon another, any man, +neglecting his positive duties, can be called only "his own enemy." +What misery had not Dr. Adams's neglect entailed, not alone on his +immediate family, but on that of his brother. Besides, there were +ramifications of distress; he died even more embarrassed than +his brother had at first believed, and some trades-people were +consequently embarrassed; but the deep misery fell upon his children. +Meanwhile, Mrs. Dr. Adams had left Repton with her younger children, +to be the dependants of Mary in London. + +It was not until a fatal disease had seized upon her mother, that +Mary ventured to appeal again to her uncle's generosity. "My second +brother," she said, "has out of his small means remitted her five +pounds. My eldest brother seems altogether to have disappeared from +amongst us; finding that his unhappy presence had occasioned so fatal +a separation between his mother and you--a disunion which I saw was +the effect of many small causes, rather than one great one--he left +us, and we cannot trace him. This has broken my poor mother's heart; +he was the cherished one of all her children. My youngest brother has +been for the last month an inmate of one of the hospitals which my +poor father attended for so many years, and where his word was law. My +sister Rosa, she upon whom my poor father poured, if possible, more +of his affection than he bestowed upon me--my lovely sister, of whom, +even in our poverty, I was so proud--so young, only upon the verge of +womanhood--has, you already know, left us. Would to God it had been +for her grave, rather than her destroyer!--a fellow-student of that +poor youth, who, if he dreamt of her dishonour, would stagger like a +spectre from what will be his death-bed to avenge her. Poverty is one +of the surest guides to dishonour; those who have not been tempted +know nothing of it. It is one thing to see it, another to feel it. +Do not think her altogether base, because she had not the strength +of a heroine. I have been obliged to resign my situation to attend +my mother, and the only income we have is what I earn by giving +lessons on the harp and piano. I give, for _two shillings_, the same +instruction for which my father paid half a guinea a lesson; if I did +not I should have no pupils. It is more than a month since my mother +left her bed; and my youngest sister, bending beneath increased +delicacy of health, is her only attendant. I know her mind to be so +tortured, and her body so convulsed by pain, that I have prayed to +God to render her fit for Heaven, and take her from her sufferings. +Imagine the weight of sorrow that crushed me to my knees with such a +petition as that. I know all you have done, and yet I ask you now, in +remembrance of the boyish love that bound you and my father together, +to lessen her bodily anguish by the sacrifice of a little more; +that she, nursed in the lap of luxury, may not pass from life with +starvation as her companion. My brother's gift is expended; and during +the last three weeks I have earned but twelve shillings; my pupils +are out of town. Do, for a moment remember what I was, and think how +humbled I must be to frame this supplication; but it is a child that +petitions for a parent, and I know I have never forfeited your esteem. +In a few weeks, perhaps in a few days, my brother and my mother will +meet my poor father face to face. Oh! that I could be assured that +reproach and bitterness for the past do not pass the portals of the +grave. Forgive me this, as you have already forgiven me much. Alas! I +know too well that our misfortunes drew misfortunes upon others. I was +the unhappy but innocent cause of much sorrow at the Grange; but, oh! +do not refuse the _last_ request that I will ever make." The letter +was blotted by tears. + +Charles Adams was from home when it arrived, and his wife, knowing the +handwriting, and having made a resolution never to open a letter "from +that branch of the family," did not send it after her husband "lest it +might tease him." Ten days elapsed before he received it; and when he +did, he could not be content with writing, but lost not a moment in +hastening to the address. Irritated and disappointed that what he +really had done should have been so little appreciated, when every +hour of his life he was smarting in one way or other from his +exertions--broken-hearted at his daughter's blighted health and +happiness--angered by the reckless wildness of one nephew, and what +he believed was the idleness of another--and convinced that Rosa's +fearful step was owing to the pampering and mismanagement of her +foolish mother--Charles Adams satisfied himself that, as he did not +hear to the contrary from Mary, all things were going on well, or at +least not ill. He thought as little about them as he possibly could, +no people in the world being so conveniently forgotten (when they are +not importunate) as poor relations; but the letter of his favourite +niece spoke strongly to his heart, and in two hours after his return +home he set forth for the London suburb from whence the letter was +dated. It so chanced, that to get to that particular end of the +town, he was obliged to pass the house his brother had occupied so +splendidly for a number of years; the servants had lit the lamps, and +were drawing the curtains of the noble dining-room; and a party of +ladies were descending from a carriage, which prevented two others +from setting down. It looked like old times. "Some one else," thought +Charles Adams, "running the same career of wealth and extravagance. +God grant it may not lead to the same results!" He paused, and looked +up the front of the noble mansion; the drawing-room windows were open, +and two beautiful children were standing on an ottoman placed between +the windows, probably to keep them apart. He thought of Mary's +childhood, and how she was occupied at that moment, and hastened +onward. There are times when life seems one mingled dream, and it is +not easy to become dispossessed of the idea when some of its frightful +changes are brought almost together under our view. + +"Is Miss Adams at home?" inquired her uncle of a woman leaning against +the door of a miserable house. + +"I don't know; she went to the hospital this morning; but I'm not sure +she's in; it's the second pair back; it's easy known, for the sob has +not ceased in that room these two nights; some people do take on so"-- + +Charles Adams did not hear the concluding sentence, but sought the +room; the door would not close, and he heard a low sobbing sound from +within; he paused, but his step had aroused the mourner--"Come in, +Mary; come in; I know how it is," said a young voice; "he is dead; +one grave for mother and son--one grave for mother and son! I see your +shadow, dark as it is; have you brought a candle? It is very fearful +to be alone with the dead--even one's own mother--in the dark." + +Charles Adams entered the room; but his sudden appearance in the +twilight, and evidently not knowing him, overcame the girl, his +youngest niece, so much, that she screamed, and fell on her knees by +her mother's corpse. He called for lights, and was speedily obeyed, +for he put a piece of gold in the woman's hand. She turned it over, +and as she hastened from the room, muttered, "If this had come sooner, +she'd not have died of starvation or burdened the parish for a shroud; +it's hard the rich can't look to their own." + +When Mary returned, she was fearfully calm. "No, her brother was not +dead," she said; "the young were longer dying than those whom the +world had worn out; the young knew so little of the world, they +thought it hard to leave it;" and she took off her bonnet, and sat +down; and while her uncle explained why he had not written, she looked +at him with eyes so fixed and cold, that he paused, hoping she would +speak, so painful was their stony expression; but she let him go +on, without offering one word of assurance of any kind feeling or +remembrance; and when she stooped to adjust a portion of the coarse +plaiting of the shroud--that mockery of "the purple and fine linen +of living days"--her uncle saw that her hair, her luxuriant hair, was +striped with white. + +"There is no need for words now," she said at last; "no need. I +thought you would have sent; she required but little--but very little; +the dust rubbed from the gold she once had would have been riches: +but the little she did require she had not, and so she died; but +what weighs heaviest upon my mind was her calling so continually on +my father, to know _why_ he had deserted her: she attached no blame +latterly to any one, only called day and night upon him. Oh! it was +hard to bear--it was very hard to bear." + +"I will send a proper person in the morning to arrange that she may be +placed with my brother," said Charles. + +Mary shrieked almost with the wildness of a maniac. "No, no; as far +from him as possible! Oh! not with him! She was to blame in our days +of splendour as much as he was; but she could not see it; and I durst +not reason with her. Not with him! _She would disturb him in his +grave!_" + +Her uncle shuddered, while the young girl sobbed in the bitter wailing +tone their landlady complained of. + +"No," resumed Mary, "let the parish bury her; even its officers were +kind; and if you bury her, or they, it is still a pauper's funeral. I +see all these things clearly now; death, while it closes the eyes of +some, opens the eyes of others; it has opened mine." + +But why should I prolong this sad story. It is not the tale of one, +but of many. There are dozens, scores, hundreds of instances of the +same kind, _arising from the same cause_, in our broad islands. In +the lunatic asylum, where that poor girl, even Mary Adams, has found +refuge during the past two years, there are many cases of insanity +arising from change of circumstances, where a fifty pounds' insurance +would have set such maddening distress at defiance. I know that +her brother died in the hospital within a few days; and the pale, +sunken-eyed girl, whose damp yellow hair and thin white hand are so +eagerly kissed by the gentle maniac when she visits her, month by +month, is the youngest, and, I believe, the _last_ of her family, at +least the last in England. Oh, that those who foolishly boast that +their actions only affect themselves, would look carefully abroad, +and if they doubt what I have faithfully told, examine into the causes +which crowd the world with cases even worse than I have here recorded! + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Turns of Fortune, by Mrs. S. C. Hall + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURNS OF FORTUNE *** + +***** This file should be named 15961-8.txt or 15961-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/9/6/15961/ + +Produced by Internet Archive, University of Florida, PM +Childrens Library, William Flis, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Hall.</title> + + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4 {text-align: center;} + h5,h6 {text-align: left;} + pre {font-size: 0.7em;} + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + hr.short {text-align: center; width: 20%;} + html>body hr.short {margin-right: 40%; margin-left: 40%; width: 20%;} + + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt; text-indent: 0;} + + .poem + {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 3em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 5em;} + --> + </style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Turns of Fortune, by Mrs. S. C. Hall + +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: Turns of Fortune + And Other Tales + +Author: Mrs. S. C. Hall + +Release Date: May 31, 2005 [EBook #15961] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURNS OF FORTUNE *** + + + + +Produced by Internet Archive, University of Florida, PM +Childrens Library, William Flis, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page1" id="page1"></a>[pg 1]</span> +<h4>FRANCIS & CO.'S</h4> + +<h4>LITTLE LIBRARY:</h4> + +<h4>FOR YOUNG PERSONS OF VARIOUS AGES.</h4> + +<hr /> + +<h1>TURNS OF FORTUNE:</h1> + +<h3>BY MRS. S.C. HALL.</h3> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page2" id="page2"></a>[pg 2]</span> + + + + +<h3>Francis & Co.'s Little Library.</h3> + +<p>C.S. Francis & Co., New York, <i>have published a uniform Series +of Choice volumes for Young People, by some of the most distinguished +writers for Children. Neatly bound in cloth, and illustrated by Engravings.</i></p> + +<p><b>L. MARIA CHILD.</b>—FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 1, for Children +eight or nine years old.</p> + +<p>—— FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 2, for Children three or four years old.</p> + +<p>—— FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 3, for Children eleven or twelve years old.</p> + +<p><b>MARY HOWITT.</b>—FIRESIDE TALES.</p> + +<p>—— THE CHRISTMAS TREE: A Book of Stories.</p> + +<p>—— THE TURTLE DOVE OF CARMEL; and Other Stories.</p> + +<p>—— THE FAVORITE SCHOLAR; LITTLE CHATTERBOX; PERSEVERANCE, +and other Tales. By Mary Howitt, Mrs. S.C. Hall, and others.</p> + +<p><b>MRS. TRIMMER.</b>—THE ROBBINS; OR DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG +THE BIRDS. Designed for the Instruction of Children +respecting their Treatment of Animals.</p> + +<p><b>MISS LESLIE.</b>—RUSSEL AND SIDNEY AND CHASE LORING: +Tales of the American Revolution.</p> + +<p><b>MRS. CAROLINE GILMAN.</b>—THE LITTLE WREATH OF STORIES AND POEMS FOR CHILDREN.</p> + +<p>—— STORIES AND POEMS FOR CHILDREN.</p> + +<p><b>HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.</b>—A CHRISTMAS GREETING: +Thirteen New Stories from the Danish of Hans Christian Andersen.</p> + +<p>—— A PICTURE BOOK WITHOUT PICTURES; and other Stories: +by Hans Christian Andersen. Translated by Mary +Howitt, with a Memoir of the Author.</p> + +<p>—— A DANISH STORY BOOK.</p> + +<p><b>CLAUDINE;</b> OR HUMILITY THE BASIS OF ALL THE VIRTUES. +A Swiss Tale. By a Mother; author of "Always Happy," "True Stories from History," &c.</p> + +<p><b>FACTS TO CORRECT FANCIES;</b> or Short Narratives +compiled from the Memoirs of Remarkable Women. By a Mother.</p> + +<p><b>HOLIDAY STORIES.</b> Containing five Moral Tales.</p> + +<p><b>MRS. HOFLAND.</b>—THE HISTORY OF AN OFFICER'S WIDOW, and her Young Family.</p> + +<p>—— THE CLERGYMAN'S WIDOW, and her Young Family.</p> + +<p>—— THE MERCHANT'S WIDOW, and her Young Family.</p> + +<p><b>MISS ABBOT.</b>—KATE AND LIZZIE; OR SIX MONTHS OUT OF SCHOOL.</p> + +<p><b>MISS ELIZA ROBBINS.</b>—CLASSIC TALES. Designed for the +Instruction and Amusement of Young Persons. By the +author of "American Popular Lessons," &c.</p> + +<p><b>MRS. S.C. HALL.</b>—TURNS OF FORTUNE; ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS, &C.</p> + +<p>—— THE PRIVATE PURSE; CLEVERNESS, and other Tales.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page3" id="page3"></a>[pg 3]</span> + + + + +<h4>NEW VOLUMES</h4> + +<h4>OF</h4> + +<h3>Francis & Co.'s Little Library.</h3> + +<p><i>Thirty volumes of this series have been published, including some +of the choicest books for young people, by Mary Howitt; Maria +Child; Mrs. Hofland; Mrs. Hall; Mrs. Gilman; Miss Leslie; +Hans Andersen, and others</i>.</p> + +<p>The Story Teller; TALES FROM THE DANISH of Hans Christian Andersen.</p> + +<p><i>Containing</i> Ole Lucköie; The Buckwheat: The Wild Swans; +The Angel; The Fellow-Traveler; The Elfin Mound; The Flying +Trunk; The Bundle of Matches.</p> + +<p>The Ugly Duck; AND OTHER TALES: by Hans Christian Andersen.</p> + +<p><i>Containing</i> The Ugly Duck; Top and Ball; The Little Mermaid; +The Storks; The Nightingale: The Rose of the Elf; Holger +Danske; The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; The Dying Child.</p> + +<p>Little Ellie; AND OTHER TALES: by Hans Christian Andersen.</p> + +<p><i>Containing</i> Little Ellie; The Tinder Box; The Wicked King; +The Resolute Leaden Soldier; The Garden of Paradise; The +Shepherdess and Chimney-Sweep; Little Ida's Flowers; The Daisy; New Year's Eve.</p> + +<p>The Merchant's Daughter; AND OTHER TALES: by Mrs. S.C. Hall.</p> + +<p>How to Win Love; OR, RHODA'S LESSON. A story for the Young.</p> + +<p>"A delightful little book, which will not only attract the young, but +minister instruction to the <i>instructors</i> of youth."—<i>Edin. Witness</i>.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page5" id="page5"></a>[pg 5]</span> + + + +<h1>TURNS OF FORTUNE;</h1> + +<h2>AND OTHER TALES.</h2> + +<h2>BY MRS. S.C. HALL.</h2> + + + + +<center>NEW-YORK.<br /> +C.S. FRANCIS & CO., 252 BROADWAY.</center> + +<center>BOSTON:<br /> +J.H. FRANCIS, 128 WASHINGTON-STREET.</center> + +<center>1851.</center> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page7" id="page7"></a>[pg 7]</span> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> +<p>TURNS OF FORTUNE <a href="#page9">9</a></p> + </div><div class="stanza"> +<p>"ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS" <a href="#page63">63</a></p> + </div><div class="stanza"> +<p>"THERE IS NO HURRY" <a href="#page143">143</a></p> + </div> </div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page9" id="page9"></a>[pg 9]</span> + + + + +<h2>TURNS OF FORTUNE</h2> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + + +<p>"Hush, Sarah!" exclaimed old Jacob Bond, +as he sat up in his bed, while the wind clattered +and whistled through the shivering window +frames. "Hush! Is that Brindle's bark?"</p> + +<p>"No, father; it is one of the farm dogs near +the village. Lie down, dearest father; it is a +cold night, and you are trembling."</p> + +<p>"I don't know why I should feel cold, Sarah," +he replied, pointing his shadowy fingers +towards the grate, where an abundant fire +blazed; "I am sure you have put down as much wood as would roast an ox."</p> + +<p>"It is so very cold, father."</p> + +<p>"Still, we must not be wasteful, Sarah," he +answered; "wilful waste makes woful want." +Sarah Bond covered the old man carefully +over, while he laid himself stiffly down upon his +pallet, re-muttering his favourite proverb over and over again.</p> + +<p>She then drew the curtains more closely, +and seated herself in an old-fashioned chair +beside a little table in front of the fire.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page10" id="page10"></a>[pg 10]</span> + +<p>The room had been the drawing-room of the +old house in which Mr. Bond and his daughter +resided, but for the sake of saving both labour +and expense, he had had his bed removed into +it; and though anything but comfortable, a solitary, +impoverished, and yet gorgeous appearance +pervaded the whole, such as those who +delineate interiors, loving small lights and deep +shadows, would covet to convey to their canvass. The bed upon which the old man lay +was canopied, and of heavy crimson damask. +In the dim light of that spacious room, it looked +to the worn-out eyes of Sarah Bond more +like a hearse than a bed. Near it was an old +spinnet, upon which stood a labelled vial, a tea-cup, +and a spoon. When Sarah seated herself +at the table, she placed her elbows upon it, +and pressed her folded hands across her eyes; +no sigh or moan escaped her, but her chest +heaved convulsively; and when she removed +her hands, she drew a Bible toward her, trimmed the lamp, and began to read.</p> + +<p>The voice of an old French clock echoed +painfully through the chamber. Sarah longed +to stop it, and yet it was a companion in her +watchings. Once, a shy, suspicious, bright-eyed +mouse rattled among the cinders, and ran +into the wainscot, and then came out again, +and stared at Sarah Bond, who, accustomed +to such visits, did not raise her eyes to inquire +into the cause of the rustling which in a few +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>[pg 11]</span> +more moments took place upon a tray containing +the remnants of some bread and cheese, her frugal supper.</p> + +<p>"Sarah," croaked Mr. Bond; "what noise is that?"</p> + +<p>"Only the mice, father, as usual; do, father, +try to sleep. I watch carefully; there is nothing to fear."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, men and mice all the same; nothing +but waste. When I am gone, Sarah, keep +what you will have; it won't be much, Sarah, +my poor girl, it won't be much; just enough to +need care; but KEEP IT; don't lend it, or give +it, or spend it; you are fond of spending, my +poor girl; see that huge fire, enough for three +nights; early bad habits. When we lived in a +small house and were poor, it was then you +learned to be extravagant; I had no money then, so did not know its value."</p> + +<p>"But we were happier then, father," said +Sarah Bond; "we were so cheerful and happy +then, and so many poor people blessed my dear mother, and Mary"—</p> + +<p>"Hiss—ss," uttered the dying miser; "don't +dare mention your sister, who disgraced me by +marrying a pauper; a pauper who threatened +my life, because I would not give him my money +to save him from starving; but he <i>did not</i> get +the old father-in-law's gold; no; he <i>starved, and</i>"—</p> + +<p>The words thus uttered by her father, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>[pg 12]</span> +she knew had not many hours to live—uttered, +too, with such demoniac bitterness—forced the +gentle, patient woman to start from her seal, +and pass rapidly across the room to the side of +his bed, where she sank upon her knees, and +seized his shrunken hands in hers. "Father!" +she exclaimed, "I have been your child for forty +years, and you have said, that during that period, +by no act of my own, have I <i>ever</i> angered +you. Is it not so?" The old man withdrew +one hand gently, turned himself round, and +looked in her face: "Forty years! Is it forty +years?" he repeated; "but it must be; the fair +brow is wrinkled, and the abundant hair grown +thin and gray. You were a pretty baby, Sarah, +and a merry child; a cheerful girl, too, until +that foolish fancy. Well, dear, I'll say no more +about it; good, dutiful girl. You gave it up to +please your father full twenty years ago, and +when he dies, you shall have <i>all</i> his gold—there's +a good father! You must <i>keep</i> it, Sarah, and +not give it, nor lend it. I know you won't +marry, as <i>he</i> is dead; nor see your sister—mind +that; if you see <i>her</i>, or serve her, the bitterest +curse that ever rose from a father's grave will compass you in on every side."</p> + +<p>"My father!" she said, "oh! in mercy to +yourself, revoke these words. She knew nothing +of her husband's conduct; he used her even +worse than he used you. Oh! for my sake +say you will forgive Mary. It is all I ask. Do +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" id="page13"></a>[pg 13]</span> +what you please with your wealth, but forgive my sister."</p> + +<p>"You were always a fool, Sarah," he replied +faintly and peevishly. "If I could do as I +please, I would take my property with me, for +you will surely spend it. But there is another +condition, another promise you must give me. +Now, don't interrupt me again. We will talk +of <i>her</i> by-and-bye, perhaps. As long as you +live, Sarah, <i>as you value my blessing</i>, you +must not part with anything in this room. You +will live on in the old house, or perhaps sell it, +and have a smaller; yet don't spend money in +new furnishing—don't; but never part with +anything in <i>this room</i>; never so much as a stick."</p> + +<p>This promise was willingly given; for, independently +of her love for her father, Sarah Bond +had become attached to the inanimate objects +which had so long been before her. Again she +endeavoured to lead her father away from that +avarice which had corrupted his soul, and driven +happiness and peace from their dwelling. She +urged the duty of forgiveness, and pleaded hard +for her sister; but, though the hours wore away, +she made no impression upon him. Utterly +unmindful of her words, he did not either interrupt +her or fall into his former violence. On +the contrary, he seemed involved in some intricate +calculation—counting on his fingers, or +casting up lines of imaginary figures upon the coverlit.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>[pg 14]</span> + +<p>Sarah, heart-broken, and silently weeping, +retreated to the table, and again, after turning +the fire, betook her to her solace—the precious +volume that never fails to afford consolation to +the afflicted. She read a few passages, and +then, though she looked upon the book, her +mind wandered. She recalled the happy days +of her childhood, before her father, by the extraordinary +and most unexpected bequest of a +distant relative, became possessed of property +to what extent she could form no idea. She +knew that this relative had quarrelled with the +heir-at-law, and left all to one he had never seen. +This bequest had closed up her father's heart; +instead of being a blessing, so perfectly avaricious +had he grown, that it was a curse. Previously, +he had been an industrious farmer; and +though a thrifty one, had evinced none of the +bitterness of avarice, none of its hardness or +tyranny. He could then sleep at nights, permit +his wife and children to share their frugal stores +with those who needed, troll "Ere around the +huge oak," while his wife accompanied him on +the spinnet, and encourage his daughters to wed +men in what was their then sphere of life, rather +than those who might not consider the gentle +blood they inherited, and their superior education, +a sufficient set-off to their limited means +and humble station. Suddenly, riches poured +in upon him: his eldest daughter, true to the +faith she plighted, would marry her humble +lover, and her father's subsequent harshness to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page15" id="page15"></a>[pg 15]</span> +her favourite child broke the mother's heart. +Sarah not only had less firmness of character +than her sister, but loved her father more devotedly, +and gave up the affection of her young +heart to please him. His narrow nature could +not understand the sacrifice: and when her +cheek faded, and her really beautiful face contracted +into the painful expression of that pining +melancholy which has neither words nor tears—to +lull his sympathy, he muttered to himself, +"good girl, <i>she</i> shall have <i>all</i> I have."</p> + +<p>No human passion grows with so steady, so +imperceptible, yet so rampant a growth as avarice. +It takes as many shapes as Proteus, and +may be called, above all others, the vice of middle +life, that soddens into the gangrene of old +age; gaining strength by vanquishing all virtues +and generous emotions, it is a creeping, sly, +keen, persevering, insidious sin, assuming various +forms, to cheat even itself; for it shames +to name itself unto itself; a cowardly, darkness-loving +sin, never daring to look human +nature in the face; full of lean excuses for self-imposed +starvation, only revelling in the impurity +and duskiness of its own shut-up heart. At +last the joy-bells ring its knell, while it crawls +into eternity like a vile reptile, leaving a slimy track upon the world.</p> + +<p>The inmates of the mansion enclosed in its +old court-yard had long ceased to attract the +observation of their neighbours. Sometimes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page16" id="page16"></a>[pg 16]</span> +Sarah called at the butcher's, but she exchanged +smiles or greetings with few; and the baker +rang the rusty bell twice a-week, which was answered +by their only servant. When Mr. Bond +first took possession of the manor-house, he +hired five domestics, and everybody said they +could not do with so few; and there were two +men to look after the gardens; but after his +daughter's elopement and his wife's death, three +were discharged, and he let the lands and gardens; +and then another went, and Sarah felt +the loneliness so great, that she made the remaining +one sleep in her own room. The house had +been frequently attacked; once, in a fit of despair, +her brother-in-law had forced his way in +the night to the old man's side, and but for her +prompt interference, murder would have been +done. No wonder, then, that her shattered +nerves trembled as she watched the shortening +candle, and heard the raving of the wind, saw +the spectral shadows the broken plumes that +ornamented the canopy of the bed cast upon +the fantastic walls, <i>felt</i> that <i>his</i> hour was at +hand, and feared that "he would die and make +no sign;" still, while those waving fantasies +passing to and fro through her active but weakened +mind, made her tremble in every limb, +and ooze at every pore; and though unable to +read on steadily, her eyes continued fixed upon +the book which her hand grasped, with the same +feeling that made those of old cling to the altar +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>[pg 17]</span> +of their God for sanctuary. Suddenly her father +called—and she started as from a dream—"Sarah!"</p> + +<p>She hastened to his side; "Dear father, what do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Child, the room is dark; and you had so +much light just now. All is dark. Where are +you? But it was better, after all, to put out the light; wilful waste makes"—</p> + +<p>Before the miser had concluded his proverb, +the light of <i>his</i> existence was extinguished for ever!</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> + + +<p>Several weeks elapsed before Sarah Bond +recovered sufficiently from the shock, ay, and +genuine grief, occasioned by her father's death, +so as to investigate her affairs; the hardness +and the tyranny she had borne for so many +years had become habitual, and her own will +was absolutely paralysed by inaction. Jacob +Bond had always treated his daughter as if she +were a baby, and it was some time before she +could collect herself sufficiently to calculate upon +her future plans. She had no friends; and the +sister to whom, despite her father's cruel words, +her heart clung so fondly, was far from her, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18" id="page18"></a>[pg 18]</span> +she knew not where. The mourning for herself +and her servant was ordered from a neighbouring +shop, with a carelessness as to expense +which made people say that Sarah was of habits different from her father.</p> + +<p>The rector and curate of the parish both +called, but she shrunk from strangers. The +very first act, however, of her liberty, was to +take a pew at church, a whole pew, to herself, +which she ordered to be curtained all round. +Some said this indicated pride, some said ostentation; but it was simply shyness. And +soon after she placed in the aisle a white marble +tablet, "To the memory of Jacob Bond, +who died in the seventy-eighth year of his age, +deeply lamented by his sorrowing daughter."</p> + +<p>Some ladies connected with a society for +clothing the poor, called upon and explained +to her their object; she poked five old guineas +into the hands of the spokeswoman, but forbade +the insertion of her donation in the visitor's +book. During the following week she had +numerous applications from various charitable +bodies, to whom she gave generously, they +said, while she reproached herself with narrowness; +to all, however, she positively refused to +become a yearly subscriber; and when closely +urged by the rector to be one of the patrons of +his school, she answered, "Sir, my father received +his property suddenly, and I may be as +suddenly deprived of it. I will give, but I will +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>[pg 19]</span> +not promise." Her impulse was to give, her habit to withhold.</p> + +<p>She added one more servant to her establishment; +and as she did not send out cards returning +thanks for the 'inquiries,' which increased +daily, Sarah Bond was a very lonely +woman; for though some, from curiosity, others +from want of occupation, others, again, from +the unfortunately universal desire to form acquaintance +with the rich, would have been glad, +now the solitary old miser was gone, to make +fellowship with his gentle-looking and wealthy +daughter, yet her reserve and quietness prevented +the fulfilment of their wishes. Weeks and +months rolled on; the old house had been repaired and beautified. Mr. Cramp, Sarah's +law agent and 'man of business,' advised her +to let the house, of which she occupied about as +much as a wren could fill of the nest of an eagle; +and, strangely enough, finding that the house of +her childhood was to let, she took it, removing +thither all the furniture which her father made +her promise never to part with. The ceiling of +the best bed-room was obliged to be raised to +admit the lofty bed with its plumes, and the spinnet +was assigned a very comfortable corner in +a parlour, where the faded stately chairs and +gorgeous furniture formed a curious contrast to +the bright neatly-papered walls and drugget-covered +floor; for in all matters connected with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page20" id="page20"></a>[pg 20]</span> +her own personal expenses, Sarah Bond was exceedingly frugal.</p> + +<p><i>After</i> her removal, though shy and strange as +ever, still she <i>looked</i> kind things to her rich, and +<i>did</i> kind things to her poor neighbours, only in +a strange, unusual way; and her charity was +given by fits mid starts—not continuously. She +moved silently about her garden, and evinced +much care for her plants and flowers. Closely +economical from long habit, rather than inclination, her domestic arrangements were +strangely at variance with what could not be +called public gifts, because she used every effort +in her power to conceal her munificence. She +did not, it is true, think and calculate, how the +greatest good could be accomplished. She +knew but one path to charity, and that was +paved with gold. She did not know how to +offer sympathy, or to enhance a gift by the +manner of giving. Her father had sacrificed +everything to multiply and keep his wealth; +all earthly happiness had been given up for it; +and unsatisfying as it had been to her own +heart, it had satisfied his. Inclination prompted +to give, habit to withhold; and certainly +Sarah Bond felt far more enjoyment in obeying +inclination than in following habit; though +sometimes what she believed a duty triumphed over inclination.</p> + +<p>If Sarah Bond ministered to her sister's necessities, +she did so secretly, hardly venturing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" id="page21"></a>[pg 21]</span> +to confess she did so, but shielding herself from +her father's curse, by sending to her sister's +child, and not her sister. Receiving few letters, +the village postman grumbled far more at having +to walk out to Greenfield, than if he was +accustomed to do so every day; and one morning +in particular; when he was obliged to do so +while the rain poured, he exhibited a letter, +sealed with a large black seal, to the parish-clerk, +saying he wished with all his heart Miss +Bond had remained at the old manor-house up +street, instead of changing; and where was +the good of taking her a mourning letter such +a gloomy day? it would be very unkind, and +he would keep it "till the rain stopped;" and +so he did, until the next morning; then taking +back word to the village postmaster that Miss +Bond wanted a post-chaise and four horses instantly, +which intelligence set not only the inn, +but the whole village in commotion. She, who +had never wanted a post-chaise before, to want +four horses to it now, was really wonderful.</p> + +<p>"Which road shall I take, Miss?" inquired +the post-boy, turning round in his saddle, and touching his cap.</p> + +<p>"On straight," was the answer. Such a +thrill of disappointment as ran through the +little crowd, who stood at the door to witness +her departure. "On straight!" Why, they +must wait the post-boy's return before they +could possibly know which way she went. Such +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page22" id="page22"></a>[pg 22]</span> +provoking suspense was enough to drive the entire village demented.</p> + +<p>Miss Bond remained away a month, and then +returned, bringing with her her niece, a girl of +about eight years old—her deceased sister's only child, Mabel Graham.</p> + +<p>The following Sunday Sarah Bond went to +church, leading her young companion by the +hand; both were in deep mourning, and yet +the very least observant of the congregation +remarked, that they had never seen Miss Bond +look so happy as when, coming out after service, +and finding that the wind had changed to +the north-east, she took off her scarf in the +church porch, and put it round the neck of the +lovely girl, who strongly remonstrated against +the act. It was evident that Mabel had been +accustomed to have her own way; for when +she found her aunt was resolved her throat +should be protected, she turned round, and in +a moment tore the silk into halves. "Now, +dear aunt, neither of our throats will suffer," +she exclaimed; while Sarah Bond did not +know whether she ought to combat her wilfulness +or applaud the tender care of herself. It +was soon talked of throughout the village, how +wonderfully Sarah Bond was changed; how +cheerful and even gay she had become. Instead +of avoiding society, how willingly, yet +how awkwardly, she entered into it; how +eagerly she sought to learn and to make herself +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23" id="page23"></a>[pg 23]</span> +acquainted with every source and system +of education. No traveller in the parchy desert +ever thirsted more for water than she did for +knowledge, and her desire seemed to increase +with what it fed upon. The more she had the +more she required; and all this was for the +sake of imparting all she learned to Mabel. +She fancied that teachers might not be kind to +this new-found idol; that she could transfer information +more gently and continuously; that +the relative was the best instructress; in short, +the pent-up tenderness of her nature, the restrained +torrent of affections that had so long +lain dormant, were poured forth upon the little +heiress, as she was already called; and captious +and determined she was, as ever heiress could +be; but withal of so loving a nature, and so +guileless a heart, so confiding, so generous, and +so playful, and overflowing with mirth and mischief, +that it would have been impossible to +fancy any living creature who had felt the sunshine +of fourteen summers more charming or tormenting.</p> + +<p>"I wish, dear aunt," exclaimed Mabel, one +morning, as she sat at her embroidery, the sun +shining through the open window upon the +abundant glories of her hair, while her aunt sat, +as she always did, opposite to her, that she +might, when she raised her eyes from off the +Italian lesson she was conning for her especial +edification, have the happiness of seeing her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page24" id="page24"></a>[pg 24]</span> +without an effort; "I wish, dear aunt, you +would send that old spinnet out of the room; +it looks so odd by the side of my beautiful piano."</p> + +<p>"My dear Mabel," replied her aunt, "I have +put as much <i>new</i> furniture as you wished into +this room, but I cannot part with the old"—</p> + +<p>"Rubbish!" added Mabel, snapping her +worsted with the impatience of the movement.</p> + +<p>"It may be rubbish in <i>your</i> eyes, Mabel, but +I have told you before that my dear father desired +I should never part with the furniture of the room he died in."</p> + +<p>Mabel <i>looked</i> the truth—"that she was not +more inclined toward the old furniture on that +account;" but she did not say so. "Have you +got the key of the old spinnet, aunt? I should like to hear its tone."</p> + +<p>"I have never found the key, my dear, +though I have often looked for it; I suppose my +father lost it. I have danced to its music before +now to my mother's playing; but I am sure it has not a tone left."</p> + +<p>"I wish you would dance now, dear aunt," +exclaimed Mabel, jumping up at the idea; "you +never told me you could dance; I never, somehow, +fancied you could dance, and I have been +obliged to practise my quadrilles with two high-backed +chairs and my embroidery frame. Do, +dear aunt; put by that book, and dance." It +would be impossible to fancy a greater contrast +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>[pg 25]</span> +than aunt and niece. Sarah Bond's erect and +perfectly flat figure was surmounted by a long +head and face, round which an abundance of +gray hair was folded; for by no other term can +I describe its peculiar dress; her cap plain, but +white as snow; and a black silk gown, that had +seen its best days, was pinned and <i>primmed</i> on, +so as to sit as close as possible to a figure which +would have been greatly improved by heavy and +abundant drapery. Mabel, lithe and restless, +buoyant and energetic, unable even to wish for +more luxury or more happiness than she possessed, +so that her active mind was <i>forced</i> to +employ its longings on trifles, as it really had +nothing else to desire; her face was round as +those faces are which become oval in time; and +her bright laughing eyes sparkled like sunbeams +at the bare notion of making "aunt Sarah" +take either the place of a high-backed chair, or +the embroidery frame in a quadrille. "Do dance," she repeated.</p> + +<p>"My dear child, I know as little of your +quadrilles as you do of my country dances and +reels. No, Mabel; I can neither open the +spinnet nor dance quadrilles; so you have been +twice refused this morning; a novelty, is it not, my dearest Mabel?"</p> + +<p>"But why do you not break open the spinnet? +Do break it open, aunt; I want to see the inside of it so much."</p> + +<p>"No, Mabel; the lock is a peculiar one, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" id="page26"></a>[pg 26]</span> +could not be broken without defacing the marquetre +on the cover, which I should not like to +do. My poor mother was so proud of that +cover, and used to dust and polish it with her own hands."</p> + +<p>"What! herself?" exclaimed the pretty Mabel; "why did not her servants do it?"</p> + +<p>"Because, my dear, she had but one."</p> + +<p>"But one! I remember when my poor +mamma had none," sighed Mabel, "and we were <i>so</i> miserable."</p> + +<p>"But not from lack of attendants, I think," +answered Sarah Bond. "If they <i>are</i> comforts, +they are careful ones, and sadly wasteful. We +were never so happy as we were then. Your +mother and I used to set the milk, and mind the +poultry, and make the butter, and cultivate the +flower-garden, and help to do the house work; +and then in the evening we would run in the +meadows, come home laden with wild flowers, +and tired as we were by alternate work and +play, my dear mother would play on that old +instrument, and my poor father sing, and we +sisters wound up the evening by a merry dance, +your mother and myself trying hard which could keep up the dance longest."</p> + +<p>Mabel resumed her embroidery without once +speaking. Sarah Bond laid down the book she +had been reading, and moved restlessly about; +her manner, when either thoughtful or excited, +prevented her features from being disturbed; so +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page27" id="page27"></a>[pg 27]</span> +her feelings were soothed by wandering from +place to place, or table to table; but after a considerable +pause, she said—"I wish you were a +little older, Mabel; I wish you to be older, that +I might convince you, dear, that it is in vain to +expect happiness from the possession of wealth, +unless we circulate it, share it with others, and +yet do so prudently and watchingly. Yet, my +poor dear father would be very angry if he heard me say that, Mabel."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know," interrupted the thoughtless girl, "<i>for he was a miser</i>."</p> + +<p>"Hush, Mabel!" exclaimed her aunt; "how +can you say anything so harsh of him from +whom we inherit all we have. He was careful, +peculiar, very peculiar; but he saved all for +me; and may God judge mercifully between +him and me if I cannot in all things do as he +would have had me," and then she paused, as +if reasoning and arguing with herself; apologising +for the human throes in her own bosom +that led her to act so frequently in direct opposition +to her father's desires; so that to those +who could not understand her motives and feelings, +she appeared every day more inconsistent. +"It is difficult to judge of motives in any case. +I am sure, if he had only gone abroad into the +world, and seen distress as I have seen it, he +could not have shut his heart against his fellow-creatures: +but his feelings were hardened +against some, whom he considered types of all, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>[pg 28]</span> +and he shut himself up; and seeing no misery, +at last believed, as many do, whom the world +never dreams of calling as you called him, Mabel—seeing +no misery, believed that it only existed +in the popular whine. I am sure, if he +had seen, he would have relieved it. I always +think <i>that</i> when I am giving; it is a great +blessing to be able to give; and I would give +more, were I not fearful that it might injure you."</p> + +<p>"Injure me, dear aunt, how?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Mabel, my heart is greatly fixed upon +seeing you a rich heiress, and, in time, suitably established."</p> + +<p>"You have just been saying how much happier +you were when you were all poor together, and yet you want to make me rich."</p> + +<p>"People may be very happy in poverty before +they have known riches; but having once +been rich, it would, I think, be absurd to suppose +we could ever be happy again in poverty."</p> + +<p>"I saw," replied the girl, "two children pass +the gate this morning while I was gathering +flowers—bunches of the simple white jessamine +you love so much, dear aunt—and they asked +so hard for bread, that I sent them a shilling."</p> + +<p>"Too much," interrupted Sarah Bond, habitually +rather than from feeling; "too much, +dear Mabel, to give to common beggars."</p> + +<p>"There were two, you know, and they looked +wan and hungry. About three hours after, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page29" id="page29"></a>[pg 29]</span> +I was cantering my pony down Swanbrook +Lane—the grass there is so soft and green, that +you cannot hear his feet, while I can hear +every grasshopper that chirps—suddenly, I +heard a child's voice singing a tune full of +mirth, and I went softly, softly on; and there, +under a tree, sat one of my morning acquaintances, +making believe to sing through a stick, +while the other danced with bare feet, and her +very rags fluttered in time to the tune. They +looked pale and hungry, though a thick crust of +bread upon the grass proved that they were not +the latter; but I never saw more joy in well-fed, +well-clothed children, for they paused and +laughed, and then began again. Poverty was +no pain to <i>them</i>, at all events."</p> + +<p>"My dear," said Sarah Bond, "you forget +the crust of bread was their riches, for it was a superfluity."</p> + +<p>"And is it not very shocking that in England +a crust of bread <i>should be</i> a superfluity," inquired Mabel.</p> + +<p>"Very, dear; <i>but a shilling was a great deal +to give at the gate</i>," observed her aunt, adding, +after a pause, "and yet it shows how little will +make the poor happy. I am sure, if my father +had looked abroad, instead of staying at home +to watch his—his—money, he would have +thought it right to share what he had. It is an +unnatural thing to shut one's self up from the +duties of life; one gets no interest for any other +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>[pg 30]</span> +outlay to do the heart service; but though +those poor children danced their rags in the +sunshine, and felt not the stones they danced +on, yet my dear Mabel could not dance with +poverty as her companion—my blessed, blessed child!"</p> + +<p>"I'd rather dance a jig with mirth than a +minuet with melancholy," laughed the girl; +"and yet it would take a great deal to make +me miserable if I were with you, and you loved +me, my dear aunt. Still, I own I like to be +rich, so as to have everything I want, and give +everybody what they want; and, aunt Sarah, +you know very well I cannot finish this rose +without the pale floss silk, and my maid forgot +both that and to order the seed pearl."</p> + +<p>Mabel's complaint was interrupted by the +entrance of the servant, who told Miss Bond +that Mr. Cramp, her attorney, wished to see her.</p> + +<p>"Show him in," said Miss Bond.</p> + +<p>"He wishes to see you alone, ma'am."</p> + +<p>"His wife is going to die, and he will want +you to marry him!" exclaimed Mabel, heedless +of the servant's presence. "Do, dear aunt, and let me be bride's-maid."</p> + +<p>Sarah Bond changed colour; and then, +while stooping to kiss her wayward niece, she called her "a foolish child."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page31" id="page31"></a>[pg 31]</span> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> + + +<p>Mr. Cramp, whom we introduced at the conclusion +of the last chapter, as Miss Bond's man +of business, was a plain little man, skilled in +the turnings and windings of the law, beside +which he could not be said to know distinctly any other code of morals.</p> + +<p>On this particular morning, after a few common-place observations, Mr. Cramp made a +somewhat strange inquiry. "Had Miss Bond +heard that Mr. Alfred Bond had come over to +England?" No; she had not heard it. It +was, Mr. Cramp <i>insinuated</i> (for he never <i>said</i> +anything directly)—it was rather an awkward +circumstance Mr. Alfred Bond's coming to +England. He thought—he believed—he <i>hoped</i> +it would make no difference to Miss Bond.</p> + +<p>Miss Bond opened her wide eyes still more +widely. She knew that Mr. Alfred Bond was +the heir-at-law to the property bequeathed her +father; but what of that? he had never, that +she heard of, dreamed of disputing the will; +and she had never felt one pang of insecurity +as to the possessions which had of late grown +so deeply into her heart. At this unexpected +intimation she felt the blood rush through her +veins in a wild untameable manner. In all her +trials—and they had been many—in all her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page32" id="page32"></a>[pg 32]</span> +illnesses—not a few—she had never fainted, never +fallen into that symptom of weak-mindedness, +a fit of hysterics; but now she sat without power +of speech, looking at Mr. Cramp's round face.</p> + +<p>"My dear Miss Bond, you are not ill, I hope?" +exclaimed Mr. Cramp. "I pray you to bear up; +what has been said is doubtless wrong—must +be wrong; a threat of the opposite party—an +undefined threat, which we must prepare ourselves +to meet in a lawyer-like way. Hope for the best, and prepare"—</p> + +<p>"For what, sir?" inquired Miss Bond, gaspingly.</p> + +<p>"For any—anything—that is my plan. Unfortunately, +the only way to deal with the world, +so as to meet it on equal terms, is to think every +man a rogue. It is a deeply painful view to +take of human nature, and it agonizes me to +do so. Let me, however, entreat you to bear up"—</p> + +<p>"Against what, sir?" said Sarah Bond abruptly, +and almost fiercely, for now Mr. Cramp's +face was reduced to its original size, and she +had collected her ideas. "There are few things +I could <i>not</i> bear up against, but I must know what I have to sustain."</p> + +<p>"Your father's will, my dear lady, is safe; +the document, leaving everything to you, that +is safe, and all other documents are safe enough +except Cornelius Bond Hobart's will—a will +bequeathing the property to your uncle. <i>Where</i> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33" id="page33"></a>[pg 33]</span> +is that will to be found? for if Alfred Bond proceeds, +the veritable document must be produced."</p> + +<p>"Why, so it can be, I suppose," said Sarah +Bond, relapsing in some degree into agitation; +"it was produced when my father inherited the property, as you know."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Miss Bond," he answered; +"certainly not as I <i>know</i>, for I had not the +honour of being your father's legal adviser at +that time. It was my master and subsequent +partner. I had not the privilege of your father's +confidence until after my colleague's death."</p> + +<p>"No one," said Miss Bond, "ever had my +father's <i>confidence</i>, properly so called; he was +very close in all money transactions. The will, +however, must be, I think, in Doctors' Commons! Go there immediately, Mr. Cramp; +and—stay—I will go with you; there it is, and +there are the names of the witnesses."</p> + +<p>"My dear lady!" expostulated the attorney, +in the softest tones of his soft voice, "I <i>have</i> +been there already. I wished to spare a lady +of your sensibility as much pain as possible; +and so I went there myself, with Mr. Alfred +Bond's man of business, whom I happened to +know; and I was grieved—cut up, I may say, +to the very heart's core, to hear what he said; +and he examined the document very closely too—very +closely; and, I assure you, spoke in +the handsomest, I may say, the <i>very</i> handsomest +manner of you, of your character, and usefulness, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34" id="page34"></a>[pg 34]</span> +and generosity, and Christian qualities; +he did indeed; but we have all our duties to +perform in this world; paramount things are +duties, Miss Bond, and his is a very painful one."</p> + +<p>"What need of all these words to state a +simple matter. Have you seen the will?" said Sarah Bond.</p> + +<p>"I have."</p> + +<p>"Well, and what more is there to see, unless +Mr. Alfred Bond denies his relative's power to make a will?"</p> + +<p>"Which, I believe he does not do. He says +he never made a will; that is all."</p> + +<p>"But there <i>is</i> the will," maintained Sarah Bond.</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry to wound you; but cannot you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Speak plainly if you can, sir," said Sarah +Bond sternly; "speak plainly if you can; I listen."</p> + +<p>"He maintains, on the part of his client, that the will is a forgery."</p> + +<p>"He maintains a falsehood, then," exclaimed +Miss Bond, with a firm determination and dignity +of manner that astonished Mr. Cramp. +"If the will be forged, who is the forger? Certainly +not my father; for he inherited the property +from his elder brother, who died insane. +The will is in <i>his</i> favour, and not in my father's. +Besides, neither of them held any correspondence +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page35" id="page35"></a>[pg 35]</span> +with the testator for twenty years; he +died abroad, and the will was sent to England +after his death. Would any one there do a +gratuitous service to persons they had never +seen? Where could be the reason—the motive? +How is it, that, till now, Alfred Bond urged no +claim. There are reasons," she continued, +"reasons to give the world. But I have within +me, what passes all reason—a feeling, a conviction, +a true positive knowledge, that my father +was incapable of being a party to such a crime. +He was a stern man, loving money—I grant +that—but honest in heart and soul. The only +creature he ever wronged was himself. He did +<i>that</i>, I know. He despoiled himself of peace +and comfort, of rest and repose. In <i>that</i> he +sinned against God's dispensation, who gives +that we may give, not merely to others, but lawfully +to ourselves. After all, it would have +been but a small thing for him to have been +without this property, for it gave him no one +additional luxury. I wonder, Mr. Cramp, that +you, as a man, have courage to stand before me, +a poor unprotected woman, and dare to say, that will is forged."</p> + +<p>While she spoke, Sarah Bond stood forth a +new creature in the astonished eyes of the sleek +attorney. He absolutely quailed before the vehemence +and fervour of the usually mild woman. +He assured her she was mistaken; that <i>he</i> had +not yielded to the point that the will was a forgery; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page36" id="page36"></a>[pg 36]</span> +that he never would confess that such +was the case; that it should be his business to +disprove the charge; that he hoped she did not +suppose he yielded to the plaintiff, who was resolved +to bring the matter into a court of justice. +He would only ask her one little question; +had she ever seen her father counterfeit different +hands? Yes, she said, she had; he could +counterfeit, copy, any hand he ever saw, so that +the real writer could not tell the counterfeit from +the original. Mr. Cramp made no direct observation +on this, except to beg that she would +not mention that "melancholy circumstance" to any one else.</p> + +<p>Sarah Bond told him she should not feel +bound to make this talent of her father's a crime, +by twisting into a <i>secret</i> what he used to do as +an amusement. Mr. Cramp urged mildly the +folly of this, when she had a defence to make; +but she stood all the more firmly upon what she +fearlessly considered the dignity of right and +truth; at the same time assuring him, she would +to the last contest that <i>right</i>, not so much for +her own sake, or the sake of one who was dear +to her beyond all power of expression, but for +the sake of <i>him</i> in whose place she stood, and +whose honour she would preserve with her life. +Mr. Cramp was a good, shrewd man of business. +He considered all Miss Bond's energy, on the +subject of her father's honour, as romance, +though he could not help believing <i>she</i> was in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page37" id="page37"></a>[pg 37]</span> +earnest about it. He thought it was perfectly +in accordance with the old miser's character, +that he should procure or make such a document; +though he considered it very extraordinary, +for many reasons, that it should have imposed +upon men more penetrating and learned than himself.</p> + +<p>Sarah Bond, after his departure, endeavoured +to conceal her anxiety from her niece; but in +vain. Mabel was too clear-sighted; and it was +a relief, as much as an astonishment to her +aunt, to see how bravely she bore up against +the evil news. Miss Bond did not remember +that the knowledge of the <i>power</i> of wealth does +not belong to sixteen summers. Mabel knew +and thought so little of its artificial influence, +that she believed her happiness sprang from +birds and flowers, from music, and dancing, +and books—those silent but immortal tongues +that live through centuries, for our advantage; +besides, her young heart welled forth so much +hope, that she really did not understand, even +if they lost their fortune, their "troublesome +fortune," as she called it, that it would seriously +affect their happiness. There was no philosophy, +no heroism in this; it was simply the impulse +of a bright, sunny, beautiful young mind.</p> + +<p>The course of events promised soon to strip +Mabel of all except her own bright conceptions. +Mr. Alfred Bond urged on his plea with all the +energy and bitterness of one who had been for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page38" id="page38"></a>[pg 38]</span> +many years despoiled of his right. His solicitor, +soon after his claim was first declared, made an +offer to Sarah Bond to settle an annuity on her +and her niece during the term of their natural +lives; but this was indignantly spurned by +Sarah; from him she would accept no favour; +she either had or had not a right to the whole +of the property originally left to her uncle. Various +circumstances, too tedious to enumerate, +combined to prove that the will deposited in +Doctors Commons was not a true document; +the signature of Cornelius Bond Hobart was +disproved by many; but second only to one incident +in strangeness was the fact, that though +sought in every direction, and widely advertised +for in the newspapers of the day, the witnesses +to the disputed document could not be found—they had vanished.</p> + +<p>The incident, so strange as to make more +than one lawyer believe for a time that really +such a quality as honesty was to be found in +the world, was as follows:—Sarah Bond, be it +remembered, had never seen the disputed will; +she was very anxious to do so; and yet, afterwards, +she did not like to visit Doctors Commons +with any one. She feared, she knew not +what; and yet, above all things, did she desire +to see this will with her own eyes.</p> + +<p>Mr. Cramp was sitting in his office when a +woman, muffled in a cloak, and veiled, entered +and seated herself without speaking. After a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page39" id="page39"></a>[pg 39]</span> +moment she unclasped her cloak, loosened the +wrapping from her throat, threw back her veil, and asked for a glass of water.</p> + +<p>"Bless me, Miss Bond, is it you? I am sure I am much honoured—very much!"</p> + +<p>"No honour, sir," she replied, "but necessity. +I have been to Doctors Commons; have +seen the will—it is my father's writing!"</p> + +<p>"You confess this to me?" said Mr. Cramp, +drawing back on his chair, and almost gasping for breath.</p> + +<p>"I do," she answered; "I proclaim it; it is +my father's <i>copy</i> of the original will. But how +the copy could have been substituted for the real will, I can only conjecture."</p> + +<p>"Surmise is something," replied the lawyer, +a little relieved; "conjecture sometimes leads to proof."</p> + +<p>"My father and uncle lived together when +the will came into their possession. They were +in partnership as farmers. My father's habits +were precise: he always copied every writing, +and endorsed his copies with a large <i>C</i>; the +very <i>C</i> is marked upon the will I have just seen at Doctors Commons."</p> + +<p>"That is singular," remarked Cramp; "but +it does not show us the way out of the difficulty; +on the contrary, that increases. <i>Somebody</i>—I +don't for an instant suppose Mr. Jacob +Bond—in proving the will must have sworn +that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page40" id="page40"></a>[pg 40]</span> +those were the real, which are only copies of the signatures."</p> + +<p>"True—and such a mistake was extremely +characteristic of my uncle, who performed +many strange acts before he was known to be +insane. This was doubtless one of them."</p> + +<p>"But <i>where</i> is the original?" inquired the man of business.</p> + +<p>"Heaven knows! I cannot find it; but I am +not the less assured of its existence."</p> + +<p>"Then we must persist in our plea of the +truth of the document in Doctors Commons."</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," said Sarah; "you must +not persist in a falsehood in my name. If you +do, I shall rise up in court, and contradict you! +I feel it my duty, having seen the will, to state +my firm belief that it is a copy of the original will, and nothing more."</p> + +<p>Poor Mr. Cramp was dreadfully annoyed. +He could, he thought, manage all sorts of clients. +He reasoned, he proved, he entreated, +he got her counsel to call upon her, but all was +in vain. She would go into court, she said, +herself, if her counsel deserted her. She would +<i>not</i> give up the cause; she would plead for the +sake of her father's honour. She was well assured +that the real will was still in existence, +and would be discovered—found—sooner or +later—though not, perhaps, till she was in her grave.</p> + +<p>The senior counsel was so provoked at what +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page41" id="page41"></a>[pg 41]</span> +he called his client's obstinacy, that he threw up +his brief, and the junior took advantage of the +circumstance to make a most eloquent speech, +enlarging upon the singularity of no appeal +having been previously made by the plaintiff—of +the extraordinary disappearance of the witnesses—of +the straight-forward, simple, and +beautiful truthfulness of the defendant; in short, +he moved the court to tears, and laid the foundation +of his future fortune. But after that +day, Sarah Bond and her niece, Mabel, were +homeless and houseless. Yet I should not say +that; for the gates of a jail gaped widely for +the "miser's daughter," but only for a few +days; after which society rang with praises, +loud and repeated, of Mr. Alfred Bond's liberality, +who had discharged the defendant's costs +as well as his own. In truth, people talked so +much and so loudly about this, that they altogether +forgot to inquire what had become of Sarah and Mabel.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + + +<p>The clergyman of the parish was their first +visiter. He assisted them to look into the future. +It was, he who conveyed to Sarah Bond +Alfred's determination that she should be held +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page42" id="page42"></a>[pg 42]</span> +scatheless. The good man delivered this information with the manner of a person who +feels he comes with good news, and expects it +will be so received; but Sarah Bond could only +regard Alfred as the calumniator of her father's +memory, the despoiler of her rights. The wild +expression of joy in Mabel's face, as she threw +herself on her aunt's bosom, gave her to understand +that she ought to be thankful for what saved her from a prison.</p> + +<p>Words struggled for utterance. She who +had borne so much and so bravely, was overcome. +Again and again she tried to speak, +but for some hours she fell from one fainting +fit into another. She had borne up against all +disasters, until the power of endurance was +overwhelmed; and now, she was attacked by +an illness so violent, that it threatened dissolution. +At this very time, when she needed so +much sympathy, a stern and severe man, in +whom there was no pity, a man who had received large sums of money from Miss Bond +as a tradesman, and whose account had stood +over from a particular request of his own, believing +that all was gone, and that he should +lose, took advantage of her illness to levy an +execution upon the goods, and to demand a sale.