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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bow of Orange Ribbon, by Amelia E. Barr
+
+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: The Bow of Orange Ribbon
+       A Romance of New York
+
+Author: Amelia E. Barr
+
+Illustrator: Theo. Hampe
+
+Release Date: November 28, 2005 [EBook #17173]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Paul Ereaut and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover and spine]
+
+[Illustration: She was going down the steps with him]
+
+
+[Transcribers note: A title has been created for an unlisted illustration
+on p102 of the original text and inserted into the list of illustrations.]
+
+
+                  _THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON_
+
+                    A ROMANCE OF NEW YORK
+
+                _BY AMELIA E. BARR AUTHOR OF
+                    "JAN VEDDER'S WIFE"
+                  "A DAUGHTER OF FIFE" ETC._
+
+            _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THEO. HAMPE_
+
+         _NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY PUBLISHERS_
+
+          Copyright, 1886, 1893 BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
+
+                  _All rights reserved_
+
+         Typography                     Presswork
+
+  BY ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL,     BY JOHN WILSON AND SON,
+
+          _Boston_                     _Cambridge_.
+
+                       BY PERMISSION
+
+                   This Book is Dedicated
+
+                            TO THE
+
+               _HOLLAND SOCIETY OF NEW YORK_
+
+
+[Illustration: ILLUSTRATIONS:]
+
+She was going down the steps with him
+May in New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago
+Joris Van Heemskirk
+Locking-up the cupboards
+She was tying on her white apron
+"Come awa', my bonnie lassie"
+Knitting
+Neil and Bram
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+With her spelling-book and Heidelberg
+The amber necklace
+In one of those tall-backed Dutch chairs
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+He heard her calling him to breakfast
+The quill pens must be mended
+A Guelderland flagon
+"A very proper love-knot"
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+Hyde flung off the touch with a passionate oath
+Batavius stood at the mainmast
+He took her in his arms
+A little black boy entered
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+"Sir, you are very uncivil"
+"Listen to me, thy father!"
+He took his solitary tea
+On the steps of the houses
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+"Katherine, I am in great earnest"
+"In the interim, at your service"
+"Why do you wait?"
+The swords of both men sprung from their hands
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+Oh, how she wept!
+"O Bram! is he dead?"
+The streets were noisy with hawkers
+Katherine was close to his side
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+In its satin depths
+Katherine knelt by Richard's side
+"I am faint"
+"Don't trouble yourself to come down"
+"Listen to me!"
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+They stood together over the budding snowdrops
+His whole air and attitude had expressed delight
+"I am going to take the air this afternoon"
+"I will go with you, Richard"
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+"Madam, I come not on courtesy"
+"O mother, my sister Katherine!"
+"Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny!"
+Plain and dark were her garments
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+Katherine stood with her child in her arms
+The garden next fell under Katherine's care
+"Thou has a grandson of thy own name"
+Plate old and new
+"Make me not to remember the past"
+With a great sob Bram laid his head against her breast
+Chapter heading
+She spread out all her finery
+All kinds of frivolity and amusement
+"Dick, I am angry at you"
+She was softly singing to the drowsy child
+Chapter heading
+She was stretched upon a sofa
+She stood in the gray light by the window
+Chapter heading
+She knelt speechless and motionless
+Jane lifted her apron to her eyes
+"O Richard, my lover, my husband!"
+Chapter heading
+"One night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered,"
+"I must draw my sword again"
+"We have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever"
+"I am reading the Word"
+He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk.
+Chapter heading
+Lysbet and Catherine were unpacking
+He marshalled the six children in front of him
+The City Hall
+He swung a great axe
+Lysbet's hands gave it to them
+Tail-piece
+
+
+
+THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON
+
+
+[Illustration: May in New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago]
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+"_Love, that old song, of which the world is never weary_."
+
+
+It was one of those beautiful, lengthening days, when May was pressing
+back with both hands the shades of the morning and the evening; May in
+New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago, and yet the May of A.D.
+1886,--the same clear air and wind, the same rarefied freshness, full of
+faint, passing aromas from the wet earth and the salt sea and the
+blossoming gardens. For on the shore of the East River the gardens still
+sloped down, even to below Peck Slip; and behind old Trinity the
+apple-trees blossomed like bridal nosegays, the pear-trees rose in
+immaculate pyramids, and here and there cows were coming up heavily to
+the scattered houses; the lazy, intermitting tinkle of their bells
+giving a pleasant notice of their approach to the waiting
+milking-women.
+
+In the city the business of the day was over; but at the open doors of
+many of the shops, little groups of apprentices in leather aprons were
+talking, and on the broad steps of the City Hall a number of
+grave-looking men were slowly separating after a very satisfactory civic
+session. They had been discussing the marvellous increase of the export
+trade of New York; and some vision of their city's future greatness may
+have appeared to them, for they held themselves with the lofty and
+confident air of wealthy merchants and "members of his Majesty's Council
+for the Province of New York."
+
+[Illustration: Joris Van Heemskirk]
+
+They were all noticeable men, but Joris Van Heemskirk specially so. His
+bulk was so great that it seemed as if he must have been built up: it
+was too much to expect that he had ever been a baby. He had a fair,
+ruddy face, and large, firm eyes, and a mouth that was at once strong
+and sweet. And he was also very handsomely dressed. The long, stiff
+skirts of his dark-blue coat were lined with satin, his breeches were
+black velvet, his ruffles edged with Flemish lace, his shoes clasped
+with silver buckles, his cocked hat made of the finest beaver.
+
+With his head a little forward, and his right arm across his back, he
+walked slowly up Wall Street into Broadway, and then took a
+north-westerly direction toward the river-bank. His home was on the
+outskirts of the city, but not far away; and his face lightened as he
+approached it. It was a handsome house, built of yellow bricks, two
+stories high, with windows in the roof, and gables sending up sharp
+points skyward. There were weather-cocks on the gables, and little round
+holes below the weather-cocks, and small iron cranes below the holes,
+and little windows below the cranes,--all perfectly useless, but also
+perfectly picturesque and perfectly Dutch. The rooms were large and
+airy, and the garden sloped down to the river-side. It had paths
+bordered by clipped box, and shaded by holly and yew trees cut in
+fantastic shapes.
+
+In the spring this garden was a wonder of tulips and hyacinths and
+lilacs, of sweet daffodils and white lilies. In the summer it was ruddy
+with roses, and blazing with verbenas, and gay with the laburnum's gold
+cascade. Then the musk carnations and the pale slashed pinks exhaled a
+fragrance that made the heart dream idyls. In the autumn there was the
+warm, sweet smell of peaches and pears and apples. There were
+morning-glories in riotous profusion, tall hollyhocks, and wonderful
+dahlias. In winter it still had charms,--the white snow, and the green
+box and cedar and holly, and the sharp descent of its frozen paths to
+the frozen river. Councillor Van Heemskirk's father had built the house
+and planted the garden, and he had the Dutch reverence for a good
+ancestry. Often he sent his thoughts backward to remember how he walked
+by his father's side, or leaned against his mother's chair, as they told
+him the tragic tales of the old Barneveldt and the hapless De Witts; or
+how his young heart glowed to their memories of the dear fatherland,
+and the proud march of the Batavian republic.
+
+But this night the mournful glamour of the past caught a fresh glory
+from the dawn of a grander day forespoken. "More than three hundred
+vessels may leave the port of New York this same year," he thought. "It
+is the truth; every man of standing says so. Good-evening, Mr. Justice.
+Good-evening, neighbours;" and he stood a minute, with his hands on his
+garden-gate, to bow to Justice Van Gaasbeeck and to Peter Sluyter, who,
+with their wives, were going to spend an hour or two at Christopher
+Laer's garden. There the women would have chocolate and hot waffles, and
+discuss the new camblets and shoes just arrived from England, and to be
+bought at Jacob Kip's store; and the men would have a pipe of Virginia
+and a glass of hot Hollands, and fight over again the quarrel pending
+between the governor and the Assembly.
+
+"Men can bear all things but good days," said Peter Sluyter, when they
+had gone a dozen yards in silence; "since Van Heemskirk has a seat in
+the council-room, it is a long way to his hat."
+
+"Come, now, he was very civil, Sluyter. He bows like a man not used to
+make a low bow, that is all."
+
+"Well, well! with time, every one gets into his right place. In the City
+Hall, I may yet put my chair beside his, Van Gaasbeeck."
+
+"So say I, Sluyter; and, for the present, it is all well as it is."
+
+This little envious fret of his neighbour lost itself outside Joris Van
+Heemskirk's home. Within it, all was love and content. He quickly divested
+himself of his fine coat and ruffles, and in a long scarlet vest, and a
+little skull-cap made of orange silk, sat down to smoke. He had talked a
+good deal in the City Hall, and he was now chewing deliberately the cud of
+his wisdom over again. Madam Van Heemskirk understood that, and she let
+the good man reconsider himself in peace. Besides, this was her busy hour.
+She was giving out the food for the morning's breakfast, and locking up
+the cupboards, and listening to complaints from the kitchen, and making a
+plaster for black Tom's bealing finger. In some measure, she prepared all
+day for this hour, and yet there was always something unforeseen to be
+done in it.
+
+[Illustration: Locking-up the cupboards]
+
+She was a little woman, with clear-cut features, and brown hair drawn
+backward under a cap of lace very stiffly starched. Her tight fitting
+dress of blue taffeta was open in front, and looped up behind in order
+to show an elaborately quilted petticoat of light-blue camblet. Her
+white wool stockings were clocked with blue, her high-heeled shoes cut
+very low, and clasped with small silver buckles. From her trim cap to
+her trig shoes, she was a pleasant and comfortable picture of a happy,
+domestic woman; smiling, peaceful, and easy to live with.
+
+When the last duty was finished, she let her bunch of keys fall with a
+satisfactory "all done" jingle, that made her Joris look at her with a
+smile. "That is so," she said in answer to it. "A woman is glad when she
+gets all under lock and key for a few hours. Servants are not made
+without fingers; and, I can tell thee, all the thieves are not yet
+hung."
+
+"That needs no proving, Lysbet. But where, then, is Joanna and the
+little one? And Bram should be home ere this. He has stayed out late
+more than once lately, and it vexes me. Thou art his mother, speak to
+him."
+
+"Bram is good; do not make his bridle too short. Katherine troubles me
+more than Bram. She is quiet and thinks much; and when I say, 'What art
+thou thinking of?' she answers always, 'Nothing, mother.' That is not
+right. When a girl says, 'Nothing, mother,' there is something--perhaps,
+indeed, _somebody_--on her mind."
+
+"Katherine is nothing but a child. Who would talk love to a girl who has
+not yet taken her first communion? What you think is nonsense, Lysbet;"
+but he looked annoyed, and the comfort of his pipe was gone. He put it
+down, and walked to a side-door, where he stood a little while, watching
+the road with a fretful anxiety.
+
+"Why don't the children come, then? It is nearly dark, and the dew
+falls; and the river mist I like not for them."
+
+"For my part, I am not uneasy, Joris. They were to drink a dish of tea
+with Madam Semple, and Bram promised to go for them. And, see, they are
+coming; but Bram is not with them, only the elder. Now, what can be the
+matter?"
+
+"For every thing, there are more reasons than one; if there is a bad
+reason, Elder Semple will be sure to croak about it. I could wish that
+just now he had not come."
+
+"But then he is here, and the welcome must be given to a caller on the
+threshold. You know that, Joris."
+
+"I will not break a good custom."
+
+Elder Alexander Semple was a great man in his sphere. He had a
+reputation for both riches and godliness, and was scarcely more
+respected in the market-place than he was in the Middle Kirk. And there
+was an old tie between the Semples and the Van Heemskirks,--a tie going
+back to the days when the Scotch Covenanters and the Netherland
+Confessors clasped hands as brothers in their "churches under the
+cross." Then one of the Semples had fled for life from Scotland to
+Holland, and been sheltered in the house of a Van Heemskirk; and from
+generation to generation the friendship had been continued. So there was
+much real kindness and very little ceremony between the families; and
+the elder met his friend Joris with a grumble about having to act as
+"convoy" for two lasses, when the river mist made the duty so
+unpleasant.
+
+"Not to say dangerous," he added, with a forced cough. "I hae my plaid
+and my bonnet on; but a coat o' mail couldna stand mists, that are a
+vera shadow o' death to an auld man, wi' a sair shortness o' the
+breath."
+
+"Sit down, Elder, near the fire. A glass of hot Hollands will take the
+chill from you."
+
+"You are mair than kind, gudewife; and I'll no say but what a sma' glass
+is needfu', what wi' the late hour, and the thick mist"--
+
+"Come, come, Elder. Mists in every country you will find, until you
+reach the New Jerusalem."
+
+"Vera true, but there's a difference in mists. Noo, a Scotch mist isna
+at all unhealthy. When I was a laddie, I hae been out in them for a week
+thegither, ay, and felt the better o' them." He had taken off his plaid
+and bonnet as he spoke; and he drew the chair set for him in front of
+the blazing logs, and stretched out his thin legs to the comforting
+heat.
+
+In the mean time, the girls had gone upstairs together; and their
+footsteps and voices, and Katherine's rippling laugh, could be heard
+distinctly through the open doors. Then Madam called, "Joanna!" and the
+girl came down at once. She was tying on her white apron as she entered
+the room; and, at a word from her mother, she began to take from the
+cupboards various Dutch dainties, and East Indian jars of fruits and
+sweetmeats, and a case of crystal bottles, and some fine lemons. She was
+a fair, rosy girl, with a kind, cheerful face, a pleasant voice, and a
+smile that was at once innocent and bright. Her fine light hair was
+rolled high and backward; and no one could have imagined a dress more
+suitable to her than the trig dark bodice, the quilted skirt, and the
+white apron she wore.
+
+[Illustration: She was tying on her white apron]
+
+Her father and mother watched her with a loving satisfaction; and though
+Elder Semple was discoursing on that memorable dispute between the
+Caetus and Conferentie parties, which had resulted in the establishment
+of a new independent Dutch church in America, he was quite sensible of
+Joanna's presence, and of what she was doing.
+
+"I was aye for the ordaining o' American ministers in America," he said,
+as he touched the finger tips of his left hand with those of his right;
+and then in an aside full of deep personal interest, "Joanna, my dearie,
+I'll hae a Holland bloater and nae other thing. And I was a proud man
+when I got the invite to be secretary to the first meeting o' the new
+Caetus. Maybe it is praising green barley to say just yet that it was a
+wise departure; but I think sae, I think sae."
+
+At this point, Katherine Van Heemskirk came into the room; and the elder
+slightly moved his chair, and said, "Come awa', my bonnie lassie, and
+let us hae a look at you." And Katherine laughingly pushed a stool
+toward the fire, and sat down between the two men on the hearthstone.
+She was the daintiest little Dutch maiden that ever latched a
+shoe,--very diminutive, with a complexion like a sea-shell, great blue
+eyes, and such a quantity of pale yellow hair, that it made light of its
+ribbon snood, and rippled over her brow and slender white neck in
+bewildering curls. She dearly loved fine clothes; and she had not
+removed her visiting dress of Indian silk, nor her necklace of amber
+beads. And in her hands she held a great mass of lilies of the valley,
+which she caressed almost as if they were living things.
+
+"Father," she said, nestling close to his side, "look at the lilies. How
+straight they are! How strong! Oh, the white bells full of sweet scent!
+In them put your face, father. They smell of the spring." Her fingers
+could scarcely hold the bunch she had gathered; and she buried her
+lovely face in them, and then lifted it, with a charming look of
+delight, and the cries of "Oh, oh, how delicious!"
+
+[Illustration: "Come awa', my bonnie lassie"]
+
+Long before supper was over, Madam Van Heemskirk had discovered that this
+night Elder Semple had a special reason for his call. His talk of Mennon
+and the Anabaptists and the objectionable Lutherans, she perceived, was
+all surface talk; and when the meal was finished, and the girls gone to
+their room, she was not astonished to hear him say, "Joris, let us light
+another pipe. I hae something to speak anent. Sit still, gudewife, we
+shall want your word on the matter."
+
+"On what matter, Elder?"
+
+"Anent a marriage between my son Neil and your daughter Katherine."
+
+The words fell with a sharp distinctness, not unkindly, but as if they
+were more than common words. They were followed by a marked silence, a
+silence which in no way disturbed Semple. He knew his friends well, and
+therefore he expected it. He puffed his pipe slowly, and glanced at
+Joris and Lysbet Van Heemskirk. The father's face had not moved a
+muscle; the mother's was like a handsome closed book. She went on with
+her knitting, and only showed that she had heard the proposal by a small
+pretence of finding it necessary to count the stitches in the heel she
+was turning. Still, there had been some faint, evanescent flicker on her
+face, some droop or lift of the eyelids, which Joris understood; for,
+after a glance at her, he said slowly, "For Katherine the marriage would
+be good, and Lysbet and I would like it. However, we will think a little
+about it; there is time, and to spare. One should not run on a new road.
+The first step is what I like to be sure of; as you know, Elder, to the
+second step it often binds you.--Say what you think, Lysbet."
+
+"Neil is to my mind, when the time comes. But yet the child knows not
+perfectly her Heidelberg. And there is more: she must learn to help her
+mother about the house before she can manage a house of her own. So in
+time, I say, it would be a good thing. We have been long good friends."
+
+[Illustration: Knitting]
+
+"We hae been friends for four generations, and we may safely tie the
+knot tighter now. There are wise folk that say the Dutch and the Lowland
+Scotch are of the same stock, and a vera gude stock it is,--the women o'
+baith being fair as lilies and thrifty as bees, and the men just a
+wonder o' every thing wise and weel-spoken o'. For-bye, baith o'
+us--Scotch and Dutch--are strict Protestors. The Lady o' Rome never
+threw dust in our een, and neither o' us would put our noses to the
+ground for either powers spiritual or powers temporal. When I think o'
+our John Knox"--
+
+"First came Erasmus, Elder."
+
+"Surely. Well, well, it was about wedding and housekeeping I came to
+speak, and we'll hae it oot. The land between this place and my place,
+on the river-side, is your land, Joris. Give it to Katherine, and I will
+build the young things a house; and the furnishing and plenishing we'll
+share between us."
+
+"There is more to a wedding than house and land, Elder."
+
+"Vera true, madam. There's the income to meet the outgo. Neil has a good
+practice now, and is like to have better. They'll be comfortable and
+respectable, madam; but I think well o' you for speering after the daily
+bread."
+
+"Well, look now, it was not the bread-making I was thinking about. It
+was the love-making. A young girl should be wooed before she is married.
+You know how it is; and Katherine, the little one, she thinks not of
+such a thing as love and marriage."
+
+"Wha kens what thoughts are under curly locks at seventeen? You'll hae
+noticed, madam, that Katherine has come mair often than ordinar' to
+Semple House lately?"
+
+"That is so. It was because of Colonel Gordon's wife, who likes
+Katherine. She is teaching her a new stitch in her crewel-work."
+
+"Hum-m-m! Mistress Gordon has likewise a nephew, a vera handsome lad. I
+hae seen that he takes a deal o' interest in the crewel-stitch likewise.
+And Neil has seen it too,--for Neil has set his heart on Katherine,--and
+this afternoon there was a look passed between the young men I dinna
+like. We'll be haeing a challenge, and twa fools playing at murder,
+next."
+
+"I am glad you spoke, Elder. Thank you. I'll turn your words over in my
+heart." But Van Heemskirk was under a certain constraint: he was
+beginning to understand the situation, to see in what danger his darling
+might be. He was apparently calm; but an angry fire was gathering in his
+eyes, and stern lines settling about the lower part of his face.
+
+"You ken," answered Semple, who felt a trifle uneasy in the sudden
+constraint, "I hae little skill in the ordering o' girl bairns. The
+Almighty thought them beyond my guiding, and I must say they are a great
+charge, a great charge; and, wi' all my infirmities and
+simplicity,--anent women,--one that would hae been mair than I could
+hae kept. But I hae brought up my lads in a vera creditable way. They
+know how to manage their business, and they hae the true religion. I am
+sure Neil would make a good husband, and I would be glad to hae him
+settled near by. My three eldest lads hae gone far off, Joris, as you
+ken."
+
+"I remember. Two went to the Virginia Colony"--
+
+"To Norfolk,--tobacco brokers, and making money. My son Alexander--a
+wise lad--went to Boston, and is in the African trade. I may say that
+they are all honest, pious men, without wishing to be martyrs for
+honesty and piety, which, indeed, in these days is mercifully not called
+for. As for Neil, he's our last bairn; and his mother and I would fain
+keep him near us. Katherine would be a welcome daughter to our auld age,
+and weel loved, and much made o'; and I hope baith Madam Van Heemskirk
+and yoursel' will think with us."
+
+"We have said we would like the marriage. It is the truth. But, look
+now, Katherine shall not come any more to your house at this time, not
+while English soldiers come and go there; for I will not have her speak
+to one: they are no good for us."
+
+"That is right for you, but not for me. My wife was a Gordon, and we
+couldn't but offer our house to a cousin in a strange country. And
+you'll find few better men than Col. Nigel Gordon; as for his wife,
+she's a fine English leddy, and I hae little knowledge anent such women.
+But a Scot canna kithe a kindness; if I gie Colonel Gordon a share o'
+my house, I must e'en show a sort o' hospitality to his friends and
+visitors. And the colonel's wife is much thought o', in the regiment and
+oot o' it. She has a sight o' vera good company,--young officers and
+bonnie leddies, and some o' the vera best o' our ain people."
+
+"There it is. I want not my daughters to learn new ways. There are the
+Van Voorts: they began to dine and dance at the governor's house, and
+then they went to the English Church."
+
+"They were Lutherans to begin wi', Joris."
+
+"My Lysbet is the finest lady in the whole land: let her daughters walk
+in her steps. That is what I want. But Neil can come here; I will make
+him welcome, and a good girl is to be courted on her father's hearth.
+Now, there is enough said, and also there is some one coming."
+
+"It will be Neil and Bram;" and, as the words were spoken, the young men
+entered.
+
+[Illustration: Neil and Bram]
+
+"Again you are late, Bram;" and the father looked curiously in his son's
+face. It was like looking back upon his own youth; for Bram Van
+Heemskirk had all the physical traits of his father, his great size, his
+commanding presence and winning address, his large eyes, his deep,
+sonorous voice and slow speech. He was well dressed in light-coloured
+broadcloth; but Neil Semple wore a coat and breeches of black velvet,
+with a long satin vest, and fine small ruffles. He was tall and
+swarthy, and had a pointed, rather sombre face. Without speaking much in
+the way of conversation, he left an impression always of intellectual
+adroitness,--a young man of whom people expected a successful career.
+
+With the advent of Bram and Neil, the consultation ended. The elder,
+grumbling at the chill and mist, wrapped himself in his plaid, and
+leaning on his son's arm, cautiously picked his way home by the light of
+a lantern. Bram drew his chair to the hearth, and sat silently waiting
+for any question his father might wish to ask. But Van Heemskirk was not
+inclined to talk. He put aside his pipe, nodded gravely to his son, and
+went thoughtfully upstairs. At the closed door of his daughters' room,
+he stood still a moment. There was a murmur of conversation within it,
+and a ripple of quickly smothered laughter. How well his soul could see
+the child, with her white, small hands over her mouth, and her bright
+hair scattered upon the white pillow!
+
+"_Ach, mijn kind, mijn kind! Mijn liefste kind!_" he whispered. "God
+Almighty keep thee from sin and sorrow!"
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+                _"To be a sweetness more desired
+                       than spring,--
+                    This is the flower of life."_
+
+
+Joris Van Heemskirk had not thought of prayer; but, in his vague fear
+and apprehension, his soul beat at his lips, and its natural language
+had been that appeal at his daughter's closed door. For Semple's words
+had been like a hand lifting the curtain in a dark room: only a clouded
+and uncertain light had been thrown, but in it even familiar objects
+looked portentous. In these days, the tendency is to tone down and to
+assimilate, to deprecate every thing positive and demonstrative. But
+Joris lived when the great motives of humanity stood out sharp and bold,
+and surrounded by a religious halo.
+
+Many of his people had begun to associate with the governing race, to
+sit at their banquets, and even to worship in their church; but Joris,
+in his heart, looked upon such "indifferents" as renegades to their God
+and their fatherland. He was a Dutchman, soul and body; and no English
+duke was prouder of his line, or his royal quarterings, than was Joris
+Van Heemskirk of the race of sailors and patriots from whom he had
+sprung.
+
+Through his father, he clasped hands with men who had swept the narrow
+seas with De Ruyter, and sailed into Arctic darkness and icefields with
+Van Heemskirk. Farther back, among that mysterious, legendary army of
+patriots called "The Beggars of the Sea," he could proudly name his
+fore-goers,--rough, austere men, covered with scars, who followed
+Willemsen to the succour of Leyden. The likeness of one of them, Adrian
+Van Heemskirk, was in his best bedroom,--the big, square form wrapped in
+a pea-jacket; a crescent in his hat, with the device, "_Rather Turk than
+Papist_;" and upon his breast one of those medals, still hoarded in the
+Low Countries, which bore the significant words, "_In defiance of the
+Mass_."
+
+He knew all the stories of these men,--how, fortified by their natural
+bravery, and by their Calvinistic acquiescence in the purposes of
+Providence, they put out to sea in any weather, braved any danger,
+fought their enemies wherever they found them, worked like beavers
+behind their dams, and yet defiantly flung open their sluice-gates, and
+let in the ocean, to drown out their enemies.
+
+Through his mother, a beautiful Zealand woman, he was related to the
+Evertsens, the victorious admirals of Zealand, and also to the great
+mercantile family of Doversteghe; and he thought the enterprise of the
+one as honourable as the valour of the other. Beside the sailor pictures
+of Cornelius and Jan Evertsen, and the famous "Keesje the Devil," he
+hung sundry likenesses of men with grave, calm faces, proud and lofty of
+aspect, dressed in rich black velvet and large wide collars,--merchants
+who were every inch princes of commerce and industry.
+
+These lines of thought, almost tedious to indicate, flashed hotly and
+vividly through his mind. The likes and dislikes, the faiths and
+aspirations, of past centuries, coloured the present moments, as light
+flung through richly stained glass has its white radiance tinged by it.
+The feeling of race--that strong and mysterious tie which no time nor
+circumstances can eradicate--was so living a motive in Joris Van
+Heemskirk's heart, that he had been quite conscious of its appeal when
+Semple spoke of a marriage between Katherine and his own son. And Semple
+had understood this, when he so cunningly insinuated a common stock and
+a common form of faith. For he had felt, instinctively, that even the
+long tie of friendship between them was hardly sufficient to bridge over
+the gulf of different nationalities.
+
+Then, Katherine was Van Heemskirk's darling, the very apple of his eye.
+He felt angry that already there should be plans laid to separate her in
+any way from him. His eldest daughters, Cornelia and Anna, had married
+men of substance in Esopus and Albany: he knew they had done well for
+themselves, and had become contented in that knowledge; but he also
+felt that they were far away from his love and home. Joanna was already
+betrothed to Capt. Batavius de Vries; Bram would doubtless find himself
+a wife very soon; for a little while, he had certainly hoped to keep
+Katherine by his own side. Semple, in speaking of her as already
+marriageable, had given him a shock. It seemed such a few years since he
+had walked her to sleep at nights, cradled in his strong arms, close to
+his great, loving heart; such a little while ago when she toddled about
+the garden at his side, her plump white hands holding his big
+forefinger; only yesterday that she had been going to the school, with
+her spelling-book and Heidelberg in her hand. When Lysbet had spoken to
+him of the English lady staying with Madam Semple, who was teaching
+Katherine the new crewel-stitch, it had appeared to him quite proper
+that such a child should be busy learning something in the way of
+needlework. "Needlework" had been given as the reason of those visits,
+which he now remembered had been very frequent; and he was so absolutely
+truthful, that he never imagined the word to be in any measure a false
+definition.
+
+[Illustration: With her spelling-book and Heidelberg]
+
+Therefore, Elder Semple's implication had stunned him like a buffet. In
+his own room, he sat down on a big oak chest; and, as he thought, his
+wrath slowly gathered. Semple knew that gay young English officers were
+coming and going about his house, and he had not told him until he
+feared they would interfere with his own plans for keeping Neil near to
+him. The beautiful little Dutch maiden had been an attraction which he
+was proud to exhibit, just as he was proud of his imported furniture,
+his pictures, and his library. He remembered that Semple had spoken with
+touching emphasis of his longing to keep his last son near home; but
+must he give up his darling Katherine to further this plan?
+
+"I like not it," he muttered. "God for the Dutchman made the Dutchwoman.
+That is the right way; but I will not make angry myself for so much of
+passion, so much of nothing at all to the purpose. That is the truth.
+Always I have found it so."
+
+Then Lysbet, having finished her second locking up, entered the room.
+She came in as one wearied and troubled, and said with a sigh, as she
+untied her apron, "By the girls' bedside I stopped one minute. Dear me!
+when one is young, the sleep is sound."
+
+"Well, then, they were awake when I passed,--that is not so much as one
+quarter of the hour,--talking and laughing; I heard them."
+
+"And now they are fast in sleep; their heads are on one pillow, and
+Katherine's hand is fast clasped in Joanna's hand. The dear ones! Joris,
+the elder's words have made trouble in my heart. What did the man mean?"
+
+"Who can tell? What a man says, we know; but only God understands what
+he means. But I will say this, Lysbet, and it is what I mean: if Semple
+has led my daughter into the way of temptation, then, for all that is
+past and gone, we shall be unfriends."
+
+"Give yourself no _kommer_ on that matter, Joris. Why should not our
+girls see what kind of people the world is made of? Have not some of
+our best maidens married into the English set? And none of them were as
+beautiful as Katherine. There is no harm, I think, in a girl taking a
+few steps up when she puts on the wedding ring."
+
+"Mean you that our little daughter should marry some English
+good-for-nothing? Look, then, I would rather see her white and cold in
+the dead-chamber. In a word, I will have no Englishman among the Van
+Heemskirks. There, let us sleep. To-night I will speak no more."
+
+But madam could not sleep. She was quite sensible that she had tacitly
+encouraged Katherine's visits to Semple House, even after she understood
+that Captain Hyde and other fashionable and notable persons were
+frequent visitors there. In her heart she had dreamed such dreams of
+social advancement for her daughters as most mothers encourage. Her
+prejudices were less deep than those of her husband; or, perhaps, they
+were more powerfully combated by her greater respect for the pomps and
+vanities of life. She thought rather well than ill of those people of
+her own race and class who had made themselves a place in the most
+exclusive ranks. During the past ten years, there had been great changes
+in New York's social life: many families had become very wealthy, and
+there was a rapidly growing tendency to luxurious and splendid living.
+Lysbet Van Heemskirk saw no reason why her younger children should not
+move with this current, when it might set them among the growing
+aristocracy of the New World.
+
+[Illustration: The amber necklace]
+
+She tried to recall Katharine's demeanour and words during the past day,
+and she could find no cause for alarm in them. True, the child had spent
+a long time in arranging her beautiful hair, and she had also begged
+from her the bright amber necklace that had been her own girlish pride;
+but what then? It was so natural, especially when there was likely to be
+fine young gentlemen to see them. She could not remember having noticed
+anything at all which ought to make her uneasy; and what Lysbet did not
+see or hear, she could not imagine.
+
+Yet the past ten hours had really been full of danger to the young girl.
+Early in the afternoon, some hours before Joanna was ready to go,
+Katherine was dressed for her visit to Semple House. It was the next
+dwelling to the Van Heemskirks' on the river-bank, about a quarter of a
+mile distant, but plainly in sight; and this very proximity gave the
+mother a sense of security for her children. It was a different house
+from the Dutchman's, one of those great square plain buildings, so
+common in the Georgian era,--not at all picturesque, but finished inside
+with handsomely carved wood-work, and with mirrors and wall-papering
+brought specially for it from England.
+
+It stood, like Van Heemskirk's, at the head of a garden sloping to the
+river; and there was a good deal of pleasant rivalry about these
+gardens, both proprietors having impressed their own individuality upon
+their pleasure-grounds. Semple's had nothing of the Dutchman's glowing
+prettiness and quaintness,--no clipped yews and hollies, no fanciful
+flower-beds and little Gothic summer-house. Its slope was divided into
+three fine terraces, the descent from one to the other being by broad,
+low steps; the last flight ending on a small pier, to which the pleasure
+and fishing boats were fastened. These terraced walks were finely shaded
+and adorned with shrubs; and on the main one there was a stone sun-dial,
+with a stone seat around it. Van Heemskirk did not think highly of
+Semple's garden; and Semple was sure, "that, in the matter o' flowers
+and fancy clippings, Van Heemskirk had o'er much o' a gude thing." But
+still the rivalry had always been a good-natured one, and, in the
+interchange of bulbs and seeds, productive of much friendly feeling.
+
+The space between the two houses was an enclosed meadow; and this
+afternoon, the grass being warm and dry, and full of wild flowers,
+Katherine followed the narrow foot-path through it, and entered the
+Semple garden by the small side gate. Near this gate was a stone dairy,
+sunk below the level of the ground,--a deliciously cool, clean spot,
+even in the hottest weather. Passing it, she saw that the door was open,
+and Madam Semple was busy among its large, shallow, pewter cream-dishes.
+Lifting her dainty silk skirts, she went down the few steps, and stood
+smiling and nodding in the doorway. Madam was beating some rich curd
+with eggs and currants and spices; and Katherine, with a sympathetic
+smile, asked delightedly,--
+
+"Cheesecakes, madam?"
+
+"Just cheesecakes, dearie."
+
+"Oh, I am glad! Joanna is coming, too, only she had first some flax to
+unplait. Wait for her I could not. Let me fill some of these pretty
+little patty pans."
+
+"I'll do naething o' the kind, Katherine. You'd be spoiling the bonnie
+silk dress you hae put on. Go to the house and sit wi' Mistress Gordon.
+She was asking for you no' an hour ago. And, Katherine, my bonnie
+lassie, dinna gie a thought to one word that black-eyed nephew o' her's
+may say to you. He's here the day and gane to-morrow, and the lasses
+that heed him will get sair hearts to themsel's."
+
+The bright young face shadowed, and a sudden fear came into Madam
+Semple's heart as she watched the girl turn thoughtfully and slowly
+away. The blinds of the house were closed against the afternoon sun; but
+the door stood open, and the wide, dim stairway was before her. All was
+as silent as if she had entered an enchanted castle. And on the upper
+hall the closed doors, and the soft lights falling through stained glass
+upon the dark, rich carpets, made an element of mystery, vague and
+charmful, to which Katherine's sensitive, childlike nature was fully
+responsive.
+
+Slowly she pushed back a heavy mahogany door, and entered a large room,
+whose richly wainscoted walls, heavy friezes, and beautifully painted
+ceiling were but the most obvious points in its general magnificence. On
+a lounge covered with a design done in red and blue tent stitch, an
+elegantly dressed woman was sitting, reading a novel. "The Girl of
+Spirit," "The Fair Maid of the Inn," "The Curious Impertinent," and
+other favourite tales of the day, were lying upon an oval table at her
+side.
+
+"La, child!" she cried, "come here and give me a kiss. So you wear that
+sweet-fancied suit again. You are the most agreeable creature in it;
+though Dick vows upon his sword-hilt that you look a hundred times more
+bewitching in the dress you wore this morning."
+
+"How? This morning, madam? This morning Captain Hyde did not see me at
+all."
+
+"Pray don't blush so, child; though, indeed, it is vastly becoming. I do
+assure you he saw you this morning. He had gone out early to take the
+air, and he had a most transporting piece of good fortune: for he
+bethought himself to walk under the great trees nearly opposite your
+house; and when you came to the door, with your excellent father, he
+noted all, from the ribbon on your head to the buckles on your shoes.
+His talk now is of nothing but your short quilted petticoat, and your
+tight bodice, and beautiful bare arms. Is that the Dutch style, then,
+child? It must be extremely charming."
+
+"If my mother you could see in it! She is beautiful. And we have a
+picture of my grandmother in the true Zealand dress. Like a princess she
+looks, my father says; but, indeed, I have never seen a princess."
+
+"My dear, you must allow me to laugh a little. Will you believe it,
+princesses are sometimes very vulgar creatures? I am sure, however, that
+your grandmother was very genteel and agreeable. I must tell you that I
+have just received my new scarf from London. You shall see it, and give
+me your opinion."
