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+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: 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.  Hall
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