</p> + +<p>At this time her reason had quite deserted +her, and poor Mabel was incapable of thought +beyond her duty to her aunt, which made her +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page43" id="page43"></a>[pg 43]</span> +remove her to a cottage-lodging from the turmoil +of the town. No one distinctly knew, except +Mabel, why Sarah Bond was so attached +to the old furniture, and few cared. And yet +more than one kind heart remembered how she +had liked the "rubbishing things," and bought +in several, resolved that, if she recovered, and +ever had "a place of her own again," they +would offer them for her acceptance. Her illness +was so tedious, that except the humble curate +and the good rector, her inquirers had fallen +off—for long sickness wears out friends. +Some would pause as they passed the cottage +window, where the closely-pinned down curtain +told of the caution and quiet of sickness; and +then they would wonder how poor Miss Bond +was; and if they entered the little passage to +inquire, they could scarcely recognise in the +plainly-dressed, jaded, bent girl, whose eyes +knew no change but from weeping to watching, +and watching to weeping, the buoyant and beautiful +heiress whose words were law, and who +once revelled in luxury. The produce of the +sale—though everything, of course, went below +its value—left a small surplus, after all debts +and expenses were paid; which the clergyman +husbanded judiciously, and gave in small portions +to Mabel. Alfred Bond himself called to +offer any assistance that might be required, +which Mabel declined, coldly and at once.</p> + +<p>Patiently and devotedly did she watch beside +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44" id="page44"></a>[pg 44]</span> +the couch of her poor aunt; one day suffering +the most acute anxiety if the symptoms became +worse than usual; the next full of hope as they +abated. Did I say that one day after another +this was the case? I should have written it, +one hour after another; for truly, at times she +fluctuated so considerably, that no one less +hopeful than Mabel could have continued faithful +to hope. As Sarah Bond gained strength, +she began to question her as to the past. Mabel +spoke cautiously; but, unused to any species +of dissimulation, could not conceal the +fact, that the old furniture, so valued by her +uncle, and bequeathed with a conditional blessing, +was gone—sold! This had a most unhappy +effect on the mind of Sarah Bond. She felt +as if her father's curse was upon her. She +dared not trust herself to speak upon the subject. +When the good rector (Mr. Goulding) +alluded to the sale, and attempted to enter into +particulars, or give an account of the affairs he +had so kindly and so ably managed, she adjured +him in so solemn a manner never to speak +of the past, if he wished her to retain her reason, +that he, unconscious of the motive, and +believing it arose entirely from regret at her +changed fortunes, avoided it as much as she +could desire; and thus she had no opportunity +of knowing how much had been saved by the +benevolence of a few kind persons. Sarah +Bond fell into the very common error of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page45" id="page45"></a>[pg 45]</span> +imagining that persons ought to <i>know</i> her thoughts +and feelings, without her explaining them. But +her mind and judgment had been so enfeebled +by illness and mental suffering, that, even while +she opposed her opinions, she absolutely leaned +on Mabel—as if the oak called to the woodbine +to support its branches. What gave Mabel +the most uneasiness, was the determination +she had formed to leave the cottage as soon as +she was able to be removed; and she was seriously +displeased because Mabel mentioned this +intention to Mr. Goulding. Despite all poor +Mabel could urge to the contrary, they quitted +the neighbourhood—the sphere of Sarah Bond's +sudden elevation, and as sudden depression—alone, +at night, and on foot. It was a clear, +moonlight evening, in midsummer, when the +twilight can hardly be said to give place to +darkness; and when the moon shines out so +very brightly, that the stars are reduced to pale +lone sparks of <i>white</i> rather than <i>light</i>, in the +blue sky. It was a lovely evening; the widow +with whom they had lodged was not aware of +their intention until about an hour before their +departure. She was very poor and ignorant, +but her nature was kind; and when Sarah Bond +pressed upon her, out of her own scanty store, +a little present of money beyond her stipulated +rent, she would not take it, but accompanied +them to the little gate with many tears, receiving +charge of a farewell letter to the rector. "And +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page46" id="page46"></a>[pg 46]</span> +haven't you one to leave me for the curate?" +she inquired. "Deary me! but I'm sure for +every once the old gentleman came when Miss +Bond was so bad, the curate came three times; +and no letter for him! deary, oh, deary me!"</p> + +<p>"Why did you not put me in mind to write +to Mr. Lycight, Mabel?" inquired her aunt, +after the gate, upon which the poor woman leaned, had closed.</p> + +<p>Mabel made no reply; but Sarah felt the +hand she held tightly within hers tremble and +throb. How did she then remember the days +of her own youth, as she thought, "Oh! in +mercy <i>she</i> might have escaped from what only +so causes the pulses to beat or the hand to +tremble!" Neither spoke; but Sarah had +turned over the great page of Mabel's heart, +while Mabel did not confess, even to herself, +that Mr. Lycight's words, however slight, were +more deeply cherished than Mr. Goulding's precepts. They had a long walk to take that +night, and both wept at first; but however sad and +oppressed the mind and spirits maybe, there is a +soothing and balmy influence in nature that +lulls, if it does not dispel, sorrow; every breeze +was perfumed. As they passed the hedges, +there was a rustling and murmuring of birds +amongst the leaves; and Mabel could not forbear +an exclamation of delight when she saw a +narrow river, now half-shadowed, then bright +in the moonbeams, bounding in one place like +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page47" id="page47"></a>[pg 47]</span> +a thing of life, then brawling around sundry +large stones that impeded its progress, again +subsiding into silence, and flowing onward to +where a little foot-bridge, over which they had +to pass, arched its course; beyond this was the +church, and there Mabel knew they were to +await the coach which was to convey them to a +village many miles from their old homes, and +where Sarah Bond had accidentally heard there +was a chance of establishing a little school. +Mabel paused for a moment to look at the venerable +church standing by the highway, the +clergyman's house crouching in the grove behind. +The hooting and wheeling of the old +owls in the ivied tower was a link of life. Sarah +Bond passed the turn-stile that led into the +church-yard, followed by Mabel, who shuddered +when she found herself surrounded by damp +grass-green graves, and beneath the shadows of old yew-trees.</p> + +<p>She knew not where her aunt was going, but +followed her silently. Sarah Bond led the way +to a lowly grave, marked by a simple head-stone. +She knelt down by its side, and while +her bosom throbbed, she prayed earnestly, +deeply, within her very soul—she prayed, now +a faded, aged woman—she prayed above the +ashes, the crumbling bones of him she had loved +with a love that never changes—that is green +when the head is gray—that Mabel might never +suffer as she had suffered. Relieved by these +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page48" id="page48"></a>[pg 48]</span> +devotional exercises, Sarah rose, and the humble +and stricken pair bade adieu to the melancholy +scene, and betook themselves to their toilsome +journey. Fortunately the stage soon +overtook them, and having, with some difficulty, +obtained seats, they were in due time deposited +in a village, where Sarah felt there would +be no eyes prying into their poverty, no ears to +hear of it, no tongue to tell thereof, and point +them out "as the poor ladies that once were +rich." This was a great relief, though it came +of pride, and she knew it; and she said within +herself, When health strengthens my body, I +will wrestle with this feeling, for it is unchristian. +She never even to Mabel alluded to +what was heaviest on her mind—the loss of the +old furniture; though she cheered her niece by +the assurance that, after a few months, if the +Almighty blessed the exertions they must make +for their own support, she would write to their +friend Mr. Goulding, and say where they were; +by "that time," she said, she hoped to be humble, +as a Christian should be. After this assurance +was given, it was astonishing to see how +Mabel revived. Her steps recovered their elasticity, +her eyes their brightness. Sarah Bond +had always great superiority in needlework, and +this procured her employment; while Mabel +obtained at once, by her grace and correct +speaking, two or three day pupils. Her wild +and wayward temper had been subdued by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page49" id="page49"></a>[pg 49]</span> +change of circumstances; but if she had not +found occupation it would have become morose +Here was not only occupation, but success; +success achieved by the most legitimate means—the +exertion of her own faculties; there were +occasionally bitter tears and many disappointments; +and the young soft fingers, so slender +and beautiful, were obliged to work in earnest; +and she was forced by necessity to rise early +and watch late; and then she had to think, not +how pounds could be spent, but pennies could +be earned. We need not, however, particularize +their labours in this scene of tranquil usefulness. +It is sufficient to say that Mabel's little +school increased; and both she and her aunt +came at length to feel and speak thankfully of +the uses of adversity, and bless God for taking as well as for giving.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> + + +<p>Though Sarah Bond had used every means +within her power to conceal her place of retreat, +yet she often felt bitterly pained that no one had +sought her out. She said she wished to be forgotten, +unless she had the power to clear away +the imputation on her father's name. And yet, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page50" id="page50"></a>[pg 50]</span> +unknown to herself, she cherished the hope, +that some one would have traced them, though +only to say one cheering word of approbation +regarding their attempt at self-dependence. +Sarah thanked the Almighty greatly for one +thing, that Mabel's cheerfulness was continued +and unfluctuating, and that her mind seemed +to have gathered strength by wholesome exercise. +She believed her affections, if not free, +were not entangled, and that her pride had risen +against her imagination; and it was beautiful +to see how, watching to avoid giving each other +pain, striving continually to show the bright side +of every question, the one to the other, and extract +sweets instead of bitters from every little +incident, led to their actually enjoying even the +privations which exercised their tenderness towards each other.</p> + +<p>Time wore away many of their sorrows, which +old father Time always does; a kindness we +forget to acknowledge, though we often arraign +him for spoiling our pleasures. Sarah and Mabel +had been taking an evening walk, wondering +how little they existed upon, and feeling +that it was a wide step towards independence to have few wants.</p> + +<p>"I can see good working in all things," said +Mabel; "for if I had obtained the companionship +of books, which I so eagerly desired at first, +I should not have had the same inducement to +pursue my active duties, to read my own heart, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page51" id="page51"></a>[pg 51]</span> +and the great book of nature, which is opened +alike to peer and peasant; I have found so much +to learn, so much to think of by studying objects +and persons—reading persons instead of books."</p> + +<p>"Yes," added Sarah Bond; "and seeing how +much there is to admire in every development +of nature, and how much of God there is in every human being."</p> + +<p>As they passed along the village street, Mabel +observed that the cottagers looked after them, +and several of her little pupils darted their heads +in and out of their homes, and laughed; she +thought that some village fun was afloat, that +some rural present of flowers, or butter, or +eggs, had been sent—a little mysterious offering +for her to guess at; and when she turned to +fasten the wicket gate, there were several of the +peasants knotted together talking. A sudden exclamation +from her aunt, who had entered the +cottage, confirmed her suspicion; but it was +soon dissipated. In their absence, their old +friends Mr. Goulding and the curate had arrived +by the coach, and entered their humble dwelling. From a wagon at the same time were +lifted several articles of old furniture, which +were taken into the cottage, and properly arranged. +There were two old chairs, an embroidered +stool, a china vase, a cabinet, a table, +and the spinnet. Strangely the furniture looked +on the sanded floor, but never was the spiciest +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page52" id="page52"></a>[pg 52]</span> +present from India more grateful to its receiver +than these were to the eyes of Sarah Bond. +She felt as if a ban was removed from her when +she looked upon the old things so valued by her +father. Absorbed in the feelings of the moment, +she did not even turn to inquire how they had +so unexpectedly come there. Nor did she note +the cold and constrained greeting which Mabel +gave to Mr. Lycight. She herself, after the first +self-engrossed thoughts were past, turned to +give both gentlemen the cordial reception which +their many former kindnesses, not to speak of +their apparent connexion with the present gratifying +occurrence, deserved. From Mr. Goulding +she learnt that the furniture had been +bought up by a few old friends, and committed +to him to be sent to her as a mark of their goodwill; +he had only delayed bringing it to her, +till she should have proved, as he knew she +would, superior to her misfortunes, by entering upon some industrious career.</p> + +<p>As the evening closed in, and the astonishment +and feelings of their first meeting subsided, +Sarah Bond and Mr. Goulding conversed +apart, and then, indeed, she listened with a +brimming heart and brimming eyes. He told +of his young friend's deep attachment to Mabel; +how he had prevailed upon him to pause +before he declared it; to observe how she endured +her changed fortune; and to avoid engaging +her affections until he had a prospect of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page53" id="page53"></a>[pg 53]</span> +placing her beyond the reach of the most harrowing +of all poverties, that which keeps up an +appearance above its means. "Her cheerfulness, +her industry, her goodness, have all been +noted," he continued. "She has proved herself +capable of accommodating herself to her +circumstances; the most difficult of all things +to a young girl enervated by luxury and indulgence. +And if my friend can establish an interest +in her affections, he has no higher views of +earthly happiness, and I think he ought to have +no other. You will, I am sure, forgive me for +having counselled the trial. If deep adversity +had followed your exertions—if you had failed +instead of succeeded—I should have been at hand to succour and to aid."</p> + +<p>Sarah Bond had never forgotten the emotion +of Mabel, caused by the mention of the curate's +name when they quitted their old neighbourhood, +and the very reserve Mabel showed proved to +Sarah's searching and clear judgment, that the +feeling was unchanged. Truly in that hour +was her chastened heart joyful and grateful. +"Mabel must wait," she said, "until the prospect +of advancement became a reality; for it +would be an ill return of disinterested love +for a penniless orphan to become a burden instead +of a blessing. Mabel would grow more +worthy every day; they were doing well; ay, +he might look round the white-washed walls and +smile, but they <i>were</i> prosperous, healthful, happy, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page54" id="page54"></a>[pg 54]</span> +and respected; and if she could only live to +see the odium cast upon her father's memory +removed, she would not exchange her present +poverty for her past pride." She frequently +afterwards thought of the clergyman's rejoinder—"That +riches, like mercy, were as blessed to +the giver as to the receiver, and that they only +created evil when hoarded, or bestowed by a heedless hand."</p> + +<p>They certainly were a happy group in that +lowly cottage room that evening. Mabel's +proud bearing had given place, as if by magic, +to a blushing shyness; which she tried to shield +from observation by every possible attempt at +ease. She talked to Mr. Goulding, and found +a thousand uses for the old furniture she had +once so heartily despised. "She would sit in +the great high chair at the end of that table, +with her feet on the stool, and the china vase in +the midst, filled with humble cottage flowers—meadow-sweet +and wild roses, and sweet-williams, +sea-pinks, woodbine, and wild convolvulus! +Did Mr. Goulding like cottage flowers +best?" No; the clergyman said he did not, +but he thought Mr. Lycight did, and the young +man assured her that it was so; and then gazed +on the only love his heart, his deep, unworn, +earnest heart, had throbbed to, with an admiration +which is always accompanied by fear, lest +something should prevent the realization of the one great earthly hope. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page55" id="page55"></a>[pg 55]</span> +And Mabel was more fitful than her aunt had +ever seen her. Fearful lest her secret, as she +thought it, should be discovered, she made as +many turns and windings as a hare; and yet, +unskilled in disguising her feelings, after spending +many words in arranging and re-arranging, +she suddenly wished that the spinnet could be +opened, "If," she exclaimed, "<i>that</i> could be +opened, I should be able to teach Mary Godwin +music; and her mother seemed to wish it so +much: surely we can open the instrument?"</p> + +<p>"It has not been opened for years," replied +Miss Bond; "and I remember, once before, +Mabel wished it opened, and I refused, lest +forcing the lock might harm the marquetre, of +which my poor mother was so fond. It has +never been opened since her death." But Mabel's +desire was of too much consequence, in +her lover's eyes, to be passed over, although all +seemed agreed that if it were opened it could +not be played upon; so in a few minutes he +procured a smith, who said he would remove +the hinges, and then unscrew the lock from the +inside, which would not injure the cover. This +was done; but greatly to poor Mabel's dismay, +the cavity, where strings once had been, was filled with old papers.</p> + +<p>"Now, is not this provoking?" said Mabel, +flinging out first one and then another bundle +of letters. "Is not this provoking?"</p> + +<p>"No, no," exclaimed Sarah Bond, grasping +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56" id="page56"></a>[pg 56]</span> +a lean, long, parchment, round which an abundance of tape was wound. "No. Who knows +what may be found here?" At once the idea +was caught, Mabel thought no more of the +strings. "I cannot," said Sarah Bond to Mr. +Goulding, "untie this; can you?" Her fingers +trembled, and she sank on her knees by the +clergyman's side. The eyes of the little group +were fixed upon him; not a word was spoken; +every breath was hushed; slowly he unfastened +knot after knot; at last the parchment was unfolded; +still, neither Sarah Bond nor Mabel +spoke; the latter gasped for breath—her lips +apart, her cheeks flushed; while Sarah's hands +were clasped together, locked upon her bosom, +and every vestige of colour had deserted her face.</p> + +<p>"Be calm, my dear friend," he said, after +glancing his eyes over the parchment; "be +calm. You have experienced enough of the +changes and chances of this world not to build +too quickly upon any foundation but the one—the +goodness of God; I do believe this is an +especial proof of His Providence, for I do think +this is Cornelius Bond Hobart's original will in your uncle's favour."</p> + +<p>It would be useless to attempt a description +of the scene that followed; but the joy at the +<i>reality</i> of the discovery was a heartful temperate +joy—the joy of chastened hearts. Sarah +Bond, blessing God, above all things, that, go +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page57" id="page57"></a>[pg 57]</span> +the law as it would, her father's memory would +now be held as the memory of an honest man; +that he had, as she had said, copied, not forged +the will. Mr. Goulding declared he should find +it difficult to forgive himself for having so long +prevented the old furniture from being sent, assuring +her, the dread that Mabel was unfit to +contend with the privations to which the lives +of humble men are doomed, made him tremble +for the happiness of the young friend who had +been consigned to his care by a dying mother; +he feared to renew the intercourse, until her +character was developed; while poor Mabel +had little thought how closely she was watched +along the humble and thorny paths she had to traverse.</p> + +<p>Sarah Bond's spirit was so chastened, that +she regretted nothing save the shadow cast upon +her father's grave; and now that was removed, +she was indeed happy. She assured the rector +how useful adversity had been to them—how +healthful it had rendered Mabel's mind—and +how much better, if they recovered what had +been lost, they should know how to employ +their means of usefulness. Mr. Lycight's congratulations +were not so hearty as Mr. Goulding's; +he felt that <i>now</i> he was the curate and +Mabel the heiress; and he heard the kind good +night which Mabel spoke with a tingling ear. +<i>He</i>, was proud in his own way; and pride, as +well as his affection, had been gratified by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58" id="page58"></a>[pg 58]</span> +idea of elevating her he loved. Mabel saw this, +and she wept during the sleepless night, that he +should believe her so unworthy and so ungrateful.</p> + +<p>There was much to think of and to do; the +witnesses were to be found, and lawyers consulted, +and proceedings taken, and much of the +turmoil and bitterness of the law to be endured, +which it pains every honest heart to think upon; +and Mr. Cramp was seized with a sudden fit of +virtuous indignation against Mr. Alfred Bond, +after Sarah Bond's new "man of business" had +succeeded in producing the only one of the witnesses +in existence, who, he also discovered, +had been purposely kept out of the way, on a +former occasion, by some one or other. The +delays were vexatious, and the quirks and turns, +and foldings, and doubles innumerable; but +they came to an end at last, and Mr. Alfred +Bond was obliged in his turn to vacate the old +mansion, in which he had revelled—a miser in selfish pleasures.</p> + +<p>I have dwelt longer than was perhaps necessary +on the <i>minutiæ</i> of this relation, the principal +events of which are so strongly impressed +upon my memory. But the more I have thought +over the story, the more I have been struck with +the phases and impulses of Sarah Bond's unobtrusive, +but deep feeling mind; her self-sacrificing +spirit, her devotion to her father's will, +her dread, when first in possession of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59" id="page59"></a>[pg 59]</span> +property, that any <i>one</i> act of liberality on her part +might be considered a reproach to his memory; +her habits struggling with her feelings, leading +me to the conclusion that she would never have +become, even with the expanding love of her +niece to enlarge her views, thoroughly unmanacled +from the parsimonious habits of her father, +but for her lesson in adversity, which, instead +of teaching as it does a worldly mind, the <i>value +of money</i>, taught her higher nature <i>its proper uses</i>.</p> + +<p>It was beautiful to see how Mabel grew into +her aunt's virtues; and even Mr. Goulding was +startled by the energy and thoughtfulness of her +character. She soon convinced Mr. Lycight +that her prospects grew brighter in his love; +and for a time he was romantic enough to wish +she had continued, penniless, and he had been +born a peer, to prove his disinterested affection. +This, however, wore away, as man's romance +always does, and he absolutely became reconciled +to his bride's riches. Sarah Bond was +living a very few years ago, beloved and honoured, +the fountain of prosperity and blessing +to all who needed. There was no useless expenditure, no show, no extravagance in "the +establishment" at the old manor house; but it +was pleasant to perceive the prosperity of the +poor in the immediate neighbourhood; there +was evidence of good heads and kind hearts, +superintending all moral and intellectual +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page60" id="page60"></a>[pg 60]</span> +improvements; there were flourishing schools, +and benevolent societies, and the constant exercise +of individual charities; and many said +that Sarah Bond, and niece, and nephew, did +more good with hundreds than others did with +thousands. From having had practical experience +of poverty, they understood how to remedy +its wants, and minister to its sorrows. +And to the last hour of her prolonged life, Sarah Bond remembered</p> + +<center>THE USES OF ADVERSITY.</center> + +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63" id="page63"></a>[pg 63]</span> + + + + +<h2>ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS.</h2> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + + +<p>"There they go!" exclaimed old Mrs. Myles, +looking after two exceedingly beautiful children, +as they passed hand in hand down the street of +the small town of Abbeyweld, to the only school, +that had "Seminary for Young Ladies," written +in large hand, on a proportionably large +card, and placed against the bow window of an +ivied cottage. "There they go!" she repeated; +"and though I'm their grandmother, I may +say a sweeter pair of children than Helen Marsh +and Rose Dillon never trod the main street of +Abbeyweld—God bless them!" She added +earnestly, "God Almighty bless them!"</p> + +<p>"Amen!" responded a kind voice; and +turning round, Mrs. Myles saw the curate of +the parish, the Reverend Mr. Stokes, standing +just at the entry of her own house. To curtsey +with the respect which in the "good old times" +was customary towards those who "meekly +taught, and led the way," and invite the minister +in, was the work of a moment; the next beheld +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page64" id="page64"></a>[pg 64]</span> +Mrs. Myles and her visiter tete-a-tete in the +widow's small parlour. It was a cheerful, pleasant +room, such as is often met with in the clean +villages of England. There were two or three +pieces of embroidery, in frames of faded gilding; +an old-fashioned semicircular card-table +stood opposite the window, and upon it rested +a filagree tea-caddy, based by a mark-a-tree +work-box, flanked on one side by the Bible, on +the other by a prayer-book; while on the space +in front was placed "The Whole Art of Cookery," +by Mrs. Glasse. High-backed chairs of +black mahogany were ranged along the white-washed walls; a corner cupboard displayed +upon its door the magnificence of King Solomon, +and the liberality of the Queen of Sheba, +while within glittered engraved glasses, and +fairy-like cups and saucers, that would delight +the hearts of the fashionables of the present +day. Indeed, Mrs. Myles knew their value, +and prided herself thereon, for whenever the +squire or any great lady paid her a visit, she +was sure, before they entered, to throw the cupboard +door slyly open, so as to display its treasures; +and then a little bit of family pride would +creep out—"Yes, every one said they were +pretty—and so she supposed they were—but +they were nothing to her grandmother's, where +she remembered the servants eating off real India +<i>chaney</i>." The room also contained a high-backed +sofa, covered with chintz; very stately, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page65" id="page65"></a>[pg 65]</span> +hard, and uncomfortable it was to sit upon; +indeed, no one except visiters ever did sit upon +it, save on Sundays, when Helen and Rose were +permitted so to do, "if they kept quiet," which +in truth they seldom did for more than five +minutes together. "Moonlight"—Mrs. Myles's +large cat—Moonlight would take a nap there +sometimes; but as Mrs. Myles, while she <i>hushed</i> +him off, declared he was a "clean creature," +it may be said that Moonlight was the only +thing privileged to <i>enjoy</i> the sofa to his heart's +content. Why he liked it, I could not understand. +Now she invited Mr. Stokes to sit upon +it; but he knew better, and took the window seat in preference.</p> + +<p>"They are fine children—are they not, sir?" +inquired the good old lady, reverting in the +pride of her heart to her young charges. "Rose, +poor thing, will be obliged to shift for herself, +for her father and mother left her almost without +provision: but when Helen's father returns, +I do hope he will be able to introduce her in the +way she seems born for. She has the heart +of a princess—bless her!" added Mrs. Myles, triumphantly.</p> + +<p>"I hope, my good friend, she will have a +Christian's heart," said Mr. Stokes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, certainly, sir, certainly, we all have that, I hope."</p> + +<p>"I hope so too; but I think you will act +wisely in directing the proud spirit of Helen +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page66" id="page66"></a>[pg 66]</span> +into an humbler channel, while you rouse and +strengthen the modest and retiring one of Rose."</p> + +<p>"They are very, very different, sir," said the +old lady, looking particularly sagacious; "I +don't mean as to talent, for they are both very +clever, nor as to goodness, for, thank God, they +are both good; but Helen has such a <i>noble</i> +spirit—such an uplooking way with her."</p> + +<p>"We should all look up to God." said the minister.</p> + +<p>"Oh, of course we all do." Mrs. Myles +paused. "She has such a lady-like, independent +way with her, I'm sure she'll turn out something +<i>great</i>, sir. Well, there's no harm in a +little ambition now and then; we all, you know" +want to be a little bit better off than we are."</p> + +<p>"We are too apt to indulge in a desire for +what is beyond our reach," said the minister, +gravely; "if every one was to reside on the +hills, who would cultivate the valleys? We +should not forget that godliness, with contentment, +is great gain. It would be far better, +Mrs. Myles, if, instead of struggling to get <i>out +</i> of our sphere, we laboured to do the best we could in it."</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, and that's true," replied Mrs. +Myles; "just what I say to Mrs. Jones, who +<i>will</i> give bad sherry at her little tea-parties; good +gooseberry, I say, is better than bad sherry. Will you taste mine, sir?"</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page67" id="page67"></a>[pg 67]</span> + +<p>"No, thank you," said the good man, who +at the very moment was pondering over the art +of self-deception, as practised by ourselves <i>upon</i> +ourselves. "No, thank you; but do, my dear +madam, imbue those children with a contented +spirit; there is nothing that keeps us so truly +at peace with the world as contentment—or with +ourselves, for it teaches peace—or with a Higher +Power, for it is insulting to His wisdom and love +to go on repining through this beautiful world, +instead of enjoying what as Christians we can +enjoy, and regarding without envy that which we have not."</p> + +<p>"Exactly so, good sir. 'Be content,' I said +to Helen only this very morning—'be content, +my dear, with your pink gingham; <i>who knows +but by and by you may have a silk dress for Sundays</i>?'"</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear Mrs. Myles, you are sowing bad seed," said the clergyman.</p> + +<p>"What, sir, when I told her to be content with the little pink gingham?"</p> + +<p>"No; but when you told her she might have +a silk one hereafter. Don't you see, instead of +uprooting you were fostering pride?—instead +of directing her ambition to a noble object, and +thereby elevating her mind, you were lowering +it by drawing it down to an inferior one?"</p> + +<p>"I did not see it," observed Mrs. Myles, +simply; "but you know, sir, there's no more harm in a silk than a cotton."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page68" id="page68"></a>[pg 68]</span> + +<p>"I must go now, my good lady," said the +minister; "only observing that there <i>is</i> no more +harm in one than in the other, except when the +desire to possess anything beyond our means +leads to discontent, if not to more actively dangerous +faults. I must come and lecture the little maids myself."</p> + +<p>"And welcome, sir, and thank you kindly +besides; poor little dears, they have no one to +look after them but me. I daresay I am wrong +sometimes, but I do my best—I do my best."</p> + +<p>The curate thought she did according to her +knowledge, but he lamented that two such exquisitely +beautiful children, possessed of such +natural gifts, should be left to the management +of a vain old woman—most vain—though kindly +and good-hearted—giving kindness with pleasure, +and receiving it with gratitude—yet totally +unfit to bring up a <i>pair of beauties</i>, who, of all +the female sex, require the most discretion in the management.</p> + +<p>"I wonder," thought the Reverend Mr. Stokes—"I +wonder when our legislature will contrive +to establish a school for mothers. If girls are +sent to school, the chances are that the contamination +over which the teacher can have no +control—the contamination of evil girls—renders +them vicious; if, on the contrary, they are +kept at home, the folly of their mothers makes +them fools—a pretty choice!" Mr. Stokes +turned down a lane that ran parallel with the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page69" id="page69"></a>[pg 69]</span> +garden where the children went to school; and +hearing Helen's voice in loud dispute, he paused +for a moment to ascertain the cause.</p> + +<p>"I tell you," said the little maid, "Rose may +be what she likes, but I'll be queen."</p> + +<p>"How unfit," quoth the curate to himself—"how +utterly unfit is Mrs. Myles to manage +Helen!" The good man paused again; and +to the no small confusion of the little group, +who had been making holiday under the shadow +of a spreading apple-tree, suddenly entered +amongst them, and read her a lecture, gently, +kindly, and judicious. Having thus performed +what he conceived his duty, he walked on; but +his progress was arrested by a little hand being +thrust into his; and when he looked down, the +beaming, innocent face of Rose Dillon was up-turned towards him.</p> + +<p>"Do please, sir," she said, "let Helen Marsh +be queen of the game; if she is not, she won't +play with a bit of heart—she won't, indeed, sir. +She will play to be sure, but not with any heart."</p> + +<p>"I cannot unsay what I have said, little +Rose," he answered; "I cannot; it is better +for her to play without heart, as you call it, +than to have that heart too highly uplifted by play."</p> + +<p>Happy would it have been for Helen Marsh +if she had always had a judicious friend to correct +her dangerous ambition. The good curate +admonished the one, and brought forward the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page70" id="page70"></a>[pg 70]</span> +other, of the cousins; but what availed his occasional +admonishing when counteracted by the weak flattery of Mrs. Myles?</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> + + +<p>Years passed; the lovely children, who tripped +hand in hand down the street of Abbeyweld, +grew into ripe girlhood, and walked arm in +arm—the pride and admiration of every villager. +The curate became at last rector, and +Mrs. Myles's absurdities increased with her +years. The perfect beauty of the cousins, both +of face and form, rendered them celebrated far +and near. Each had a separate character as +from the first; and yet—but that Rose Dillon +was a little shorter than her cousin Helen +Marsh, and that the <i>expression</i> of her eyes was +so different that it was almost impossible to believe +they were the same shape and colour, the +cousins might have been mistaken for each +other—I say <i>might</i>, because it is rather remarkable +that they never were. Helen's fine dark +eyes had a lofty and forbidding aspect, while +Rose had not the power, if indeed she ever entertained +the will, of looking either the one or +the other. I thought Rose the most graceful of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page71" id="page71"></a>[pg 71]</span> +the two in her carriage, but there could be no +doubt as to Helen's being the most dignified; +both girls were almost rustic in their manners, +but rusticity and vulgarity are very distinct in +their feelings and attributes. They <i>could not</i> +do or say aught that was vulgar or at variance +with the kindnesses of life—those tender nothings +which make up so large a something in +the account of every day's existence. Similar, +withal, as the cousins were in appearance, they +grew up as dissimilar in feelings and opinions +as it is possible to conceive, and yet loving each +other dearly. Still Helen never for a moment +fancied that any one in the village of Abbeyweld +could compete with her in any way. She had +never questioned herself as to this being the +case, but the idea had been nourished since her +earliest infancy—had never been disputed, except +perhaps when latterly a town belle, or even +a more conceited specimen, a country belle, visited +in the neighbourhood; but popular voice +(and there <i>is</i> a popular voice, be it loud or gentle, +everywhere) soon discovered that blonde, +and feathers, and flowers, had a good deal to do +with this disturbing of popular opinion; and +after a few days, the good people invariably +returned to their allegiance. "Ah! ah!" old +Mrs. Myles would observe on these occasions—Ah! +ah!"—I told you they'd soon find the +fair lady was shaded by her fine laces. I daresay +now she's on the look-out for a good match, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page72" id="page72"></a>[pg 72]</span> +poor thing! Not that Helen is handsome—don't +look in the glass, Helen, child! My +grandmother always said that Old Nick stood +behind every young lady's shoulder when she +looked in the glass, with a rouge-pot all ready to +make her look handsomer in her own eyes than +she really was; which shows how wicked it is +to look much in a glass. Only a little sometimes, +Nell, darling—we'll forgive her for looking +<i>a little</i>; but certainly when I looked at the +<i>new</i> beauty in church the other day, and then +looked, I know where, I thought—but no matter, +Helen, no matter—I don't want to make either of my girls <i>vain</i>."</p> + +<p>Why Mrs. Myles so decidedly preferred Helen +to Rose, appeared a mystery to all who did not +know the secret sympathy, the silent unsatisfied +ambition, that lurked in the bosoms of both the +old and the young. Mrs. Myles had lived for a +long time upon the reputation of her own beauty; +and whenever she needed <i>sympathy</i> (a food +which the weak-minded devour rapidly,) she lamented +to one or two intimates, while indulging +in the luxury of <i>tea</i>, that she was an ill-used +person, simply because she had not been a baronet's +lady at the very least. Helen's ambition +echoed that of her grandmother; it was not the +longing of a village lass for a new bonnet or a +brilliant dress—it was an ambition of sufficient +strength to have sprung up in a castle. She +resolved to be something beyond what she was; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page73" id="page73"></a>[pg 73]</span> +and there are very few who have strength to +give birth to, and cherish up a resolve, who will +not achieve a purpose, be it for good or bad, for +weal or for wo. Rose was altogether and perfectly +simple and single-hearted: conscious that +she was an orphan, dependent upon her grandmother's +slender annuity for support, and that +Helen's father could not provide both for his +daughter and his niece, her life was one of patient +industry and unregretted privation. Before +she was fifteen, she had persuaded her +grandmother to part with her serving maiden, +and with very little assistance from Helen, she +performed the labours of their cottage, aided +twice a-week by an elderly woman, who often +declared that such another girl as Rose Dillon +was not to be found in the country. Both were +now verging on seventeen, and Helen received +the addresses of a young farmer in the neighbourhood—a +youth of excellent yeoman family, +and of superior education and manners.</p> + +<p>The cousins walked out one evening together, +and Rose turned into the lane where they used frequently to meet Edward Lynne.</p> + +<p>"No, Rose," said Helen, "not there; I am +not in a humour to meet Edward to-night."</p> + +<p>"But you said you would," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Well, do not look so solemn about it. I +daresay I did—but lover's promises—if indeed +we are lovers. Do you know, Rose, I should +be very much obliged to you to take Edward +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page74" id="page74"></a>[pg 74]</span> +off my hands—he is just the husband for you, so rustic and quiet."</p> + +<p>"Edward to be taken off your hands, Helen!—Edward +Lynne!—the protector of our childhood—the +pride of the village—the very companion +of Mr. Stokes—why, he dined with him +last Sunday! Edward Lynne! You jest, cousin! +and"— Rose Dillon paused suddenly, for +she was going to add, "You ought not to jest +with me." She checked herself in time; stooped +down to gather some flowers to hide her agitation; +felt her cheeks flush, her heart beat, her +head swim, and then a chill creep through her +frame. Helen had unconsciously awoke the +hope which Rose had never dared to confess +unto herself. The waking was ecstatic; but +she knew the depth of Edward's love for Helen. +She had been his confidant—she believed it was +a jest—how could her cousin do otherwise than +love Edward Lynne? And with this belief, she +recovered the self-possession which the necessity +for subduing her feelings had taught her even at that early age.</p> + +<p>"And Rose," said Helen, in a quiet voice, +"did you really think I ever intended to marry Edward Lynne?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, cousin. Why, you love him, do +you not! Besides, he is rich—very rich in comparison +to you—very, very rich. And if he +were not—oh, Helen!—is he not in himself—but +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page75" id="page75"></a>[pg 75]</span> +I need not reason—you are in your usual +high spirits, and say what you do not mean."</p> + +<p>"I do not, Rose, now, at all events. Last +evening, Edward was so earnest, so affectionate, +so very earnest, it is pleasant to have a true and +faithful lover; but I should not quite like to +break his heart—it would not be friendly, knowing +him so long; for indeed," she added, gaily, +"though I don't like Edward Lynne well enough +to marry him, I like him too well to break his heart in downright earnest."</p> + +<p>There are women cold and coquettish by nature. +The disposition flourishes best in courtly +scenes, but it will grow anywhere, ay, and +flourish anywhere. It unfortunately requires +but little culture; still Helen was in her novitiate. +If she had not been so, she would not +have cared whether Edward broke his heart or not.</p> + +<p>"But Helen," stammered Rose, "surely—you—you have been very wrong."</p> + +<p>"I know it—I know—there, don't you <i>hear +me</i> say I know it, and yet your lecturing face is +as long as ever. Surely," she continued pettishly, +"I confess my crime; and even Mr. Stokes +says, when confessed it is amended."</p> + +<p>"Helen!" exclaimed Rose suddenly; "Helen!—if +what you have now said is really true, +you have only told me half the truth. Helen +Marsh, you have seen some one you like better than Edward Lynne."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page76" id="page76"></a>[pg 76]</span> + +<p>"No!" was Helen's prompt reply, for she +would not condescend to a falsehood—her own +pride was a sufficient barrier against that. "No, +Rose, I have not seen any one I like better than Edward. But, Rose"—She buried her +face in her hands, and as suddenly withdrew +them, and shaking back her luxuriant ringlets, +while a bright triumphant colour mounted to +her cheeks, added—"There is no reason <i>why</i> +I should be ashamed. I saw, last week, at +Mrs. Howard's, one whom I would rather marry."</p> + +<p>"I always thought," murmured Rose, weeping +in the fulness of her generous nature, as the +idea of Edward's future misery came upon her—"I +always thought no good would come of +your visiting a lady so much above us." It +would be impossible to describe the contemptuous +expression of Helen's finely moulded features, +while she repeated, as if to herself, "Above +<i>us</i>!—above <i>me</i>!" And then she added aloud, +and with what seemed to Rose a forced expression +of joy, "But good <i>will</i> come of it, Rose—good +will surely come of it; never fear but it +will—it <i>must</i>. And when I am a great lady, +Rosey, who but you, sweet cousin, will be next my heart?"</p> + +<p>"I am satisfied to be <i>near</i>, even without being +<i>next</i> it, Helen," she replied mournfully; "but +why have you kept this matter concealed from me so long? Why have you"—</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77" id="page77"></a>[pg 77]</span> + +<p>"Found!" interrupted a well-known voice; +and at the same moment Edward Lynne shook +a shower of perfumed hawthorn blossoms from +the scattered hedge which he struggled through; +and repeating "Found!" in his full echoing +voice, stood panting before the startled girls. +"I have had such a hunt!" he exclaimed joyfully—"such a hunt for you, Helen! I have +been over Woodland brook, and up as far as +Fairmill, where you said you would be—oh, +you truant! And I doubt if I should have +caught you at last, but for poor Dash"—and +the sagacious dog sprung about, as if conscious +that he deserved a large portion of the praise. +Rose was astonished at the perfect self-possession +with which, after the first flush of surprise, +Helen received her lover. Nor was poor Rose +unconscious that she herself occupied no portion +of his attention beyond the glance of recognition +which he cast while throwing himself on the sward at Helen's feet.</p> + +<p>"We must go home," said the triumphant +beauty, after hearing a few of those half-whispered +nothings which are considered of such +importance in a lover's calendar; "the dew is falling, and I may catch cold."</p> + +<p>"The dew falling!" repeated Edward.—"Why, +look, the sky is still golden from the +sun's rays; do not—do not, dearest Helen, go +home yet. Besides," he added, "your grandmother has plenty of employment; there is +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78" id="page78"></a>[pg 78]</span> +Mrs. Howard's companion, and one or two +strangers from the hall, at your cottage—so she is not at all lonesome."</p> + +<p>"Who did you say?" inquired Helen, eagerly, +now really losing her self-command.</p> + +<p>"Oh, some of Mrs. Howard's fine friends. I +never," he continued, "see those sort of people +in an humble village, without thinking of the +story of the agitation of all the little hedgerow +birds, when they first saw a paroquet amongst +them, and began longing for his gay feathers. +Do not go, dear Helen—they will soon be gone; +and I do so want you to walk as far as Fairmill +Lawn. I have planted with my own hands this +morning the silver firs you said you admired, +just where the bank juts over the stream. Do come."</p> + +<p>"Rose will go, and tell me all about it, but <i>I</i> +must get home. Granny cannot do without +me; besides, Mrs. Howard is so kind to me, +that I cannot suffer <i>her</i> friends to be neglected. +Nay, Edward, you may look as you please, but +I certainly <i>shall</i> go." Edward Lynne remonstrated, +implored, and, finally, flew into a passion. +At any other time Helen's proud spirit +would have risen so as to meet this outburst of +temper with one to the full as violent; but the +knowledge of what had grown to maturity in +her own mind, and the presence of Rose, restrained +her, and she continued to walk home without reply.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page79" id="page79"></a>[pg 79]</span> + +<p>"And I shall go also," he said, bitterly, "but +not with you." Even at that moment Helen Marsh +exulted in her own mind to find his words and his +steps at variance; he was still by her side. The +most perilous of all triumphs is the knowledge of +possessing power over the affections of our fellow +creatures; it is so especially intoxicating +to women as to be greatly dangerous, and those +who do not abuse such power deserve much +praise. Rose walked timidly behind them, +wondering how Helen could have imagined +any alliance in the world more brilliant—but +no, that was not the idea—any alliance in the +world so <i>happy</i> as that with Edward Lynne +must be. When they reached the commencement +of the village, Edward said, for the fifth +or sixth time, "Then you will go, Helen?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"Very well, Helen. Good evening."</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Edward," was the cool reply. +Not one word of adieu did he bestow on +Rose as he dashed into another path; while his +dog stood for a moment, uncertain as to whether +his master would return or not, and then rapidly followed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Helen! what have you done?" murmured +Rose. Helen replied by one of those low +murmuring laughs which sound like the very +melody of love; and the two girls, in a few +moments more, were in their own cottage, +where Rose saw that evening, for the first time, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page80" id="page80"></a>[pg 80]</span> +the gentleman whom Helen had declared she +did not prefer to Edward, though she would rather marry him.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> + + +<p>I think I have said before that the most trying +and dangerous position a young woman +can occupy, is that where her station is not defined—where +she considers herself above the +industrious classes by whom she is surrounded—and +where those with whom her tastes and +habits assimilate, consider her greatly beneath +them. Superficial observers (and the great +mass of human beings are nothing more) invariably +look for happiness in the class one or +two degrees above their own. They would +consider themselves absurd if they <i>at once</i> set +their minds upon being dukes and princes; they +only want to be a <i>little</i> bit higher, only the +<i>smallest bit</i>, and never for a moment look to +what they call "<i>beneath</i> them" for happiness. +This was particularly the case with these young +girls. Their station was not defined, yet how +different their practice! One was ambitious +of the glittering tinsel of the world—the other, +refined but not ambitious, sought her happiness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page81" id="page81"></a>[pg 81]</span> +in the proper exercise of the affections; neither +could have described her particular feelings, +but an accurate observer could not fail to do so +for them. That night neither girl had courage +to speak to the other on the occurrences of the +past day, and yet each thought of nothing else. +They knelt down, side by side, as they had done +from infancy, repeating the usual prayers as +they had been accustomed to do. Helen's +voice did not falter, but continued its unvaried +tone to the end: Rose (Helen thought) delivered +the petition of "lead us not into temptation" +with deeper feeling than usual; and instead +of rising when Helen rose, and exchanging +with her the kiss of sisterly affection, Rose buried +her face in her hands; while her cousin, +seated opposite the small glass which stood on +their little dressing-table, commenced curling +her hair, as if that day, which had completed a +revolution in her way of thinking, had been as +smooth as all the other days of her short calendar. +The candle was extinguished, and Helen +slept profoundly. The moon shone in brightly +through the latticed window, whose leaden +cross-bars chequered the sanded floor. Rose +looked earnestly upon the face of the sleeper, +and so bright it was, that she saw, or fancied +she saw, a smile of triumph curling on her lip. +She crept quietly out of bed, and leaned her +throbbing temples against the cool glass. How +deserted the long street of Abbeyweld appeared; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page82" id="page82"></a>[pg 82]</span> +the shadows of the opposite trees and houses +lay prostrate across the road—the aspect of the +village street was lonely, very lonely and sad—there +was no hum from the school—no inquisitive +eyes peeped from the casements—no echoing +steps upon the neatly-gravelled footpath—the +old elm-tree showed like a mighty giant, +standing out against the clear calm sky—and +there was one star, only one, sparkling amid its +branches—a diamond of the heavens, shedding +its brightness on the earth. The stillness was +positively oppressive. Rose felt as if every time +she inhaled the air, she disturbed the death-like +quiet of the scene. A huge shadow passed along +the ledge of the opposite cottage; her nerves +were so unstrung that she started back as it advanced. +It was only their own gentle cat, +whose quick eye recognised its mistress, and +without waiting for invitation, crawled quickly +from its eminence, and came rubbing itself +against the glass, and then moved stealthily +away, intent upon the destruction of some unsuspicious +creature, who, taught by nature, believes that with night comes safety.</p> + +<p>Almost at the end of the street, the darkness +was as it were divided by a ray of light, that +neither flickered nor wavered. What a picture +it brought at once before her!—the pale, lame +grandchild of old Jenny Oram, watching by the +dying bed of the only creature that had ever +loved her—her poor deaf grandmother. And +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page83" id="page83"></a>[pg 83]</span> +the girl's great trouble was, that the old woman +could neither see to read the Word of God herself, +nor hear her when she read it to her; but +the lame girl had no time to waste with grief, +so she plied her needle rapidly through the night-watches, +not daring to shed a tear upon the +work, or damp her needle with a sigh. Rose +was not as sorry for her as she would have been +at any other time, for individual sorrow has few +sympathies; but the more she thought of the +lonely lame girl, the less became her own trouble, +and she might have gone to bed with the +consciousness which, strange to say, brings consolation, +that there was one very near more +wretched than herself, had she not seen the form +of Edward Lynne glide like a spectre from beneath +the old elm-tree, and stand before the +window. Rose retreated, but still observed him; +the moon was shining on the window, so he +must have seen the form, without, perhaps, being +able to distinguish whose it was. Rose watched +him until his silent death-like presence oppressed +her heart and brain, and she closed her +eyes to shut out what had become too painful +to look upon. When she looked again, all was +sleeping in the moonlight as before; but he was +gone. At the same moment Helen turned restlessly +on her pillow, and sobbed and muttered +to herself. Rose felt that pillow wet with tears. +"Helen!" she exclaimed; "Helen, dear +Helen! awake! Awake, Helen!" Her cousin, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page84" id="page84"></a>[pg 84]</span> +at length aroused, flung her arms around her +neck; and the proud lip which she had left +curled with the consciousness of beauty and +power, quivered and paled, while she sank awake and weeping on Rose's bosom.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + + +<p>Never had the bells of Abbeyweld, within the +memory of living man—within the memory of +old Mrs. Myles herself, and <i>she</i> was the oldest +living woman in the parish—rung so merry a +peal as on the morning that Helen Marsh was +married to the handsome and Honourable Mr. +Ivers. He was young as well as handsome—honourable both by name and nature—rich in +possession and expectancy. On his part it was +purely and entirely what is called a "love +match"—one of the strangest of all strange +things perpetrated by a young man of rank and +fashion. His wealth and position in society enabled +him to select for himself; and he did so, +of course, to the disappointment of as many, +or perhaps a greater number of mothers than +daughters, inasmuch as it is the former whose +speculations are the deepest laid and most dangerous in arts matrimonial.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page85" id="page85"></a>[pg 85]</span> + +<p>Every body was astonished. Mrs. Howard—Helen's "kind friend"—Mrs. Howard, little +short of distracted for three weeks at the very +least, did nothing but exclaim, "Who would +have thought it!" "Who, indeed!" was the +reply, in various tones of sympathy, envy, and +surprise. Poor Mrs. Howard, to the day of +her death, never suffered another portionless +beauty to enter her doors while even the shadow +of an eldest son rested on its threshold. Mrs. +Myles was of course in an ecstacy of delight; +her prophecy was fulfilled. Helen, <i>her</i> Helen, +was the honourable wife of a doubly honourable +man. What triumphant glances did she +cast over the railings of the communion-table +at Mr. Stokes—with what an air she marched +down the aisle—how patronising and condescending was her manner to those neighbours +whom she considered her inferiors—how bitterly +did she lament that the Honourable Mr. +Ivers would not have any one to breakfast with +them but Mr. Stokes—and how surpassingly, +though silently, angry was she with Mr. Stokes +for not glorying with her when the bride and +bridegroom drove off in their "own carriage," +leaving her in a state of prideful excitement, +and Rose Dillon in a flood of tears.</p> + +<p>"Well, sir!" exclaimed the old lady—"well, +sir, you see it <i>has</i> turned out exactly as I said +it would; there's station—there's happiness. +Why, sir, if his brother dies without children, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page86" id="page86"></a>[pg 86]</span> +his own valet told me, Mr. Ivers would be a +lord and Helen a lady. Didn't she look beautiful! +Now, please, reverend sir, do speak, didn't she look beautiful?"</p> + +<p>"She did."</p> + +<p>"Ah! it's a great gift that beauty; though," +she added, resorting to the strain of morality +which persons of her character are apt to consider +a salve for sin—"though it's all vanity, all +vanity. 'Flesh is grass'—a beautiful text that +was your reverence preached from last Sunday—'All +flesh is grass.' Ah, well-a-day! so it +is. We ought not to be puffed up or conceited—no, +no. As I said to Mrs. Leicester, 'Don't +be puffed up, my good woman, because your +niece has what folk call a pretty face, nor don't +expect that she's to make a good market of it—it's +but skin deep; remember our good rector's +sermon, 'All flesh is grass.'' Ah, deary me! +people do need such putting in mind; and, if +you believe me, sir, unless indeed it be Rose, +poor child, who never had a bit of love in her +head yet, I'll be bound every girl is looking +above her station—there's a pity, sir. All are +not born with a coach and horses; no, no;" +and so, stimulated a little, perhaps, by a glass +of <i>real</i>, not gooseberry, champagne, poor Mrs. +Myles would have galloped on with a strange +commentary upon her own conduct (of the motives +to which she was perfectly ignorant,) had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page87" id="page87"></a>[pg 87]</span> +not the rector suddenly exclaimed, "Where is Rose?"</p> + +<p>"Crying in her own room, I'll be bound; +I'm sure she is. Why, Rose—and I really +must get your reverence to speak to her, she is +a sad girl—Rose Dillon, I say—so silent and +homely-like—ah, dear! Why, granddaughter—now, +is it not undutiful of her, good sir, when +she knows how much I have suffered parting from my Helen. Rose Dillon!"</p> + +<p>But Rose Dillon was not weeping in her +room, nor did she hear her grandmother's voice +when the carriage, that bore the bride to a new +world, drove off. Rose ran down the garden, +intending to keep the equipage in sight as long +as it could be distinguished from an eminence +that was called the Moat, and which commanded +an extensive view of the high road. There +was a good deal of brushwood creeping up the +elevation, and at one side it was overshadowed +by several tall trees; in itself it was a sweet, +sequestered spot, a silent watching place. She +could hardly hear the carriage wheels, though +she saw it whirled along, just as it passed within +sight of the tall trees. Helen's arm, with its +glittering bracelet, waved an adieu; this little +act of remembrance touched Rose, and, falling +on her knees, she sobbed forth a prayer, earnest +and heartfelt, for her cousin's happiness.</p> + +<p>"God bless you, Rose!" exclaimed the trembling +voice of the discarded lover, who, pale and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page88" id="page88"></a>[pg 88]</span> +wo-worn, had been unintentionally concealed +among the trees—"God bless you, Rose!—that +prayer has done me good. Amen to every word +of it! She is quite, quite gone now—another's +bride—the wife of a gentleman—and so best; +the ambition which fits her for her present station +unfitted her to be my wife. I say this, and +think this—I know it! But though I do know +it, her face—that face I loved from infancy, until +it became a sin for me to love it longer—that +face comes between me and reason, and its +brightness destroys all that reason taught."</p> + +<p>Rose could not trust herself to reply. She +longed to speak to him, but she could not; she +<i>dared</i> not. He continued—"Did she leave no +message, speak no word, say nothing, to be said to me?"</p> + +<p>"She said," replied her cousin, "that she +hoped you would be happy; that you deserved to be so"—</p> + +<p>"Deserved to be so!" he repeated bitterly; +"and that was the reason why <i>she</i> made me +miserable. Oh! the folly, the madness of the +man who trusts to woman's love—to woman's +faith! But the spell <i>once</i> broken, the charm +once dispelled, that is enough!" And yet it +was not enough, for Edward talked on, and +more than once was interrupted by Rose, who, +whenever she could vindicate her cousin, did so +bravely and generously—not in a half-consenting, +frigid manner, but as a true woman does +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page89" id="page89"></a>[pg 89]</span> +when she defends a woman, as, if she be either good or wise, she will always do.</p> + +<p>Rose did not know enough of human nature +to understand that the more Edward complained +of Helen's conduct and desertion, the less he +really felt it; and the generous portion of his +own nature sympathised with the very generosity +which he argued against. He had found +one, who while she listened sweetly and patiently +to his complaints, vindicated, precisely as he +would have desired, the idol of his heart's first +love. What we love appears so entirely our +own, that we question the right of others to +blame it, whatever we may do ourselves. If he +had known the deep, the treasured secret that +poor Rose concealed within the sanctuary of her +bosom, he would have wondered at the unostentatious +generosity of her pure and simple nature.</p> + +<p>"It is evident," said Rose Dillon to herself, +when she bade Edward adieu; "it is quite evident +he never will or can love another. Such +affection is everlasting." How blind she was! +"Poor fellow! he will either die in the flower +of his age of a broken heart, or drag on a miserable +existence! And if he does," questioned +the maiden, "and if he does, <i>what is that to +me</i>?" She did not, for a moment or two, trust +herself to frame an answer, though the tell-tale +blood, first mounting to and then receding +from her cheek, replied; but then she began to +calculate how long she had known Edward, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page90" id="page90"></a>[pg 90]</span> +and thought how very natural it was she should +feel interested, deeply interested, in him. He +had no sister; why should she not be to him a +sister? Ah, Rose, Rose! that sisterly reasoning +is of all others the most perilous.</p> + +<p>Time passed on. The bride wrote a letter, +which, in its tone and character, sounded pretty +much like a long trumpet-note of exultation. +Mrs. Myles declared it to be a dear letter, a +charming letter, a most lady-like letter, and yet +evidently she was not satisfied therewith. She +read scraps of it to all the neighbours, and +vaunted Mrs. Ivers, the Honourable Mrs. Ivers, +up to the skies. Like all persons whose dignity +and station are not the result of inheritance, +in the next epistle she was even more anxious +to impress her humble relatives with an idea of +her consequence. Mingled with a few epithets +of love, were a great many eulogiums on her +new station. She was too honest to regret, even +in seeming, the rural delights of the country, +(for Helen could not stoop to deceit,) but she +gave a list of titled visitors, and said she would +write more at length, were it not that every +spare moment was spent in qualifying herself +to fill her station so as to do credit to her husband." +This old Mrs. Myles could not understand; +she considered Helen fit to be a queen, and said so.