+
+"O madam, you are very kind! What is it like?"
+
+"It is all extravagance in mode and fancy. I believe, my dear, there are
+two hundred yards of edging on it; and it has the most enchanting slope
+to the shoulders. I am wonderfully pleased with it, and hope it will
+prove becoming."
+
+"Indeed, I think all your suits are becoming."
+
+"Faith, child, I think they are. I have always dressed with the most
+perfect intelligence. I follow all the fashions, and they must be
+French. La, here comes Richard. He is going to ask you to take a sail on
+the river; and I shall lend you my new green parasol. I do believe it is
+the only one in the country."
+
+"I came to sit with you, and work with my worsteds. Perhaps my
+mother--might not like me to go on the river with--any one."
+
+"Pray, child, don't be affected. 'My mother--might not like me to go on
+the river with--any one;'" and she mimicked Katherine so cleverly that
+the girl's face burned with shame and annoyance.
+
+But she had no time to defend herself; for, with his cavalry cap in his
+hand, and a low bow, Captain Hyde entered the room; and Katharine's
+heart throbbed in her cheeks, and she trembled, and yet withal dimpled
+into smiles, like clear water in the sunshine. A few minutes afterward
+she was going down the terrace steps with him; and he was looking into
+her face with shining eyes, and whispering the commonest words in such
+an enchanting manner that it seemed to her as if her feet scarcely
+touched the low, white steps, and she was some sort of glorified
+Katherine Van Heemskirk, who never, never, never could be unhappy again.
+
+They did not go on the river. Captain Hyde hated exertion. His splendid
+uniform was too tight to row in. He did not want a third party near, in
+any capacity. The lower steps were shaded by great water beeches, and
+the turf under them was green and warm. There was the scent of lilies
+around, the song of birds above, the ripple of water among pebbles at
+their feet. A sweeter hour, a lovelier maid, man could never hope to
+find; and Captain Hyde was not one to neglect his opportunity.
+
+"Let us stay here, my beloved," he whispered. "I have something sweet to
+tell you. Upon mine honour, I can keep my secret no longer."
+
+The innocent child! Who could blame her for listening to it?--at first
+with a little fear and a little reluctance, but gradually resigning her
+whole heart to the charm of his soft syllables and his fervent manner,
+until she gave him the promise he begged for,--love that was to be for
+him alone, love for him alone among all the sons of men.
+
+What an enchanted afternoon it was! how all too quickly it fled away,
+one golden moment after another! and what a pang it gave her to find at
+the end that there must be lying and deception! For, somehow, she had
+been persuaded to acquiesce in her lover's desire for secrecy. As for
+the lie, he told it with the utmost air of candour.
+
+"Yes, we had a beautiful sail; and how enchanting the banks above here
+are! Aunt, I am at your service to-morrow, if you wish to see them."
+
+"Oh, your servant, Captain, but I am an indifferent sailor; and I trust
+I have too much respect for myself and my new frocks, to crowd them into
+a river cockboat!"
+
+In a few minutes Joanna and the elder came in. He had called for her on
+his way home; for he liked the society of the young and beautiful, and
+there were many hours in which he thought Joanna fairer than her sister.
+Then tea was served in a pretty parlour with Turkish walls and coloured
+windows, which, being open into the garden, framed lovely living
+pictures of blossoming trees. Every one was eating and drinking,
+laughing and talking; so Katherine's unusual silence was unnoticed,
+except by the elder, who indeed saw and heard everything, and who knew
+what he did not see and hear by that kind of prescience to which wise
+and observant years attain. He saw that the cakes Katherine dearly loved
+remained upon her plate untasted, and that she was unusually,
+suspiciously quiet.
+
+After tea he walked down the garden with Colonel Gordon. The lily bed
+was near the river; and he made the gathering of some lilies for
+Katherine an excuse for going close enough to the pier to see how the
+boat lay, and whether the oars had been moved from the exact position in
+which he had placed them. And he found the boat rocking at its moorings,
+tied with his own peculiar knot. It told him everything, and he was
+sincerely troubled at the discovery.
+
+[Illustration: In one of those tall-backed Dutch chairs]
+
+"Love and lying," he mused. "I wonder why they are ever such thick
+friends. As for Dick Hyde, lying is his native tongue; but if Katharine
+Van Heemskirk has been aye one thing above another, it was to tell the
+truth. It ought to come easy to her likewise, for I'll say the same o'
+the hale nation o' Dutchmen. I dinna think Joris would tell a lie to
+save baith life and fortune."
+
+He looked at Katherine almost sternly when he went back to the house;
+though he gave her the lilies, and bid her keep her soul sweet and pure
+as their white bells. She was sitting by Mistress Gordon's side, in one
+of those tall-backed Dutch chairs, whose very blackness and straightness
+threw into high relief her own undulating roundness and mobility, the
+glowing colours of her Indian silk gown, the shining amber against her
+white throat, and the picturesque curl and flow of her fair hair.
+Captain Hyde sat opposite, bending toward her; and his aunt reclined
+upon the couch, and watched them with a singular look of speculation in
+her half-shut eyes.
+
+Joanna was talking to Neil Semple in the recess of a window; but Neil's
+face was white with suppressed anger, and, though he seemed to be
+listening to her, his eyes--full of passion--were fixed upon Hyde.
+Perhaps the young soldier was conscious of it; for he occasionally
+addressed some trivial remark to him, as if to prevent Neil from losing
+sight of the advantages he had over him.
+
+"The vera air o' this room is gunpowdery," thought the elder; "and ane
+or the other will be flinging a spark o' passion into it, and then the
+de'il will be to pay. O'er many women here! O'er many women here! One is
+enough in any house. I'll e'en tak' the lasses hame mysel'; and I'll
+speak to Joris for his daughter,--as good now as any other time."
+
+Then he said in his blandest tones, "Joanna, my dearie, you'll hae to
+tell Neil the rest o' your tale the morn; and, Katherine, put awa' now
+that bit o' busy idleness, and don your hoods and mantles, baith o'
+you. I'm going to tak' you hame, and I dinna want to get my deathe wi'
+the river mist."
+
+"Pray, sir," said Hyde, "consider me at your service. I have occasion to
+go into town at once, and will do your duty to the young ladies with
+infinite pleasure."
+
+"Much obliged, Captain, vera much obliged; but it tak's an auld
+wise-headed, wise-hearted man like mysel' to walk safely atween twa
+bonnie lasses;" then turning to his son, he added, "Neil, my lad, put
+your beaver on, and go and find Bram. You can tell him, as he didna come
+to look after his sisters afore this hour, he needna come at a'."
+
+"Do you know, father, where Bram is likely to be found?"
+
+"Hum-m-m! As if you didna know yoursel'! He will dootless be among that
+crowd o' young wiseacres wha are certain the safety o' the Provinces is
+in their keeping. It's the young who ken a' things, ken mair than
+councils and assemblies, and king and parliament, thegither."
+
+Colonel Gordon laughed. "Never mind, sir," he said, "they let the army
+alone, and the church; so you and I need hardly alarm ourselves"--
+
+"I'm no sure o' that, Colonel. When it comes to the army, it's a mere
+question o' wha can strike the hardest blows; and as to kirk matters,
+I'm thinking men had better meddle wi' the things o' God, which they
+canna change, than wi' those o' the king wi' which they can wark a deal
+o' mischief."
+
+While he was speaking, Neil left the room. The little argument struck
+him as a pretext and a cover, and he was glad to escape from a position
+which he felt to be both painful and humiliating. He was in a measure
+Captain Hyde's host, and subject to traditions regarding the duties of
+that character; any display of anger would be derogatory to him, and yet
+how difficult was restraint! So his father's interference was a welcome
+one; and he was reconciled to his own disappointment, when, looking
+back, he saw the old gentleman slowly taking the road to Van Heemskirk's
+with the pretty girls in their quilted red hoods, one on each side of
+him.
+
+The elder was very polite to his charges; he never once regretted to
+them the loss of his pipe, and chat with Colonel Gordon. But he noticed
+that Katherine was silent and disappointed, and that she lingered in her
+own room after her arrival at home. Her subsequent pretty cheerfulness,
+her delight in her lilies, her confiding claims upon her father's
+love,--nothing in these things deceived him. He saw beneath all the
+fluttering young heart, trembling, and yet happy in the new, sweet
+feeling, never felt before, which had come to it that afternoon.
+
+But he thought that most girls had to have this initiative: it prepared
+the way for a soberer and more lasting affection. In the end, Katherine
+would perceive how imprudent, how impossible, a marriage with Captain
+Hyde must be; and her heart would turn back to Neil, who had been her
+lover from boyhood. Yet he reflected, it would be well to have the
+matter understood, and to give it that "possibility" which is best
+attained on a money basis.
+
+So while he and the Van Heemskirks discussed the matter,--a little
+reluctantly, he thought, on their part,--Katherine talked with Joanna of
+the Gordons. Her heart was so full of her lover, that it was a relief to
+discuss the people and things nearest to him. And her very repression
+excited her. She toyed with her cambric kerchief before the small
+looking-glass, and imitated the fashionable English lady with a piquant
+cleverness that provoked low peals of laughter, and a retrospective
+discussion of the evening, which was merry enough, without being in the
+least ill-natured.
+
+But, oh, in what strange solitudes every separate soul dwells! When
+Katherine kissed her sister, and said simperingly, with the highest
+English accent, "La, child, I protest it has been the most agreeable
+evening," Joanna had not a suspicion of the joy and danger that had come
+to the dear little one at her side. She was laughing softly with her,
+even while the fearful father stood at the closed door, and lifted up
+his tender soul in that pathetic petition, "_Ach, mijn kind! mijn kind!
+mijn liefste kind!_ Almighty God preserve thee from all sin and sorrow!"
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+          "_The proverb holds, that to be wise and love
+          Is hardly granted to the gods above._"
+
+
+"Well, well, to-day goes to its forefathers, like all the rest; and, as
+for what comes after it, every thing is in the love and counsel of the
+Almighty One."
+
+This was Joris Van Heemskirk's last thought ere he fell asleep that
+night, after Elder Semple's cautious disclosure and proposition. In his
+calm, methodical, domestic life, it had been an "eventful day." We say
+the words often and unreflectingly, seldom pausing to consider that such
+days are the results which months, years, perchance centuries, have made
+possible. Thus, a long course of reckless living and reckless gambling,
+and the consequent urgent need of ready money, had first made Captain
+Hyde turn his thoughts to the pretty daughter of the rich Dutch
+merchant.
+
+Madam Semple, in her desire to enhance the importance of the Van
+Heemskirks, had mentioned more than once the handsome sums of ready
+money given to each of Katharine's sisters on their wedding-day; and
+both Colonel Gordon and his wife had thought of this sum so often, as a
+relief to their nephew's embarrassments, that it seemed almost as much
+Hyde's property as if he had been born to inherit it. At first
+Katherine, as its encumbrance, had been discussed very heartlessly,--she
+could be left in New York when his regiment received marching orders, if
+it were thought desirable; or she could be taken to England, and settled
+as mistress of Hyde Manor House, a lonely mansion on the Norfolk fens,
+which was so rarely tenanted by the family that Hyde had never been
+there since his boyhood.
+
+"She is a homespun little thing," laughed the colonel's fashionable
+wife, "and quite unfit to go among people of our condition. But she
+adores you, Dick; and she will be passably happy with a house to manage,
+and a visit from you when you can spare the time."
+
+"Oh, your servant, aunt! Then I am a very indifferent judge; for indeed
+she has much spirit below her gentle manner; and, upon my word, I think
+her as fine a creature as you can find in the best London society. The
+task, I assure you, is not easy. When Katherine is won, then, in faith,
+her father may be in no hurry of approval. And the child is a fair,
+innocent child: I am very uneasy to do her wrong. The ninety-nine
+plagues of an empty purse are to blame for all my ill deeds."
+
+"Upon my word, Dick, nothing can be more commendable than your temper.
+You make vastly proper reflection, sir; but you are in troubled
+waters,--admit it,--and this little Dutch-craft may bring you
+respectably into harbour.
+
+It was in this mood that Katherine and her probable fortune had been
+discussed; and thus she was but one of the events, springing from lives
+anterior to her own, and very different from it. And causes nearly as
+remote had prepared the way for her ready reception of Hyde's homage,
+and the relaxation of domestic discipline which had trusted her so often
+and so readily in his society--causes which had been forgotten, but
+which had left behind them a positive and ever-growing result. When a
+babe, she was remarkably frail and delicate; and this circumstance,
+united to the fact of her being the youngest child, had made the whole
+household very tender to her, and she had been permitted a much larger
+portion of her own way than was usually given to any daughter in a Dutch
+family.
+
+Also, in her father's case, the motives influencing his decision
+stretched backward through many generations. None the less was their
+influence potent to move him. In fact, he forgot entirely to reflect how
+a marriage between his child and Captain Hyde would be regarded at that
+day; his first thoughts had been precisely such thoughts as would have
+occurred to a Van Heemskirk living two hundred years before him. And
+thus, though we hardly remember the fact, it is this awful solidarity of
+the human family which makes the third and fourth generations heirs of
+their forefathers, and brings into every life those critical hours we
+call "eventful days."
+
+Joris, however, made no such reflections. His age was not an age
+inclined to analysis, and he was still less inclined to it from a
+personal standpoint. For he was a man of few, but positive ideas; yet
+these ideas, having once commended themselves to his faith or his
+intelligence, were embraced with all his soul. It was this spirit which
+made him deprecate even religious discussions, so dear to the heart of
+his neighbour.
+
+[Illustration: He heard her calling him to breakfast]
+
+"I like them not, Elder," he would say; "of what use are they, then?
+The Calvinistic faith is the true faith. That is certain. Very well,
+then; what is true does not require to be examined, to see if it be
+true."
+
+Semple's communication regarding Captain Hyde and his daughter had
+aroused in him certain feelings, and led him to certain decisions. He
+went to sleep, satisfied with their propriety and justice. He awoke in
+precisely the same mood. Then he dressed, and went into his garden. It
+was customary for Katherine to join him there; and he frequently turned,
+as he went down the path, to see if she were coming. He watched eagerly
+for the small figure in its short quilted petticoat and buckled shoes,
+and the fair, pink face shaded by the large Zealand hat, with its long
+blue ribbons crossed over the back. But this morning she did not come.
+He walked alone to his lily bed, and stooped a little forlornly to
+admire the tulips and crocus-cups and little purple pansies; but his
+face brightened when he heard her calling him to breakfast, and very
+soon he saw her leaning over the half door, shading her eyes with both
+her hands, the better to watch his approach.
+
+Lysbet was already in her place; so was Joanna, and also Bram; and a
+slim black girl called Dinorah was handing around fricasseed chicken and
+venison steaks, hot fritters and johnny-cake; while the rich Java berry
+filled the room with an aroma of tropical life, and suggestions of the
+spice-breathing coasts of Sunda. Joris and Bram discussed the business
+of the day; Katherine was full of her visit to Semple House the
+preceding evening. Dinorah was no restraint. The slaves Joris owned,
+like those of Abraham, were born or brought up in his own household;
+they held to all the family feelings with a faithful, often an
+unreasonable, tenacity.
+
+And yet, this morning, Joris waited until Lysbet dismissed her handmaid,
+before he said the words he had determined to speak ere he began the
+work of the day. Then he put down his cup with an emphasis which made
+all eyes turn to him, and said,--
+
+"_Katrijntje_, my daughter, call not to-day, nor call not any day, until
+I tell you different, at Madam Semple's. The people who go and come
+there, I like them not. They will be no good to you. Lysbet, what say
+you in this matter?"
+
+"What you say, I say, Joris. The father is to be obeyed. When he will
+not, the children can not."
+
+"Joanna, what say you?"
+
+"I like best of all things to do your pleasure, father."
+
+"And you, Bram?"
+
+"As for me, I think you are very right. I like not those English
+officers,--insolent and proud men, all of them. It would have been a
+great pleasure to me to strike down the one who yesterday spurned with
+his spurred boot our good neighbour Jacob Cohen, for no reason but that
+he was a Jew"--
+
+"Heigho! go softly, Bram. That which burns thee not, cool not."
+
+"As he passed our store door where I stood, he said 'devil,' but he
+meant me."
+
+"Only God knows what men mean. Now, then, little one, thy will is my
+will, is it not?"
+
+She had drawn her chair close to her father's, and taken his big hand
+between her own, and was stroking and petting it as he spoke; and, ere
+she answered, she leaned her head upon his breast.
+
+"Father, I like to see the English lady; and she is teaching me the new
+stitch."
+
+"_Schoone Lammetje_! There are many other things far better for thee to
+learn; for instance, to darn the fine Flemish lace, and to work the
+beautiful 'clocks' on thy stockings, and to make perfect thy Heidelberg
+and thy Confession of Faith. In these things, the best of all good
+teachers is thy mother."
+
+"I can do these things also, father. The lady loves me, and will be
+unhappy not to see me."
+
+"Then, let her come here and see thee. That will be the proper thing.
+Why not? She is not better than thou art. Once thy mother has called on
+her; thou and Joanna, a few times too often. Now, then, let her call on
+thee. Always honour thyself, as well as others. That is the Dutch way;
+that is the right way. Mind what I tell thee."
+
+His voice had gradually grown sterner; and he gently withdrew his hand
+from her clasp, and rose as a man in a hurry, and pressed with affairs:
+"Come, Bram, there is need now of some haste. The 'Sea Hound' has her
+cargo, and should sail at the noon-tide; and, as for the 'Crowned
+Bears,' thou knowest there is much to be said and done. I hear she left
+most of her cargo at Perth Amboy. Well, well, I have told Jerome Brakel
+what I think of that. It is his own affair."
+
+Thus talking, he left the room; and Lysbet instantly began to order the
+wants of the house with the same air of settled preoccupation. "Joanna,"
+she said, "the linen web in the loom, go and see how it is getting on;
+and the fine napkins must be sent to the lawn for the bleaching, and
+to-day the chambers must be aired and swept. The best parlour Katherine
+will attend to."
+
+Katherine still sat at the table; her eyes were cast down, and she was
+arranging--without a consciousness of doing so--her bread-crumbs upon
+her Delft plate. The directions roused her from her revery, and she
+comprehended in a moment how decisive her father's orders were intended
+to be. Yet in this matter she was so deeply interested that she
+instinctively made an appeal against them.
+
+"Mother, my mother, shall I not go once more to see Madam Gordon? So
+kind she has been to me! She will say I am ungrateful, that I am rude,
+and know not good manners. And I left there the cushion I am making, and
+the worsteds. I may go at once, and bring them home? Yes, mother, I may
+go at once. A young girl does not like to be thought ungrateful and
+rude."
+
+"More than that, Katherine; a young girl should not like to disobey a
+good father. You make me feel astonished and sorry. Here is the key of
+the best parlour; go now, and wash carefully the fine china-ware. As to
+the rose-leaves in the big jars, you must not let a drop of water touch
+them."
+
+"My cushion and my worsteds, mother!"
+
+"Well, then, I will send Dinorah for them with a civil message. That
+will be right."
+
+So Lysbet turned and left the room. She did not notice the rebellious
+look on her daughter's face, the lowering brows, the resentment in the
+glance that followed her, the lips firmly set to the mental purpose. "To
+see her lover at all risks"--that was the purpose; but how best to
+accomplish it, was not clear to her. The ways of the household were so
+orderly, so many things brought the family together during the day,
+Lysbet and Joanna kept such a loving watch over her, the road between
+their own house and the Semples' was so straight and unscreened, and she
+was, beside, such a novice in deception,--all these circumstances
+flashing at once across her mind made her, for a moment or two, almost
+despair.
+
+But she lifted the key given her and went to the parlour. It was a
+large, low room, with wainscoted walls, and a big tiled fireplace nearly
+filling one end of it. The blinds were closed, but there was enough
+light to reveal its quaint and almost foreign character. Great jars with
+dragons at the handles stood in the recesses made by large oak cabinets,
+black with age, and elaborately carved with a marvellous nicety and
+skill. The oval tables were full of curious bits of china, dainty
+Oriental wicker work, exquisite shells on lacquered trays, wonderfully
+wrought workboxes and fans and amulets. The odours of calamus and myrrh
+and camphor from strange continents mingled with the faint perfume of
+the dried rose leaves and the scent-bags of English lavender. Many of
+these rare and beautiful things were the spoils brought from India and
+Java by the sea-going Van Heemskirks of past generations. Others had
+come at long intervals as gifts from the captains of ships with whom the
+house did business. Katherine had often seen such visitors--men with
+long hair and fierce looks, and the pallor of hot, moist lands below the
+tan of wind and sunshine. It had always been her delight to dust and
+care for these various treasures; and the room itself, with its
+suggestive aromas, was her favourite hiding-place. Here she had made her
+own fairy tales, and built the enchanted castles which the less
+fortunate children of this day have clever writers build for them.
+
+And at length the prince of her imagination had come! As she moved about
+among the strange carven toys and beautiful ornaments, she could think
+only of him,--of his stately manner and dark, handsome face. Simple,
+even rustic, she might be; but she understood that he had treated her
+with as much deference and homage as if she had been a princess. She
+recalled every word he said to her as they sat under the water beeches.
+More vividly still she recalled the tender light in his eyes, the
+lingering clasp of his hand, his low, persuasive voice, and that
+nameless charm of fashion and culture which perhaps impressed her more
+than any other thing.
+
+Among the articles she had to dust was a square Indian box with drawers.
+It had always been called "the writing-box," and it was partly filled
+with paper and other materials for letter-writing. She stood before the
+open lid thoughtfully, and a sudden overwhelming desire to send some
+message of apology to Mrs. Gordon came into her heart. She could write
+pretty well, and she had seen her mother and Joanna fold and seal
+letters; and, although she was totally inexperienced in the matter, she
+determined to make the effort.
+
+[Illustration: The quill pens must be mended]
+
+There was nothing in the materials then to help her. The letter paper
+was coarse; envelopes were unknown. She would have to bring a candle
+into the room in order to seal it; and a candle could only be lit by
+striking a spark from the flint upon the tinder, and then igniting a
+brimstone match from it,--unless she lit it at the kindled fire, which
+would subject her to questions and remonstrances. Also, the quill pens
+must be mended, and the ink renewed. But all these difficulties were
+overcome, one by one; and the following note was intrusted to the care
+of Diedrich Becker, the old man who worked in the garden and milked the
+cows:
+
+To MISTRESS COLONEL GORDON: HONOURED MADAM: My father forbids that I
+come to see you. He thinks you should upon my mother call. That you will
+judge me to be rude and ungrateful I fear very much. But that is not
+true. I am unhappy, indeed. I think all the day of you.
+
+                                   Your obedient servant,
+                                                KATHERINE VAN HEEMSKIRK.
+
+"'The poor child," said Mrs. Gordon, when she had read the few anxious
+sentences. "Look here, Dick;" and Dick, who was beating a tattoo upon
+the window-pane, turned listlessly and asked, "Pray, madam, what is it?"
+
+"Of all earthly things, a letter from that poor child, Katherine Van
+Heemskirk. She has more wit than I expected. So her father won't let her
+come to me. Why, then, upon my word, I will go to her."
+
+Captain Hyde was interested at once. He took the letter his aunt
+offered, and read it with a feeling of love and pity and resentment.
+"You will go to-morrow?" he asked; "and would it be beyond good breeding
+for me to accompany you?"
+
+"Indeed, nephew, I think it would. But I will give your service, and say
+everything that is agreeable. Be patient; to-morrow morning I will call
+upon our fair neighbour."
+
+The next morning was damp, for there had been heavy rain during the
+night; but Captain Hyde would not let his aunt forget or forego her
+promise. She had determined to make an unceremonious visit; and early in
+the day she put on her bonnet and pelisse, and walked over to the Van
+Heemskirks. A negro woman was polishing the brass ornaments of the door,
+and over its spotless threshold she passed without question or delay.
+
+A few minutes she waited alone in the best parlour, charmed with its far
+off air and Eastern scents, and then Madam Van Heemskirk welcomed her.
+In her heart she was pleased at the visit. She thought privately that
+her Joris had been a little too strict. She did not really see why her
+beautiful daughters should not have the society and admiration of the
+very best people in the Province. And Mrs. Gordon's praise of Katharine,
+and her declaration that "she was inconsolable without the dear
+creature's society," seemed to the fond mother the most proper and
+natural of feelings.
+
+"Do but let me see her an hour, madam," she said. "You know my sincere
+admiration. Is not that her voice? I vow, she sings to perfection And
+what a singular melody! Please to set wide the door, madam."
+
+"It is the brave song of the brave men of Zealand, when from the walls
+of Leyden they drove away the Spaniards;" and madam stood in the open
+door, and called to her daughter, "Well, then, Katharine, begin again
+the song of 'The Beggars of the Sea.'"
+
+    "We are the Beggars of the Sea,--
+    Strong, gray Beggars from Zealand we;
+    We are fighting for liberty:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "Hardy sons of old Zierikzee,
+    Fed on the breath of the wild North Sea.
+    Beggars are kings if free they be:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "'_True to the Wallet_,' whatever betide;
+    '_Long live the Gueux_,'--the sea will provide
+    Graves for the enemy, deep and wide:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "Beggars, but not from the Spaniard's hand;
+    Beggars, 'under the Cross' we stand;
+    Beggars, for love of the fatherland:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "Now, if the Spaniard comes our way,
+    What shall we give him, Beggars gray?
+    Give him a moment to kneel and pray:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!"
+
+At the second verse, Mrs. Gordon rose and said, "Indeed, madam, I find
+my good-breeding no match against such singing. And the tune is
+wonderful; it has the ring of trumpets, and the roar of the waves, in
+it. Pray let us go at once to your daughters."
+
+"At work are they; but, if you mind not that, you are welcome indeed."
+Then she led the way to the large living, or dining, room, where
+Katherine stood at the table cleaning the silver flagons and cups and
+plates that adorned the great oak sideboard.
+
+Joanna, who was darning some fine linen, rose and made her respects with
+perfect composure. She had very little liking, either for Mrs. Gordon or
+her nephew; and many of their ways appeared to her utterly foolish, and
+not devoid of sin. But Katherine trembled and blushed with pleasure and
+excitement, and Mrs. Gordon watched her with a certain kind of curious
+delight. Her hair was combed backward, plaited, and tied with a ribbon;
+her arms bare to the shoulders, her black bodice and crimson petticoat
+neatly shielded with a linen apron: and poised in one hand she held a
+beautiful silver flagon covered with raised figures, which with patient
+labour she had brought into shining relief.
+
+"Oh," cried the visitor, "that is indeed a piece of plate worth looking
+at! Surely, child, it has a history,--a romance perhaps. La, there are
+words also upon it! Pray, madam, be so obliging as to read the
+inscription;" and madam, blushing with pride and pleasure, read it
+aloud,--
+
+                    "'Hoog van Moed,
+                    Klein van Goed,
+                    Een zwaard in de hand:
+                    Is 't wapen van Gelderland.'"
+
+"Dutch, I vow! Surely, madam, it is very sonorous and emphatic; vastly
+different, I do assure you, from the vowelled idioms of Italy and Spain.
+Pray, madam, be so civil as to translate the words for me."
+
+                    "'Of spirit great,
+                    Of small estate,
+                    A sword in the hand:
+                    Such are the arms of Guelderland.'
+
+[Illustration: A Guelderland flagon]
+
+"You must know," continued Madam Van Heemskirk, "that my husband's
+father had a brother, who, in a great famine in Guelderland, filled one
+hundred flat boats with wheat of Zealand,--in all the world it is the
+finest wheat, that is the truth,--and help he sent to those who were
+ready to perish. And when came better days, then, because their hearts
+were good, they gave to their preserver this flagon. Joris Van
+Heemskirk, my husband, sets on it great store, that is so."
+
+Conversation in this channel was easily maintained. Madame Van Heemskirk
+knew the pedigree or the history of every tray or cup, and in
+reminiscence and story an hour passed away very pleasantly indeed.
+Joanna did not linger to listen. The visitor did not touch her liking or
+her interest; and besides, as every one knows, the work of a house must
+go on, no matter what guest opens the door. But Katherine longed and
+watched and feared. Surely her friend would not go away without some
+private token or message for her. She turned sick at heart when she rose
+as if to depart. But Mrs. Gordon proved herself equal to the emergency;
+for, after bidding madam an effusive good-by, she turned suddenly and
+said, "Pray allow your daughter to show me the many ornaments in your
+parlour. The glimpse I had has made me very impatient to see them more
+particularly."
+
+The request was one entirely in sympathy with the mood and the previous
+conversation, and madam was pleased to gratify it; also pleased, that,
+having fully satisfied the claims of social life, she could with
+courtesy leave her visitor's further entertainment with Katherine, and
+return to her regular domestic cares. To her the visit had appeared to
+be one of such general interest, that she never suspected any motive
+beneath or beyond the friendliness it implied. Yet the moment the
+parlour-door had been shut, Mrs. Gordon lifted Katharine's face between
+her palms, and said,--
+
+"Faith, child, I am almost run off my head with all the fine things I
+have listened to for your sake. Do you know _who_ sent me here?"
+
+"I think, madam, Captain Hyde."
+
+"Psha! Why don't you blush, and stammer, and lie about it? 'I think,
+madam, Captain Hyde,'" mimicking Katherine's slight Dutch accent. "'Tis
+to be seen, miss, that you understand a thing or two. Now, Captain Hyde
+wishes to see you; when can you oblige him so much?"
+
+"I know not. To come to Madam Semple's is forbidden me by my father."
+
+"It is on my account. I protest your father is very uncivil."
+
+"Madam, no; but it is the officers; many come and go, and he thinks it
+is not good for me to meet them."
+
+"Oh, indeed, miss, it is very hard on Captain Hyde, who is more in love
+than is reasonable Has your father forbidden you to walk down your
+garden to the river-bank?"
+
+"No, madam."
+
+"Then, if Captain Hyde pass about two o'clock, he might see you there?"
+
+"At two I am busy with Joanna."
+
+"La, child! At three then?"
+
+"Three?"
+
+The word was a question more than an assent; but Mrs. Gordon assumed the
+assent, and did not allow Katharine to contradict it. "And I promised to
+bring him a token from you,--he was exceedingly anxious about that
+matter; give me the ribbon from your hair."
+
+"Only last week Joanna bought it for me. She would surely ask me, 'Where
+is your new ribbon?'"
+
+"Tell her that you lost it."
+
+"How could I say that? It would not be true."
+
+The girl's face was so sincere, that Mrs. Gordon found herself unable to
+ridicule the position. "My dear," she answered, "you are a miracle. But,
+among all these pretty things, is there nothing you can send?"
+
+Katherine looked thoughtfully around. There was a small Chinese cabinet
+on a table: she went to it, and took from a drawer a bow of orange
+ribbon. Holding it doubtfully in her hand, she said, "My St. Nicholas
+ribbon."
+
+"La, miss, I thought you were a Calvinist! What are you talking of the
+saints for?"
+
+"St. Nicholas is our saint, our own saint; and on his day we wear
+orange. Yes, even my father then, on his silk cap, puts an orange bow.
+Orange is the Dutch colour, you know, madam."
+
+"Indeed, child, I do _not_ know; but, if so, then it is the best colour
+to send to your true love."
+
+"For the Dutch, orange always. On the great days of the kirk, my father
+puts blue with it. Blue is the colour of the Dutch Calvinists."
+
+"Make me thankful to learn so much. Then when Councillor Van Heemskirk
+wears his blue and orange, he says to the world, 'I am a Dutchman and a
+Calvinist'?"
+
+"That is the truth. For the _Vaderland_ the _Moeder-Kerk_ he wears their
+colours. The English, too, they will have their own colour!"
+
+"La, my dear, England claims every colour! But, indeed, even an English
+officer may now wear an orange favour; for I remember well when our
+Princess Anne married the young Prince of Orange. Oh, I assure you the
+House of Nassau is close kin to the House of Hanover! And when English
+princesses marry Dutch princes, then surely English officers may marry
+Dutch maidens. Your bow of orange ribbon is a very proper love-knot."
+
+"Indeed, madam, I never"--
+
+[Illustration: "A very proper love-knot"]
+
+"There, there! I can really wait no longer. _Some one_ is already in a
+fever of impatience. 'Tis a quaintly pretty room; I am happy to have seen
+its curious treasures. Good-by again, child; my service once more to your
+mother and sister;" and so, with many compliments, she passed chatting and
+laughing out of the house.
+
+Katherine closed the best parlour, and lingered a moment in the act. She
+felt that she had permitted Mrs. Gordon to make an appointment for her
+lover, and a guilty sense of disobedience made bitter the joy of
+expectation. For absolute truthfulness is the foundation of the Dutch
+character; and an act of deception was not only a sin according to
+Katherine's nature, but one in direct antagonism to it. As she turned
+away from the closed parlour, she felt quite inclined to confide
+everything to her sister Joanna; but Joanna, who had to finish the
+cleaning of the silver, was not in that kind of a temper which invites
+confidence; and indeed, Katherine, looking into her calm, preoccupied
+face, felt her manner to be a reproof and a restraint.
+
+So she kept her own counsel, and doubted and debated the matter in her
+heart until the hands of the great clock were rising quickly to the hour
+of fate. Then she laid down her fine sewing, and said, "Mother, I want
+to walk in the garden. When I come back my task I will finish."
+
+"That is well. Joanna, too, has let her work fall down to her lap. Go,
+both of you, and get the fine air from the river."
+
+This was not what Katherine wished; but nothing but assent was possible,
+and the girls strolled slowly down the box-bordered walks together.
+Madam Van Heemskirk watched them from the window for a few minutes. A
+smile of love and pleasure was on her fine, placid face; but she said
+with a sigh, as she turned away,--
+
+"Well, well, if it is the will of God they should not rise in the world,
+one must be content. To the spider the web is as large as to the whale
+the whole wide sea; that is the truth."
+
+Joanna was silent; she was thinking of her own love-affairs; but
+Katherine, doubtful of herself, thought also that her sister suspected
+her. When they reached the river-bank, Joanna perceived that the lilacs
+were in bloom, and at their root the beautiful auriculas; and she
+stooped low to inhale their strange, nameless, earthy perfume. At that
+moment a boat rowed by with two English soldiers, stopped just below
+them, and lay rocking on her oars. Then an officer in the stern rose and
+looked towards Katherine, who stood in the full sunlight with her large
+hat in her hand. Before she could make any sign of recognition, Joanna
+raised herself from the auriculas and stood beside her sister; yet in
+the slight interval Katherine had seen Captain Hyde fling back from his
+left shoulder his cloak, in order to display the bow of orange ribbon on
+his breast.
+
+The presence of Joanna baffled and annoyed him; but he raised his beaver
+with a gallant grace, and Joanna dropped a courtesy, and then, taking
+Katherine's hand, turned toward home with her, saying, "That is the boat
+of Captain Hyde. What comes he this way for?"
+
+"The river way is free to all, Joanna." And Joanna looked sharply at
+her sister and remained silent.
+
+But Katherine was merry as a bird. She chattered of this and of that,
+and sang snatches of songs, old and new. And all the time her heart beat
+out its own glad refrain, "My bow of orange ribbon, my bow of orange
+ribbon!" Her needle went to her thoughts, and her thoughts went to
+melody; for, as she worked, she sang,--
+
+                    "Will you have a pink knot?
+                      Is it blue you prize?
+                    One is like a fresh rose,
+                      One is like your eyes.
+                    No, the maid of Holland,
+                      For her own true love,
+                    Ties the splendid orange,
+                      Orange still above!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                      Orange still above.
+
+                    "Will you have the white knot?
+                      No, it is too cold.
+                    Give me splendid orange,
+                      Tint of flame and gold;
+                    Rich and glowing orange,
+                      For the heart I love;
+                    _Under_, white and pink and blue;
+                      Orange still _above_!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                      Orange still above!"
+
+"How merry you sing, _mijn Katrijntje_! Like a little bird you sing.
+What, then, is it?"
+
+"A pretty song made by the schoolmaster, _mijn moeder. 'Oranje Boven'_
+the name is."
+
+"That is a good name. Your father I will remind to have it painted over
+the door of the summer-house."
+
+"There already are two mottoes painted,--Peaceful is my garden,' and
+'Contentment is my lot.'"
+
+"Well, then, there is always room for two more good words, is there
+not?" And Katherine gayly sung her answer,--
+
+                    "Tie the splendid orange,
+                    Orange still above!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                    Orange still above."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+                "_The trifles of our daily lives,
+                The common things scarce worth recall,
+                Whereof no visible trace survives,--
+                These are the mainsprings, after all._"
+
+
+"Honoured gentleman, when will you pay me my money?"
+
+The speaker was an old man, dressed in a black coat buttoned to the
+ankles, and a cap of silk and fur, from beneath which fell a fringe of
+gray hair. His long beard was also gray, and he leaned upon an ivory
+staff carved with many strange signs. The inquiry was addressed to
+Captain Hyde. He paid no attention whatever to it, but, gayly humming a
+stave of "Marlbrook," watched the crush of wagons and pedestrians, in
+order to find a suitable moment to cross the narrow street.
+
+"Honoured gentleman, when will you pay me my moneys?"
+
+The second inquiry elicited still less attention for, just as it was
+made, Neil Semple came out of the City Hall, and his appearance gave the
+captain a good excuse for ignoring the unpleasant speaker.
+
+"Faith, Mr. Semple," he cried, "you came in an excellent time. I am for
+Fraunce's Tavern, and a chop and a bottle of Madeira. I shall be vastly
+glad of your company."
+
+The grave young lawyer, with his hands full of troublesome-looking
+papers, had little of the air of a boon companion; and, indeed, the
+invitation was at once courteously declined.
+
+"I have a case on in the Admiralty Court, Captain," he answered, "and so
+my time is not my own. It belongs, I may say, to the man who has paid me
+good money for it."
+
+"Lawyer Semple?"
+
+"Mr. Cohen, at your service, sir."
+
+"Captain Hyde owes me one hundred guineas, with the interests, since the
+fifteenth day of last December. He will not hear me when I say to him,
+'Pay me my moneys;' perhaps he will listen, if you speak for me."
+
+"If you are asking my advice in the way of business, you know my
+office-door, Cohen; if in the way of friendship, I may as well say at
+once, that I never name friendship and money in the same breath.
+Good-day, gentlemen. I am in something of a hurry, as you may
+understand." Cohen bowed low in response to the civil greeting; Captain
+Hyde stared indignantly at the man who had presumed to couple one of
+his Majesty's officers with a money-lender and a Jew.
+
+"I do not wish to make you more expenses, Captain;" and Cohen, following
+the impulse of his anxiety, laid his hand upon his debtor's arm. Hyde
+turned in a rage, and flung off the touch with a passionate oath. Then
+the Jew left him. There was neither anger nor impatience visible in his
+face or movements. He cast a glance up at the City Hall,--an involuntary
+appeal, perhaps, to the justice supposed to inhabit its chambers,--and
+then he walked slowly toward his store and home.
+
+[Illustration: Hyde flung off the touch with a passionate oath]
+
+Both were under one roof,--a two-storied building in the lower part of
+Pearl Street, dingy and unattractive in outward appearance, but crowded
+in its interior with articles of beauty and worth,--Flemish paintings
+and rich metal work, Venetian glasses and velvets, Spanish and Moorish
+leather goods, silverware, watches, jewellery, etc. The window of the
+large room in which all was stored was dim with cobwebs, and there was
+no arrangement of the treasures. They were laid in the drawers of the
+great Dutch presses and in cabinets, or packed in boxes, or hung against
+the walls.
+
+At the back of the store, there was a small sitting-room, and behind it
+a kitchen, built in a yard which was carefully boarded up. A narrow
+stairway near the front of the store led to the apartments above. They
+were three in number. One was a kind of lumber-room; a second, Cohen's
+sleeping-room; and the largest, at the back of the house, belonged to
+the Jew's grandchild Miriam. There was one servant in the family, an old
+woman who had come to America with Jacob. She spoke little English, and
+she lived in complete seclusion in her kitchen and yard. As far as Jacob
+Cohen was concerned, he preserved an Oriental reticence about the women
+of his household; he never spoke of them, and he was never seen in their
+company. It was seldom they went abroad; when they did so, it was early
+in the morning, and usually to the small synagogue in Mill Street.
+
+He soon recovered the calmness which had been lost during his
+unsatisfactory interview with Captain Hyde. "A wise man frets not
+himself for the folly of a fool;" and, having come to this decision, he
+entered his house with the invocation for its peace and prosperity on
+his lips. A party of three gentlemen were examining his stock: they were
+Governor Clinton and his friends Colden and Belcher.
+
+"Cohen," said Clinton, "you have many fine things here; in particular,
+this Dutch cabinet, with heavy brass mountings. Send it to my residence.
+And that Venetian mirror with the silver frame will match the silver
+sconces you sold me at the New Year. I do not pretend to be a judge, but
+these things are surely extremely handsome. Pray, sir, let us see the
+Moorish leather that William Walton has reserved for his new house. I
+hear you are to have the ordering of the carpets and tapestries. You
+will make money, Jacob Cohen."
+
+"Your Excellency knows best. I shall make my just profits,--no more, no
+more."
+
+"Yes, yes; you have many ways to make profits, I hear. All do well,
+too."
+
+"When God pleases, it rains with every wind, your Excellency."
+
+Then there was a little stir in the street,--that peculiar sense of
+something more than usual, which can make itself felt in the busiest
+thoroughfare,--and Golden went to the door and looked out. Joris Van
+Heemskirk was just passing, and his walk was something quicker than
+usual.
+
+"Good-day to you, Councillor. Pray, sir, what is to do at the wharf? I
+perceive a great bustle comes thence."
+
+"At your service, Councillor Golden. At the wharf there is good news.
+The 'Great Christopher' has come to anchor,--Captain Batavius de Vries.
+So a good-morrow, sir;" and Joris lifted his beaver, and proceeded on
+his way to Murray's Wharf.
+
+[Illustration: Batavius stood at the mainmast]
+
+Bram was already on board. His hands were clasped across the big right
+shoulder of Batavius, who stood at the mainmast, giving orders about his
+cargo. He was a large man, with the indisputable air of a sailor from
+strange seas, familiar with the idea of solitude, and used to absolute
+authority. He loved Bram after his own fashion, but his vocabulary of
+affectionate words was not a large one. Bram, however, understood him;
+he had been quite satisfied with his short and undemonstrative
+greeting,--
+
+"Thee, Bram? Good! How goes it?"
+
+The advent of Joris added a little to the enthusiasm of the meeting.
+Joris thoroughly liked Batavius, and their hands slipped into each
+other's with a mighty grasp almost spontaneously. After some necessary
+delay, the three men left the ship together. There was quite a crowd on
+the wharf. Some were attracted by curiosity; others, by the hope of a
+good job on the cargo; others, again, not averse to a little private
+bargaining for any curious or valuable goods the captain of the "Great
+Christopher" had for sale. Cohen was among the latter; but he had too
+much intelligence to interfere with a family party, especially as he
+heard Joris say to the crowd with a polite authority, "Make way,
+friends, make way. When a man is off a three-years' cruise, for a trifle
+he should not be stopped."
+
+Joanna had had a message from her lover, and she was watching for his
+arrival. There was no secrecy in her love-affairs, and it was amid the
+joy and smiles of the whole household that she met her affianced
+husband. They were one of those loving, sensible couples, for whom it is
+natural to predict a placid and happy life; and the first words of
+Batavius seemed to assure it.
+
+"My affairs have gone well, Joanna, as they generally do; and now I
+shall build the house, and we shall be married."
+
+Joanna laughed. "I shall just say a word or two, also, about that,
+Batavius."
+
+"Come, come, the word or two was said so long ago. Have you got the
+pretty Chinese _kas_ I sent from the ship? and the Javanese _cabaya_,
+and the sweetmeats, and the golden pins?"
+
+"All of them I have got. Much money, Batavius, they must have cost."
+
+"Well, well, then! There is enough left. A man does not go to the
+African coast for nothing. _Katrijntje, mijn meisje_, what's the matter
+now, that you never come once?"
+
+Katherine was standing at the open window, apparently watching the
+honey-bees among the locust blooms, but really perceiving something far
+beyond them,--a boat on the river at the end of the garden. She could
+not have told how she knew that it was there; but she saw it, saw it
+through the intervening space, barred and shaded by many trees. She felt
+the slow drift of the resting oars, and the fascination of an eager,
+handsome face lifted to the lilac-bushes which hedged the bank. So the
+question of Batavius touched very lightly her physical consciousness. A
+far sweeter, a far more peremptory voice called her; but she answered,--
+
+"There is nothing the matter, Batavius. I am well, I am happy. And now I
+will go into the garden to make me a fine nosegay."
+
+"Three times this week, into the garden you have gone to get a nosegay;
+and then all about it you forget. It will be better to listen to
+Batavius, I think. He will tell us of the strange countries where he has
+been, and of the strange men and women."
+
+"For you, Joanna, that will be pleasant; but"--
+
+"For you also. To listen to Batavius is to learn something."
+
+"Well, that is the truth. But to me all this talk is not very
+interesting. I will go into the garden;" and she walked slowly out of
+the door, and stopped or stooped at every flower-bed, while Joanna
+watched her.
+
+"The child is now a woman. It will be a lover next, Joanna."
+
+"There is a lover already; but to anything he says, Katrijntje listens
+not. It is at her father's knee she sits, not at the lover's."
+
+"It will be Rem Verplanck? And what will come of it?"
+
+"No, it is Neil Semple. To-night you will see. He comes in and talks of
+the Assembly and the governor, and of many things of great moment. But
+it is Katherine for all that. A girl has not been in love four years for
+nothing. I can see, too, that my father looks sad, and my mother says
+neither yes nor no in the matter."
+
+"The Semples are good business managers. They are also rich, and they
+approve of good morals and the true religion. Be content, Joanna. Many
+roads lead to happiness beside the road we take. Now, let us talk of our
+own affairs."
+
+It was at this moment that Katherine turned to observe if she were
+watched. No: Batavius and Joanna had gone away from the window, and for
+a little while she would not be missed. She ran rapidly to the end of
+the garden, and, parting the lilac-bushes, stood flushed and panting on
+the river-bank. There was a stir of oars below her. It was precisely as
+she had known it would be. Captain Hyde's pretty craft shot into sight,
+and a few strokes put it at the landing-stair. In a moment he was at her
+side. He took her in his arms; and, in spite of the small hands covering
+her blushing face, he kissed her with passionate affection.
+
+[Illustration: He took her in his arms]
+
+"My darling, my charmer," he said, "how you have tortured me! By my
+soul, I have been almost distracted. Pray, now let me see thy lovely
+face." He lifted it in his hands and kissed it again,--kissed the rosy
+cheeks, and white dropped eyelids, and red smiling mouth; vowed with
+every kiss that she was the most adorable of women, and protested, "on
+his honour as a soldier," that he would make her his wife, or die a
+bachelor for her sake.
+
+And who can blame a young girl if she listens and believes, when
+listening and believing mean to her perfect happiness? Not women who
+have ever stood, trembling with love and joy, close to the dear one's
+heart. If they be gray-haired, and on the very shoal of life, they must
+remember still those moments of delight,--the little lane, the fire-lit
+room, the drifting boat, that is linked with them. If they be young and
+lovely, and have but to say, "It was yesterday," or, "It was last week,"
+still better they will understand the temptation that was too great for
+Katherine to overcome.
+
+And, as yet, nothing definite had been said to her about Neil Semple,
+and the arrangement made for her future. Joris had intended every day to
+tell her, and every day his heart had failed him. He felt as if the
+entire acceptance of the position would be giving his little daughter
+away. As long as she was not formally betrothed, she was all his own;
+and Neil could not use that objectionable word "my" in regard to her.
+Lysbet was still more averse to a decisive step. She had had "dreams"
+and "presentiments" of unusual honour for Katherine, which she kept with
+a superstitious reverence in her memory; and the girl's great beauty and
+winning manners had fed this latent expectancy. But to see her the wife
+of Neil Semple did not seem to be any realization of her ambitious
+hopes. She had known Neil all his life; and she could not help feeling,
+that, if Katherine's fortune lay with him, her loving dreams were all
+illusions and doomed to disappointment.
+
+Besides, with a natural contradiction, she was a little angry at Neil's
+behaviour. He had been coming to their house constantly for a month at
+least; every opportunity of speaking to Katherine on his own behalf had
+been given him, and he had not spoken. He was too indifferent, or he was
+too confident; and either feeling she resented. But she judged Neil
+wrongly. He was an exceedingly cautious young man; and he _felt_ what
+the mother could not perceive,--a certain atmosphere about the charming
+girl which was a continual repression to him. In the end, he determined
+to win her, win her entirely, heart and hand; therefore he did not wish
+to embarrass his subsequent wooing by having to surmount at the outset
+the barrier of a premature "no." And, as yet, his jealousy of Captain
+Hyde was superficial and intermitting; it had not entered his mind that
+an English officer could possibly be an actual rival to him. They were
+all of them notoriously light of love, and the Colonial beauties treated
+their homage with as light a belief; only it angered and pained him that
+Katherine should suffer herself to be made the pastime of Hyde's idle
+hours.
+
+On the night of De Vries' return, there was a great gathering at Van
+Heemskirk's house. No formal invitations were given, but all the friends
+of the family understood that it would be so. Joris kept on his coat and
+ruffles and fine cravat, Batavius wore his blue broadcloth and gilt
+buttons, and Lysbet and her daughters were in their kirk dresses of silk
+and camblet. It was an exquisite summer evening, and the windows
+looking into the garden were all open; so also was the door; and long
+before sunset the stoop was full of neighbourly men, smoking with Joris
+and Batavius, and discussing Colonial and commercial affairs.
+
+In the living-room and the best parlour their wives were
+gathered,--women with finely rounded forms, very handsomely clothed, and
+all busily employed in the discussion of subjects of the greatest
+interest to them. For Joanna's marriage was now to be freely talked
+over,--the house Batavius was going to build described, the linen and
+clothing she had prepared examined, and the numerous and rich presents
+her lover had brought her wondered over, and commented upon.
+
+Conspicuous in the happy chattering company, Lysbet Van Heemskirk
+bustled about, in the very whitest and stiffest of lace caps; making a
+suggestion, giving an opinion, scolding a careless servant, putting out
+upon the sideboard Hollands, Geneva, and other strong waters, and
+ordering in from the kitchen hot chocolate and cakes of all kinds for
+the women of the company. Very soon after sundown, Elder Semple and
+madam his wife arrived; and the elder, as usual, made a decided stir
+among the group which he joined.
+
+"No, no, Councillor," he said, in answer to the invitation of Joris to
+come outside. "No, no, I'll not risk my health, maybe my vera life, oot
+on the stoop after sunset. 'Warm,' do you say? Vera warm, and all the
+waur for being warm. My medical man thinks I hae a tendency to fever,
+and there's four-fourths o' fever in every inch o' river mist that a
+man breathes these warm nights."
+
+"Well, then, neighbours, we'll go inside," said Joris. "Clean pipes, and
+a snowball, or a glass of Holland, will not, I think, be amiss."
+
+The movement was made among some jokes and laughter; and they gathered
+near the hearthstone, where, in front of the unlit hickory logs, stood a
+tall blue jar filled with feathery branches of fennel and asparagus.
+But, as the jar of Virginia was passed round, Lysbet looked at Dinorah,
+and Dinorah went to the door and called, "Baltus;" and in a minute or
+two a little black boy entered with some hot coals on a brass
+chafing-dish, and the fire was as solemnly and silently passed round as
+if it were some occult religious ceremony.
+
+The conversation interrupted by Semples entrance was not resumed.
+
+[Illustration: A little black boy entered]
+
+It had been one dealing out unsparing and scornful disapproval of
+Governor Clinton's financial methods, and Clinton was known to be a
+personal friend of Semple's. But the elder would perhaps hardly have
+appreciated the consideration, if he had divined it; for he dearly loved
+an argument, and had no objections to fight for his own side
+single-handed. In fact, it was so natural for him to be "in opposition,"
+that he could not bear to join the general congratulation to De Vries on
+his fortunate voyage.
+
+"You were lang awa', Captain," was his opening speech. "It would tak' a
+deal o' gude fortune to mak' it worth your while to knock around the
+high seas for three years or mair."
+
+"Well, look now, Elder, I didn't come home with empty hands. I have
+always been apt to get into the place where gold and good bargains were
+going."
+
+"Hum-m-m! You sailed for Rotterdam, I think?"
+
+"That is true; from Rotterdam I went to Batavia, and then to the coast
+of Africa. The African cargo took me to the West Indies. From Kingston
+it was easy to St. Thomas and Surinam for cotton, and then to Cura�oa
+for dyeing-woods and spices. The 'Great Christopher' took luck with her.
+Every cargo was a good cargo."
+
+"I'll no be certain o' that, Captain. I would hae some scruples mysel'
+anent buying and selling men and women o' any colour. We hae no
+quotations from the other world, and it may be the Almighty holds his
+black men at as high a figure as his white men. I'm just speculating,
+you ken. I hae a son--my third son, Alexander Semple, o' Boston--wha has
+made money on the Africans. I hae told him, likewise, that trading in
+wheat and trading in humanity may hae ethical differences; but every one
+settles his ain bill, and I'll hae enough to do to secure mysel'."
+
+Batavius was puzzled; and at the words "ethical differences," his big
+brown hand was "in the hair" at once. He scratched his head and looked
+doubtfully at Semple, whose face was peculiarly placid and thoughtful
+and kindly.
+
+"Men must work, Elder, and these blacks won't work unless they are
+forced to. I, who am a baptized Christian, have to do my duty in this
+life; and, as for pagans, they must be made to do it. I am myself a
+great lover of morality, and that is what I think. Also, you may read in
+the Scriptures, that St. Paul says that if a man will not work, neither
+shall he eat."
+
+"St. Paul dootless kent a' about the question o' forced labour, seeing
+that he lived when baith white and black men were sold for a price.
+However, siller in the hand answers a' questions and the dominie made a
+vera true observe one Sabbath, when he said that the Almighty so ordered
+things in this warld that orthodoxy and good living led to wealth and
+prosperity."
+
+"That is the truth," answered Justice Van Gaasbeeck; "Holland is Holland
+because she has the true faith. You may see that in France there is
+anarchy and bloodshed and great poverty; that is because they are Roman
+Catholics."
+
+It was at this moment that Katherine came and stood behind her father's
+chair. She let her hand fall down over his shoulder, and he raised his
+own to clasp it. "What is it, then, _mijn Katrijntje kleintje_?"
+
+"It is to dance. Mother says 'yes' if thou art willing."
+
+"Then I say 'yes,' also."
+
+For a moment she laid her cheek against his; and the happy tears came
+into his eyes, and he stroked her face, and half-reluctantly let
+Batavius lead her away. For, at the first mention of a dance, Batavius
+had risen and put down his pipe; and in a few minutes he was
+triumphantly guiding Joanna in a kind of mazy waltzing movement, full of
+spirit and grace.
+
+At that day there were but few families of any wealth who did not own
+one black man who could play well upon the violin. Joris possessed two;
+and they were both on hand, putting their own gay spirits into the
+fiddle and the bow. And oh, how happy were the beating feet and the
+beating hearts that went to the stirring strains! It was joy and love
+and youth in melodious motion. The old looked on with gleaming,
+sympathetic eyes; the young forgot that they were mortal.
+
+Then there was a short pause; and the ladies sipped chocolate, and the
+gentlemen sipped something a little stronger, and a merry ripple of
+conversation and of hearty laughter ran with the clink of glass and
+china, and the scraping of the fiddle-bows.
+
+"Miss Katern Van Heemskirk and Mr. Neil Semple will now hab de honour of
+'bliging de company wid de French minuet."
+
+At this announcement, made by the first negro violin, there was a sudden
+silence; and Neil rose, and with a low bow offered the tips of his
+fingers to the beautiful girl, who rose blushing to take them. The elder
+deliberately turned his chair around, in order to watch the movement
+comfortably; and there was an inexpressible smile of satisfaction on his
+face as his eyes followed the young people. Neil's dark, stately beauty
+was well set off by his black velvet suit and powdered hair and gold
+buckles. And no lovelier contrast could have faced him than Katherine
+Van Heemskirk; so delicately fresh, so radiantly fair, she looked in her
+light-blue robe and white lace stomacher, with a pink rose at her
+breast. There were shining amber beads around her white throat, and a
+large amber comb fastened her pale brown hair. A gilded Indian fan was
+in her hand, and she used it with all the pretty airs she had so aptly
+copied from Mrs. Gordon.
+
+Neil had a natural majesty in his carriage; Katherine supplemented it
+with a natural grace, and with certain courtly movements which made the
+little Dutch girls, who had never seen Mrs. Gordon practising them,
+admire and wonder. As she was in the very act of making Neil a profound
+courtesy, the door opened, and Mrs. Gordon and Captain Hyde entered. The
+latter took in the exquisite picture in a moment; and there was a fire
+of jealousy in his heart when he saw Neil lead his partner to her seat,
+and with the deepest respect kiss her pretty fingers ere he resigned
+them.
+
+But he was compelled to control himself, as he was ceremoniously
+introduced to Councillor and Madam Van Heemskirk by his aunt, who, with
+a charming effusiveness, declared "she was very uneasy to intrude so
+far; but, in faith, Councillor," she pleaded, "I am but a woman, and I
+find the news of a wedding beyond my nature to resist."
+
+There was something so frank and persuasive about the elegant stranger,
+that Joris could not refuse the courtesy she asked for herself and her
+nephew. And, having yielded, he yielded with entire truth and
+confidence. He gave his hand to his visitors, and made them heartily
+welcome to join in his household rejoicing. True, Mrs. Gordon's
+persuasive words were ably seconded by causes which she had probably
+calculated. The elder and Madam Semple were present, and it would have
+been impossible for Joris to treat their friends rudely. Bram was also
+another conciliating element, for Captain Hyde was on pleasant speaking
+terms with him; and, as yet, even Neil's relations were at least those
+of presumed friendship. Also, the Van Gaasbeeks and others present were
+well inclined to make the acquaintance of a woman so agreeable, and an
+officer so exceptionally handsome and genteel. Besides which, Joris was
+himself in a happy and genial mood; he had opened his house and his
+heart to his friends; and he did not feel at that hour as if he could
+doubt any human being, or close his door against even the stranger and
+the alien who wished to rejoice with him.
+
+Elder Semple was greatly pleased at his friend's complaisance. He gave
+Joris full credit for his victory over his national prejudices, and he
+did his very best to make the concession a pleasant event. In this
+effort, he was greatly assisted by Mrs. Gordon; she set herself to
+charm Van Heemskirk, as she had set herself to charm Madam Van Heemskirk
+on her previous visit; and she succeeded so well, that, when "Sir Roger
+de Coverley" was called, Joris rose, offered her his hand, and, to the
+delight of every one present, led the dance with her.
+
+It was a little triumph for the elder; and he sat smiling, and twirling
+his fingers, and thoroughly enjoying the event. Indeed, he was so
+interested in listening to the clever way in which "the bonnie woman
+flattered Van Heemskirk," that he was quite oblivious of the gathering
+wrath in his son's face, and the watchful gloom in Bram's eyes, as the
+two men stood together, jealously observant of Captain Hyde's attentions
+to Katherine. Without any words spoken on the subject, there was an
+understood compact between them to guard the girl from any private
+conversation with him; and yet two men with hearts full of suspicion and
+jealousy were not a match for one man with a heart full of love. In a
+moment, in the interchange of their hands in a dance, Katherine clasped
+tightly a little note, and unobserved hid it behind the rose at her
+breast.
+
+But nothing is a wonder in love, or else it would have been amazing that
+Joanna did not notice the rose absent from her sister's dress after
+Captain Hyde's departure; nor yet that Katherine, ere she went to rest
+that night, kissed fervently a tiny bit of paper which she hid within
+the silver clasps of her Kirk Bible. The loving girl thought it no wrong
+to put it there; she even hoped that some kind of blessing or sanction
+might come through such sacred keeping; and she went to sleep
+whispering to herself,--"_Happy I am. Me he loves; me he loves; me only
+he loves; me forever he loves_!"
+
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+
+"_All pleasure must be bought at the price of pain. The true pay the
+price before they enjoy it; the false, after they enjoy it_."
+
+"My dear Dick, I am exceedingly concerned to find you in such a
+taking,--a soldier who has known some of the finest women of the day,
+moping about a Dutch school-girl! Pshaw! Don't be a fool! I had a much
+better opinion of you."
+
+"'Tis a kind of folly that runs in the family, aunt. I have heard that
+you preferred Colonel Gordon to a duke."
+
+"Now, sir, you are ill-natured. Dukes are not uncommon: a man of sense
+and sensibility is a treasure. Make me grateful that I secured one."
+
+"Lend me your wit, then, for the same consummation. I assure you that I
+consider Katherine Van Heemskirk a treasure past belief. Confess, now,
+that she was the loveliest of creatures last night."
+
+"She has truly a fine complexion, and she dances with all the elegance
+imaginable. I know, too, that she sings to perfection, and has most
+agreeable and obliging manners."
+
+"And a heart which abounds in every tender feeling."
+
+"Oh, indeed, sir! I was not aware that you knew her so well."
+
+"I know that I love her beyond everything, and that I am likely so to
+love her all my life."
+
+"Upon my word, Dick, love may live an age--if you don't marry it."
+
+"Let me make you understand that I wish to marry it."
+
+"Oh, indeed, sir! Then the church door stands open. Go in. I suppose the
+lady will oblige you so far."
+
+"Pray, my dear aunt, talk sensibly. Give me your advice; you know
+already that I value it. What is the first step to be taken?"
+
+"Go and talk with her father. I assure you, no real progress can be made
+without it. The girl you think worth asking for; but it is very
+necessary for you to know what fortune goes with her beauty."
+
+"If her father refuse to give her to me"--
+
+"That is not to be thought of. I have seen that some of the best of
+these Dutch families are very willing to be friendly with us. You come
+of a noble race. You wear your sword with honour. You are not far from
+the heritage of a great title and estate. If you ask for her fortune,
+you offer far above its equivalent, sir."
+
+"I have heard Mr. Neil Semple say that Van Heemskirk is a great stickler
+for trade, and that he hates every man who wears a sword."
+
+"You have heard more than you need listen to. I talked to the man an
+hour last night. He is as honest as a looking-glass, and I read him all
+through with the greatest ease. I am sure that he has a heart very
+tender, and devoid of anger or prejudice of any kind."
+
+"That is to be seen. I have discovered already that men who can be very
+gentle can also be very rough. But this suspense is intolerable, and not
+to be borne. I will go and end it. Pray, what is the hour?"
+
+"It is about three o'clock; a very suitable hour, I think."
+
+"Then give me your good wishes."
+
+"I shall be impatient to hear the result."
+
+"In an hour or two."
+
+"Oh, sir, I am not so foolish as to expect you in an hour or two! When
+you have spoken with the father, you will doubtless go home with him and
+drink a dish of tea with your divinity. I can imagine your unreasonable
+felicity, Dick,--seas of milk, and ships of amber, and all sails set for
+the desired haven! I know it all, so I hope you will spare me every
+detail,--except, indeed, such as relate to pounds, shillings, and
+pence."
+
+It was a very hot afternoon; and Van Heemskirk's store, though open to
+the river-breezes, was not by any means a cool or pleasant place. Bram
+was just within the doors, marking "Boston" on a number of
+flour-barrels, which were being rapidly transferred to a vessel lying at
+the wharf. He was absorbed and hurried in the matter, and received the
+visitor with rather a cool courtesy; but whether the coolness was of
+intention or preoccupation, Captain Hyde did not perceive it. He asked
+for Councillor Van Heemskirk, and was taken to his office, a small room,
+intensely warm and sunny at that hour of the day.
+
+"Your servant, Captain."
+
+"Yours, most sincerely, Councillor. It is a hot day."
+
+"That is so. We come near to midsummer. Is there anything I can oblige
+you in, sir?"
+
+Joris asked the question because the manner of the young man struck him
+as uneasy and constrained; and he thought, "Perhaps he has come to
+borrow money." It was notorious that his Majesty's officers gambled, and
+were often in very great need of it; and, although Joris had not any
+intention of risking his gold, he thought it as well to bring out the
+question, and have the refusal understood before unnecessary politeness
+made it more difficult. He was not, therefore, astonished when Captain
+Hyde answered,--
+
+"Sir, you can indeed oblige me, and that in a matter of the greatest
+moment."
+
+"If money it be, Captain, at once I may tell you, that I borrow not, and
+I lend not."
+
+"Sir, it is not money--in particular."
+
+"So?"
+
+"It is your daughter Katherine."
+
+Then Joris stood up, and looked steadily at the suitor. His large,
+amiable face had become in a moment hard and stern; and the light in his
+eyes was like the cold, sharp light that falls from drawn steel.
+
+"My daughter is not for you to name. Sir, it is a wrong to her, if you
+speak her name."
+
+"By my honour, it is not! Though I come of as good family as any in
+England, and may not unreasonably hope to inherit its earldom, I do
+assure you, sir, I sue as humbly for your daughter's hand as if she were
+a princess."
+
+"Your family! Talk not of it. King nor kaiser do I count better men than
+my own fore-goers. Like to like, that is what I say. Your wife seek,
+Captain, among your own women."
+
+"I protest that I love your daughter. I wish above all things to make
+her my wife."
+
+"Many things men desire, that they come not near to. My daughter is to
+another man promised."
+
+"Look you, Councillor, that would be monstrous. Your daughter loves me."
+
+Joris turned white to the lips. "It is not the truth," he answered in a
+slow, husky voice.
+
+"By the sun in heaven, it is the truth! Ask her."
+
+"Then a great scoundrel are you, unfit with honest men to talk. Ho! Yes,
+your sword pull from its scabbard. Strike. To the heart strike me. Less
+wicked would be the deed than the thing you have done."
+
+"In faith, sir, 'tis no crime to win a woman's love."
+
+"No crime it would be to take the guilders from my purse, if my consent
+was to it. But into my house to come, and while warm was yet my welcome,
+with my bread and wine in your lips, to take my gold, a shame and a
+crime would be. My daughter than gold is far more precious."
+
+There was something very impressive in the angry sorrow of Joris. It
+partook of his own magnitude. Standing in front of him, it was
+impossible for Captain Hyde not to be sensible of the difference between
+his own slight, nervous frame, and the fair, strong massiveness of Van
+Heemskirk; and, in a dim way, he comprehended that this physical
+difference was only the outward and visible sign of a mental and moral
+one quite as positive and unchangeable.
+
+Yet he persevered in his solicitation. With a slight impatience of
+manner he said, "Do but hear me, sir. I have done nothing contrary to
+the custom of people in my condition, and I assure you that with all my
+soul I love your daughter."
+
+"Love! So talk you. You see a girl beautiful, sweet, and innocent. Your
+heart, greedy and covetous, wants her as it has wanted, doubtless, many
+others. For yourself only you seek her. And what is it you ask then!
+That _she_ should give up for you her father, mother, home, her own
+faith, her own people, her own country,--the poor little one!--for a
+cold, cheerless land among strangers, alone in the sorrows and pains
+that to all women come. Love! In God's name, what know you of love?"
+
+"No man can love her better."
+
+"What say you? How, then, do I love her? I who carried her--_mijn witte
+lammetje_--in these arms before yet she could say to me, 'Fader'!" His
+wrath had been steadily growing, in spite of the mist in his eyes and
+the tenderness in his voice; and suddenly striking the desk a ponderous
+blow with his closed hand, he said with an unmistakable passion, "My
+daughter you shall not have. God in heaven to himself take her ere such
+sorrow come to her and me!"
+
+[Illustration: "Sir, you are very uncivil"]
+
+"Sir, you are very uncivil; but I am thankful to know so much of your
+mind. And, to be plain with you, I am determined to marry your daughter
+if I can compass the matter in any way. It is now, then, open war
+between us; and so, sir, your servant."
+
+"Stay. To me listen. Not one guilder will I give to my daughter, if"--
+
+"To the devil with your guilders! Dirty money made in dirty traffic"--
+
+"You lie!"
+
+"Sir, you take an infamous advantage. You know, that, being Katherine's
+father, I will not challenge you."
+
+"_Christus!_!" roared Joris, "challenge me one hundred times. A fool I
+would be to answer you. Life my God gave to me. Well, then, only my God
+shall from me take it. See you these arms and hands? In them you will be
+as the child of one year. Ere beyond my reason you move me, _go_!" and
+he strode to the door and flung it open with a passion that made every
+one in the store straighten themselves, and look curiously toward the
+two men.
+
+White with rage, and with his hand upon his sword-hilt, Captain Hyde
+stamped his way through the crowded store to the dusty street. Then it
+struck him that he had not asked the name of the man to whom Katharine
+was promised. He swore at himself for the omission. Whether he knew him
+or not, he was determined to fight him. In the meantime, the most
+practical revenge was to try and see Katherine before her father had the
+opportunity to give her any orders regarding him. Just then he met Neil
+Semple, and he stopped and asked him the time.
+
+"It will be the half hour after four, Captain. I am going home; shall I
+have your company, sir?"
+
+"I have not much leisure to-night. Make a thousand regrets to Madam
+Semple and my aunt for me."
+
+Neil's calm, complacent gravity was unendurable. He turned from him
+abruptly, and, muttering passionate exclamations, went to the river-bank
+for a boat. Often he had seen Katherine between five and six o'clock at
+the foot of the Van Heemskirk garden; for it was then possible for her
+to slip away while madam was busy about her house, and Joanna and
+Batavius talking over their own affairs. And this evening he felt that
+the very intensity of his desire must surely bring her to their
+trysting-place behind the lilac hedge.
+
+Whether he was right or wrong, he did not consider; for he was not one
+of those potent men who have themselves in their own power. Nor had it
+ever entered his mind that "love's strength standeth in love's
+sacrifice," or that the only love worthy of the name refuses to blend
+with anything that is low or vindictive or clandestine. And, even if he
+had not loved Katherine, he would now have been determined to marry her.
+Never before in all his life had he found an object so engrossing. Pride
+and revenge were added to love, as motives; but who will say that love
+was purer or stronger or sweeter for them?
+
+In the meantime Joris was suffering as only such deep natures can
+suffer. There are domestic fatalities which the wisest and tenderest of
+parents seem impotent to contend with. Joris had certainly been alarmed
+by Semple's warning; but in forbidding his daughter to visit Mrs.
+Gordon, and in permitting the suit of Neil Semple, he thought he had
+assured her safety. Through all the past weeks, he had seen no shadow on
+her face. The fear had died out, and the hope had been slowly growing;
+so that Captain Hyde's proposal, and his positive assertion that
+Katherine loved him, had fallen upon the father's heart with the force
+of a blow, and the terror of a shock. And the sting of the sorrow was
+this,--that his child had deceived him. Certainly she had not spoken
+false words, but truth can be outraged by silence quite as cruelly as by
+speech.
+
+After Hyde's departure, he shut the door of his office, walked to the
+window, and stood there some minutes, clasping and unclasping his large
+hands, like a man full of grief and perplexity. Ere long he remembered
+his friend Semple. This trouble concerned him also, for Captain Hyde was
+in a manner his guest; and, if he were informed of the marriage arranged
+between Katherine and Neil Semple, he would doubtless feel himself bound
+in honour to retire. Elder Semple had opened his house to Colonel
+Gordon, his wife and nephew. For months they had lived in comfort under
+his roof, and been made heartily welcome to the best of all he
+possessed. Joris put himself in Hyde's place; and he was certain, that,
+under the same circumstances, he would feel it disgraceful to interfere
+with the love-affairs of his host's son.
+
+He found Semple with his hat in his hand, giving his last orders before
+leaving business for the day; but when Joris said, "There is trouble,
+and your advice I want," he returned with him to the back of the store,
+where, through half-opened shutters, the sunshine and the river-breeze
+stole into an atmosphere laden with the aromas of tea and coffee and
+West Indian produce.
+
+In a few short, strong sentences, Joris put the case before Semple. The
+latter stroked his right knee thoughtfully, and listened. But his first
+words were not very comforting: "I must say, that it is maistly your own
+fault, Joris. You hae given Neil but a half welcome, and you should hae
+made a' things plain and positive to Katherine. Such skimble-skamble,
+yea and nay kind o' ways willna do wi' women. Why didna you say to her,
+out and out, 'I hae promised you to Neil Semple, my lassie. He'll mak'
+you the best o' husbands; you'll marry him at the New Year, and you'll
+get gold and plenishing and a' things suitable'?"
+
+"So young she is yet, Elder."