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page91" id="page91"></a>[pg 91]</span> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> + + +<p>For more than two months, Rose and Edward +did not meet again; for more than four +after that, he never entered the cottage which +had contained what he held most dear on earth; +but one evening he called with Mr. Stokes. The +good rector might have had his own reasons for +bringing the young man to the cottage; but if +he had he kept them to himself, the best way of rendering them effective.</p> + +<p>After that, Edward often came, sometimes +with a book from the rectory, sometimes with a +newspaper for Mrs. Myles, sometimes to know +if he could do anything for the old lady in the +next town, where he was going, sometimes for +one thing, sometimes for another, but always +with some excuse, which Rose was happy to +accept as the true one; satisfied that she could +see him, hear him, know that he was there.</p> + +<p>It so chanced that, calling one evening (evening +calls are suspicious where young people are +concerned,) Edward was told that Mrs. Myles +had gone over to Lothery, the next post town, +and that Miss Rose was out. The servant +(ever since Helen's marriage, Mrs. Myles had +thought it due to her dignity to employ such a +person) said this with an air of mystery, and +Edward inquired which way Miss Rose had walked. Indeed, she did not know.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page92" id="page92"></a>[pg 92]</span> + +<p>Edward therefore trusted to chance, and he +had not gone very far down a lane leading to +the common of Abbeyweld, when he saw her +seated under a tree (where heroines are surely +found at some period or other of their life's +eventful history) reading a letter. Of course he +interrupted her, and then apologised.</p> + +<p>"The letter," said Rose, frankly, "is from poor Helen."</p> + +<p>"Why do you call her poor?" he inquired.</p> + +<p>"Because she is very ill; and I am going to her to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"Ill!—to-morrow!—so suddenly—so soon!" stammered Edward.</p> + +<p>Rose turned homewards with an air of cold +constraint. She could not attribute Edward's +agitation to any other cause than his anxiety on +Helen's account, and the conviction gave her intense pain.</p> + +<p>"Stay, Rose," he said. Rose walked steadily +forward. "There is," he continued bitterly, +"a curse, a spell upon this place. Do you not +remember that it was here—<i>here</i>, within five +yards of where we stand—that <i>she</i> first—. +But where's the use of thinking of <i>that</i>, or any +thing else," he exclaimed with a sudden burst +of passion, "where a woman is concerned? +They are all, <i>all</i> alike, and I am a double fool! +But go, Rose, go—enjoy her splendour, and lie +in wait, as she did, for some rich idiot!"</p> + +<p>It was now Rose's turn to interrupt. Turning +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page93" id="page93"></a>[pg 93]</span> +upon Edward, with an expression of deeply +insulted feeling, "Sir," she said; and before +she proceeded the cold monosyllable had entered +his heart; "Sir, my cousin Helen did <i>not</i> lie +in wait; a woman's beauty may be called a +snare, if you please, but it is not one of her own +making; she was sought and won, and not by +an <i>idiot</i>; and it is ungenerous in you to speak +thus now, when time, and her being another's wife"—</p> + +<p>Poor Rose had entered on perilous ground, +and she felt it, and the feeling prevented her proceeding. +She trembled violently; and if Edward +could have seen her blanched cheek and +quivering lip, he would have checked his impetuosity, +and bitterly reproached himself for +the rash words he had uttered. If he could +but have known how devoutly the poor fond +beating heart loved him at that moment, he +would, rustic though he was, have fallen at her +feet, and entreated her forgiveness. Doubtless +it was better as it was, for if men could see into +women's hearts, I very much fear their reliance +on their own power would increase, and <i>that</i> +would be neither pleasant nor profitable to themselves +or others; the very existence of love often +depends on its uncertainty. Some evil star at +that moment shed its influence over them, for +Edward Lynne, catching at Rose's words, answered,</p> + +<p>"You need not, I assure you, entertain your +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page94" id="page94"></a>[pg 94]</span> +cousin with an account of how I grieve; and +remember, believe me, I take good care to prevent +any woman's caprice from having power over me a second time."</p> + +<p>"You do quite right," replied Rose—"quite +right." They walked on together until they +arrived within sight of the cottage door, but neither spoke.</p> + +<p>"I have a great deal to do—much to prepare. +I must wish you good-night. Good-bye, and a kinder—temper." She faltered.</p> + +<p>"Going," said Edward—"going away in +such haste; and to part thus. There must be +some mistake. I have watched you narrowly, +suspiciously, as men do who have been once +deceived; and I have seen no trace of unwomanly ambition in you; I little thought +you would, on the slightest hint, so willingly +embrace the first opportunity of entering into +the sphere I thought you dreaded—as I do."</p> + +<p>"I told you Helen was ill."</p> + +<p>"A megrim—a whim—a"—</p> + +<p>"You do her wrong; she has been a mother, and her child is dead."</p> + +<p>"A blow to her ambition," said Edward, so +coldly that Rose (such is human nature) breathed +more freely. Was it possible, then—<i>could</i> +it be possible—that his feelings had been excited +not by the remembrance of Helen, but the +thought of her own departure? Yet still her +simple sense of justice urged her to say, "Again +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page95" id="page95"></a>[pg 95]</span> +you do her wrong; Helen has a great deal of feeling."</p> + +<p>"For herself," he answered tersely, "I dare say she has."</p> + +<p>"I did not think you could be so unjust and +ungenerous," replied Rose; "but you are out +of sorts to-night, and will be sorry before morning. +You were always hasty, Edward. Good-night—good-bye."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, then, Rose—good-bye;" and +without taking her hand, without one kind +word, one sign of love, Edward Lynne rushed +through the garden gate and disappeared.</p> + +<p>Rose entered the little parlour, which of late +had been well cared for. The old sofa, though +as stiff and hard as ever, triumphed in green +and yellow; and two cushions, with large yellow +tassels, graced the ends, and a huge square +ottoman, which every country visitor invariably +tumbled over, stood exactly in front of the old +seat. Upon this Rose flung herself, and, covering +her face with her hands, bent down her +head upon the stately seat. Her sobs were not +loud but deep; and as she was dealing with +feelings, and not with time, she had no idea +how long she had remained in that state, until +aroused by a voice, whose every tone sent the +blood throbbing and tingling through her veins.</p> + +<p>"Rose—dear Rose!"</p> + +<p>Blushing—trembling—ashamed of an emotion +she had not the power to control—Rose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96" id="page96"></a>[pg 96]</span> +could not move, did not at all events, until Edward +was on his knees beside her—until he had +poured forth his affection—had assured her how +completely she had possessed herself of his respect +and admiration; that his feelings towards +her not being of that passionate nature which +distracted him with love for Helen, he had not +truly felt her value until the idea of losing her +for ever came upon him; that then he indeed +felt as though all hope of happiness was to be +taken away for ever—felt that he should lose a +friend, one on whose principles and truth he +could rely—felt that in <i>her</i> his all was concentrated. +It is only those who, having loved long +and hopelessly for years, find that love returned, +and at the very moment when they were +completely bowed down by the weight of disappointment, +can understand what Rose experienced. +She did not violate any of the laws of +maiden modesty, because she was pure in heart +and single of purpose; but she was too truthful +to withhold the confession of her love, and +too sincere to conceal her happiness.</p> + +<p>"I will give you a promise; but receive none," +said the generous lover. "I should be indeed +miserable if I, for a moment, fancied you were +controlled only by a <i>promise. I rely upon you +solely and entirely</i>; no matter with what temptations +you may be surrounded. If Helen is so +much admired, you must be admired also; but +I do not fear you will forget me; for now my +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page97" id="page97"></a>[pg 97]</span> +only astonishment is how I could have preferred +the spirit and power of the one to the tender +and womanly grace of the other." In the +midst of these effusions, so dear to lovers' hearts, +Mrs. Myles entered. Many and many a time +had she prayed that Edward Lynne might transfer +his affections to Rose Dillon; it would be +such "a capital match for her, poor thing." She +would repeat to herself, "<i>Yes</i>, quite the thing +for <i>her</i>, though, of course, for Helen I could not +hear of it—yet quite the thing of all others for +her." This frame of mind continued until the +invitation arrived, and it was determined that +Rose should visit her cousin. "It is," argued +the good woman in her own way, "it is only +to nurse her strong and well again, I dare say; +but yet, who knows, she may see some one, or +some one may see her? She certainly is a very +pretty, modest-looking girl; and I have heard +say that modest-looking girls are sometimes +greatly admired among the grandees in fashionable +places, because of their rarity. I shall certainly +show the cold shoulder to Edward Lynne +the next time he comes, and give him a hint as +to the expectations I have for Rose. I must +not suffer the poor child to throw herself away—oh +no!—oh no! Edward Lynne is a very +nice young man certainly; and if Rose had not +been going to London"— She opened the +parlour door as she so reasoned; and the peculiar +expression which passed over the countenances +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page98" id="page98"></a>[pg 98]</span> +of both, convinced her that every thing +was proceeding in opposition to her "prudential +motives." Edward frankly expounded all, to +her entire dissatisfaction. "She did not," she +said, "at all approve of engagements; she +would not sanction any engagement except at +the altar; she thought <i>Mr.</i> Lynne (Mr. Lynne! +she had never in her life before called him any +thing but "Ned") she thought he ought to have +spoken to <i>her</i> first as became <i>a gentleman</i>." +And Edward, provoked beyond bearing at what +always upstirs a noble soul—mere worldly-mindedness—replied, +"that he never professed +to be a <i>gentleman</i>; he was, and ever would be, +a farmer, and nothing more; and for all that, +he thought a farmer—an honest, upright, English +farmer—might have as correct ideas as to +right and wrong as any gentleman." At this +Mrs. Myles became very indignant; like the +frog in the fable, she endeavoured to think herself +an ox, and talked and looked magnificence +itself, until at last she felt as if being <i>her</i> grand-children +was enough to entitle Helen and Rose +to sit before a queen. She talked of Edward,—his +occupation, his barns, his cows, horses, +and sheep—until Rose, all gentle as she was, +roused, and said, that for herself she had no +ambition beyond that of being the useful wife of +an honest man; that Edward had honoured +her, and, sorry as she should be to displease the +only parent she had ever known, she had plighted +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page99" id="page99"></a>[pg 99]</span> +her faith in the temple of her own heart to +him—and as long as the plight was of value in +his eyes, it could not be withdrawn. How truly +did Edward Lynne feel that she indeed would +be a crown of glory to his old age, as well as to his manhood's prime!</p> + +<p>The scene—for there are "scenes" wherever +human passion runs wild—ended by Mrs. +Myles working herself into the belief that she +was the most ill-used old lady in the British dominions. +She commanded Edward from her +presence; and though Rose wept and knelt at +her feet, she refused to be pacified, declaring +that if it had not been for the rheumatism, she +would herself act as nurse to Helen, and not +suffer so low-minded a creature as Rose Dillon +to look on the splendour of her cousin's house. +What she thought of that splendour, an extract +from a letter—not the first or second—which +replied to those she had received from Edward, will best tell:</p> + +<p>"I have seen a great deal to astonish—every +thing seems wonderful in London—only I wish +the people seemed more really happy. I have +been thinking that happiness is not a sudden +thing like joy; it is more quiet—<i>it takes time to +be happy</i>—and the people here have no time. +In the midst of the gayest party, they do not +suffer themselves to enjoy it, but keep hurrying +on to the next. I remember when we were +children, Helen and I, we have sat an hour +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>[pg 100]</span> +over a bunch of wildflowers, yet not discovered +half their beauties; surely excitement and +happiness are not twin-born. Since Helen has +been better, numbers of ladies have called, so +beautifully dressed, and so gentle-mannered and +reserved, one so very like the other, that they +might have all been brought up at the same +school. They never appear to confide in each +other, but make a talk, after their own calm fashion, +about small things. Still, when they talk, +<i>they do not say much</i>, considering how highly +bred they are. I have listened throughout an +entire morning (a fashionable morning, Edward, +does not begin until three o'clock in the +afternoon), and really could not remember a +single observation made by a drawing-room full +of ladies. <i>We</i> could not talk ten minutes with +dear Mr. Stokes, without hearing something +that we could not help remembering all the days +of our lives. It is wonderful how superior Helen +is (I am not afraid to tell you so) to every +one around her; there is a natural loftiness of +mind and manner visible in her every movement, +that carries off her want of those pretty +accomplishments which the ladies value so +highly. And then she is <i>so</i> beautiful, and her +husband is so proud of having the handsomest +woman in London for his wife; and one artist +begs to model her ear, another her hand—you +cannot think how fair and soft and 'do-nothing' +it looks,—and as to her portraits, they are in all +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>[pg 101]</span> +those pretty painted books which Mr. Stokes +calls 'vanities.' There is a queer, quirky, little +old gentleman who visits here, who said that +Helen owed her great success in society to her +'tact.' Oh! Edward, she owes her sorrow to +her <i>ambition</i>. Would you believe it possible +that she, the beauty of Abbeyweld, who for so +long a time seemed to us satisfied with that distinction, +is not satisfied now. Why, there is +not such an establishment, no, not at Mrs. Howard's, +as that which she commands. Oh! Edward, +to have once loved Helen, is to be interested +for her always; there is something great +in her very faults; there is nothing poor or low +about her. That little cranky old gentleman +said the other evening while looking at her, +'Miss Rose, a woman, to be happy, should +either have no ambition, or an ambition beyond +this world.' Do ask Dr. Stokes if that is true."</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3> + + +<p>After she had been a little longer in town, +Rose saw more clearly the workings of that +ambition which had undermined her cousin's +happiness. She saw where the canker ate and +withered, but she did not know how it could be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>[pg 102]</span> +eradicated. Something which women understand, +prevented her laying open the secrets +of the house to Edward; and yet she desired +counsel. Possessing much observation as to +the workings of the human heart, she had but +little knowledge as to how those feelings might +be moulded for the best; and she naturally +turned for advice, and with the faith of a Christian +spirit, to the pastor who had instructed her +youth. He had loved them both, and she longed +for his counsel, in the—alas! vain—hope +that she, a right-minded but simple girl—simple +as regards the ambition of life's drama—might +be able to turn her cousin from the unsatisfied, +unsatisfying longings after place and station. +The difference in their opinions was simply this—Rose +thought that Helen possessed everything +that Helen could desire, while Helen thought that Helen wanted all things.</p> + +<p>It was morning—not the morning that Rose +had described to her lover, but not more than +seven o'clock—when Rose, who had been up +late the previous night, was awoke by her cousin's +maid. On entering Helen's dressing-room +she found her already dressed, but so pale and +distressed in her appearance, that she could +hardly recognise the brilliant lawgiver of the +evening's festivities in the pale, languid, feverish +beauty that was seated at her desk.</p> + +<p>"Dear Helen, you are weary; ill, perhaps," +exclaimed her gentle cousin. "You have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>[pg 103]</span> +entered too soon into gay society, and you suffer +for the public restraint in private."</p> + +<p>Her cousin looked steadily in her face, and +then smiled one of those bitter disdainful smiles +which it is always painful to see upon a woman's lip.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Rose," she said; "sit down, and +copy this letter. I have been writing all night, +and yet cannot get a sufficient number finished in time, without your assistance."</p> + +<p>Rose did as she was desired, and, to her astonishment, +found that the letters were to the +inhabitants of a borough, which Mr. Ivers had +expressed his desire to represent. Rose wrote +and wrote; but the longest task must have a +termination. About one, the gentleman himself +came into the room, and, as Rose thought, +somewhat indifferently, expressed his surprise, +that what he came to commence, was already +finished. Still he chid his fair wife for an exertion +which he feared might injure her health, +and evinced the strongest desire to succeed in +rescuing the people of L—— from the power +of a party to which he was opposed; hinting, +at the same time, that the contest would drain +his purse and many of his resources.</p> + +<p>"And let it," exclaimed Helen, when he left +the room, "let it. I care not for <i>that</i>, but I +will overturn every thing that interposes between +me and the desire I have to humble the wife of +the present representative. Look, I would hold +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span> +this hand in the fire, ay, and suffer it to smoulder +into ashes, to punish the woman who called +me a proud <i>parvenue</i>! She did so before I +had been a week in London. Her cold calm +face has been a curse to me ever since. She +has stood, the destroying angel, at the gate of +my paradise, poisoning every enjoyment. Let +me but humble <i>her</i>," she continued, rising +proudly from the sofa upon which she had been +resting; "let me but humble <i>her</i>, and I shall +feel a triumphant woman! For that I have +watched and waited; <i>anxiety for that caused +me the loss of my child</i>; but if Ivers succeeds, I shall be repaid."</p> + +<p>Rose shuddered. Was it really true, that +having achieved the wealth, the distinction she +panted for, she was still anxious to mount higher? +Was it possible that wealth, station, general +admiration, and the devoted affection of a +tender husband did not satisfy the humbly-born +beauty of an obscure English village? Again +Helen spoke; she told how she had at last succeeded +in rousing her husband to exertion—how, +with an art worthy a better cause, she had persuaded +him that his country demanded his assistance—how he had been led almost to believe +that the safety of England was in the hands of +the freeholders of L——; and then she pictured +her own triumph, as the wife of the successful +candidate, over the woman who had called her a <i>parvenue</i>. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>[pg 105]</span> +"And, after all," murmured poor Rose, "and +after all, dear Helen, you are really unhappy."</p> + +<p>"Miserable!" was the reply—"no creature +was ever so perfectly miserable as I am! The +one drop of poison has poisoned the whole cup. +What to me was all this grandeur, when I felt +that <i>that</i> woman looked down upon me, and induced +others to do the same; that though I was +with them, I was not of them; and all through +her means. Ivers could not understand my +feeling; and, besides, I dare not let him know +what had been said by one of his own clique, +lest <i>he should become inoculated by the same feeling</i>."</p> + +<p>"Another fruit," thought Rose Dillon, "of +the evil which attends unequal marriages."</p> + +<p>"But <i>my</i> triumph will come!" she repeated; +"Ivers must carry all before him; and <i>who knows what may follow</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Still unsatisfied!" thought Rose, as she +wandered through the splendid rooms and inhaled +the perfume of the most expensive exotics, +and gazed upon beautiful pictures, and listened +to the roll of carriages, and heard the +kind fond voice of Helen's devoted husband +urging the physician, who made his daily calls, +to pay his wife the greatest attention. "Still +unsatisfied!" she repeated; and then she +thought of one of Edward's homely but wise +proverbs—"All is not gold that glitters;" and +she thought how quite as beautiful, and more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id="page106"></a>[pg 106]</span> +varied by the rich variety of nature, was the +prospect from the parlour-window of the farm-house, +that was to be her own. "And woodbine, +roses, and mignonette breathe as sweet +odours as exotics, and belong of right to the +cottages of England. Ah!" continued the +right-minded girl, "better is a little and content +therewith, than all the riches of wealth and art +without it. If her ambition had even a <i>great</i> +object I could forgive her; but all this for the +littleness of society." This train of thought +led her back to the days of their girlhood, and +she remembered how the same desire to outshine +manifested itself in Helen's childhood. +If Mr. Stokes had been there he could have +told her of the pink gingham, with her grandmother's +injudicious remark thereupon—"Be +content with the pink gingham <i>now</i>, Helen—<i>the +time will come when you shall have a better</i>;" +instead of—"Be always content, Helen, with what befits your sphere of life."</p> + +<p>That day was an eventful one to Rose. In +the evening she was seated opposite the window, +observing the lamplighter flying along with his +ladder and his link through the increasing fog, +and wondering why the dinner was delayed so +much beyond the usual hour—when the little +old cranky gentleman, whose keen and clever +observations had given Rose a very good idea +of his <i>head</i>, and a very bad one of his heart, +stood beside her. In a few brief words he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span> +explained, that seeing she was different to London +ladies, he had come to the determination of +making her his wife. He did not seem to apprehend any objection on her part to this +arrangement; but having concluded the business +in as few words as possible, stood, with his +hands behind him, very much as if he expected +the lady he addressed to express her gratitude, +and suffer him to name the day. Firmly and +respectfully Rose declined the honour, declaring +"she had no heart to give," and adding a +few civil words of thanks to the old gentleman, +who would have evinced more sense had he proposed +to adopt, not marry her. Without a reply, +the old gentleman left the room; but presently +her cousin entered, and in terms of bitter +scorn, inquired if she were mad enough to +refuse such an offer—one that would immediately +take her out of her humble sphere, and +place her where she might be happy. Rose +replied, with more than usual firmness, that she +had learned, since she had been with her, the +total insufficiency of rank and power to produce +happiness. "I am convinced," she continued, +"that it is the most likely to dwell where +there are the fewest cares, and that the straining +after distinction is at variance with its existence. +To be useful, and fulfil well the duties +of our native sphere, is the surest way to be +happy. Oh! Helen, you do not know what it +is; you look too much to the future to enjoy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span> +the present; and I have observed it ever since +you threw away the handful of jessamine we +had gathered at the grey fountain of Abbeyweld, +because you could not have moss roses like the squire's daughter."</p> + +<p>"Foolish girl!" she answered, "has not perseverance +in the desire obtained the moss roses?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her cousin, sadly, "but now you +desire exotics. I should despise myself if it +were possible that I could forget the affection +of my heart in what appears to me the unsubstantial +vanities of life. Dear Helen, in sickness +or sorrow let me ever be your friend; but +I must be free to keep on in my own humble sphere."</p> + +<p>It seemed as if poor Rose was doomed to +undergo all trials. Helen was not one to yield +to circumstances; and though her physician +prescribed rest, she lived almost without it, +avoiding repose, laying herself under the most +painful obligations to obtain her end, and enduring +the greatest mental anxiety. Not only +this; she taunted poor Rose with her increased +anxieties, affirming, that if she had not rendered +the old gentleman her foe by the ill-timed +refusal, he would have assisted, not thwarted, +her cherished object; that his influence was +great, and was now exerted against them. "If," +she added, "you had only the common tact of +any other girl, you might have played him a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>[pg 109]</span> +little until the election was over, and then acted as you pleased."</p> + +<p>This seemed very shocking to Rose, and she +would have gone to Abbeyweld immediately, +but that she thought it cruel to leave her cousin +while she felt she was useful to her. "Ah, +Rose!" she said, when poor Rose hinted that +in a short time she must return, "how can you +think of it?—how can you leave me in an <i>enemy's +country</i>? I dare not give even my husband +my entire confidence, for he might fancy +my sensitiveness a low-born feeling. I can +trust you, and none other." Surrounded, according +to the phrase, "with troops of friends," +and yet able to <i>trust</i> "none other" than the +simple companion of her childhood! "And +yet," murmured the thoughtful Rose, "amongst +so many, the blame cannot be all with the +crowd; Helen herself is as incapable of warm, +disinterested friendship as those of whom she complains."</p> + +<p>Rose Dillon's constancy was subjected to a +still greater trial. Amongst the "troops of +friends" who crowded more than ever round +Mr. Ivers while his election was pending, was +a young man as superior to the rest in mind as +in fortune, and Rose Dillon's ready appreciation +of the good and beautiful led her to respect and admire him.</p> + +<p>"Is it true, Miss Dillon," he said to her one +morning, after a lagging conversation of some +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>[pg 110]</span> +twenty minutes' duration—"is it true, Miss +Dillon, that you have discarded altogether the +attentions of Mr. ——?" and he named the +old gentleman whose offer had been so painful +to Rose, and who was now made painfully +aware that the subject had been publicly talked +of. This confused her. "Nay," he continued, +"I think you ought to be very proud of the +fact, for he is worth two hundred thousand pounds."</p> + +<p>"If he were worth ten hundred thousand, it +would make no difference to me," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"Then, you admit the fact."</p> + +<p>Rose could not tell a falsehood, though she +confessed her pain that it should be known. +"I intend," she added, "to remain in my own +quiet sphere of life; I am suited for no other."</p> + +<p>The gentleman made no direct reply, but +from that hour he observed Rose narrowly. +The day of the election came, with its bribery +and its bustle. Suffice it, that the Honourable +Mr. Ivers was declared duly elected—that the +splendour of the late member's wife's entertainments +and beauty, were perfectly eclipsed by +the entertainments and beauty of the wife of +the successful candidate—that every house, <i>except</i> +one, in the town was splendidly illuminated—and +that the people broke every pane of +glass in the windows of that house, to prove +their attachment to the great principle of freedom +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>[pg 111]</span> +of election. "God bless you, cousin!" +said Rose; "God bless you—your object is +attained. I hope you will sleep well to-night."</p> + +<p>"Sleep!" she exclaimed; "how can I sleep? +Did you not hear the wife of a mere city baronet +inquire if late hours did not injure a country +constitution; and see the air with which she said it?"</p> + +<p>"And why did you not answer that a country +constitution gave you strength to sustain +them? In the name of all that is right, dearest +Helen, why do you not assert your dignity as a +woman, instead of standing upon your rank? +Why not, as a woman, boldly and bravely revert +to your former position, and at the same +time prove your determination to support your +present? You were as far from shame as Helen +Marsh of Abbeyweld, as you are as the wife of +an honourable member. Be yourself. Be +simply, firmly yourself, my own Helen, and +you will at once, from being the scorned, become the scorner."</p> + +<p>"This from you, who love a lowly state?"</p> + +<p>"I love my own birthright, lowly though it +be. No one will attempt to pull me down. I +shall have no heartaches—suffer no affronts?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Helen, "if I had but been born to what I possess."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stokes said if you had been born an +honourable, you would have grasped at a coronet."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>[pg 112]</span> + +<p>"And I <i>may</i> have it yet," replied the discontented +beauty, with a weary smile; "I <i>may</i> +have it yet; my husband's brother is still childless. +If I could be but certain that the grave +would receive him a childless man, how proudly +I would take precedence of such a woman as Lady G——"</p> + +<p>Rose looked at her as she spoke. In the +glorious meridian of her beauty—a creature so +splendid—of such a fair outside—with energy, +and grace, and power—married by a weak ambition—an +ambition achieved by the accident of +birth—an ambition having neither honour, nor +virtue, nor patriotism, nor any one laudable aim, +for its object. And she sorrowed in her inmost soul for her cousin Helen.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3> + + +<p>Rose never, of course, made one at the brilliant +assemblies which Mrs. Ivers gave and +graced; she only saw those who breakfasted or +lunched in the square, or who, like the little +old gentleman, and one or two others, joined +the family circle. The excitement of an election, +and the (<i>pro tem.</i>) equality which such an +event creates, brought her more into contact +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>[pg 113]</span> +with her cousin's acquaintances than she had +yet been, and gave the gentleman, who evidently +admired her, an opportunity of studying her +character. There was something strange in a +young woman, situated as was Rose, preserving +so entirely her self-respect, that it encircled +her like a halo; and wherever it is so preserved, +it invariably commands the respect of others. +After the first week or two had passed, Rose +Dillon was perfectly undazzled by the splendour +with which she was surrounded, and was now +engaged in watching for a moment when she +could escape from what she knew was splendid +misery. If Helen had been simply content to +keep her own position—if she had, as Rose's +wisdom advised, sufficient moral courage to resent +a slight openly, not denying her humble +birth, and yet resolved to be treated as became +her husband's wife—all would have been happiness +and peace. Proud as Mr. Ivers was of +her, her discontent and perpetual straining after +rank and distinction, watching every body's +every look and movement to discover if it concealed +no <i>covert</i> affront, rendered him, kind +and careful though he was, occasionally dissatisfied; +and she interpreted every manifestation +of his displeasure, however slight, to contempt +for her birth. Rose suffered most acutely, for +she saw how simple was the remedy, and yet +could not prevail on Helen to abate one jot of +her restless ambition. The true spirit of a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span> +Christian woman often moved her to secret +earnest prayer, that God, of His mercy, would +infuse an humbler and holier train of thought +and feeling into Helen's mind; and, above all, +she prayed that it might not come too late.</p> + +<p>"You do not think with Mrs. Ivers in all +things, I perceive," said the gentleman I have twice alluded to.</p> + +<p>"I am hardly, from my situation," replied +Rose, "privileged to think her thoughts, though perhaps I may think of them."</p> + +<p>"A nice distinction," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Our lots in life are differently cast. In a +week I return to Abbeyweld; I only came to +be her nurse in illness, and was induced to remain +a little longer because I was useful to +her. They will go to the Continent now, and +I shall return to my native village."</p> + +<p>"But," said the gentleman, in a tone of the +deepest interest, "shall you really return without regret?"</p> + +<p>"Without regret? Oh yes!"</p> + +<p>"Regret nothing?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Suppose," he continued, in a suppressed +tone of deep emotion—"suppose that a man, +young, rich, and perfectly aware of the value +of your pure and unsullied nature, was to lay his hand and heart"—</p> + +<p>"I pray, I entreat you, say not another +word," interrupted Rose, breathlessly. "If +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>[pg 115]</span> +there should be any such, which is hardly possible, +sooner than he should deign to make a +proposal to me, I would tell him that before I +came to visit my cousin, only the very night before, +I became the betrothed of another."</p> + +<p>"Of some one, Rose, who took advantage of +your ignorance of the world—of your want of knowledge of society?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no!" she replied, covering her face +with her hand; "oh no! he is incapable of +that. He would have suffered me to leave Abbeyweld free of promise, but I would not."</p> + +<p>"And do you hold the same faith still Rose? +Think, has not what you have seen, and shared +in, made you ambitious of something beyond a +country life? Your refined mind and genuine +feeling, your taste—do not, I implore you, deceive yourself."</p> + +<p>"I do not, sir; indeed, I do not. Pardon +me; I would not speak disrespectfully of those +above me. Of course, I have not been admitted +into that familiarity which would lead me +to comprehend what at present appears to me +even more disturbed by the littleness of life than +a country village. Conventional forms have, +I fear, little to do with elevation of mind; they +seem to me the result of habit rather than of +thought or feeling. I know this, at least, 'All +is not gold that glitters.' I have seen a tree, +fair to look at in the distance, and covered with +green leaves, but when approached closely, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span> +trunk was foul and hollowed by impurities, and +when the blast came, it could not stand; even +so with many, fair without and foul within, and +the first adversity, the first great sorrow, over-throws them."</p> + +<p>"But this may be the case with the poor as +well as the rich, in the country as well as the town."</p> + +<p>"I am sure of it, sir. No station can be altogether +free from impurity; but in the country +the incitements to evil seem to me less numerous, +and the temptations fewer by far; the most +dangerous of all, a desire to shine, to climb +above our fellows, less continual. The middle +class is there more healthy and independent."</p> + +<p>"And all this owing to the mere circumstance, +think you, of situation?" interrupted the gentleman.</p> + +<p>"I am only country bred, sir, as you know," +replied Rose, earnestly but meekly; "and the +only advantage I have had has been in the society +of one you have heard me mention before +now—our worthy rector—and he says it would +make all that is wrong come right, if people +would only fear God and love their neighbour."</p> + +<p>"I believe," said the gentleman, "he is +right, quite right; for out of such religion +springs contentment, and all the higher as well +as the humbler virtues. Yes, he is quite right." +Much more he urged Rose, with all the persuasive +eloquence of warm affection, to discover, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>[pg 117]</span> +if it were possible, she could change. He tried +her on all points, but she replied with the clear +straightforward truthfulness that has nothing to +conceal. She wavered in nothing: firm to her +love, steady to her principles, right-thinking and +clear-sighted, he felt that Rose Dillon of Abbeyweld +would have added the dignity of virtue to +the dignity of rank, but that her mind was of +too high an order to bend to the common influences +that lead women along the beaten track of life.</p> + +<p>They parted to meet no more; and Rose +shed tears at their parting. "I did not wish +you to make a declaration that did me too much +honour," she said; "but I entreat you to say +nothing of it to Mrs. Ivers. My own course is +taken, and God knows how earnestly I will +pray that you may find one in every way worthy +your high caste of mind and station."</p> + +<p>I wonder would Edward Lynne have quite +approved of those tears; I wonder would he +have been pleased to have observed the cheek +of his affianced bride pressed against the drawing-room +window, to catch a last glimpse of the +cab which dashed from Mr. Ivers' door. Perhaps +not—for the generous nature of woman's +love and woman's friendship, is often beyond +man's comprehension—but he would have been +pleased to see, after she had paced the room for +half an hour, the eagerness with which she received +and opened a letter from himself; to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>[pg 118]</span> +have witnessed the warm kiss impressed upon +his name; to hear the murmured "dear, <i>dear</i> +Edward!" Her heart had never for a moment +failed in its truth—never for an instant wavered.</p> + +<p>That day week the cousins separated. "You +must come to me when I return, Rose," said +Helen—"you must come and witness my triumphs. +My husband's brother is very ill—cannot +live long—but <i>that</i> is a secret. I trust +Ivers will make a figure in the lower, before +called to the upper house; if he does not, it +will break my heart. There, God bless you, +Rose; you have been very affectionate, very +sweet to me, but I do, I confess, envy you that +cheerful countenance—cheerful and calm. I +always think that contented people want mind +and feeling; but you do not, Rose. By the +way, how strangely Mr. —— disappeared; I +thought you had clipped his wings. Well, next +season, perhaps. Of course, after this, you +will think no more of Edward." Fortunately +for Rose, Helen expected no replies, and after +a few more words, as I have said, they parted.</p> + +<p>In little more than three months, Rose Dillon and Edward Lynne were married.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> + + +<p>"It's a decent match enough," said old Mrs. +Myles to the rector when two years had elapsed, +and she had become reconciled to it. "Of course +Rose never could have taken the same stand as +Helen, who has been a lady now more than a +year; though she's a good, grateful girl, and +Edward very attentive—very attentive indeed—and +I must say more so than I expected. Helen, +I mean my lady, you know, has, as she +says in her last letter, a great deal to do with +her money—of course she must have; and +so, sir, pray do not let any one in Abbeyweld +know that the little annuity is not continued—regularly, +I mean," she added, while a certain +twitching of her features evinced how much she +felt, though she did not at the moment confess +it, the neglect of one she so dearly loved. Like +most talkative people, she frequently talked +away her sorrows; and, thinking she would be +better if she opened her heart, she recommenced, +after wiping away a few natural tears: "You +see, sir, Helen—I mean her ladyship—said she +would make it up by-and-bye to me, and so she +ought, poor dear thing; for I sacrificed both +myself and her cousin Rose for her advancement; +and really I cannot tell how the money +goes with those great folk. Only think," +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id="page120"></a>[pg 120]</span> +proceeded the old lady, bringing her face close to +Mr. Stokes, and whispering—"only think, she +says she never has five pounds she can call her +own. Now, as I told Rose, this is very odd, +because my lord is so very rich since the death +of his brother, ten times as rich as he was at +first, and yet Rose says they are poor now to +what they used to be—is not that very strange? +She says it is because of the increased expenditure, +and that I don't understand; but it's very +hard, very hard in my old days. If she can't +live upon thirty thousand a-year, I wonder how +she expects her poor old grandmother to live +upon thirty pounds, for that's all my certainty; +and the little farm, I must say, would have gone +to destruction, but for Edward Lynne—he does +every thing for it, poor fellow. She never sends +me a paper now, with her presentations, and +dresses, and fine parties, printed in it at full-length; +she's ashamed of her birth, that's it; +though sure you and your lady, sir, noticed them +both like equals, and I never even asked to go +near her, though his lordship invited me more +than once—and he even came to see Rose, as +you know, ay, and a good ten mile out of his +way it was to come—a good ten mile—and +kissed her baby, and said he wished he had one +like it, which they say Helen never will have. +Oh, it was a pity that first one of her ladyship +did not live! It is so cruel of her not to let me +see the papers with an account of her fine +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>[pg 121]</span> +doings, all in print—very cruel—I who loved her +so, and took care of her—I never could find +out from Rose whether or no she thought her +happy. Ah, Rose is a good girl! not, however," +added the old lady, again wiping away her tears—"not, +however, to be compared to her ladyship; +and I would not say what I have done to +any one in the world but you, sir, who have known them all their lives."</p> + +<p>So talked old Mrs. Myles, and so she continued +to talk at intervals, during the next five +years, growing weaker in mind and body, until +at last she took to her bed. "I could die happy," +said the old woman, "if I were to see Helen +once more; write to her, Rose, and tell her +so; she will not refuse to see me, her first friend—only once."</p> + +<p>Communications between the cousins had +ceased for a long time, but Rose wrote. Mrs. +Myles sent twice every day to the post-office—and +her hopes, so constantly disappointed, increased +her fever; at the end of a week, a letter came.</p> + +<p>"Give it me, Rose, give it me!" exclaimed +Mrs. Myles, "it is from my own darling child, +bless her!—my beauty! Oh, deary me! I'm +sure that's a beautiful seal, if I could only see +it; prop me up—there. How the jessamine +blinds the window—now my spectacles—so"—She +tried hard to read, but the power of sight +was gone. "She used to write the best hand in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id="page122"></a>[pg 122]</span> +the school, but this fashionable writing is hard +to make out," observed the old woman; "so do you read it, Rosy."</p> + +<p>"Here is ten pounds to begin with," said +Rose, placing the gossamer note before her.—Mrs. +Myles mechanically took up the money, +and played with it as a child plays with a toy, +and Rose read the few words that accompanied +the gift:—"Grieved to the heart to hear of the +illness of her ever dear relative—would be miserable +about her but from the knowledge of +Rose being the best nurse in the world—begs +she will let her know how the dear invalid is +by return of post, and also if there is any thing +she could send to alleviate her sufferings."</p> + +<p>While Rose was reading the letter, Mrs. +Myles's long thin feeble fingers were playing +with the note, her dim eyes fixed upon the window; +large round tears coursed each other +down her colourless cheeks. "No word about +coming, Rose—no word about coming," she +muttered, after a pause; "send her back this +trash," she added, bitterly—"send her back this +trash, and tell her the last tears I shed were shed +not for my sins, but for her cruelty." She continued +to mutter much that they could not understand; +but evening closed in, and Rose told +Edward that she slept at last; she did certainly, +and Rose soon discovered that it was her +last sleep. The money was returned; and +again five years elapsed without Rose hearing, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>[pg 123]</span> +directly or indirectly, from her rich and titled +cousin. In the mean time, Edward and Rose +prospered exceedingly; three handsome, happy +children blessed their home. Their industry +perfected whatever Providence bestowed; nothing +was wasted, nothing neglected; the best +farmers in the neighbourhood asked advice of +Edward Lynne; and the "born ladies," as +poor Mrs. Myles would have called them, would +have forgotten that Rose was only a farmer's +wife, if wise Rose had been herself disposed to +forget it. But great as their worldly prosperity +had been, it was nothing to the growth and continuance +of that holy affection which cheered +and hallowed their happy dwelling—the chief +characteristic of which was a freedom from pretension +of all kinds. Rose suffered appearances +to grow with their means, but never to precede +them; and though this is not the world's +practice, the duty is not on that account the less +imperative. They were seated one evening +round their table, Edward reading, while his +wife worked, when the master of the post-office brought them a letter.</p> + +<p>"It has lain two days, Measter Lynne," said +the man, "for you never send but once a-week; +only, as I thought by the seal it must be something +grand, whoy I brought it down myself."</p> + +<p>It was from Helen!—from the ambitious +cousin—a few sad, mournful lines, every one +of which seemed dictated by a breaking heart.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span> + +<p>She was ill and wretched, and the physician had +suggested change of air; but above all her native +air. Would Rose receive her for a little +time, just to try what its effect might be?—she +was sure she would, and she would be with her immediately.</p> + +<p>"Strange," said Edward, "how nature will +assert and keep its power; when luxury, art, +skill, knowledge, fail to restore health, they tell +you of native air, trusting to the simple, pure +restorative, which is the peasant's birthright, as +infallible. I wonder, Rose, how those fine people +like to be thrown back upon the nature they so outrage."</p> + +<p>"Poor Helen!" exclaimed Rose, "how +dispirited she seems—how melancholy! I +ought to feel afraid of your meeting her, I suppose, +Edward; but I do not—you have grown +satisfied with your poor Rose. We shall be +able to make her very comfortable, shall we +not?"—and then she smiled at the homeliness +of the phrase, and wondered what Helen would say if she heard her.</p> + +<p>It was not without sundry heartbeatings that +Rose heard the carriage stop, and assisted Helen +to alight; nor could she conceal her astonishment +at the ravages which not past years but +past emotions had wrought on her once beautiful face.</p> + +<p>The habit of suppressing thoughts, feelings, +and emotions, had altogether destroyed the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>[pg 125]</span> +frank expression of her exquisitely chiselled +mouth, which, when it smiled now, smiled alone; +for the eyes, so finely formed, so exquisitely +fringed, did not smile in unison; they had acquired +a piercing and searching expression, altogether +different from their former brilliancy.</p> + +<p>The elevated manners, the polished tone +which high society alone bestows, only increased +the distance between the two cousins, though +Rose was certainly gratified by the exclamation +of pleasure which told how much better than +she anticipated were the accommodations prepared by her humble relative.</p> + +<p>"Such pretty rooms—such beautiful flowers! +Rose, you must have grown rich, and without +growing unhappy. Strange, you look ten years younger than I do!"</p> + +<p>"Late hours, public life, and anxieties," said Rose.</p> + +<p>"Yes, that last appointment his lordship obtained, +the very thing above all others I so desired +for him, has completely divided him from +his home. We hardly ever meet now, except +at what I may call our own public dinners."</p> + +<p>"And he, who used to be so affectionate, so +fond of domestic life!" involuntarily exclaimed Rose.</p> + +<p>"And is so still; but the usages of society, the +intrigues and bustle of public business, quite +overthrow every thing of that kind. Oh, it is a weary, wearying world!"</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>[pg 126]</span> + +<p>"But to a mind like yours, the achieving an object must be so delightful!"</p> + +<p>"Ay, Rose, so it is; but that sort of thing +soon passes away, and we have no sooner obtained +possession of one, than another still more +desirable presents itself. How peaceful and +happy you seem. Well, an idle mind must be a perpetual feast."</p> + +<p>"But I have not an idle mind, not an idle +moment," replied Rose, colouring a little; "my +husband, my children, my humble household, +the care of the parochial schools, now that poor +Mr. Stokes has grown so infirm"—</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes!" interrupted Helen; "and yet, +Rose, when I look at you, even now, I cannot +but think you were fitted for better things."</p> + +<p>"Better than learning how to occupy time +profitably, and training souls for immortality!" +she replied; "but you are worn and tired, let +me wait upon you this one night, as I used long, +long ago to do—let me wait upon my own dear +cousin, instead of a menial, this one night, and +to-morrow you shall see Edward and the children."</p> + +<p>The worn-hearted woman of the great world +laid her face upon her cousin's shoulder, and +then fairly hid it in her bosom. Why it was, +He only, who knows the mysterious workings +of the human heart, can tell; but she wept long +and very bitterly, assigning no cause for her +tears, but sobbing and weeping like a sorrowing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id="page127"></a>[pg 127]</span> +child, while the arms she had flung round her +cousin's neck prevented Rose from moving. +Their tears once more mingled, as they had often +done in childhood—once more—but not for long.</p> + +<p>"Leave me alone for a little, and I will ring +for my maid," she said at last; "I am too artificial +to be waited upon by you, Rose. It was +otherwise when you used to twine gay poppies +and bright flowers in my hair, telling me, at the +same time, how much wiser it would have been +to have chosen the less fading and more fragrant ones."</p> + +<p>"Her husband—and her children!" thought +Helen; "if she had neither children nor husband, +she would have been of such value to me +now; noisy children, I dare say, troublesome +and wearying. Native air! native air, indeed, +<i>ought</i> to work wonders." It would be hardly +credited that Helen—the beauty—the admired—the +woman of rank—bestowed quite as much +trouble upon her morning toilette as if she had +been in London. Such was her aching passion +for universal sway, that she could not bear to +be thought faded by her old lover, though he +was only a farmer; and this trouble was taken +despite bodily pain that would have worn a strong man to a skeleton.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to say whether Helen +was pleased or displeased at finding Edward +Lynne what might, without any flattery, be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>[pg 128]</span> +termed a country gentleman, betraying no emotion +whatever at the sight of one who had +caused him so much suffering, and only anxious +to gratify her because she was his wife's relative. +She thought, and she was right, that she +discovered pity, and not admiration, as he looked upon her.</p> + +<p>"You think me changed," she said.</p> + +<p>"Your ladyship has been ill and harassed."</p> + +<p>"Ah! we all change except Rose."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" replied the country bred husband, +"she, indeed, is an exception; she could not even change for the better."</p> + +<p>And then the children, two such glorious +boys, fine, manly fellows. "And what will you +be?" inquired her ladyship of the eldest.</p> + +<p>"A farmer, my lady."</p> + +<p>"And you?"</p> + +<p>"A merchant, I hope."</p> + +<p>"Your boys are as unambitious as yourself, Rose."</p> + +<p>"I fear not," she answered; "this fellow +wants to get into the middle class; but Mr. +Stokes says the prosperity of a country depends +more upon the middle class than upon either the high or the low."</p> + +<p>To this Helen made no reply, for her attention +was occupied by the loveliness of Rose's +little girl. The child inherited, in its perfection, +the beauty of her family, and a grace and +spirit peculiarly her own. Rose could not find +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>[pg 129]</span> +it in her heart to deprive her cousin of the child's +society, which seemed to interest and amuse her, +and the little creature performed so many acts +of affection and attention from the impulse of +her own kind nature, that Helen, unaccustomed +to that sort of devotion, found her twine around +her sympathies in a novel and extraordinary +manner; it was a new sensation, and she could +not account for its influence. After a week had +passed, she was able to walk out, and met by +chance the old clergyman. He kissed the child, +and passed on with a bow, which, perhaps, had +more of bitterness in its civility than, strictly +speaking, befitted a Christian clergyman; but +he thought of the neglect she had evinced towards +old Mrs. Myles, and if he had spoken, it +would have been to vent his displeasure, and +reprove the woman whose rank could not shield +her from his scorn. She proceeded towards +the churchyard. "Look, lady!" said little +Rose; "father put that stone over that grave to +please mother. The relation who is buried +there took care of my mother when she was a +<i>littler</i> girl than I am now, and he told me to +strew flowers over the grave, which we do. See, +I can read it—'Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. +Margaret Myles, who died the seventeenth of +June, eighteen hundred'—and something—I +can hardly read figures yet, lady. 'This stone +was placed here by her grateful relatives, E. and +R.S.,' meaning Rose and Edward Lynne."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span> + +<p>The coldness of the clergyman was forgotten +in the bitterness of self-reproach. "I was +a fool," she thought, as she turned away, "to +fancy that my native air could be untainted by +the destiny which has mocked me from my cradle."</p> + +<p>"Ah! lady dear," exclaimed a crone, rising +from a grave where she had been sitting, "don't +you remember old Betty? They all said in the +village you'd be too proud to look on your +grandmother's grave; but you're not, I see. +Well, that's good—that's good. We had a funeral +last week, and the vault of the old earl +was broken in. The stupid sexton stuck his +pick in amongst the old bricks, and so the great +man's skull came tumbling out, and rolled beside +the skull of Job Martin, the old cobbler; +and the sexton laid them both on the edge of +the grave, the earl's skull and the cobbler's +skull, until he should fetch a mason to mend the +vault, and—what do you think?—when the mason +came, the sexton could not tell which was the +earl's skull and which was the cobbler's! Lady, +you must understand how this is—it's all +the same in a hundred years, according to the +saying; and so it is. None of them could tell +which was the earl's, and which the cobbler's. +My skull may lie next a lady's yet, and no one tell the difference."</p> + +<p>The lady and child hastened from the churchyard, +and the old woman muttered, "To see +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id="page131"></a>[pg 131]</span> +that! She's not half as well to look at now as +the farmer's wife. Ah! 'All is not gold that +glitters!'" How happy it is for those who believe +in the truth of this proverb, and from it learn to be content!</p> + +<p>It might be a week after this occurrence that +Helen sent for Rose. The lady either was, or +fancied herself better, and said so, adding, it +was in her (Rose's) power to make her happier +than she had ever been. Reverting to the period +when her cousin visited her in London, she +alluded to what she had suffered in becoming a +mother, and yet having her hopes destroyed by +the anxiety and impetuosity of her own nature. +"At first," she said, "the trouble was anything +but deep-rooted, for I fancied God would send +many more, but it was not so; and now the +title I so desired must go to the child of a woman—Oh, +Rose, how I <i>do</i> hate her!—a woman +who publicly thanks God that no plebeian blood +will disgrace <i>my</i> husband's title and <i>her</i> family. +I would peril my soul to cause her the pain she has caused me."</p> + +<p>"You do so now," said Rose, gently but +solemnly. "Oh! think that this violence and +revenge sins your own soul, and is every way unworthy of you."</p> + +<p>Helen did not heed the interruption. "To +add to my agony," she continued, "my husband +cherishes her son as if it were his own; the boy +stands even now between his affections and me. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id="page132"></a>[pg 132]</span> +He has reproached me for what he terms my +insensibility to his perfections, and says I ought +to rejoice that he is so easily rendered happy—only +imagine this! Rose, you must give me +your daughter, to be to me as my own. Her +beauty and sweetness will at once wean my husband's +love from this boy; and, moreover, children +brought up together—do you not see?—that +boy will become attached to one of the +'plebeian blood,' and wedding <i>her</i> hereafter, +scald to the core the proud heart of his mother, as she has scalded mine!"</p> + +<p>"I cannot, Helen," replied Rose, after a +pause, during which her cousin's glittering inquiring +eyes were fixed upon her face—"I cannot; +I could not answer to my God at the last +day for delivering the soul he gave to my care +to be so tutored (forgive me) as to forget Him in all things."</p> + +<p>"Forget God!" repeated Helen once or +twice—"I forget God! Do you think I am a heathen?"</p> + +<p>"No, cousin—no—for you have all knowledge +of the truth; but knowledge, and profiting +by our knowledge, are different. My little +gentle-hearted girl will be happier far in her +own sphere. I could not see her degraded to +bait a trap for any purpose; she will be happy, happier in her own sphere."</p> + +<p>The lady bit her compressed lips; but during +her whole life she never gave up a point, nor an +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span> +object, proving how necessary it is that the +strong mind should be well and highly directed. +Small feeble minds pass through the world doing +little good and little harm, but to train a large +mind is worth the difficulty—worth the trouble +it occasions: its possession is either a great +blessing or a great curse. To Helen it was the +latter, and curses never fall singly. "You have +boys to provide for," she said, "and if I adopted +that child, I would not suffer their station to disgrace their sister."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you mean us kindly and generously; +nor am I blind to the advantages of +such an offer for my boys. Their father has +prospered greatly, and could at this moment +place them in any profession they chose—still +influence would help them forward; but the advancement +of one child must not be purchased +by"—Rose paused for a word—she did not +wish to hurt her cousin's feelings—and yet none +suggested itself but what she conceived to be +the true one, and she repeated, lowly and gently, +her opinion, prefacing it with, "You will forgive +in this matter my plain speaking, but the +advancement of one child must not be purchased by the sacrifice of another."</p> + +<p>"Your prejudices have bewildered your understanding," exclaimed the lady. "Whatever +my ambition may be, my morality is unimpeached; +a vestal would lose none of her purity beneath my roof."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page134" id="page134"></a>[pg 134]</span> + +<p>"Granted, fully and truly; woman's first virtue +is untainted, but that is not her only one; +forgive me. I have no right to judge or dictate, +nor to give an unasked opinion; I am +grateful for your kindness; but my child, given +to me as a blessing for time and a treasure for +eternity, must remain beneath my roof until her mind and character are formed."</p> + +<p>"You are mad, Rose; consider her future happiness"—</p> + +<p>"Oh, Helen! are you more happy than your humble cousin?"</p> + +<p>"She would be brought up in the sphere I +was thrust into, and have none of the contentions I have had to endure," said Helen.</p> + +<p>"A sphere full of whirlpools and quicksands," +replied the mother. "The fancy you have +taken to her might pass away. She might be +taught the bitterness of eating a dependant's +bread, and the soft and luxurious habits of her +early days would unfit her for bearing so heavy +a burden; it would be in vain then to recall her +to her humble home; she would have lost all +relish for it. It might please God to take you +after a few years, and my poor child would be +returned to what she would then consider poverty. Urge me no more, I entreat you."</p> + +<p>Helen's face grew red and pale by turns. +"You mock at and mar my purposes," she +said. "My husband was struck by the beauty +of that child, and I longed to see her; but I am +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page135" id="page135"></a>[pg 135]</span> +doomed to disappointment. I never tried to +grasp a substance that it did not fade into a +shadow! What am I now?" Her eyes rested +upon the reflection, given by the glass, of the +two cousins. "Look! that tells the story—worn +in heart and spirit, blighted and bitter. +You, Rose—even you, my own flesh and blood—will +not yield to me—the only creature, perhaps, +that could love me! Oh! the void, the +desert of life, without affection!—a childless +mother—made so by"—She burst into tears, +and Rose was deeply affected. She felt far +more inclined to yield her child to the desolate +heart of Helen Marsh, than to the proud array +of Lady ——; but she also knew her duty.</p> + +<p>"Will you grant me this favour," said Helen +at last; "will you let the child decide"—</p> + +<p>"I would not yield to the child's decision, +but you may, if you please, prove her," answered her mother.</p> + +<p>The little girl came softly into the room, having +already learned that a bounding step was not meet for "my lady's chamber."</p> + +<p>"Rosa, listen; will you come with me to +London, to ride in a fine coach drawn by four +horses—to wear a velvet frock—see beautiful +sights, and become a great lady. Will you, +dear Rosa, and be my own little girl?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" exclaimed the child, gleefully; +"that I will; <i>that</i> would be so nice—a coach +and four—a velvet frock—a great lady—oh! +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page136" id="page136"></a>[pg 136]</span> +dear me!" The mother felt her limbs tremble, +her heart sink. "Oh! my own dear mother, +will not <i>that</i> be nice? and the beautiful sights +you have told me of—St. Paul's and Westminster—oh! mother, we shall be so happy!"</p> + +<p>"Not <i>me</i>, Rosa," answered Mrs. Lynne, with +as firm a voice as she could command. "Now, +listen to me: you might ride <i>in</i> a coach and +four, instead of <i>on</i> your little pony—wear velvet +instead of cotton—see St. Paul's and Westminster—but +have no more races on the downs, +no more peeping into birds' nests, no more seeing +the old church, or hearing its Sabbath bells. +You <i>may</i> become a great lady, but you must +leave and forget your father and me."</p> + +<p>"Leave you, and my father and brothers! +You did not mean <i>that</i> surely—you could not +mean that, my lady—could they not go with me?"</p> + +<p>"That would be impossible!"</p> + +<p>"Then I will stay here," said the little girl +firmly; "I love them better than every thing +else in the world. Thank you, dear lady, but I cannot leave them."