+
+"She has been o'er auld for you, Joris. Young! My certie! When girls are
+auld enough for a lover, they are a match for any gray head. I'm a
+thankfu' man that I wasna put in charge o' any o' them. You and your
+household will hae to keep your e'en weel open, or there will be a
+wedding to which nane o' us will get an invite. But there is little
+good in mair words. Hame is the place we are baith needed in. I shall
+hae to speak my mind to Neil, and likewise to Colonel Gordon; and you
+canna put off your duty to your daughter an hour longer. Dear me! To
+think, Joris, o' a man being able to sit wi' the councillors o' the
+nation, and yet no match for a lassie o' seventeen!"
+
+There are men who can talk their troubles away: Joris was not one of
+them. He was silent when in sorrow or perplexity; silent, and ever
+looking around for something to _do_ in the matter. As they walked
+homewards, the elder talked, and Joris pondered, not what was said, but
+the thoughts and purposes that were slowly forming in his own mind. He
+was later than usual, and the tea and the cakes had passed their prime
+condition; but, when Lysbet saw the trouble in his eyes, she thought
+them not worth mentioning. Joanna and Batavius were discussing their new
+house then building on the East River bank, and they had forgotten all
+else. But Katherine fretted about her father's delay, and it was at her
+Joris first looked. The veil had now been taken from his eyes; and he
+noticed her pretty dress, her restless glances at the clock, her
+ill-concealed impatience at the slow movement of the evening meal.
+
+When it was over, Joanna and Batavius went out to walk, and Madame Van
+Heemskirk rose to put away her silver and china. "So warm as it is!"
+said Katherine. "Into the garden I am going, mother."
+
+"Well, then, there are currants to pull. The dish take with you."
+
+Joris rose then, and laying his hand on Katherine's shoulder said,
+"There is something to talk about. Sit down, Lysbet; the door shut
+close, and listen to me."
+
+It was impossible to mistake the stern purpose on her husband's face,
+and Lysbet silently obeyed the order.
+
+"Katherine, Katrijntje, _mijn kind_, this afternoon there comes to the
+store the young man, Captain Hyde. To thy father he said many ill words.
+To him thou shalt never speak again. Thy promise give to me."
+
+She sat silent, with dropped eyes, and cheeks as red as the pomegranate
+flower at her breast.
+
+"_Mijn kind_, speak to me."
+
+"_O wee, O wee!_"
+
+"_Mijn kind_, speak to me."
+
+Weeping bitterly, she rose and went to her mother, and laid her head
+upon Lysbet's shoulder.
+
+"Look now, Joris. One must know the 'why' and the 'wherefore.' What mean
+you? _Whish, mijn kindje_!"
+
+"This I mean, Lysbet. No more meetings with the Englishman will I have.
+No love secrets will I bear. Danger is with them; yes, and sin too."
+
+"Joris, if he has spoken to you, then where is the secret?"
+
+"Too late he spoke. When worked was his own selfish way, to tell me of
+his triumph he comes. It is a shameful wrong. Forgive it? No, I will
+not,--never!"
+
+No one answered him; only Katherine's low weeping broke the silence,
+and for a few moments Joris paced the room sorrowful and amazed. Then he
+looked at Lysbet, and she rose and gave her place to him. He put his
+arms around his darling, and kissed her fondly.
+
+[Illustration: "Listen to me, thy father!"]
+
+"_Mijn kindje_, listen to me thy father. It is for thy happy life here,
+it is for thy eternal life, I speak to thee. This man for whom thou art
+now weeping is not good for thee. He is not of thy faith, he is a
+Lutheran; not of thy people, he is an Englishman; not of thy station, he
+talks of his nobility; a gambler also, a man of fashion, of loose talk,
+of principles still more loose. If with the hawk a singing-bird might
+mate happily, then this English soldier thou might safely marry. _Mijn
+beste kindje_, do I love thee?"
+
+"My father!"
+
+"Do I love thee?"
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+"Dost thou, then, love me?"
+
+She put her arms round his neck, and laid her cheek against his, and
+kissed him many times.
+
+"Wilt thou go away and leave me, and leave thy mother, in our old age?
+My heart thou would break. My gray hairs to the grave would go in
+sorrow. Katrijntje, my dear, dear child, what for me, and for thy
+mother, wilt thou do?"
+
+"Thy wish--if I can."
+
+Then he told her of the provision made for her future. He reminded her
+of Neil's long affection, and of her satisfaction with it until Hyde had
+wooed her from her love and her duty. And, remembering the elder's
+reproach on his want of explicitness, he added, "To-morrow, about thy
+own house, I will take the first step. Near my house it shall be; and
+when I walk in my garden, in thy garden I will see thee, and only a
+little fence shall be between us. And at the feast of St. Nicholas thou
+shalt be married; for then thy sisters will be here, thy sisters Anna
+and Cornelia. And money, plenty of money, I will give thee; and all that
+is proper thy mother and thee shall buy. But no more, no more at all,
+shalt thou see or speak to that bad man who has so beguiled thee."
+
+At this remark Katherine sadly shook her head; and Lysbet's face so
+plainly expressed caution, that Joris somewhat modified his last order,
+"That is, little one, no more until the feast of St. Nicholas. Then thou
+wilt be married and then it is good, if it is safe, to forgive all
+wrongs, and to begin again with all the world in peace and good living.
+Wilt thou these things promise me? me and thy mother?"
+
+"Richard I must see once more. That is what I ask."
+
+"_Richard!_ So far is it?"
+
+She did not answer; and Joris rose, and looked at the girl's mother
+inquiringly. Her face expressed assent; and he said reluctantly, "Well,
+then, I will as easy make it as I can. Once more, and for one hour, thou
+may see him. But I lay it on thee to tell him the truth, for this and
+for all other time."
+
+"_Now_ may I go? He is a-nigh. His boat I hear at the landing;" and she
+stood up, intent, listening, with her fair head lifted, and her wet eyes
+fixed on the distance.
+
+"Well, be it so. Go."
+
+With the words she slipped from the room; and Joris called Baltus to
+bring him some hot coals, and began to fill his pipe. As he did so, he
+watched Lysbet with some anxiety. She had offered him no sympathy, she
+evinced no disposition to continue the conversation; and, though she
+kept her face from him, he understood that all her movements expressed a
+rebellious temper. In and out of the room she passed, very busy about
+her own affairs, and apparently indifferent to his anxiety and sorrow.
+
+At first Joris felt some natural anger at her attitude; but, as the
+Virginia calmed and soothed him, he remembered that he had told her
+nothing of his interview with Hyde, and that she might be feeling and
+reasoning from a different standpoint from himself. Then the sweetness
+of his nature was at once in the ascendant, and he said, "Lysbet, come
+then, and talk with me about the child."
+
+She turned the keys in her press slowly, and stood by it with them in
+her hand. "What has been told thee, Joris, to-day? And who has spoken?
+Tongues evil and envious, I am sure of that."
+
+"Thou art wrong. The young man to me spoke himself. He said, 'I love
+your daughter. I want to marry her.'"
+
+"Well, then, he did no wrong. And as for Katrijntje, it is in nature
+that a young girl should want a lover. It is in nature she should choose
+the one she likes best. That is what I say."
+
+"That is what I say, Lysbet. It is in nature, also, that we want too
+much food and wine, too much sleep, too much pleasure, too little work.
+It is in nature that our own way we want. It is in nature that the good
+we hate, and the sin we love. My Lysbet, to us God gives his own good
+grace, that the things that are in nature we might put below the reason
+and the will."
+
+"So hard that is, Joris."
+
+"No, it is not; so far thou hast done the right way. When Katherine was
+a babe, it was in nature that with the fire she wanted to make play. But
+thou said, 'There is danger, my precious one;' and in thy arms thou
+carried her out of the temptation. When older she grew, it was in nature
+she said, 'I like not the school, and my Heidelberg is hard, and I
+cannot learn it.' But thou answered, 'For thy good is the school, and go
+thou every day; and for thy salvation is thy catechism, and I will see
+that thou learn it well.' Now, then, it is in nature the child should
+want this handsome stranger; but with me thou wilt certainly say, 'He is
+not fit for thy happiness; he has not the true faith, he gambles, he
+fights duels, he is a waster, he lives badly, he will take thee far from
+thy own people and thy own home.'"
+
+"Can the man help that he was born an Englishman and a Lutheran?"
+
+"They have their own women. Look now, from the beginning it has been
+like to like. Thou may see in the Holy Scriptures that, after Esau
+married the Hittite woman, he sold his birthright, and became a wanderer
+and a vagabond. And it is said that it was a 'grief of mind unto Isaac
+and Rebekah.' I am sorry this day for Isaac and Rebekah. The heart of
+the father is the same always."
+
+"And the heart of the mother, also, Joris." She drew close to him, and
+laid her arm across his broad shoulders; and he took his pipe from his
+lips and turned his face to her. "Kind and wise art thou, my husband;
+and whatever is thy wish, that is my wish too."
+
+"A good woman thou art. And what pleasure would it be to thee if
+Katherine was a countess, and went to the court, and bowed down to the
+king and the queen? Thou would not see it; and, if thou spoke of it, thy
+neighbours they would hate thee, and mock thee behind thy back, and say,
+'How proud is Lysbet Van Heemskirk of her noble son-in-law that comes
+never once to see her!' And dost thou believe he is an earl? Not I."
+
+"That is where the mother's love is best, Joris. What my neighbours said
+would be little care to me, if my Katherine was well and was happy. With
+her sorrow would I buy my own pleasure? No; I would not so selfish be."
+
+"Would I, Lysbet? Right am I, and I know I am right. And I think that
+Neil Semple will be a very great person. Already, as a man of affairs,
+he is much spoken of. He is handsome and of good morality. The elders
+in the kirk look to such young men as Neil to fill their places when
+they are no more in them. On the judge's bench he will sit down yet."
+
+"A good young man he may be, but he is a very bad lover; that is the
+truth. If a little less wise he could only be! A young girl likes some
+foolish talk. It is what women understand. Little fond words, very
+strong they are! Thou thyself said them to me."
+
+"That is right. To Neil I will talk a little. A man must seek a good
+wife with more heart than he seeks gold. Yes, yes; her price above
+rubies is."
+
+At the very moment Joris made this remark, the elder was speaking for
+him. When he arrived at home, he found that his wife was out making
+calls with Mrs. Gordon, so he had not the relief of a marital
+conversation. He took his solitary tea, and fell into a nap, from which
+he awoke in a querulous, uneasy temper. Neil was walking about the
+terrace, and he joined him.
+
+[Illustration: He took his solitary tea]
+
+"You are stepping in a vera majestic way, Neil; what's in your thoughts,
+I wonder?"
+
+"I have a speech to make to-morrow, sir. My thoughts were on the law,
+which has a certain majesty of its own."
+
+"You'd better be thinking o' a speech you ought to make to-night, if you
+care at a' aboot saving yoursel' wi' Katherine Van Heemskirk; and ma
+certie it will be an extraordinar' case that is worth mair, even in the
+way o' siller, than she is."
+
+The elder was not in the habit of making unmeaning speeches, and Neil
+was instantly alarmed. In his own way, he loved Katherine with all his
+soul. "Yes," continued the old man, "you hae a rival, sir. Captain Hyde
+asked Van Heemskirk for his daughter this afternoon, and an earldom in
+prospect isna a poor bait."
+
+"What a black scoundrel he must be!--to use your hospitality to steal
+from your son the woman he loves."
+
+"Tak' your time, Neil, and you won't lose your judgment. How was he to
+ken that Katherine was your sweetheart? You made little o' the lassie,
+vera little, I may say. Lawyer-like you may be, but nane could call you
+lover-like. And while he and his are my guests, and in my house, I'll no
+hae you fighting him. Tak' a word o' advice now,--I'll gie it without a
+fee,--you are fond enough to plead for others, go and plead an hour for
+yoursel'. Certie! When I was your age, I was aye noted for my persuading
+way. Your father, sir, never left a spare corner for a rival. And I can
+tell you this: a woman isna to be counted your ain, until you hae her
+inside a wedding-ring."
+
+"What did the councillor say?"
+
+"To tell the truth, he said 'no,' a vera plain 'no,' too. You ken Van
+Heemskirk's 'no' isn't a shilly-shallying kind o' a negative; but for a'
+that, if I hae any skill in judging men, Richard Hyde isna one o' the
+kind that tak's 'no' from either man or woman."
+
+Neil was intensely angry, and his dark eyes glowed beneath their
+dropped lids with a passionate hate. But he left his father with an
+assumed coldness and calmness which made him mutter as he watched Neil
+down the road, "I needna hae fashed mysel' to warn him against fighting.
+He's a prudent lad. It's no right to fight, and it would be a matter for
+a kirk session likewise; but _Bruce and Wallace_! was there ever a
+Semple, before Neil, that keepit his hand off his weapon when his love
+or his right was touched? And there's his mother out the night, of all
+the nights in the year, and me wanting a word o' advice sae bad; not
+that Janet has o'er much good sense, but whiles she can make an obsarve
+that sets my ain wisdom in a right line o' thought. I wish to patience
+she'd bide at home. She never kens when I may be needing her. And, now I
+came to think o' things, it will be the warst o' all bad hours for Neil
+to seek Katherine the night. She'll be fretting, and the mother pouting,
+and the councillor in ane o' his particular Dutch touch-me-not tempers.
+I do hope the lad will hae the uncommon sense to let folks cool, and
+come to theirsel's a wee."
+
+For the elder, judging his son by the impetuosity of his own youthful
+temper, expected him to go directly to Van Heemskirk's house. But there
+were qualities in Neil which his father forgot to take into
+consideration, and their influence was to suggest to the young man how
+inappropriate a visit to Katherine would be at that time. Indeed, he did
+not much desire it. He was very angry with Katherine. He was sure that
+she understood his entire devotion to her. He could not see any
+necessity to set it forth as particularly as a legal contract, in
+certain set phrases and with conventional ceremonies.
+
+[Illustration: On the steps of the houses]
+
+But his father's sarcastic advice annoyed him, and he wanted time to
+fully consider his ways. He was no physical coward; he was a fine
+swordsman, and he felt that it would be a real joy to stand with a drawn
+rapier between himself and his rival. But what if revenge cost him too
+much? What if he slew Hyde, and had to leave his love and his home, and
+his fine business prospects? To win Katherine and to marry her, in the
+face of the man whom he felt that he detested, would not that be the
+best of all "satisfactions"?
+
+He walked about the streets, discussing these points with himself, till
+the shops all closed, and on the stoops of the houses in Maiden Lane and
+Liberty Street there were merry parties of gossiping belles and beaux.
+Then he returned to Broadway. Half a dozen gentlemen were standing
+before the King's Arms Tavern, discussing some governmental statement in
+the "Weekly Mercury;" but though they asked him to stop, and enlighten
+them on some legal point, he excused himself for that night, and went
+toward Van Heemskirk's. He had suddenly resolved upon a visit. Why
+should he put off until the morrow what he might begin that night?
+
+Still debating with himself, he came to a narrow road which ran to the
+river, along the southern side of Van Heemskirk's house. It was only a
+trodden path used by fishermen, and made by usage through the unenclosed
+ground. But coming swiftly up it, as if to detain him, was Captain Hyde.
+The two men looked at each other defiantly; and Neil said with a cold,
+meaning emphasis,--
+
+"At your service, sir."
+
+"Mr. Semple, at your service,"--and touching his sword,--"to the very
+hilt, sir."
+
+"Sir, yours to the same extremity."
+
+"As for the cause, Mr. Semple, here it is;" and he pushed aside his
+embroidered coat in order to exhibit to Neil the bow of orange ribbon
+beneath it.
+
+"I will die it crimson in your blood," said Neil, passionately.
+
+"In the meantime, I have the felicity of wearing it;" and with an
+offensively deep salute, he terminated the interview.
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+          "_Love and a crown no rivalship can bear.
+          Love, love! Thou sternly dost thy power maintain,
+          And wilt not bear a rival in thy reign_."
+
+
+Neil's first emotion was not so much one of anger as of exultation. The
+civilization of the Semples was scarce a century old; and behind them
+were generations of fierce men, whose hands had been on their dirks for
+a word or a look. "I shall have him at my sword's point;" that was what
+he kept saying to himself as he turned from Hyde to Van Heemskirk's
+house. The front-door stood open; and he walked through it to the
+back-stoop, where Joris was smoking.
+
+Katherine sat upon the steps of the stoop. Her head was in her hand, her
+eyes red with weeping, her whole attitude one of desponding sorrow. But,
+at this hour, Neil was indifferent to adverse circumstances. He was
+moving in that exultation of spirit which may be simulated by the first
+rapture of good wine, but which is only genuine when the soul takes
+entire possession of the man, and makes him for some rare, short
+interval lord of himself, and contemptuous of all fears and doubts and
+difficulties. He never noticed that Joris was less kind than usual; but
+touching Katherine, to arouse her attention, said, "Come with me down
+the garden, my love."
+
+She looked at him wonderingly. His words and manner were strange and
+potent; and, although she had just been assuring herself that she would
+resist his advances on every occasion, she rose at his request and gave
+him her hand.
+
+Then the tender thoughts which had lain so deep in his heart flew to his
+lips, and he wooed her with a fervour and nobility as astonishing to
+himself as to Katherine. He reminded her of all the sweet intercourse of
+their happy lives, and of the fidelity with which he had loved her.
+"When I was a lad ten years old, and saw you first in your mother's
+arms, I called you then 'my little wife.' Oh, my Katherine, my sweet
+Katherine! Who is there that can take you from me?"
+
+"Neil, like a brother to me you have been. Like a dear brother, I love
+you. But your wife to be! That is not the same. Ask me not that."
+
+"Only that can satisfy me, Katherine. Do you think I will ever give you
+up? Not while I live."
+
+"No one will I marry. With my father and my mother I will stay."
+
+"Yes, till you learn to love me as I love you, with the whole soul." He
+drew her close to his side, and bent tenderly to her face.
+
+"No, you shall not kiss me, Neil,--never again. No right have you,
+Neil."
+
+"You are to be my wife, Katherine?"
+
+"That I have not said."
+
+She drew herself from his embrace, and stood leaning against an
+elm-tree, watchful of Neil, full of wonder at the sudden warmth of his
+love, and half fearful of his influence over her.
+
+"But you have known it, Katherine, ay, for many a year. No words could
+make the troth-plight truer. From this hour, mine and only mine."
+
+"Such things you shall not say."
+
+"I will say them before all the world. Katherine, is it true that an
+English soldier is wearing a bow of your ribbon? You must tell me."
+
+"What mean you?"
+
+"I will make my meaning plain. Is Captain Hyde wearing a bow of your
+orange ribbon?"
+
+"Can I tell?"
+
+"Yes. Do not lie to me."
+
+"A lie I would not speak."
+
+"Did you give him one? an orange one?"
+
+"Yes. A bow of my St. Nicholas ribbon I gave him."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Me he loves, and him I love."
+
+"And he wears it at his breast?"
+
+"On his breast I have seen it. Neil, do not quarrel with him. Do not
+look so angry. I fear you. My fault it is; all my fault, Neil. Only to
+please me he wears it."
+
+"You have more St. Nicholas ribbons?"
+
+"That is so."
+
+"Go and get me one. Get a bow, Katherine, and give it to me. I will
+wait here for it."
+
+"No, that I will not do. How false, how wicked I would be, if two lovers
+my colours wore!"
+
+"Katherine, I am in great earnest. A bow of that ribbon I must have. Get
+one for me."
+
+"My hands I would cut off first."
+
+"Well, then, I will cut _my bow_ from Hyde's breast. I will, though I
+cut his heart out with it."
+
+He turned from her as he said the words, and, without speaking to Joris,
+passed through the garden-gate to his own home. His mother and Mrs.
+Gordon, and several young ladies and gentlemen were sitting on the
+stoop, arranging for a turtle feast on the East River; and Neil's advent
+was hailed with ejaculations of pleasure. He affected to listen for a
+few minutes, and then excused himself upon the "assurance of having some
+very important writing to attend to." But, as he passed the parlour
+door, his father called him. The elder was casting up some kirk
+accounts; but, as Neil answered the summons, he carefully put the
+extinguisher on one candle, and turned his chair from the table in a way
+which Neil understood as an invitation for his company.
+
+[Illustration: "Katherine, I am in great earnest"]
+
+A moment's reflection convinced Neil that it was his wisest plan to
+accede. It was of the utmost importance that his father should be kept
+absolutely ignorant of his quarrel with Hyde; for Neil was certain that,
+if he suspected their intention to fight, he would invoke the aid of the
+law to preserve peace, and such a course would infallibly subject him to
+suspicions which would be worse than death to his proud spirit.
+
+"Weel, Neil, my dear lad, you are early hame. Where were you the night?"
+
+"I have just left Katherine, sir, having followed your advice in my
+wooing. I wish I had done so earlier."
+
+"Ay, ay; when a man is seventy years auld, he has read the book o' life,
+'specially the chapter anent women, and he kens a' about them. A bonnie
+lass expects to hae a kind o' worship; but the service is na unpleasant,
+quite the contrary. Did you see Captain Hyde?"
+
+"We met near Broadway, and exchanged civilities."
+
+"A gude thing to exchange. When Gordon gets back frae Albany, I'll hae a
+talk wi' him, and I'll get the captain sent there. In Albany there are
+bonnie lasses and rich lasses in plenty for him to try his enchantments
+on. There was talk o' sending him there months syne; it will be done ere
+long, or my name isna Alexander Semple."
+
+"I see you are casting up the kirk accounts. Can I help you, father?"
+
+"I hae everything ready for the consistory. Neil, what is the gude o' us
+speaking o' this and that, and thinking that we are deceiving each
+other? I am vera anxious anent affairs between Captain Hyde and
+yoursel'; and I'm 'feard you'll be coming to hot words, maybe to blows,
+afore I manage to put twa hundred miles atween you. My lad, my ain dear
+lad! You are the Joseph o' a' my sons; you are the joy o' your mother's
+life. For our sake, keep a calm sough, and dinna let a fool provoke you
+to break our hearts, and maybe send you into God's presence uncalled and
+unblessed.
+
+"Father, put yoursel' in my place. How would you feel toward Captain
+Hyde?"
+
+"Weel, I'll allow that I wouldna feel kindly. I dinna feel kindly to
+him, even in my ain place."
+
+"As you desire it, we will speak plainly to each other anent this
+subject. You know his proud and hasty temper; you know also that I am
+more like yourself than like Moses in the way of meekness. Now, if
+Captain Hyde insults me, what course would you advise me to adopt?"
+
+"I wouldna gie him the chance to insult you. I would keep oot o' his
+way. There is naething unusual or discreditable in taking a journey to
+Boston, to speir after the welfare o' your brother Alexander."
+
+"Oh, indeed, sir, I cannot leave my affairs for an insolent and
+ungrateful fool! I ask your advice for the ordinary way of life, not for
+the way that cowardice or fear dictates. If without looking for him, or
+avoiding him, we meet, and a quarrel is inevitable, what then, father?"
+
+"Ay, weel, in that case, God prevent it! But in sic a strait, my lad, it
+is better to gie the insult than to tak' it."
+
+"You know what must follow?"
+
+"Wha doesna ken? Blood, if not murder. Neil, you are a wise and prudent
+lad; now, isna the sword o' the law sharper than the rapier o' honour?"
+
+"Law has no remedy for the wrongs men of honour redress with the sword.
+A man may call me every shameful name; but, unless I can show some
+actual loss in money or money's worth, I have no redress. And suppose
+that I tried it, and that after long sufferance and delays I got my
+demands, pray, sir, tell me, how can offences which have flogged a man's
+most sacred feelings be atoned for by something to put in the pocket?"
+
+"Society, Neil"--
+
+"Society, father, always convicts and punishes the man who takes an
+insult _on view_, without waiting for his indictment or trial."
+
+"There ought to be a law, Neil"--
+
+"No law will administer itself, sir. The statute-book is a dead letter
+when it conflicts with public opinion. There is not a week passes but
+you may see that for yourself, father. If a man is insulted, he must
+protect his honour; and he will do so until the law is able to protect
+him better than his own strength."
+
+"There is another way--a mair Christian way"--
+
+"The world has not taken it yet; at any rate, I am very sure none of the
+Semples have."
+
+"You are, maybe, o'er sure, Neil. Deacon Van Vorst has said mair than my
+natural man could thole, many a time, in the sessions and oot o' them;
+but the dominie aye stood between us wi' his word, and we hae managed
+so far to keep the peace, though a mair pig-headed, provoking,
+pugnacious auld Dutchman never sat down on the dominie's left hand."
+
+"Then, father, if Captain Hyde should quarrel with me, and if he should
+challenge me, you advise me to refuse the challenge, and to send for the
+dominie to settle the matter?"
+
+"I didna say the like o' that, Neil. I am an auld man, and Van Vorst is
+an aulder one. We'd be a bonnie picture wi' drawn swords in oor shaking
+hands; though, for mysel', I may say that there wasna a better fencer in
+Ayrshire, and _that_ the houses o' Lockerby and Lanark hae reason to
+remember. And I wouldna hae the honour o' the Semples doubted; I'd fight
+myself first. But I'm in a sair strait, Neil; and oh, my dear lad, what
+will I say, when it's the Word o' the Lord on one hand, and the scaith
+and scorn of a' men on the other? But I'll trust to your prudence, Neil,
+and no begin to feel the weight o' a misery that may ne'er come my way.
+All my life lang, when evils hae threatened me, I hae sought God's help;
+and He has either averted them or turned them to my advantage."
+
+"That is a good consolation, father."
+
+"It is that; and I ken nae better plan for life than, when I rise up, to
+gie mysel' to His direction, and, when I lay me down to sleep, to gie
+mysel' to His care."
+
+"In such comfortable assurance, sir, I think we may say good-night. I
+have business early in the morning, and may not wait for your company,
+if you will excuse me so far."
+
+"Right; vera right, Neil. The dawn has gold in its hand. I used to be
+an early worker mysel'; but I'm an auld man noo, and may claim some
+privileges. Good-night, Neil, and a good-morning to follow it."
+
+Neil then lit his candle; and, not forgetting that courteous salute
+which the young then always rendered to honourable age, he went slowly
+upstairs, feeling suddenly a great weariness and despair. If Katherine
+had only been true to him! He was sure, then, that he could have fought
+almost joyfully any pretender to her favour. But he was deserted by the
+girl whom he had loved all her sweet life. He was betrayed by the man
+who had shared the hospitality of his home, and in the cause of such
+loss, compelled to hazard a life opening up with fair hopes of honour
+and distinction.
+
+In the calm of his own chamber, through the silent, solemn hours, when
+the world was shut out of his life, Neil reviewed his position; but he
+could find no honourable way out of his predicament. Physically, he was
+as brave as brave could be; morally, he had none of that grander courage
+which made Joris Van Heemskirk laugh to scorn the idea of yielding God's
+gift of life at the demand of a passionate fool. He was quite sensible
+that his first words to Captain Hyde that night had been intended to
+provoke a quarrel, and he knew that he would be expected to redeem them
+by a formal defiance. However, as the idea became familiar, it became
+imperative; and at length it was with a fierce satisfaction that he
+opened his desk and without hesitation wrote the decisive words:
+
+[Illustration: "In the interim, at your service"]
+
+To CAPTAIN RICHARD HYDE OF HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE: SIR: A person of the
+character I bear cannot allow the treachery and dishonourable conduct of
+which you have been guilty to pass without punishment. Convince me that
+you are more of a gentleman than I have reason to believe, by meeting me
+to-night as the sun drops in the wood on the Kalchhook Hill. Our seconds
+can locate the spot; and that you may have no pretence to delay, I send
+by bearer two swords, of which I give you the privilege to make choice.
+
+                                   In the interim, at your service,
+                                                       NEIL SEMPLE.
+
+He had already selected Adrian Beekman as his second. He was a young
+man of wealth and good family, exceedingly anxious for social
+distinction, and, moreover, so fastidiously honourable that Neil felt
+himself in his hands to be beyond reproach. As he anticipated, Beekman
+accepted the duty with alacrity, and, indeed, so promptly carried out
+his principal's instructions, that he found Captain Hyde still sleeping
+when he waited upon him. But Hyde was neither astonished nor annoyed. He
+laughed lightly at "Mr. Semple's impatience of offence," and directed
+Mr. Beekman to Captain Earle as his second; leaving the choice of swords
+and of the ground entirely to his direction.
+
+"A more civil, agreeable, handsome gentleman, impossible it would be to
+find; and I think the hot haughty temper of Neil is to blame in this
+affair," was Beekman's private comment. But he stood watchfully by his
+principal's interests, and affected a gentlemanly disapproval of Captain
+Hyde's behaviour.
+
+And lightly as Hyde had taken the challenge, he was really more
+disinclined to fight than Neil was. In his heart he knew that Semple had
+a just cause of anger; "but then," he argued, "Neil is a proud, pompous
+fellow, for whom I never assumed a friendship. His father's hospitality
+I regret in any way to have abused; but who the deuce could have
+suspected that Neil Semple was in love with the adorable Katherine? In
+faith, I did not at the first, and now 'tis too late. I would not resign
+the girl for my life; for I am sensible that life, if she is another's,
+will be a very tedious thing to me."
+
+All day Neil was busy in making his will, and in disposing of his
+affairs. He knew himself well enough to be certain, that, if he struck
+the first blow, he would not hesitate to strike the death blow, and that
+nothing less than such conclusion would satisfy him. Hyde also
+anticipated a deathly persistence of animosity in his opponent, and felt
+equally the necessity for some definite arrangement of his business.
+Unfortunately, it was in a very confused state. He owed many debts of
+honour, and Cohen's bill was yet unsettled. He drank a cup of coffee,
+wrote several important letters, and then went to Fraunce's, and had a
+steak and a bottle of wine. During his meal his thoughts wandered
+between Katherine and the Jew Cohen. After it he went straight to
+Cohen's store.
+
+It happened to be Saturday; and the shutters were closed, though the
+door was slightly open, and Cohen was sitting with his granddaughter in
+the cool shadows of the crowded place. Hyde was not in a ceremonious
+mood, and he took no thought of it being the Jew's sabbath. He pushed
+wider the door, and went clattering into their presence; and with an air
+of pride and annoyance the Jew rose to meet him. At the same time, by a
+quick look of intelligence, he dismissed Miriam; but she did not retreat
+farther than within the deeper shadows of some curtains of stamped
+Moorish leather, for she anticipated the immediate departure of the
+intruder.
+
+She was therefore astonished when her grandfather, after listening to a
+few sentences, sat down, and entered into a lengthy conversation. And
+her curiosity was also aroused; for, though Hyde had often been in the
+store, she had never hitherto seen him in such a sober mood, it was also
+remarkable that on the sabbath her grandfather should receive papers,
+and a ring which she watched Hyde take from his finger; and there was,
+beside, a solemn, a final air about the transaction which gave her the
+feeling of some anticipated tragedy.
+
+When at last they rose, Hyde extended his hand. "Cohen," he said, "few
+men would have been as generous and, at this hour, as considerate as
+you. I have judged from tradition, and misjudged you. Whether we meet
+again or not, we part as friends."
+
+"You have settled all things as a gentleman, Captain. May my white hairs
+say a word to your heart this hour?" Hyde bowed; and he continued, in a
+voice of serious benignity: "The words of the Holy One are to be
+regarded, and not the words of men. Men call that 'honour' which He will
+call murder. What excuse is there in your lips if you go this night into
+His presence?"
+
+There was no excuse in Hyde's lips, even for his mortal interrogator. He
+merely bowed again, and slipped through the partially opened door into
+the busy street. Then Cohen put clean linen upon his head and arm, and
+went and stood with his face to the east, and recited, in low,
+rhythmical sentences, the prayer called the "Assault." Miriam sat quiet
+during his devotion but, when he returned to his place, she asked him
+plainly, "What murder is there to be, grandfather?"
+
+"It is a duel between Captain Hyde and another. It shall be called
+murder at the last."
+
+"The other, who is he?"
+
+"The young man Semple."
+
+"I am sorry. He is a courteous young man. I have heard you say so. I
+have heard you speak well of him."
+
+"O Miriam, what sin and sorrow thy sex ever bring to those who love it!
+There are two young lives to be put in death peril for the smile of a
+woman,--a very girl she is."
+
+"Do I know her, grandfather?"
+
+"She passes here often. The daughter of Van Heemskirk,--the little fair
+one, the child."
+
+"Oh, but now I am twice sorry! She has smiled at me often. We have even
+spoken. The good old man, her father, will die; and her brother, he was
+always like a watch-dog at her side."
+
+"But not the angels in heaven can watch a woman. For a lover, be he good
+or bad, she will put heaven behind her back, and stand on the brink of
+perdition. Miriam, if thou should deceive me,--as thy mother did,--God
+of Israel, may I not know it!"
+
+"Though I die, I will not deceive you, grandfather."
+
+"The Holy One hears thee, Miriam. Let Him be between us."
+
+Then Cohen, with his hands on his staff, and his head in them, sat
+meditating, perhaps praying; and the hot, silent moments went slowly
+away. In them, Miriam was coming to a decision which at first alarmed
+her, but which, as it grew familiar, grew also lawful and kind. She was
+quite certain that her grandfather would not interfere between the
+young men, and probably he had given Hyde his promise not to do so; but
+she neither had received a charge, nor entered into any obligation, of
+silence. A word to Van Heemskirk or to the Elder Semple would be
+sufficient. Should she not say it? Her heart answered "yes," although
+she did not clearly perceive how the warning was to be given.
+
+Perhaps Cohen divined her purpose, and was not unfavourable to it; for
+he suddenly rose, and, putting on his cap, said, "I am going to see my
+kinsman John Cohen. At sunset, set wide the door; an hour after sunset I
+will return."
+
+As soon as he had gone, Miriam wrote to Van Heemskirk these words: "Good
+sir,--This is a matter of life and death: so then, come at once, and I
+will tell you. MIRIAM COHEN."
+
+With the slip of paper in her hand, she stood within the door, watching
+for some messenger she could trust. It was not many minutes before Van
+Heemskirk's driver passed, leading his loaded wagon; and to him she gave
+the note.
+
+That day Joris had gone home earlier than usual, and Bram only was in
+the store. But it was part of his duty to open and attend to orders, and
+he supposed the strip of paper to refer to a barrel of flour or some
+other household necessity.
+
+Its actual message was so unusual and unlooked for, that it took him a
+moment or two to realize the words; then, fearing it might be some
+practical joke, he recalled the driver, and heard with amazement that
+the Jew's granddaughter had herself given him the message. Assured of
+this fact, he answered the summons for his father promptly. Miriam was
+waiting just within the door; and, scarcely heeding his explanation, she
+proceeded at once to give him such information as she possessed. Bram
+was slow of thought and slow of speech. He stood gazing at the
+beautiful, earnest girl, and felt all the fear and force of her words;
+but for some moments he could not speak, nor decide on his first step.
+
+[Illustration: "Why do you wait?"]
+
+"Why do you wait?" pleaded Miriam. "At sunset, I tell you. It is now
+near it. Oh, no thanks! Do not stop for them, but hasten to them at
+once."
+
+He obeyed like one in a dream; but, before he had reached Semple's
+store, he had fully realized the actual situation. Semple was just
+leaving business. He put his hand on him, and said, "Elder, no time have
+you to lose. At sunset, Neil and that d---- English soldier a duel are to
+fight."
+
+"Eh? Where? Who told you?"
+
+"On the Kalchhook Hill. Stay not for a moment's talk."
+
+"Run for your father, Bram. Run, my lad. Get Van Gaasbeeck's light
+wagon as you go, and ask your mother for a mattress. Dinna stand
+glowering at me, but awa' with you. I'll tak' twa o' my ain lads and my
+ain wagon, and be there instanter. God help me! God spare the lad!"
+
+At that moment Neil and Hyde were on their road to the fatal spot. Neil
+had been gathering anger all day; Hyde, a vague regret. The folly of
+what they were going to do was clear to both; but Neil was dominated by
+a fury of passion, which made the folly a revengeful joy. If there had
+been any thought of an apology in Hyde's heart, he must have seen its
+hopelessness in the white wrath of Neil's face, and the calm
+deliberation with which he assumed and prepared for a fatal termination
+of the affair.
+
+The sun dropped as the seconds measured off the space and offered the
+lot for the standing ground. Then Neil flung off his coat and waistcoat,
+and stood with bared breast on the spot his second indicated. This
+action had been performed in such a passion of hurry, that he was
+compelled to watch Hyde's more calm and leisurely movements. He removed
+his fine scarlet coat and handed it to Captain Earle, and would then
+have taken his sword; but Beekman advanced to remove also his waistcoat.
+The suspicion implied by this act roused the soldier's indignation. "Do
+you take me to be a person of so little honour?" he passionately asked;
+and then with his own hands he tore off the richly embroidered satin
+garment, and by so doing exposed what perhaps some delicate feeling had
+made him wish to conceal,--a bow of orange ribbon which he wore above
+his heart.
+
+The sight of it to Neil was like oil flung upon flame. He could scarcely
+restrain himself until the word "_go_" gave him license to charge Hyde,
+which he did with such impetuous rage, that it was evident he cared less
+to preserve his own life, than to slay his enemy.
+
+Hyde was an excellent swordsman, and had fought several duels; but he
+was quite disconcerted by the deadly reality of Neil's attack. In the
+second thrust, his foot got entangled in a tuft of grass; and, in
+evading a lunge aimed at his heart, he fell on his right side.
+Supporting himself, however, on his sword hand, he sprang backwards with
+great dexterity, and thus escaped the probable death-blow. But, as he
+was bleeding from a wound in the throat, his second interfered, and
+proposed a reconciliation. Neil angrily refused to listen. He declared
+that he "had not come to enact a farce;" and then, happening to glance
+at the ribbon on Hyde's breast, he swore furiously, "He would make his
+way through the body of any man who stood between him and his just
+anger."
+
+[Illustration: The swords of both men sprung from their hands]
+
+Up to this point, there had been in Hyde's mind a latent disinclination
+to slay Neil. After it, he flung away every kind memory; and the fight
+was renewed with an almost brutal impetuosity, until there ensued one of
+those close locks which it was evident nothing but "the key of the body
+could open." In the frightful wrench which followed, the swords of both
+men sprang from their hands, flying some four or five yards upward with
+the force. Both recovered their weapons at the same time, and both,
+bleeding and exhausted, would have again renewed the fight; but at that
+moment Van Heemskirk and Semple, with their attendants, reached the spot.
+
+Without hesitation, they threw themselves between the young men,--Van
+Heemskirk facing Hyde, and the elder his son. "Neil, you dear lad, you
+born fool, gie me your weapon instanter, sir!" But there was no need to
+say another word. Neil fell senseless upon his sword, making in his fall
+a last desperate effort to reach the ribbon on Hyde's breast; for Hyde
+had also dropped fainting to the ground, bleeding from at least half a
+dozen wounds. Then one of Semple's young men, who had probably defined
+the cause of quarrel, and who felt a sympathy for his young master, made
+as if he would pick up the fatal bit of orange satin, now died crimson
+in Hyde's blood.
+
+But Joris pushed the rifling hand fiercely away. "To touch it would be
+the vilest theft," he said. "His own it is. With his life he has bought
+it."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+          "_I know I felt Love's face
+           Pressed on my neck, with moan of pity and grace,
+           Till both our heads were in his aureole_."
+
+
+The news of the duel spread with the proverbial rapidity of evil news.
+At the doors of all the public houses, in every open shop, on every
+private stoop, and at the street-corners, people were soon discussing
+the event, with such additions and comments as their imaginations and
+prejudices suggested. One party insisted that lawyer Semple was dead;
+another, that it was the English officer; a third, that both died as
+they were being carried from the ground.
+
+Batavius, who had lingered to the last moment at the house which he was
+building, heard the story from many a lip as he went home. He was
+bitterly indignant at Katherine. He felt, indeed, as if his own
+character for morality of every kind had been smirched by his intended
+connection with her. And his Joanna! How wicked Katherine had been not
+to remember that she had a sister whose spotless name would be tarnished
+by her kinship! He was hot with haste and anger when he reached Van
+Heemskirk's house.
+
+Madam stood with Joanna on the front-stoop, looking anxiously down the
+road. She was aware that Bram had called for his father, and she had
+heard them leave the house together in unexplained haste. At first, the
+incident did not trouble her much. Perhaps one of the valuable Norman
+horses was sick, or there was an unexpected ship in, or an unusually
+large order. Bram was a young man who relied greatly on his father. She
+only worried because supper must be delayed an hour, and that delay
+would also keep back the completion of that exquisite order in which it
+was her habit to leave the house for the sabbath rest.
+
+After some time had elapsed, she went upstairs, and began to lay out the
+clean linen and the kirk clothes. Suddenly she noticed that it was
+nearly dark; and, with a feeling of hurry and anxiety, she remembered
+the delayed meal. Joanna was on the front-stoop watching for Batavius,
+who was also unusually late; and, like many other loving women, she
+could think of nothing good which might have detained him, but her heart
+was full only of evil apprehensions.
+
+"Where is Katherine?" That was the mother's first question, and she
+called her through the house. From the closed best parlour, Katherine
+came, white and weeping.
+
+"What is the matter, then, that you are crying? And why into the dark
+room go you?"
+
+"Full of sorrow I am, mother, and I went to the room to pray to God; but
+I cannot pray."
+
+"'Full of sorrow.' Yes, for that Englishman you are full of sorrow. And
+how can you pray when you are disobeying your good father? God will not
+hear you."
+
+The mother was not pitiless; but she was anxious and troubled, and
+Katherine's grief irritated her at the moment. "Go and tell Dinorah to
+bring in the tea. The work of the house must go on," she muttered. "And
+I think, that it was Saturday night Joris might have remembered."
+
+Then she went back to Joanna, and stood with her, looking through the
+gray mist down the road, and feeling even the croaking of the frogs and
+the hum of the insects to be an unusual provocation. Just as Dinorah
+said, "The tea is served, madam," the large figure of Batavius loomed
+through the gathering grayness; and the women waited for him. He came up
+the steps without his usual greeting; and his face was so injured and
+portentous that Joanna, with a little cry, put her arms around his neck.
+He gently removed them.
+
+"No time is this, Joanna, for embracing. A great disgrace has come to
+the family; and I, who have always stood up for morality, must bear it
+too."
+
+"Disgrace! The word goes not with our name, Batavius; and what mean you,
+then? In one word, speak."
+
+But Batavius loved too well any story that was to be wondered over, to
+give it in a word; though madam's manner snubbed him a little, and he
+said, with less of the air of a wronged man,--
+
+"Well, then, Neil Semple and Captain Hyde have fought a duel. That is
+what comes of giving way to passion. I never fought a duel. No one
+should make me. It is a fixed principle with me."
+
+"But what? And how?"
+
+"With swords they fought. Like two devils they fought, as if to pieces
+they would cut each other."
+
+"Poor Neil! His fault I am sure it was not."
+
+"Joanna! Neil is nearly dead. If he had been in the right, he would not
+be nearly dead. The Lord does not forsake a person who is in the right
+way."
+
+In the hall behind them Katherine stood. The pallor of her face, the
+hopeless droop of her white shoulders and arms, were visible in its
+gloomy shadows. Softly as a spirit she walked as she drew nearer to
+them.
+
+"And the Englishman? Is he hurt?"
+
+"Killed. He has at least twenty wounds. Till morning he will not live.
+It was the councillor himself who separated the men."
+
+"My good Joris, it was like him."
+
+For a moment Katherine's consciousness reeled. The roar of the ocean
+which girds our life round was in her ears, the feeling of chill and
+collapse at her heart. But with a supreme will she took possession of
+herself. "Weak I will not be. All I will know. All I will suffer." And
+with these thoughts she went back to the room, and took her place at the
+table. In a few minutes the rest followed. Batavius did not speak to
+her. It was also something of a cross to him that madam would not talk
+of the event. He did not think that Katherine deserved to have her
+ill-regulated feelings so far considered, and he had almost a sense of
+personal injury in the restraint of the whole household.
+
+He had anticipated madam's amazement and shock. He had felt a just
+satisfaction in the suffering he was bringing to Katherine. He had
+determined to point out to Joanna the difference between herself and her
+sister, and the blessedness of her own lot in loving so respectably and
+prudently as she had done. But nothing had happened as he expected. The
+meal, instead of being pleasantly lengthened over such dreadful
+intelligence, was hurried and silent. Katherine, instead of making
+herself an image of wailing or unconscious remorse, sat like other
+people at the table, and pretended to drink her tea.
+
+It was some comfort that after it Joanna and he could walk in the
+garden, and talk the affair thoroughly over. Katherine watched them
+away, and then she fled to her room. For a few minutes she could let her
+sorrow have way, and it would help her to bear the rest. And oh, how she
+wept! She took from their hiding-place the few letters her lover had
+written her, and she mourned over them as women mourn in such
+extremities. She kissed the words with passionate love; she vowed, amid
+her broken ejaculations of tenderness, to be faithful to him if he
+lived, to be faithful to his memory if he died. She never thought of
+Neil; or, if she did, it was with an anger that frightened her. In the
+full tide of her anguish, Lysbet stood at the door. She heard the
+inarticulate words of woe, and her heart ached for her child. She had
+followed her to give her comfort, to weep with her; but she felt that
+hour that Katherine was no more a child to be soothed with her mother's
+kiss. She had become a woman, and a woman's sorrow had found her.
+
+[Illustration: Oh, how she wept!]
+
+It was near ten o'clock when Joris came home. His face was troubled, his
+clothing disarranged and blood-stained; and Lysbet never remembered to
+have seen him so completely exhausted. "Bram is with Neil," he said; "he
+will not be home."
+
+"And thou?"
+
+"I helped them carry--the other. To the 'King's Arms' we took him. A
+strong man was needed until their work the surgeons had done. I stayed;
+that is all."
+
+"Live will he?"
+
+"His right lung is pierced clean through. A bad wound in the throat he
+has. At death's door is he, from loss of the blood. But then, youth he
+has, and a great spirit, and hope. I wish not for his death, my God
+knows."
+
+"Neil, what of him?"
+
+"Unconscious he was when I left him at his home. I stayed not there. His
+father and his mother were by his side; Bram also. Does Katherine know?"
+
+"She knows."
+
+"How then?"
+
+"O Joris, if in her room thou could have heard her crying! My heart for
+her aches, the sorrowful one!"
+
+"See, then, that this lesson she miss not. It is a hard one, but learn
+it she must. If thy love would pass it by, think this, for her good it
+is. Many bitter things are in it. What unkind words will now be said!
+Also, my share in the matter I must tell in the kirk session; and
+Dominie de Ronde is not one slack in giving the reproof. With our own
+people a disgrace it will be counted. Can I not hear Van Vleek grumble,
+'Well, now, I hope Joris Van Heemskirk has had enough of his fine
+English company;' and Elder Brouwer will say, 'He must marry his
+daughter to an Englishman; and, see, what has come of it;' and that evil
+old woman, Madam Van Corlaer, will shake her head and whisper, 'Yes,
+neighbours, and depend upon it, the girl is of a light mind and bad
+morals, and it is her fault; and I shall take care my nieces to her
+speak no more.' So it will be; Katherine herself will find it so."
+
+"The poor child! Sorry am I she ever went to Madam Semple's to see Mrs.
+Gordon. If thy word I had taken, Joris!"
+
+"If my word the elder also had taken. When first, he told me that his
+house he would offer to the Gordons, I said to him, 'So foolish art
+them! In the end, what does not fit will fight.' If to-night them could
+have seen Mistress Gordon when she heard of her nephew's hurt. Without
+one word of regret, without one word of thanks, and in a great passion,
+she left the house. For Neil she cared not. 'He had been ever an envious
+kill-joy. He had ever hated her dear Dick. He had ever been jealous of
+any one handsomer than himself. He was a black dog in the manger; and
+she hoped, with all her heart, that Dick had done for him.' Beside
+herself with grief and passion she was, or the elder had not borne so
+patiently her words."
+
+"As her own son, she loved him."
+
+"Yea, Lysbet; but _just_ one should be. Weary and sad am I to-night."
+
+The next morning was the sabbath, and many painful questions suggested
+themselves to Joris and Lysbet Van Heemskirk. Joris felt that he must
+not take his seat among the deacons until he had been fully exonerated
+of all blame of blood-guiltiness by the dominie and his elders and
+deacons in full kirk session. Madam could hardly endure the thought of
+the glances that would be thrown at her daughter, and the probable
+slights she would receive. Batavius plainly showed an aversion to being
+seen in Katherine's company. But these things did not seem to Joris a
+sufficient reason for neglecting worship. He thought it best for people
+to face the unpleasant consequences of wrong-doing; and he added, "In
+trouble also, my dear ones, where should we go but into the house of the
+good God?"
+
+Katherine had not spoken during the discussion but, when it was over,
+she said, "_Mijn vader, mijn moeder_, to-day I cannot go! For me have
+some pity. The dominie I will speak to first; and what he says, I will
+do."
+
+"Between me and thy _moeder_ thou shalt be."
+
+"Bear it I cannot. I shall fall down, I shall be ill; and there shall be
+shame and fear, and the service to make stop, and then more wonder and
+more talk, and the dominie angry also! At home I am the best."
+
+"Well, then, so it shall be."
+
+But Joris was stern to Katherine, and his anger added the last
+bitterness to her grief. No one had said a word of reproach to her; but,
+equally, no one had said a word of pity. Even Joanna was shy and cold,
+for Batavius had made her feel that one's own sister may fall below
+moral par and sympathy. "If either of the men die," he had said, "I
+shall always consider Katherine guilty of murder; and nowhere in the
+Holy Scriptures are we told to forgive murder, Joanna. And even while
+the matter is uncertain, is it not right to be careful? Are we not told
+to avoid even the appearance of evil?" So that, with this charge before
+him, Batavius felt that countenancing Katherine in any way was not
+keeping it.
+
+And certainly the poor girl might well fear the disapproval of the
+general public, when her own family made her feel her fault so keenly.
+The kirk that morning would have been the pillory to her. She was
+unspeakably grateful for the solitude of the house, for space and
+silence, in which she could have the relief of unrestrained weeping.
+About the middle of the morning, she heard Bram's footsteps. She divined
+_why_ he had come home, and she shrank from meeting him until he removed
+the clothing he had worn during the night's bloody vigil. Bram had not
+thought of Katherine's staying from kirk; and when she confronted him,
+so tear-stained and woe-begone, his heart was full of pity for her. "My
+poor little Katherine!" he said; and she threw her arms around his neck,
+and sobbed upon his breast as if her heart would break.
+
+[Illustration: "O Bram! is he dead?"]
+
+"_Mijn kleintje_, who has grieved thee?"
+
+"O Bram! is he dead?"
+
+"Who? Neil? I think he will get well once more."
+
+"What care I for Neil? The wicked one! I wish that he might die. Yes,
+that I do."
+
+"Whish!--to say that is wrong."
+
+"Bram! Bram! A little pity give me. It is the other one. Hast thou
+heard?"
+
+"How can he live? Look at that sorrow, dear one, and ask God to forgive
+and help thee."
+
+"No, I will not look at it. I will ask God every moment that he may get
+well. Could I help that I should love him? So kind, so generous, is he!
+Oh, my dear one, my dear one, would I had died for thee!"
+
+Bram was much moved. Within the last twenty-four hours he had begun to
+understand the temptation in which Katherine had been; begun to
+understand that love never asks, 'What is thy name? Of what country art
+thou? Who is thy father?' He felt that so long as he lived he must
+remember Miriam Cohen as she stood talking to him in the shadowy store.
+Beauty like hers was strange and wonderful to the young Dutchman. He
+could not forget her large eyes, soft and brown as gazelle's; the warm
+pallor and brilliant carnation of her complexion; her rosy, tender
+mouth; her abundant black hair, fastened with large golden pins, studded
+with jewels. He could not forget the grace of her figure, straight and
+slim as a young palm-tree, clad in a plain dark garment, and a
+neckerchief of white India silk falling away from her exquisite throat.
+He did not yet know that he was in love; he only felt how sweet it was
+to sit still and dream of the dim place, and the splendidly beautiful
+girl standing among its piled-up furniture and its hanging draperies.
+And this memory of Miriam made him very pitiful to Katherine.
+
+"Every one is angry at me, Bram, even my father; and Batavius will not
+sit on the chair at my side; and Joanna says a great disgrace I have
+made for her. And thou? Wilt thou also scold me? I think I shall die of
+grief."
+
+"Scold thee, thou little one? That I will not. And those that are angry
+with thee may be angry with me also. And if there is any comfort I can
+get thee, tell thy brother Bram. He will count thee first, before all
+others. How could they make thee weep? Cruel are they to do so. And as
+for Batavius, mind him not. Not much I think of Batavius! If he says
+this or that to thee, I will answer him."
+
+"Bram! my Bram! my brother! There is one comfort for me,--if I knew that
+he still lived; if one hope thou could give me!"
+
+"What hope there is, I will go and see. Before they are back from kirk,
+I will be back; and, if there is good news, I will be glad for thee."
+
+Not half an hour was Bram away; and yet, to the miserable girl, how
+grief and fear lengthened out the moments! She tried to prepare herself
+for the worst; she tried to strengthen her soul even for the message of
+death. But very rarely is any grief as bad as our own terror of it. When
+Bram came back, it was with a word of hope on his lips.
+
+"I have seen," he said, "who dost thou think?--the Jew Cohen. He of all
+men, he has sat by Captain Hyde's side all night; and he has dressed the
+wound the English surgeon declared 'beyond mortal skill.' And he said to
+me, 'Three times, in the Persian desert, I have cured wounds still
+worse, and the Holy One hath given me the power of healing; and, if He
+wills, the young man shall recover.' That is what he said, Katherine."
+
+"Forever I will love the Jew. Though he fail, I will love him. So kind
+he is, even to those who have not spoken well, nor done well, to him."
+
+"So kind, also, was the son of David to all of us. Now, then, go wash
+thy face, and take comfort and courage."
+
+"Bram, leave me not."
+
+"There is Neil. We have been companions; and his father and his mother
+are old, and need me."
+
+"Also, I need thee. All the time they will make me to feel how wicked is
+Katherine Van Heemskirk!"
+
+At this moment the family returned from the morning service, and Bram
+rather defiantly drew his sister to his side. Joris was not with them.
+He had stopped at the "King's Arms" to ask if Captain Hyde was still
+alive; for, in spite of everything, the young man's heroic cheerfulness
+in the agony of the preceding night had deeply touched Joris. No one
+spoke to Katherine; even her mother was annoyed and humiliated at the
+social ordeal through which they had just passed, and she thought it
+only reasonable that the erring girl should be made to share the trial.
+Batavius, however, had much curiosity; and his first thought on seeing
+Bram at home was, "Neil is of course dead, and Bram is of no further
+use;" and, in the tone of one personally injured by such a fatality, he
+ejaculated,--
+
+"So it is the end, then. On the sabbath day Neil has gone. If it should
+be the sabbath day in the other world,--which is likely,--it will be the
+worse for Neil."
+
+"What mean you?"
+
+"Is not Neil Semple dead?"
+
+"No. I think, also, that he will live."
+
+"I am glad. It is good for Katherine."
+
+"I see it not."
+
+"Well, then, if he dies, is it not Katherine's fault?"
+
+"Heaven and hell! No! Katherine is not to blame."
+
+"All respectable and moral people will say so."
+
+"Better for them not to say so. If I hear of it, then I will make them
+say it to my face."
+
+"Then? Well?"
+
+"I have my hands and my feet, for them--to punish their tongues."
+
+"And the kirk session?"
+
+"Oh, I care not! What is the kirk session to my little Katherine?
+Batavius, if man or woman you hear speak ill of her, tell them it is not
+Katherine, but Bram Van Heemskirk, that will bring everything back to
+them. What words I say, them I mean."
+
+"Oh, yes! And mind this, Bram, the words I think, them words I will say,
+whether you like them or like them not."
+
+"As the wind you bluster,--on the sabbath day, also. In your ship I sail
+not, Batavius. Good-by, then, Katherine; and if any are unkind to thee,
+tell thy brother. For thou art right, and not wrong."
+
+But, though Bram bravely championed his sister, he could not protect her
+from those wicked innuendoes disseminated for the gratification of the
+virtuous; nor from those malicious regrets of very good people over
+rumours which they declare to "be incredible," and yet which,
+nevertheless, they "unfortunately believe to be too true." The Scotch
+have a national precept which says, "Never speak ill of the dead."
+Would it not be much better to speak no ill of the living? Little could
+it have mattered to Madam Bogardus or Madam Stuyvesant what a lot of
+silly people said of them in Pearl Street or Maiden Lane, a century
+after their death; but poor Katherine Van Heemskirk shivered and
+sickened in the presence of averted eyes and uplifted shoulders, and in
+that chill atmosphere of disapproval which separated her from the
+sympathy and confidence of her old friends and acquaintances.
+
+"It is thy punishment," said her mother, "bear it bravely and patiently.
+In a little while, it will be forgot." But the weeks went on, and the
+wounded men slowly fought death away from their pillows, and Katherine
+did not recover the place in social estimation which she had lost
+through the ungovernable tempers of her lovers. For, alas, there are few
+social pleasures that have so much vital power as that of exploring the
+faults of others, and comparing them with our own virtues!
+
+But nothing ill lasts forever; and in three months Neil Semple was in
+his office again, wan and worn with fever and suffering, and wearing his
+sword arm in a sling, but still decidedly world-like and life-like. It
+was characteristic of Neil that few, even of his intimates, cared to
+talk of the duel to him, to make any observations on his absence, or any
+inquiries about his health. But it was evident that public opinion was
+in a large measure with him. Every young Provincial, who resented the
+domineering spirit of the army, felt Hyde's punishment in the light of a
+personal satisfaction. Beekman also had talked highly of the unbending
+spirit and physical bravery of his principal; and though in the Middle
+Kirk the affair was sure to be the subject of a reproof, and of a
+suspension of its highest privileges, yet it was not difficult to feel
+that sympathy often given to deeds publicly censured, but privately
+admired. Joris remarked this spirit with a little astonishment and
+dissent. He could not find in his heart any excuse for either Neil or
+Hyde; and, when the elder enlarged with some acerbity upon the
+requirements of honour among men, Joris offended him by replying,--
+
+"Well, then, Elder, little I think of that 'honour' which runs not with
+the laws of God and country."
+
+"Let me tell you, Joris, the 'voice of the people is the voice of God,'
+in a measure; and you may see with your ain een that it mair than
+acquits Neil o' wrong-doing. Man, Joris! would you punish a fair
+sword-fight wi' the hangman?"
+
+"A better way there is. In the pillory I would stand these men of
+honour, who of their own feelings think more than of the law of God. A
+very quick end that punishment would put to a custom wicked and absurd."
+
+"Weel, Joris, we'll hae no quarrel anent the question. You are a
+Dutchman, and hae practical ideas o' things in general. Honour is a
+virtue that canna be put in the Decalogue, like idolatry and murder and
+theft."
+
+"Say you the Decalogue? Its yea and nay are enough. Harder than any of
+God's laws are the laws we make for ourselves. Little I think of their
+justice and wisdom. If right was Neil, if wrong was Hyde, honour
+punished both. A very foolish law is honour, I think."
+
+"Here comes Neil, and we'll let the question fa' to the ground. There
+are wiser men than either you or I on baith sides."
+
+Joris nodded gravely, and turned to welcome the young man. More than
+ever he liked him; for, apart from moral and prudential reasons, it was
+easy for the father to forgive an unreasonable love for his Katharine.
+Also, he was now more anxious for a marriage between Neil and his
+daughter. It was indeed the best thing to fully restore her to the
+social esteem of her own people; for by making her his wife, Neil would
+most emphatically exonerate her from all blame in the quarrel. Just this
+far, and no farther, had Neil's three months' suffering aided his
+suit,--he had now the full approval of Joris, backed by the weight of
+this social justification.
+
+But, in spite of these advantages, he was really much farther away from
+Katherine. The three months had been full of mental suffering to her,
+and she blamed Neil entirely for it. She had heard from Bram the story
+of the challenge and the fight; heard how patiently Hyde had parried
+Neil's attack rather than return it, until Neil had so passionately
+refused any satisfaction less than his life; heard, also, how even at
+the point of death, fainting and falling, Hyde had tried to protect her
+ribbon at his breast. She never wearied of talking with Bram on the
+subject; she thought of it all day, dreamed of it all night.
+
+And she knew much more about it than her parents or Joanna supposed.
+Bram had easily fallen into the habit of calling at Cohen's to ask
+after his patient. He would have gone for his sister's comfort alone,
+but it was also a great pleasure to himself. At first he saw Miriam
+often; and, when he did, life became a heavenly thing to Bram Van
+Heemskirk. And though latterly it was always the Jew himself who
+answered his questions, there was at least the hope that Miriam would be
+in the store, and lift her eyes to him, or give him a smile or a few
+words of greeting. Katherine very soon suspected how matters stood with
+her brother, and gratitude led her to talk with him about the lovely
+Jewess. Every day she listened with apparent interest to his
+descriptions of Miriam, as he had seen her at various times; and every
+day she felt more desirous to know the girl whom she was certain Bram
+deeply loved.
+
+But for some weeks after the duel she could not bear to leave the house.
+It was only after both men were known to be recovering, that she
+ventured to kirk; and her experience there was not one which tempted her
+to try the streets and the stores. However, no interest is a living
+interest in a community but politics; and these probably retain their
+power because change is their element. People eventually got weary to
+death of Neil Semple and Captain Hyde and Katherine Van Heemskirk. The
+subject had been discussed in every possible light; and, when it was
+known that neither of the men was going to die, gossipers felt as if
+they had been somewhat defrauded, and the topic lost every touch of
+speculation.
+
+Also, far more important events had now the public attention. During the
+previous March, the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act had passed both
+houses of Parliament; and Virginia and Massachusetts, conscious of their
+dangerous character, had roused the fears of the other Provinces; and a
+convention of their delegates was appointed to meet during October in
+New York. It was this important session which drew Neil Semple, with
+scarcely healed wounds, from his chamber. The streets were noisy with
+hawkers crying the detested Acts, and crowded with groups of
+stern-looking men discussing them. And, with the prospect of soldiers
+quartered in every home, women had a real grievance to talk over; and
+Katherine Van Heemskirk's love-affair became an intrusion and a bore, if
+any one was foolish enough to name it.
+
+[Illustration: The streets were noisy with hawkers]
+
+It was during this time of excitement that Katherine said one morning,
+at breakfast, "Bram wait one minute for me. I am going to do an errand
+or two for my mother.
+
+"It is a bad time, Katherine, you have chosen," said Batavius. "Full of
+men are the streets, excited men too, and of swaggering British
+soldiers, whom it would be a great pleasure to tie up in a halter. The
+British I hate,--bullying curs, everyone of them!"
+
+"Well, I know that you hate the British, Batavius. You say so every
+hour."
+
+"Katherine!"
+
+"That is so, Joanna."
+
+Madam looked annoyed. Joris rose, and said, "Come then, Katherine, thou
+shalt go with me and with Bram both. Batavius need not then fear for
+thee."
+
+His voice was so tender that Katherine felt an unusual happiness and
+exultation; and she was also young enough to be glad to see the familiar
+streets again, and to feel the pulse of their vivid life make her heart
+beat quicker.
+
+At Kip's store, Bram left her. She had felt so free and unremarked, that
+she said, "Wait not for me, Bram. By myself I will go home. Or perhaps I
+might call upon Miriam Cohen. What dost thou think?" And Bram's large,
+handsome face flushed like a girl's with pleasure, as he answered, "That
+I would like, and there thou could rest until the dinner-hour. As I go
+home, I could call for thee."
+
+So, after selecting the goods her mother needed at Kip's, Katherine was
+going up Pearl Street, when she heard herself called in a familiar and
+urgent voice. At the same moment a door was flung open; and Mrs. Gordon,
+running down the few steps, put her hand upon the girl's shoulder.
+
+"Oh, my dear, this is a piece of good fortune past belief! Come into my
+lodgings. Oh, indeed you shall! I will have no excuse. Surely you owe
+Dick and me some reward after the pangs we have suffered for you."
+
+She was leading Katherine into the house as she spoke; and Katherine had
+not the will, and therefore not the power, to oppose her. She placed the
+girl by her side on the sofa; she took her hands, and, with a genuine
+grief and love, told her all that "poor Dick" had suffered and was still
+suffering for her sake.
+
+"It was the most unprovoked challenge, my dear; and Neil Semple behaved
+like a savage, I assure you. When Dick was bleeding from half a dozen
+wounds, a gentleman would have been satisfied, and accepted the
+mediation of the seconds; but Neil, in his blind passion, broke the code
+to pieces. A man who can do nothing but be in a rage is a ridiculous and
+offensive animal. Have you seen him since his recovery? For I hear that
+he has crawled out of his bed again."
+
+"Him I have not seen."
+
+"Gracious powers, miss! Is that all you say, 'Him I have not seen'? Make
+me patient with so insensible a creature! Here am I almost distracted
+with my three months' anxiety and poor Dick, so gone as to be past
+knowledge, breaking his true heart for a sight of you; and you answer me
+as if I had asked, 'Pray, have you seen the newspaper to-day?'"
+
+Then Katherine covered her face, and sobbed with a hopelessness and
+abandon that equally fretted Mrs. Gordon. "I wish I knew one corner of
+this world inaccessible to lovers," she cried. "Of all creatures, they
+are the most ridiculous and unreasonable. Now, what are you crying for,
+child?"
+
+"If I could only see Richard,--only see him for one moment!"
+
+"That is exactly what I am going to propose. He will get better when he
+has seen you. I will call a coach, and we will go at once."
+
+"Alas! Go I dare not. My father and my mother!"
+
+"And Dick,--what of Dick, poor Dick, who is dying for you?" She went to
+the door, and gave the order for a coach. "Your lover, Katherine. Child,
+have you no heart? Shall I tell Dick you would not come with me?"
+
+"Be not so cruel to me. That you have seen me at all, why need you say?"
+
+"Oh! indeed, miss, do not imagine yourself the only person who values
+the truth. Dick always asks me, 'Have you seen her?' 'Tis my humour to
+be truthful, and I am always swayed by my inclination. I shall feel it
+to be my duty to inform him how indifferent you are. Katherine, put on
+your bonnet again. Here also are my veil and cloak. No one will perceive
+that it is you. It is the part of humanity, I assure you. Do so much for
+a poor soul who is at the grave's mouth."
+
+"My father, I promised him"--
+
+"O child! have six penny worth of common feeling about you. The man is
+dying for your sake. If he were your enemy, instead of your true lover,
+you might pity him so much. Do you not wish to see Dick?"
+
+"My life for his life I would give."
+
+"Words, words, my dear. It is not your life he wants. He asks only ten
+minutes of your time. And if you desire to see him, give yourself the
+pleasure. There is nothing more silly than to be too wise to be happy."
+
+While thus alternately urging and persuading Katherine, the coach came,
+the disguise was assumed, and the two drove rapidly to the "King's
+Arms." Hyde was lying upon a couch which had been drawn close to the
+window. But in order to secure as much quiet as possible, he had been
+placed in one of the rooms at the rear of the tavern,--a large, airy
+room, looking into the beautiful garden which stretched away backward as
+far as the river. He had been in extremity. He was yet too weak to
+stand, too weak to endure long the strain of company or books or papers.
+
+He heard his aunt's voice and footfall, and felt, as he always did, a
+vague pleasure in her advent. Whatever of life came into his chamber of
+suffering came through her. She brought him daily such intelligences as
+she thought conducive to his recovery; and it must be acknowledged that
+it was not always her "humour to be truthful." For Hyde had so craved
+news of Katherine, that she believed he would die wanting it; and she
+had therefore fallen, without one conscientious scruple, into the
+reporter's temptation,--inventing the things which ought to have taken
+place, and did not. "For, in faith, Nigel," she said to her husband, in
+excuse, "those who have nothing to tell must tell lies."
+
+[Illustration: Katherine was close to his side]
+
+Her reports had been ingenious and diversified. "She had seen Katherine
+at one of the windows,--the very picture of distraction." "She had been
+told that Katherine was breaking her heart about him;" also, "that Elder
+Semple and Councillor Van Heemskirk had quarrelled because Katharine
+had refused to see Neil, and the elder blamed Van Heemskirk for not
+compelling her obedience." Whenever Hyde had been unusually depressed or
+unusually nervous, Mrs. Gordon had always had some such comforting
+fiction ready. Now, here was the real Katherine. Her very presence, her
+smiles, her tears, her words, would be a consolation so far beyond all
+hope, that the girl by her side seemed a kind of miracle to her.
+
+She was far more than a miracle to Hyde. As the door opened, he slowly
+turned his head. When he saw _who_ was really there, he uttered a low
+cry of joy,--a cry pitiful in its shrill weakness. In a moment Katherine
+was close to his side. This was no time for coyness, and she was too
+tender and true a woman to feel or to affect it. She kissed his hands
+and face, and whispered on his lips the sweetest words of love and
+fidelity. Hyde was in a rapture. His joyful soul made his pale face
+luminous. He lay still, speechless, motionless, watching and listening
+to her.
+
+Mrs. Gordon had removed Katherine's veil and cloak, and considerately
+withdrawn to a mirror at the extremity of the room, where she appeared
+to be altogether occupied with her own ringlets. But, indeed, it was
+with Katherine and Hyde one of those supreme hours when love conquers
+every other feeling. Before the whole world they would have avowed their
+affection, their pity, and their truth.
+
+Hyde could speak little, but there was no need of speech. Had he not
+nearly died for her? Was not his very helplessness a plea beyond the
+power of words? She had only to look at the white shadow of humanity
+holding her hand, and remember the gay, gallant, handsome soldier who
+had wooed her under the water-beeches, to feel that all the love of her
+life was too little to repay his devotion. And so quickly, so quickly,
+went the happy moments! Ere Katherine had half said, "I love thee," Mrs.
+Gordon reminded her that it was near the noon; "and I have an excellent
+plan," she continued; "you can leave my veil and cloak in the coach, and
+I will leave you at the first convenient place near your home. At the
+turn of the road, one sees nobody but your excellent father or brother,
+or perhaps Justice Van Gaasbeek, all of whom we may avoid, if you will
+but consider the time."
+
+"Then we must part, _my Katherine_, for a little. When will you come
+again?"
+
+This was a painful question, because Katherine felt, that, however she
+might excuse herself for the unforeseen stress of pity that all unaware
+had hurried her into this interview, she knew she could not find the
+same apology for one deliberate and prearranged.
+
+"Only once more," Hyde pleaded. "I had, my Katherine, so many things to
+say to you. In my joy, I forgot all. Come but once more. Upon my honour,
+I promise to ask Katherine Van Heemskirk only this once. To-morrow?
+'No.' Two days hence, then?"
+
+"Two days hence I will come again. Then no more."
+
+He smiled at her, and put out his hands; and she knelt again by his
+side, and kissed her "farewell" on his lips. And, as she put on again
+her cloak and veil, he drew a small volume towards him, and with
+trembling hands tore out of it a scrap of paper, and gave it to her.
+
+Under the lilac hedge that night she read it, read it over and
+over,--the bit of paper made almost warm and sentient by Phoedria's
+tender petition to his beloved,--
+
+"When you are in company with that other man, behave as if you were
+absent; but continue to love me by day and by night; want me, dream of
+me, expect me, think of me, wish for me, delight in me, be wholly with
+me; in short, be my very soul, as I am yours."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+          "_Let determined things to destiny
+          Hold unbewailed their way._"
+
+
+If Katherine had lived at this day, she would probably have spent her
+time between her promise and its fulfilment in self-analysis and
+introspective reasoning with her own conscience. But the women of a
+century ago were not tossed about with winds of various opinions, or
+made foolishly subtile by arguments about principles which ought never
+to be associated with dissent. A few strong, plain dictates had been set
+before Katherine as the law of her daily life; and she knew, beyond all
+controversy, when she disobeyed them.
+
+In her own heart, she called the sin she had determined to commit by its
+most unequivocal name. "I shall make happy Richard; but my father I
+shall deceive and disobey, and against my own soul there will be the
+lie." This was the position she admitted, but every woman is Eve in some
+hours of her life. The law of truth and wisdom may be in her ears, but
+the apple of delight hangs within her reach, and, with a full
+understanding of the consequences of disobedience, she takes the
+forbidden pleasure. And if the vocal, positive command of Divinity was
+unheeded by the first woman, mere mortal parents surely ought not to
+wonder that their commands, though dictated by truest love and clearest
+wisdom, are often lightly held, or even impotent against the voice of
+some charmer, pleading personal pleasure against duty, and self-will
+against the law infinitely higher and purer.