</p> + +<p>"Leave <i>us</i>, then, Rosa," said Helen, proudly. +The child obeyed with a frightened look, wondering how she had displeased the "grand +lady."</p> + +<p>If Helen had been steeped to the very lips in +misery, she could not have upbraided the world +more bitterly than she did, giving vent to long +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page137" id="page137"></a>[pg 137]</span> +pent-up feelings, and reproaching Rose, not +only for her folly in not complying with her +wish, but for her happiness and contentment, +which, while she envied, she affected to despise.</p> + +<p>"You cannot make me believe that the high-born +and wealthy are what you represent," said +her cousin. "A class must not be condemned +because of an individual; and though I never +felt inclined to achieve rank, I honour many of +its possessors. It is the unsatisfied longing of +your own heart that has made you miserable, +dear Helen; and oh! let me entreat you, by +the remembrance of our early years, to suffer +yourself to enjoy what you possess."</p> + +<p>"What I possess!" she repeated; "the +dread and dislike of my husband's relatives—the +reputation of 'she <i>was</i> very handsome'—a +broken constitution—nothing to lean upon or love—a worn and weary heart!"</p> + +<p>"You have a mine of happiness in your husband's affection."</p> + +<p>"Not now," she answered bitterly; "not now—not now." And she was right.</p> + +<p>The next day she left the farm, where peace +and prosperity dwelt together; despite herself, +it pained her to witness such happiness. It is +possible that the practical and practised theories +she had witnessed might have changed her, had +she not foolishly thought it too late. Her disappointment +had been great; from the adoption +of that child she had expected much of what, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page138" id="page138"></a>[pg 138]</span> +after all, is the creating and existing principle +of woman's nature—natural affection; but this +was refused by its mother's wisdom. Her +worldly prospects had been doomed to disappointment, +because she hungered and thirsted +after vanities and distinctions, which never can +afford sustenance to an immortal spirit; and +even when she desired to cultivate attachment, +it did not proceed from the pure love of woman—the +natural stream was corrupted by an unworthy motive.</p> + +<p>Again years rolled on. In the records of +fashionable life, the movements and fetes of +Lady —— continued to be occasionally noted +as the most brilliant of the season; then rumours +became rife that Lord and Lady —— +did not live as affectionately as heretofore; +then, after twenty years of union, separation +ensued upon the public ground of "incompatibility +of temper"—his friends expressing their +astonishment how his lordship could have so +long endured the pride and caprice of one so +lowly born, while hers—but friends! she had +no friends!—a few partizans of the "rights of +women" there were, who, for the sake of "the +cause," defended the woman. She had been +all her life too restless for friendship, and when +the sensation caused by her separation from her +husband had passed away, none of the gay +world seemed to remember her existence. Rose +and her husband lived, loved, and laboured +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page139" id="page139"></a>[pg 139]</span> +together. It was astonishing how much good +they did, and how much they were beloved by +their neighbours. Their names had never been +noted in any fashionable register, but it was engraved +upon every peasant heart in the district. +"As happy as Edward and Rose Lynne," became +a proverb; and if any thing was needed +to increase the love the one felt for the other, it +was perfected by the affection of their children.</p> + +<p>"I think," said the old rector, as they sat +round the evening tea-table, "that our school +may now vie with any in the diocese—thanks +to the two Roses; twin roses they might almost +be called, though Rosa hardly equals Rose. I +wonder what Mrs. Myles would say if she were +to look upon this happy group. Ah dear!—well +God is very good to permit such a foretaste +of heaven as is met with here." And the benevolent +countenance of the good pastor beamed +upon the happy family. "I have brought +you the weekly paper," he continued; "the +Saturday paper. I had not time to look at it +myself, but here it is. Now, Edward, read us +the news." The farther people are removed +from the busy scenes of life, the more anxious +they are to hear of their proceedings; and Edward +read leading articles, debates, reviews, until, +under the head of "Paris," he read as follows—"Considerable +sensation has been excited +here by the sudden death of the beautiful Lady ——."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page140" id="page140"></a>[pg 140]</span> + +<p>Rose screamed, and the paper trembled in +Edward's hand. "This is too horrid," he said.</p> + +<p>"Do let me hear it all!" exclaimed his wife.</p> + +<p>It was many minutes before Edward Lynne +could tell her, that there was more than an insinuation, +that, wearied of existence, she, the +brilliant, the beautiful, the <i>fortunate</i> Lady ——, +wearied of life, had abridged it herself.</p> + +<p>Before they separated that evening, the Holy +Word was read with more than usual feeling +and solemnity by Mr. Stokes, and yet he could +not read as much as usual. "All flesh is +grass," brought tears into his eyes. His prayer +that all might long enjoy the perpetual feast of +a contented mind, was echoed by every heart; +and the gratitude all felt for God's goodness to +them was mingled with regret for Helen; all intermediate +time was forgotten, and the elders +of that little party only remembered the bright +and beautiful girl, the pride of Abbeyweld.</p> + +<p>"God bless my beloved pupil!" said the +venerable clergyman, as he departed; "without +a holy grace all is indeed vanity. May +Rosa learn, as early as her mother did, that</p> + +<center>'ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS.'"</center> + +<hr /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page143" id="page143"></a>[pg 143]</span> + + + + +<h2>THERE IS NO HURRY.</h2> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + + +<p>I do not tell you whether the village of Repton, +where the two brothers, John and Charles +Adams, originally resided, is near or far from +London: it is a pretty village to this day; and +when John Adams, some five-and-thirty years +ago, stood on the top of Repton Hill and looked +down upon the houses—the little church, +whose simple gate was flanked by two noble +yew trees, beneath whose branches he had often +sat—the murmuring river in which he had often +fished—the cherry orchards, where the ripe fruit +hung like balls of coral; when he looked down +upon all these dear domestic sights—for so every +native of Repton considered them—John Adams +might have been supposed to question if he had +acted wisely in selling to his brother Charles +the share of the well-cultivated farm, which had +been equally divided at their father's death. It +extended to the left of the spot on which he was +standing, almost within a ring fence; the meadows, +fresh shorn of their produce, and fragrant +with the perfume of new hay—the crops full of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page144" id="page144"></a>[pg 144]</span> +promise, and the lazy cattle laving themselves +in the standing pond of the abundant farmyard; +in a paddock, set apart for his especial +use, was the old blind horse his father had bestrode +during the last fifteen years of his life; +it leant its sightless head upon the gate, half up-turned, +he fancied, to where he stood. It is +wonderful what small things will sometimes stir +up the hearts of strong men, ay, and what is +still more difficult, even of ambitious men. Yet +he did not feel at that moment a regret for the +fair acres he had parted with; he was full of +the importance which the possession of a considerable sum of money gives a young man, +who has been fagging almost unsuccessfully in +an arduous profession, and one which requires +a certain appearance of success to command +success—for John Adams even then placed +M.D. after his plain name; yet still, despite +the absence of sorrow, and the consciousness +of increased power, he continued to look at +poor old Ball until his eyes swam in tears.</p> + +<p>With the presence of his father, which the +sight of the old horse had conjured up, came +the remembrance of his peculiarities, his habits, +his expressions; and he wondered, as they passed +in review before him, how he could ever have +thought the dear old man testy or tedious; even +his frequent quotations from "Poor Richard" +appeared to him, for the first time, the results +of common prudence; and his rude but wise +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page145" id="page145"></a>[pg 145]</span> +rhyme, when, in the joy of his heart, he told his +father he had absolutely received five guineas as +one fee from an ancient dame who had three +middle-aged daughters (he had not, however, +acquainted his father with <i>that</i> fact,) came more +forcibly to his memory than it had ever done to his ear—</p> + +<div class="poem"> <div class="stanza"> +<p>"For want and age save while you may,</p> +<p>No morning sun shines all the day."</p> + </div> </div> + +<p>He repeated the last line over and over again, +as his father had done; but as his "morning +sun" was at that moment shining, it is not matter +of astonishment that the remembrance was +evanescent, and that it did not make the impression +upon him his father had desired <i>long</i> before.</p> + +<p>A young, unmarried, handsome physician, +with about three thousand pounds in his pocket, +and "good expectations," might be excused for +building "des chateaux en Espagne." A very +wise old lady said once to me—"Those who +have none on earth may be forgiven for building +them in the air; but those who have them +on earth should be content therewith." Not +so, however, was John Adams; he built and +built, and then by degrees descended to the realities +of his position. What power would not +that three thousand pounds give him! He wondered +if Dr. Lee would turn his back upon him +now when they met in consultation; and Mr. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page146" id="page146"></a>[pg 146]</span> +Chubb, the county apothecary, would he laugh +and ask him if he could read his own prescriptions? +Then he recurred to a dream—for it +was so vague at that time as to be little more—whether +it would not be better to abandon altogether +country practice, and establish himself in +the metropolis—London. A thousand pounds, +advantageously spent, with a few introductions, +would do a great deal in London, and that was +not a third of what he had. And this great idea +banished all remembrance of the past, all sense +of the present—the young aspirant thought only of the future.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> + + +<p>Five years have passed. Dr. John Adams +was "settled" in a small "showy" house in the +vicinity of Mayfair; he had, the world said, +made an excellent match. He married a very +pretty girl, "highly connected," and was considered +to be possessed of personal property, +because, for so young a physician, Dr. Adams +lived in "a superior style." His brother Charles +was still residing in the old farm-house, to which, +beyond the mere keeping it in repair, he had +done but little, except, indeed, adding a wife to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page147" id="page147"></a>[pg 147]</span> +his establishment—a very gentle, loving, yet industrious +girl, whose dower was too small to +have been her only attraction. Thus both brothers +might be said to be fairly launched in life.</p> + +<p>It might be imagined that Charles Adams, +having determined to reside in his native village, +and remain, what his father and grandfather had +been, a simple gentleman farmer, and that rather +on a small than a large scale, was altogether +without that feeling of ambition which stimulates +exertion and elevates the mind. Charles +Adams had quite enough of this—which may be +said, like fire, to be "a good servant, but a bad +master"—but he made it subservient to the dictates +of prudence—and a forethought, the gift, +perhaps, that, above all others, we should most +earnestly covet for those whose prosperity we +would secure. To save his brother's portion of +the freehold from going into the hands of strangers, +he incurred a debt; and wisely—while he +gave to his land all that was necessary to make +it yield its increase—he abridged all other expenses, +and was ably seconded in this by his +wife, who <i>resolved</i>, until principal and interest +were discharged, to live quietly and carefully. +Charles contended that every appearance made +beyond a man's means was an attempted fraud +upon the public; while John shook his head, +and answered that it might do very well for +Charles to say so, as no one expected the sack +that brought the grain to market to be of fine +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page148" id="page148"></a>[pg 148]</span> +Holland, but that no man in a profession could +get on in London without making "an appearance." +At this Charles shrugged his shoulders, +and thanked God he lived at Repton.</p> + +<p>The brothers, as years moved rapidly on—engaged +as they were by their mutual industry +and success in their several fields of action—met +but seldom. It was impossible to say which +of the two continued the most prosperous. Dr. +Adams made several lucky hits; and having so +obtained a position, was fortunate in having an +abundance of patients in an intermediate sort +of state—that is, neither very well nor very ill. +Of a really bland and courteous nature, he was +kind and attentive to all, and it was certain that +such of his patients as were only in moderate +circumstances, got well long before those who +were rich; his friends attributed this to his humanity +as much as to his skill; his enemies +said he did not like "poor patients." Perhaps +there was a mingling of truth in both statements. +The money he had received for his portion of +the land was spent, certainly, before his receipts +equalled his expenditure; and strangely enough, +by the time the farmer had paid off his debt, the +doctor was involved, not to a large amount, but +enough to render his "appearance" to a certain +degree fictitious. This embarrassment, to +do him justice, was not of long continuance; +he became the fashion; and before prosperity +had turned his head by an influx of wealth, so +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page149" id="page149"></a>[pg 149]</span> +as to render him careless, he got rid of his debt, +and then his wife agreed with him "that they might live as they pleased."</p> + +<p>It so happened that Charles Adams was present +when this observation was made, and it +spoke well for both the brothers that their different +positions in society had not in the smallest +degree cooled their boyhood's affection; not +even the money transactions of former times, +which so frequently create disunion, had changed +them; they met less frequently, but they +always met with pleasure, and separated with regret.</p> + +<p>"Well!" exclaimed the doctor triumphantly, +as he glanced around his splendid rooms, +and threw himself into a <i>chaise longue</i>—then a +new luxury—"well, it is certainly a charming +feeling to be entirely out of debt."</p> + +<p>"And yet," said his wife, "it would not be wise to confess it in our circle."</p> + +<p>"Why?" inquired Charles.</p> + +<p>"Because it would prove that we had been in it," answered the lady.</p> + +<p>"At all events," said John, "now I shall not +have to reproach myself with every extra expense, +and think I ought to pay my debts first; +now I may live exactly as I please."</p> + +<p>"I do not think so," said Charles.</p> + +<p>"Not think so!" repeated Mrs. Adams in a tone of astonishment.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page150" id="page150"></a>[pg 150]</span> + +<p>"Not think so!" exclaimed John; "do I not make the money myself?"</p> + +<p>"Granted, my dear fellow; to be sure you do," said Charles.</p> + +<p>"Then why should I not spend it as pleases +me best? Is there any reason why I should not?"</p> + +<p>As if to give the strongest dramatic effect to +Charles's opinion, the nurse at that moment +opened the drawing-room door, and four little +laughing children rushed into the room.</p> + +<p>"There—are four reasons against your spending +your income exactly as you please; unless, +indeed, part of your plan be to provide for +them," answered Charles very seriously.</p> + +<p>"I am sure," observed Mrs. Adams, with the +half-offended air of a weak woman when she +hears the truth, "John need not be told his duty +to his children; he has always been a most affectionate father."</p> + +<p>"A father may be fond and foolish," said +Charles, who was peculiarly English in his +mode of giving an opinion. "For my part, I +could not kiss my little Mary and Anne when +I go to bed at night, if I did not feel I had already +formed an accumulating fund for their +future support—a support they will need all the +more when their parents are taken from them, +as they must be, in the course of time."</p> + +<p>"They must marry," said Mrs. Adams.</p> + +<p>"That is a chance," replied Charles; "women +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page151" id="page151"></a>[pg 151]</span> +hang on hands now-a-days. At all events, +by God's blessing, I am resolved that, if they +are beauties, they shall never be forced by poverty +to accept unworthy matches; if they are +plain, they shall have enough to live upon without husbands."</p> + +<p>"That is easy enough for you, Charles," said +the doctor, "who have had your broad acres to +support you, and no necessity for expenditure +or show of any kind; who might go from Monday +morning till Saturday night in home-spun, +and never give any thing beyond home-brewed +and gooseberry wine, with a chance bottle of +port to your visiters—while I, Heaven help me! +was obliged to dash in a well-appointed equipage, +entertain, and appear to be doing a great +deal in my profession, when a guinea would +pine in solitude for a week together in my pocket."</p> + +<p>"I do not want to talk with you of the past, +John," said Charles; "our ideas are more likely +to agree now than they were ten or twelve years +ago; I will speak of the future and present. +You are now out of debt, in the very prime of +life, and in the receipt of a splendid income; +but do not, let me entreat you, spend it as it +comes; lay by something for those children; +provide for them either by insurance, or some +of the many means that are open to us all. Do +not, my dear brother, be betrayed by health, or +the temptation for display, to live up to an income +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page152" id="page152"></a>[pg 152]</span> +the nature of which is so essentially precarious."</p> + +<p>"Really," murmured Mrs. Adams, "you put one into very low spirits."</p> + +<p>Charles remained silent, waiting his brother's reply.</p> + +<p>"My dear Charles," he said at last, "there +is a great deal of truth in what you say—certainly +a great deal; but I cannot change my +style of living, strange as it may seem. If I +did, I should lose my practice. And then I +must educate my children; <i>that</i> is an imperative duty, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly it is; it is a <i>part</i> of the provision +I have spoken of, but not the whole—a portion +only. If you have the means to do both, it is +your duty to do both; and you <i>have</i> the means. +Nay, my dear sister, do not seem angry or annoyed +with me; it is for the sake of your children +I speak; it is to prevent their ever knowing +practically what we do know theoretically—that +the world is a hard world; hard and unfeeling +to those who need its aid. It is to prevent +the possibility of their feeling <i>a reverse</i>."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Adams burst into tears, and walked out +of the room. Charles was convinced that <i>she</i> would not uphold his opinion.</p> + +<p>"Certainly," said John, "I intend to provide +for my children; but <i>there is no hurry</i>, and"—</p> + +<p>"There should be no hesitation in the case," +interrupted Charles; "every man <i>intends</i> to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153" id="page153"></a>[pg 153]</span> +provide for his children. God forbid that I +should imagine any man to be sufficiently wicked +to say—I have been the means of bringing +this child into existence—I have brought it up +in the indulgence of all the luxuries with which +I indulged myself; and now I intend to withdraw +them all from it, and leave it to fight its +own way through the world. No man could +look on the face of the innocent child nestling +in your bosom and say <i>that</i>; but if you do not +appropriate a portion of the means you possess +to save that child from the 'hereafter,' you act +as if you had resolved so to cast it on the wild waters of a turbulent world."</p> + +<p>"But, Charles, I intend to do all that you +counsel; no wonder poor Lucy could not bear +these words, when I, your own and only brother, +find them stern and reproachful; no wonder +that such should be the case; of course I +<i>intend</i> to provide for my children."</p> + +<p>"Then DO IT," said Charles.</p> + +<p>"Why, so I will; but cannot in a moment. +I have already said there is no hurry. You must give a little time."</p> + +<p>"The time may come, my dear John, when +TIME will give you no time. You have been +spending over and above your debt—more than, +as the father of four children, you have any +right to spend. The duty parents owe their +children in this respect has preyed more strongly +on my mind than usual, as I have been called +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page154" id="page154"></a>[pg 154]</span> +on lately to witness its effects—to see its +misery. One family at Repton, a family of +eight children, has been left entirely without +provision, by a man who enjoyed a situation of +five hundred a-year in quarterly payments."</p> + +<p>"That man is, however, guiltless. What +could he save out of five hundred a-year? How +could he live on less?" replied the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Live upon four, and insure his life for the +benefit of those children. Nay," continued +Charles, in the vehemence of his feelings, "the +man who does not provide means of existence +for his helpless children, until they are able to +provide for themselves, cannot be called a reasonable +person; and the legislature ought to +oblige such to contribute to a fund to prevent +the spread of the worst sort of pauperism—that +which comes upon well-born children from the +carelessness or selfishness of their parents. God +in his wisdom, and certainly in his mercy, removed +the poor broken-hearted widow of the +person I alluded to a month after his death; +and the infant, whose nourishment from its +birth had been mingled with bitterness, followed +in a few days. I saw myself seven children +crowd round the coffin that was provided by +charity; I saw three taken to the workhouse, +and the elder four distributed amongst kind-hearted +hard-working people, who are trying to +inure the young soft hands, accustomed to silken +idleness, to the toils of homely industry. I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page155" id="page155"></a>[pg 155]</span> +ask you, John Adams, how the husband of that +woman, the father of those children, can meet +his God, when it is required of him to give an account of his stewardship?"</p> + +<p>"It is very true—very shocking indeed," observed +Dr. Adams. "I certainly will do something +to secure my wife and children from the +possibility of any thing like <i>that</i>, although, +whatever were to happen to me, I am sure Lucy's family would prevent"—</p> + +<p>Charles broke in upon the sentence his brother +found it difficult to complete—"And can +you expect distant or even near relatives to perform +what you, whose duty it is, neglect? Or +would you leave those dear ones to the bitterness +of dependence, when, by the sacrifice or curtailment +of those luxurious habits which, if not +closely watched, increase in number, and at +last become necessaries, you could leave them +in comfort and independence! We all hope +for the leisure of a death-bed—awful enough, +come as it may—awful, even when beyond its +gloom we see the risen Sun of Righteousness +in all his glory—awful, though our faith be +strong in Him who is our strength; but if the +consciousness of having neglected those duties +which we were sent on earth to perform be with +us then, dark, indeed, will be the Valley of the +Shadow of Death. I do not want, however, to +read a homily, my dear brother, but to impress +a truth; and I do hope that you will prevent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page156" id="page156"></a>[pg 156]</span> +the possibility of these dear children feeling +what they must feel, enduring what they must +endure, if <i>you</i> passed into another world without +performing your duty towards them, and through them to society, in this."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Adams met her brother-in-law that day +(people five-and-twenty years ago did dine by +day) at dinner, with an air of offence. She was, +of course, lady-like and quiet, but it was evident +she was displeased. Every thing at table was +perfect according to its kind. There was no +guest present who was not superior in wealth +and position to the doctor himself, and each +was quite aware of the fact. Those who climb +boldly sometimes take a false step, but at all +times make dangerous ones. When Charles +looked round upon the splendid plate and stylish +servants—when the children were ushered +in after dinner, and every tongue was loud in +praises of their beauty—an involuntary shudder +passed through his heart, and he almost accused +himself of selfishness, when he was comforted +by the remembrance of the provision made +for his own little ones, who were as pretty, as +well educated, and as happy in their cheerful country home.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page157" id="page157"></a>[pg 157]</span> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> + + +<p>The next morning he was on his return to +Repton, happy in the assurance his brother had +given him before they parted, that he would +really lay by a large sum for the regular insurance of his life.</p> + +<p>"My dear John," said the doctor's wife, +"when does the new carriage come home? I +thought we were to have had it this week. The +old chariot looked so dull to-day, just as you +were going out, when Dr. Fitzlane's new chocolate-colour +passed; certainly that chocolate-coloured +carriage picked out with blue and those +blue liveries are very, very pretty."</p> + +<p>"Well, Lucy, I think them too gay—the liveries +I mean—for an M.D.; quieter colours do +best; and as to the new carriage, I had not absolutely +ordered it. I don't see why I cannot +go on with the jobs; and I almost think I shall +do so, and appropriate the money I intended +for <i>my own</i> carriage to another purpose."</p> + +<p>"What purpose?"</p> + +<p>"Why, to effect an insurance on my life. +There was a great deal of truth in what Charles +said the other day, although he said it coarsely, +which is not usual with him; but he felt the +subject, and I feel it also; so I think of, as I +said, going quietly on with the jobs—at all events +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page158" id="page158"></a>[pg 158]</span> +till next year—and devoting this money to the insurance."</p> + +<p>It is difficult to believe how any woman, +situated as Mrs. Adams was, could have objected +to a plan so evidently for her advantage and +the advantage of her family; but she was one +of those who never like to think of the possibility +of a reverse of fortune—who thrust care off +as long as they can, and who feel more pleasure +in being lavish as to the present than in saving for the future.</p> + +<p>"I am sure," she answered, in the half-petted +half-peevish tone that evinces a weak mind—"I +am sure if any thing was to happen to you, +I would break my heart at once, and my family, +of course, would provide for the children. I +could not bear the idea of reaping any advantage +by your death; and really the jobs are so +very inferior to what they used to be—and Dr. +Leeswor, next door but one, has purchased such +a handsome chariot—you have at least twice +his practice; and—Why, dear John, you +never were in such health; there will be no necessity +for this painful insurance. And after +you have set up your <i>own</i> carriage, you can begin +and lay by, and in a few years there will be +plenty for the children; and I shall not have +the galling feeling that any living thing would +profit by your death. Dear John, pray do not +think of this painful insurance; it may do very +well for a man like your brother—a man with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page159" id="page159"></a>[pg 159]</span> +out refinement; but just fancy the mental torture of such a provision."</p> + +<p>Much more Mrs. Adams talked; and the +doctor, who loved display, and had no desire to +see Dr. Leeswor, his particular rival, or even +Dr. Fitzlane, better appointed than himself, felt +strongly inclined towards the new carriage, and +thought it would certainly be pleasanter to save +than to insure, and resolved to begin immediately +<i>after</i> the purchase of his new equipage.</p> + +<p>When persons are very prosperous, a few ten +or twenty pounds do not much signify, but the +principle of careless expenditure is hard to curb.</p> + +<p>Various things occurred to put off the doctor's +plan of laying by. Mrs. Adams had an illness, +that rendered a residence abroad necessary +for a winter or two. The eldest boy must +go to Eton. As their mamma was not at home, +the little girls were sent to school. Bad as Mrs. +Adams's management was, it was better than +no management at all. If the doctor had given +up his entertainments, his "friends" would have +said he was going down in the world, and his +patients would have imagined him less skilful; +besides, notwithstanding his increased expenditure, +he found he had ample means, not to lay +by, but to spend on without debt or difficulty. +Sometimes his promise to his brother would +cross his mind, but it was soon dispelled by +what he had led himself to believe was the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page160" id="page160"></a>[pg 160]</span> +impossibility of attending to it then. When Mrs. +Adams returned, she complained that the children +were too much for her nerves and strength, and +her husband's tenderness induced him to yield +his favourite plan of bringing up his girls under +his own roof. In process of time two little ones +were added to the four, and still his means kept +pace with his expenses; in short, for ten years +he was a favourite with the class of persons who +render favouritism fortune. It is impossible, +within the compass of a tale, to trace the minutiæ +of the brothers' history; the children of both +were handsome, intelligent, and in the world's +opinion, well educated; John's eldest daughter +was one amongst a thousand for beauty of mind +and person; hers was no glaring display of +figure or information. She was gentle, tender, +and affectionate; of a disposition sensitive and +attuned to all those rare virtues in her sphere, +which form at once the treasures of domestic +life and the ornaments of society. She it was +who soothed the nervous irritability of her mother's +sick chamber and perpetual peevishness, +and graced her father's drawing-room by a presence +that was attractive to both old and young, +from its sweetness and unpretending modesty; +her two younger sisters called forth all her tenderness, +from the extreme delicacy of their health; +but her brothers were even greater objects of +solicitude—handsome spirited lads—the eldest +waiting for a situation, promised, but not given; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page161" id="page161"></a>[pg 161]</span> +the second also waiting for a cadetship; while +the youngest was still at Eton. These three +young men thought it incumbent on them to +evince their belief in their father's prosperity by +their expenditure, and accordingly they spent +much more than the sons of a professional man +ought to spend under any circumstances. Of +all waitings, the waiting upon patronage is the +most tedious and the most enervating to the +waiter. Dr. Adams felt it in all its bitterness +when his sons' bills came to be paid; but he +consoled himself, also, for his dilatoriness with +regard to a provision for his daughters—it was +impossible to lay by while his children were +being educated; but the moment his eldest +sons got the appointments they were promised, +he would certainly save, or insure, or do something.</p> + +<p>People who only <i>talk</i> about doing "something," +generally end by doing "nothing." Another +year passed; Mrs. Adams was still an +invalid, the younger girls more delicate than +ever, the boys waiting, as before, their promised +appointments, and more extravagant than ever; +and Miss Adams had made a conquest which +even her father thought worthy of her.</p> + +<p>The gentleman who had become really attached +to this beautiful girl was of a high family, +who were sufficiently charmed with the object +of his affections to give their full sanction, +as far as person and position were concerned; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page162" id="page162"></a>[pg 162]</span> +but the prudent father of the would-be bridegroom +thought it right to take an early opportunity +of waiting upon the doctor, stating his +son's prospects, and frankly asking what sum +Dr. Adams proposed settling on his daughter. +Great, indeed, was his astonishment at the reply—"He +should not be able to give his daughter +anything <i>immediately</i>, but at his death." +The doctor, for the first time for many years, +felt the bitterness of his <i>false position</i>. He hesitated, +degraded by the knowledge that he must +sink in the opinion of the man of the world by +whom he was addressed; he was irritated at +his want of available funds being known; and +though well aware that the affections of his darling +child were bound up in the son of the very +gentlemanly but most prudent person who sat +before him, he was so high and so irritable in +his bearing, that the fathers parted, not in anger, +but in any thing but good feeling.</p> + +<p>Sir Augustus Barry was not slow to set before +his son the disadvantages of a union where +the extravagant habits of Miss Adams had no +more stable support than her father's life; he +argued that a want of forethought in the parents +would be likely to produce a want of forethought +in the children; and knowing well what +could be done with such means as Dr. Adams +had had at his command for years, he was not +inclined to put a kind construction upon so total +a want of the very quality which he considered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page163" id="page163"></a>[pg 163]</span> +the best a man could possess; after some delay, +and much consideration of the matter, he told +his son that he really could not consent to his +marriage with a penniless bride. And Dr. +Adams, finding that the old gentleman, with a +total want of that delicacy which moneyed men +do not frequently possess, had spoken of what +he termed too truly and too strongly his "heartless" +want of forethought, and characterised as +a selfishness the indulgence of a love for display +and extravagance, when children were to +be placed in the world and portioned—insulted +the son for the fault of the father, and forbade his daughter to receive him.</p> + +<p>Mary Adams endeavoured to bear this as +meekly as she had borne the flattery and the +tenderness which had been lavished on her since +her birth. The bitter, bitter knowledge that +she was considered by her lover's family as a +girl who, with the chance of being penniless, +lived like a princess, was inconceivably galling; +and though she had dismissed her lover, and +knew that her father had insulted him, still she +wondered how he could so soon forget her, and +never write even a line of farewell. From her +mother she did not expect sympathy; she was +too tender and too proud to seek it; and her +father, more occupied than ever, was seldom in +his own house. Her uncle, who had not been in +town for some years, at last arrived, and was not +less struck by the extreme grace and beauty of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page164" id="page164"></a>[pg 164]</span> +his niece, than by the deep melancholy which saddened +her voice and weighed down her spirits. +He was evidently anxious to mention something +which made him joyous and happy; and when +the doctor entered the library with him, he said, +"And may not Mary come in also?" Mary +did come in; and her gentle presence subdued +her uncle's spirits. "I had meant to tell the +intended change in my family only to you, brother +John; but it has occurred to me we were +all wrong about my niece; they said at home, +'Do not invite my cousin, she is too fine, too +gay to come to a country wedding; she would +not like it;' but I think, surrounded as she is +by luxuries, that the fresh air of Repton, the +fresh flowers, fresh fields, and fresh smiles of +her cousins would do my niece good, great good, +and we shall be quite gay in our own homely way—the +gaiety that upsprings from hearts grateful +to the Almighty for his goodness. The fact +is, that in about three weeks <i>my</i> Mary is to be +married to our rector's eldest son! In three +weeks. As he is only his father's curate, they +could not have afforded to marry for five or six +years, if I had not been able to tell down a handsome +sum for Mary's fortune; it was a proud +thing to be able to make a good child happy +by care in time. 'Care in time,' that's my +stronghold! How glad we were to look back +and think, that while we educated them properly, +we denied ourselves to perform our duty to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page165" id="page165"></a>[pg 165]</span> +the children God had given to our care. We +have not been as <i>gay</i> as our neighbours, whose +means were less than ours; we could not be +so, seeing we had to provide for five children; +but our pleasure has been to elevate and render +those children happy and prosperous. Mary +will be so happy, dear child—so happy! Only +think, John, she will be six years the sooner +happy from our <i>care in time</i>!" This was more +than his niece could bear. The good father +was so full of his daughter's happiness, and the +doctor so overwhelmed with self-reproach—never +felt so bitterly as at that moment—that +neither perceived the death-like paleness that +overspread the less fortunate Mary's face. She +got up to leave the room, staggered, and fell at her father's feet.</p> + +<p>"We have murdered her between us," muttered +Dr. Adams, while he raised her up; "murdered +her; but <i>I</i> struck the first blow. God forgive me! God forgive me!"</p> + +<p>That night the brothers spent in deep and +earnest converse. The certainty of his own +prosperity, the self-gratulation that follows a +just and careful discharge of duties imposed +alike by reason and religion, had not raised +Charles above his brother in his own esteem. +Pained beyond description at the suffering he +had so unconsciously inflicted on his niece—horror-struck +at the fact, that thousands upon +thousands had been lavished, yet nothing done +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page166" id="page166"></a>[pg 166]</span> +for hereafter, the hereafter that <i>must</i> come, he +urged upon John the danger of delay, the uncertainty +of life. Circumstances increased his +influence. Dr. Adams had been made painfully +aware that gilding was not gold. The beauty, +position, and talents of his beloved child, although +fully acknowledged, had failed to establish +her in life. "Look, Charles," he said, after +imparting all to his brother, absolutely weeping +over the state of uncomplaining but deep sorrow +to which his child was reduced, "if I could +command the necessary sum, I would to-morrow +insure my life for a sum that would place +them beyond the possible reach of necessity of any kind."</p> + +<p>"Do not wait for that," was the generous +reply of Charles Adams; "I have some unemployed hundreds at this moment. Come with +me to-morrow; do not delay a day, no, nor an +hour; and take my word for it you will have +reason to bless your resolve. Only imagine +what would be the case if God called you to +give an account of your stewardship." But he +checked himself; he saw that more was not +necessary; and the brothers separated for a few +hours, both anxious for the morning. It was +impossible to say which of the two hurried over +breakfast with the greatest rapidity. The carriage +was at the door; and Dr. Adams left word +with his butler that he was gone into the city +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page167" id="page167"></a>[pg 167]</span> +on urgent business, and would be back in two hours.</p> + +<p>"I don't think," exclaimed Charles, rubbing +his hands gleefully, "I don't think, that if my +dear niece were happy, I should ever have been +so happy in all my life as I am at this moment."</p> + +<p>"I feel already," replied John, "as if a great +weight were removed from my heart; and were +it not for the debt which I have contracted to +you—Ah, Charles, I little dreamt, when I +looked down from the hill over Repton, and +thought my store inexhaustible, that I should be +obliged to you thus late in life. And yet I protest +I hardly know where I could have drawn +in; one expense grows so out of another. These +boys have been so very extravagant; but I shall +soon have the two eldest off; they cannot keep them much longer waiting."</p> + +<p>"Work is better than waiting; but let the +lads fight their way; they have had, I suppose, +a good education; they ought to have had professions. +There is something to me awfully +lazy in your 'appointments;' a young man of +spirit will appoint himself; but it is the females +of a family, brought up, as yours have been, +who are to be considered. Women's position +in society is changed from what it was some +years ago; it was expected that they must +marry; and so they were left, before their marriage, +dependent upon fathers and brothers, as +creatures that could do nothing for themselves. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168" id="page168"></a>[pg 168]</span> +Now, poor things, I really don't know why, +but girls do not marry off as they used. They +become old, and frequently—owing to the expectation +of their settling—without the provision +necessary for a comfortable old age. This is +the parent of those despicable tricks and arts +which women resort to to get married, as they +have no acknowledged position independent of +matrimony. Something ought to be done to +prevent this. And when the country steadies a +little from the great revolution of past years, I +suppose something may be thought of by improved +teaching—and systems to enable women +to assist themselves, and be recompensed for +the assistance they yield others. Now, imagine +your dear girls, those younger ones particularly, deprived of you"—</p> + +<p>"Here is the patient upon whom I must call, +<i>en route</i>" interrupted the doctor.</p> + +<p>The carriage drew up.</p> + +<p>"I wish," said Charles, "you had called here +on your return. I wanted the insurance to +have been your first business to-day."</p> + +<p>"I shall not be five minutes," was the reply. +The servant let down the step, and the doctor +bounded up towards the open door. In his progress, +he trod upon a bit, a mere shred, of orange-peel; +it was the mischief of a moment; he slipped, +and his temple struck against the sharp +column of an iron-scraper. Within one hour, +Dr. John Adams had ceased to exist. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page169" id="page169"></a>[pg 169]</span> +What the mental and bodily agony of that +one hour was, you can better understand than +I can describe. He was fully conscious that he +was dying—and he knew all the misery that was to follow.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + + +<p>"Mary my dear niece," said Charles Adams, +as he seated himself by her side; "my dear, +dear niece, can you fix your thoughts, and give +me your attention for half an hour, now that all +is over, and the demands of the world press upon +us. I want to speak about the future. Your +mother bursts into such fits of despair that I can +do nothing with her; and your brother is so +ungovernable—talks as if he could command +the bank of England, and is so full of his mother's +connexions and their influence, that I +have left him to himself. Can you, my dear +Mary, restrain your feelings, and give me your attention?"</p> + +<p>Mary Adams looked firmly in her uncle's +face, and said, "I will try. I have been thinking +and planning all the morning, but I do not +know how to begin being useful. If I once began, +I could go on. The sooner we are out of +this huge expensive house the better; if I could +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page170" id="page170"></a>[pg 170]</span> +get my mother to go with the little girls to the +sea-side. Take her away altogether from this home—take her"—</p> + +<p>"Where?" inquired Mr. Adams; "she will not accept shelter in my house."</p> + +<p>"I do not know," answered his niece, relapsing +into all the helplessness of first grief; "indeed +I do not know; her brother-in-law, Sir +James Ashbroke, invited her to the Pleasaunce, +but my brother objects to her going there, his +uncle has behaved so neglectfully about his appointment."</p> + +<p>"Foolish boy!" muttered Charles; "this is +no time to quarrel about trifles. The fact is, +Mary, that the sooner you are all out of this +house the better; there are one or two creditors, +not for large sums certainly, but still men +who will have their money; and if we do not +quietly sell off, they will force us. The house +might have been disposed of last week by private +contract, but your mother would not hear +of it, because the person who offered was a medical rival of my poor brother."</p> + +<p>Mary did not hear the concluding observation; +her eyes wandered from object to object +in the room—the harp—the various things +known from childhood. "Any thing you and +your mother wish, my dear niece," said her kind +uncle, "shall be preserved—the family pictures—your +harp—your piano—they are all hallowed +memorials, and shall be kept sacred."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page171" id="page171"></a>[pg 171]</span> + +<p>Mary burst into tears. "I do not," she said, +"shrink from considering those instruments the +means of my support; but although I know the +necessity for so considering, I feel I cannot tell +what at quitting the home of my childhood; +people are all kind; you, my dear uncle, from +whom we expected so little, the kindest of all; +but I see, even in these early days of a first sorrow, +indications of falling off. My aunt's husband +has really behaved very badly about the +appointment of my eldest brother; and as to +the cadetship for the second—we had such a +brief dry letter from our Indian friend—so many +first on the list, and the necessity for waiting, +that I do not know how it will end."</p> + +<p>"I wish, my dear, you could prevail on your +mother, and sister, and all, to come to Repton," +said Mr. Adams. "If your mother dislikes +being in my house, I would find her a cottage +near us; I will do all I can. My wife joins +me in the determination to think that we have +six additional children to look to. We differ +from you in our habits; but our hearts and affections +are no less true to you all. My Mary and you will be as sisters."</p> + +<p>His niece could bear no more kindness. She +had been far more bitterly disappointed than she +had confessed even to her uncle; and yet the very +bitterness of the disappointment had been the +first thing that had driven her father's dying wail +from her ears—that cry repeated so often and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page172" id="page172"></a>[pg 172]</span> +so bitterly in the brief moments left after his accident—"My +children! My children!" He +had not sufficient faith to commit them to God's +mercy; he knew he had not been a faithful +steward; and he could not bring himself from +the depths of his spiritual blindness to call upon +the Fountain that is never dried up to those who +would humbly and earnestly partake of its living waters.</p> + +<p>It was all a scene as of another world to the +young, beautiful, petted, and feted girl; it had +made her forget the disappointment of her love, +at least for a time. While her brothers dared the +thunder-cloud that burst above their heads, her +mother and sisters wept beneath its influence. +Mary had looked forth, and if she did not hope, +she thought, and tried to pray; now, she fell +weeping upon her uncle's shoulder; when she +could speak, she said, "Forgive me; in a little +time I shall be able to conquer this; at present, +I am overwhelmed; I feel as if knowledge and +sorrow came together; I seem to have read +more of human nature within the last three days than in all my past life."</p> + +<p>"It all depends, Mary, upon the person you +meet," said Mr. Adams, "as upon the book you +read; if you choose a foolish book or a bad +book, you can expect nothing but vice or foolishness; +if you choose a foolish companion, +surely you cannot expect kindness or strength." +The kind-hearted man repeated to her all he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page173" id="page173"></a>[pg 173]</span> +had before said. "I cannot," he added, "be +guilty of injustice to my children; but I can +merge all my own luxuries into the one of being a father to the fatherless."</p> + +<p>But to all the plans of Charles Adams, objections +were raised by his eldest nephew and his +mother; the youth could not brook the control +of a simple straight-minded country man, whose +only claim to be considered a gentleman, in his +opinion, arose from his connexion with "his +family." He was also indignant with his maternal +uncle for his broken promise, and these +feelings were strengthened by his mother's folly. +Two opportunities for disposing of the house +and its magnificent furniture were missed; and +when Mrs. Adams complained to her nearest +and most influential connexions that her brother-in-law +refused to make her any allowance unless +she consented to live at Repton—expecting +that they would be loud in their indignation at his +hardness—they advised her by all means to do +what he wished, as he was really the only person +she had to depend upon. Others were lavish +of their sympathy, but sympathy wears out +quickly; others invited her to spend a month +with them at their country-seat, for change of +air; one hinted how valuable Miss Adams' exquisite +musical talent would be <i>now</i>. Mary +coloured, and said, "Yes," with the dignity of +proper feeling; but her mother asked the lady +what she meant, and a little scene followed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page174" id="page174"></a>[pg 174]</span> +which caused the lady to visit all the families in +town of her acquaintance, for the purpose of +expressing her sympathy with "those poor dear +Adamses, who were so proud, poor things, that +really there was nothing hut starvation and the +workhouse before them!" Another of those +well-meaning persons—strong-minded and kind-hearted, +but without a particle of delicacy—came +to poor Mary, with all <i>prestige</i> of conferring a favour.</p> + +<p>"My dear young lady, it is the commonest +thing in the world—very painful but very common; +the families of professional men are frequently +left without provision. Such a pity!—because, +if they cannot save, they can insure. +We <i>all</i> can do <i>that</i>, but they do <i>not</i> do it, and +consequently everywhere the families of professional +men are found in distress; so, as I said, +it is common; and I wanted you to suggest to +your mother, that, if she would not feel hurt at +it, the thing being so common—dear Dr. Adams +having been so popular, so very popular—that +while every one is talking about him and you +all, a very handsome subscription could be got +up. I would begin it with a sum large enough +to invite still larger. I had a great regard for him—I had indeed."</p> + +<p>Mary felt her heart sink and rise, and her +throat swell, so that she could not speak. She +had brought herself to the determination of employing +her talents for her own support, but she +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page175" id="page175"></a>[pg 175]</span> +was not prepared to come with her family before +the world as paupers. "We have no claim +upon the public," she said at last. "I am sure +you mean us kindly, but we have no claim. +My dear father forwarded no public work—no +public object; he gave his advice, and received +his payment. If we are not provided for, it is +no public fault. Besides, my father's children +are able and willing to support themselves. I +am sure you mean us kindly, but we have no +claim upon public sympathy, and an appeal to +it would crush us to the earth. I am very glad +you did not speak first to my mother. My +uncle Charles would not suffer it, even suppose she wished it."</p> + +<p>This friend also departed to excite new speculations +as to the pride and poverty of "poor +dear Dr. Adams's family." In the world, however—the +busy busy London world—it is idle to +expect any thing to create even a nine days' +wonder. When the house and furniture were +at last offered for sale, the feeling was somewhat +revived; and Mary, whose beauty, exquisite +as it was, had so unobtrusive a character as +never to have created a foe, was remembered +with tears by many: even the father of her old +lover, when he was congratulated by one more +worldly-minded than himself on the escape of +his son in not marrying a portionless girl, reproved +the unfeeling speaker with a wish that +he only hoped his son might have as good a +wife as Mary Adams would have been.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page176" id="page176"></a>[pg 176]</span> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> + + +<p>The bills were taken down, the house purified +from the auction-mob—every thing changed; +a new name occupied the doctor's place in +the "Court Guide"—and in three months the +family seemed as completely forgotten amongst +those of whom they once formed a prominent +part, as if they had never existed. When one +sphere of life closes against a family, they find +room in another. Many kind-hearted persons +in Mrs. Adams's first circle would have been +rejoiced to be of service to her and hers, but +they were exactly the people upon whom she +had no claim. Of a high but poor family, her +relatives had little power. What family so situated +ever had any influence beyond what they +absolutely needed for themselves? With an +ill grace she at last acceded to the kind offer +made by Mr. Charles Adams, and took possession +of the cottage he fixed upon, until something +could be done for his brother's children. In a +fit of proud despair the eldest son enlisted into +a regiment of dragoons; the second was fortunate +enough to obtain a cadetship through a +stranger's interference; and his uncle thought +it might be possible to get the youngest forward +in his father's profession. The expense of the +necessary arrangements was severely felt by the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page177" id="page177"></a>[pg 177]</span> +prudent and careful country gentleman. The +younger girls were too delicate for even the +common occupations of daily life; and Mary, +instead of receiving the welcome she had been +led to expect from her aunt and cousins, felt +that every hour she spent at the Grange was an intrusion.</p> + +<p>The sudden death of Dr. Adams had postponed +the intended wedding of Charles Adams's +eldest daughter; and although her mother +agreed that it was their duty to forward the +orphan children, she certainly felt, as most affectionate +mothers whose hearts are not very +much enlarged would feel, that much of their +own savings—much of the produce of her husband's +hard labour—labour during a series of +years when her sister-in-law and her children +were enjoying all the luxuries of life—would +now be expended for their support; this to an +all-sacrificing mother, despite <i>her sense of the +duty of kindness</i>, was hard to bear. As long as +they were not on the spot, she theorised continually, +and derived much satisfaction from the +sympathising observations of her neighbours, +and was proud, <i>very</i> proud, of the praise bestowed +upon her husband's benevolence; but +when her sister-in-law's expensive habits were in +daily array before her (the cottage being close +to the Grange,) when she knew, to use her own +expression, "that she never put her hand to a +single thing;" that she could not live without +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page178" id="page178"></a>[pg 178]</span> +port wine, when she herself never drank even +gooseberry, except on Sundays; never ironed +a collar, never dusted the chimney-piece, or ate +a shoulder of mutton—roast one day, cold the +next, and hashed the third. While each day +brought some fresh illustration of her thoughtlessness +to the eyes of the wife of the wealthy +tiller of the soil, the widow of the physician +thought herself in the daily practice of the most +rigid self-denial. "I am sure," was her constant +observation to her all-patient daughter—"I +am sure I never thought it would come to +this. I had not an idea of going through so +much. I wonder your uncle and his wife can +permit me to live in the way I do—they ought +to consider how I was brought up." It was in +vain Mary represented that they were existing +upon charity; that they ought to be most grateful +for what they received, coming as it did from +those who, in their days of prosperity, professed +nothing, while those who professed all things +had done nothing. Mary would so reason, and +then retire to her own chamber to weep alone over things more hard to bear.</p> + +<p>It is painful to observe what bitterness will +creep into the heart and manner of really kind +girls where a lover is in the case, or even where +a common-place dangling sort of flirtation is +going forward; this depreciating ill nature, one +of the other, is not confined by any means to +the fair sex. Young men pick each other to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page179" id="page179"></a>[pg 179]</span> +pieces with even more fierceness, but less ingenuity; +they deal in a cut-and-hack sort of sarcasm, +and do not hesitate to use terms and insinuations +of the harshest kind, when a lady is in +the case. Mary (to distinguish her from her +high-bred cousin, she was generally called Mary +Charles) was certainly disappointed when her +wedding was postponed in consequence of her +uncle's death; but a much more painful feeling +followed, when she saw the admiration her lover, +Edwin Lechmere, bestowed upon her beautiful +cousin. Mary Charles was herself a beauty—fair, +open-eyed, warm-hearted—<i>the</i> beauty of +Repton; but though feature by feature, inch by +inch, she was as handsome as Mary, yet in her +cousin was the grace and spirit given only by +good society; the manners elevated by a higher +mind, and toned down by sorrow; a gentle +softness, which a keen observer of human nature +told me once no woman ever possessed +unless she had deeply loved, and suffered from +disappointed affection; in short, she was far +more refined, far more fascinating, than her +country cousin: besides, she was unfortunate, +and that at once gave her a hold upon the sympathies +of the young curate: it did no more: +but Mary Charles did not understand these nice +distinctions, and nothing could exceed the +change of manner she evinced when her cousin and her betrothed were together.</p> + +<p>Mary thought her cousin rude and petulant; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page180" id="page180"></a>[pg 180]</span> +but the true cause of the change never occurred +to her. Accustomed to the high-toned courtesy +of well-bred men, which is so little practised in +the middle class of English society, it never suggested +itself, that placing her chair, or opening +the door for her to go out, or rising courteously +when she came into a room, was more than, as +a lady, she had a right to expect; in truth, she +did not notice it at all; but she did notice and +feel deeply her cousin's alternate coldness and +snappishness of manner. "I would not," +thought Mary, "have behaved so to her if she +had been left desolate; but in a little time, when +my mother is more content, I will leave Repton, +and become independent by my talents." Never +did she think of the power delegated to her by, +the Almighty without feeling herself raised—ay, +higher than she had ever been in the days of her +splendour—in the scale of moral usefulness; as +every one must feel whose mind is rightly +framed. She had not yet known what it was to +have her abilities trampled on or insulted; she +had never experienced the bitterness consequent +upon having the acquirements—which in the +days of her prosperity commanded silence and +admiration—sneered at or openly ridiculed.—She +had yet to learn that the Solons, the law-givers +of English society, lavish their attentions +and praise upon those who learn, not upon those who teach.</p> + +<p>Mary had not been six months fatherless, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page181" id="page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> +when she was astonished, first by a letter, and +then by a visit, from her former lover; he came +to renew his engagement, and to wed her even +then if she would have him; but Mary's high +principle was stronger than he imagined. "No," +she said, "you are not independent of your +father, and whatever I feel, I have no right to +draw <i>you</i> down into poverty. You may fancy +now that you could bear it; but a time would +come—if not to you, to me—when the utter +selfishness of such conduct would goad me to +a death of early misery." The young man appealed +to her uncle, who thought her feelings +overstrained, but respected her for it nevertheless; +and in the warmth of his admiration, he +communicated the circumstance to his wife and daughter.</p> + +<p>"Refuse her old lover under present circumstances," +repeated her cousin to herself as she +left the room; "there must be some other reason +than that; she could not be so foolish as to +reject such an offer at such a time." Unfortunately, +she saw Edwin Lechmere walking by +Mary's side, under the shadow of some trees. +She watched them until the foliage screened +them from her sight, and then she shut herself +into her own room, and yielded to a long and +violent burst of tears. "It is not enough," she +exclaimed, in the bitterness of her feelings, "that +the comforts of my parents' declining years +should be abridged by the overwhelming burden +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page182" id="page182"></a>[pg 182]</span> +to their exertions—another family added to their +own; it is not enough that an uncomfortable +feeling has grown between my father and mother +on this account, and that cold looks and +sharp words have come where they never came +before, but my peace of mind must be destroyed. +Gladly would I have taken a smaller portion, +if I could have kept the affections which I +see but too plainly my cousin has stolen from +me. And my thoughtless aunt to say, only yesterday, +that 'at all events her husband was no +man's enemy but his own.' Has not his want +of prudent forethought been the ruin of his own +children? and will my parents ever recover the +anxiety, the pain, the sacrifices, brought on by +one man's culpable neglect? Oh, uncle! if +you could look from your grave upon the misery +you have caused!"—and then, exhausted by +her own emotion, the affectionate but jealous +girl began to question herself as to what she +should do. After what she considered mature +deliberation, she made up her mind to upbraid +her cousin with treachery, and she put her design into execution that same evening.</p> + +<p>It was no easy matter to oblige her cousin to +understand what she meant; but at last the declaration +that she had refused her old lover because +she had placed her affections upon Edwin +Lechmere, whom she was endeavouring to +"entrap," was not to be mistaken; and the +country girl was altogether unprepared for the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page183" id="page183"></a>[pg 183]</span> +burst of indignant feeling, mingled with much +bitterness, which repelled the untruth. A strong +fit of hysterics, into which Mary Charles worked +herself, was terminated by a scene of the +most painful kind, her father being upbraided +by her mother with "loving other people's children +better than his own," while the curate himself +knelt by the side of his betrothed, assuring +her of his unaltered affection. From such a +scene Miss Adams hastened with a throbbing +brow and a bursting heart. She had no one to +counsel or console her; no one to whom she +could apply for aid. For the first time since she +had experienced her uncle's tenderness, she felt +she had been the means of disturbing his domestic +peace; the knowledge of the burden she +and hers were considered, weighed her to the +earth; and in a paroxysm of anguish she fell +on her knees, exclaiming, "Oh, why are the +dependent born into the world! Father, father, +why did you leave us, whom you so loved, to +such a fate!" And then she reproached herself +for having uttered a word reflecting on his +memory. One of the every-day occurrences of +life—so common as to be hardly observed—is +to find really kind, good-natured people not +"weary of well-doing." "Oh, really I was +worn out with so-and-so; they are so decidedly +unfortunate that it is impossible to help them," +is a general excuse for deserting those whose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page184" id="page184"></a>[pg 184]</span> +continuing misfortunes ought to render them greater objects of sympathy.