+
+In truth, Katherine had grown very weary of the perpetual eulogies which
+Batavius delivered of everything respectable and conservative. A kind of
+stubbornness in evil followed her acceptance of evil. This time, at
+least, she was determined to do wrong, whatever the consequences might
+be. Batavius and his inflexible propriety irritated her: she had a
+rebellious desire to give him little moral shocks; and she deeply
+resented his constant injunctions to "remember that Joanna's and his own
+good name were, in a manner, in her keeping."
+
+Very disagreeable she thought Batavius had grown, and she also jealously
+noted the influence he was exercising over Joanna. There are women who
+prefer secrecy to honesty, and sin to truthfulness; but Katherine was
+not one of them. If it had been possible to see her lover honourably,
+she would have much preferred it. She was totally destitute of that
+contemptible sentimentality which would rather invent difficulties in a
+love-affair than not have them, but she knew well the storm of reproach
+and disapproval which would answer any such request; and her thoughts
+were all bent toward devising some plan which would enable her to leave
+home early on that morning which she had promised her lover.
+
+But all her little arrangements failed; and it was almost at the last
+hour of the evening previous, that circumstances offered her a
+reasonable excuse. It came through Batavius, who returned home later
+than usual, bringing with him a great many patterns of damask and
+figured cloth and stamped leather. At once he announced his intention of
+staying at home the next morning in order to have Joanna's aid in
+selecting the coverings for their new chairs, and counting up their
+cost. He had taken the strips out of his pocket with an air of
+importance and complaisance; and Katherine, glancing from them to her
+mother, thought she perceived a fleeting shadow of a feeling very much
+akin to her own contempt of the man's pronounced self-satisfaction. So
+when supper was over, and the house duties done, she determined to speak
+to her. Joris was at a town meeting, and Lysbet did not interfere with
+the lovers. Katherine found her standing at an open window, looking
+thoughtfully into the autumn garden.
+
+"_Mijn moeder_."
+
+"_Mijn kind_."
+
+"Let me go away with Bram in the morning. Batavius I cannot bear. About
+every chair-cover he will call in the whole house. The only
+chair-covers in the world they will be. Listen, how he will talk: 'See
+here, Joanna. A fine piece is this; ten shillings and sixpence the yard,
+and good enough for the governor's house. But I am a man of some
+substance,--_Gode zij dank!_--and people will expect that I, who give
+every Sunday twice to the kirk, should have chairs in accordance.'
+_Moeder_, you know how it will be. To-morrow I cannot bear him. Very
+near quarrelling have we been for a week."
+
+"I know, Katharine, I know. Leave, then, with Bram, and go first to
+Margaret Pitt's, and ask her if the new winter fashions will arrive from
+London this month. I heard also that Mary Blankaart has lost a silk
+purse, and in it five gold jacobus, and some half and quarter johannes.
+Ask kindly for her, and about the money; and so the morning could be
+passed. And look now, Katherine, peace is the best thing; and to his own
+house Batavius will go in a few weeks."
+
+"That will make me glad."
+
+"Whish, _mijn kind!_ Thy bad thoughts should be dumb thoughts."
+
+"_Mijn moeder_, sad and troubled are thy looks. What is thy sorrow?"
+
+"For thee my heart aches often,--mine and thy good father's, too. Dost
+thou not suffer? Can thy mother be blind? Nothing hast thou eaten
+lately. Joanna says thou art restless all the night long. Thou art so
+changed then, that wert ever such a happy little one. Once thou did love
+me, Katrijntje."
+
+"_Ach, mijn moeder_, still I love thee!"
+
+"But that English soldier?"
+
+"Never can I cease to love him. See, now, the love I give him is his
+love. It never was thine. For him I brought it into the world. None of
+thy love have I given to him. _Mijn moeder_, thee I would not rob for
+the whole world; not I!"
+
+"For all that, _kleintje_, hard is the mother's lot. The dear children I
+nursed on my breast, they go here and they go there, with this strange
+one and that strange one. Last night, ere to our sleep we went, thy
+father read to me some words of the loving, motherlike Jacob. They are
+true words. Every good mother has said them, at the grave or at the
+bridal, 'En mij aangaande, als ik van kinderen beroofd ben, zoo ben ik
+beroofd!'"
+
+There was a sad pathos in the homely old words as they dropped slowly
+from Lysbet's lips,--a pathos that fitted perfectly the melancholy air
+of the fading garden, the melancholy light of the fading day, and the
+melancholy regret for a happy home gradually scattering far and wide.
+Many a year afterward Katharine remembered the hour and the words,
+especially in the gray glooms of late October evenings.
+
+The next morning was one of perfect beauty, and Katharine awoke with a
+feeling of joyful expectation. She dressed beautifully her pale brown
+hair; and her intended visit to Mary Blankaart gave her an excuse for
+wearing her India silk,--the pretty dress Richard had seen her first in,
+the dress he had so often admired. Her appearance caused some remarks,
+which Madam Van Heemskirk replied to; and with much of her old gayety
+Katherine walked between her father and brother away from home.
+
+She paid a very short visit to the mantua-maker, and then went to Mrs.
+Gordon's. There was less effusion in that lady's manner than at her last
+interview with Katherine. She had a little spasm of jealousy; she had
+some doubts about Katherine's deserts; she wondered whether her nephew
+really adored the girl with the fervour he affected, or whether he had
+determined, at all sacrifices, to prevent her marriage with Neil Semple.
+Katherine had never before seen her so quiet and so cool; and a feeling
+of shame sprang up in the girl's heart. "Perhaps she was going to do
+something not exactly proper in Mrs. Gordon's eyes, and in advance that
+lady was making her sensible of her contempt."
+
+With this thought, she rose, and with burning cheeks said, "I will go
+home, madam. Now I feel that I am doing wrong. To write to Captain Hyde
+will be the best way."
+
+"Pray don't be foolish, Katherine. I am of a serious turn this morning,
+that is all. How pretty you are! and how vastly becoming your gown! But,
+indeed, I am going to ask you to change it. Yesterday, at the 'King's
+Arms,' I said my sister would arrive this morning with me; and I bespoke
+a little cotillon in Dick's rooms. In that dress you will be too
+familiar, my dear. See here, is not this the prettiest fashion? It is
+lately come over. So airy! so French! so all that!"
+
+It was a light-blue gown and petticoat of rich satin, sprigged with
+silver, and a manteau of dark-blue velvet trimmed with bands of delicate
+fur. The bonnet was not one which the present generation would call
+"lovely;" but, in its satin depths, Katharine's fresh, sweet face
+looked like a rose. She hardly knew herself when the toilet was
+completed; and, during its progress, Mrs. Gordon recovered all her
+animation and interest.
+
+[Illustration: In its satin depths]
+
+Before they were ready, a coach was in waiting; and in a few minutes
+they stood together at Hyde's door. There was a sound of voices within;
+and, when they entered, Katherine saw, with a pang of disappointment, a
+fine, soldierly looking man in full uniform sitting by Richard's side.
+But Richard appeared to be in no way annoyed by his company. He was
+looking much better, and wore a chamber gown of maroon satin, with deep
+laces showing at the wrists and bosom. When Katherine entered, he was
+amazed and charmed with her appearance. "Come near to me, my Katherine,"
+he said; and as Mrs. Gordon drew from her shoulders the mantle, and from
+her head the bonnet, and revealed more perfectly her beautiful person
+and dress, his love and admiration were beyond words.
+
+With an air that plainly said, "This is the maiden for whom I fought and
+have suffered: is she not worthy of my devotion?" he introduced her to
+his friend, Captain Earle. But, even as they spoke, Earle joined Mrs.
+Gordon, at a call from her; and Katherine noticed that a door near which
+they stood was open, and that they went into the room to which it led,
+and that other voices then blended with theirs. But these things were
+as nothing. She was with her lover, alone for a moment with him; and
+Richard had never before seemed to her half so dear or half so
+fascinating.
+
+"My Katharine," he said, "I have one tormenting thought. Night and day
+it consumes me like a fever. I hear that Neil Semple is well. Yesterday
+Captain Earle met him; he was walking with your father. He will be
+visiting at your house very soon. He will see you; he will speak to you.
+You have such obliging manners, he may even clasp this hand, _my hand_.
+Heavens! I am but a man, and I find myself unable to endure the
+thought."
+
+"In my heart, Richard, there is only room for you. Neil Semple I fear
+and dislike."
+
+"They will make you marry him, my darling."
+
+"No; that they can never do."
+
+"But I suffer in the fear. I suffer a thousand deaths. If you were only
+my wife, Katherine!"
+
+She blushed divinely. She was kneeling at his side; and she put her arms
+around his neck, and laid her face against his. "Only your wife I will
+be. That is what I desire also."
+
+"_Now_, Katherine? This minute, darling? Make me sure of the felicity
+you have promised. You have my word of honour, that as Katherine Van
+Heemskirk I will not again ask you to come here. But it is past my
+impatience to exist, and not see you. _Katherine Hyde_ would have the
+right to come."
+
+"Oh, my love, my love!"
+
+"See how I tremble, Katherine. Life scarcely cares to inhabit a body so
+weak. If you refuse me, I will let it go. If you refuse me, I shall know
+that in your heart you expect to marry Neil Semple,--the savage who has
+made me to suffer unspeakable agonies."
+
+"Never will I marry him, Richard,--never, never. My word is true. You
+only I will marry."
+
+"Then _now, now_, Katharine. Here is the ring. Here is the special
+license from the governor; my aunt has made him to understand all. The
+clergyman and the witnesses are waiting. Some good fortune has dressed
+you in bridal beauty. _Now_, Katherine? _Now, now_!"
+
+[Illustration: Katherine knelt by Richard's side]
+
+She rose, and stood white and trembling by his dear side,--speechless,
+also. To her father and her mother her thoughts fled in a kind of
+loving terror. But how could she resist the pleading of one whom she so
+tenderly loved, and to whom, in her maiden simplicity, she imagined
+herself to be so deeply bounden? That very self-abnegation which forms
+so large a portion of a true affection urged her to compliance far more
+than love itself. And when Richard ceased to speak, and only besought
+her with the unanswerable pathos of his evident suffering for her sake,
+she felt the argument to be irresistible.
+
+"Well, my Katherine, will you pity me so far?"
+
+"All you ask, my loved one, I will grant."
+
+"Angel of goodness! _Now_?"
+
+"At your wish, Richard."
+
+He took her hand in a passion of joy and gratitude, and touched a small
+bell. Immediately there was a sudden silence, and then a sudden
+movement, in the adjoining room. The next moment a clergyman in
+canonical dress came toward them. By his side was Colonel Gordon, and
+Mrs. Gordon and Captain Earle followed. If Katherine had then been
+sensible of any misgiving or repentant withdrawal, the influences
+surrounding her were irresistible. But she had no distinct wish to
+resist them. Indeed, Colonel Gordon said afterward to his wife, "he had
+never seen a bride look at once so lovely and so happy." The ceremony
+was full of solemnity, and of that deepest joy which dims the eyes with
+tears, even while it wreathes the lips with smiles. During it, Katherine
+knelt by Richard's side; and every eye was fixed upon him, for he was
+almost fainting with the fatigue of his emotions; and it was with
+fast-receding consciousness that he whispered rapturously at its close,
+"My wife, my wife!"
+
+Throughout the sleep of exhaustion which followed, she sat watching him.
+The company in the next room were quietly making merry "over Dick's
+triumph," but Katherine shook her head at all proposals to join them.
+The band of gold around her finger fascinated her. She was now really
+Richard's wife; and the first sensation of such a mighty change was, in
+her pure soul, one of infinite and reverent love. When Richard awoke, he
+was refreshed and supremely happy. Then Katherine brought him food and
+wine, and ate her own morsel beside him. "Our first meal we must take
+together," she said; and Hyde was already sensible of some exquisite
+change, some new and rarer tenderness and solicitude in all her ways
+toward him.
+
+The noon hour was long past, but she made no mention of it. The wedding
+guests also lingered, talking and laughing softly, and occasionally
+visiting the happy bride and bridegroom in their blissful companionship.
+In those few hours Richard made sure his dominion over his wife's heart;
+and he had so much to tell her, and so many directions to give her,
+that, ere they were aware, the afternoon was well spent. The clergyman
+and the soldiers departed, Mrs. Gordon was a little weary, and Hyde was
+fevered with the very excess of his joy. The moment for parting had
+come; and, when it has, wise are those who delay it not. Hyde fixed his
+eyes upon his wife until Mrs. Gordon had arranged again her bonnet and
+manteau; then, with a smile, he shut in their white portals the
+exquisite picture. He could let her go with a smile now, for he knew
+that Katherine's absence was but a parted presence; knew that her better
+part remained with him, that
+
+                    "Her heart was never away,
+                       But ever with his forever."
+
+The coach was waiting; and, without delay, Katharine returned with Mrs.
+Gordon to her lodgings. Both were silent on the journey. When a great
+event has taken place, only the shallow and unfeeling chatter about it.
+Katherine's heart was full, even to solemnity; and Mrs. Gordon, whose
+affectation of fashionable levity was in a large measure pretence, had a
+kind and sensible nature, and she watched the quiet girl by her side
+with decided approval. "She may not be in the mode, but she is neither
+silly nor heartless," she decided; "and as for loving foolishly my poor,
+delightful Dick, why, any girl may be excused the folly."
+
+Upon leaving the coach at Mrs. Gordon's, Katherine went to an inner room
+to resume her own dress. The India silk lay across a chair; and she took
+off, and folded with her accustomed neatness, the elegant suit she had
+worn. As she did so, she became sensible of a singular liking for it;
+and, when Mrs. Gordon entered the room, she said to her, "Madam, very
+much I desire this suit: it is my wedding-gown. Will you save it for me?
+Some day I may wear it again, when Richard is well."
+
+"Indeed, Katherine, that is a womanly thought; it does you a vast deal
+of credit; and, upon my word, you shall have the gown. I shall be put to
+straits without it, to out-dress Miss Betty Lawson; but never mind, I
+have a few decent gowns beside it."
+
+"Richard, too, he will like it? You think so, madam?"
+
+"My dear, don't begin to quote Richard to me. I shall be impatient if
+you do. I assure you I have never considered him a prodigy." Then,
+kissing her fondly, "Madam Katherine Hyde, my entire service to you.
+Pray be sure I shall give your husband my best concern. And now I think
+you can walk out of the door without much notice; there is a crowd on
+the street, and every one is busy about their own appearance or
+affairs."
+
+"The time, madam? What is the hour?"
+
+"Indeed, I think it is much after four o'clock. Half an hour hence, you
+will have to bring out your excuses. I shall wish for a little devil at
+your elbow to help them out. Indeed, I am vastly troubled for you."
+
+"Her excuses" Katherine had not suffered herself to consider. She could
+not bear to shadow the present with the future. She had, indeed, a happy
+faculty of leaving her emergencies to take care of themselves; and
+perhaps wiser people than Katherine might, with advantage, trust less to
+their own planning and foresight, and more to that inscrutable power
+which we call chance, but which so often arranges favourably the events
+apparently very unfavourable. For, at the best, foresight has but
+probabilities to work with; but chance, whose tools we know not, very
+often contradicts all our bad prophecies, and untangles untoward events
+far beyond our best prudence or wisdom. And Katharine was so happy. She
+was really Richard's wife; and on that solid vantage-ground she felt
+able to beat off trouble, and to defend her own and his rights.
+
+"So much better you look, Katherine," said Madam Van Heemskirk. "Where
+have you been all the day? And did you see Mary Blankaart? And the
+money, is it found yet?"
+
+The family were at the supper-table; and Joris looked kindly at his
+truant daughter, and motioned to the vacant chair at his side. She
+slipped into it, touching her father's cheek as she passed; and then she
+answered, "At Mary Blankaart's I was not at all, mother."
+
+"Where, then?"
+
+"To Margaret Pitt's I went first, and with Mrs. Gordon I have been all
+the day. She is lodging with Mrs. Lanier, on Pearl Street."
+
+"Who sent you there, Katherine?"
+
+"No one, mother. When I passed the house, my name I heard, and Mrs.
+Gordon came out to me; and how could I refuse her? Much had we to talk
+of."
+
+Batavius saw the girl's placid face, and heard her open confession, with
+the greatest amazement. He looked at Joanna, and was just going to
+express his opinion, when Joris rose, pushed his chair a little angrily
+aside, and said, "There is no blame to you, Katherine. Very kind was
+Mrs. Gordon to you, and she is a pleasant woman. For others' faults she
+must not answer. That, also, is what Elder Semple says; for when past
+was her anger, with a heart full of sorrow she went to him and to Madam
+Semple."
+
+"The sorrow that is too late, of what use is it? A very pleasant woman!
+Perhaps she is, but then, also, a very vain, foolish woman. Every person
+of discretion says so; and if I had a daughter"--
+
+"Well, then, Batavius, a daughter thou may have some day. To the man
+with a tender heart, God gives his daughters. Wanting in some good thing
+I had felt myself, if only sons I had been trusted with. A daughter is a
+little white lamb in the household to teach men to be gentle men."
+
+"I was going to say this, if I had a daughter"--
+
+"Well, then, when thou hast, more wisdom will be given thee. Come with
+thy father, _Katrijntje_, and down the garden we will walk, and see if
+there are dahlias yet, and how grow the gold and the white
+chrysanthemums."
+
+But all the time they were in the garden together, Joris never spoke of
+Mrs. Gordon, nor of Katherine's visit to her. About the flowers, and the
+restless swallows, and the bluebirds, who still lingered, silent and
+anxious, he talked; and a little also of Joanna, and her new house, and
+of the great wedding feast that was the desire of Batavius.
+
+"Every one he has ever spoken to, he will ask," said Katherine; "so hard
+he tries to have many friends, and to be well spoken of."
+
+"That is his way, _Katrijntje_; every man has his way."
+
+"And I like not the way of Batavius."
+
+"In business, then, he has a good name, honest and prudent. He will
+make thy sister a good husband."
+
+But, though Joris said nothing to his daughter concerning her visit to
+Mrs. Gordon, he talked long with Lysbet about it. "What will be the end,
+thou may see by the child's face and air," he said; "the shadow and the
+heaviness are gone. Like the old Katherine she is to-night."
+
+"And this afternoon comes here Neil Semple. Scarcely he believed me that
+Katherine was out. Joris, what wilt thou do about the young man?"
+
+"His fair chance he is to have, Lysbet. That to the elder is promised."
+
+"The case now is altered. Neil Semple I like not. Little he thought of
+our child's good name. With his sword he wounded her most. No patience
+have I with the man. And his dark look thou should have seen when I
+said, 'Katherine is not at home.' Plainly his eyes said to me, 'Thou art
+lying.'"
+
+"Well, then, what thought hast thou?"
+
+"This: one lover must push away the other. The young dominie that is now
+with the Rev. Lambertus de Ronde, he is handsome and a great hero. From
+Surinam has he come, a man who for the cross has braved savage men and
+savage beasts and deadly fever. No one but he is now to be talked of in
+the kirk; and I would ask him to the house. Often I have seen the gown
+and bands put the sword and epaulets behind them."
+
+"Well, then, at the wedding of Batavius he will be asked; and if before
+there is a good time, I will say, 'Come into my house, and eat and drink
+with us.'"
+
+So the loving, anxious parents, in their ignorance, planned. Even then,
+accustomed in all their ways to move with caution, they saw no urgent
+need of interference with the regular and appointed events of life. A
+few weeks hence, when Joanna was married, if there was in the meantime
+no special opportunity, the dominie could be offered as an antidote to
+the soldier; and, in the interim, Neil Semple was to honourably have
+such "chance" as his ungovernable temper had left him.
+
+The next afternoon he called again on Katherine. His arm was still
+useless; his pallor and weakness so great as to win, even from Lysbet,
+that womanly pity which is often irrespective of desert. She brought him
+wine, she made him rest upon the sofa, and by her quiet air of sympathy
+bespoke for him a like indulgence from her daughter. Katherine sat by
+her small wheel, unplaiting some flax; and Neil thought her the most
+beautiful creature he had ever seen. He kept angrily asking himself why
+he had not perceived this rare loveliness before; why he had not made
+sure his claim ere rivals had disputed it with him. He did not
+understand that it was love which had called this softer, more exquisite
+beauty into existence. The tender light in the eyes; the flush upon the
+cheek; the lips, conscious of sweet words and sweeter kisses; the heart,
+beating to pure and loving thoughts,--in short, the loveliness of the
+soul, transfiguring the meaner loveliness of flesh and blood, Neil had
+perceived and wondered at; but he had not that kind of love experience
+which divines the cause from the result.
+
+On the contrary, had Hyde been watching Katherine, he would have been
+certain that she was musing on her lover. He would have understood that
+bewitching languor, that dreaming silence, that tender air and light and
+colour which was the physical atmosphere of a soul communing with its
+beloved; a soul touching things present only with its intelligence, but
+reaching out to the absent with intensity of every loving emotion.
+
+For some time the conversation was general. The meeting of the
+delegates, and the hospitalities offered them; the offensive and
+tyrannical Stamp Act; the new organization of patriots who called
+themselves "Sons of Liberty;" and the loss of Miss Mary Blankaart's
+purse,--furnished topics of mild dispute. But no one's interest was in
+their words, and presently Madam Van Heemskirk rose and left the room.
+Her husband had said, "Neil was to have some opportunities;" and the
+words of Joris were a law of love to Lysbet.
+
+Neil was not slow to improve the favour. "Katherine, I wish to speak to
+you. I am weak and ill. Will you come here beside me?"
+
+She rose slowly, and stood beside him; but, when he tried to take her
+hands, she clasped them behind her back.
+
+"So?" he asked; and the blood surged over his white face in a crimson
+tide that made him for a moment or two speechless. "Why not?"
+
+"Blood-stained are your hands. I will not take them."
+
+The answer gave him a little comfort. It was, then, only a moral qualm.
+He had even no objection to such a keen sense of purity in her; and
+sooner or later she would forgive his action, or be made to see it with
+the eyes of the world in which he moved.
+
+"Katherine, I am very sorry I had to guard my honour with my sword; and
+it was your love I was fighting for."
+
+"My honour you cared not for, and with the sword I could not guard it.
+Of me cruel and false words have been said by every one. On the streets
+I was ashamed to go. Even the dominie thought it right to come and give
+me admonition. Batavius never since has liked or trusted me. He says
+Joanna's good name also I have injured. And my love,--is it a thing to
+be fought for? You have guarded your honour, but what of mine?"
+
+"Your honour is my honour. They that speak ill of you, sweet Katherine,
+speak ill of me. Your life is my life. O my precious one, my wife!"
+
+"Such words I will not listen to. Plainly now I tell you, your wife I
+will never be,--never, never, never!"
+
+"I will love you, Katherine, beyond your dream of love. I will die
+rather than see you the wife of another man. For your bow of ribbon,
+only see what I have suffered."
+
+"And, also, what have you made another to suffer?"
+
+"Oh, I wish that I had slain him!"
+
+"Not your fault is it that you did not murder him."
+
+"An affair of honour is not murder, Katherine."
+
+"Honour!--Name not the word. From a dozen wounds your enemy was
+bleeding; to go on fighting a dying man was murder, not honour. Brave
+some call you: in my heart I say, 'Neil Semple was a savage and a
+coward.'"
+
+"Katherine, I will not be angry with you."
+
+"I wish that you should be angry with me."
+
+"Because some day you will be very sorry for these foolish words, my
+dear love."
+
+"Your dear love I am not."
+
+"My dear love, give me a drink of wine, I am faint."
+
+[Illustration: "I am faint"]
+
+His faint whispered words and deathlike countenance moved her to human
+pity. She rose for the wine, and, as she did so, called her mother; but
+Neil had at least the satisfaction of feeling that she had ministered to
+his weakness, and held the wine to his lips. From this time, he visited
+her constantly, unmindful of her frowns, deaf to all her unkind words,
+patient under the most pointed slights and neglect. And as most men rate
+an object according to the difficulty experienced in attaining it,
+Katherine became every day more precious and desirable in Neil's eyes.
+
+In the meantime, without being watched, Katherine felt herself to be
+under a certain amount of restraint. If she proposed a walk into the
+city, Joanna or madam was sure to have the same desire. She was not
+forbidden to visit Mrs. Gordon, but events were so arranged as to make
+the visit almost impossible; and only once, during the month after her
+marriage, had she an interview with her husband. For even Hyde's
+impatience had recognized the absolute necessity of circumspection. The
+landlord's suspicions had been awakened, and not very certainly allayed.
+"There must be no scandal about my house, Captain," he said. "I merit
+something better from you;" and, after this injunction, it was very
+likely that Mrs. Gordon's companions would be closely scrutinized. True,
+the "King's Arms" was the great rendezvous of the military and
+government officials, and the landlord himself subserviently loyal; but,
+also, Joris Van Heemskirk was not a man with whom any good citizen would
+like to quarrel. Personally he was much beloved, and socially he stood
+as representative of a class which held in their hands commercial and
+political power no one cared to oppose or offend.
+
+The marriage license had been obtained from the governor, but
+extraordinary influence had been used to procure it. Katherine was under
+age, and yet subject to her father's authority. In spite of book and
+priest and ring, he could retain his child for at least three years; and
+three years, Hyde--in talking with his aunt--called "an eternity of
+doubt and despair." These facts, Hyde, in his letters, had fully
+explained to Katherine; and she understood clearly how important the
+preservation of her secret was, and how much toward allaying suspicion
+depended upon her own behaviour. Fortunately Joanna's wedding day was
+drawing near, and it absorbed what attention the general public had for
+the Van Heemskirk family. For it was a certain thing, developing into
+feasting and dancing; and it quite put out of consideration suspicions
+which resulted in nothing, when people examined them in the clear
+atmosphere of Katherine's home.
+
+At the feast of St. Nicholas the marriage was to take place. Early in
+November the preparations for it began. No such great event could happen
+without an extraordinary housecleaning; and from garret to cellar the
+housemaid's pail and brush were in demand. Spotless was every inch of
+paint, shining every bit of polished wood and glass; not a thimbleful of
+dust in the whole house. Toward the end of the month, Anna and Cornelia
+arrived, with their troops of rosy boys and girls, and their slow,
+substantial husbands. Batavius felt himself to be a very great man. The
+weight of his affairs made him solemn and preoccupied. He was not one of
+those light, foolish ones, who can become a husband and a householder
+without being sensible of the responsibilities they assume.
+
+In the midst of all this household excitement Katherine found some
+opportunities of seeing Mrs. Gordon; and in the joy of receiving letters
+from, and sending letters to, her husband, she recovered a gayety of
+disposition which effectually repressed all urgent suspicions. Besides,
+as the eventful day drew near, there was so much to attend to. Joanna's
+personal goods, her dresses and household linen, her china, and wedding
+gifts, had to be packed; the house was decorated; and there was a most
+amazing quantity of delicacies to be prepared for the table.
+
+In the middle of the afternoon of the day before the marriage, there was
+the loud rat-tat-tat of the brass knocker, announcing a visitor. But
+visitors had been constant since the arrival of Cornelia and Anna, and
+Katherine did not much trouble herself as to whom it might be. She was
+standing upon a ladder, pinning among the evergreens and scarlet berries
+rosettes and bows of ribbon of the splendid national colour, and singing
+with a delightsome cheeriness,--
+
+                    "But the maid of Holland,
+                       For her own true love,
+                    Ties the splendid orange,
+                       Orange still above!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                       Orange still above!"
+
+"Orange still above! Oh, my dear, don't trouble yourself to come down! I
+can pass the time tolerably well, watching you."
+
+It was Mrs. Gordon, and she nodded and laughed in a triumphant way that
+very quickly brought Katherine to her side. "My dear, I kiss you. You
+are the top beauty of my whole acquaintance." Then, in a whisper,
+"_Richard sends his devotion. And put your hand in my muff: there is a
+letter._ And pray give me joy: I have just secured an invitation. I
+asked the councillor and madam point blank for it. Faith, I think I am a
+little of a favourite with them! Every one is talking of the bridegroom,
+and the bridegroom is talking to every one. Surely, my dear, he imagines
+himself to be the only man that will ever again commit matrimony.
+_Oranje boven_, everywhere!" Then, with a little exultant laugh, "_Above
+the Tartan_, at any rate. How is the young Bruce? My dear, if you don't
+make him suffer, I shall never forgive you. Alternate doses of hope and
+despair, that would be my prescription."
+
+[Illustration: "Don't trouble yourself to come down"]
+
+Katherine shook her head.
+
+"Take notice, in particular, that I don't understand nods and shakes and
+sighs and signs. What is your opinion, frankly?"
+
+"On my wedding day, as I left Richard, this he said to me: 'My honour,
+Katherine, is now in your keeping.' By the lifting of one eyelash, I
+will not stain it."
+
+"My dear, you are perfectly charming. You always convince me that I am a
+better woman than I imagine myself. I shall go straight to Dick, and
+tell him how exactly proper you are. Really, you have more perfections
+than any one woman has a right to."
+
+"To-morrow, if I have a letter ready, you will take it?"
+
+"I will run the risk, child. But really, if you could see the way mine
+host of the 'King's Arms' looks at me, you would be sensible of my
+courage. I am persuaded he thinks I carry you under my new wadded cloak.
+Now, adieu. Return to your evergreens and ribbons.
+
+                    "'For your own true love,
+                    Tie the splendid orange,
+                    Orange still above!'"
+
+And so, lightly humming Katharine's favourite song, she left the busy
+house.
+
+Before daylight the next morning, Batavius had every one at his post.
+The ceremony was to be performed in the Middle Kirk, and he took care
+that Joanna kept neither Dominie de Ronde nor himself waiting. He was
+exceedingly gratified to find the building crowded when the wedding
+party arrived. Joanna's dress had cost a guinea a yard, his own
+broadcloth and satin were of the finest quality, and he felt that the
+good citizens who respected him ought to have an opportunity to see how
+deserving he was of their esteem. Joanna, also, was a beautiful bride;
+and the company was entirely composed of men of honour and substance,
+and women of irreproachable characters, dressed with that solid
+magnificence gratifying to a man who, like Batavius, dearly loved
+respectability.
+
+Katherine looked for Mrs. Gordon in vain; she was not in the kirk, and
+she did not arrive until the festival dinner was nearly over. Batavius
+was then considerably under the excitement of his fine position and fine
+fare. He sat by the side of his bride, at the right hand of Joris; and
+Katherine assisted her mother at the other end of the table. Peter
+Block, the first mate of the "Great Christopher," was just beginning to
+sing a song,--a foolish, sentimental ditty for so big and bluff a
+fellow,--in which some girl was thus entreated,--
+
+                "Come, fly with me, my own fair love;
+                  My bark is waiting in the bay,
+                And soon its snowy wings will speed
+                  To happy lands so far away,
+
+                "And there, for us, the rose of love
+                  Shall sweetly bloom and never die.
+                Oh, fly with me! We'll happy be
+                  Beneath fair Java's smiling sky."
+
+"Peter, such nonsense as you sing," said Batavius, with all the
+authority of a skipper to his mate. "How can a woman fly when she has no
+wings? And to say any bark has wings is not the truth. And what kind of
+rose is the rose of love? Twelve kinds of roses I have chosen for my new
+garden, but that kind I never heard of; and I will not believe in any
+rose that never dies. And you also have been to Java; and well you know
+of the fever and blacks, and the sky that is not smiling, but hot as the
+place which is not heaven. No respectable person would want to be a
+married man in Java. I never did."
+
+"Sing your own songs, skipper. By yourself you measure every man. If to
+the kingdom of heaven you did not want to go, astonished and angry you
+would be that any one did not like the place which is not heaven."
+
+"Come, friends and neighbours," said Joris cheerily, "I will sing you a
+song; and every one knows the tune to it, and every one has heard their
+vaders and their moeders sing it,--sometimes, perhaps, on the great
+dikes of Vaderland, and sometimes in their sweet homes that the great
+Hendrick Hudson found out for them. Now, then, all, a song for
+
+                         "'MOEDER HOLLAND.
+
+                "'We have taken our land from the sea,
+                Its fields are all yellow with grain,
+                Its meadows are green on the lea,--
+                  And now shall we give it to Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!
+
+                "'We have planted the faith that is pure,
+                  That faith to the end we'll maintain;
+                For the word and the truth must endure.
+                  Shall we bow to the Pope and to Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!
+
+                "'Our ships are on every sea,
+                  Our honour has never a stain,
+                Our law and our commerce are free:
+                  Are we slaves for the tyrant of Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!
+
+                "'Then, sons of Batavia, the spade,--
+                  The spade and the pike and the main,
+                And the heart and the hand and the blade;
+                  Is there mercy for merciless Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!'"
+
+By this time the enthusiasm was wonderful. The short, quick denials came
+hotter and louder at every verse; and it was easy to understand how
+these large, slow men, once kindled to white heat, were both
+irresistible and unconquerable. Every eye was turned to Joris, who stood
+in his massive, manly beauty a very conspicuous figure. His face was
+full of feeling and purpose, his large blue eyes limpid and shining;
+and, as the tumult of applause gradually ceased, he said,--
+
+[Illustration: "Listen to me!"]
+
+"My friends and neighbours, no poet am I; but always wrongs burn in the
+heart until plain prose cannot utter them. Listen to me. If we wrung the
+Great Charter and the right of self-taxation from Mary in A.D. 1477; if
+in A.D. 1572 we taught Alva, by force of arms, how dear to us was our
+maxim, 'No taxation without representation,'--
+
+          "Shall we give up our long-cherished right?
+              Make the blood of our fathers in vain?
+          Do we fear any tyrant to fight?
+              Shall we hold out our hands for the chain?
+                  No, no, no, no!"
+
+Even the women had caught fire at this allusion to the injustice of the
+Stamp Act and Quartering Acts, then hanging over the liberties of the
+Province; and Mrs. Gordon looked curiously and not unkindly at the
+latent rebels. "England will have foemen worthy of her steel if she
+turns these good friends into enemies," she reflected; and then,
+following some irresistible impulse, she rose with the company, at the
+request of Joris, to sing unitedly the patriotic invocation,--
+
+                "O Vaderland, can we forget thee,--
+                  Thy courage, thy glory, thy strife?
+                O Moeder Kirk, can we forget thee?
+                  No, never! no, never! through life.
+                      No, no, no, no!"
+
+The emotion was too intense to be prolonged; and Joris instantly pushed
+back his chair, and said, "Now, then, friends, for the dance. Myself I
+think not too old to take out the bride."
+
+Neil Semple, who had looked like a man in a dream during the singing,
+went eagerly to Katherine as soon as Joris spoke of dancing. "He felt
+strong enough," he said, "to tread a measure in the bride dance, and he
+hoped she would so far honour him."
+
+"No, I will not, Neil. I will not take your hands. Often I have told you
+that."
+
+"Just for to-night, forgive me, Katherine."
+
+"I am sorry that all must end so; I cannot dance any more with you;"
+and then she affected to hear her mother calling, and left him standing
+among the jocund crowd, hopeless and distraught with grief. He was not
+able to recover himself, and the noise and laughter distracted and made
+him angry. He had expected so much from this occasion, from its
+influence and associations; and it had been altogether a disappointment.
+Mrs. Gordon's presence troubled him, and he was not free from jealousy
+regarding the young dominie. He had received a call from a church in
+Haarlem; and the Consistory had requested him to become a member of the
+Coetus, and accept it. Joris had interested himself much in his favour;
+Katherine listened with evident pleasure to his conversation. The fire
+of jealousy burns with very little fuel; and Neil went away from
+Joanna's wedding-feast hating very cordially the young and handsome
+Dominie Lambertus Van Linden.
+
+The elder noticed every thing, and he was angry at this new turn in
+affairs. He felt as if Joris had purposely brought the dominie into his
+house to further embarrass Neil; and he said to his wife after their
+return home, "Janet, our son Neil has lost the game for Katherine Van
+Heemskirk. I dinna care a bodle for it now. A man that gets the woman he
+wants vera seldom gets any other gude thing."
+
+"Elder!"
+
+"Ah, weel, there's excepts! I hae mind o' them. But Neil won't be long
+daunted. I looked in on him as I cam' upstairs. He was sitting wi' a law
+treatise, trying to read his trouble awa'. He's a brave soul. He'll hae
+honours and charges in plenty; and there's vera few women that are
+worth a gude office--if you hae to choose atween them."
+
+"You go back on your ain words, Elder. Tak' a sleep to yoursel'. Your
+pillow may gie you wisdom."
+
+And, while this conversation was taking place, they heard the pleasant
+voices of Van Heemskirk's departing guests, as, with snatches of song
+and merry laughter, they convoyed Batavius and his bride to their own
+home. And, when they got there, Batavius lifted up his lantern and
+showed them the motto he had chosen for its lintel; and it passed from
+lip to lip, till it was lifted altogether, and the young couple crossed
+their threshold to his ringing good-will,--
+
+                "Poverty--always a day's sail behind us!"
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+          "_Now many memories make solicitous
+          The delicate love lines of her mouth, till, lit
+          With quivering fire, the words take wing from it;
+          As here between our kisses we sit thus
+          Speaking of things remembered, and so sit
+          Speechless while things forgotten call to us_."
+
+
+Joanna's wedding occurred at the beginning of the winter and the winter
+festivities. But, amid all the dining and dancing and skating, there was
+a political anxiety and excitement that leavened strongly every social
+and domestic event. The first Colonial Congress had passed the three
+resolutions which proved to be the key-note of resistance and of
+liberty. Joris had emphatically indorsed its action. The odious Stamp
+Act was to be met by the refusal of American merchants either to import
+English goods, or to sell them upon commission, until it was repealed.
+Homespun became fashionable. During the first three months of the year,
+it was a kind of disgrace to wear silk or satin or broadcloth; and a
+great fair was opened for the sale of articles of home manufacture. The
+Government kept its hand upon the sword. The people were divided into
+two parties, bitterly antagonistic to each other. The "Sons of Liberty"
+were keeping guard over the pole which symbolized their determination;
+the British soldiery were swaggering and boasting and openly insulting
+patriots on the streets; and the "New York Gazette," in flaming
+articles, was stimulating to the utmost the spirit of resistance to
+tyranny.
+
+And these great public interests had in every family their special
+modifications. Joris was among the two hundred New York merchants who
+put their names to the resolutions of the October Congress; Bram was a
+conspicuous member of the "Sons of Liberty;" but Batavius, though
+conscientiously with the people's party, was very sensible of the
+annoyance and expense it put him to. Only a part of his house was
+finished, but the building of the rest was in progress; and many things
+were needed for its elegant completion, which were only to be bought
+from Tory importers, and which had been therefore nearly doubled in
+value. When liberty interfered with the private interests of Batavius,
+he had his doubts as to whether it was liberty. Often Bram's overt
+disloyalty irritated him beyond endurance. For, since he had joined the
+ranks of married men and householders, Batavius felt that unmarried men
+ought to wait for the opinions and leadership of those who had
+responsibilities.
+
+Joanna talked precisely as Batavius talked. All of his enunciations met
+with her "Amen." There are women who are incapable of but one
+affection,--that one which affects them in especial,--and Joanna was of
+this order. "My husband" was perpetually on her tongue. She looked upon
+her position as a wife and housekeeper as unique. Other woman might
+have, during the past six thousand years, held these positions in an
+indifferent kind of way; but only she had ever comprehended and properly
+fulfilled the duties they involved. Madam Van Heemskirk smiled a little
+when Joanna gave her advices about her house and her duties, when she
+disapproved of her father's political attitude, when she looked injured
+by Bram's imprudence.
+
+"Not only is wisdom born with Joanna and Batavius, it will also die with
+them; so they think," said Katharine indignantly, after one of Joanna's
+periodical visitations.
+
+A tear twinkled in madam's eyes; but she answered, "I shall not distress
+myself overmuch. Always I have said, 'Joanna has a little soul. Only
+what is for her own good can she love.'"
+
+"It is Batavius; and a woman must love her husband, mother."
+
+"That is the truth: first and best of all, she must love him, Katherine;
+but not as the dog loves and fawns on his master, or the squaw bends
+down to her brave. A good woman gives not up her own principles and
+thoughts and ways. A good woman will remember the love of her father and
+mother and brother and sister, her old home, her old friends; and
+contempt she will not feel and show for the things of the past, which
+often, for her, were far better than she was worthy of."
+
+"There is one I love, mother, love with all my soul. For him I would
+die. But for thee also I would die. Love thee, mother? I love thee and
+my father better because I love him. My mother, fret thee not, nor think
+that ever Joanna can really forget thee. If a daughter could forget her
+good father and her good mother, then with the women who sit weeping in
+the outer darkness, God would justly give her her portion. Such a
+daughter could not be."
+
+Lysbet sadly shook her head. "When I was a little girl, Katherine, I
+read in a book about the old Romans, how a wicked daughter over the
+bleeding corpse of her father drove her chariot. She wanted his crown
+for her own husband; and over the warm, quivering body of her father she
+drove. When I read that story, Katherine, my eyes I covered with my
+hands. I thought such a wicked woman in the world could not be. Alas,
+_mijn kind!_ often since then I have seen daughters over the bleeding
+hearts of their mothers and fathers drive; and frown and scold and be
+much injured and offended if once, in their pain and sorrow, they cry
+out."
+
+"But this of me remember, mother: if I am not near thee, I shall be
+loving thee, thinking of thee; telling my husband, and perhaps my little
+children about thee,--how good thou art, how pretty, how wise. I will
+order my house as thou hast taught me, and my own dear ones will love me
+better because I love thee. If to my own mother I be not true, can my
+husband be sure I will be true to him, if comes the temptation strong
+enough? Sorry would I be if my heart only one love could hold, and ever
+the last love the strong love."
+
+Still, in spite of this home trouble, and in spite of the national
+anxiety, the winter months went with a delightsome peace and regularity
+in the Van Heemskirk household. Neil Semple ceased to visit Katherine
+after Joanna's wedding. There was no quarrel, and no interruption to the
+kindness that had so long existed between the families; frequently they
+walked from kirk together,--Madam Semple and Madam Van Heemskirk, Joris
+and the elder, Katherine and Neil. But Neil never again offered her his
+hand; and such conversation as they had was constrained and of the most
+conventional character.
+
+Very frequently, also, Dominic Van Linden spent the evening with them.
+Joris delighted in his descriptions of Java and Surinam; and Lysbet and
+Katherine knit their stockings, and listened to the conversation. It was
+evident that the young minister was deeply in love, and equally evident
+that Katharine's parents favoured his suit. But the lover felt, that,
+whenever he attempted to approach her as a lover, Katherine surrounded
+herself with an atmosphere that froze the words of admiration or
+entreaty upon his lips.
+
+Joris, however, spoke for him. "He has told me how truly he loves thee.
+Like an honest man he loves thee, and he will make thee a wife honoured
+of many. No better husband can thou have, Katherine." So spoke her
+father to her one evening in the early spring, as they stood together
+over the budding snowdrops and crocus.
+
+[Illustration: They stood together over the budding snowdrops]
+
+"There is no love in my heart for him, father."
+
+"Neil pleases thee not, nor the dominie. Whom is it thou would have,
+then? Surely not that Englishman now? The whole race I
+hate,--swaggering, boastful tyrants, all of them. I will not give thee
+to any Englishman."
+
+"If I marry not him, then will I stay with thee always."
+
+"Nonsense that is. Thou must marry, like other women. But not him; I
+would never forgive thee; I would never see thy face again."
+
+"Very hard art thou to me. I love Richard; can I love this one and then
+that one? If I were so light-of-love, contempt I should have from all,
+even from thee."
+
+"Now, I have something to say. I have heard that some one,--very like to
+thee,--some one went twice or three times with Mrs. Gordon to see the
+man when he lay ill at the 'King's Arms.' To such talk, my anger and my
+scorn soon put an end; and I will not ask of thee whether it be true, or
+whether it be false. For a young girl I can feel."
+
+"O father, if for me thou could feel!"
+
+"See, now, if I thought this man would be to thee a good husband, I
+would say, 'God made him, and God does not make all his men Dutchmen;'
+and I would forgive him his light, loose life, and his wicked wasting of
+gold and substance, and give thee to him, with thy fortune and with my
+blessing. But I think he will be to thee a careless husband. He will get
+tired of thy beauty; thy goodness he will not value; thy money he will
+soon spend. Three sweethearts had he in New York before thee. Their very
+names, I dare say, he hath forgotten ere this."
+
+"If Richard could make you sure, father, that he would be a good
+husband, would you then be content that we should be married?"
+
+"That he cannot do. Can the night make me sure it is the day? Once very
+much I respected Batavius. I said, 'He is a strict man of business;
+honourable, careful, and always apt to make a good bargain. He does not
+drink nor swear, and he is a firm member of the true Church. He will
+make my Joanna a good husband.' That was what I thought. Now I see that
+he is a very small, envious, greedy man; and like himself he quickly
+made thy sister. This is what I fear: if thou marry that soldier, either
+thou must grow like him, or else he will hate thee, and make thee
+miserable."
+
+"Just eighteen I am. Let us not talk of husbands. Why are you so
+hurried, father, to give me to this strange dominie? Little is known of
+him but what he says. It is easy for him to speak well of Lambertus Van
+Linden."
+
+"The committee from the Great Consistory have examined his testimonials.
+They are very good. And I am not in a hurry to give thee away. What I
+fear is, that thou wilt be a foolish woman, and give thyself away."
+
+Katherine stood with dropped head, looking apparently at the brown
+earth, and the green box borders, and the shoots of white and purple and
+gold. But what she really saw, was the pale, handsome face of her sick
+husband, its pathetic entreaty for her love, its joyful flush, when with
+bridal kisses he whispered, "_Wife, wife, wife!_"
+
+Joris watched her curiously. The expression on her face he could not
+understand. "So happy she looks!" he thought, "and for what reason?"
+Katherine was the first to speak.
+
+"Who has told you anything about Captain Hyde, father?"
+
+"Many have spoken."
+
+"Does he get back his good health again?"
+
+"I hear that. When the warm days come, to England he is going. So says
+Jacob Cohen. What has Mrs. Gordon told thee? for to see her I know thou
+goes."
+
+"Twice only have I been. I heard not of England."
+
+"But that is certain. He will go, and what then? Thee he will quite
+forget, and never more will thou see or hear tell of him."
+
+"That I believe not. In the cold winter one would have said of these
+flowers, 'They come no more.' But the winter goes away, and then here
+they are. Richard has been in the dead valley, _der shaduwe des doods_.
+Sometimes I thought, he will come back to me no more. But now I am sure
+I shall see him again."
+
+Joris turned sadly away. That night he did not speak to her more. But
+he had the persistence which is usually associated with slow natures. He
+could not despair. He felt that he must go steadily on trying to move
+Katherine to what he really believed was her highest interest. And he
+permitted nothing to discourage him for very long. Dominie Van Linden
+was also a prudent man. He had no intention in his wooing to make haste
+and lose speed. As to Katherine's love troubles, he had not been left in
+ignorance of them. A great many people had given him such information as
+would enable him to keep his own heart from the wiles of the siren. He
+had also a wide knowledge of books and life, and in the light of this
+knowledge he thought that he could understand her. But the conclusion
+that he deliberately came to was, that Katherine had cared neither for
+Hyde nor Semple, and that the unpleasant termination of their courtship
+had made her shy of all lover-like attentions. He believed that if he
+advanced cautiously to her he might have the felicity of surprising and
+capturing her virgin affection. And just about so far does any amount of
+wisdom and experience help a man in a love perplexity; because every
+mortal woman is a different woman, and no two can be wooed and won in
+precisely the same way.
+
+Amid all these different elements, political, social, and domestic,
+Nature kept her own even, unvarying course. The gardens grew every day
+fairer, the air more soft and balmy, the sunshine warmer and more
+cherishing. Katherine was not unhappy. As Hyde grew stronger, he spent
+his hours in writing long letters to his wife. He told her every trivial
+event, he commented on all she told him. And her letters revealed to
+him a soul so pure, so true, so loving, that he vowed "he fell in love
+with her afresh every day of his life." Katherine's communications
+reached her husband readily by the ordinary post; Hyde's had to be sent
+through Mrs. Gordon. But it was evident from the first that Katherine
+could not call there for them. Colonel Gordon would soon have objected
+to being made an obvious participant in his nephew's clandestine
+correspondence; and Joris would have decidedly interfered with visits
+sure to cause unpleasant remarks about his daughter. The medium was
+found in the mantua-maker, Miss Pitt. Mrs. Gordon was her most
+profitable customer, and Katherine went there for needles and threads
+and such small wares as are constantly needed in a household. And
+whenever she did so, Miss Pitt was sure to remark, in an after-thought
+kind of way, "Oh, I had nearly forgotten, miss! Here is a small parcel
+that Mrs. Gordon desired me to present to you."
+
+One exquisite morning in May, Katherine stood at an open window looking
+over the garden and the river, and the green hills and meadows across
+the stream. Her heart was full of hope. Richard's recovery was so far
+advanced that he had taken several rides in the middle of the day.
+Always he had passed the Van Heemskirks' house, and always Katherine had
+been waiting to rain down upon his lifted face the influence of her most
+bewitching beauty and her tenderest smiles. She was thinking of the last
+of these events,--of Richard's rapid exhibition of a long, folded paper,
+and the singular and emphatic wave which he gave it towards the river.
+His whole air and attitude had expressed delight and hope; could he
+really mean that she was to meet him again at their old trysting-place?
+
+[Illustration: His whole air and attitude had expressed delight]
+
+As thus she happily mused, some one called her mother from the front
+hall. On fine mornings it was customary to leave the door standing open;
+and the visitor advanced to the foot of the stairs, and called once
+more, "Lysbet Van Heemskirk! Is there naebody in to bid me welcome?"
+Then Katherine knew it was Madam Semple; and she ran to her mother's
+room, and begged her to go down and receive the caller. For in these
+days Katherine dreaded Madam Semple a little. Very naturally, the mother
+blamed her for Neil's suffering and loss of time and prestige; and she
+found it hard to forgive also her positive rejection of his suit. For
+her sake, she herself had been made to suffer mortification and
+disappointment. She had lost her friends in a way which deprived her of
+all the fruits of her kindness. The Gordons thought Neil had
+transgressed all the laws of hospitality. The Semples had a similar
+charge to make. And it provoked Madam Semple that Mrs. Gordon continued
+her friendship with Katherine. Every one else blamed Katherine
+altogether in the matter; Mrs. Gordon had defied the use and wont of
+society on such occasions, and thrown the whole blame on Neil. Somehow,
+in her secret heart, she even blamed Lysbet a little. "Ever since I told
+her there was an earldom in the family, she's been daft to push her
+daughter into it," was her frequent remark to the elder; and he also
+reflected that the proposed alliance of Neil and Katharine had been
+received with coolness by Joris and Lysbet. "It was the soldier or the
+dominie, either o' them before our Neil;" and, though there was no
+apparent diminution of friendship, Semple and his wife frequently had a
+little private grumble at their own fireside.
+
+And toward Neil, Joris had also a secret feeling of resentment. He had
+taken no pains to woo Katherine until some one else wanted her. It was
+universally conceded that he had been the first to draw his sword, and
+thus indulge his own temper at the expense of their child's good name
+and happiness. Taking these faults as rudimentary ones, Lysbet could
+enlarge on them indefinitely; and Joris had undoubtedly been influenced
+by his wife's opinions. So, below the smiles and kind words of a long
+friendship, there was bitterness. If there had not been, Janet Semple
+would hardly have paid that morning visit; for before Lysbet was half
+way down the stairs, Katherine heard her call out,--
+
+"Here's a bonnie come of. But it is what a' folks expected. 'The
+Dauntless' sailed the morn, and Captain Earle wi' a contingent for the
+West Indies station. And who wi' him, guess you, but Captain Hyde, and
+no less? They say he has a furlough in his pocket for a twelvemonth:
+more like it's a clean, total dismissal. The gude ken it ought to be."
+
+So much Katherine heard, then her mother shut to the door of the
+sitting-room. A great fear made her turn faint and sick. Were her
+father's words true? Was this the meaning of the mysterious wave of the
+folded paper toward the ocean? The suspicion once entertained, she
+remembered several little things which strengthened it. Her heart failed
+her; she uttered a low cry of pain, and tottered to a chair, like one
+wounded.
+
+It was then ten o'clock. She thought the noon hour would never come.
+Eagerly she watched for Bram and her father; for any certainty would be
+better than such cruel fear and suspense. And, if Richard had really
+gone, the fact would be known to them. Bram came first. For once she
+felt impatient of his political enthusiasm. How could she care about
+liberty poles and impressed fishermen, with such a real terror at her
+heart? But Bram said nothing; only, as he went out, she caught him
+looking at her with such pitiful eyes. "What did he mean?" She turned
+coward then, and could not voice the question. Joris was tenderly
+explicit. He said to her at once, "'The Dauntless' sailed this morning.
+Oh, my little one, sorry I am for thee!"
+
+"Is _he_ gone?" Very low and slow were the words; and Joris only
+answered, "Yes."
+
+Without any further question or remark, she went away. They were amazed
+at her calmness. And for some minutes after she had locked the door of
+her room, she stood still in the middle of the floor, more like one that
+has forgotten something, and is trying to remember, than a woman who has
+received a blow upon her heart. No tears came to her eyes. She did not
+think of weeping, or reproaching, or lamenting. The only questions she
+asked herself were, "How am I to get life over? Will such suffering kill
+me very soon?"
+
+Joris and Lysbet talked it over together. "Cohen told me," said Joris,
+"that Captain Hyde called to bid him good-by. He said, 'He is a very
+honourable young man, a very grateful young man, and I rejoice that I
+was helpful in saving his life.' Then I asked him in what ship he was to
+sail, and he said 'The Dauntless.' She left her moorings this morning
+between nine and ten. She carries troops to Kingston, Captain Earle in
+command; and I heard that Captain Hyde has a year's furlough."
+
+Lysbet drew her lips tight, and said nothing. The last shadow of her own
+dream had departed also, but it was of her child she thought. At that
+hour she hated Hyde; and, after Joris had gone, she said in low, angry
+tones, over and over, as she folded the freshly ironed linen, "I wish
+that Neil had killed him!" About two o'clock she went to Katherine. The
+girl opened her door at once to her. There was nothing to be said, no
+hope to offer. Joris had seen Hyde embark; he had heard Mrs. Gordon and
+the colonel bid him farewell. Several of his brother officers, also, and
+the privates of his own troop, had been on the dock to see him sail. His
+departure was beyond dispute.
+
+And even while she looked at the woeful young face before her, the
+mother anticipated the smaller, festering sorrows that would spring from
+this great one,--the shame and mortification the mockery of those who
+had envied Katherine; the inquiries, condolences, and advices of
+friends; the complacent self-congratulation of Batavius, who would be
+certain to remind them of every provoking admonition he had given on the
+subject. And who does not know that these little trials of life are its
+hardest trials? The mother did not attempt to say one word of comfort,
+or hope, or excuse. She only took the child in her arms, and wept for
+her. At this hour she would not wound her by even an angry word
+concerning him.
+
+"I loved him so much, _moeder_."
+
+"Thou could not help it. Handsome, and gallant, and gay he was. I never
+shall forget seeing thee dance with him."
+
+"And he did love me. A woman knows when she is loved."
+
+"Yes, I am sure he loved thee."
+
+"He has gone? Really gone?"
+
+"No doubt is there of it. Stay in thy room, and have thy grief out with
+thyself."
+
+"No; I will come to my work. Every day will now be the same. I shall
+look no more for any joy; but my duty I will do."
+
+They went downstairs together. The clean linen, the stockings that
+required mending, lay upon the table. Katherine sat down to the task.
+Resolutely, but almost unconsciously, she put her needle through and
+through. Her suffering was pitiful; this little one, who a few months
+ago would have wept for a cut finger, now silently battling with the
+bitterest agony that can come to a loving woman,--the sense of cruel,
+unexpected, unmerited desertion. At first Lysbet tried to talk to her;
+but she soon saw that the effort to answer was beyond Katherine's
+power, and conversation was abandoned. So for an hour, an hour of
+speechless sorrow, they sat. The tick of the clock, the purr of the cat,
+the snap of a breaking thread, alone relieved the tension of silence in
+which this act of suffering was completed. Its atmosphere was becoming
+intolerable, like that of a nightmare; and Lysbet was feeling that she
+must speak and move, and so dissipate it, when there was a loud knock at
+the front door.
+
+Katherine trembled all over. "To-day I cannot bear it, mother. No one
+can I see. I will go upstairs."
+
+Ere the words were finished, Mrs. Gordon's voice was audible. She came
+into the room laughing, with the smell of fresh violets and the feeling
+of the brisk wind around her. "Dear madam," she cried, "I entreat you
+for a favour. I am going to take the air this afternoon: be so good as
+to let Katherine come with me. For I must tell you that the colonel has
+orders for Boston, and I may see my charming friend no more after
+to-day."
+
+"Katherine, what say you? Will you go?"
+
+"Please, _mijn moeder_."
+
+"Make great haste, then." For Lysbet was pleased with the offer, and
+fearful that Joris might arrive, and refuse to let his daughter accept
+it. She hoped that Katherine would receive some comforting message; and
+she was glad that on this day, of all others, Captain Hyde's aunt should
+be seen with her. It would in some measure stop evil surmises; and it
+left an air of uncertainty about the captain's relationship to
+Katherine, which made the humiliation of his departure less keen.
+
+[Illustration: "I am going to take the air this afternoon"]
+
+"Stay not long," she whispered, "for your father's sake. There is no
+good, more trouble to give him."
+
+"Well, my dear, you look like a ghost. Have you not one smile for a
+woman so completely in your interest? When I promised Dick this morning
+that I would be _sure_ to get word to you, I was at my wits' end to
+discover a way. But, when I am between the horns of a dilemma, I find it
+the best plan to take the bull by the horns. Hence, I have made you a
+visit which seems to have quite nonplussed you and your good mother."
+
+"I thought Richard had gone."
+
+"And you were breaking your heart, that is easy to be seen. He has gone,
+but he will come back to-night at eight o'clock. No matter what
+happens, be at the river-side. Do not fail Dick: he is taking his life
+in his hand to see you."
+
+"I will be there."
+
+"La! what are you crying for, child? Poor girl! What are you crying for?
+Dick, the scamp? He is not worthy of such pure tears; and yet, believe
+me, he loves you to distraction."
+
+"I thought he had gone--gone, without a word."
+
+"Faith, you are not complimentary! I flatter myself that our Dick is a
+gentleman. I do, indeed. And, as he is yet perfectly in his senses, you
+might have trusted him."
+
+"And you, do you go to Boston to-morrow?"
+
+"The colonel does. At present, I have no such intentions. But I had to
+have some extraordinary excuse, and I could invent no other. However,
+you may say anything, if you only say it with an assurance. Madam wished
+me a pleasant journey. I felt a little sorry to deceive so fine a lady."
+
+"When will Richard return?"
+
+"Indeed, I think you will have to answer for his resolves. But he will
+speak for himself; and, in faith, I told him that he had come to a point
+where I would be no longer responsible for his actions. I am thankful to
+own that I have some conscience left."
+
+The ride was not a very pleasant one. Katherine could not help feeling
+that Mrs. Gordon was _distrait_ and inconsistent; and, towards its
+close, she became very silent. Yet she kissed her kindly, and drawing
+her closely for a last word, said, "Do not forget to wear your wadded
+cloak and hood. You may have to take the water; for the councillor is
+very suspicious, let me tell you. Remember what I say,--the wadded cloak
+and hood; and good-by, good-by, my dear."
+
+"Shall I see you soon?"
+
+"When we may meet again, I do not pretend to say; till then, I am
+entirely yours; and so again good-by."
+
+The ride had not occupied an hour; but, when Katherine got home, Lysbet
+was making tea. "A cup will be good for you, _mijn kind_." And she
+smiled tenderly in the face that had been so white in its woeful
+anguish, but on which there was now the gleam of hope. And she perceived
+that Katherine had received some message, she even divined that there
+might be some appointment to keep; and she determined not to be too wise
+and prudent, but to trust Katherine for this evening with her own
+destiny.
+
+That night there was a meeting at the Town Hall, and Joris left the
+house soon after his tea. He was greatly touched by Katharine's effort
+to appear cheerful; and when she followed him to the door, and, ere he
+opened it, put her arms round his neck, and kissed him, murmuring, "My
+father, _mijn vader_!" he could not restrain his tears.
+
+"_Mijn kind, my liefste kind_!" he answered. And then his soul in its
+great emotion turned affectionately to the supreme fatherhood; for he
+whispered to himself, as he walked slowly and solemnly in the pleasant
+evening light: "'_Gelijk sich een vader outfermt over de kinderen_!' Oh,
+so great must be Thy pity! My own heart can tell that now."
+
+For an hour or more Katherine sat in the broad light of the window,
+folding and unfolding the pieces of white linen, sewing a stitch or two
+here, and putting on a button or tape there. Madam passed quietly to and
+fro about her home duties, sometimes stopping to say a few words to her
+daughter. It was a little interval of household calm, full of household
+work; of love assured without need of words, of confidence anchored in
+undoubting souls. When Lysbet was ready to do so, she began to lay into
+the deep drawers of the presses the table-linen which Katherine had so
+neatly and carefully examined. Over a pile of fine damask napkins she
+stood, with a perplexed, annoyed face; and Katherine, detecting it, at
+once understood the cause.
+
+"One is wanting of the dozen, mother. At the last cake-baking, with the
+dish of cake sent to Joanna it went. Back it has not come."
+
+"For it you might go, Katherine. I like not that my sets are broken."
+
+Katherine blushed scarlet. This was the opportunity she wanted. She
+wondered if her mother suspected the want; but Lysbet's face expressed
+only a little worry about the missing damask. Slowly, though her heart
+beat almost at her lips, she folded away her work, and put her needle,
+and thread, and thimble, and scissors, each in its proper place in her
+house-wife. So deliberate were all her actions, that Lysbet's suspicions
+were almost allayed. Yet she thought, "If out she wishes to go, leave I
+have now given her; and, if not, still the walk will do her some good."
+And yet there was in her heart just that element of doubt, which,
+whenever it is present, ought to make us pause and reconsider the words
+we are going to speak or write, and the deed we are going to do.
+
+The nights were yet chilly,--though the first blooms were on the
+trees,--and the wadded cloak and hood were not so far out of season as
+to cause remark. As she came downstairs, the clock struck seven. There
+was yet an hour, and she durst not wait so long at the bottom of the
+garden while it was early in the evening. When her work was done, Lysbet
+frequently walked down it; she had a motherly interest in the budding
+fruit-trees and the growing flowers. And a singular reluctance to leave
+home assailed Katherine. If she had known that it was to be forever, her
+soul could not have more sensibly taken its farewell of all the dear,
+familiar objects of her daily life. About her mother this feeling
+culminated. She found her cap a little out of place; and her fingers
+lingered in the lace, and stroked fondly her hair and pink cheeks, until
+Lysbet felt almost embarrassed by the tender, but unusual show of
+affection.
+
+"Now, then, go, my Katherine. To Joanna give my dear love. Tell her that
+very good were the cheesecakes and the krullers, and that to-morrow I
+will come over and see the new carpet they have bought."
+
+And while she spoke she was retying Katherine's hood, and admiring as
+she did so the fair, sweet face in its quiltings or crimson satin, and
+the small, dimpled chin resting upon the fine bow she tied under it.
+Then she followed her to the door, and watched her down the road until
+she saw her meet Dominie Van Linden, and stand a moment holding his
+hand. "A message I am going for my mother," she said, as she firmly
+refused his escort. "Then with madam, your mother, I will sit until you
+return," he replied cheerfully; and Katherine answered, "That will be a
+great pleasure to her, sir."
+
+A little farther she walked; but suddenly remembering that the dominie's
+visit would keep her mother in the house, and being made restless by the
+gathering of the night shadows, she turned quickly, and taking the very
+road up which Hyde had come the night Neil Semple challenged him, she
+entered the garden by a small gate at its foot, which was intended for
+the gardener's use. The lilacs had not much foliage, but in the dim
+light her dark, slim figure was undistinguishable behind them. Longingly
+and anxiously she looked up and down the water-way. A mist was gathering
+over it; and there were no boats in the channel except two
+pleasure-shallops, already tacking to their proper piers. "The
+Dauntless" had been out of sight for hours. There was not the splash of
+an oar, and no other river sound at that point, but the low, peculiar
+"wish-h-h" of the turning tide.
+
+In the pettiest character there are unfathomable depths; and
+Katherine's, though yet undeveloped, was full of noble aspirations and
+singularly sensitive. As she stood there alone, watching and waiting in
+the dim light, she had a strange consciousness of some mysterious life
+ante-dating this life! and of a long-forgotten voice filling the
+ear-chambers of that spiritual body which was the celestial inhabitant
+of her natural body. "_Richard, Richard_," she murmured; and she never
+doubted but that he heard her.
+
+All her senses were keenly on the alert. Suddenly there was the sound of
+oars, and the measure was that of steady, powerful strokes. She turned
+her face southward, and watched. Like a flash a boat shot out of the
+shadow,--a long, swift boat, that came like a Fate, rapidly and without
+hesitation, to her very feet. Richard quickly left it and with a few
+strokes it was carried back into the dimness of the central channel.
+Then he turned to the lilac-trees.
+
+"Katherine!"
+
+It was but a whisper, but she heard it. He opened his arms, and she flew
+to their shelter like a bird to her mate.
+
+"My love, my wife, my beautiful wife! My true, good heart! Now, at last
+my own; nothing shall part us again, Katherine,--never again. I have
+come for you--come at all risks for you. Only five minutes the boat can
+wait. Are you ready?"
+
+"I know not, Richard. My father--my mother"--
+
+"My husband! Say that also, beloved. Am I not first? If you will not go
+with me, _here_ I shall stay; and, as I am still on duty, death and
+dishonour will be the end. O Katherine, shall I die again for you? Will
+you break my sword in disgrace over my head! Faith, darling, I know that
+you would rather die for me."
+
+"If one word I could send them! They suspect me not. They think you are
+gone. It will kill my father."
+
+[Illustration: "I will go with you, Richard"]
+
+"You shall write to them on the ship. There are a dozen fishing-boats
+near it. We will send the letter by one of them. They will get it early
+in the morning. Sweet Kate, come. Here is the boat. 'The Dauntless' lies
+down the bay, and we have a long pull. My wife, do you need more
+persuasion?"
+
+He released her from his embrace with the words, and stood holding her
+hands, and looking into her face. No woman is insensible to a certain
+kind of authority; and there was fascination as well as power in Hyde's
+words and manner, emphasized by the splendour of his uniform, and the
+air of command that seemed to be a part of it.
+
+"It is for you to decide, Katherine. The boat is here. Even I must obey
+or disobey orders. Will you not go with me, your husband, to love and
+life and honour; or shall I stay with you, for disgrace and death? For
+from you I will not part again."
+
+She had no time to consider how much truth there was in this desperate
+statement. The boat was waiting. Richard was wooing her consent with
+kisses and entreaties. Her own soul urged her, not only by the joy of
+his presence, but by the memory of the anguish she had endured that day
+in the terror of his desertion. From the first moment she had hesitated;
+therefore, from the first moment she had yielded. She clung to her
+husband's arm, she lifted her face to his, she said softly, but clearly,
+"I will go with you, Richard. With you I will go. Where to, I care not
+at all."
+
+They stepped into the boat, and Hyde said, "Oars." Not a word was
+spoken. He held her within his left arm, close to his side, and
+partially covered with his military cloak. It was the boat belonging to
+the commander of "The Dauntless," and the six sailors manning it sent
+the light craft flying like an arrow down the bay. All the past was
+behind her. She had done what was irrevocable. For joy or for sorrow,
+her place was evermore at her husband's side. Richard understood the
+decision she was coming to; knew that every doubt and fear had vanished
+when her hand stole into his hand, when she slightly lifted her face,
+and whispered, "Richard."
+
+They were practically alone upon the misty river; and Richard answered
+the tender call with sweet, impassioned kisses; with low, lover-like,
+encouraging words; with a silence that thrilled with such soft beat and
+subsidence of the spirit's wing, as--
+
+          "When it feels, in cloud-girt wayfaring,
+            The breath of kindred plumes against its feet."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+
+                "_Good people, how they wrangle!
+                   The manners that they never mend,
+                 The characters they mangle!
+                   They eat and drink, and scheme and plod,
+                 And go to church on Sunday;
+                   And many are afraid of God,
+                 And some of Mrs. Grundy_."
+
+
+During that same hour Joris was in the town council. There had been a
+stormy and prolonged session on the Quartering Act. "To little purpose
+have we compelled the revocation of the Stamp Act," he cried, "if the
+Quartering Act upon us is to be forced. We want not English soldiers
+here. In our homes why should we quarter them?"
+
+All the way home he was asking himself the question; and, when he found
+Dominie Van Linden talking to Lysbet, he gladly discussed it over again
+with him. Lysbet sat beside them, knitting and listening. Until after
+nine o'clock Joris did not notice the absence of his daughter. "She
+went to Joanna's," said Lysbet calmly. No fear had yet entered her
+heart. Perhaps she had a vague suspicion that Katherine might also go to
+Mrs. Gordon's, and she was inclined to avoid any notice of the lateness
+of the hour. If it were even ten o'clock when she returned, Lysbet
+intended to make no remarks. But ten o'clock came, and the dominie went,
+and Joris suddenly became anxious about Katherine.
+
+His first anger fell upon Bram. "He ought to have been at home. Then he
+could have gone for his sister. He is not attentive enough to Katherine;
+and very fond is he of hanging about Miriam Cohen's doorstep."
+
+"What say you, Joris, about Miriam Cohen?"
+
+"I spoke in my temper."
+
+He would not explain his words, and Lysbet would not worry him about
+Katherine. "To Joanna's she went, and Batavius is in Boston. Very well,
+then, she has stayed with her sister."
+
+Still, in her own heart there was a certain uneasiness. Katherine had
+never remained all night before without sending some message, or on a
+previous understanding to that effect. But the absence of Batavius, and
+the late hour at which she went, might account for the omission,
+especially as Lysbet remembered that Joanna's servant had been sick, and
+might be unfit to come. She was determined to excuse Katherine, and she
+refused to acknowledge the dumb doubt and fear that crouched at her own
+heart.
+
+In the morning Joris rose very early and went into the garden. Generally
+this service to nature calmed and cheered him; but he came to breakfast
+from it, silent and cross. And Lysbet was still disinclined to open a
+conversation about Katharine. She had enough to do to combat her own
+feeling on the subject; and she was sensible that Joris, in the absence
+of any definite object for his anger, blamed her for permitting
+Katherine so much liberty.
+
+"Where, then, is Bram?" he asked testily. "When I was a young man, it
+was the garden or the store for me before this hour. Too much you
+indulge the children, Lysbet."
+
+"Bram was late to bed. He was on the watch last night at the pole. You
+know, Councillor, who in that kind of business has encouraged him."
+
+"Every night the watch is not for him."
+
+"Oh, then, but the bad habit is made!"
+
+"Well, well; tell him to Joanna's to go the first thing, and to send
+home Katherine. I like her not in the house of Batavius."
+
+"Joanna is her sister, Joris."
+
+"Joanna is nothing at all in this world but the wife of Batavius. Send
+for Katherine home. I like her best to be with her mother."
+
+As he spoke, Bram came to the table, looking a little heavy and sleepy.
+Joris rose without more words, and in a few moments the door shut
+sharply behind him. "What is the matter with my father?"
+
+"Cross he is." By this time Lysbet was also cross; and she continued,
+"No wonder at it. Katherine has stayed at Joanna's all night, and late
+to breakfast were you. Yet ever since you were a little boy, you have
+heard your father say one thing, 'Late to breakfast, hurried at dinner,
+behind at supper;' and I also have noticed, that, when the comfort of
+the breakfast is spoiled, then all the day its bad influence is felt."
+
+In the meantime Joris reached his store in that mood which apprehends
+trouble, and finds out annoyances that under other circumstances would
+not have any attention. The store was in its normal condition, but he
+was angry at the want of order in it. The mail was no later than usual,
+but he complained of its delay. He was threatening a general reform in
+everything and everybody, when a man came to the door, and looked up at
+the name above it.
+
+"Joris Van Heemskirk is the name, sir;" and Joris went forward, and
+asked a little curtly, "What, then, can I do for you?"
+
+"I am Martin Hudde the fisherman."
+
+"Well, then?"
+
+"If you are Joris Van Heemskirk, I have a letter for you. I got it from
+'The Dauntless' last night, when I was fishing in the bay."