</p> + +<p>Mr. Charles Adams was, as has been shown +in our little narrative, a kind-hearted man. Estranged +as his brother and himself had been for +a number of years, he had done much to forward, +and still more to protect, his children. +At first, this was a pleasure; but somehow his +"benevolence," and "kindness," and "generosity," +had been so talked about, so eulogised, +and he had been so seriously inconvenienced +by the waywardness of his nephews, the thoughtless +pride of his sister-in-law, the helplessness +of his younger nieces, as to feel seriously oppressed +by his responsibility. And now the one +who had never given him aught but pleasure, +seemed, according to his daughter's representations, +to be the cause of increased sorrow, the +destroyer of his dear child's happiness. What +to do he could not tell. His daughter, wrought +upon by her own jealousy, had evinced, under +its influence, so much temper she had never displayed +before, that it seemed more than likely +the cherished match would be broken off. His +high-minded niece saved him any farther anxiety +as far as she was concerned. She sent for +and convinced him fully and entirely of her total +freedom from the base design imputed to +her. "Was it likely," she said, "that I should +reject the man I love lest I should drag him into +poverty, and plunge at once with one I do not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page185" id="page185"></a>[pg 185]</span> +care for into the abyss I dread? This is the +common sense view of the case; but there is +yet another. Is it to be borne that I would +seek to rob <i>your</i> child of her happiness? The +supposition is an insult too gross to be endured. +I will leave my mother to-morrow. An old +school-fellow, older and more fortunate than +myself, wished me to educate her little girl. I +had one or two strong objections to living in her +house; but the desire to be independent and +away has overcome them." She then, with +many tears, entreated her uncle still to protect +her mother; urged how she had been sorely +tried; and communicated fears, she had reason +to believe were too well founded, that her eldest +brother, feeling the reverse more than he +could bear, had deserted from his regiment.</p> + +<p>Charles Adams was deeply moved by the nobleness +of his niece, and reproved his daughter +more harshly than he had ever done before, for +the feebleness that created so strong and unjust +a passion. This had the contrary effect to what +he had hoped for: she did not hesitate to say +that her cousin had endeavoured to rob her both +of the affection of her lover and her father. +The injured cousin left Repton bowed beneath +an accumulation of troubles, not one of which +was of her own creating, not one of which she +deserved; and all springing from the unproviding +nature of him who, had he been asked the +question, would have declared himself ready to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page186" id="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> +sacrifice his own life for the advantage of that +daughter, now compelled to work for her own +bread. To trace the career of Mary Adams in +her new calling, would be to repeat what I have +said before. The more refined, the more informed +the governess, the more she suffers. +Being with one whom she had known in better +days, made it even more hard to bend; yet she +did her duty, and <i>that</i> is one of the highest privileges a woman can enjoy.</p> + + + + +<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3> + + +<p>Leaving Mary for a moment, let us return to +Repton. Here discord, having once entered, +was making sad ravages, and all were suffering +from it. It was but too true that the eldest of +the Adamses had deserted; his mother clinging +with a parent's fondness to her child, concealed +him, and thus offended Charles Adams beyond +all reconciliation. The third lad, who was +walking the London hospitals, and exerting +himself beyond his strength, was everything +that a youth could be; but his declining health +was represented to his uncle, by one of those +whom his mother's pride had insulted, as a cloak +for indolence. In short, before another year +had quite passed, the family of the once rich and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page187" id="page187"></a>[pg 187]</span> +fashionable Dr. Adams had shared the fate of +all dependents—worn out the benevolence, or +patience, or whatever it really is, of their "best +friends." Nor was this the only consequence +of the physician's neglect of a duty due alike +to God and society; his brother had really done +so much for the bereaved family, as to give +what the world called "just grounds" to Mrs. +Charles Adams's repeated complaints, "that +now her husband was ruining his industrious +family to keep the lazy widow of his spend-thrift +brother and her favourite children in idleness. +Why could she not live upon the 'fine +folk' she was always throwing in her face?" +The daughter, too, of whose approaching union +the fond father had been so proud, was now, +like her cousin whom she had wronged by her +mean suspicions, deserted; the match broken +off after much bickering; one quarrel having +brought on another, until they separated by +mutual consent. Her temper and her health +were both materially impaired; and her beauty +was converted into hardness and acidity.</p> + +<p>Oh! how utterly groundless is the idea, that +in our social state, where one human being +must so much depend upon another, any man, +neglecting his positive duties, can be called +only "his own enemy." What misery had not +Dr. Adams's neglect entailed, not alone on his +immediate family, but on that of his brother. +Besides, there were ramifications of distress; +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page188" id="page188"></a>[pg 188]</span> +he died even more embarrassed than his brother +had at first believed, and some trades-people +were consequently embarrassed; but the deep +misery fell upon his children. Meanwhile, +Mrs. Dr. Adams had left Repton with her +younger children, to be the dependants of Mary in London.</p> + +<p>It was not until a fatal disease had seized upon +her mother, that Mary ventured to appeal +again to her uncle's generosity. "My second +brother," she said, "has out of his small means +remitted her five pounds. My eldest brother +seems altogether to have disappeared from +amongst us; finding that his unhappy presence +had occasioned so fatal a separation between +his mother and you—a disunion which I saw +was the effect of many small causes, rather +than one great one—he left us, and we cannot +trace him. This has broken my poor mother's +heart; he was the cherished one of all her children. +My youngest brother has been for the +last month an inmate of one of the hospitals +which my poor father attended for so many +years, and where his word was law. My sister +Rosa, she upon whom my poor father poured, +if possible, more of his affection than he bestowed +upon me—my lovely sister, of whom, +even in our poverty, I was so proud—so young, +only upon the verge of womanhood—has, you +already know, left us. Would to God it had +been for her grave, rather than her destroyer!—a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page189" id="page189"></a>[pg 189]</span> +fellow-student of that poor youth, who, if +he dreamt of her dishonour, would stagger like +a spectre from what will be his death-bed to +avenge her. Poverty is one of the surest guides +to dishonour; those who have not been tempted +know nothing of it. It is one thing to see +it, another to feel it. Do not think her altogether +base, because she had not the strength of +a heroine. I have been obliged to resign my +situation to attend my mother, and the only income +we have is what I earn by giving lessons +on the harp and piano. I give, for <i>two shillings</i>, +the same instruction for which my father paid +half a guinea a lesson; if I did not I should +have no pupils. It is more than a month since +my mother left her bed; and my youngest sister, +bending beneath increased delicacy of +health, is her only attendant. I know her +mind to be so tortured, and her body so convulsed +by pain, that I have prayed to God to +render her fit for Heaven, and take her from +her sufferings. Imagine the weight of sorrow +that crushed me to my knees with such a petition +as that. I know all you have done, and +yet I ask you now, in remembrance of the boyish +love that bound you and my father together, +to lessen her bodily anguish by the sacrifice of +a little more; that she, nursed in the lap of +luxury, may not pass from life with starvation +as her companion. My brother's gift is expended; and during the last three weeks I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page190" id="page190"></a>[pg 190]</span> +have earned but twelve shillings; my pupils +are out of town. Do, for a moment remember +what I was, and think how humbled I must be +to frame this supplication; but it is a child that +petitions for a parent, and I know I have never +forfeited your esteem. In a few weeks, perhaps +in a few days, my brother and my mother will +meet my poor father face to face. Oh! that I +could be assured that reproach and bitterness +for the past do not pass the portals of the grave. +Forgive me this, as you have already forgiven +me much. Alas! I know too well that our misfortunes +drew misfortunes upon others. I was +the unhappy but innocent cause of much sorrow +at the Grange; but, oh! do not refuse the +<i>last</i> request that I will ever make." The letter was blotted by tears.</p> + +<p>Charles Adams was from home when it arrived, +and his wife, knowing the handwriting, +and having made a resolution never to open a +letter "from that branch of the family," did +not send it after her husband "lest it might +tease him." Ten days elapsed before he received +it; and when he did, he could not be +content with writing, but lost not a moment in +hastening to the address. Irritated and disappointed +that what he really had done should +have been so little appreciated, when every hour +of his life he was smarting in one way or other +from his exertions—broken-hearted at his daughter's +blighted health and happiness—angered +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page191" id="page191"></a>[pg 191]</span> +by the reckless wildness of one nephew, and +what he believed was the idleness of another—and +convinced that Rosa's fearful step was owing +to the pampering and mismanagement of +her foolish mother—Charles Adams satisfied +himself that, as he did not hear to the contrary +from Mary, all things were going on well, or at +least not ill. He thought as little about them +as he possibly could, no people in the world being +so conveniently forgotten (when they are not +importunate) as poor relations; but the letter of +his favourite niece spoke strongly to his heart, +and in two hours after his return home he set +forth for the London suburb from whence the +letter was dated. It so chanced, that to get to +that particular end of the town, he was obliged +to pass the house his brother had occupied so +splendidly for a number of years; the servants +had lit the lamps, and were drawing the curtains +of the noble dining-room; and a party of ladies +were descending from a carriage, which prevented +two others from setting down. It looked +like old times. "Some one else," thought +Charles Adams, "running the same career of +wealth and extravagance. God grant it may +not lead to the same results!" He paused, and +looked up the front of the noble mansion; the +drawing-room windows were open, and two +beautiful children were standing on an ottoman +placed between the windows, probably to keep +them apart. He thought of Mary's childhood, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page192" id="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> +and how she was occupied at that moment, and +hastened onward. There are times when life +seems one mingled dream, and it is not easy to +become dispossessed of the idea when some of +its frightful changes are brought almost together under our view.</p> + +<p>"Is Miss Adams at home?" inquired her +uncle of a woman leaning against the door of a miserable house.</p> + +<p>"I don't know; she went to the hospital this +morning; but I'm not sure she's in; it's the +second pair back; it's easy known, for the sob +has not ceased in that room these two nights; some people do take on so"—</p> + +<p>Charles Adams did not hear the concluding +sentence, but sought the room; the door would +not close, and he heard a low sobbing sound +from within; he paused, but his step had aroused +the mourner—"Come in, Mary; come in; I +know how it is," said a young voice; "he is +dead; one grave for mother and son—one +grave for mother and son! I see your shadow, +dark as it is; have you brought a candle? It +is very fearful to be alone with the dead—even one's own mother—in the dark."</p> + +<p>Charles Adams entered the room; but his +sudden appearance in the twilight, and evidently +not knowing him, overcame the girl, his +youngest niece, so much, that she screamed, +and fell on her knees by her mother's corpse. +He called for lights, and was speedily obeyed, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page193" id="page193"></a>[pg 193]</span> +for he put a piece of gold in the woman's hand. +She turned it over, and as she hastened from +the room, muttered, "If this had come sooner, +she'd not have died of starvation or burdened +the parish for a shroud; it's hard the rich can't look to their own."</p> + +<p>When Mary returned, she was fearfully calm. +"No, her brother was not dead," she said; "the +young were longer dying than those whom the +world had worn out; the young knew so little +of the world, they thought it hard to leave it;" +and she took off her bonnet, and sat down; +and while her uncle explained why he had not +written, she looked at him with eyes so fixed +and cold, that he paused, hoping she would speak, +so painful was their stony expression; but she +let him go on, without offering one word of assurance +of any kind feeling or remembrance; +and when she stooped to adjust a portion of the +coarse plaiting of the shroud—that mockery of +"the purple and fine linen of living days"—her +uncle saw that her hair, her luxuriant hair, was striped with white.</p> + +<p>"There is no need for words now," she said +at last; "no need. I thought you would have +sent; she required but little—but very little; the +dust rubbed from the gold she once had would +have been riches: but the little she did require +she had not, and so she died; but what weighs +heaviest upon my mind was her calling so continually +on my father, to know <i>why</i> he had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page194" id="page194"></a>[pg 194]</span> +deserted her: she attached no blame latterly to +any one, only called day and night upon him. +Oh! it was hard to bear—it was very hard to bear."</p> + +<p>"I will send a proper person in the morning +to arrange that she may be placed with my brother," said Charles.</p> + +<p>Mary shrieked almost with the wildness of a +maniac. "No, no; as far from him as possible! Oh! not with him! She was to blame +in our days of splendour as much as he was; +but she could not see it; and I durst not reason +with her. Not with him! <i>She would disturb him in his grave!</i>"</p> + +<p>Her uncle shuddered, while the young girl +sobbed in the bitter wailing tone their landlady complained of.</p> + +<p>"No," resumed Mary, "let the parish bury +her; even its officers were kind; and if you +bury her, or they, it is still a pauper's funeral. +I see all these things clearly now; death, while +it closes the eyes of some, opens the eyes of others; it has opened mine."</p> + +<p>But why should I prolong this sad story. It +is not the tale of one, but of many. There are +dozens, scores, hundreds of instances of the +same kind, <i>arising from the same cause</i>, in our +broad islands. In the lunatic asylum, where +that poor girl, even Mary Adams, has found refuge +during the past two years, there are many +cases of insanity arising from change of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page195" id="page195"></a>[pg 195]</span> +circumstances, where a fifty pounds' insurance +would have set such maddening distress at defiance. +I know that her brother died in the hospital +within a few days; and the pale, sunken-eyed +girl, whose damp yellow hair and thin +white hand are so eagerly kissed by the gentle +maniac when she visits her, month by month, is +the youngest, and, I believe, the <i>last</i> of her family, +at least the last in England. Oh, that those +who foolishly boast that their actions only affect +themselves, would look carefully abroad, and if +they doubt what I have faithfully told, examine +into the causes which crowd the world with +cases even worse than I have here recorded!</p> + +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Turns of Fortune, by Mrs. S. C. 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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: Turns of Fortune + And Other Tales + +Author: Mrs. S. C. Hall + +Release Date: May 31, 2005 [EBook #15961] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TURNS OF FORTUNE *** + + + + +Produced by Internet Archive, University of Florida, PM +Childrens Library, William Flis, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + +FRANCIS & CO.'S + +LITTLE LIBRARY: + +FOR YOUNG PERSONS OF VARIOUS AGES. + + * * * * * + +TURNS OF FORTUNE: + +BY MRS. S.C. HALL. + + + + +FRANCIS & CO.'S LITTLE LIBRARY. + +C.S. Francis & Co., New York, _have published a uniform Series of +Choice volumes for Young People, by some of the most distinguished +writers for Children. Neatly bound in cloth, and illustrated by +Engravings._ + +L. MARIA CHILD.--FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 1, for Children eight or +nine years old. + +---- FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 2, for Children three or four years +old. + +---- FLOWERS FOR CHILDREN: No. 3, for Children eleven or twelve years +old. + +MARY HOWITT.--FIRESIDE TALES. + +---- THE CHRISTMAS TREE: A Book of Stories. + +---- THE TURTLE DOVE OF CARMEL; and Other Stories. + +---- THE FAVORITE SCHOLAR; LITTLE CHATTERBOX; PERSEVERANCE, and other +Tales. By Mary Howitt, Mrs. S.C. Hall, and others. + +MRS. TRIMMER.--THE ROBBINS; OR DOMESTIC LIFE AMONG THE BIRDS. Designed +for the Instruction of Children respecting their Treatment of Animals. + +MISS LESLIE.--RUSSEL AND SIDNEY AND CHASE LORING: Tales of the +American Revolution. + +MRS. CAROLINE GILMAN.--THE LITTLE WREATH OF STORIES AND POEMS FOR +CHILDREN. + +---- STORIES AND POEMS FOR CHILDREN. + +HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.--A CHRISTMAS GREETING: Thirteen New Stories +from the Danish of Hans Christian Andersen. + +---- A PICTURE BOOK WITHOUT PICTURES; and other Stories: by Hans +Christian Andersen. Translated by Mary Howitt, with a Memoir of the +Author. + +---- A DANISH STORY BOOK. + +CLAUDINE; OR HUMILITY THE BASIS OF ALL THE VIRTUES. A Swiss Tale. By a +Mother; author of "Always Happy," "True Stories from History," &c. + +FACTS TO CORRECT FANCIES; or Short Narratives compiled from the +Memoirs of Remarkable Women. By a Mother. + +HOLIDAY STORIES. Containing five Moral Tales. + +MRS. HOFLAND.--THE HISTORY OF AN OFFICER'S WIDOW, and her Young +Family. + +---- THE CLERGYMAN'S WIDOW, and her Young Family. + +---- THE MERCHANT'S WIDOW, and her Young Family. + +MISS ABBOT.--KATE AND LIZZIE; OR SIX MONTHS OUT OF SCHOOL. + +MISS ELIZA ROBBINS.--CLASSIC TALES. Designed for the Instruction +and Amusement of Young Persons. By the author of "American Popular +Lessons," &c. + +MRS. S.C. HALL.--TURNS OF FORTUNE; ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS, &C. + +---- THE PRIVATE PURSE; CLEVERNESS, and other Tales. + + + + +NEW VOLUMES + +OF + +FRANCIS & CO.'S LITTLE LIBRARY. + +_Thirty volumes of this series have been published, including some +of the choicest books for young people, by Mary Howitt; Maria Child; +Mrs. Hofland; Mrs. Hall; Mrs. Gilman; Miss Leslie; Hans Andersen, and +others_. + +The Story Teller; TALES FROM THE DANISH of Hans Christian Andersen. + +_Containing_ Ole Luckoeie; The Buckwheat: The Wild Swans; The Angel; +The Fellow-Traveler; The Elfin Mound; The Flying Trunk; The Bundle of +Matches. + +The Ugly Duck; AND OTHER TALES: by Hans Christian Andersen. + +_Containing_ The Ugly Duck; Top and Ball; The Little Mermaid; The +Storks; The Nightingale: The Rose of the Elf; Holger Danske; The +Emperor Frederick Barbarossa; The Dying Child. + +Little Ellie; AND OTHER TALES: by Hans Christian Andersen. + +_Containing_ Little Ellie; The Tinder Box; The Wicked King; The +Resolute Leaden Soldier; The Garden of Paradise; The Shepherdess and +Chimney-Sweep; Little Ida's Flowers; The Daisy; New Year's Eve. + +The Merchant's Daughter; AND OTHER TALES: by Mrs. S.C. Hall. + +How to Win Love; OR, RHODA'S LESSON. A story for the Young. + +"A delightful little book, which will not only attract the young, but +minister instruction to the _instructors_ of youth."--_Edin. Witness_. + + + +TURNS OF FORTUNE; + +AND OTHER TALES. + +BY MRS. S.C. HALL. + + + + +NEW-YORK. C.S. FRANCIS & CO., 252 BROADWAY. + +BOSTON: J.H. FRANCIS, 128 WASHINGTON-STREET. + +1851. + + + + +CONTENTS + + TURNS OF FORTUNE 9 + + "ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS" 63 + + "THERE IS NO HURRY" 143 + + + + +TURNS OF FORTUNE + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"Hush, Sarah!" exclaimed old Jacob Bond, as he sat up in his bed, +while the wind clattered and whistled through the shivering window +frames. "Hush! Is that Brindle's bark?" + +"No, father; it is one of the farm dogs near the village. Lie down, +dearest father; it is a cold night, and you are trembling." + +"I don't know why I should feel cold, Sarah," he replied, pointing his +shadowy fingers towards the grate, where an abundant fire blazed; "I +am sure you have put down as much wood as would roast an ox." + +"It is so very cold, father." + +"Still, we must not be wasteful, Sarah," he answered; "wilful waste +makes woful want." Sarah Bond covered the old man carefully over, +while he laid himself stiffly down upon his pallet, re-muttering his +favourite proverb over and over again. + +She then drew the curtains more closely, and seated herself in an +old-fashioned chair beside a little table in front of the fire. + +The room had been the drawing-room of the old house in which Mr. Bond +and his daughter resided, but for the sake of saving both labour and +expense, he had had his bed removed into it; and though anything but +comfortable, a solitary, impoverished, and yet gorgeous appearance +pervaded the whole, such as those who delineate interiors, loving +small lights and deep shadows, would covet to convey to their canvass. +The bed upon which the old man lay was canopied, and of heavy crimson +damask. In the dim light of that spacious room, it looked to the +worn-out eyes of Sarah Bond more like a hearse than a bed. Near it +was an old spinnet, upon which stood a labelled vial, a tea-cup, and +a spoon. When Sarah seated herself at the table, she placed her elbows +upon it, and pressed her folded hands across her eyes; no sigh or moan +escaped her, but her chest heaved convulsively; and when she removed +her hands, she drew a Bible toward her, trimmed the lamp, and began to +read. + +The voice of an old French clock echoed painfully through the chamber. +Sarah longed to stop it, and yet it was a companion in her watchings. +Once, a shy, suspicious, bright-eyed mouse rattled among the cinders, +and ran into the wainscot, and then came out again, and stared at +Sarah Bond, who, accustomed to such visits, did not raise her eyes +to inquire into the cause of the rustling which in a few more moments +took place upon a tray containing the remnants of some bread and +cheese, her frugal supper. + +"Sarah," croaked Mr. Bond; "what noise is that?" + +"Only the mice, father, as usual; do, father, try to sleep. I watch +carefully; there is nothing to fear." + +"Ay, ay, men and mice all the same; nothing but waste. When I am gone, +Sarah, keep what you will have; it won't be much, Sarah, my poor girl, +it won't be much; just enough to need care; but KEEP IT; don't lend +it, or give it, or spend it; you are fond of spending, my poor girl; +see that huge fire, enough for three nights; early bad habits. When +we lived in a small house and were poor, it was then you learned to be +extravagant; I had no money then, so did not know its value." + +"But we were happier then, father," said Sarah Bond; "we were so +cheerful and happy then, and so many poor people blessed my dear +mother, and Mary"-- + +"Hiss--ss," uttered the dying miser; "don't dare mention your sister, +who disgraced me by marrying a pauper; a pauper who threatened my +life, because I would not give him my money to save him from starving; +but he _did not_ get the old father-in-law's gold; no; he _starved, +and_"-- + +The words thus uttered by her father, who she knew had not many hours +to live--uttered, too, with such demoniac bitterness--forced the +gentle, patient woman to start from her seal, and pass rapidly across +the room to the side of his bed, where she sank upon her knees, and +seized his shrunken hands in hers. "Father!" she exclaimed, "I have +been your child for forty years, and you have said, that during that +period, by no act of my own, have I _ever_ angered you. Is it not so?" +The old man withdrew one hand gently, turned himself round, and looked +in her face: "Forty years! Is it forty years?" he repeated; "but it +must be; the fair brow is wrinkled, and the abundant hair grown thin +and gray. You were a pretty baby, Sarah, and a merry child; a cheerful +girl, too, until that foolish fancy. Well, dear, I'll say no more +about it; good, dutiful girl. You gave it up to please your father +full twenty years ago, and when he dies, you shall have _all_ his +gold--there's a good father! You must _keep_ it, Sarah, and not give +it, nor lend it. I know you won't marry, as _he_ is dead; nor see your +sister--mind that; if you see _her_, or serve her, the bitterest curse +that ever rose from a father's grave will compass you in on every +side." + +"My father!" she said, "oh! in mercy to yourself, revoke these words. +She knew nothing of her husband's conduct; he used her even worse than +he used you. Oh! for my sake say you will forgive Mary. It is all I +ask. Do what you please with your wealth, but forgive my sister." + +"You were always a fool, Sarah," he replied faintly and peevishly. "If +I could do as I please, I would take my property with me, for you will +surely spend it. But there is another condition, another promise you +must give me. Now, don't interrupt me again. We will talk of _her_ +by-and-bye, perhaps. As long as you live, Sarah, _as you value my +blessing_, you must not part with anything in this room. You will live +on in the old house, or perhaps sell it, and have a smaller; yet don't +spend money in new furnishing--don't; but never part with anything in +_this room_; never so much as a stick." + +This promise was willingly given; for, independently of her love for +her father, Sarah Bond had become attached to the inanimate objects +which had so long been before her. Again she endeavoured to lead +her father away from that avarice which had corrupted his soul, and +driven happiness and peace from their dwelling. She urged the duty of +forgiveness, and pleaded hard for her sister; but, though the hours +wore away, she made no impression upon him. Utterly unmindful of +her words, he did not either interrupt her or fall into his former +violence. On the contrary, he seemed involved in some intricate +calculation--counting on his fingers, or casting up lines of imaginary +figures upon the coverlit. + +Sarah, heart-broken, and silently weeping, retreated to the table, and +again, after turning the fire, betook her to her solace--the precious +volume that never fails to afford consolation to the afflicted. She +read a few passages, and then, though she looked upon the book, her +mind wandered. She recalled the happy days of her childhood, before +her father, by the extraordinary and most unexpected bequest of a +distant relative, became possessed of property to what extent she +could form no idea. She knew that this relative had quarrelled with +the heir-at-law, and left all to one he had never seen. This bequest +had closed up her father's heart; instead of being a blessing, so +perfectly avaricious had he grown, that it was a curse. Previously, he +had been an industrious farmer; and though a thrifty one, had evinced +none of the bitterness of avarice, none of its hardness or tyranny. +He could then sleep at nights, permit his wife and children to share +their frugal stores with those who needed, troll "Ere around the huge +oak," while his wife accompanied him on the spinnet, and encourage +his daughters to wed men in what was their then sphere of life, rather +than those who might not consider the gentle blood they inherited, and +their superior education, a sufficient set-off to their limited means +and humble station. Suddenly, riches poured in upon him: his eldest +daughter, true to the faith she plighted, would marry her humble +lover, and her father's subsequent harshness to her favourite +child broke the mother's heart. Sarah not only had less firmness of +character than her sister, but loved her father more devotedly, and +gave up the affection of her young heart to please him. His narrow +nature could not understand the sacrifice: and when her cheek faded, +and her really beautiful face contracted into the painful expression +of that pining melancholy which has neither words nor tears--to lull +his sympathy, he muttered to himself, "good girl, _she_ shall have +_all_ I have." + +No human passion grows with so steady, so imperceptible, yet so +rampant a growth as avarice. It takes as many shapes as Proteus, +and may be called, above all others, the vice of middle life, that +soddens into the gangrene of old age; gaining strength by vanquishing +all virtues and generous emotions, it is a creeping, sly, keen, +persevering, insidious sin, assuming various forms, to cheat even +itself; for it shames to name itself unto itself; a cowardly, +darkness-loving sin, never daring to look human nature in the face; +full of lean excuses for self-imposed starvation, only revelling +in the impurity and duskiness of its own shut-up heart. At last the +joy-bells ring its knell, while it crawls into eternity like a vile +reptile, leaving a slimy track upon the world. + +The inmates of the mansion enclosed in its old court-yard had long +ceased to attract the observation of their neighbours. Sometimes +Sarah called at the butcher's, but she exchanged smiles or greetings +with few; and the baker rang the rusty bell twice a-week, which was +answered by their only servant. When Mr. Bond first took possession +of the manor-house, he hired five domestics, and everybody said they +could not do with so few; and there were two men to look after the +gardens; but after his daughter's elopement and his wife's death, +three were discharged, and he let the lands and gardens; and then +another went, and Sarah felt the loneliness so great, that she made +the remaining one sleep in her own room. The house had been frequently +attacked; once, in a fit of despair, her brother-in-law had forced +his way in the night to the old man's side, and but for her prompt +interference, murder would have been done. No wonder, then, that her +shattered nerves trembled as she watched the shortening candle, and +heard the raving of the wind, saw the spectral shadows the broken +plumes that ornamented the canopy of the bed cast upon the fantastic +walls, _felt_ that _his_ hour was at hand, and feared that "he would +die and make no sign;" still, while those waving fantasies passing +to and fro through her active but weakened mind, made her tremble +in every limb, and ooze at every pore; and though unable to read +on steadily, her eyes continued fixed upon the book which her hand +grasped, with the same feeling that made those of old cling to the +altar of their God for sanctuary. Suddenly her father called--and she +started as from a dream--"Sarah!" + +She hastened to his side; "Dear father, what do you want?" + +"Child, the room is dark; and you had so much light just now. All +is dark. Where are you? But it was better, after all, to put out the +light; wilful waste makes"-- + +Before the miser had concluded his proverb, the light of _his_ +existence was extinguished for ever! + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Several weeks elapsed before Sarah Bond recovered sufficiently from +the shock, ay, and genuine grief, occasioned by her father's death, +so as to investigate her affairs; the hardness and the tyranny she +had borne for so many years had become habitual, and her own will was +absolutely paralysed by inaction. Jacob Bond had always treated his +daughter as if she were a baby, and it was some time before she could +collect herself sufficiently to calculate upon her future plans. She +had no friends; and the sister to whom, despite her father's cruel +words, her heart clung so fondly, was far from her, she knew not +where. The mourning for herself and her servant was ordered from a +neighbouring shop, with a carelessness as to expense which made people +say that Sarah was of habits different from her father. + +The rector and curate of the parish both called, but she shrunk +from strangers. The very first act, however, of her liberty, was to +take a pew at church, a whole pew, to herself, which she ordered to +be curtained all round. Some said this indicated pride, some said +ostentation; but it was simply shyness. And soon after she placed in +the aisle a white marble tablet, "To the memory of Jacob Bond, who +died in the seventy-eighth year of his age, deeply lamented by his +sorrowing daughter." + +Some ladies connected with a society for clothing the poor, called +upon and explained to her their object; she poked five old guineas +into the hands of the spokeswoman, but forbade the insertion of her +donation in the visitor's book. During the following week she had +numerous applications from various charitable bodies, to whom she gave +generously, they said, while she reproached herself with narrowness; +to all, however, she positively refused to become a yearly subscriber; +and when closely urged by the rector to be one of the patrons of his +school, she answered, "Sir, my father received his property suddenly, +and I may be as suddenly deprived of it. I will give, but I will not +promise." Her impulse was to give, her habit to withhold. + +She added one more servant to her establishment; and as she did not +send out cards returning thanks for the 'inquiries,' which increased +daily, Sarah Bond was a very lonely woman; for though some, from +curiosity, others from want of occupation, others, again, from the +unfortunately universal desire to form acquaintance with the rich, +would have been glad, now the solitary old miser was gone, to make +fellowship with his gentle-looking and wealthy daughter, yet her +reserve and quietness prevented the fulfilment of their wishes. Weeks +and months rolled on; the old house had been repaired and beautified. +Mr. Cramp, Sarah's law agent and 'man of business,' advised her to let +the house, of which she occupied about as much as a wren could fill of +the nest of an eagle; and, strangely enough, finding that the house +of her childhood was to let, she took it, removing thither all the +furniture which her father made her promise never to part with. +The ceiling of the best bed-room was obliged to be raised to admit +the lofty bed with its plumes, and the spinnet was assigned a very +comfortable corner in a parlour, where the faded stately chairs +and gorgeous furniture formed a curious contrast to the bright +neatly-papered walls and drugget-covered floor; for in all matters +connected with her own personal expenses, Sarah Bond was exceedingly +frugal. + +_After_ her removal, though shy and strange as ever, still she +_looked_ kind things to her rich, and _did_ kind things to her poor +neighbours, only in a strange, unusual way; and her charity was given +by fits mid starts--not continuously. She moved silently about her +garden, and evinced much care for her plants and flowers. Closely +economical from long habit, rather than inclination, her domestic +arrangements were strangely at variance with what could not be called +public gifts, because she used every effort in her power to conceal +her munificence. She did not, it is true, think and calculate, how the +greatest good could be accomplished. She knew but one path to charity, +and that was paved with gold. She did not know how to offer sympathy, +or to enhance a gift by the manner of giving. Her father had +sacrificed everything to multiply and keep his wealth; all earthly +happiness had been given up for it; and unsatisfying as it had been +to her own heart, it had satisfied his. Inclination prompted to give, +habit to withhold; and certainly Sarah Bond felt far more enjoyment in +obeying inclination than in following habit; though sometimes what she +believed a duty triumphed over inclination. + +If Sarah Bond ministered to her sister's necessities, she did so +secretly, hardly venturing to confess she did so, but shielding +herself from her father's curse, by sending to her sister's child, and +not her sister. Receiving few letters, the village postman grumbled +far more at having to walk out to Greenfield, than if he was +accustomed to do so every day; and one morning in particular; when +he was obliged to do so while the rain poured, he exhibited a letter, +sealed with a large black seal, to the parish-clerk, saying he wished +with all his heart Miss Bond had remained at the old manor-house up +street, instead of changing; and where was the good of taking her +a mourning letter such a gloomy day? it would be very unkind, and +he would keep it "till the rain stopped;" and so he did, until the +next morning; then taking back word to the village postmaster that +Miss Bond wanted a post-chaise and four horses instantly, which +intelligence set not only the inn, but the whole village in commotion. +She, who had never wanted a post-chaise before, to want four horses to +it now, was really wonderful. + +"Which road shall I take, Miss?" inquired the post-boy, turning round +in his saddle, and touching his cap. + +"On straight," was the answer. Such a thrill of disappointment as +ran through the little crowd, who stood at the door to witness her +departure. "On straight!" Why, they must wait the post-boy's return +before they could possibly know which way she went. Such provoking +suspense was enough to drive the entire village demented. + +Miss Bond remained away a month, and then returned, bringing with her +her niece, a girl of about eight years old--her deceased sister's only +child, Mabel Graham. + +The following Sunday Sarah Bond went to church, leading her young +companion by the hand; both were in deep mourning, and yet the very +least observant of the congregation remarked, that they had never seen +Miss Bond look so happy as when, coming out after service, and finding +that the wind had changed to the north-east, she took off her scarf +in the church porch, and put it round the neck of the lovely girl, who +strongly remonstrated against the act. It was evident that Mabel had +been accustomed to have her own way; for when she found her aunt was +resolved her throat should be protected, she turned round, and in +a moment tore the silk into halves. "Now, dear aunt, neither of our +throats will suffer," she exclaimed; while Sarah Bond did not know +whether she ought to combat her wilfulness or applaud the tender +care of herself. It was soon talked of throughout the village, how +wonderfully Sarah Bond was changed; how cheerful and even gay she had +become. Instead of avoiding society, how willingly, yet how awkwardly, +she entered into it; how eagerly she sought to learn and to make +herself acquainted with every source and system of education. No +traveller in the parchy desert ever thirsted more for water than she +did for knowledge, and her desire seemed to increase with what it fed +upon. The more she had the more she required; and all this was for the +sake of imparting all she learned to Mabel. She fancied that teachers +might not be kind to this new-found idol; that she could transfer +information more gently and continuously; that the relative was the +best instructress; in short, the pent-up tenderness of her nature, the +restrained torrent of affections that had so long lain dormant, were +poured forth upon the little heiress, as she was already called; and +captious and determined she was, as ever heiress could be; but withal +of so loving a nature, and so guileless a heart, so confiding, so +generous, and so playful, and overflowing with mirth and mischief, +that it would have been impossible to fancy any living creature who +had felt the sunshine of fourteen summers more charming or tormenting. + +"I wish, dear aunt," exclaimed Mabel, one morning, as she sat at her +embroidery, the sun shining through the open window upon the abundant +glories of her hair, while her aunt sat, as she always did, opposite +to her, that she might, when she raised her eyes from off the +Italian lesson she was conning for her especial edification, have the +happiness of seeing her without an effort; "I wish, dear aunt, you +would send that old spinnet out of the room; it looks so odd by the +side of my beautiful piano." + +"My dear Mabel," replied her aunt, "I have put as much _new_ furniture +as you wished into this room, but I cannot part with the old"-- + +"Rubbish!" added Mabel, snapping her worsted with the impatience of +the movement. + +"It may be rubbish in _your_ eyes, Mabel, but I have told you before +that my dear father desired I should never part with the furniture of +the room he died in." + +Mabel _looked_ the truth--"that she was not more inclined toward the +old furniture on that account;" but she did not say so. "Have you got +the key of the old spinnet, aunt? I should like to hear its tone." + +"I have never found the key, my dear, though I have often looked for +it; I suppose my father lost it. I have danced to its music before now +to my mother's playing; but I am sure it has not a tone left." + +"I wish you would dance now, dear aunt," exclaimed Mabel, jumping up +at the idea; "you never told me you could dance; I never, somehow, +fancied you could dance, and I have been obliged to practise my +quadrilles with two high-backed chairs and my embroidery frame. Do, +dear aunt; put by that book, and dance." It would be impossible to +fancy a greater contrast than aunt and niece. Sarah Bond's erect and +perfectly flat figure was surmounted by a long head and face, round +which an abundance of gray hair was folded; for by no other term can +I describe its peculiar dress; her cap plain, but white as snow; and a +black silk gown, that had seen its best days, was pinned and _primmed_ +on, so as to sit as close as possible to a figure which would have +been greatly improved by heavy and abundant drapery. Mabel, lithe and +restless, buoyant and energetic, unable even to wish for more luxury +or more happiness than she possessed, so that her active mind was +_forced_ to employ its longings on trifles, as it really had nothing +else to desire; her face was round as those faces are which become +oval in time; and her bright laughing eyes sparkled like sunbeams +at the bare notion of making "aunt Sarah" take either the place of a +high-backed chair, or the embroidery frame in a quadrille. "Do dance," +she repeated. + +"My dear child, I know as little of your quadrilles as you do of my +country dances and reels. No, Mabel; I can neither open the spinnet +nor dance quadrilles; so you have been twice refused this morning; a +novelty, is it not, my dearest Mabel?" + +"But why do you not break open the spinnet? Do break it open, aunt; I +want to see the inside of it so much." + +"No, Mabel; the lock is a peculiar one, and could not be broken +without defacing the marquetre on the cover, which I should not like +to do. My poor mother was so proud of that cover, and used to dust and +polish it with her own hands." + +"What! herself?" exclaimed the pretty Mabel; "why did not her servants +do it?" + +"Because, my dear, she had but one." + +"But one! I remember when my poor mamma had none," sighed Mabel, "and +we were _so_ miserable." + +"But not from lack of attendants, I think," answered Sarah Bond. "If +they _are_ comforts, they are careful ones, and sadly wasteful. We +were never so happy as we were then. Your mother and I used to set +the milk, and mind the poultry, and make the butter, and cultivate the +flower-garden, and help to do the house work; and then in the evening +we would run in the meadows, come home laden with wild flowers, and +tired as we were by alternate work and play, my dear mother would play +on that old instrument, and my poor father sing, and we sisters wound +up the evening by a merry dance, your mother and myself trying hard +which could keep up the dance longest." + +Mabel resumed her embroidery without once speaking. Sarah Bond laid +down the book she had been reading, and moved restlessly about; her +manner, when either thoughtful or excited, prevented her features +from being disturbed; so her feelings were soothed by wandering from +place to place, or table to table; but after a considerable pause, +she said--"I wish you were a little older, Mabel; I wish you to be +older, that I might convince you, dear, that it is in vain to expect +happiness from the possession of wealth, unless we circulate it, share +it with others, and yet do so prudently and watchingly. Yet, my poor +dear father would be very angry if he heard me say that, Mabel." + +"Yes, I know," interrupted the thoughtless girl, "_for he was a +miser_." + +"Hush, Mabel!" exclaimed her aunt; "how can you say anything so harsh +of him from whom we inherit all we have. He was careful, peculiar, +very peculiar; but he saved all for me; and may God judge mercifully +between him and me if I cannot in all things do as he would have had +me," and then she paused, as if reasoning and arguing with herself; +apologising for the human throes in her own bosom that led her to act +so frequently in direct opposition to her father's desires; so that to +those who could not understand her motives and feelings, she appeared +every day more inconsistent. "It is difficult to judge of motives in +any case. I am sure, if he had only gone abroad into the world, and +seen distress as I have seen it, he could not have shut his heart +against his fellow-creatures: but his feelings were hardened against +some, whom he considered types of all, and he shut himself up; and +seeing no misery, at last believed, as many do, whom the world never +dreams of calling as you called him, Mabel--seeing no misery, believed +that it only existed in the popular whine. I am sure, if he had seen, +he would have relieved it. I always think _that_ when I am giving; it +is a great blessing to be able to give; and I would give more, were I +not fearful that it might injure you." + +"Injure me, dear aunt, how?" + +"Why, Mabel, my heart is greatly fixed upon seeing you a rich heiress, +and, in time, suitably established." + +"You have just been saying how much happier you were when you were all +poor together, and yet you want to make me rich." + +"People may be very happy in poverty before they have known riches; +but having once been rich, it would, I think, be absurd to suppose we +could ever be happy again in poverty." + +"I saw," replied the girl, "two children pass the gate this morning +while I was gathering flowers--bunches of the simple white jessamine +you love so much, dear aunt--and they asked so hard for bread, that I +sent them a shilling." + +"Too much," interrupted Sarah Bond, habitually rather than from +feeling; "too much, dear Mabel, to give to common beggars." + +"There were two, you know, and they looked wan and hungry. About three +hours after, I was cantering my pony down Swanbrook Lane--the grass +there is so soft and green, that you cannot hear his feet, while I can +hear every grasshopper that chirps--suddenly, I heard a child's voice +singing a tune full of mirth, and I went softly, softly on; and there, +under a tree, sat one of my morning acquaintances, making believe to +sing through a stick, while the other danced with bare feet, and her +very rags fluttered in time to the tune. They looked pale and hungry, +though a thick crust of bread upon the grass proved that they were +not the latter; but I never saw more joy in well-fed, well-clothed +children, for they paused and laughed, and then began again. Poverty +was no pain to _them_, at all events." + +"My dear," said Sarah Bond, "you forget the crust of bread was their +riches, for it was a superfluity." + +"And is it not very shocking that in England a crust of bread _should +be_ a superfluity," inquired Mabel. + +"Very, dear; _but a shilling was a great deal to give at the gate_," +observed her aunt, adding, after a pause, "and yet it shows how little +will make the poor happy. I am sure, if my father had looked abroad, +instead of staying at home to watch his--his--money, he would have +thought it right to share what he had. It is an unnatural thing to +shut one's self up from the duties of life; one gets no interest +for any other outlay to do the heart service; but though those poor +children danced their rags in the sunshine, and felt not the stones +they danced on, yet my dear Mabel could not dance with poverty as her +companion--my blessed, blessed child!" + +"I'd rather dance a jig with mirth than a minuet with melancholy," +laughed the girl; "and yet it would take a great deal to make me +miserable if I were with you, and you loved me, my dear aunt. Still, +I own I like to be rich, so as to have everything I want, and give +everybody what they want; and, aunt Sarah, you know very well I cannot +finish this rose without the pale floss silk, and my maid forgot both +that and to order the seed pearl." + +Mabel's complaint was interrupted by the entrance of the servant, who +told Miss Bond that Mr. Cramp, her attorney, wished to see her. + +"Show him in," said Miss Bond. + +"He wishes to see you alone, ma'am." + +"His wife is going to die, and he will want you to marry him!" +exclaimed Mabel, heedless of the servant's presence. "Do, dear aunt, +and let me be bride's-maid." + +Sarah Bond changed colour; and then, while stooping to kiss her +wayward niece, she called her "a foolish child." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +Mr. Cramp, whom we introduced at the conclusion of the last chapter, +as Miss Bond's man of business, was a plain little man, skilled in the +turnings and windings of the law, beside which he could not be said to +know distinctly any other code of morals. + +On this particular morning, after a few common-place observations, +Mr. Cramp made a somewhat strange inquiry. "Had Miss Bond heard that +Mr. Alfred Bond had come over to England?" No; she had not heard +it. It was, Mr. Cramp _insinuated_ (for he never _said_ anything +directly)--it was rather an awkward circumstance Mr. Alfred Bond's +coming to England. He thought--he believed--he _hoped_ it would make +no difference to Miss Bond. + +Miss Bond opened her wide eyes still more widely. She knew that +Mr. Alfred Bond was the heir-at-law to the property bequeathed her +father; but what of that? he had never, that she heard of, dreamed of +disputing the will; and she had never felt one pang of insecurity as +to the possessions which had of late grown so deeply into her heart. +At this unexpected intimation she felt the blood rush through her +veins in a wild untameable manner. In all her trials--and they had +been many--in all her illnesses--not a few--she had never fainted, +never fallen into that symptom of weak-mindedness, a fit of hysterics; +but now she sat without power of speech, looking at Mr. Cramp's round +face. + +"My dear Miss Bond, you are not ill, I hope?" exclaimed Mr. Cramp. "I +pray you to bear up; what has been said is doubtless wrong--must be +wrong; a threat of the opposite party--an undefined threat, which +we must prepare ourselves to meet in a lawyer-like way. Hope for the +best, and prepare"-- + +"For what, sir?" inquired Miss Bond, gaspingly. + +"For any--anything--that is my plan. Unfortunately, the only way to +deal with the world, so as to meet it on equal terms, is to think +every man a rogue. It is a deeply painful view to take of human +nature, and it agonizes me to do so. Let me, however, entreat you to +bear up"-- + +"Against what, sir?" said Sarah Bond abruptly, and almost fiercely, +for now Mr. Cramp's face was reduced to its original size, and she +had collected her ideas. "There are few things I could _not_ bear up +against, but I must know what I have to sustain." + +"Your father's will, my dear lady, is safe; the document, leaving +everything to you, that is safe, and all other documents are safe +enough except Cornelius Bond Hobart's will--a will bequeathing the +property to your uncle. _Where_ is that will to be found? for if +Alfred Bond proceeds, the veritable document must be produced." + +"Why, so it can be, I suppose," said Sarah Bond, relapsing in some +degree into agitation; "it was produced when my father inherited the +property, as you know." + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Bond," he answered; "certainly not as I +_know_, for I had not the honour of being your father's legal adviser +at that time. It was my master and subsequent partner. I had not +the privilege of your father's confidence until after my colleague's +death." + +"No one," said Miss Bond, "ever had my father's _confidence_, properly +so called; he was very close in all money transactions. The will, +however, must be, I think, in Doctors' Commons! Go there immediately, +Mr. Cramp; and--stay--I will go with you; there it is, and there are +the names of the witnesses." + +"My dear lady!" expostulated the attorney, in the softest tones of his +soft voice, "I _have_ been there already. I wished to spare a lady of +your sensibility as much pain as possible; and so I went there myself, +with Mr. Alfred Bond's man of business, whom I happened to know; and I +was grieved--cut up, I may say, to the very heart's core, to hear what +he said; and he examined the document very closely too--very closely; +and, I assure you, spoke in the handsomest, I may say, the _very_ +handsomest manner of you, of your character, and usefulness, and +generosity, and Christian qualities; he did indeed; but we have all +our duties to perform in this world; paramount things are duties, Miss +Bond, and his is a very painful one." + +"What need of all these words to state a simple matter. Have you seen +the will?" said Sarah Bond. + +"I have." + +"Well, and what more is there to see, unless Mr. Alfred Bond denies +his relative's power to make a will?" + +"Which, I believe he does not do. He says he never made a will; that +is all." + +"But there _is_ the will," maintained Sarah Bond. + +"I am very sorry to wound you; but cannot you understand?" + +"Speak plainly if you can, sir," said Sarah Bond sternly; "speak +plainly if you can; I listen." + +"He maintains, on the part of his client, that the will is a forgery." + +"He maintains a falsehood, then," exclaimed Miss Bond, with a firm +determination and dignity of manner that astonished Mr. Cramp. "If +the will be forged, who is the forger? Certainly not my father; for +he inherited the property from his elder brother, who died insane. The +will is in _his_ favour, and not in my father's. Besides, neither of +them held any correspondence with the testator for twenty years; he +died abroad, and the will was sent to England after his death. Would +any one there do a gratuitous service to persons they had never +seen? Where could be the reason--the motive? How is it, that, till +now, Alfred Bond urged no claim. There are reasons," she continued, +"reasons to give the world. But I have within me, what passes all +reason--a feeling, a conviction, a true positive knowledge, that my +father was incapable of being a party to such a crime. He was a stern +man, loving money--I grant that--but honest in heart and soul. The +only creature he ever wronged was himself. He did _that_, I know. He +despoiled himself of peace and comfort, of rest and repose. In _that_ +he sinned against God's dispensation, who gives that we may give, not +merely to others, but lawfully to ourselves. After all, it would have +been but a small thing for him to have been without this property, for +it gave him no one additional luxury. I wonder, Mr. Cramp, that you, +as a man, have courage to stand before me, a poor unprotected woman, +and dare to say, that will is forged." + +While she spoke, Sarah Bond stood forth a new creature in the +astonished eyes of the sleek attorney. He absolutely quailed before +the vehemence and fervour of the usually mild woman. He assured her +she was mistaken; that _he_ had not yielded to the point that the will +was a forgery; that he never would confess that such was the case; +that it should be his business to disprove the charge; that he hoped +she did not suppose he yielded to the plaintiff, who was resolved to +bring the matter into a court of justice. He would only ask her one +little question; had she ever seen her father counterfeit different +hands? Yes, she said, she had; he could counterfeit, copy, any hand he +ever saw, so that the real writer could not tell the counterfeit from +the original. Mr. Cramp made no direct observation on this, except to +beg that she would not mention that "melancholy circumstance" to any +one else. + +Sarah Bond told him she should not feel bound to make this talent of +her father's a crime, by twisting into a _secret_ what he used to do +as an amusement. Mr. Cramp urged mildly the folly of this, when she +had a defence to make; but she stood all the more firmly upon what she +fearlessly considered the dignity of right and truth; at the same time +assuring him, she would to the last contest that _right_, not so much +for her own sake, or the sake of one who was dear to her beyond all +power of expression, but for the sake of _him_ in whose place she +stood, and whose honour she would preserve with her life. Mr. Cramp +was a good, shrewd man of business. He considered all Miss Bond's +energy, on the subject of her father's honour, as romance, though he +could not help believing _she_ was in earnest about it. He thought it +was perfectly in accordance with the old miser's character, that he +should procure or make such a document; though he considered it very +extraordinary, for many reasons, that it should have imposed upon men +more penetrating and learned than himself. + +Sarah Bond, after his departure, endeavoured to conceal her anxiety +from her niece; but in vain. Mabel was too clear-sighted; and it was +a relief, as much as an astonishment to her aunt, to see how bravely +she bore up against the evil news. Miss Bond did not remember that the +knowledge of the _power_ of wealth does not belong to sixteen summers. +Mabel knew and thought so little of its artificial influence, that +she believed her happiness sprang from birds and flowers, from music, +and dancing, and books--those silent but immortal tongues that live +through centuries, for our advantage; besides, her young heart welled +forth so much hope, that she really did not understand, even if they +lost their fortune, their "troublesome fortune," as she called +it, that it would seriously affect their happiness. There was no +philosophy, no heroism in this; it was simply the impulse of a bright, +sunny, beautiful young mind. + +The course of events promised soon to strip Mabel of all except her +own bright conceptions. Mr. Alfred Bond urged on his plea with all the +energy and bitterness of one who had been for many years despoiled +of his right. His solicitor, soon after his claim was first declared, +made an offer to Sarah Bond to settle an annuity on her and her niece +during the term of their natural lives; but this was indignantly +spurned by Sarah; from him she would accept no favour; she either had +or had not a right to the whole of the property originally left to +her uncle. Various circumstances, too tedious to enumerate, combined +to prove that the will deposited in Doctors Commons was not a true +document; the signature of Cornelius Bond Hobart was disproved by +many; but second only to one incident in strangeness was the fact, +that though sought in every direction, and widely advertised for in +the newspapers of the day, the witnesses to the disputed document +could not be found--they had vanished. + +The incident, so strange as to make more than one lawyer believe for +a time that really such a quality as honesty was to be found in the +world, was as follows:--Sarah Bond, be it remembered, had never seen +the disputed will; she was very anxious to do so; and yet, afterwards, +she did not like to visit Doctors Commons with any one. She feared, +she knew not what; and yet, above all things, did she desire to see +this will with her own eyes. + +Mr. Cramp was sitting in his office when a woman, muffled in a cloak, +and veiled, entered and seated herself without speaking. After a +moment she unclasped her cloak, loosened the wrapping from her throat, +threw back her veil, and asked for a glass of water. + +"Bless me, Miss Bond, is it you? I am sure I am much honoured--very +much!" + +"No honour, sir," she replied, "but necessity. I have been to Doctors +Commons; have seen the will--it is my father's writing!" + +"You confess this to me?" said Mr. Cramp, drawing back on his chair, +and almost gasping for breath. + +"I do," she answered; "I proclaim it; it is my father's _copy_ of the +original will. But how the copy could have been substituted for the +real will, I can only conjecture." + +"Surmise is something," replied the lawyer, a little relieved; +"conjecture sometimes leads to proof." + +"My father and uncle lived together when the will came into their +possession. They were in partnership as farmers. My father's habits +were precise: he always copied every writing, and endorsed his copies +with a large _C_; the very _C_ is marked upon the will I have just +seen at Doctors Commons." + +"That is singular," remarked Cramp; "but it does not show us the way +out of the difficulty; on the contrary, that increases. _Somebody_--I +don't for an instant suppose Mr. Jacob Bond--in proving the will must +have sworn that, to the best of their knowledge and belief, those were +the real, which are only copies of the signatures." + +"True--and such a mistake was extremely characteristic of my uncle, +who performed many strange acts before he was known to be insane. This +was doubtless one of them." + +"But _where_ is the original?" inquired the man of business. + +"Heaven knows! I cannot find it; but I am not the less assured of its +existence." + +"Then we must persist in our plea of the truth of the document in +Doctors Commons." + +"Certainly not," said Sarah; "you must not persist in a falsehood in +my name. If you do, I shall rise up in court, and contradict you! I +feel it my duty, having seen the will, to state my firm belief that it +is a copy of the original will, and nothing more." + +Poor Mr. Cramp was dreadfully annoyed. He could, he thought, manage +all sorts of clients. He reasoned, he proved, he entreated, he got +her counsel to call upon her, but all was in vain. She would go +into court, she said, herself, if her counsel deserted her. She +would _not_ give up the cause; she would plead for the sake of her +father's honour. She was well assured that the real will was still +in existence, and would be discovered--found--sooner or later--though +not, perhaps, till she was in her grave. + +The senior counsel was so provoked at what he called his client's +obstinacy, that he threw up his brief, and the junior took advantage +of the circumstance to make a most eloquent speech, enlarging upon +the singularity of no appeal having been previously made by the +plaintiff--of the extraordinary disappearance of the witnesses--of the +straight-forward, simple, and beautiful truthfulness of the defendant; +in short, he moved the court to tears, and laid the foundation of his +future fortune. But after that day, Sarah Bond and her niece, Mabel, +were homeless and houseless. Yet I should not say that; for the gates +of a jail gaped widely for the "miser's daughter," but only for a few +days; after which society rang with praises, loud and repeated, of Mr. +Alfred Bond's liberality, who had discharged the defendant's costs as +well as his own. In truth, people talked so much and so loudly about +this, that they altogether forgot to inquire what had become of Sarah +and Mabel. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +The clergyman of the parish was their first visiter. He assisted +them to look into the future. It was, he who conveyed to Sarah Bond +Alfred's determination that she should be held scatheless. The good +man delivered this information with the manner of a person who feels +he comes with good news, and expects it will be so received; but +Sarah Bond could only regard Alfred as the calumniator of her father's +memory, the despoiler of her rights. The wild expression of joy in +Mabel's face, as she threw herself on her aunt's bosom, gave her to +understand that she ought to be thankful for what saved her from a +prison. + +Words struggled for utterance. She who had borne so much and so +bravely, was overcome. Again and again she tried to speak, but for +some hours she fell from one fainting fit into another. She had +borne up against all disasters, until the power of endurance was +overwhelmed; and now, she was attacked by an illness so violent, that +it threatened dissolution. At this very time, when she needed so much +sympathy, a stern and severe man, in whom there was no pity, a man who +had received large sums of money from Miss Bond as a tradesman, and +whose account had stood over from a particular request of his own, +believing that all was gone, and that he should lose, took advantage +of her illness to levy an execution upon the goods, and to demand a +sale. + +At this time her reason had quite deserted her, and poor Mabel was +incapable of thought beyond her duty to her aunt, which made her +remove her to a cottage-lodging from the turmoil of the town. No one +distinctly knew, except Mabel, why Sarah Bond was so attached to +the old furniture, and few cared. And yet more than one kind heart +remembered how she had liked the "rubbishing things," and bought in +several, resolved that, if she recovered, and ever had "a place of +her own again," they would offer them for her acceptance. Her illness +was so tedious, that except the humble curate and the good rector, +her inquirers had fallen off--for long sickness wears out friends. +Some would pause as they passed the cottage window, where the +closely-pinned down curtain told of the caution and quiet of sickness; +and then they would wonder how poor Miss Bond was; and if they entered +the little passage to inquire, they could scarcely recognise in the +plainly-dressed, jaded, bent girl, whose eyes knew no change but +from weeping to watching, and watching to weeping, the buoyant and +beautiful heiress whose words were law, and who once revelled in +luxury. The produce of the sale--though everything, of course, went +below its value--left a small surplus, after all debts and expenses +were paid; which the clergyman husbanded judiciously, and gave in +small portions to Mabel. Alfred Bond himself called to offer any +assistance that might be required, which Mabel declined, coldly and at +once. + +Patiently and devotedly did she watch beside the couch of her poor +aunt; one day suffering the most acute anxiety if the symptoms became +worse than usual; the next full of hope as they abated. Did I say +that one day after another this was the case? I should have written +it, one hour after another; for truly, at times she fluctuated so +considerably, that no one less hopeful than Mabel could have continued +faithful to hope. As Sarah Bond gained strength, she began to question +her as to the past. Mabel spoke cautiously; but, unused to any species +of dissimulation, could not conceal the fact, that the old furniture, +so valued by her uncle, and bequeathed with a conditional blessing, +was gone--sold! This had a most unhappy effect on the mind of Sarah +Bond. She felt as if her father's curse was upon her. She dared +not trust herself to speak upon the subject. When the good rector +(Mr. Goulding) alluded to the sale, and attempted to enter into +particulars, or give an account of the affairs he had so kindly and so +ably managed, she adjured him in so solemn a manner never to speak of +the past, if he wished her to retain her reason, that he, unconscious +of the motive, and believing it arose entirely from regret at her +changed fortunes, avoided it as much as she could desire; and thus +she had no opportunity of knowing how much had been saved by the +benevolence of a few kind persons. Sarah Bond fell into the very +common error of imagining that persons ought to _know_ her thoughts +and feelings, without her explaining them. But her mind and judgment +had been so enfeebled by illness and mental suffering, that, even +while she opposed her opinions, she absolutely leaned on Mabel--as +if the oak called to the woodbine to support its branches. What gave +Mabel the most uneasiness, was the determination she had formed to +leave the cottage as soon as she was able to be removed; and she +was seriously displeased because Mabel mentioned this intention to +Mr. Goulding. Despite all poor Mabel could urge to the contrary, +they quitted the neighbourhood--the sphere of Sarah Bond's sudden +elevation, and as sudden depression--alone, at night, and on foot. It +was a clear, moonlight evening, in midsummer, when the twilight can +hardly be said to give place to darkness; and when the moon shines out +so very brightly, that the stars are reduced to pale lone sparks of +_white_ rather than _light_, in the blue sky. It was a lovely evening; +the widow with whom they had lodged was not aware of their intention +until about an hour before their departure. She was very poor and +ignorant, but her nature was kind; and when Sarah Bond pressed upon +her, out of her own scanty store, a little present of money beyond her +stipulated rent, she would not take it, but accompanied them to the +little gate with many tears, receiving charge of a farewell letter +to the rector. "And haven't you one to leave me for the curate?" she +inquired. "Deary me! but I'm sure for every once the old gentleman +came when Miss Bond was so bad, the curate came three times; and no +letter for him! deary, oh, deary me!" + +"Why did you not put me in mind to write to Mr. Lycight, Mabel?" +inquired her aunt, after the gate, upon which the poor woman leaned, +had closed. + +Mabel made no reply; but Sarah felt the hand she held tightly within +hers tremble and throb. How did she then remember the days of her own +youth, as she thought, "Oh! in mercy _she_ might have escaped from +what only so causes the pulses to beat or the hand to tremble!" +Neither spoke; but Sarah had turned over the great page of Mabel's +heart, while Mabel did not confess, even to herself, that Mr. +Lycight's words, however slight, were more deeply cherished than Mr. +Goulding's precepts. They had a long walk to take that night, and +both wept at first; but however sad and oppressed the mind and spirits +maybe, there is a soothing and balmy influence in nature that lulls, +if it does not dispel, sorrow; every breeze was perfumed. As they +passed the hedges, there was a rustling and murmuring of birds amongst +the leaves; and Mabel could not forbear an exclamation of delight +when she saw a narrow river, now half-shadowed, then bright in the +moonbeams, bounding in one place like a thing of life, then brawling +around sundry large stones that impeded its progress, again subsiding +into silence, and flowing onward to where a little foot-bridge, over +which they had to pass, arched its course; beyond this was the church, +and there Mabel knew they were to await the coach which was to convey +them to a village many miles from their old homes, and where Sarah +Bond had accidentally heard there was a chance of establishing a +little school. Mabel paused for a moment to look at the venerable +church standing by the highway, the clergyman's house crouching in the +grove behind. The hooting and wheeling of the old owls in the ivied +tower was a link of life. Sarah Bond passed the turn-stile that led +into the church-yard, followed by Mabel, who shuddered when she found +herself surrounded by damp grass-green graves, and beneath the shadows +of old yew-trees. + +She knew not where her aunt was going, but followed her silently. +Sarah Bond led the way to a lowly grave, marked by a simple +head-stone. She knelt down by its side, and while her bosom throbbed, +she prayed earnestly, deeply, within her very soul--she prayed, now a +faded, aged woman--she prayed above the ashes, the crumbling bones of +him she had loved with a love that never changes--that is green when +the head is gray--that Mabel might never suffer as she had suffered. +Relieved by these devotional exercises, Sarah rose, and the humble +and stricken pair bade adieu to the melancholy scene, and betook +themselves to their toilsome journey. Fortunately the stage soon +overtook them, and having, with some difficulty, obtained seats, they +were in due time deposited in a village, where Sarah felt there would +be no eyes prying into their poverty, no ears to hear of it, no tongue +to tell thereof, and point them out "as the poor ladies that once were +rich." This was a great relief, though it came of pride, and she knew +it; and she said within herself, When health strengthens my body, I +will wrestle with this feeling, for it is unchristian. She never even +to Mabel alluded to what was heaviest on her mind--the loss of the old +furniture; though she cheered her niece by the assurance that, after +a few months, if the Almighty blessed the exertions they must make for +their own support, she would write to their friend Mr. Goulding, and +say where they were; by "that time," she said, she hoped to be humble, +as a Christian should be. After this assurance was given, it was +astonishing to see how Mabel revived. Her steps recovered their +elasticity, her eyes their brightness. Sarah Bond had always great +superiority in needlework, and this procured her employment; while +Mabel obtained at once, by her grace and correct speaking, two or +three day pupils. Her wild and wayward temper had been subdued by +change of circumstances; but if she had not found occupation it +would have become morose Here was not only occupation, but success; +success achieved by the most legitimate means--the exertion of +her own faculties; there were occasionally bitter tears and many +disappointments; and the young soft fingers, so slender and beautiful, +were obliged to work in earnest; and she was forced by necessity to +rise early and watch late; and then she had to think, not how pounds +could be spent, but pennies could be earned. We need not, however, +particularize their labours in this scene of tranquil usefulness. It +is sufficient to say that Mabel's little school increased; and both +she and her aunt came at length to feel and speak thankfully of the +uses of adversity, and bless God for taking as well as for giving. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +Though Sarah Bond had used every means within her power to conceal her +place of retreat, yet she often felt bitterly pained that no one had +sought her out. She said she wished to be forgotten, unless she had +the power to clear away the imputation on her father's name. And yet, +unknown to herself, she cherished the hope, that some one would have +traced them, though only to say one cheering word of approbation +regarding their attempt at self-dependence. Sarah thanked the Almighty +greatly for one thing, that Mabel's cheerfulness was continued and +unfluctuating, and that her mind seemed to have gathered strength by +wholesome exercise. She believed her affections, if not free, were not +entangled, and that her pride had risen against her imagination; and +it was beautiful to see how, watching to avoid giving each other pain, +striving continually to show the bright side of every question, the +one to the other, and extract sweets instead of bitters from every +little incident, led to their actually enjoying even the privations +which exercised their tenderness towards each other. + +Time wore away many of their sorrows, which old father Time always +does; a kindness we forget to acknowledge, though we often arraign him +for spoiling our pleasures. Sarah and Mabel had been taking an evening +walk, wondering how little they existed upon, and feeling that it was +a wide step towards independence to have few wants. + +"I can see good working in all things," said Mabel; "for if I had +obtained the companionship of books, which I so eagerly desired at +first, I should not have had the same inducement to pursue my active +duties, to read my own heart, and the great book of nature, which is +opened alike to peer and peasant; I have found so much to learn, so +much to think of by studying objects and persons--reading persons +instead of books." + +"Yes," added Sarah Bond; "and seeing how much there is to admire in +every development of nature, and how much of God there is in every +human being." + +As they passed along the village street, Mabel observed that the +cottagers looked after them, and several of her little pupils darted +their heads in and out of their homes, and laughed; she thought that +some village fun was afloat, that some rural present of flowers, or +butter, or eggs, had been sent--a little mysterious offering for her +to guess at; and when she turned to fasten the wicket gate, there were +several of the peasants knotted together talking. A sudden exclamation +from her aunt, who had entered the cottage, confirmed her suspicion; +but it was soon dissipated. In their absence, their old friends Mr. +Goulding and the curate had arrived by the coach, and entered their +humble dwelling. From a wagon at the same time were lifted several +articles of old furniture, which were taken into the cottage, and +properly arranged. There were two old chairs, an embroidered stool, +a china vase, a cabinet, a table, and the spinnet. Strangely the +furniture looked on the sanded floor, but never was the spiciest +present from India more grateful to its receiver than these were to +the eyes of Sarah Bond. She felt as if a ban was removed from her +when she looked upon the old things so valued by her father. Absorbed +in the feelings of the moment, she did not even turn to inquire how +they had so unexpectedly come there. Nor did she note the cold and +constrained greeting which Mabel gave to Mr. Lycight. She herself, +after the first self-engrossed thoughts were past, turned to give both +gentlemen the cordial reception which their many former kindnesses, +not to speak of their apparent connexion with the present gratifying +occurrence, deserved. From Mr. Goulding she learnt that the furniture +had been bought up by a few old friends, and committed to him to be +sent to her as a mark of their goodwill; he had only delayed bringing +it to her, till she should have proved, as he knew she would, superior +to her misfortunes, by entering upon some industrious career. + +As the evening closed in, and the astonishment and feelings of their +first meeting subsided, Sarah Bond and Mr. Goulding conversed apart, +and then, indeed, she listened with a brimming heart and brimming +eyes. He told of his young friend's deep attachment to Mabel; how he +had prevailed upon him to pause before he declared it; to observe how +she endured her changed fortune; and to avoid engaging her affections +until he had a prospect of placing her beyond the reach of the most +harrowing of all poverties, that which keeps up an appearance above +its means. "Her cheerfulness, her industry, her goodness, have +all been noted," he continued. "She has proved herself capable of +accommodating herself to her circumstances; the most difficult of all +things to a young girl enervated by luxury and indulgence. And if my +friend can establish an interest in her affections, he has no higher +views of earthly happiness, and I think he ought to have no other. You +will, I am sure, forgive me for having counselled the trial. If deep +adversity had followed your exertions--if you had failed instead of +succeeded--I should have been at hand to succour and to aid." + +Sarah Bond had never forgotten the emotion of Mabel, caused by +the mention of the curate's name when they quitted their old +neighbourhood, and the very reserve Mabel showed proved to Sarah's +searching and clear judgment, that the feeling was unchanged. Truly +in that hour was her chastened heart joyful and grateful. "Mabel must +wait," she said, "until the prospect of advancement became a reality; +for it would be an ill return of disinterested love for a penniless +orphan to become a burden instead of a blessing. Mabel would grow more +worthy every day; they were doing well; ay, he might look round the +white-washed walls and smile, but they _were_ prosperous, healthful, +happy, and respected; and if she could only live to see the odium cast +upon her father's memory removed, she would not exchange her present +poverty for her past pride." She frequently afterwards thought of the +clergyman's rejoinder--"That riches, like mercy, were as blessed to +the giver as to the receiver, and that they only created evil when +hoarded, or bestowed by a heedless hand." + +They certainly were a happy group in that lowly cottage room that +evening. Mabel's proud bearing had given place, as if by magic, to a +blushing shyness; which she tried to shield from observation by every +possible attempt at ease. She talked to Mr. Goulding, and found a +thousand uses for the old furniture she had once so heartily despised. +"She would sit in the great high chair at the end of that table, +with her feet on the stool, and the china vase in the midst, filled +with humble cottage flowers--meadow-sweet and wild roses, and +sweet-williams, sea-pinks, woodbine, and wild convolvulus! Did Mr. +Goulding like cottage flowers best?" No; the clergyman said he did +not, but he thought Mr. Lycight did, and the young man assured her +that it was so; and then gazed on the only love his heart, his deep, +unworn, earnest heart, had throbbed to, with an admiration which +is always accompanied by fear, lest something should prevent the +realization of the one great earthly hope. And Mabel was more fitful +than her aunt had ever seen her. Fearful lest her secret, as she +thought it, should be discovered, she made as many turns and windings +as a hare; and yet, unskilled in disguising her feelings, after +spending many words in arranging and re-arranging, she suddenly wished +that the spinnet could be opened, "If," she exclaimed, "_that_ could +be opened, I should be able to teach Mary Godwin music; and her mother +seemed to wish it so much: surely we can open the instrument?" + +"It has not been opened for years," replied Miss Bond; "and I +remember, once before, Mabel wished it opened, and I refused, lest +forcing the lock might harm the marquetre, of which my poor mother was +so fond. It has never been opened since her death." But Mabel's desire +was of too much consequence, in her lover's eyes, to be passed over, +although all seemed agreed that if it were opened it could not be +played upon; so in a few minutes he procured a smith, who said he +would remove the hinges, and then unscrew the lock from the inside, +which would not injure the cover. This was done; but greatly to poor +Mabel's dismay, the cavity, where strings once had been, was filled +with old papers. + +"Now, is not this provoking?" said Mabel, flinging out first one and +then another bundle of letters. "Is not this provoking?" + +"No, no," exclaimed Sarah Bond, grasping a lean, long, parchment, +round which an abundance of tape was wound. "No. Who knows what may +be found here?" At once the idea was caught, Mabel thought no more +of the strings. "I cannot," said Sarah Bond to Mr. Goulding, "untie +this; can you?" Her fingers trembled, and she sank on her knees by the +clergyman's side. The eyes of the little group were fixed upon him; +not a word was spoken; every breath was hushed; slowly he unfastened +knot after knot; at last the parchment was unfolded; still, neither +Sarah Bond nor Mabel spoke; the latter gasped for breath--her lips +apart, her cheeks flushed; while Sarah's hands were clasped together, +locked upon her bosom, and every vestige of colour had deserted her +face. + +"Be calm, my dear friend," he said, after glancing his eyes over the +parchment; "be calm. You have experienced enough of the changes and +chances of this world not to build too quickly upon any foundation but +the one--the goodness of God; I do believe this is an especial proof +of His Providence, for I do think this is Cornelius Bond Hobart's +original will in your uncle's favour." + +It would be useless to attempt a description of the scene that +followed; but the joy at the _reality_ of the discovery was a heartful +temperate joy--the joy of chastened hearts. Sarah Bond, blessing God, +above all things, that, go the law as it would, her father's memory +would now be held as the memory of an honest man; that he had, as she +had said, copied, not forged the will. Mr. Goulding declared he should +find it difficult to forgive himself for having so long prevented the +old furniture from being sent, assuring her, the dread that Mabel was +unfit to contend with the privations to which the lives of humble men +are doomed, made him tremble for the happiness of the young friend who +had been consigned to his care by a dying mother; he feared to renew +the intercourse, until her character was developed; while poor Mabel +had little thought how closely she was watched along the humble and +thorny paths she had to traverse. + +Sarah Bond's spirit was so chastened, that she regretted nothing save +the shadow cast upon her father's grave; and now that was removed, +she was indeed happy. She assured the rector how useful adversity had +been to them--how healthful it had rendered Mabel's mind--and how much +better, if they recovered what had been lost, they should know how to +employ their means of usefulness. Mr. Lycight's congratulations were +not so hearty as Mr. Goulding's; he felt that _now_ he was the curate +and Mabel the heiress; and he heard the kind good night which Mabel +spoke with a tingling ear. _He_, was proud in his own way; and pride, +as well as his affection, had been gratified by the idea of elevating +her he loved. Mabel saw this, and she wept during the sleepless night, +that he should believe her so unworthy and so ungrateful. + +There was much to think of and to do; the witnesses were to be found, +and lawyers consulted, and proceedings taken, and much of the turmoil +and bitterness of the law to be endured, which it pains every honest +heart to think upon; and Mr. Cramp was seized with a sudden fit of +virtuous indignation against Mr. Alfred Bond, after Sarah Bond's +new "man of business" had succeeded in producing the only one of the +witnesses in existence, who, he also discovered, had been purposely +kept out of the way, on a former occasion, by some one or other. The +delays were vexatious, and the quirks and turns, and foldings, and +doubles innumerable; but they came to an end at last, and Mr. Alfred +Bond was obliged in his turn to vacate the old mansion, in which he +had revelled--a miser in selfish pleasures. + +I have dwelt longer than was perhaps necessary on the _minutiae_ of +this relation, the principal events of which are so strongly impressed +upon my memory. But the more I have thought over the story, the more +I have been struck with the phases and impulses of Sarah Bond's +unobtrusive, but deep feeling mind; her self-sacrificing spirit, her +devotion to her father's will, her dread, when first in possession of +the property, that any _one_ act of liberality on her part might be +considered a reproach to his memory; her habits struggling with her +feelings, leading me to the conclusion that she would never have +become, even with the expanding love of her niece to enlarge her +views, thoroughly unmanacled from the parsimonious habits of her +father, but for her lesson in adversity, which, instead of teaching as +it does a worldly mind, the _value of money_, taught her higher nature +_its proper uses_. + +It was beautiful to see how Mabel grew into her aunt's virtues; and +even Mr. Goulding was startled by the energy and thoughtfulness of +her character. She soon convinced Mr. Lycight that her prospects grew +brighter in his love; and for a time he was romantic enough to wish +she had continued, penniless, and he had been born a peer, to prove +his disinterested affection. This, however, wore away, as man's +romance always does, and he absolutely became reconciled to his +bride's riches. Sarah Bond was living a very few years ago, beloved +and honoured, the fountain of prosperity and blessing to all who +needed. There was no useless expenditure, no show, no extravagance +in "the establishment" at the old manor house; but it was pleasant to +perceive the prosperity of the poor in the immediate neighbourhood; +there was evidence of good heads and kind hearts, superintending all +moral and intellectual improvements; there were flourishing schools, +and benevolent societies, and the constant exercise of individual +charities; and many said that Sarah Bond, and niece, and nephew, did +more good with hundreds than others did with thousands. From having +had practical experience of poverty, they understood how to remedy +its wants, and minister to its sorrows. And to the last hour of her +prolonged life, Sarah Bond remembered + +THE USES OF ADVERSITY. + + * * * * * + + + + +ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +"There they go!" exclaimed old Mrs. Myles, looking after two +exceedingly beautiful children, as they passed hand in hand down +the street of the small town of Abbeyweld, to the only school, +that had "Seminary for Young Ladies," written in large hand, on a +proportionably large card, and placed against the bow window of an +ivied cottage. "There they go!" she repeated; "and though I'm their +grandmother, I may say a sweeter pair of children than Helen Marsh and +Rose Dillon never trod the main street of Abbeyweld--God bless them!" +She added earnestly, "God Almighty bless them!" + +"Amen!" responded a kind voice; and turning round, Mrs. Myles saw the +curate of the parish, the Reverend Mr. Stokes, standing just at the +entry of her own house. To curtsey with the respect which in the "good +old times" was customary towards those who "meekly taught, and led the +way," and invite the minister in, was the work of a moment; the next +beheld Mrs. Myles and her visiter tete-a-tete in the widow's small +parlour. It was a cheerful, pleasant room, such as is often met with +in the clean villages of England. There were two or three pieces of +embroidery, in frames of faded gilding; an old-fashioned semicircular +card-table stood opposite the window, and upon it rested a filagree +tea-caddy, based by a mark-a-tree work-box, flanked on one side by the +Bible, on the other by a prayer-book; while on the space in front was +placed "The Whole Art of Cookery," by Mrs. Glasse. High-backed chairs +of black mahogany were ranged along the white-washed walls; a corner +cupboard displayed upon its door the magnificence of King Solomon, and +the liberality of the Queen of Sheba, while within glittered engraved +glasses, and fairy-like cups and saucers, that would delight the +hearts of the fashionables of the present day. Indeed, Mrs. Myles knew +their value, and prided herself thereon, for whenever the squire or +any great lady paid her a visit, she was sure, before they entered, +to throw the cupboard door slyly open, so as to display its treasures; +and then a little bit of family pride would creep out--"Yes, every one +said they were pretty--and so she supposed they were--but they were +nothing to her grandmother's, where she remembered the servants eating +off real India _chaney_." The room also contained a high-backed sofa, +covered with chintz; very stately, hard, and uncomfortable it was to +sit upon; indeed, no one except visiters ever did sit upon it, save +on Sundays, when Helen and Rose were permitted so to do, "if they +kept quiet," which in truth they seldom did for more than five minutes +together. "Moonlight"--Mrs. Myles's large cat--Moonlight would take +a nap there sometimes; but as Mrs. Myles, while she _hushed_ him off, +declared he was a "clean creature," it may be said that Moonlight was +the only thing privileged to _enjoy_ the sofa to his heart's content. +Why he liked it, I could not understand. Now she invited Mr. Stokes +to sit upon it; but he knew better, and took the window seat in +preference. + +"They are fine children--are they not, sir?" inquired the good old +lady, reverting in the pride of her heart to her young charges. "Rose, +poor thing, will be obliged to shift for herself, for her father and +mother left her almost without provision: but when Helen's father +returns, I do hope he will be able to introduce her in the way she +seems born for. She has the heart of a princess--bless her!" added +Mrs. Myles, triumphantly. + +"I hope, my good friend, she will have a Christian's heart," said Mr. +Stokes. + +"Oh, certainly, sir, certainly, we all have that, I hope." + +"I hope so too; but I think you will act wisely in directing the +proud spirit of Helen into an humbler channel, while you rouse and +strengthen the modest and retiring one of Rose." + +"They are very, very different, sir," said the old lady, looking +particularly sagacious; "I don't mean as to talent, for they are both +very clever, nor as to goodness, for, thank God, they are both good; +but Helen has such a _noble_ spirit--such an uplooking way with her." + +"We should all look up to God." said the minister. + +"Oh, of course we all do." Mrs. Myles paused. "She has such a +lady-like, independent way with her, I'm sure she'll turn out +something _great_, sir. Well, there's no harm in a little ambition now +and then; we all, you know" want to be a little bit better off than we +are." + +"We are too apt to indulge in a desire for what is beyond our reach," +said the minister, gravely; "if every one was to reside on the hills, +who would cultivate the valleys? We should not forget that godliness, +with contentment, is great gain. It would be far better, Mrs. Myles, +if, instead of struggling to get _out _ of our sphere, we laboured to +do the best we could in it." + +"Ah, sir, and that's true," replied Mrs. Myles; "just what I say to +Mrs. Jones, who _will_ give bad sherry at her little tea-parties; good +gooseberry, I say, is better than bad sherry. Will you taste mine, +sir?" + +"No, thank you," said the good man, who at the very moment was +pondering over the art of self-deception, as practised by ourselves +_upon_ ourselves. "No, thank you; but do, my dear madam, imbue those +children with a contented spirit; there is nothing that keeps us so +truly at peace with the world as contentment--or with ourselves, for +it teaches peace--or with a Higher Power, for it is insulting to +His wisdom and love to go on repining through this beautiful world, +instead of enjoying what as Christians we can enjoy, and regarding +without envy that which we have not." + +"Exactly so, good sir. 'Be content,' I said to Helen only this very +morning--'be content, my dear, with your pink gingham; _who knows but +by and by you may have a silk dress for Sundays_?'" + +"Ah, my dear Mrs. Myles, you are sowing bad seed," said the clergyman. + +"What, sir, when I told her to be content with the little pink +gingham?" + +"No; but when you told her she might have a silk one hereafter. Don't +you see, instead of uprooting you were fostering pride?--instead of +directing her ambition to a noble object, and thereby elevating her +mind, you were lowering it by drawing it down to an inferior one?" + +"I did not see it," observed Mrs. Myles, simply; "but you know, sir, +there's no more harm in a silk than a cotton." + +"I must go now, my good lady," said the minister; "only observing +that there _is_ no more harm in one than in the other, except when the +desire to possess anything beyond our means leads to discontent, if +not to more actively dangerous faults. I must come and lecture the +little maids myself." + +"And welcome, sir, and thank you kindly besides; poor little dears, +they have no one to look after them but me. I daresay I am wrong +sometimes, but I do my best--I do my best." + +The curate thought she did according to her knowledge, but he lamented +that two such exquisitely beautiful children, possessed of such +natural gifts, should be left to the management of a vain old +woman--most vain--though kindly and good-hearted--giving kindness with +pleasure, and receiving it with gratitude--yet totally unfit to bring +up a _pair of beauties_, who, of all the female sex, require the most +discretion in the management. + +"I wonder," thought the Reverend Mr. Stokes--"I wonder when our +legislature will contrive to establish a school for mothers. If girls +are sent to school, the chances are that the contamination over +which the teacher can have no control--the contamination of evil +girls--renders them vicious; if, on the contrary, they are kept at +home, the folly of their mothers makes them fools--a pretty choice!" +Mr. Stokes turned down a lane that ran parallel with the garden +where the children went to school; and hearing Helen's voice in loud +dispute, he paused for a moment to ascertain the cause. + +"I tell you," said the little maid, "Rose may be what she likes, but +I'll be queen." + +"How unfit," quoth the curate to himself--"how utterly unfit is Mrs. +Myles to manage Helen!" The good man paused again; and to the no small +confusion of the little group, who had been making holiday under the +shadow of a spreading apple-tree, suddenly entered amongst them, +and read her a lecture, gently, kindly, and judicious. Having thus +performed what he conceived his duty, he walked on; but his progress +was arrested by a little hand being thrust into his; and when he +looked down, the beaming, innocent face of Rose Dillon was up-turned +towards him. + +"Do please, sir," she said, "let Helen Marsh be queen of the game; +if she is not, she won't play with a bit of heart--she won't, indeed, +sir. She will play to be sure, but not with any heart." + +"I cannot unsay what I have said, little Rose," he answered; "I +cannot; it is better for her to play without heart, as you call it, +than to have that heart too highly uplifted by play." + +Happy would it have been for Helen Marsh if she had always had a +judicious friend to correct her dangerous ambition. The good curate +admonished the one, and brought forward the other, of the cousins; but +what availed his occasional admonishing when counteracted by the weak +flattery of Mrs. Myles? + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Years passed; the lovely children, who tripped hand in hand down +the street of Abbeyweld, grew into ripe girlhood, and walked arm in +arm--the pride and admiration of every villager. The curate became at +last rector, and Mrs. Myles's absurdities increased with her years. +The perfect beauty of the cousins, both of face and form, rendered +them celebrated far and near. Each had a separate character as from +the first; and yet--but that Rose Dillon was a little shorter than +her cousin Helen Marsh, and that the _expression_ of her eyes was so +different that it was almost impossible to believe they were the +same shape and colour, the cousins might have been mistaken for each +other--I say _might_, because it is rather remarkable that they never +were. Helen's fine dark eyes had a lofty and forbidding aspect, while +Rose had not the power, if indeed she ever entertained the will, of +looking either the one or the other. I thought Rose the most graceful +of the two in her carriage, but there could be no doubt as to Helen's +being the most dignified; both girls were almost rustic in their +manners, but rusticity and vulgarity are very distinct in their +feelings and attributes. They _could not_ do or say aught that was +vulgar or at variance with the kindnesses of life--those tender +nothings which make up so large a something in the account of every +day's existence. Similar, withal, as the cousins were in appearance, +they grew up as dissimilar in feelings and opinions as it is possible +to conceive, and yet loving each other dearly. Still Helen never for a +moment fancied that any one in the village of Abbeyweld could compete +with her in any way. She had never questioned herself as to this +being the case, but the idea had been nourished since her earliest +infancy--had never been disputed, except perhaps when latterly a town +belle, or even a more conceited specimen, a country belle, visited in +the neighbourhood; but popular voice (and there _is_ a popular voice, +be it loud or gentle, everywhere) soon discovered that blonde, and +feathers, and flowers, had a good deal to do with this disturbing +of popular opinion; and after a few days, the good people invariably +returned to their allegiance. "Ah! ah!" old Mrs. Myles would observe +on these occasions--Ah! ah!"--I told you they'd soon find the fair +lady was shaded by her fine laces. I daresay now she's on the look-out +for a good match, poor thing! Not that Helen is handsome--don't look +in the glass, Helen, child! My grandmother always said that Old Nick +stood behind every young lady's shoulder when she looked in the glass, +with a rouge-pot all ready to make her look handsomer in her own eyes +than she really was; which shows how wicked it is to look much in a +glass. Only a little sometimes, Nell, darling--we'll forgive her for +looking _a little_; but certainly when I looked at the _new_ beauty in +church the other day, and then looked, I know where, I thought--but +no matter, Helen, no matter--I don't want to make either of my girls +_vain_." + +Why Mrs. Myles so decidedly preferred Helen to Rose, appeared a +mystery to all who did not know the secret sympathy, the silent +unsatisfied ambition, that lurked in the bosoms of both the old and +the young. Mrs. Myles had lived for a long time upon the reputation of +her own beauty; and whenever she needed _sympathy_ (a food which the +weak-minded devour rapidly,) she lamented to one or two intimates, +while indulging in the luxury of _tea_, that she was an ill-used +person, simply because she had not been a baronet's lady at the very +least. Helen's ambition echoed that of her grandmother; it was not the +longing of a village lass for a new bonnet or a brilliant dress--it +was an ambition of sufficient strength to have sprung up in a castle. +She resolved to be something beyond what she was; and there are very +few who have strength to give birth to, and cherish up a resolve, who +will not achieve a purpose, be it for good or bad, for weal or for wo. +Rose was altogether and perfectly simple and single-hearted: conscious +that she was an orphan, dependent upon her grandmother's slender +annuity for support, and that Helen's father could not provide both +for his daughter and his niece, her life was one of patient industry +and unregretted privation. Before she was fifteen, she had persuaded +her grandmother to part with her serving maiden, and with very little +assistance from Helen, she performed the labours of their cottage, +aided twice a-week by an elderly woman, who often declared that such +another girl as Rose Dillon was not to be found in the country. Both +were now verging on seventeen, and Helen received the addresses of a +young farmer in the neighbourhood--a youth of excellent yeoman family, +and of superior education and manners. + +The cousins walked out one evening together, and Rose turned into the +lane where they used frequently to meet Edward Lynne. + +"No, Rose," said Helen, "not there; I am not in a humour to meet +Edward to-night." + +"But you said you would," said Rose. + +"Well, do not look so solemn about it. I daresay I did--but lover's +promises--if indeed we are lovers. Do you know, Rose, I should be +very much obliged to you to take Edward off my hands--he is just the +husband for you, so rustic and quiet." + +"Edward to be taken off your hands, Helen!--Edward Lynne!--the +protector of our childhood--the pride of the village--the very +companion of Mr. Stokes--why, he dined with him last Sunday! Edward +Lynne! You jest, cousin! and"-- Rose Dillon paused suddenly, for she +was going to add, "You ought not to jest with me." She checked herself +in time; stooped down to gather some flowers to hide her agitation; +felt her cheeks flush, her heart beat, her head swim, and then a chill +creep through her frame. Helen had unconsciously awoke the hope which +Rose had never dared to confess unto herself. The waking was ecstatic; +but she knew the depth of Edward's love for Helen. She had been +his confidant--she believed it was a jest--how could her cousin do +otherwise than love Edward Lynne? And with this belief, she recovered +the self-possession which the necessity for subduing her feelings had +taught her even at that early age. + +"And Rose," said Helen, in a quiet voice, "did you really think I ever +intended to marry Edward Lynne?" + +"Certainly, cousin. Why, you love him, do you not! Besides, he is +rich--very rich in comparison to you--very, very rich. And if he were +not--oh, Helen!--is he not in himself--but I need not reason--you are +in your usual high spirits, and say what you do not mean." + +"I do not, Rose, now, at all events. Last evening, Edward was so +earnest, so affectionate, so very earnest, it is pleasant to have +a true and faithful lover; but I should not quite like to break his +heart--it would not be friendly, knowing him so long; for indeed," she +added, gaily, "though I don't like Edward Lynne well enough to marry +him, I like him too well to break his heart in downright earnest." + +There are women cold and coquettish by nature. The disposition +flourishes best in courtly scenes, but it will grow anywhere, ay, and +flourish anywhere. It unfortunately requires but little culture; still +Helen was in her novitiate. If she had not been so, she would not have +cared whether Edward broke his heart or not. + +"But Helen," stammered Rose, "surely--you--you have been very wrong." + +"I know it--I know--there, don't you _hear me_ say I know it, and +yet your lecturing face is as long as ever. Surely," she continued +pettishly, "I confess my crime; and even Mr. Stokes says, when +confessed it is amended." + +"Helen!" exclaimed Rose suddenly; "Helen!--if what you have now said +is really true, you have only told me half the truth. Helen Marsh, you +have seen some one you like better than Edward Lynne." + +"No!" was Helen's prompt reply, for she would not condescend to a +falsehood--her own pride was a sufficient barrier against that. +"No, Rose, I have not seen any one I like better than Edward. But, +Rose"--She buried her face in her hands, and as suddenly withdrew +them, and shaking back her luxuriant ringlets, while a bright +triumphant colour mounted to her cheeks, added--"There is no reason +_why_ I should be ashamed. I saw, last week, at Mrs. Howard's, one +whom I would rather marry." + +"I always thought," murmured Rose, weeping in the fulness of her +generous nature, as the idea of Edward's future misery came upon +her--"I always thought no good would come of your visiting a lady so +much above us." It would be impossible to describe the contemptuous +expression of Helen's finely moulded features, while she repeated, as +if to herself, "Above _us_!--above _me_!" And then she added aloud, +and with what seemed to Rose a forced expression of joy, "But good +_will_ come of it, Rose--good will surely come of it; never fear but +it will--it _must_. And when I am a great lady, Rosey, who but you, +sweet cousin, will be next my heart?" + +"I am satisfied to be _near_, even without being _next_ it, Helen," +she replied mournfully; "but why have you kept this matter concealed +from me so long? Why have you"-- + +"Found!" interrupted a well-known voice; and at the same moment Edward +Lynne shook a shower of perfumed hawthorn blossoms from the scattered +hedge which he struggled through; and repeating "Found!" in his full +echoing voice, stood panting before the startled girls. "I have had +such a hunt!" he exclaimed joyfully--"such a hunt for you, Helen! I +have been over Woodland brook, and up as far as Fairmill, where you +said you would be--oh, you truant! And I doubt if I should have caught +you at last, but for poor Dash"--and the sagacious dog sprung about, +as if conscious that he deserved a large portion of the praise. Rose +was astonished at the perfect self-possession with which, after the +first flush of surprise, Helen received her lover. Nor was poor Rose +unconscious that she herself occupied no portion of his attention +beyond the glance of recognition which he cast while throwing himself +on the sward at Helen's feet. + +"We must go home," said the triumphant beauty, after hearing a few of +those half-whispered nothings which are considered of such importance +in a lover's calendar; "the dew is falling, and I may catch cold." + +"The dew falling!" repeated Edward.--"Why, look, the sky is still +golden from the sun's rays; do not--do not, dearest Helen, go home +yet. Besides," he added, "your grandmother has plenty of employment; +there is Mrs. Howard's companion, and one or two strangers from the +hall, at your cottage--so she is not at all lonesome." + +"Who did you say?" inquired Helen, eagerly, now really losing her +self-command. + +"Oh, some of Mrs. Howard's fine friends. I never," he continued, "see +those sort of people in an humble village, without thinking of the +story of the agitation of all the little hedgerow birds, when they +first saw a paroquet amongst them, and began longing for his gay +feathers. Do not go, dear Helen--they will soon be gone; and I do so +want you to walk as far as Fairmill Lawn. I have planted with my own +hands this morning the silver firs you said you admired, just where +the bank juts over the stream. Do come." + +"Rose will go, and tell me all about it, but _I_ must get home. Granny +cannot do without me; besides, Mrs. Howard is so kind to me, that I +cannot suffer _her_ friends to be neglected. Nay, Edward, you may look +as you please, but I certainly _shall_ go." Edward Lynne remonstrated, +implored, and, finally, flew into a passion. At any other time Helen's +proud spirit would have risen so as to meet this outburst of temper +with one to the full as violent; but the knowledge of what had grown +to maturity in her own mind, and the presence of Rose, restrained her, +and she continued to walk home without reply. + +"And I shall go also," he said, bitterly, "but not with you." Even at +that moment Helen Marsh exulted in her own mind to find his words and +his steps at variance; he was still by her side. The most perilous of +all triumphs is the knowledge of possessing power over the affections +of our fellow creatures; it is so especially intoxicating to women as +to be greatly dangerous, and those who do not abuse such power deserve +much praise. Rose walked timidly behind them, wondering how Helen +could have imagined any alliance in the world more brilliant--but no, +that was not the idea--any alliance in the world so _happy_ as that +with Edward Lynne must be. When they reached the commencement of the +village, Edward said, for the fifth or sixth time, "Then you will go, +Helen?" + +"Certainly." + +"Very well, Helen. Good evening." + +"Good evening, Edward," was the cool reply. Not one word of adieu did +he bestow on Rose as he dashed into another path; while his dog stood +for a moment, uncertain as to whether his master would return or not, +and then rapidly followed. + +"Oh, Helen! what have you done?" murmured Rose. Helen replied by one +of those low murmuring laughs which sound like the very melody of +love; and the two girls, in a few moments more, were in their +own cottage, where Rose saw that evening, for the first time, the +gentleman whom Helen had declared she did not prefer to Edward, though +she would rather marry him. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +I think I have said before that the most trying and dangerous +position a young woman can occupy, is that where her station is not +defined--where she considers herself above the industrious classes +by whom she is surrounded--and where those with whom her tastes and +habits assimilate, consider her greatly beneath them. Superficial +observers (and the great mass of human beings are nothing more) +invariably look for happiness in the class one or two degrees above +their own. They would consider themselves absurd if they _at once_ +set their minds upon being dukes and princes; they only want to be a +_little_ bit higher, only the _smallest bit_, and never for a moment +look to what they call "_beneath_ them" for happiness. This was +particularly the case with these young girls. Their station was not +defined, yet how different their practice! One was ambitious of the +glittering tinsel of the world--the other, refined but not ambitious, +sought her happiness in the proper exercise of the affections; neither +could have described her particular feelings, but an accurate observer +could not fail to do so for them. That night neither girl had courage +to speak to the other on the occurrences of the past day, and yet each +thought of nothing else. They knelt down, side by side, as they +had done from infancy, repeating the usual prayers as they had been +accustomed to do. Helen's voice did not falter, but continued its +unvaried tone to the end: Rose (Helen thought) delivered the petition +of "lead us not into temptation" with deeper feeling than usual; and +instead of rising when Helen rose, and exchanging with her the kiss +of sisterly affection, Rose buried her face in her hands; while her +cousin, seated opposite the small glass which stood on their little +dressing-table, commenced curling her hair, as if that day, which had +completed a revolution in her way of thinking, had been as smooth as +all the other days of her short calendar. The candle was extinguished, +and Helen slept profoundly. The moon shone in brightly through the +latticed window, whose leaden cross-bars chequered the sanded floor. +Rose looked earnestly upon the face of the sleeper, and so bright it +was, that she saw, or fancied she saw, a smile of triumph curling +on her lip. She crept quietly out of bed, and leaned her throbbing +temples against the cool glass. How deserted the long street of +Abbeyweld appeared; the shadows of the opposite trees and houses +lay prostrate across the road--the aspect of the village street was +lonely, very lonely and sad--there was no hum from the school--no +inquisitive eyes peeped from the casements--no echoing steps upon +the neatly-gravelled footpath--the old elm-tree showed like a mighty +giant, standing out against the clear calm sky--and there was one +star, only one, sparkling amid its branches--a diamond of the heavens, +shedding its brightness on the earth. The stillness was positively +oppressive. Rose felt as if every time she inhaled the air, she +disturbed the death-like quiet of the scene. A huge shadow passed +along the ledge of the opposite cottage; her nerves were so unstrung +that she started back as it advanced. It was only their own gentle +cat, whose quick eye recognised its mistress, and without waiting for +invitation, crawled quickly from its eminence, and came rubbing itself +against the glass, and then moved stealthily away, intent upon the +destruction of some unsuspicious creature, who, taught by nature, +believes that with night comes safety. + +Almost at the end of the street, the darkness was as it were divided +by a ray of light, that neither flickered nor wavered. What a picture +it brought at once before her!--the pale, lame grandchild of old Jenny +Oram, watching by the dying bed of the only creature that had ever +loved her--her poor deaf grandmother. And the girl's great trouble +was, that the old woman could neither see to read the Word of God +herself, nor hear her when she read it to her; but the lame girl had +no time to waste with grief, so she plied her needle rapidly through +the night-watches, not daring to shed a tear upon the work, or damp +her needle with a sigh. Rose was not as sorry for her as she would +have been at any other time, for individual sorrow has few sympathies; +but the more she thought of the lonely lame girl, the less became her +own trouble, and she might have gone to bed with the consciousness +which, strange to say, brings consolation, that there was one very +near more wretched than herself, had she not seen the form of Edward +Lynne glide like a spectre from beneath the old elm-tree, and stand +before the window. Rose retreated, but still observed him; the moon +was shining on the window, so he must have seen the form, without, +perhaps, being able to distinguish whose it was. Rose watched him +until his silent death-like presence oppressed her heart and brain, +and she closed her eyes to shut out what had become too painful to +look upon. When she looked again, all was sleeping in the moonlight as +before; but he was gone. At the same moment Helen turned restlessly on +her pillow, and sobbed and muttered to herself. Rose felt that pillow +wet with tears. "Helen!" she exclaimed; "Helen, dear Helen! awake! +Awake, Helen!" Her cousin, at length aroused, flung her arms around +her neck; and the proud lip which she had left curled with the +consciousness of beauty and power, quivered and paled, while she sank +awake and weeping on Rose's bosom. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Never had the bells of Abbeyweld, within the memory of living +man--within the memory of old Mrs. Myles herself, and _she_ was the +oldest living woman in the parish--rung so merry a peal as on the +morning that Helen Marsh was married to the handsome and Honourable +Mr. Ivers. He was young as well as handsome--honourable both by +name and nature--rich in possession and expectancy. On his part it +was purely and entirely what is called a "love match"--one of the +strangest of all strange things perpetrated by a young man of rank and +fashion. His wealth and position in society enabled him to select for +himself; and he did so, of course, to the disappointment of as many, +or perhaps a greater number of mothers than daughters, inasmuch as +it is the former whose speculations are the deepest laid and most +dangerous in arts matrimonial. + +Every body was astonished. Mrs. Howard--Helen's "kind friend"--Mrs. +Howard, little short of distracted for three weeks at the very least, +did nothing but exclaim, "Who would have thought it!" "Who, indeed!" +was the reply, in various tones of sympathy, envy, and surprise. +Poor Mrs. Howard, to the day of her death, never suffered another +portionless beauty to enter her doors while even the shadow of an +eldest son rested on its threshold. Mrs. Myles was of course in an +ecstacy of delight; her prophecy was fulfilled. Helen, _her_ Helen, +was the honourable wife of a doubly honourable man. What triumphant +glances did she cast over the railings of the communion-table at Mr. +Stokes--with what an air she marched down the aisle--how patronising +and condescending was her manner to those neighbours whom she +considered her inferiors--how bitterly did she lament that the +Honourable Mr. Ivers would not have any one to breakfast with them but +Mr. Stokes--and how surpassingly, though silently, angry was she with +Mr. Stokes for not glorying with her when the bride and bridegroom +drove off in their "own carriage," leaving her in a state of prideful +excitement, and Rose Dillon in a flood of tears. + +"Well, sir!" exclaimed the old lady--"well, sir, you see it _has_ +turned out exactly as I said it would; there's station--there's +happiness. Why, sir, if his brother dies without children, his own +valet told me, Mr. Ivers would be a lord and Helen a lady. Didn't she +look beautiful! Now, please, reverend sir, do speak, didn't she look +beautiful?" + +"She did." + +"Ah! it's a great gift that beauty; though," she added, resorting +to the strain of morality which persons of her character are apt to +consider a salve for sin--"though it's all vanity, all vanity. 'Flesh +is grass'--a beautiful text that was your reverence preached from last +Sunday--'All flesh is grass.' Ah, well-a-day! so it is. We ought not +to be puffed up or conceited--no, no. As I said to Mrs. Leicester, +'Don't be puffed up, my good woman, because your niece has what folk +call a pretty face, nor don't expect that she's to make a good market +of it--it's but skin deep; remember our good rector's sermon, 'All +flesh is grass.'' Ah, deary me! people do need such putting in mind; +and, if you believe me, sir, unless indeed it be Rose, poor child, who +never had a bit of love in her head yet, I'll be bound every girl is +looking above her station--there's a pity, sir. All are not born with +a coach and horses; no, no;" and so, stimulated a little, perhaps, by +a glass of _real_, not gooseberry, champagne, poor Mrs. Myles would +have galloped on with a strange commentary upon her own conduct (of +the motives to which she was perfectly ignorant,) had not the rector +suddenly exclaimed, "Where is Rose?" + +"Crying in her own room, I'll be bound; I'm sure she is. Why, +Rose--and I really must get your reverence to speak to her, she is +a sad girl--Rose Dillon, I say--so silent and homely-like--ah, dear! +Why, granddaughter--now, is it not undutiful of her, good sir, +when she knows how much I have suffered parting from my Helen. Rose +Dillon!" + +But Rose Dillon was not weeping in her room, nor did she hear her +grandmother's voice when the carriage, that bore the bride to a new +world, drove off. Rose ran down the garden, intending to keep the +equipage in sight as long as it could be distinguished from an +eminence that was called the Moat, and which commanded an extensive +view of the high road. There was a good deal of brushwood creeping +up the elevation, and at one side it was overshadowed by several tall +trees; in itself it was a sweet, sequestered spot, a silent watching +place. She could hardly hear the carriage wheels, though she saw +it whirled along, just as it passed within sight of the tall trees. +Helen's arm, with its glittering bracelet, waved an adieu; this little +act of remembrance touched Rose, and, falling on her knees, she sobbed +forth a prayer, earnest and heartfelt, for her cousin's happiness. + +"God bless you, Rose!" exclaimed the trembling voice of the discarded +lover, who, pale and wo-worn, had been unintentionally concealed among +the trees--"God bless you, Rose!--that prayer has done me good. +Amen to every word of it! She is quite, quite gone now--another's +bride--the wife of a gentleman--and so best; the ambition which fits +her for her present station unfitted her to be my wife. I say this, +and think this--I know it! But though I do know it, her face--that +face I loved from infancy, until it became a sin for me to love it +longer--that face comes between me and reason, and its brightness +destroys all that reason taught." + +Rose could not trust herself to reply. She longed to speak to him, +but she could not; she _dared_ not. He continued--"Did she leave no +message, speak no word, say nothing, to be said to me?" + +"She said," replied her cousin, "that she hoped you would be happy; +that you deserved to be so"-- + +"Deserved to be so!" he repeated bitterly; "and that was the reason +why _she_ made me miserable. Oh! the folly, the madness of the man who +trusts to woman's love--to woman's faith! But the spell _once_ broken, +the charm once dispelled, that is enough!" And yet it was not enough, +for Edward talked on, and more than once was interrupted by Rose, +who, whenever she could vindicate her cousin, did so bravely and +generously--not in a half-consenting, frigid manner, but as a true +woman does when she defends a woman, as, if she be either good or +wise, she will always do. + +Rose did not know enough of human nature to understand that the more +Edward complained of Helen's conduct and desertion, the less he really +felt it; and the generous portion of his own nature sympathised +with the very generosity which he argued against. He had found one, +who while she listened sweetly and patiently to his complaints, +vindicated, precisely as he would have desired, the idol of his +heart's first love. What we love appears so entirely our own, that +we question the right of others to blame it, whatever we may do +ourselves. If he had known the deep, the treasured secret that poor +Rose concealed within the sanctuary of her bosom, he would have +wondered at the unostentatious generosity of her pure and simple +nature. + +"It is evident," said Rose Dillon to herself, when she bade Edward +adieu; "it is quite evident he never will or can love another. Such +affection is everlasting." How blind she was! "Poor fellow! he will +either die in the flower of his age of a broken heart, or drag on a +miserable existence! And if he does," questioned the maiden, "and +if he does, _what is that to me_?" She did not, for a moment or two, +trust herself to frame an answer, though the tell-tale blood, first +mounting to and then receding from her cheek, replied; but then she +began to calculate how long she had known Edward, and thought how very +natural it was she should feel interested, deeply interested, in him. +He had no sister; why should she not be to him a sister? Ah, Rose, +Rose! that sisterly reasoning is of all others the most perilous. + +Time passed on. The bride wrote a letter, which, in its tone and +character, sounded pretty much like a long trumpet-note of exultation. +Mrs. Myles declared it to be a dear letter, a charming letter, a most +lady-like letter, and yet evidently she was not satisfied therewith. +She read scraps of it to all the neighbours, and vaunted Mrs. Ivers, +the Honourable Mrs. Ivers, up to the skies. Like all persons whose +dignity and station are not the result of inheritance, in the next +epistle she was even more anxious to impress her humble relatives +with an idea of her consequence. Mingled with a few epithets of love, +were a great many eulogiums on her new station. She was too honest to +regret, even in seeming, the rural delights of the country, (for Helen +could not stoop to deceit,) but she gave a list of titled visitors, +and said she would write more at length, were it not that every spare +moment was spent in qualifying herself to fill her station so as to do +credit to her husband." This old Mrs. Myles could not understand; she +considered Helen fit to be a queen, and said so. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +For more than two months, Rose and Edward did not meet again; for more +than four after that, he never entered the cottage which had contained +what he held most dear on earth; but one evening he called with Mr. +Stokes. The good rector might have had his own reasons for bringing +the young man to the cottage; but if he had he kept them to himself, +the best way of rendering them effective. + +After that, Edward often came, sometimes with a book from the rectory, +sometimes with a newspaper for Mrs. Myles, sometimes to know if he +could do anything for the old lady in the next town, where he was +going, sometimes for one thing, sometimes for another, but always with +some excuse, which Rose was happy to accept as the true one; satisfied +that she could see him, hear him, know that he was there. + +It so chanced that, calling one evening (evening calls are suspicious +where young people are concerned,) Edward was told that Mrs. Myles had +gone over to Lothery, the next post town, and that Miss Rose was out. +The servant (ever since Helen's marriage, Mrs. Myles had thought it +due to her dignity to employ such a person) said this with an air of +mystery, and Edward inquired which way Miss Rose had walked. Indeed, +she did not know. + +Edward therefore trusted to chance, and he had not gone very far down +a lane leading to the common of Abbeyweld, when he saw her seated +under a tree (where heroines are surely found at some period or other +of their life's eventful history) reading a letter. Of course he +interrupted her, and then apologised. + +"The letter," said Rose, frankly, "is from poor Helen." + +"Why do you call her poor?" he inquired. + +"Because she is very ill; and I am going to her to-morrow morning." + +"Ill!--to-morrow!--so suddenly--so soon!" stammered Edward. + +Rose turned homewards with an air of cold constraint. She could not +attribute Edward's agitation to any other cause than his anxiety on +Helen's account, and the conviction gave her intense pain. + +"Stay, Rose," he said. Rose walked steadily forward. "There is," he +continued bitterly, "a curse, a spell upon this place. Do you not +remember that it was here--_here_, within five yards of where we +stand--that _she_ first--. But where's the use of thinking of _that_, +or any thing else," he exclaimed with a sudden burst of passion, +"where a woman is concerned? They are all, _all_ alike, and I am a +double fool! But go, Rose, go--enjoy her splendour, and lie in wait, +as she did, for some rich idiot!" + +It was now Rose's turn to interrupt. Turning upon Edward, with an +expression of deeply insulted feeling, "Sir," she said; and before she +proceeded the cold monosyllable had entered his heart; "Sir, my cousin +Helen did _not_ lie in wait; a woman's beauty may be called a snare, +if you please, but it is not one of her own making; she was sought and +won, and not by an _idiot_; and it is ungenerous in you to speak thus +now, when time, and her being another's wife"-- + +Poor Rose had entered on perilous ground, and she felt it, and the +feeling prevented her proceeding. She trembled violently; and if +Edward could have seen her blanched cheek and quivering lip, he would +have checked his impetuosity, and bitterly reproached himself for the +rash words he had uttered. If he could but have known how devoutly +the poor fond beating heart loved him at that moment, he would, rustic +though he was, have fallen at her feet, and entreated her forgiveness. +Doubtless it was better as it was, for if men could see into women's +hearts, I very much fear their reliance on their own power would +increase, and _that_ would be neither pleasant nor profitable to +themselves or others; the very existence of love often depends on its +uncertainty. Some evil star at that moment shed its influence over +them, for Edward Lynne, catching at Rose's words, answered, + +"You need not, I assure you, entertain your cousin with an account of +how I grieve; and remember, believe me, I take good care to prevent +any woman's caprice from having power over me a second time." + +"You do quite right," replied Rose--"quite right." They walked on +together until they arrived within sight of the cottage door, but +neither spoke. + +"I have a great deal to do--much to prepare. I must wish you +good-night. Good-bye, and a kinder--temper." She faltered. + +"Going," said Edward--"going away in such haste; and to part thus. +There must be some mistake. I have watched you narrowly, suspiciously, +as men do who have been once deceived; and I have seen no trace +of unwomanly ambition in you; I little thought you would, on the +slightest hint, so willingly embrace the first opportunity of entering +into the sphere I thought you dreaded--as I do." + +"I told you Helen was ill." + +"A megrim--a whim--a"-- + +"You do her wrong; she has been a mother, and her child is dead." + +"A blow to her ambition," said Edward, so coldly that Rose (such is +human nature) breathed more freely. Was it possible, then--_could_ it +be possible--that his feelings had been excited not by the remembrance +of Helen, but the thought of her own departure? Yet still her simple +sense of justice urged her to say, "Again you do her wrong; Helen has +a great deal of feeling." + +"For herself," he answered tersely, "I dare say she has." + +"I did not think you could be so unjust and ungenerous," replied Rose; +"but you are out of sorts to-night, and will be sorry before morning. +You were always hasty, Edward. Good-night--good-bye." + +"Good-bye, then, Rose--good-bye;" and without taking her hand, without +one kind word, one sign of love, Edward Lynne rushed through the +garden gate and disappeared. + +Rose entered the little parlour, which of late had been well cared +for. The old sofa, though as stiff and hard as ever, triumphed in +green and yellow; and two cushions, with large yellow tassels, graced +the ends, and a huge square ottoman, which every country visitor +invariably tumbled over, stood exactly in front of the old seat. Upon +this Rose flung herself, and, covering her face with her hands, bent +down her head upon the stately seat. Her sobs were not loud but deep; +and as she was dealing with feelings, and not with time, she had +no idea how long she had remained in that state, until aroused by a +voice, whose every tone sent the blood throbbing and tingling through +her veins. + +"Rose--dear Rose!" + +Blushing--trembling--ashamed of an emotion she had not the power to +control--Rose could not move, did not at all events, until Edward was +on his knees beside her--until he had poured forth his affection--had +assured her how completely she had possessed herself of his respect +and admiration; that his feelings towards her not being of that +passionate nature which distracted him with love for Helen, he had not +truly felt her value until the idea of losing her for ever came upon +him; that then he indeed felt as though all hope of happiness was +to be taken away for ever--felt that he should lose a friend, one +on whose principles and truth he could rely--felt that in _her_ his +all was concentrated. It is only those who, having loved long and +hopelessly for years, find that love returned, and at the very moment +when they were completely bowed down by the weight of disappointment, +can understand what Rose experienced. She did not violate any of the +laws of maiden modesty, because she was pure in heart and single of +purpose; but she was too truthful to withhold the confession of her +love, and too sincere to conceal her happiness. + +"I will give you a promise; but receive none," said the generous +lover. "I should be indeed miserable if I, for a moment, fancied +you were controlled only by a _promise. I rely upon you solely and +entirely_; no matter with what temptations you may be surrounded. If +Helen is so much admired, you must be admired also; but I do not fear +you will forget me; for now my only astonishment is how I could have +preferred the spirit and power of the one to the tender and womanly +grace of the other." In the midst of these effusions, so dear to +lovers' hearts, Mrs. Myles entered. Many and many a time had she +prayed that Edward Lynne might transfer his affections to Rose Dillon; +it would be such "a capital match for her, poor thing." She would +repeat to herself, "_Yes_, quite the thing for _her_, though, of +course, for Helen I could not hear of it--yet quite the thing of all +others for her." This frame of mind continued until the invitation +arrived, and it was determined that Rose should visit her cousin. "It +is," argued the good woman in her own way, "it is only to nurse her +strong and well again, I dare say; but yet, who knows, she may see +some one, or some one may see her? She certainly is a very pretty, +modest-looking girl; and I have heard say that modest-looking girls +are sometimes greatly admired among the grandees in fashionable +places, because of their rarity. I shall certainly show the cold +shoulder to Edward Lynne the next time he comes, and give him a hint +as to the expectations I have for Rose. I must not suffer the poor +child to throw herself away--oh no!--oh no! Edward Lynne is a very +nice young man certainly; and if Rose had not been going to London"-- +She opened the parlour door as she so reasoned; and the peculiar +expression which passed over the countenances of both, convinced +her that every thing was proceeding in opposition to her "prudential +motives." Edward frankly expounded all, to her entire dissatisfaction. +"She did not," she said, "at all approve of engagements; she would not +sanction any engagement except at the altar; she thought _Mr._ Lynne +(Mr. Lynne! she had never in her life before called him any thing but +"Ned") she thought he ought to have spoken to _her_ first as became +_a gentleman_." And Edward, provoked beyond bearing at what always +upstirs a noble soul--mere worldly-mindedness--replied, "that he never +professed to be a _gentleman_; he was, and ever would be, a farmer, +and nothing more; and for all that, he thought a farmer--an honest, +upright, English farmer--might have as correct ideas as to right and +wrong as any gentleman." At this Mrs. Myles became very indignant; +like the frog in the fable, she endeavoured to think herself an ox, +and talked and looked magnificence itself, until at last she felt as +if being _her_ grand-children was enough to entitle Helen and Rose to +sit before a queen. She talked of Edward,--his occupation, his barns, +his cows, horses, and sheep--until Rose, all gentle as she was, +roused, and said, that for herself she had no ambition beyond that of +being the useful wife of an honest man; that Edward had honoured her, +and, sorry as she should be to displease the only parent she had ever +known, she had plighted her faith in the temple of her own heart to +him--and as long as the plight was of value in his eyes, it could not +be withdrawn. How truly did Edward Lynne feel that she indeed would be +a crown of glory to his old age, as well as to his manhood's prime! + +The scene--for there are "scenes" wherever human passion runs +wild--ended by Mrs. Myles working herself into the belief that she +was the most ill-used old lady in the British dominions. She commanded +Edward from her presence; and though Rose wept and knelt at her feet, +she refused to be pacified, declaring that if it had not been for the +rheumatism, she would herself act as nurse to Helen, and not suffer so +low-minded a creature as Rose Dillon to look on the splendour of her +cousin's house. What she thought of that splendour, an extract from +a letter--not the first or second--which replied to those she had +received from Edward, will best tell: + +"I have seen a great deal to astonish--every thing seems wonderful in +London--only I wish the people seemed more really happy. I have been +thinking that happiness is not a sudden thing like joy; it is more +quiet--_it takes time to be happy_--and the people here have no time. +In the midst of the gayest party, they do not suffer themselves +to enjoy it, but keep hurrying on to the next. I remember when we +were children, Helen and I, we have sat an hour over a bunch of +wildflowers, yet not discovered half their beauties; surely excitement +and happiness are not twin-born. Since Helen has been better, numbers +of ladies have called, so beautifully dressed, and so gentle-mannered +and reserved, one so very like the other, that they might have all +been brought up at the same school. They never appear to confide in +each other, but make a talk, after their own calm fashion, about small +things. Still, when they talk, _they do not say much_, considering how +highly bred they are. I have listened throughout an entire morning (a +fashionable morning, Edward, does not begin until three o'clock in the +afternoon), and really could not remember a single observation made +by a drawing-room full of ladies. _We_ could not talk ten minutes +with dear Mr. Stokes, without hearing something that we could not help +remembering all the days of our lives. It is wonderful how superior +Helen is (I am not afraid to tell you so) to every one around her; +there is a natural loftiness of mind and manner visible in her every +movement, that carries off her want of those pretty accomplishments +which the ladies value so highly. And then she is _so_ beautiful, and +her husband is so proud of having the handsomest woman in London for +his wife; and one artist begs to model her ear, another her hand--you +cannot think how fair and soft and 'do-nothing' it looks,--and as +to her portraits, they are in all those pretty painted books which +Mr. Stokes calls 'vanities.' There is a queer, quirky, little old +gentleman who visits here, who said that Helen owed her great success +in society to her 'tact.' Oh! Edward, she owes her sorrow to her +_ambition_. Would you believe it possible that she, the beauty +of Abbeyweld, who for so long a time seemed to us satisfied with +that distinction, is not satisfied now. Why, there is not such an +establishment, no, not at Mrs. Howard's, as that which she commands. +Oh! Edward, to have once loved Helen, is to be interested for her +always; there is something great in her very faults; there is nothing +poor or low about her. That little cranky old gentleman said the other +evening while looking at her, 'Miss Rose, a woman, to be happy, should +either have no ambition, or an ambition beyond this world.' Do ask Dr. +Stokes if that is true." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +After she had been a little longer in town, Rose saw more clearly the +workings of that ambition which had undermined her cousin's happiness. +She saw where the canker ate and withered, but she did not know how it +could be eradicated. Something which women understand, prevented her +laying open the secrets of the house to Edward; and yet she desired +counsel. Possessing much observation as to the workings of the human +heart, she had but little knowledge as to how those feelings might be +moulded for the best; and she naturally turned for advice, and with +the faith of a Christian spirit, to the pastor who had instructed +her youth. He had loved them both, and she longed for his counsel, in +the--alas! vain--hope that she, a right-minded but simple girl--simple +as regards the ambition of life's drama--might be able to turn her +cousin from the unsatisfied, unsatisfying longings after place and +station. The difference in their opinions was simply this--Rose +thought that Helen possessed everything that Helen could desire, while +Helen thought that Helen wanted all things. + +It was morning--not the morning that Rose had described to her lover, +but not more than seven o'clock--when Rose, who had been up late the +previous night, was awoke by her cousin's maid. On entering Helen's +dressing-room she found her already dressed, but so pale and +distressed in her appearance, that she could hardly recognise the +brilliant lawgiver of the evening's festivities in the pale, languid, +feverish beauty that was seated at her desk. + +"Dear Helen, you are weary; ill, perhaps," exclaimed her gentle +cousin. "You have entered too soon into gay society, and you suffer +for the public restraint in private." + +Her cousin looked steadily in her face, and then smiled one of those +bitter disdainful smiles which it is always painful to see upon a +woman's lip. + +"Sit down, Rose," she said; "sit down, and copy this letter. I +have been writing all night, and yet cannot get a sufficient number +finished in time, without your assistance." + +Rose did as she was desired, and, to her astonishment, found that +the letters were to the inhabitants of a borough, which Mr. Ivers +had expressed his desire to represent. Rose wrote and wrote; but the +longest task must have a termination. About one, the gentleman himself +came into the room, and, as Rose thought, somewhat indifferently, +expressed his surprise, that what he came to commence, was already +finished. Still he chid his fair wife for an exertion which he feared +might injure her health, and evinced the strongest desire to succeed +in rescuing the people of L---- from the power of a party to which he +was opposed; hinting, at the same time, that the contest would drain +his purse and many of his resources. + +"And let it," exclaimed Helen, when he left the room, "let it. I +care not for _that_, but I will overturn every thing that interposes +between me and the desire I have to humble the wife of the present +representative. Look, I would hold this hand in the fire, ay, and +suffer it to smoulder into ashes, to punish the woman who called me +a proud _parvenue_! She did so before I had been a week in London. +Her cold calm face has been a curse to me ever since. She has stood, +the destroying angel, at the gate of my paradise, poisoning every +enjoyment. Let me but humble _her_," she continued, rising proudly +from the sofa upon which she had been resting; "let me but humble +_her_, and I shall feel a triumphant woman! For that I have watched +and waited; _anxiety for that caused me the loss of my child_; but if +Ivers succeeds, I shall be repaid." + +Rose shuddered. Was it really true, that having achieved the wealth, +the distinction she panted for, she was still anxious to mount higher? +Was it possible that wealth, station, general admiration, and the +devoted affection of a tender husband did not satisfy the humbly-born +beauty of an obscure English village? Again Helen spoke; she told how +she had at last succeeded in rousing her husband to exertion--how, +with an art worthy a better cause, she had persuaded him that his +country demanded his assistance--how he had been led almost to believe +that the safety of England was in the hands of the freeholders of +L----; and then she pictured her own triumph, as the wife of the +successful candidate, over the woman who had called her a _parvenue_. +"And, after all," murmured poor Rose, "and after all, dear Helen, you +are really unhappy." + +"Miserable!" was the reply--"no creature was ever so perfectly +miserable as I am! The one drop of poison has poisoned the whole cup. +What to me was all this grandeur, when I felt that _that_ woman looked +down upon me, and induced others to do the same; that though I was +with them, I was not of them; and all through her means. Ivers could +not understand my feeling; and, besides, I dare not let him know +what had been said by one of his own clique, lest _he should become +inoculated by the same feeling_." + +"Another fruit," thought Rose Dillon, "of the evil which attends +unequal marriages." + +"But _my_ triumph will come!" she repeated; "Ivers must carry all +before him; and _who knows what may follow_?" + +"Still unsatisfied!" thought Rose, as she wandered through the +splendid rooms and inhaled the perfume of the most expensive exotics, +and gazed upon beautiful pictures, and listened to the roll of +carriages, and heard the kind fond voice of Helen's devoted husband +urging the physician, who made his daily calls, to pay his wife the +greatest attention. "Still unsatisfied!" she repeated; and then she +thought of one of Edward's homely but wise proverbs--"All is not +gold that glitters;" and she thought how quite as beautiful, and +more varied by the rich variety of nature, was the prospect from +the parlour-window of the farm-house, that was to be her own. "And +woodbine, roses, and mignonette breathe as sweet odours as exotics, +and belong of right to the cottages of England. Ah!" continued the +right-minded girl, "better is a little and content therewith, than all +the riches of wealth and art without it. If her ambition had even a +_great_ object I could forgive her; but all this for the littleness +of society." This train of thought led her back to the days of +their girlhood, and she remembered how the same desire to outshine +manifested itself in Helen's childhood. If Mr. Stokes had been there +he could have told her of the pink gingham, with her grandmother's +injudicious remark thereupon--"Be content with the pink gingham _now_, +Helen--_the time will come when you shall have a better_;" instead +of--"Be always content, Helen, with what befits your sphere of life." + +That day was an eventful one to Rose. In the evening she was seated +opposite the window, observing the lamplighter flying along with his +ladder and his link through the increasing fog, and wondering why the +dinner was delayed so much beyond the usual hour--when the little old +cranky gentleman, whose keen and clever observations had given Rose a +very good idea of his _head_, and a very bad one of his heart, stood +beside her. In a few brief words he explained, that seeing she was +different to London ladies, he had come to the determination of making +her his wife. He did not seem to apprehend any objection on her part +to this arrangement; but having concluded the business in as few words +as possible, stood, with his hands behind him, very much as if he +expected the lady he addressed to express her gratitude, and suffer +him to name the day. Firmly and respectfully Rose declined the honour, +declaring "she had no heart to give," and adding a few civil words of +thanks to the old gentleman, who would have evinced more sense had he +proposed to adopt, not marry her. Without a reply, the old gentleman +left the room; but presently her cousin entered, and in terms of +bitter scorn, inquired if she were mad enough to refuse such an +offer--one that would immediately take her out of her humble sphere, +and place her where she might be happy. Rose replied, with more than +usual firmness, that she had learned, since she had been with her, +the total insufficiency of rank and power to produce happiness. "I am +convinced," she continued, "that it is the most likely to dwell where +there are the fewest cares, and that the straining after distinction +is at variance with its existence. To be useful, and fulfil well +the duties of our native sphere, is the surest way to be happy. Oh! +Helen, you do not know what it is; you look too much to the future to +enjoy the present; and I have observed it ever since you threw away +the handful of jessamine we had gathered at the grey fountain of +Abbeyweld, because you could not have moss roses like the squire's +daughter." + +"Foolish girl!" she answered, "has not perseverance in the desire +obtained the moss roses?" + +"Yes," said her cousin, sadly, "but now you desire exotics. I should +despise myself if it were possible that I could forget the affection +of my heart in what appears to me the unsubstantial vanities of life. +Dear Helen, in sickness or sorrow let me ever be your friend; but I +must be free to keep on in my own humble sphere." + +It seemed as if poor Rose was doomed to undergo all trials. Helen was +not one to yield to circumstances; and though her physician prescribed +rest, she lived almost without it, avoiding repose, laying herself +under the most painful obligations to obtain her end, and enduring the +greatest mental anxiety. Not only this; she taunted poor Rose with her +increased anxieties, affirming, that if she had not rendered the old +gentleman her foe by the ill-timed refusal, he would have assisted, +not thwarted, her cherished object; that his influence was great, +and was now exerted against them. "If," she added, "you had only the +common tact of any other girl, you might have played him a little +until the election was over, and then acted as you pleased." + +This seemed very shocking to Rose, and she would have gone to +Abbeyweld immediately, but that she thought it cruel to leave her +cousin while she felt she was useful to her. "Ah, Rose!" she said, +when poor Rose hinted that in a short time she must return, "how can +you think of it?--how can you leave me in an _enemy's country_? I dare +not give even my husband my entire confidence, for he might fancy my +sensitiveness a low-born feeling. I can trust you, and none other." +Surrounded, according to the phrase, "with troops of friends," and +yet able to _trust_ "none other" than the simple companion of her +childhood! "And yet," murmured the thoughtful Rose, "amongst so many, +the blame cannot be all with the crowd; Helen herself is as incapable +of warm, disinterested friendship as those of whom she complains." + +Rose Dillon's constancy was subjected to a still greater trial. +Amongst the "troops of friends" who crowded more than ever round Mr. +Ivers while his election was pending, was a young man as superior to +the rest in mind as in fortune, and Rose Dillon's ready appreciation +of the good and beautiful led her to respect and admire him. + +"Is it true, Miss Dillon," he said to her one morning, after a lagging +conversation of some twenty minutes' duration--"is it true, Miss +Dillon, that you have discarded altogether the attentions of Mr. +----?" and he named the old gentleman whose offer had been so painful +to Rose, and who was now made painfully aware that the subject had +been publicly talked of. This confused her. "Nay," he continued, "I +think you ought to be very proud of the fact, for he is worth two +hundred thousand pounds." + +"If he were worth ten hundred thousand, it would make no difference to +me," was the reply. + +"Then, you admit the fact." + +Rose could not tell a falsehood, though she confessed her pain that +it should be known. "I intend," she added, "to remain in my own quiet +sphere of life; I am suited for no other." + +The gentleman made no direct reply, but from that hour he observed +Rose narrowly. The day of the election came, with its bribery and its +bustle. Suffice it, that the Honourable Mr. Ivers was declared duly +elected--that the splendour of the late member's wife's entertainments +and beauty, were perfectly eclipsed by the entertainments and beauty +of the wife of the successful candidate--that every house, _except_ +one, in the town was splendidly illuminated--and that the people +broke every pane of glass in the windows of that house, to prove their +attachment to the great principle of freedom of election. "God bless +you, cousin!" said Rose; "God bless you--your object is attained. I +hope you will sleep well to-night." + +"Sleep!" she exclaimed; "how can I sleep? Did you not hear the wife +of a mere city baronet inquire if late hours did not injure a country +constitution; and see the air with which she said it?" + +"And why did you not answer that a country constitution gave you +strength to sustain them? In the name of all that is right, dearest +Helen, why do you not assert your dignity as a woman, instead of +standing upon your rank? Why not, as a woman, boldly and bravely +revert to your former position, and at the same time prove your +determination to support your present? You were as far from shame +as Helen Marsh of Abbeyweld, as you are as the wife of an honourable +member. Be yourself. Be simply, firmly yourself, my own Helen, and you +will at once, from being the scorned, become the scorner." + +"This from you, who love a lowly state?" + +"I love my own birthright, lowly though it be. No one will attempt to +pull me down. I shall have no heartaches--suffer no affronts?" + +"Oh!" said Helen, "if I had but been born to what I possess." + +"Mr. Stokes said if you had been born an honourable, you would have +grasped at a coronet." + +"And I _may_ have it yet," replied the discontented beauty, with +a weary smile; "I _may_ have it yet; my husband's brother is still +childless. If I could be but certain that the grave would receive him +a childless man, how proudly I would take precedence of such a woman +as Lady G----" + +Rose looked at her as she spoke. In the glorious meridian of her +beauty--a creature so splendid--of such a fair outside--with energy, +and grace, and power--married by a weak ambition--an ambition achieved +by the accident of birth--an ambition having neither honour, nor +virtue, nor patriotism, nor any one laudable aim, for its object. And +she sorrowed in her inmost soul for her cousin Helen. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Rose never, of course, made one at the brilliant assemblies which Mrs. +Ivers gave and graced; she only saw those who breakfasted or lunched +in the square, or who, like the little old gentleman, and one or two +others, joined the family circle. The excitement of an election, +and the (_pro tem._) equality which such an event creates, brought +her more into contact with her cousin's acquaintances than she had +yet been, and gave the gentleman, who evidently admired her, an +opportunity of studying her character. There was something strange +in a young woman, situated as was Rose, preserving so entirely her +self-respect, that it encircled her like a halo; and wherever it is +so preserved, it invariably commands the respect of others. After the +first week or two had passed, Rose Dillon was perfectly undazzled by +the splendour with which she was surrounded, and was now engaged in +watching for a moment when she could escape from what she knew was +splendid misery. If Helen had been simply content to keep her own +position--if she had, as Rose's wisdom advised, sufficient moral +courage to resent a slight openly, not denying her humble birth, and +yet resolved to be treated as became her husband's wife--all would +have been happiness and peace. Proud as Mr. Ivers was of her, her +discontent and perpetual straining after rank and distinction, +watching every body's every look and movement to discover if it +concealed no _covert_ affront, rendered him, kind and careful +though he was, occasionally dissatisfied; and she interpreted every +manifestation of his displeasure, however slight, to contempt for +her birth. Rose suffered most acutely, for she saw how simple was the +remedy, and yet could not prevail on Helen to abate one jot of her +restless ambition. The true spirit of a Christian woman often moved +her to secret earnest prayer, that God, of His mercy, would infuse +an humbler and holier train of thought and feeling into Helen's mind; +and, above all, she prayed that it might not come too late. + +"You do not think with Mrs. Ivers in all things, I perceive," said the +gentleman I have twice alluded to. + +"I am hardly, from my situation," replied Rose, "privileged to think +her thoughts, though perhaps I may think of them." + +"A nice distinction," he answered. + +"Our lots in life are differently cast. In a week I return to +Abbeyweld; I only came to be her nurse in illness, and was induced to +remain a little longer because I was useful to her. They will go to +the Continent now, and I shall return to my native village." + +"But," said the gentleman, in a tone of the deepest interest, "shall +you really return without regret?" + +"Without regret? Oh yes!" + +"Regret nothing?" + +"Nothing." + +"Suppose," he continued, in a suppressed tone of deep +emotion--"suppose that a man, young, rich, and perfectly aware of +the value of your pure and unsullied nature, was to lay his hand and +heart"-- + +"I pray, I entreat you, say not another word," interrupted Rose, +breathlessly. "If there should be any such, which is hardly possible, +sooner than he should deign to make a proposal to me, I would tell him +that before I came to visit my cousin, only the very night before, I +became the betrothed of another." + +"Of some one, Rose, who took advantage of your ignorance of the +world--of your want of knowledge of society?" + +"Oh no!" she replied, covering her face with her hand; "oh no! he is +incapable of that. He would have suffered me to leave Abbeyweld free +of promise, but I would not." + +"And do you hold the same faith still Rose? Think, has not what you +have seen, and shared in, made you ambitious of something beyond a +country life? Your refined mind and genuine feeling, your taste--do +not, I implore you, deceive yourself." + +"I do not, sir; indeed, I do not. Pardon me; I would not speak +disrespectfully of those above me. Of course, I have not been admitted +into that familiarity which would lead me to comprehend what at +present appears to me even more disturbed by the littleness of life +than a country village. Conventional forms have, I fear, little to +do with elevation of mind; they seem to me the result of habit rather +than of thought or feeling. I know this, at least, 'All is not gold +that glitters.' I have seen a tree, fair to look at in the distance, +and covered with green leaves, but when approached closely, the trunk +was foul and hollowed by impurities, and when the blast came, it could +not stand; even so with many, fair without and foul within, and the +first adversity, the first great sorrow, over-throws them." + +"But this may be the case with the poor as well as the rich, in the +country as well as the town." + +"I am sure of it, sir. No station can be altogether free from +impurity; but in the country the incitements to evil seem to me less +numerous, and the temptations fewer by far; the most dangerous of all, +a desire to shine, to climb above our fellows, less continual. The +middle class is there more healthy and independent." + +"And all this owing to the mere circumstance, think you, of +situation?" interrupted the gentleman. + +"I am only country bred, sir, as you know," replied Rose, earnestly +but meekly; "and the only advantage I have had has been in the society +of one you have heard me mention before now--our worthy rector--and he +says it would make all that is wrong come right, if people would only +fear God and love their neighbour." + +"I believe," said the gentleman, "he is right, quite right; for out of +such religion springs contentment, and all the higher as well as the +humbler virtues. Yes, he is quite right." Much more he urged Rose, +with all the persuasive eloquence of warm affection, to discover, if +it were possible, she could change. He tried her on all points, but +she replied with the clear straightforward truthfulness that has +nothing to conceal. She wavered in nothing: firm to her love, steady +to her principles, right-thinking and clear-sighted, he felt that +Rose Dillon of Abbeyweld would have added the dignity of virtue to the +dignity of rank, but that her mind was of too high an order to bend to +the common influences that lead women along the beaten track of life. + +They parted to meet no more; and Rose shed tears at their parting. "I +did not wish you to make a declaration that did me too much honour," +she said; "but I entreat you to say nothing of it to Mrs. Ivers. My +own course is taken, and God knows how earnestly I will pray that you +may find one in every way worthy your high caste of mind and station." + +I wonder would Edward Lynne have quite approved of those tears; I +wonder would he have been pleased to have observed the cheek of his +affianced bride pressed against the drawing-room window, to catch a +last glimpse of the cab which dashed from Mr. Ivers' door. Perhaps +not--for the generous nature of woman's love and woman's friendship, +is often beyond man's comprehension--but he would have been pleased to +see, after she had paced the room for half an hour, the eagerness with +which she received and opened a letter from himself; to have witnessed +the warm kiss impressed upon his name; to hear the murmured "dear, +_dear_ Edward!" Her heart had never for a moment failed in its +truth--never for an instant wavered. + +That day week the cousins separated. "You must come to me when I +return, Rose," said Helen--"you must come and witness my triumphs. +My husband's brother is very ill--cannot live long--but _that_ is a +secret. I trust Ivers will make a figure in the lower, before called +to the upper house; if he does not, it will break my heart. There, God +bless you, Rose; you have been very affectionate, very sweet to me, +but I do, I confess, envy you that cheerful countenance--cheerful and +calm. I always think that contented people want mind and feeling; but +you do not, Rose. By the way, how strangely Mr. ---- disappeared; +I thought you had clipped his wings. Well, next season, perhaps. Of +course, after this, you will think no more of Edward." Fortunately for +Rose, Helen expected no replies, and after a few more words, as I have +said, they parted. + +In little more than three months, Rose Dillon and Edward Lynne were +married. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +"It's a decent match enough," said old Mrs. Myles to the rector when +two years had elapsed, and she had become reconciled to it. "Of course +Rose never could have taken the same stand as Helen, who has been a +lady now more than a year; though she's a good, grateful girl, and +Edward very attentive--very attentive indeed--and I must say more so +than I expected. Helen, I mean my lady, you know, has, as she says in +her last letter, a great deal to do with her money--of course she must +have; and so, sir, pray do not let any one in Abbeyweld know that the +little annuity is not continued--regularly, I mean," she added, while +a certain twitching of her features evinced how much she felt, though +she did not at the moment confess it, the neglect of one she so dearly +loved. Like most talkative people, she frequently talked away her +sorrows; and, thinking she would be better if she opened her heart, +she recommenced, after wiping away a few natural tears: "You see, sir, +Helen--I mean her ladyship--said she would make it up by-and-bye to +me, and so she ought, poor dear thing; for I sacrificed both myself +and her cousin Rose for her advancement; and really I cannot tell how +the money goes with those great folk. Only think," proceeded the old +lady, bringing her face close to Mr. Stokes, and whispering--"only +think, she says she never has five pounds she can call her own. Now, +as I told Rose, this is very odd, because my lord is so very rich +since the death of his brother, ten times as rich as he was at first, +and yet Rose says they are poor now to what they used to be--is +not that very strange? She says it is because of the increased +expenditure, and that I don't understand; but it's very hard, very +hard in my old days. If she can't live upon thirty thousand a-year, +I wonder how she expects her poor old grandmother to live upon thirty +pounds, for that's all my certainty; and the little farm, I must say, +would have gone to destruction, but for Edward Lynne--he does every +thing for it, poor fellow. She never sends me a paper now, with +her presentations, and dresses, and fine parties, printed in it at +full-length; she's ashamed of her birth, that's it; though sure +you and your lady, sir, noticed them both like equals, and I never +even asked to go near her, though his lordship invited me more than +once--and he even came to see Rose, as you know, ay, and a good ten +mile out of his way it was to come--a good ten mile--and kissed her +baby, and said he wished he had one like it, which they say Helen +never will have. Oh, it was a pity that first one of her ladyship did +not live! It is so cruel of her not to let me see the papers with an +account of her fine doings, all in print--very cruel--I who loved her +so, and took care of her--I never could find out from Rose whether +or no she thought her happy. Ah, Rose is a good girl! not, however," +added the old lady, again wiping away her tears--"not, however, to be +compared to her ladyship; and I would not say what I have done to any +one in the world but you, sir, who have known them all their lives." + +So talked old Mrs. Myles, and so she continued to talk at intervals, +during the next five years, growing weaker in mind and body, until at +last she took to her bed. "I could die happy," said the old woman, "if +I were to see Helen once more; write to her, Rose, and tell her so; +she will not refuse to see me, her first friend--only once." + +Communications between the cousins had ceased for a long time, but +Rose wrote. Mrs. Myles sent twice every day to the post-office--and +her hopes, so constantly disappointed, increased her fever; at the end +of a week, a letter came. + +"Give it me, Rose, give it me!" exclaimed Mrs. Myles, "it is from +my own darling child, bless her!--my beauty! Oh, deary me! I'm sure +that's a beautiful seal, if I could only see it; prop me up--there. +How the jessamine blinds the window--now my spectacles--so"--She tried +hard to read, but the power of sight was gone. "She used to write the +best hand in the school, but this fashionable writing is hard to make +out," observed the old woman; "so do you read it, Rosy." + +"Here is ten pounds to begin with," said Rose, placing the gossamer +note before her.--Mrs. Myles mechanically took up the money, and +played with it as a child plays with a toy, and Rose read the few +words that accompanied the gift:--"Grieved to the heart to hear of the +illness of her ever dear relative--would be miserable about her but +from the knowledge of Rose being the best nurse in the world--begs she +will let her know how the dear invalid is by return of post, and also +if there is any thing she could send to alleviate her sufferings." + +While Rose was reading the letter, Mrs. Myles's long thin feeble +fingers were playing with the note, her dim eyes fixed upon the +window; large round tears coursed each other down her colourless +cheeks. "No word about coming, Rose--no word about coming," she +muttered, after a pause; "send her back this trash," she added, +bitterly--"send her back this trash, and tell her the last tears I +shed were shed not for my sins, but for her cruelty." She continued to +mutter much that they could not understand; but evening closed in, and +Rose told Edward that she slept at last; she did certainly, and Rose +soon discovered that it was her last sleep. The money was returned; +and again five years elapsed without Rose hearing, directly or +indirectly, from her rich and titled cousin. In the mean time, Edward +and Rose prospered exceedingly; three handsome, happy children blessed +their home. Their industry perfected whatever Providence bestowed; +nothing was wasted, nothing neglected; the best farmers in the +neighbourhood asked advice of Edward Lynne; and the "born ladies," +as poor Mrs. Myles would have called them, would have forgotten that +Rose was only a farmer's wife, if wise Rose had been herself disposed +to forget it. But great as their worldly prosperity had been, it was +nothing to the growth and continuance of that holy affection which +cheered and hallowed their happy dwelling--the chief characteristic +of which was a freedom from pretension of all kinds. Rose suffered +appearances to grow with their means, but never to precede them; +and though this is not the world's practice, the duty is not on that +account the less imperative. They were seated one evening round their +table, Edward reading, while his wife worked, when the master of the +post-office brought them a letter. + +"It has lain two days, Measter Lynne," said the man, "for you never +send but once a-week; only, as I thought by the seal it must be +something grand, whoy I brought it down myself." + +It was from Helen!--from the ambitious cousin--a few sad, mournful +lines, every one of which seemed dictated by a breaking heart. + +She was ill and wretched, and the physician had suggested change of +air; but above all her native air. Would Rose receive her for a little +time, just to try what its effect might be?--she was sure she would, +and she would be with her immediately. + +"Strange," said Edward, "how nature will assert and keep its power; +when luxury, art, skill, knowledge, fail to restore health, they tell +you of native air, trusting to the simple, pure restorative, which +is the peasant's birthright, as infallible. I wonder, Rose, how those +fine people like to be thrown back upon the nature they so outrage." + +"Poor Helen!" exclaimed Rose, "how dispirited she seems--how +melancholy! I ought to feel afraid of your meeting her, I suppose, +Edward; but I do not--you have grown satisfied with your poor Rose. We +shall be able to make her very comfortable, shall we not?"--and then +she smiled at the homeliness of the phrase, and wondered what Helen +would say if she heard her. + +It was not without sundry heartbeatings that Rose heard the carriage +stop, and assisted Helen to alight; nor could she conceal her +astonishment at the ravages which not past years but past emotions had +wrought on her once beautiful face. + +The habit of suppressing thoughts, feelings, and emotions, had +altogether destroyed the frank expression of her exquisitely chiselled +mouth, which, when it smiled now, smiled alone; for the eyes, so +finely formed, so exquisitely fringed, did not smile in unison; they +had acquired a piercing and searching expression, altogether different +from their former brilliancy. + +The elevated manners, the polished tone which high society alone +bestows, only increased the distance between the two cousins, though +Rose was certainly gratified by the exclamation of pleasure which told +how much better than she anticipated were the accommodations prepared +by her humble relative. + +"Such pretty rooms--such beautiful flowers! Rose, you must have grown +rich, and without growing unhappy. Strange, you look ten years younger +than I do!" + +"Late hours, public life, and anxieties," said Rose. + +"Yes, that last appointment his lordship obtained, the very thing +above all others I so desired for him, has completely divided him from +his home. We hardly ever meet now, except at what I may call our own +public dinners." + +"And he, who used to be so affectionate, so fond of domestic life!" +involuntarily exclaimed Rose. + +"And is so still; but the usages of society, the intrigues and bustle +of public business, quite overthrow every thing of that kind. Oh, it +is a weary, wearying world!" + +"But to a mind like yours, the achieving an object must be so +delightful!" + +"Ay, Rose, so it is; but that sort of thing soon passes away, and we +have no sooner obtained possession of one, than another still more +desirable presents itself. How peaceful and happy you seem. Well, an +idle mind must be a perpetual feast." + +"But I have not an idle mind, not an idle moment," replied Rose, +colouring a little; "my husband, my children, my humble household, the +care of the parochial schools, now that poor Mr. Stokes has grown so +infirm"-- + +"Yes, yes!" interrupted Helen; "and yet, Rose, when I look at you, +even now, I cannot but think you were fitted for better things." + +"Better than learning how to occupy time profitably, and training +souls for immortality!" she replied; "but you are worn and tired, let +me wait upon you this one night, as I used long, long ago to do--let +me wait upon my own dear cousin, instead of a menial, this one night, +and to-morrow you shall see Edward and the children." + +The worn-hearted woman of the great world laid her face upon her +cousin's shoulder, and then fairly hid it in her bosom. Why it was, He +only, who knows the mysterious workings of the human heart, can tell; +but she wept long and very bitterly, assigning no cause for her tears, +but sobbing and weeping like a sorrowing child, while the arms she had +flung round her cousin's neck prevented Rose from moving. Their tears +once more mingled, as they had often done in childhood--once more--but +not for long. + +"Leave me alone for a little, and I will ring for my maid," she said +at last; "I am too artificial to be waited upon by you, Rose. It was +otherwise when you used to twine gay poppies and bright flowers in my +hair, telling me, at the same time, how much wiser it would have been +to have chosen the less fading and more fragrant ones." + +"Her husband--and her children!" thought Helen; "if she had neither +children nor husband, she would have been of such value to me now; +noisy children, I dare say, troublesome and wearying. Native air! +native air, indeed, _ought_ to work wonders." It would be hardly +credited that Helen--the beauty--the admired--the woman of +rank--bestowed quite as much trouble upon her morning toilette as +if she had been in London. Such was her aching passion for universal +sway, that she could not bear to be thought faded by her old lover, +though he was only a farmer; and this trouble was taken despite bodily +pain that would have worn a strong man to a skeleton. + +It would be difficult to say whether Helen was pleased or displeased +at finding Edward Lynne what might, without any flattery, be termed a +country gentleman, betraying no emotion whatever at the sight of one +who had caused him so much suffering, and only anxious to gratify her +because she was his wife's relative. She thought, and she was right, +that she discovered pity, and not admiration, as he looked upon her. + +"You think me changed," she said. + +"Your ladyship has been ill and harassed." + +"Ah! we all change except Rose." + +"Ah!" replied the country bred husband, "she, indeed, is an exception; +she could not even change for the better." + +And then the children, two such glorious boys, fine, manly fellows. +"And what will you be?" inquired her ladyship of the eldest. + +"A farmer, my lady." + +"And you?" + +"A merchant, I hope." + +"Your boys are as unambitious as yourself, Rose." + +"I fear not," she answered; "this fellow wants to get into the middle +class; but Mr. Stokes says the prosperity of a country depends more +upon the middle class than upon either the high or the low." + +To this Helen made no reply, for her attention was occupied by +the loveliness of Rose's little girl. The child inherited, in +its perfection, the beauty of her family, and a grace and spirit +peculiarly her own. Rose could not find it in her heart to deprive +her cousin of the child's society, which seemed to interest and amuse +her, and the little creature performed so many acts of affection +and attention from the impulse of her own kind nature, that Helen, +unaccustomed to that sort of devotion, found her twine around +her sympathies in a novel and extraordinary manner; it was a new +sensation, and she could not account for its influence. After a +week had passed, she was able to walk out, and met by chance the +old clergyman. He kissed the child, and passed on with a bow, which, +perhaps, had more of bitterness in its civility than, strictly +speaking, befitted a Christian clergyman; but he thought of the +neglect she had evinced towards old Mrs. Myles, and if he had spoken, +it would have been to vent his displeasure, and reprove the woman +whose rank could not shield her from his scorn. She proceeded towards +the churchyard. "Look, lady!" said little Rose; "father put that stone +over that grave to please mother. The relation who is buried there +took care of my mother when she was a _littler_ girl than I am now, +and he told me to strew flowers over the grave, which we do. See, I +can read it--'Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. Margaret Myles, who died +the seventeenth of June, eighteen hundred'--and something--I can +hardly read figures yet, lady. 'This stone was placed here by her +grateful relatives, E. and R.S.,' meaning Rose and Edward Lynne." + +The coldness of the clergyman was forgotten in the bitterness of +self-reproach. "I was a fool," she thought, as she turned away, "to +fancy that my native air could be untainted by the destiny which has +mocked me from my cradle." + +"Ah! lady dear," exclaimed a crone, rising from a grave where she +had been sitting, "don't you remember old Betty? They all said in the +village you'd be too proud to look on your grandmother's grave; but +you're not, I see. Well, that's good--that's good. We had a funeral +last week, and the vault of the old earl was broken in. The stupid +sexton stuck his pick in amongst the old bricks, and so the great +man's skull came tumbling out, and rolled beside the skull of Job +Martin, the old cobbler; and the sexton laid them both on the edge of +the grave, the earl's skull and the cobbler's skull, until he should +fetch a mason to mend the vault, and--what do you think?--when the +mason came, the sexton could not tell which was the earl's skull and +which was the cobbler's! Lady, you must understand how this is--it's +all the same in a hundred years, according to the saying; and so +it is. None of them could tell which was the earl's, and which the +cobbler's. My skull may lie next a lady's yet, and no one tell the +difference." + +The lady and child hastened from the churchyard, and the old woman +muttered, "To see that! She's not half as well to look at now as the +farmer's wife. Ah! 'All is not gold that glitters!'" How happy it is +for those who believe in the truth of this proverb, and from it learn +to be content! + +It might be a week after this occurrence that Helen sent for Rose. The +lady either was, or fancied herself better, and said so, adding, it +was in her (Rose's) power to make her happier than she had ever been. +Reverting to the period when her cousin visited her in London, she +alluded to what she had suffered in becoming a mother, and yet having +her hopes destroyed by the anxiety and impetuosity of her own nature. +"At first," she said, "the trouble was anything but deep-rooted, for I +fancied God would send many more, but it was not so; and now the title +I so desired must go to the child of a woman--Oh, Rose, how I _do_ +hate her!--a woman who publicly thanks God that no plebeian blood will +disgrace _my_ husband's title and _her_ family. I would peril my soul +to cause her the pain she has caused me." + +"You do so now," said Rose, gently but solemnly. "Oh! think that this +violence and revenge sins your own soul, and is every way unworthy of +you." + +Helen did not heed the interruption. "To add to my agony," she +continued, "my husband cherishes her son as if it were his own; the +boy stands even now between his affections and me. He has reproached +me for what he terms my insensibility to his perfections, and says +I ought to rejoice that he is so easily rendered happy--only imagine +this! Rose, you must give me your daughter, to be to me as my own. +Her beauty and sweetness will at once wean my husband's love from +this boy; and, moreover, children brought up together--do you not +see?--that boy will become attached to one of the 'plebeian blood,' +and wedding _her_ hereafter, scald to the core the proud heart of his +mother, as she has scalded mine!" + +"I cannot, Helen," replied Rose, after a pause, during which her +cousin's glittering inquiring eyes were fixed upon her face--"I +cannot; I could not answer to my God at the last day for delivering +the soul he gave to my care to be so tutored (forgive me) as to forget +Him in all things." + +"Forget God!" repeated Helen once or twice--"I forget God! Do you +think I am a heathen?" + +"No, cousin--no--for you have all knowledge of the truth; but +knowledge, and profiting by our knowledge, are different. My little +gentle-hearted girl will be happier far in her own sphere. I could not +see her degraded to bait a trap for any purpose; she will be happy, +happier in her own sphere." + +The lady bit her compressed lips; but during her whole life she never +gave up a point, nor an object, proving how necessary it is that the +strong mind should be well and highly directed. Small feeble minds +pass through the world doing little good and little harm, but to train +a large mind is worth the difficulty--worth the trouble it occasions: +its possession is either a great blessing or a great curse. To Helen +it was the latter, and curses never fall singly. "You have boys to +provide for," she said, "and if I adopted that child, I would not +suffer their station to disgrace their sister." + +"I am sure you mean us kindly and generously; nor am I blind to the +advantages of such an offer for my boys. Their father has prospered +greatly, and could at this moment place them in any profession they +chose--still influence would help them forward; but the advancement of +one child must not be purchased by"--Rose paused for a word--she did +not wish to hurt her cousin's feelings--and yet none suggested itself +but what she conceived to be the true one, and she repeated, lowly +and gently, her opinion, prefacing it with, "You will forgive in this +matter my plain speaking, but the advancement of one child must not be +purchased by the sacrifice of another." + +"Your prejudices have bewildered your understanding," exclaimed the +lady. "Whatever my ambition may be, my morality is unimpeached; a +vestal would lose none of her purity beneath my roof." + +"Granted, fully and truly; woman's first virtue is untainted, but that +is not her only one; forgive me. I have no right to judge or dictate, +nor to give an unasked opinion; I am grateful for your kindness; +but my child, given to me as a blessing for time and a treasure for +eternity, must remain beneath my roof until her mind and character are +formed." + +"You are mad, Rose; consider her future happiness"-- + +"Oh, Helen! are you more happy than your humble cousin?" + +"She would be brought up in the sphere I was thrust into, and have +none of the contentions I have had to endure," said Helen. + +"A sphere full of whirlpools and quicksands," replied the mother. "The +fancy you have taken to her might pass away. She might be taught the +bitterness of eating a dependant's bread, and the soft and luxurious +habits of her early days would unfit her for bearing so heavy a +burden; it would be in vain then to recall her to her humble home; +she would have lost all relish for it. It might please God to take +you after a few years, and my poor child would be returned to what she +would then consider poverty. Urge me no more, I entreat you." + +Helen's face grew red and pale by turns. "You mock at and mar my +purposes," she said. "My husband was struck by the beauty of that +child, and I longed to see her; but I am doomed to disappointment. I +never tried to grasp a substance that it did not fade into a shadow! +What am I now?" Her eyes rested upon the reflection, given by the +glass, of the two cousins. "Look! that tells the story--worn in heart +and spirit, blighted and bitter. You, Rose--even you, my own flesh and +blood--will not yield to me--the only creature, perhaps, that could +love me! Oh! the void, the desert of life, without affection!--a +childless mother--made so by"--She burst into tears, and Rose was +deeply affected. She felt far more inclined to yield her child to the +desolate heart of Helen Marsh, than to the proud array of Lady ----; +but she also knew her duty. + +"Will you grant me this favour," said Helen at last; "will you let the +child decide"-- + +"I would not yield to the child's decision, but you may, if you +please, prove her," answered her mother. + +The little girl came softly into the room, having already learned that +a bounding step was not meet for "my lady's chamber." + +"Rosa, listen; will you come with me to London, to ride in a fine +coach drawn by four horses--to wear a velvet frock--see beautiful +sights, and become a great lady. Will you, dear Rosa, and be my own +little girl?" + +"Oh, yes!" exclaimed the child, gleefully; "that I will; _that_ would +be so nice--a coach and four--a velvet frock--a great lady--oh! dear +me!" The mother felt her limbs tremble, her heart sink. "Oh! my own +dear mother, will not _that_ be nice? and the beautiful sights you +have told me of--St. Paul's and Westminster--oh! mother, we shall be +so happy!" + +"Not _me_, Rosa," answered Mrs. Lynne, with as firm a voice as she +could command. "Now, listen to me: you might ride _in_ a coach +and four, instead of _on_ your little pony--wear velvet instead of +cotton--see St. Paul's and Westminster--but have no more races on +the downs, no more peeping into birds' nests, no more seeing the old +church, or hearing its Sabbath bells. You _may_ become a great lady, +but you must leave and forget your father and me." + +"Leave you, and my father and brothers! You did not mean _that_ +surely--you could not mean that, my lady--could they not go with me?" + +"That would be impossible!" + +"Then I will stay here," said the little girl firmly; "I love them +better than every thing else in the world. Thank you, dear lady, but I +cannot leave them." + +"Leave _us_, then, Rosa," said Helen, proudly. The child obeyed with a +frightened look, wondering how she had displeased the "grand lady." + +If Helen had been steeped to the very lips in misery, she could not +have upbraided the world more bitterly than she did, giving vent to +long pent-up feelings, and reproaching Rose, not only for her folly +in not complying with her wish, but for her happiness and contentment, +which, while she envied, she affected to despise. + +"You cannot make me believe that the high-born and wealthy are what +you represent," said her cousin. "A class must not be condemned +because of an individual; and though I never felt inclined to achieve +rank, I honour many of its possessors. It is the unsatisfied longing +of your own heart that has made you miserable, dear Helen; and oh! +let me entreat you, by the remembrance of our early years, to suffer +yourself to enjoy what you possess." + +"What I possess!" she repeated; "the dread and dislike of my husband's +relatives--the reputation of 'she _was_ very handsome'--a broken +constitution--nothing to lean upon or love--a worn and weary heart!" + +"You have a mine of happiness in your husband's affection." + +"Not now," she answered bitterly; "not now--not now." And she was +right. + +The next day she left the farm, where peace and prosperity dwelt +together; despite herself, it pained her to witness such happiness. +It is possible that the practical and practised theories she had +witnessed might have changed her, had she not foolishly thought it +too late. Her disappointment had been great; from the adoption of that +child she had expected much of what, after all, is the creating and +existing principle of woman's nature--natural affection; but this was +refused by its mother's wisdom. Her worldly prospects had been doomed +to disappointment, because she hungered and thirsted after vanities +and distinctions, which never can afford sustenance to an immortal +spirit; and even when she desired to cultivate attachment, it did not +proceed from the pure love of woman--the natural stream was corrupted +by an unworthy motive. + +Again years rolled on. In the records of fashionable life, the +movements and fetes of Lady ---- continued to be occasionally noted +as the most brilliant of the season; then rumours became rife that +Lord and Lady ---- did not live as affectionately as heretofore; +then, after twenty years of union, separation ensued upon the public +ground of "incompatibility of temper"--his friends expressing their +astonishment how his lordship could have so long endured the pride +and caprice of one so lowly born, while hers--but friends! she had no +friends!--a few partizans of the "rights of women" there were, who, +for the sake of "the cause," defended the woman. She had been all her +life too restless for friendship, and when the sensation caused by +her separation from her husband had passed away, none of the gay world +seemed to remember her existence. Rose and her husband lived, loved, +and laboured together. It was astonishing how much good they did, and +how much they were beloved by their neighbours. Their names had never +been noted in any fashionable register, but it was engraved upon every +peasant heart in the district. "As happy as Edward and Rose Lynne," +became a proverb; and if any thing was needed to increase the love +the one felt for the other, it was perfected by the affection of their +children. + +"I think," said the old rector, as they sat round the evening +tea-table, "that our school may now vie with any in the +diocese--thanks to the two Roses; twin roses they might almost be +called, though Rosa hardly equals Rose. I wonder what Mrs. Myles would +say if she were to look upon this happy group. Ah dear!--well God is +very good to permit such a foretaste of heaven as is met with here." +And the benevolent countenance of the good pastor beamed upon the +happy family. "I have brought you the weekly paper," he continued; +"the Saturday paper. I had not time to look at it myself, but here +it is. Now, Edward, read us the news." The farther people are removed +from the busy scenes of life, the more anxious they are to hear of +their proceedings; and Edward read leading articles, debates, reviews, +until, under the head of "Paris," he read as follows--"Considerable +sensation has been excited here by the sudden death of the beautiful +Lady ----." + +Rose screamed, and the paper trembled in Edward's hand. "This is too +horrid," he said. + +"Do let me hear it all!" exclaimed his wife. + +It was many minutes before Edward Lynne could tell her, that there +was more than an insinuation, that, wearied of existence, she, the +brilliant, the beautiful, the _fortunate_ Lady ----, wearied of life, +had abridged it herself. + +Before they separated that evening, the Holy Word was read with more +than usual feeling and solemnity by Mr. Stokes, and yet he could not +read as much as usual. "All flesh is grass," brought tears into his +eyes. His prayer that all might long enjoy the perpetual feast of a +contented mind, was echoed by every heart; and the gratitude all felt +for God's goodness to them was mingled with regret for Helen; all +intermediate time was forgotten, and the elders of that little party +only remembered the bright and beautiful girl, the pride of Abbeyweld. + +"God bless my beloved pupil!" said the venerable clergyman, as he +departed; "without a holy grace all is indeed vanity. May Rosa learn, +as early as her mother did, that + +'ALL IS NOT GOLD THAT GLITTERS.'" + + * * * * * + + + + +THERE IS NO HURRY. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +I do not tell you whether the village of Repton, where the two +brothers, John and Charles Adams, originally resided, is near or far +from London: it is a pretty village to this day; and when John Adams, +some five-and-thirty years ago, stood on the top of Repton Hill and +looked down upon the houses--the little church, whose simple gate was +flanked by two noble yew trees, beneath whose branches he had often +sat--the murmuring river in which he had often fished--the cherry +orchards, where the ripe fruit hung like balls of coral; when he +looked down upon all these dear domestic sights--for so every native +of Repton considered them--John Adams might have been supposed to +question if he had acted wisely in selling to his brother Charles the +share of the well-cultivated farm, which had been equally divided at +their father's death. It extended to the left of the spot on which he +was standing, almost within a ring fence; the meadows, fresh shorn +of their produce, and fragrant with the perfume of new hay--the crops +full of promise, and the lazy cattle laving themselves in the standing +pond of the abundant farmyard; in a paddock, set apart for his +especial use, was the old blind horse his father had bestrode during +the last fifteen years of his life; it leant its sightless head +upon the gate, half up-turned, he fancied, to where he stood. It +is wonderful what small things will sometimes stir up the hearts of +strong men, ay, and what is still more difficult, even of ambitious +men. Yet he did not feel at that moment a regret for the fair acres he +had parted with; he was full of the importance which the possession +of a considerable sum of money gives a young man, who has been fagging +almost unsuccessfully in an arduous profession, and one which requires +a certain appearance of success to command success--for John Adams +even then placed M.D. after his plain name; yet still, despite the +absence of sorrow, and the consciousness of increased power, he +continued to look at poor old Ball until his eyes swam in tears. + +With the presence of his father, which the sight of the old horse had +conjured up, came the remembrance of his peculiarities, his habits, +his expressions; and he wondered, as they passed in review before him, +how he could ever have thought the dear old man testy or tedious; +even his frequent quotations from "Poor Richard" appeared to him, +for the first time, the results of common prudence; and his rude but +wise rhyme, when, in the joy of his heart, he told his father he had +absolutely received five guineas as one fee from an ancient dame who +had three middle-aged daughters (he had not, however, acquainted his +father with _that_ fact,) came more forcibly to his memory than it had +ever done to his ear-- + + "For want and age save while you may, + No morning sun shines all the day." + +He repeated the last line over and over again, as his father had done; +but as his "morning sun" was at that moment shining, it is not matter +of astonishment that the remembrance was evanescent, and that it did +not make the impression upon him his father had desired _long_ before. + +A young, unmarried, handsome physician, with about three thousand +pounds in his pocket, and "good expectations," might be excused for +building "des chateaux en Espagne." A very wise old lady said once +to me--"Those who have none on earth may be forgiven for building +them in the air; but those who have them on earth should be content +therewith." Not so, however, was John Adams; he built and built, and +then by degrees descended to the realities of his position. What power +would not that three thousand pounds give him! He wondered if Dr. Lee +would turn his back upon him now when they met in consultation; and +Mr. Chubb, the county apothecary, would he laugh and ask him if he +could read his own prescriptions? Then he recurred to a dream--for +it was so vague at that time as to be little more--whether it would +not be better to abandon altogether country practice, and establish +himself in the metropolis--London. A thousand pounds, advantageously +spent, with a few introductions, would do a great deal in London, and +that was not a third of what he had. And this great idea banished all +remembrance of the past, all sense of the present--the young aspirant +thought only of the future. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Five years have passed. Dr. John Adams was "settled" in a small +"showy" house in the vicinity of Mayfair; he had, the world said, made +an excellent match. He married a very pretty girl, "highly connected," +and was considered to be possessed of personal property, because, +for so young a physician, Dr. Adams lived in "a superior style." His +brother Charles was still residing in the old farm-house, to which, +beyond the mere keeping it in repair, he had done but little, except, +indeed, adding a wife to his establishment--a very gentle, loving, +yet industrious girl, whose dower was too small to have been her only +attraction. Thus both brothers might be said to be fairly launched in +life. + +It might be imagined that Charles Adams, having determined to reside +in his native village, and remain, what his father and grandfather +had been, a simple gentleman farmer, and that rather on a small than +a large scale, was altogether without that feeling of ambition which +stimulates exertion and elevates the mind. Charles Adams had quite +enough of this--which may be said, like fire, to be "a good servant, +but a bad master"--but he made it subservient to the dictates of +prudence--and a forethought, the gift, perhaps, that, above all +others, we should most earnestly covet for those whose prosperity we +would secure. To save his brother's portion of the freehold from going +into the hands of strangers, he incurred a debt; and wisely--while +he gave to his land all that was necessary to make it yield its +increase--he abridged all other expenses, and was ably seconded in +this by his wife, who _resolved_, until principal and interest were +discharged, to live quietly and carefully. Charles contended that +every appearance made beyond a man's means was an attempted fraud upon +the public; while John shook his head, and answered that it might +do very well for Charles to say so, as no one expected the sack that +brought the grain to market to be of fine Holland, but that no man in +a profession could get on in London without making "an appearance." +At this Charles shrugged his shoulders, and thanked God he lived at +Repton. + +The brothers, as years moved rapidly on--engaged as they were by their +mutual industry and success in their several fields of action--met but +seldom. It was impossible to say which of the two continued the most +prosperous. Dr. Adams made several lucky hits; and having so obtained +a position, was fortunate in having an abundance of patients in an +intermediate sort of state--that is, neither very well nor very ill. +Of a really bland and courteous nature, he was kind and attentive +to all, and it was certain that such of his patients as were only in +moderate circumstances, got well long before those who were rich; his +friends attributed this to his humanity as much as to his skill; his +enemies said he did not like "poor patients." Perhaps there was a +mingling of truth in both statements. The money he had received for +his portion of the land was spent, certainly, before his receipts +equalled his expenditure; and strangely enough, by the time the farmer +had paid off his debt, the doctor was involved, not to a large amount, +but enough to render his "appearance" to a certain degree fictitious. +This embarrassment, to do him justice, was not of long continuance; +he became the fashion; and before prosperity had turned his head by +an influx of wealth, so as to render him careless, he got rid of his +debt, and then his wife agreed with him "that they might live as they +pleased." + +It so happened that Charles Adams was present when this observation +was made, and it spoke well for both the brothers that their different +positions in society had not in the smallest degree cooled their +boyhood's affection; not even the money transactions of former times, +which so frequently create disunion, had changed them; they met less +frequently, but they always met with pleasure, and separated with +regret. + +"Well!" exclaimed the doctor triumphantly, as he glanced around his +splendid rooms, and threw himself into a _chaise longue_--then a new +luxury--"well, it is certainly a charming feeling to be entirely out +of debt." + +"And yet," said his wife, "it would not be wise to confess it in our +circle." + +"Why?" inquired Charles. + +"Because it would prove that we had been in it," answered the lady. + +"At all events," said John, "now I shall not have to reproach myself +with every extra expense, and think I ought to pay my debts first; now +I may live exactly as I please." + +"I do not think so," said Charles. + +"Not think so!" repeated Mrs. Adams in a tone of astonishment. + +"Not think so!" exclaimed John; "do I not make the money myself?" + +"Granted, my dear fellow; to be sure you do," said Charles. + +"Then why should I not spend it as pleases me best? Is there any +reason why I should not?" + +As if to give the strongest dramatic effect to Charles's opinion, the +nurse at that moment opened the drawing-room door, and four little +laughing children rushed into the room. + +"There--are four reasons against your spending your income exactly as +you please; unless, indeed, part of your plan be to provide for them," +answered Charles very seriously. + +"I am sure," observed Mrs. Adams, with the half-offended air of a weak +woman when she hears the truth, "John need not be told his duty to his +children; he has always been a most affectionate father." + +"A father may be fond and foolish," said Charles, who was peculiarly +English in his mode of giving an opinion. "For my part, I could not +kiss my little Mary and Anne when I go to bed at night, if I did +not feel I had already formed an accumulating fund for their future +support--a support they will need all the more when their parents are +taken from them, as they must be, in the course of time." + +"They must marry," said Mrs. Adams. + +"That is a chance," replied Charles; "women hang on hands now-a-days. +At all events, by God's blessing, I am resolved that, if they are +beauties, they shall never be forced by poverty to accept unworthy +matches; if they are plain, they shall have enough to live upon +without husbands." + +"That is easy enough for you, Charles," said the doctor, "who have +had your broad acres to support you, and no necessity for expenditure +or show of any kind; who might go from Monday morning till Saturday +night in home-spun, and never give any thing beyond home-brewed and +gooseberry wine, with a chance bottle of port to your visiters--while +I, Heaven help me! was obliged to dash in a well-appointed equipage, +entertain, and appear to be doing a great deal in my profession, when +a guinea would pine in solitude for a week together in my pocket." + +"I do not want to talk with you of the past, John," said Charles; "our +ideas are more likely to agree now than they were ten or twelve years +ago; I will speak of the future and present. You are now out of debt, +in the very prime of life, and in the receipt of a splendid income; +but do not, let me entreat you, spend it as it comes; lay by something +for those children; provide for them either by insurance, or some of +the many means that are open to us all. Do not, my dear brother, be +betrayed by health, or the temptation for display, to live up to an +income the nature of which is so essentially precarious." + +"Really," murmured Mrs. Adams, "you put one into very low spirits." + +Charles remained silent, waiting his brother's reply. + +"My dear Charles," he said at last, "there is a great deal of truth in +what you say--certainly a great deal; but I cannot change my style of +living, strange as it may seem. If I did, I should lose my practice. +And then I must educate my children; _that_ is an imperative duty, is +it not?" + +"Certainly it is; it is a _part_ of the provision I have spoken of, +but not the whole--a portion only. If you have the means to do both, +it is your duty to do both; and you _have_ the means. Nay, my dear +sister, do not seem angry or annoyed with me; it is for the sake of +your children I speak; it is to prevent their ever knowing practically +what we do know theoretically--that the world is a hard world; +hard and unfeeling to those who need its aid. It is to prevent the +possibility of their feeling _a reverse_." + +Mrs. Adams burst into tears, and walked out of the room. Charles was +convinced that _she_ would not uphold his opinion. + +"Certainly," said John, "I intend to provide for my children; but +_there is no hurry_, and"-- + +"There should be no hesitation in the case," interrupted Charles; +"every man _intends_ to provide for his children. God forbid that I +should imagine any man to be sufficiently wicked to say--I have been +the means of bringing this child into existence--I have brought it up +in the indulgence of all the luxuries with which I indulged myself; +and now I intend to withdraw them all from it, and leave it to fight +its own way through the world. No man could look on the face of the +innocent child nestling in your bosom and say _that_; but if you do +not appropriate a portion of the means you possess to save that child +from the 'hereafter,' you act as if you had resolved so to cast it on +the wild waters of a turbulent world." + +"But, Charles, I intend to do all that you counsel; no wonder poor +Lucy could not bear these words, when I, your own and only brother, +find them stern and reproachful; no wonder that such should be the +case; of course I _intend_ to provide for my children." + +"Then DO IT," said Charles. + +"Why, so I will; but cannot in a moment. I have already said there is +no hurry. You must give a little time." + +"The time may come, my dear John, when TIME will give you no time. You +have been spending over and above your debt--more than, as the father +of four children, you have any right to spend. The duty parents owe +their children in this respect has preyed more strongly on my mind +than usual, as I have been called on lately to witness its effects--to +see its misery. One family at Repton, a family of eight children, has +been left entirely without provision, by a man who enjoyed a situation +of five hundred a-year in quarterly payments." + +"That man is, however, guiltless. What could he save out of five +hundred a-year? How could he live on less?" replied the doctor. + +"Live upon four, and insure his life for the benefit of those +children. Nay," continued Charles, in the vehemence of his feelings, +"the man who does not provide means of existence for his helpless +children, until they are able to provide for themselves, cannot +be called a reasonable person; and the legislature ought to oblige +such to contribute to a fund to prevent the spread of the worst sort +of pauperism--that which comes upon well-born children from the +carelessness or selfishness of their parents. God in his wisdom, and +certainly in his mercy, removed the poor broken-hearted widow of the +person I alluded to a month after his death; and the infant, whose +nourishment from its birth had been mingled with bitterness, followed +in a few days. I saw myself seven children crowd round the coffin +that was provided by charity; I saw three taken to the workhouse, and +the elder four distributed amongst kind-hearted hard-working people, +who are trying to inure the young soft hands, accustomed to silken +idleness, to the toils of homely industry. I ask you, John Adams, how +the husband of that woman, the father of those children, can meet +his God, when it is required of him to give an account of his +stewardship?" + +"It is very true--very shocking indeed," observed Dr. Adams. "I +certainly will do something to secure my wife and children from the +possibility of any thing like _that_, although, whatever were to +happen to me, I am sure Lucy's family would prevent"-- + +Charles broke in upon the sentence his brother found it difficult +to complete--"And can you expect distant or even near relatives to +perform what you, whose duty it is, neglect? Or would you leave those +dear ones to the bitterness of dependence, when, by the sacrifice or +curtailment of those luxurious habits which, if not closely watched, +increase in number, and at last become necessaries, you could leave +them in comfort and independence! We all hope for the leisure of a +death-bed--awful enough, come as it may--awful, even when beyond its +gloom we see the risen Sun of Righteousness in all his glory--awful, +though our faith be strong in Him who is our strength; but if the +consciousness of having neglected those duties which we were sent on +earth to perform be with us then, dark, indeed, will be the Valley of +the Shadow of Death. I do not want, however, to read a homily, my dear +brother, but to impress a truth; and I do hope that you will prevent +the possibility of these dear children feeling what they must feel, +enduring what they must endure, if _you_ passed into another world +without performing your duty towards them, and through them to +society, in this." + +Mrs. Adams met her brother-in-law that day (people five-and-twenty +years ago did dine by day) at dinner, with an air of offence. She was, +of course, lady-like and quiet, but it was evident she was displeased. +Every thing at table was perfect according to its kind. There was +no guest present who was not superior in wealth and position to the +doctor himself, and each was quite aware of the fact. Those who climb +boldly sometimes take a false step, but at all times make dangerous +ones. When Charles looked round upon the splendid plate and stylish +servants--when the children were ushered in after dinner, and +every tongue was loud in praises of their beauty--an involuntary +shudder passed through his heart, and he almost accused himself of +selfishness, when he was comforted by the remembrance of the provision +made for his own little ones, who were as pretty, as well educated, +and as happy in their cheerful country home. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The next morning he was on his return to Repton, happy in the +assurance his brother had given him before they parted, that he would +really lay by a large sum for the regular insurance of his life. + +"My dear John," said the doctor's wife, "when does the new carriage +come home? I thought we were to have had it this week. The old chariot +looked so dull to-day, just as you were going out, when Dr. Fitzlane's +new chocolate-colour passed; certainly that chocolate-coloured +carriage picked out with blue and those blue liveries are very, very +pretty." + +"Well, Lucy, I think them too gay--the liveries I mean--for an +M.D.; quieter colours do best; and as to the new carriage, I had not +absolutely ordered it. I don't see why I cannot go on with the jobs; +and I almost think I shall do so, and appropriate the money I intended +for _my own_ carriage to another purpose." + +"What purpose?" + +"Why, to effect an insurance on my life. There was a great deal +of truth in what Charles said the other day, although he said it +coarsely, which is not usual with him; but he felt the subject, and +I feel it also; so I think of, as I said, going quietly on with the +jobs--at all events till next year--and devoting this money to the +insurance." + +It is difficult to believe how any woman, situated as Mrs. Adams was, +could have objected to a plan so evidently for her advantage and the +advantage of her family; but she was one of those who never like to +think of the possibility of a reverse of fortune--who thrust care off +as long as they can, and who feel more pleasure in being lavish as to +the present than in saving for the future. + +"I am sure," she answered, in the half-petted half-peevish tone that +evinces a weak mind--"I am sure if any thing was to happen to you, I +would break my heart at once, and my family, of course, would provide +for the children. I could not bear the idea of reaping any advantage +by your death; and really the jobs are so very inferior to what they +used to be--and Dr. Leeswor, next door but one, has purchased such a +handsome chariot--you have at least twice his practice; and--Why, dear +John, you never were in such health; there will be no necessity for +this painful insurance. And after you have set up your _own_ carriage, +you can begin and lay by, and in a few years there will be plenty for +the children; and I shall not have the galling feeling that any living +thing would profit by your death. Dear John, pray do not think of this +painful insurance; it may do very well for a man like your brother--a +man with out refinement; but just fancy the mental torture of such a +provision." + +Much more Mrs. Adams talked; and the doctor, who loved display, and +had no desire to see Dr. Leeswor, his particular rival, or even +Dr. Fitzlane, better appointed than himself, felt strongly inclined +towards the new carriage, and thought it would certainly be pleasanter +to save than to insure, and resolved to begin immediately _after_ the +purchase of his new equipage. + +When persons are very prosperous, a few ten or twenty pounds do not +much signify, but the principle of careless expenditure is hard to +curb. + +Various things occurred to put off the doctor's plan of laying by. +Mrs. Adams had an illness, that rendered a residence abroad necessary +for a winter or two. The eldest boy must go to Eton. As their mamma +was not at home, the little girls were sent to school. Bad as Mrs. +Adams's management was, it was better than no management at all. If +the doctor had given up his entertainments, his "friends" would have +said he was going down in the world, and his patients would have +imagined him less skilful; besides, notwithstanding his increased +expenditure, he found he had ample means, not to lay by, but to spend +on without debt or difficulty. Sometimes his promise to his brother +would cross his mind, but it was soon dispelled by what he had led +himself to believe was the impossibility of attending to it then. When +Mrs. Adams returned, she complained that the children were too much +for her nerves and strength, and her husband's tenderness induced him +to yield his favourite plan of bringing up his girls under his own +roof. In process of time two little ones were added to the four, and +still his means kept pace with his expenses; in short, for ten years +he was a favourite with the class of persons who render favouritism +fortune. It is impossible, within the compass of a tale, to trace the +minutiae of the brothers' history; the children of both were handsome, +intelligent, and in the world's opinion, well educated; John's eldest +daughter was one amongst a thousand for beauty of mind and person; +hers was no glaring display of figure or information. She was gentle, +tender, and affectionate; of a disposition sensitive and attuned to +all those rare virtues in her sphere, which form at once the treasures +of domestic life and the ornaments of society. She it was who soothed +the nervous irritability of her mother's sick chamber and perpetual +peevishness, and graced her father's drawing-room by a presence +that was attractive to both old and young, from its sweetness and +unpretending modesty; her two younger sisters called forth all +her tenderness, from the extreme delicacy of their health; but her +brothers were even greater objects of solicitude--handsome spirited +lads--the eldest waiting for a situation, promised, but not given; the +second also waiting for a cadetship; while the youngest was still at +Eton. These three young men thought it incumbent on them to evince +their belief in their father's prosperity by their expenditure, and +accordingly they spent much more than the sons of a professional man +ought to spend under any circumstances. Of all waitings, the waiting +upon patronage is the most tedious and the most enervating to the +waiter. Dr. Adams felt it in all its bitterness when his sons' bills +came to be paid; but he consoled himself, also, for his dilatoriness +with regard to a provision for his daughters--it was impossible to lay +by while his children were being educated; but the moment his eldest +sons got the appointments they were promised, he would certainly save, +or insure, or do something. + +People who only _talk_ about doing "something," generally end by doing +"nothing." Another year passed; Mrs. Adams was still an invalid, the +younger girls more delicate than ever, the boys waiting, as before, +their promised appointments, and more extravagant than ever; and Miss +Adams had made a conquest which even her father thought worthy of her. + +The gentleman who had become really attached to this beautiful girl +was of a high family, who were sufficiently charmed with the object +of his affections to give their full sanction, as far as person +and position were concerned; but the prudent father of the would-be +bridegroom thought it right to take an early opportunity of waiting +upon the doctor, stating his son's prospects, and frankly asking what +sum Dr. Adams proposed settling on his daughter. Great, indeed, was +his astonishment at the reply--"He should not be able to give his +daughter anything _immediately_, but at his death." The doctor, for +the first time for many years, felt the bitterness of his _false +position_. He hesitated, degraded by the knowledge that he must sink +in the opinion of the man of the world by whom he was addressed; he +was irritated at his want of available funds being known; and though +well aware that the affections of his darling child were bound up in +the son of the very gentlemanly but most prudent person who sat before +him, he was so high and so irritable in his bearing, that the fathers +parted, not in anger, but in any thing but good feeling. + +Sir Augustus Barry was not slow to set before his son the +disadvantages of a union where the extravagant habits of Miss Adams +had no more stable support than her father's life; he argued that a +want of forethought in the parents would be likely to produce a want +of forethought in the children; and knowing well what could be done +with such means as Dr. Adams had had at his command for years, he was +not inclined to put a kind construction upon so total a want of the +very quality which he considered the best a man could possess; after +some delay, and much consideration of the matter, he told his son that +he really could not consent to his marriage with a penniless bride. +And Dr. Adams, finding that the old gentleman, with a total want of +that delicacy which moneyed men do not frequently possess, had spoken +of what he termed too truly and too strongly his "heartless" want of +forethought, and characterised as a selfishness the indulgence of a +love for display and extravagance, when children were to be placed in +the world and portioned--insulted the son for the fault of the father, +and forbade his daughter to receive him. + +Mary Adams endeavoured to bear this as meekly as she had borne the +flattery and the tenderness which had been lavished on her since her +birth. The bitter, bitter knowledge that she was considered by her +lover's family as a girl who, with the chance of being penniless, +lived like a princess, was inconceivably galling; and though she had +dismissed her lover, and knew that her father had insulted him, still +she wondered how he could so soon forget her, and never write even a +line of farewell. From her mother she did not expect sympathy; she +was too tender and too proud to seek it; and her father, more occupied +than ever, was seldom in his own house. Her uncle, who had not been in +town for some years, at last arrived, and was not less struck by the +extreme grace and beauty of his niece, than by the deep melancholy +which saddened her voice and weighed down her spirits. He was +evidently anxious to mention something which made him joyous and +happy; and when the doctor entered the library with him, he said, "And +may not Mary come in also?" Mary did come in; and her gentle presence +subdued her uncle's spirits. "I had meant to tell the intended change +in my family only to you, brother John; but it has occurred to me we +were all wrong about my niece; they said at home, 'Do not invite my +cousin, she is too fine, too gay to come to a country wedding; she +would not like it;' but I think, surrounded as she is by luxuries, +that the fresh air of Repton, the fresh flowers, fresh fields, and +fresh smiles of her cousins would do my niece good, great good, and +we shall be quite gay in our own homely way--the gaiety that upsprings +from hearts grateful to the Almighty for his goodness. The fact is, +that in about three weeks _my_ Mary is to be married to our rector's +eldest son! In three weeks. As he is only his father's curate, they +could not have afforded to marry for five or six years, if I had not +been able to tell down a handsome sum for Mary's fortune; it was a +proud thing to be able to make a good child happy by care in time. +'Care in time,' that's my stronghold! How glad we were to look back +and think, that while we educated them properly, we denied ourselves +to perform our duty to the children God had given to our care. We have +not been as _gay_ as our neighbours, whose means were less than ours; +we could not be so, seeing we had to provide for five children; but +our pleasure has been to elevate and render those children happy and +prosperous. Mary will be so happy, dear child--so happy! Only think, +John, she will be six years the sooner happy from our _care in time_!" +This was more than his niece could bear. The good father was so +full of his daughter's happiness, and the doctor so overwhelmed with +self-reproach--never felt so bitterly as at that moment--that neither +perceived the death-like paleness that overspread the less fortunate +Mary's face. She got up to leave the room, staggered, and fell at her +father's feet. + +"We have murdered her between us," muttered Dr. Adams, while he raised +her up; "murdered her; but _I_ struck the first blow. God forgive me! +God forgive me!" + +That night the brothers spent in deep and earnest converse. The +certainty of his own prosperity, the self-gratulation that follows +a just and careful discharge of duties imposed alike by reason and +religion, had not raised Charles above his brother in his own esteem. +Pained beyond description at the suffering he had so unconsciously +inflicted on his niece--horror-struck at the fact, that thousands +upon thousands had been lavished, yet nothing done for hereafter, the +hereafter that _must_ come, he urged upon John the danger of delay, +the uncertainty of life. Circumstances increased his influence. Dr. +Adams had been made painfully aware that gilding was not gold. The +beauty, position, and talents of his beloved child, although fully +acknowledged, had failed to establish her in life. "Look, Charles," he +said, after imparting all to his brother, absolutely weeping over the +state of uncomplaining but deep sorrow to which his child was reduced, +"if I could command the necessary sum, I would to-morrow insure my +life for a sum that would place them beyond the possible reach of +necessity of any kind." + +"Do not wait for that," was the generous reply of Charles Adams; "I +have some unemployed hundreds at this moment. Come with me to-morrow; +do not delay a day, no, nor an hour; and take my word for it you will +have reason to bless your resolve. Only imagine what would be the +case if God called you to give an account of your stewardship." But he +checked himself; he saw that more was not necessary; and the brothers +separated for a few hours, both anxious for the morning. It was +impossible to say which of the two hurried over breakfast with the +greatest rapidity. The carriage was at the door; and Dr. Adams +left word with his butler that he was gone into the city on urgent +business, and would be back in two hours. + +"I don't think," exclaimed Charles, rubbing his hands gleefully, "I +don't think, that if my dear niece were happy, I should ever have been +so happy in all my life as I am at this moment." + +"I feel already," replied John, "as if a great weight were removed +from my heart; and were it not for the debt which I have contracted +to you--Ah, Charles, I little dreamt, when I looked down from the +hill over Repton, and thought my store inexhaustible, that I should +be obliged to you thus late in life. And yet I protest I hardly know +where I could have drawn in; one expense grows so out of another. +These boys have been so very extravagant; but I shall soon have the +two eldest off; they cannot keep them much longer waiting." + +"Work is better than waiting; but let the lads fight their way; +they have had, I suppose, a good education; they ought to have +had professions. There is something to me awfully lazy in your +'appointments;' a young man of spirit will appoint himself; but it is +the females of a family, brought up, as yours have been, who are to +be considered. Women's position in society is changed from what it +was some years ago; it was expected that they must marry; and so they +were left, before their marriage, dependent upon fathers and brothers, +as creatures that could do nothing for themselves. Now, poor things, +I really don't know why, but girls do not marry off as they used. +They become old, and frequently--owing to the expectation of their +settling--without the provision necessary for a comfortable old age. +This is the parent of those despicable tricks and arts which women +resort to to get married, as they have no acknowledged position +independent of matrimony. Something ought to be done to prevent this. +And when the country steadies a little from the great revolution +of past years, I suppose something may be thought of by improved +teaching--and systems to enable women to assist themselves, and be +recompensed for the assistance they yield others. Now, imagine your +dear girls, those younger ones particularly, deprived of you"-- + +"Here is the patient upon whom I must call, _en route_" interrupted +the doctor. + +The carriage drew up. + +"I wish," said Charles, "you had called here on your return. I wanted +the insurance to have been your first business to-day." + +"I shall not be five minutes," was the reply. The servant let down +the step, and the doctor bounded up towards the open door. In his +progress, he trod upon a bit, a mere shred, of orange-peel; it was the +mischief of a moment; he slipped, and his temple struck against the +sharp column of an iron-scraper. Within one hour, Dr. John Adams had +ceased to exist. What the mental and bodily agony of that one hour +was, you can better understand than I can describe. He was fully +conscious that he was dying--and he knew all the misery that was to +follow. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Mary my dear niece," said Charles Adams, as he seated himself by her +side; "my dear, dear niece, can you fix your thoughts, and give me +your attention for half an hour, now that all is over, and the demands +of the world press upon us. I want to speak about the future. Your +mother bursts into such fits of despair that I can do nothing with +her; and your brother is so ungovernable--talks as if he could command +the bank of England, and is so full of his mother's connexions and +their influence, that I have left him to himself. Can you, my dear +Mary, restrain your feelings, and give me your attention?" + +Mary Adams looked firmly in her uncle's face, and said, "I will try. +I have been thinking and planning all the morning, but I do not know +how to begin being useful. If I once began, I could go on. The sooner +we are out of this huge expensive house the better; if I could get +my mother to go with the little girls to the sea-side. Take her away +altogether from this home--take her"-- + +"Where?" inquired Mr. Adams; "she will not accept shelter in my +house." + +"I do not know," answered his niece, relapsing into all +the helplessness of first grief; "indeed I do not know; her +brother-in-law, Sir James Ashbroke, invited her to the Pleasaunce, +but my brother objects to her going there, his uncle has behaved so +neglectfully about his appointment." + +"Foolish boy!" muttered Charles; "this is no time to quarrel about +trifles. The fact is, Mary, that the sooner you are all out of this +house the better; there are one or two creditors, not for large sums +certainly, but still men who will have their money; and if we do +not quietly sell off, they will force us. The house might have been +disposed of last week by private contract, but your mother would not +hear of it, because the person who offered was a medical rival of my +poor brother." + +Mary did not hear the concluding observation; her eyes wandered from +object to object in the room--the harp--the various things known from +childhood. "Any thing you and your mother wish, my dear niece," +said her kind uncle, "shall be preserved--the family pictures--your +harp--your piano--they are all hallowed memorials, and shall be kept +sacred." + +Mary burst into tears. "I do not," she said, "shrink from considering +those instruments the means of my support; but although I know the +necessity for so considering, I feel I cannot tell what at quitting +the home of my childhood; people are all kind; you, my dear uncle, +from whom we expected so little, the kindest of all; but I see, even +in these early days of a first sorrow, indications of falling off. My +aunt's husband has really behaved very badly about the appointment of +my eldest brother; and as to the cadetship for the second--we had such +a brief dry letter from our Indian friend--so many first on the list, +and the necessity for waiting, that I do not know how it will end." + +"I wish, my dear, you could prevail on your mother, and sister, and +all, to come to Repton," said Mr. Adams. "If your mother dislikes +being in my house, I would find her a cottage near us; I will do all +I can. My wife joins me in the determination to think that we have six +additional children to look to. We differ from you in our habits; but +our hearts and affections are no less true to you all. My Mary and you +will be as sisters." + +His niece could bear no more kindness. She had been far more bitterly +disappointed than she had confessed even to her uncle; and yet the +very bitterness of the disappointment had been the first thing that +had driven her father's dying wail from her ears--that cry repeated +so often and so bitterly in the brief moments left after his +accident--"My children! My children!" He had not sufficient faith +to commit them to God's mercy; he knew he had not been a faithful +steward; and he could not bring himself from the depths of his +spiritual blindness to call upon the Fountain that is never dried up +to those who would humbly and earnestly partake of its living waters. + +It was all a scene as of another world to the young, beautiful, +petted, and feted girl; it had made her forget the disappointment +of her love, at least for a time. While her brothers dared the +thunder-cloud that burst above their heads, her mother and sisters +wept beneath its influence. Mary had looked forth, and if she did +not hope, she thought, and tried to pray; now, she fell weeping upon +her uncle's shoulder; when she could speak, she said, "Forgive me; +in a little time I shall be able to conquer this; at present, I am +overwhelmed; I feel as if knowledge and sorrow came together; I seem +to have read more of human nature within the last three days than in +all my past life." + +"It all depends, Mary, upon the person you meet," said Mr. Adams, "as +upon the book you read; if you choose a foolish book or a bad book, +you can expect nothing but vice or foolishness; if you choose a +foolish companion, surely you cannot expect kindness or strength." The +kind-hearted man repeated to her all he had before said. "I cannot," +he added, "be guilty of injustice to my children; but I can merge all +my own luxuries into the one of being a father to the fatherless." + +But to all the plans of Charles Adams, objections were raised by his +eldest nephew and his mother; the youth could not brook the control +of a simple straight-minded country man, whose only claim to be +considered a gentleman, in his opinion, arose from his connexion +with "his family." He was also indignant with his maternal uncle for +his broken promise, and these feelings were strengthened by his +mother's folly. Two opportunities for disposing of the house and its +magnificent furniture were missed; and when Mrs. Adams complained to +her nearest and most influential connexions that her brother-in-law +refused to make her any allowance unless she consented to live at +Repton--expecting that they would be loud in their indignation at his +hardness--they advised her by all means to do what he wished, as he +was really the only person she had to depend upon. Others were lavish +of their sympathy, but sympathy wears out quickly; others invited her +to spend a month with them at their country-seat, for change of air; +one hinted how valuable Miss Adams' exquisite musical talent would +be _now_. Mary coloured, and said, "Yes," with the dignity of proper +feeling; but her mother asked the lady what she meant, and a little +scene followed, which caused the lady to visit all the families in +town of her acquaintance, for the purpose of expressing her sympathy +with "those poor dear Adamses, who were so proud, poor things, that +really there was nothing hut starvation and the workhouse before +them!" Another of those well-meaning persons--strong-minded and +kind-hearted, but without a particle of delicacy--came to poor Mary, +with all _prestige_ of conferring a favour. + +"My dear young lady, it is the commonest thing in the world--very +painful but very common; the families of professional men are +frequently left without provision. Such a pity!--because, if they +cannot save, they can insure. We _all_ can do _that_, but they do +_not_ do it, and consequently everywhere the families of professional +men are found in distress; so, as I said, it is common; and I wanted +you to suggest to your mother, that, if she would not feel hurt at it, +the thing being so common--dear Dr. Adams having been so popular, so +very popular--that while every one is talking about him and you all, +a very handsome subscription could be got up. I would begin it with +a sum large enough to invite still larger. I had a great regard for +him--I had indeed." + +Mary felt her heart sink and rise, and her throat swell, so that +she could not speak. She had brought herself to the determination of +employing her talents for her own support, but she was not prepared +to come with her family before the world as paupers. "We have no claim +upon the public," she said at last. "I am sure you mean us kindly, but +we have no claim. My dear father forwarded no public work--no public +object; he gave his advice, and received his payment. If we are not +provided for, it is no public fault. Besides, my father's children are +able and willing to support themselves. I am sure you mean us kindly, +but we have no claim upon public sympathy, and an appeal to it would +crush us to the earth. I am very glad you did not speak first to my +mother. My uncle Charles would not suffer it, even suppose she wished +it." + +This friend also departed to excite new speculations as to the +pride and poverty of "poor dear Dr. Adams's family." In the world, +however--the busy busy London world--it is idle to expect any thing +to create even a nine days' wonder. When the house and furniture were +at last offered for sale, the feeling was somewhat revived; and Mary, +whose beauty, exquisite as it was, had so unobtrusive a character as +never to have created a foe, was remembered with tears by many: even +the father of her old lover, when he was congratulated by one more +worldly-minded than himself on the escape of his son in not marrying +a portionless girl, reproved the unfeeling speaker with a wish that he +only hoped his son might have as good a wife as Mary Adams would have +been. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +The bills were taken down, the house purified from the +auction-mob--every thing changed; a new name occupied the doctor's +place in the "Court Guide"--and in three months the family seemed +as completely forgotten amongst those of whom they once formed a +prominent part, as if they had never existed. When one sphere of life +closes against a family, they find room in another. Many kind-hearted +persons in Mrs. Adams's first circle would have been rejoiced to be +of service to her and hers, but they were exactly the people upon whom +she had no claim. Of a high but poor family, her relatives had little +power. What family so situated ever had any influence beyond what +they absolutely needed for themselves? With an ill grace she at +last acceded to the kind offer made by Mr. Charles Adams, and took +possession of the cottage he fixed upon, until something could be done +for his brother's children. In a fit of proud despair the eldest son +enlisted into a regiment of dragoons; the second was fortunate enough +to obtain a cadetship through a stranger's interference; and his +uncle thought it might be possible to get the youngest forward in +his father's profession. The expense of the necessary arrangements +was severely felt by the prudent and careful country gentleman. The +younger girls were too delicate for even the common occupations of +daily life; and Mary, instead of receiving the welcome she had been +led to expect from her aunt and cousins, felt that every hour she +spent at the Grange was an intrusion. + +The sudden death of Dr. Adams had postponed the intended wedding of +Charles Adams's eldest daughter; and although her mother agreed that +it was their duty to forward the orphan children, she certainly felt, +as most affectionate mothers whose hearts are not very much enlarged +would feel, that much of their own savings--much of the produce of +her husband's hard labour--labour during a series of years when +her sister-in-law and her children were enjoying all the luxuries +of life--would now be expended for their support; this to an +all-sacrificing mother, despite _her sense of the duty of kindness_, +was hard to bear. As long as they were not on the spot, she theorised +continually, and derived much satisfaction from the sympathising +observations of her neighbours, and was proud, _very_ proud, of +the praise bestowed upon her husband's benevolence; but when her +sister-in-law's expensive habits were in daily array before her (the +cottage being close to the Grange,) when she knew, to use her own +expression, "that she never put her hand to a single thing;" that she +could not live without port wine, when she herself never drank even +gooseberry, except on Sundays; never ironed a collar, never dusted +the chimney-piece, or ate a shoulder of mutton--roast one day, cold +the next, and hashed the third. While each day brought some fresh +illustration of her thoughtlessness to the eyes of the wife of the +wealthy tiller of the soil, the widow of the physician thought herself +in the daily practice of the most rigid self-denial. "I am sure," +was her constant observation to her all-patient daughter--"I am sure +I never thought it would come to this. I had not an idea of going +through so much. I wonder your uncle and his wife can permit me to +live in the way I do--they ought to consider how I was brought up." +It was in vain Mary represented that they were existing upon charity; +that they ought to be most grateful for what they received, coming as +it did from those who, in their days of prosperity, professed nothing, +while those who professed all things had done nothing. Mary would so +reason, and then retire to her own chamber to weep alone over things +more hard to bear. + +It is painful to observe what bitterness will creep into the heart +and manner of really kind girls where a lover is in the case, or even +where a common-place dangling sort of flirtation is going forward; +this depreciating ill nature, one of the other, is not confined by any +means to the fair sex. Young men pick each other to pieces with even +more fierceness, but less ingenuity; they deal in a cut-and-hack sort +of sarcasm, and do not hesitate to use terms and insinuations of the +harshest kind, when a lady is in the case. Mary (to distinguish her +from her high-bred cousin, she was generally called Mary Charles) was +certainly disappointed when her wedding was postponed in consequence +of her uncle's death; but a much more painful feeling followed, when +she saw the admiration her lover, Edwin Lechmere, bestowed upon her +beautiful cousin. Mary Charles was herself a beauty--fair, open-eyed, +warm-hearted--_the_ beauty of Repton; but though feature by feature, +inch by inch, she was as handsome as Mary, yet in her cousin was the +grace and spirit given only by good society; the manners elevated by a +higher mind, and toned down by sorrow; a gentle softness, which a keen +observer of human nature told me once no woman ever possessed unless +she had deeply loved, and suffered from disappointed affection; +in short, she was far more refined, far more fascinating, than her +country cousin: besides, she was unfortunate, and that at once gave +her a hold upon the sympathies of the young curate: it did no more: +but Mary Charles did not understand these nice distinctions, and +nothing could exceed the change of manner she evinced when her cousin +and her betrothed were together. + +Mary thought her cousin rude and petulant; but the true cause of the +change never occurred to her. Accustomed to the high-toned courtesy +of well-bred men, which is so little practised in the middle class of +English society, it never suggested itself, that placing her chair, +or opening the door for her to go out, or rising courteously when she +came into a room, was more than, as a lady, she had a right to expect; +in truth, she did not notice it at all; but she did notice and feel +deeply her cousin's alternate coldness and snappishness of manner. "I +would not," thought Mary, "have behaved so to her if she had been left +desolate; but in a little time, when my mother is more content, I will +leave Repton, and become independent by my talents." Never did she +think of the power delegated to her by, the Almighty without feeling +herself raised--ay, higher than she had ever been in the days of her +splendour--in the scale of moral usefulness; as every one must feel +whose mind is rightly framed. She had not yet known what it was to +have her abilities trampled on or insulted; she had never experienced +the bitterness consequent upon having the acquirements--which in the +days of her prosperity commanded silence and admiration--sneered at +or openly ridiculed.--She had yet to learn that the Solons, the +law-givers of English society, lavish their attentions and praise upon +those who learn, not upon those who teach. + +Mary had not been six months fatherless, when she was astonished, +first by a letter, and then by a visit, from her former lover; he came +to renew his engagement, and to wed her even then if she would have +him; but Mary's high principle was stronger than he imagined. "No," +she said, "you are not independent of your father, and whatever I +feel, I have no right to draw _you_ down into poverty. You may fancy +now that you could bear it; but a time would come--if not to you, +to me--when the utter selfishness of such conduct would goad me to +a death of early misery." The young man appealed to her uncle, +who thought her feelings overstrained, but respected her for it +nevertheless; and in the warmth of his admiration, he communicated the +circumstance to his wife and daughter. + +"Refuse her old lover under present circumstances," repeated her +cousin to herself as she left the room; "there must be some other +reason than that; she could not be so foolish as to reject such an +offer at such a time." Unfortunately, she saw Edwin Lechmere walking +by Mary's side, under the shadow of some trees. She watched them until +the foliage screened them from her sight, and then she shut herself +into her own room, and yielded to a long and violent burst of tears. +"It is not enough," she exclaimed, in the bitterness of her feelings, +"that the comforts of my parents' declining years should be abridged +by the overwhelming burden to their exertions--another family added +to their own; it is not enough that an uncomfortable feeling has grown +between my father and mother on this account, and that cold looks and +sharp words have come where they never came before, but my peace of +mind must be destroyed. Gladly would I have taken a smaller portion, +if I could have kept the affections which I see but too plainly +my cousin has stolen from me. And my thoughtless aunt to say, only +yesterday, that 'at all events her husband was no man's enemy but his +own.' Has not his want of prudent forethought been the ruin of his own +children? and will my parents ever recover the anxiety, the pain, the +sacrifices, brought on by one man's culpable neglect? Oh, uncle! if +you could look from your grave upon the misery you have caused!"--and +then, exhausted by her own emotion, the affectionate but jealous girl +began to question herself as to what she should do. After what she +considered mature deliberation, she made up her mind to upbraid her +cousin with treachery, and she put her design into execution that same +evening. + +It was no easy matter to oblige her cousin to understand what she +meant; but at last the declaration that she had refused her old lover +because she had placed her affections upon Edwin Lechmere, whom she +was endeavouring to "entrap," was not to be mistaken; and the country +girl was altogether unprepared for the burst of indignant feeling, +mingled with much bitterness, which repelled the untruth. A strong fit +of hysterics, into which Mary Charles worked herself, was terminated +by a scene of the most painful kind, her father being upbraided by +her mother with "loving other people's children better than his own," +while the curate himself knelt by the side of his betrothed, assuring +her of his unaltered affection. From such a scene Miss Adams hastened +with a throbbing brow and a bursting heart. She had no one to counsel +or console her; no one to whom she could apply for aid. For the first +time since she had experienced her uncle's tenderness, she felt she +had been the means of disturbing his domestic peace; the knowledge of +the burden she and hers were considered, weighed her to the earth; and +in a paroxysm of anguish she fell on her knees, exclaiming, "Oh, why +are the dependent born into the world! Father, father, why did you +leave us, whom you so loved, to such a fate!" And then she reproached +herself for having uttered a word reflecting on his memory. One of the +every-day occurrences of life--so common as to be hardly observed--is +to find really kind, good-natured people not "weary of well-doing." +"Oh, really I was worn out with so-and-so; they are so decidedly +unfortunate that it is impossible to help them," is a general excuse +for deserting those whose continuing misfortunes ought to render them +greater objects of sympathy. + +Mr. Charles Adams was, as has been shown in our little narrative, a +kind-hearted man. Estranged as his brother and himself had been for +a number of years, he had done much to forward, and still more to +protect, his children. At first, this was a pleasure; but somehow his +"benevolence," and "kindness," and "generosity," had been so talked +about, so eulogised, and he had been so seriously inconvenienced +by the waywardness of his nephews, the thoughtless pride of his +sister-in-law, the helplessness of his younger nieces, as to feel +seriously oppressed by his responsibility. And now the one who +had never given him aught but pleasure, seemed, according to his +daughter's representations, to be the cause of increased sorrow, the +destroyer of his dear child's happiness. What to do he could not tell. +His daughter, wrought upon by her own jealousy, had evinced, under +its influence, so much temper she had never displayed before, that it +seemed more than likely the cherished match would be broken off. His +high-minded niece saved him any farther anxiety as far as she was +concerned. She sent for and convinced him fully and entirely of her +total freedom from the base design imputed to her. "Was it likely," +she said, "that I should reject the man I love lest I should drag him +into poverty, and plunge at once with one I do not care for into the +abyss I dread? This is the common sense view of the case; but there +is yet another. Is it to be borne that I would seek to rob _your_ +child of her happiness? The supposition is an insult too gross to be +endured. I will leave my mother to-morrow. An old school-fellow, older +and more fortunate than myself, wished me to educate her little girl. +I had one or two strong objections to living in her house; but the +desire to be independent and away has overcome them." She then, with +many tears, entreated her uncle still to protect her mother; urged how +she had been sorely tried; and communicated fears, she had reason to +believe were too well founded, that her eldest brother, feeling the +reverse more than he could bear, had deserted from his regiment. + +Charles Adams was deeply moved by the nobleness of his niece, and +reproved his daughter more harshly than he had ever done before, for +the feebleness that created so strong and unjust a passion. This had +the contrary effect to what he had hoped for: she did not hesitate to +say that her cousin had endeavoured to rob her both of the affection +of her lover and her father. The injured cousin left Repton bowed +beneath an accumulation of troubles, not one of which was of her +own creating, not one of which she deserved; and all springing from +the unproviding nature of him who, had he been asked the question, +would have declared himself ready to sacrifice his own life for the +advantage of that daughter, now compelled to work for her own bread. +To trace the career of Mary Adams in her new calling, would be to +repeat what I have said before. The more refined, the more informed +the governess, the more she suffers. Being with one whom she had known +in better days, made it even more hard to bend; yet she did her duty, +and _that_ is one of the highest privileges a woman can enjoy. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Leaving Mary for a moment, let us return to Repton. Here discord, +having once entered, was making sad ravages, and all were suffering +from it. It was but too true that the eldest of the Adamses had +deserted; his mother clinging with a parent's fondness to her +child, concealed him, and thus offended Charles Adams beyond all +reconciliation. The third lad, who was walking the London hospitals, +and exerting himself beyond his strength, was everything that a youth +could be; but his declining health was represented to his uncle, by +one of those whom his mother's pride had insulted, as a cloak for +indolence. In short, before another year had quite passed, the family +of the once rich and fashionable Dr. Adams had shared the fate of +all dependents--worn out the benevolence, or patience, or whatever it +really is, of their "best friends." Nor was this the only consequence +of the physician's neglect of a duty due alike to God and society; his +brother had really done so much for the bereaved family, as to give +what the world called "just grounds" to Mrs. Charles Adams's repeated +complaints, "that now her husband was ruining his industrious family +to keep the lazy widow of his spend-thrift brother and her favourite +children in idleness. Why could she not live upon the 'fine folk' +she was always throwing in her face?" The daughter, too, of whose +approaching union the fond father had been so proud, was now, like +her cousin whom she had wronged by her mean suspicions, deserted; the +match broken off after much bickering; one quarrel having brought on +another, until they separated by mutual consent. Her temper and her +health were both materially impaired; and her beauty was converted +into hardness and acidity. + +Oh! how utterly groundless is the idea, that in our social state, +where one human being must so much depend upon another, any man, +neglecting his positive duties, can be called only "his own enemy." +What misery had not Dr. Adams's neglect entailed, not alone on his +immediate family, but on that of his brother. Besides, there were +ramifications of distress; he died even more embarrassed than +his brother had at first believed, and some trades-people were +consequently embarrassed; but the deep misery fell upon his children. +Meanwhile, Mrs. Dr. Adams had left Repton with her younger children, +to be the dependants of Mary in London. + +It was not until a fatal disease had seized upon her mother, that +Mary ventured to appeal again to her uncle's generosity. "My second +brother," she said, "has out of his small means remitted her five +pounds. My eldest brother seems altogether to have disappeared from +amongst us; finding that his unhappy presence had occasioned so fatal +a separation between his mother and you--a disunion which I saw was +the effect of many small causes, rather than one great one--he left +us, and we cannot trace him. This has broken my poor mother's heart; +he was the cherished one of all her children. My youngest brother has +been for the last month an inmate of one of the hospitals which my +poor father attended for so many years, and where his word was law. My +sister Rosa, she upon whom my poor father poured, if possible, more +of his affection than he bestowed upon me--my lovely sister, of whom, +even in our poverty, I was so proud--so young, only upon the verge of +womanhood--has, you already know, left us. Would to God it had been +for her grave, rather than her destroyer!--a fellow-student of that +poor youth, who, if he dreamt of her dishonour, would stagger like a +spectre from what will be his death-bed to avenge her. Poverty is one +of the surest guides to dishonour; those who have not been tempted +know nothing of it. It is one thing to see it, another to feel it. +Do not think her altogether base, because she had not the strength +of a heroine. I have been obliged to resign my situation to attend +my mother, and the only income we have is what I earn by giving +lessons on the harp and piano. I give, for _two shillings_, the same +instruction for which my father paid half a guinea a lesson; if I did +not I should have no pupils. It is more than a month since my mother +left her bed; and my youngest sister, bending beneath increased +delicacy of health, is her only attendant. I know her mind to be so +tortured, and her body so convulsed by pain, that I have prayed to +God to render her fit for Heaven, and take her from her sufferings. +Imagine the weight of sorrow that crushed me to my knees with such a +petition as that. I know all you have done, and yet I ask you now, in +remembrance of the boyish love that bound you and my father together, +to lessen her bodily anguish by the sacrifice of a little more; +that she, nursed in the lap of luxury, may not pass from life with +starvation as her companion. My brother's gift is expended; and during +the last three weeks I have earned but twelve shillings; my pupils +are out of town. Do, for a moment remember what I was, and think how +humbled I must be to frame this supplication; but it is a child that +petitions for a parent, and I know I have never forfeited your esteem. +In a few weeks, perhaps in a few days, my brother and my mother will +meet my poor father face to face. Oh! that I could be assured that +reproach and bitterness for the past do not pass the portals of the +grave. Forgive me this, as you have already forgiven me much. Alas! I +know too well that our misfortunes drew misfortunes upon others. I was +the unhappy but innocent cause of much sorrow at the Grange; but, oh! +do not refuse the _last_ request that I will ever make." The letter +was blotted by tears. + +Charles Adams was from home when it arrived, and his wife, knowing the +handwriting, and having made a resolution never to open a letter "from +that branch of the family," did not send it after her husband "lest it +might tease him." Ten days elapsed before he received it; and when he +did, he could not be content with writing, but lost not a moment in +hastening to the address. Irritated and disappointed that what he +really had done should have been so little appreciated, when every +hour of his life he was smarting in one way or other from his +exertions--broken-hearted at his daughter's blighted health and +happiness--angered by the reckless wildness of one nephew, and what +he believed was the idleness of another--and convinced that Rosa's +fearful step was owing to the pampering and mismanagement of her +foolish mother--Charles Adams satisfied himself that, as he did not +hear to the contrary from Mary, all things were going on well, or at +least not ill. He thought as little about them as he possibly could, +no people in the world being so conveniently forgotten (when they are +not importunate) as poor relations; but the letter of his favourite +niece spoke strongly to his heart, and in two hours after his return +home he set forth for the London suburb from whence the letter was +dated. It so chanced, that to get to that particular end of the +town, he was obliged to pass the house his brother had occupied so +splendidly for a number of years; the servants had lit the lamps, and +were drawing the curtains of the noble dining-room; and a party of +ladies were descending from a carriage, which prevented two others +from setting down. It looked like old times. "Some one else," thought +Charles Adams, "running the same career of wealth and extravagance. +God grant it may not lead to the same results!" He paused, and looked +up the front of the noble mansion; the drawing-room windows were open, +and two beautiful children were standing on an ottoman placed between +the windows, probably to keep them apart. He thought of Mary's +childhood, and how she was occupied at that moment, and hastened +onward. There are times when life seems one mingled dream, and it is +not easy to become dispossessed of the idea when some of its frightful +changes are brought almost together under our view. + +"Is Miss Adams at home?" inquired her uncle of a woman leaning against +the door of a miserable house. + +"I don't know; she went to the hospital this morning; but I'm not sure +she's in; it's the second pair back; it's easy known, for the sob has +not ceased in that room these two nights; some people do take on so"-- + +Charles Adams did not hear the concluding sentence, but sought the +room; the door would not close, and he heard a low sobbing sound from +within; he paused, but his step had aroused the mourner--"Come in, +Mary; come in; I know how it is," said a young voice; "he is dead; +one grave for mother and son--one grave for mother and son! I see your +shadow, dark as it is; have you brought a candle? It is very fearful +to be alone with the dead--even one's own mother--in the dark." + +Charles Adams entered the room; but his sudden appearance in the +twilight, and evidently not knowing him, overcame the girl, his +youngest niece, so much, that she screamed, and fell on her knees by +her mother's corpse. He called for lights, and was speedily obeyed, +for he put a piece of gold in the woman's hand. She turned it over, +and as she hastened from the room, muttered, "If this had come sooner, +she'd not have died of starvation or burdened the parish for a shroud; +it's hard the rich can't look to their own." + +When Mary returned, she was fearfully calm. "No, her brother was not +dead," she said; "the young were longer dying than those whom the +world had worn out; the young knew so little of the world, they +thought it hard to leave it;" and she took off her bonnet, and sat +down; and while her uncle explained why he had not written, she looked +at him with eyes so fixed and cold, that he paused, hoping she would +speak, so painful was their stony expression; but she let him go +on, without offering one word of assurance of any kind feeling or +remembrance; and when she stooped to adjust a portion of the coarse +plaiting of the shroud--that mockery of "the purple and fine linen +of living days"--her uncle saw that her hair, her luxuriant hair, was +striped with white. + +"There is no need for words now," she said at last; "no need. I +thought you would have sent; she required but little--but very little; +the dust rubbed from the gold she once had would have been riches: +but the little she did require she had not, and so she died; but +what weighs heaviest upon my mind was her calling so continually on +my father, to know _why_ he had deserted her: she attached no blame +latterly to any one, only called day and night upon him. Oh! it was +hard to bear--it was very hard to bear." + +"I will send a proper person in the morning to arrange that she may be +placed with my brother," said Charles. + +Mary shrieked almost with the wildness of a maniac. "No, no; as far +from him as possible! Oh! not with him! She was to blame in our days +of splendour as much as he was; but she could not see it; and I durst +not reason with her. Not with him! _She would disturb him in his +grave!_" + +Her uncle shuddered, while the young girl sobbed in the bitter wailing +tone their landlady complained of. + +"No," resumed Mary, "let the parish bury her; even its officers were +kind; and if you bury her, or they, it is still a pauper's funeral. I +see all these things clearly now; death, while it closes the eyes of +some, opens the eyes of others; it has opened mine." + +But why should I prolong this sad story. It is not the tale of one, +but of many. There are dozens, scores, hundreds of instances of the +same kind, _arising from the same cause_, in our broad islands. In +the lunatic asylum, where that poor girl, even Mary Adams, has found +refuge during the past two years, there are many cases of insanity +arising from change of circumstances, where a fifty pounds' insurance +would have set such maddening distress at defiance. I know that +her brother died in the hospital within a few days; and the pale, +sunken-eyed girl, whose damp yellow hair and thin white hand are so +eagerly kissed by the gentle maniac when she visits her, month by +month, is the youngest, and, I believe, the _last_ of her family, at +least the last in England. Oh, that those who foolishly boast that +their actions only affect themselves, would look carefully abroad, +and if they doubt what I have faithfully told, examine into the causes +which crowd the world with cases even worse than I have here recorded! + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Turns of Fortune, by Mrs. S. C. 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