+
+Without a word Joris took the letter, turned into his office, and shut
+the door; and Hudde muttered as he left, "I am glad that I got a crown
+with it, for here I have not got a 'thank you.'"
+
+It was Katherine's writing; and Joris held the folded paper in his hand,
+and looked stupidly at it. The truth was forcing itself into his mind,
+and the slow-coming conviction was a real physical agony to him. He put
+his hand on the desk to steady himself; and Nature, in great drops of
+sweat, made an effort to relieve the oppression and stupor which
+followed the blow. In a few minutes he opened and laid it before him.
+Through a mist he made out these words:
+
+
+MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER: I have gone with my husband. I married Richard
+when he was ill, and to-night he came for me. When I left home, I knew
+not I was to go. Only five minutes I had. In God's name, this is the
+truth. Always, at the end of the world, I shall love you. Forgive me,
+forgive me, _mijn fader, mijn moeder_.
+                                             Your child,
+                                                      KATHERINE HYDE.
+
+
+He tore the letter into fragments; but the next moment he picked them
+up, folded them in a piece of paper, and put them in his pocket. Then he
+went to Mrs. Gordon's. She had anticipated the visit, and was, in a
+measure, prepared for it. With a smile and outstretched hands, she rose
+from her chocolate to meet him. "You see, I am a terrible sluggard,
+Councillor," she laughed; "but the colonel left early for Boston this
+morning, and I cried myself into another sleep. And will you have a cup
+of chocolate? I am sure you are too polite to refuse me."
+
+"Madam, I came not on courtesy, but for my daughter. Where is my
+Katherine?"
+
+"Truth, sir, I believe her to be where every woman wishes,--with her
+husband. I am sure I wish the colonel was with me."
+
+"Her husband! Who, then?"
+
+"Indeed, Councillor, that is a question easily answered,--my nephew,
+Captain Hyde, at your service. You perceive, sir, we are now
+connections; and I assure you I have the highest sense imaginable of the
+honour."
+
+"When were they married?"
+
+"In faith, I have forgotten the precise date. It was in last October; I
+know it was, because I had just received my winter manteau,--my blue
+velvet one, with the fur bands.'
+
+"Who married them?"
+
+[Illustration: "Madam, I come not on courtesy"]
+
+"Oh, indeed! It was the governor's chaplain,--the Rev. Mr. Somers, a
+relative of my Lord Somers, a most estimable and respectable person, I
+assure you. Colonel Gordon, and Captain Earle, and myself, were the
+witnesses. The governor gave the license; and, in consideration of
+Dick's health, the ceremony was performed in his room. All was perfectly
+correct and regular, I"--
+
+"It is not the truth. Pardon, madam; full of trouble am I. And it was
+all irregular, and very wicked, and very cruel. If regular and right it
+had been, then in secret it had not taken place."
+
+"Admit, Councillor, that then it had not taken place at all; or, at
+least, Richard would have had to wait until Katherine was of age."
+
+"So; and that would have been right. Until then, if love had lasted, I
+would have said, 'Their love is stronger than my dislike;' and I would
+have been content."
+
+"Ah, sir, there was more to the question than that! My nephew's chances
+for life were very indifferent, and he desired to shield Katherine's
+name with his own"--
+
+"_Christus!_ What say you, madam? Had Katherine no father?"
+
+"Oh, be not so warm, Councillor! A husband's name is a far bigger shield
+than a father's. I assure you that the world forgives a married woman
+what it would not forgive an angel. And I must tell you, also, that
+Dick's very life depended on the contentment which he felt in his
+success. It is the part of humanity to consider that."
+
+"Twice over deceived I have been then"--
+
+"In short, sir, there was no help for it. Dick received a most
+unexpected favour of a year's furlough two days ago. It was important
+for his wounded lung that he should go at once to a warm climate. 'The
+Dauntless' was on the point of sailing for the West Indies. To have
+bestowed our confidence on you, would have delayed or detained our
+patient, or sent him away without his wife. It was my fault that
+Katherine had only five minutes given her. Oh, sir, I know my own sex!
+And, if you will take time to reflect, I am sure that you will be
+reasonable."
+
+"Without his wife! His wife! Without my consent? No, she is not his
+wife."
+
+"Sir, you must excuse me if I do not honour your intelligence or your
+courtesy. I have said '_she is his wife_.' It is past a doubt that they
+are married."
+
+"I know not, I know not--O my Katherine, my Katherine!"
+
+"I pray you, sit down, Councillor. You look faint and ill; and in faith
+I am very sorry that, to make two people happy, others must be made so
+wretched." She rose and filled a glass with wine, and offered it to
+Joris, who was the very image of mental suffering,--all the fine colour
+gone out of his face, and his large blue eyes swimming in unshed tears.
+
+"Drink, sir. Upon my word, you are vastly foolish to grieve so. I
+protest to you that Katherine is happy; and grieving will not restore
+your loss."
+
+"For that reason I grieve, madam. Nothing can give me back my child."
+
+"Come, sir, every one has his calamity; and, upon my word, you are very
+fortunate to have one no greater than the marriage of your daughter to
+an agreeable man, of honourable profession and noble family."
+
+"Five minutes only! How could the child think? To take her away thus was
+cruel. Many things a woman needs when she journeys."
+
+"Oh, indeed, Katharine was well considered! I myself packed a trunk for
+her with every conceivable necessity, as well as gowns and manteaus of
+the finest material and the most elegant fashion. If Dick had been
+permitted, he would have robbed the Province for her. I assure you that
+I had to lock my trunks to preserve a change of gowns for myself. When
+the colonel returns, he will satisfy you that Katherine has done
+tolerably well in her marriage with our nephew. And, indeed, I must beg
+you to excuse me further. I have been in a hurry of affairs and emotions
+for two days; and I am troubled with the vapours this morning, and feel
+myself very indifferently."
+
+Then Joris understood that he had been politely dismissed. But there was
+no unkindness in the act. He glanced at the effusive little lady, and
+saw that she was on the point of crying, and very likely in the first
+pangs of a nervous headache; and, without further words, he left her.
+
+The interview had given Joris very little comfort. At first, his great
+terror had been that Katherine had fled without any religious sanction;
+but no sooner was this fear dissipated, than he became conscious, in all
+its force, of his own personal loss and sense of grievance. From Mrs.
+Gordon's lodgings he went to those of Dominie Van Linden. He felt sure
+of his personal sympathy; and he knew that the dominie would be the best
+person to investigate the circumstances of the marriage, and
+authenticate their propriety.
+
+Then Joris went home. On his road he met Bram, full of the first terror
+of his sister's disappearance. He told him all that was necessary, and
+sent him back to the store. "And see you keep a modest face, and make no
+great matter of it," he said. "Be not troubled nor elated. It belongs to
+you to be very prudent; for your sister's good name is in your care, and
+this is a sorrow outsiders may not meddle with. Also, at once go back to
+Joanna's, and tell her the same thing. I will not have Katherine made a
+wonder to gaping women."
+
+Lysbet was still a little on the defensive; but, when she saw Joris
+coming home, her heart turned sick with fear. She was beating eggs for
+her cake-making, and she went on with the occupation; merely looking up
+to say, "Thee, Joris; dinner will not be ready for two hours! Art thou
+sick?"
+
+"Katherine--she has gone!"
+
+"Gone? And where, then?"
+
+"With that Englishman; in 'The Dauntless' they have gone."
+
+"Believe it not. 'The Dauntless' left yesterday morning: Katherine at
+seven o'clock last night was with me."
+
+"Ah, he must have returned for her! Well he knew that if he did not
+steal her away, I had taken her from him. Yes, and I feared him. When I
+heard that 'The Dauntless' was to take him to the West Indies, I watched
+the ship. After I kissed Katherine yesterday morning, I went straight to
+the pier, and waited until she was on her way." Then he told her all
+Mrs. Gordon had said, and showed her the fragments of Katherine's
+letter. The mother kissed them, and put them in her bosom; and, as she
+did so, she said softly, "it was a great strait, Joris."
+
+"Well, well, we also must pass through it. The Dominie Van Linden has
+gone to examine the records; and then, if she his lawful wife be, in the
+newspapers I must advertise the marriage. Much talk and many questions I
+shall have to bear."
+
+"'If,' 'if she his lawful wife be!' Say not 'if' in my hearing; say not
+'if' of my Katherine."
+
+"When a girl runs away from her home"--
+
+"With her husband she went; keep that in mind when people speak to
+thee."
+
+"What kind of a husband will he be to her?"
+
+"Well, then, I think not bad of him. Nearer home there are worse men.
+Now, if sensible thou be, thou wilt make the best of what is beyond thy
+power. Every bird its own nest builds in its own way. Nay, but blind
+birds are we all, and God builds for us. This marriage of God's ordering
+may be, though not of thy ordering; and against it I would no longer
+fight. I think my Katherine is happy; and happy with her I will be,
+though the child in her joy I see not."
+
+"So much talk as there will be. In the store and the streets, a man must
+listen. And some with me will condole, and some with congratulations
+will come; and both to me will be vinegar and gall."
+
+"To all--friends and unfriends--say this: 'Every one chooses for
+themselves. Captain Hyde loved my daughter, and for her love nearly he
+died; and my daughter loved him; and what has been from the creation,
+will be.' Say also, 'Worse might have come; for he hath a good heart,
+and in the army he is much loved, and of a very high family is he.'
+Joris, let me see thee pluck up thy courage like a man. Better may come
+of this than has come of things better looking. Much we thought of
+Batavius"--
+
+"On that subject wilt thou be quiet?"
+
+"And, if at poor little Katherine thou be angry, speak out thy mind to
+me; to others, say nothing but well of the dear one. Now, then, I will
+get thee thy dinner; for in sorrow a good meal is a good medicine."
+
+[Illustration: "O mother, my sister Katherine!"]
+
+While they were eating this early dinner, Joanna came in, sad and
+tearful; and with loud lamentings she threw herself upon her mother's
+shoulder. "What, then, is the matter with thee?" asked Lysbet, with
+great composure.
+
+"O mother, my Katherine! my sister Katherine!"
+
+"I thought perhaps thou had bad news of Batavius. Thy sister Katherine
+hath married a very fine gentleman, and she is happy. For thou must
+remember that all the good men do not come from Dordrecht."
+
+"I am glad that so you take it. I thought in very great sorrow you would
+be."
+
+"See that you do not say such words to any one, Joanna. Very angry will
+I be if I hear them. Batavius, also; he must be quiet on this matter."
+
+"Oh, then, Batavius has many things of greater moment to think about! Of
+Katherine he never approved; and the talk there will be he will not like
+it. Before from Boston he comes back, I shall be glad to have it over."
+
+"None of his affair it is," said Joris. "Of my own house and my own
+daughter, I can take the care. And if he like the talk, or if he like
+not the talk, there it will be. Who will stop talking because Batavius
+comes home?"
+
+When Joris spoke in this tone on any subject, no one wished to continue
+it: and it was not until her father had left the house, that Joanna
+asked her mother particularly about Katherine's marriage. "Was she sure
+of it? Had they proofs? Would it be legal? More than a dozen people
+stopped me as I came over here," she said, "and asked me about
+everything."
+
+"I know not how more than a dozen people knew of anything, Joanna. But
+many ill-natured words will be spoken, doubtless. Even Janet Semple came
+here yesterday, thinking over Katherine to exult a little. But Katherine
+is a great deal beyond her to-day. And perhaps a countess she may yet
+be. That is what her husband said to thy father."
+
+"I knew not that he spoke to my father about Katherine."
+
+"Thou knows not all things. Before thou wert married to Batavius, before
+Neil Semple nearly murdered him, he asked of thy father her hand. Thou
+wast born on thy wedding day, I think. All things that happened before
+it have from thy memory passed away."
+
+"Well, I am a good wife, I know that. That also is what Batavius says.
+Just before I got to the gate, I met Madam Semple and Gertrude Van
+Gaasbeeck; they had been shopping together."
+
+"Did they speak of Katherine?"
+
+"Indeed they did."
+
+"Or did you speak first, Joanna? It is an evil bird that pulls to pieces
+its own nest."
+
+"O mother, scolded I cannot be for Katherine's folly! My Batavius always
+said, 'The favourite is Katherine.' Always he thought that of me too
+much was expected. And Madam Semple said--and always she liked
+Katherine--that very badly had she behaved for a whole year, and that
+the end was what everybody had looked for. It is on me very hard,--I who
+have always been modest, and taken care of my good name. Nobody in the
+whole city will have one kind word to say for Katherine. You will see
+that it is so, mother."
+
+"You will see something very different, Joanna. Many will praise
+Katherine, for she to herself has done well. And, when back she comes,
+at the governor's she will visit, and with all the great ladies; and not
+one among them will be so lovely as Katherine Hyde."
+
+And, if Joanna had been in Madam Semple's parlour a few hours later, she
+would have had a most decided illustration of Lysbet's faith in the
+popular verdict. Madam was sitting at her tea-table talking to the
+elder, who had brought home with him the full supplement to Joanna's
+story. Both were really sorry for their old friends, although there is
+something in the best kind of human nature that indorses the punishment
+of those things in which old friends differ from us.
+
+Neil had heard nothing. He had been shut up in his office all day over
+an important suit; and, when he took the street again, he was weary, and
+far from being inclined to join any acquaintances in conversation. In
+fact, the absorbing topic was one which no one cared to introduce in
+Neil's presence; and he himself was too full of professional matters to
+notice that he attracted more than usual attention from the young men
+standing around the store-doors, and the officers lounging in front of
+the 'King's Arms' tavern.
+
+He was irritable, too, with exhaustion, though he was doing his best to
+keep himself in control and when madam his mother said pointedly, "I'm
+fearing, Neil, that the bad news has made you ill; you arena at a' like
+yoursel'," he asked without much interest, "What bad news?"
+
+"The news anent Katherine Van Heemskirk."
+
+He had supposed it was some political disappointment, and at Katherine's
+name his pale face grew suddenly crimson.
+
+"What of her?" he asked.
+
+"Didna you hear? She ran awa' last night wi' Captain Hyde; stole awa'
+wi' him on 'The Dauntless.'"
+
+"She would have the right to go with him, I have no doubt," said Neil
+with guarded calmness.
+
+"Do you really think she was his wife?"
+
+"If she went with him, _I am sure she was_." He dropped the words with
+an emphatic precision, and looked with gloomy eyes out of the window;
+gloomy, but steadfast, as if he were trying to face a future in which
+there was no hope. His mother did not observe him. She went on prattling
+as she filled the elder's cup, "If there had been any wedding worth the
+name o' the thing, we would hae been bidden to it. I dinna believe she
+is married."
+
+"Are you sure that she sailed with Captain Hyde in 'The Dauntless,' or
+is it a pack of women's tales?"
+
+"The news cam' wi' your fayther the elder," answered madam, much
+offended. "You can mak' your inquiries there if you think he's mair
+reliable than I am."
+
+Neil looked at his father, and the elder said quietly, "I wouldna be
+positive anent any woman; the bad are whiles good, and the good are
+whiles bad. But there is nae doubt that Katherine has gone with Hyde;
+and I heard that the military at the 'King's Arms' have been drinking
+bumpers to Captain Hyde and his bride; and I know that Mrs. Gordon has
+said they were married lang syne, when Hyde couldna raise himsel' or put
+a foot to the ground. But Joanna told your mother _she_ had neither seen
+nor heard tell o' book, ring, or minister; and, as I say, for mysel'
+I'll no venture a positive opinion, but I _think_ the lassie is married
+to the man she's off an' awa' wi'."
+
+"But if she isna?" persisted madam.
+
+In a moment Neil let slip the rein in which he had been holding himself,
+and in a slow, intense voice answered, "I shall make it my business to
+find out. If Katherine is married, God bless her! If she is not, I will
+follow Hyde though it were around the world until I cleave his coward's
+heart in two." His passion grew stronger with its utterance. He pushed
+away his chair, and put down his cup so indifferently that it missed the
+table and fell with a crash to the floor.
+
+[Illustration: "Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny!"]
+
+"Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny! Oh, my bonnie cups that I hae used for forty
+years, and no' a piece broken afore!"
+
+"Ah, weel, Janet," said the elder, "you shouldna badger an angry man
+when he's drinking from your best cups."
+
+"I canna mend nor match it in the whole Province, Elder. Oh, my bonnie
+cup."
+
+"I was thinking, Janet, o' Katherine's good name. If it is gane, it is
+neither to mend nor to match in the whole wide world. I'll awa' and see
+Joris and Lysbet. And put every cross thought where you'll never find
+them again, Janet; an tak' your good-will in your hands, and come wi'
+me. Lysbet will want to see you."
+
+"Not her, indeed! I can tell you, Elder, that Lysbet was vera cool and
+queer wi' me yesterday."
+
+"Come, Janet, dinna keep your good-nature in remnants. Let's hae enough
+to make a cloak big enough to cover a' bygone faults."
+
+"I think, then, I ought to stay wi' Neil."
+
+"Neil doesna want anybody near him. Leave him alane. Neil's a' right.
+Forty years syne I would hae broke my mother's cheeny, and drawn steel
+as quick as Neil did, if I heard a word against bonnie Janet Gordon."
+And the old man made his wife a bow; and madam blushed with pleasure,
+and went upstairs to put on her bonnet and India shawl.
+
+"Woman, woman," meditated the smiling elder; "she is never too angry to
+be won wi' a mouthful o' sweet words, special if you add a bow or a kiss
+to them. My certie! when a husband can get his ain way at sic a sma'
+price, it's just wonderfu' he doesna buy it in perpetuity."
+
+Joris was somewhat comforted by his old friend's sympathy; for the
+elder, in the hour of trial, knew how to be magnanimous. But the
+father's wound lay deeper than human love could reach. He was suffering
+from what all suffer who are wounded in their affections; for alas,
+alas, how poorly do we love even those whom we love most! We are not
+only bruised by the limitations of their love for us, but also by the
+limitations of our own love for them. And those who know what it is to
+be strong enough to wrestle, and yet not strong enough to overcome, will
+understand how the grief, the anger, the jealousy, the resentment, from
+which he suffered, amazed Joris; he had not realized before the depth
+and strength of his feelings.
+
+He tried to put the memory of Katherine away, but he could not
+accomplish a miracle. The girl's face was ever before him. He felt her
+caressing fingers linked in his own; and, as he walked in his house and
+his garden, her small feet pattered beside him. For as there are in
+creation invisible bonds that do not break like mortal bonds, so also
+there are correspondences subsisting between souls, despite the
+separation of distance.
+
+"I would forget Katherine if I could," he said to Dominie Van Linden;
+and the good man, bravely putting aside his private grief, took the
+hands of Joris in his own, and bending toward him, answered, "That would
+be a great pity. Why forget? Trust, rather, that out of sorrow God will
+bring to you joy."
+
+"Not natural is that, Dominie. How can it be? I do not understand how it
+can be."
+
+"You do not understand! Well, then, _och mijn jongen_, what matters
+comprehension, if you have faith? Trust, now, that it is well with the
+child."
+
+But Joris believed it was ill with her; and he blamed not only himself,
+but every one in connection with Katherine, for results which he was
+certain might have been foreseen and prevented. Did he not foresee them?
+Had he not spoken plainly enough to Hyde and to Lysbet and to the child
+herself? He should have seen her to Albany, to her sister Cornelia. For
+he believed now that Lysbet had not cordially disapproved of Hyde; and
+as for Joanna, she had been far too much occupied with Batavius and her
+own marriage to care for any other thing. And one of his great fears was
+that Katherine also would forget her father and mother and home, and
+become a willing alien from her own people.
+
+He was so wrapped up in his grief, that he did not notice that Bram was
+suffering also. Bram got the brunt of the world's wonderings and
+inquiries. People who did not like to ask Joris questions, felt no such
+delicacy with Bram. And Bram not only tenderly loved his sister: he
+hated with the unreasoning passion of youth the entire English soldiery.
+He made no exception now. They were the visible marks of a subjection
+which he was sworn, heart and soul, to oppose. It humiliated him among
+his fellows, that his sister should have fled with one of them. It gave
+those who envied and disliked him an opportunity of inflicting covert
+and cruel wounds. Joris could, in some degree, control himself; he could
+speak of the marriage with regret, but without passion; he had even
+alluded, in some cases, to Hyde's family and expectations. The majority
+believed that he was secretly a little proud of the alliance. But Bram
+was aflame with indignation; first, if the marriage were at all doubted;
+second, if it were supposed to be a satisfactory one to any member of
+the Van Heemskirk family.
+
+As to the doubters, they were completely silenced when the next issue of
+the "New York Gazette" appeared; for among its most conspicuous
+advertisements was the following:
+
+Married, Oct. 19, 1765, by the Rev. Mr. Somers, chaplain to his
+Excellency the Governor, Richard Drake Hyde, of Hyde Manor, Norfolk, son
+of the late Richard Drake Hyde, and brother of William Drake Hyde, Earl
+of Dorset and Hyde, to Katherine, the youngest daughter of Joris and
+Lysbet Van Heemskirk, of the city and province of New York.
+
+                    _Witnesses_: NIGEL GORDON, H.M. Nineteenth
+                                        Light Cavalry.
+                                     GEORGE EARLE, H.M. Nineteenth
+                                        Light Cavalry.
+                                     ADELAIDE GORDON, wife of Nigel
+                                        Gordon.
+
+This announcement took every one a little by surprise. A few were really
+gratified; the majority perceived that it silenced gossip of a very
+enthralling kind. No one could now deplore or insinuate, or express
+sorrow or astonishment. And, as rejoicing with one's friends and
+neighbours soon becomes a very monotonous thing, Katherine Van
+Heemskirk's fine marriage was tacitly dropped. Only for that one day on
+which it was publicly declared, was it an absorbing topic. The whole
+issue of the "Gazette" was quickly bought; and then people, having seen
+the fact with their own eyes, felt a sudden satiety of the whole affair.
+
+On some few it had a more particular influence. Hyde's brother officers
+held high festival to their comrade's success. To every bumper they read
+the notice aloud, as a toast, and gave a kind of national triumph to
+what was a purely personal affair. Joris read it with dim eyes, and then
+lit his long Gouda pipe and sat smoking with an air of inexpressible
+loneliness. Lysbet read it, and then put the paper carefully away among
+the silks and satins in her bottom drawer. Joanna read it, and then
+immediately bought a dozen copies and sent them to the relatives of
+Batavius, in Dordrecht, Holland.
+
+Neil Sample read and re-read it. It seemed to have a fascination for
+him; and for more than an hour he sat musing, with his eyes fixed upon
+the fateful words. Then he rose and went to the hearth. There were a few
+sticks of wood burning upon it, but they had fallen apart. He put them
+together, and, tearing out the notice, he laid it upon them. It meant
+much more to Neil than the destruction of a scrap of paper, and he stood
+watching it, long after it had become a film of grayish ash.
+
+Bram would not read it at all. He was too full of shame and trouble at
+the event; and the moments went as if they moved on lead. But the
+unhappy day wore away to its evening; and after tea he gathered a great
+nosegay of narcissus, and went to Isaac Cohen's. He did not "hang about
+the steps," as Joris in his temper had said. Miriam was not one of those
+girls who sit in the door to be gazed at by every passing man. He went
+into the store, and she seemed to know his footstep. He had no need to
+speak: she came at once from the mystery behind the crowded place into
+the clearer light. Plain and dark were her garments, and Bram would have
+been unable to describe her dress; but it was as fitting to her as are
+the green leaves of the rose-tree to the rose.
+
+Their acquaintance had evidently advanced since that anxious evening
+when she had urged upon Bram the intelligence of the duel between Hyde
+and Neil Semple; for Bram gave her the flowers without embarrassment,
+and she buried her sweet face in their sweet petals, and then lifted it
+with a smile at once grateful and confidential. Then they began to talk
+of Katherine.
+
+[Illustration: Plain and dark were her garments]
+
+"She was so beautiful and so kind," said Miriam; "just a week since
+she passed here, with some violets in her hand; and, when she saw me,
+she ran up the steps, and said, 'I have brought them for you;' and she
+clasped my fingers, and looked so pleasantly in my face. If I had a
+sister, Bram, I think she would smile at me in the same way."
+
+"Very grateful to you was Katharine. All you did about the duel, I told
+her. She knows her husband had not been alive to-day, but for you. O
+Miriam, if you had not spoken!"
+
+"I should have had the stain of blood on my conscience. I did right to
+speak. My grandfather said to me, 'You did quite right, my dear.'"
+
+Then Bram told her all the little things that had grieved him, and they
+talked as dear companions might talk; only, beneath all the common words
+of daily life, there was some subtile sweetness that made their voices
+low and their glances shy and tremulous.
+
+It was not more than an hour ere Cohen came home. He looked quickly at
+the young people, and then stood by Bram, and began to talk courteously
+of passing events. Miriam leaned, listening, against a magnificent
+"apostle's cabinet" in black oak--one of those famous ones made in
+Nuremburg in the fifteenth century, with locks and hinges of
+hammered-steel work, and finely chased handles of the same material.
+Against its carved and pillared background her dark drapery fell in
+almost unnoticed grace; but her fair face and small hands, with the mass
+of white narcissus in them, had a singular and alluring beauty. She
+affected Bram as something sweetly supernatural might have done. It was
+an effort for him to answer Cohen; he felt as if it would be impossible
+for him to go away.
+
+But the clock struck the hour, and the shop boy began to put up the
+shutters; and the old man walked to the door, taking Bram with him. Then
+Miriam, smiling her farewell, passed like a shadow into the darker
+shadows beyond; and Bram went home, wondering to find that she had cast
+out of his heart hatred, malice, fretful worry, and all
+uncharitableness. How could he blend them with thoughts of her? and how
+could he forget the slim, dark-robed figure, or the lovely face against
+the old black _kas_, crowned with its twelve sombre figures, or the
+white slender hands holding the white fragrant flowers?
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+          "_Each man's homestead is his golden milestone,
+          Is the central point from which he measures
+                      Every distance
+          Through the gateways of the world around him._"
+
+
+There are certain months in every life which seem to be full of fate,
+good or evil, for that life; and May was Katherine Hyde's luck month. It
+was on a May afternoon that Hyde had asked her love; it was on a May
+night she fled with him through the gray shadows of the misty river.
+Since then a year had gone by, and it was May once more,--an English
+May, full of the magic of the month; clear skies, and young foliage, and
+birds' songs, the cool, woody smell of wall-flowers, and the ethereal
+perfume of lilies.
+
+In Hyde Manor House, there was that stir of preparation which indicates
+a departure. The house was before time; it had the air of early rising;
+the atmosphere of yesterday had not been dismissed, but lingered
+around, and gave the idea of haste and change, and departure from
+regular custom. It was, indeed, an hour before the usual breakfast-time;
+but Hyde and Katharine were taking a hasty meal together. Hyde was in
+full uniform, his sword at his side, his cavalry cap and cloak on a
+chair near him; and up and down the gravelled walk before the main
+entrance a groom was leading his horse.
+
+"I must see what is the matter with Mephisto," said Hyde. "How he is
+snorting and pawing! And if Park loses control of him, I shall be
+greatly inconvenienced for both horse and time."
+
+The remark was partially the excuse of a man who feels that he must go,
+and who tries to say the hard words in less ominous form. They both rose
+together,--Katherine bravely smiling away tears, and looking exceedingly
+lovely in her blue morning-gown trimmed with frillings of thread lace;
+and Hyde, gallant and tender, but still with the air of a man not averse
+to go back to life's real duty. He took Katherine in his arms, kissed
+away her tears, made her many a loving promise, and then, lifting his
+cap and cloak, left the room. The servants were lingering around to get
+his last word, and to wish him "God-speed;" and for a few minutes he
+stood talking to his groom and soothing Mephisto. Evidently he had quite
+recovered his health and strength; for he sprang very easily into the
+saddle, and, gathering the reins in his hand, kept the restive animal in
+perfect control.
+
+A moment he stood thus, the very ideal of a fearless, chivalrous,
+handsome soldier; the next, his face softened to almost womanly
+tenderness, for he saw Katherine coming hastily through the dim hall and
+into the clear sunshine, and in her arms was his little son. She came
+fearlessly to his side, and lifted the sleeping child to him. He stooped
+and kissed it, and then kissed again the beautiful mother; and calling
+happily backward, "Good-by, my love; God keep you, love; good-by!" he
+gave Mephisto his own wild will, and was soon lost to sight among the
+trees of the park.
+
+[Illustration: Katherine stood with her child in her arms]
+
+Katherine stood with her child in her arms, listening to the ever faint
+and fainter beat of Mephisto's hoofs. Her husband had gone back to duty,
+his furlough had expired, and their long, and leisurely honeymoon was
+over. But she was neither fearful nor unhappy. Hyde's friends had
+procured his exchange into a court regiment. He was only going to
+London, and he was still her lover. She looked forward with clear eyes
+as she said gratefully over to herself, "So happy am I! So good is my
+husband! So dear is my child! So fair and sweet is my home!"
+
+And though to many minds Hyde Manor might seem neither fair nor sweet,
+Katherine really liked it. Perhaps she had some inherited taste for low
+lands, with their shimmer of water and patches of green; or perhaps the
+gentle beauty of the landscape specially fitted her temperament. But, at
+any rate, the wide brown stretches, dotted with lonely windmills and low
+farmhouses, pleased her. So also did the marshes, fringed with yellow
+and purple flags; and the great ditches, white with water-lilies; and
+the high belts of natural turf; and the summer sunshine, which over this
+level land had a white brilliancy to which other sunshine seemed shadow.
+Hyde had never before found the country endurable, except during the
+season when the marshes were full of birds; or when, at the Christmas
+holidays, the ice was firm as marble and smooth as glass, and the wind
+blowing fair from behind. Then he had liked well a race with the famous
+fen-skaters.
+
+The Manor House was neither handsome nor picturesque, though its
+dark-red bricks made telling contrasts among the ivy and the few large
+trees surrounding it. It contained a great number of rooms, but none
+were of large proportions. The ceilings were low, and often crossed with
+heavy oak beams; while the floors, though of polished oak, were very
+uneven. Hyde had refurnished a few of the rooms; and the showy paperings
+and chintzes, the fine satin and gilding, looked oddly at variance with
+the black oak wainscots, the Elizabethan fireplaces, and the other
+internal decorations.
+
+Katherine, however, had no sense of any incongruity. She was charmed
+with her home, from its big garrets to the great wine-bins in its
+underground cellars; and while Hyde wandered about the fens with his
+fishing-rod or gun, or went into the little town of Hyde to meet over a
+market dinner the neighbouring squires, she was busy arranging every
+room with that scrupulous nicety and cleanliness which had been not only
+an important part of her education, but was also a fundamental trait of
+her character. Indeed, no Dutch wife ever had the _netheid_, or passion
+for order and cleanliness, in greater perfection than Katherine. She
+might almost have come from Wormeldingen, "where the homes are washed
+and waxed, and the streets brushed and dusted till not a straw lies
+about, and the trees have a combed and brushed appearance, and do not
+dare to grow a leaf out of its place." So, then, the putting in order of
+this large house, with all its miscellaneous, uncared-for furniture,
+gave her a genuine pleasure.
+
+Always pretty and sweet as a flower, always beautifully dressed, she yet
+directed, personally, her little force of servants, until room after
+room became a thing of beauty. It was her employment during those days
+on which Hyde was fishing or shooting; and it was not until the whole
+house was in exquisite condition that Katherine took him through his
+renovated dwelling. He was delighted, and not too selfish and
+indifferent to express his wonder and pleasure.
+
+"Faith, Kate," he said, "you have made me a home out of an old
+lumber-house! I thought of taking you to London with me; but, upon my
+word, we had better stay at Hyde and beautify the place. I can run down
+whenever it is possible to get a few days off."
+
+This idea gained gradually on both, and articles of luxury and adornment
+were occasionally added to the better rooms. The garden next fell under
+Katharine's care. "In sweet neglect," it no longer flaunted its
+beauties. Roses and stocks and tiger-lilies learned what boundaries of
+box meant; and if flowers have any sense of territorial rights,
+Katherine's must have found they were respected. Encroaching vines were
+securely confined within their proper limits, and grass that wandered
+into the gravel paths sought for itself a merciless destruction.
+
+[Illustration: The garden next fell under Katherine's care]
+
+All such reforms, if they are not offensive, are stimulating and
+progressive. The stables, kennels, and park, as well as the land
+belonging to the manor, became of sudden interest to Hyde. He surprised
+his lawyer by asking after it, and by giving orders that in future the
+hay cut in the meadows should be cut for the Hyde stables. Every small
+wrong which he investigated and redressed increased his sense of
+responsibility; and the birth of his son made him begin to plan for the
+future in a way which brought not only great pleasure to Katherine, but
+also a comfortable self-satisfaction to his own heart.
+
+Yet, even with all these favourable conditions, Katherine would not have
+been happy had the estrangement between herself and her parents
+continued a bitter or a silent one. She did not suppose they would
+answer the letter she had sent by the fisherman Hudde; she was prepared
+to ask, and to wait, for pardon and for a re-gift of that precious love
+which she had apparently slighted for a newer and as yet untested one.
+So, immediately after her arrival at Jamaica, Katherine wrote to her
+mother; and, without waiting for replies, she continued her letters
+regularly from Hyde. They were in a spirit of the sweetest and frankest
+confidence. She made her familiar with all her household plans and
+wifely cares; as room by room in the old manor was finished, she
+described it. She asked her advice with all the faith of a child and the
+love of a daughter; and she sent through her those sweet messages of
+affection to her father which she feared a little to offer without her
+mother's mediation.
+
+But when she had a son, and when Hyde agreed that the boy should be
+named _George_, she wrote a letter to him. Joris found it one April
+morning on his desk, and it happened to come in a happy hour. He had
+been working in his garden, and every plant and flower had brought his
+Katherine pleasantly back to his memory. All the walks were haunted by
+her image. The fresh breeze of the river was full of her voice and her
+clear laughter. The returning birds, chattering in the trees above him,
+seemed to ask, "Where, then, is the little one gone?"
+
+Her letter, full of love, starred all through with pet words, and wisely
+reminding him more of their own past happiness than enlarging on her
+present joy, made his heart melt. He could do no business that day. He
+felt that he must go home and tell Lysbet: only the mother could fully
+understand and share his joy. He found her cleaning the "Guilderland
+cup"--the very cup Mrs. Gordon had found Katherine cleaning when she
+brought the first love message, and took back that fateful token, her
+bow of orange ribbon. At that moment Lysbet's thoughts were entirely
+with Katherine. She was wondering whether Joris and herself might not
+some day cross the ocean to see their child. When she heard her
+husband's step at that early hour, she put down the cup in fear, and
+stood watching the door for his approach. The first glimpse of his face
+told her that he was no messenger of sorrow. He gave her the letter with
+a smile, and then walked up and down while she read it.
+
+"Well, Joris, a beautiful letter this is. And thou has a grandson of thy
+own name--a little Joris. Oh, how I long to see him! I hope that he will
+grow like thee--so big and handsome as thou art, and also with thy good
+heart. Oh, the little Joris! Would God he was here!"
+
+The face of Joris was happy, and his eyes shining; but he had not yet
+much to say. He walked about for an hour, and listened to Lysbet, who,
+as she polished her silver, retold him all that Katherine had said of
+her husband's love, and of his goodness to her. With great attention he
+listened to her description of the renovated house and garden, and of
+Hyde's purposes with regard to the estate. Then he sat down and smoked
+his pipe, and after dinner he returned to his pipe and his meditation.
+Lysbet wondered what he was considering, and hoped that it might be a
+letter of full forgiveness for her beloved Katherine.
+
+At last he rose and went into the garden; and she watched him wander
+from bed to bed, and stand looking down at the green shoots of the early
+flowers, and the lovely inverted urns of the brave snowdrops. To the
+river and back again several times he walked; but about three o'clock he
+came into the house with a firm, quick step, and, not finding Lysbet in
+the sitting-room, called her cheerily. She was in their room upstairs,
+and he went to her.
+
+"Lysbet, thinking I have been--thinking of Katherine's marriage. Better
+than I expected, it has turned out."
+
+"I think that Katherine has made a good marriage--the best marriage of
+all the children."
+
+[Illustration: "Thou has a grandson of thy own name"]
+
+"Dost thou believe that her husband is so kind and so prudent as she
+says?"
+
+"No doubt of it I have."
+
+"See, then: I will send to Katherine her portion. Cohen will give me the
+order on Secor's Bank in Threadneedle Street. It is for her and her
+children. Can I trust them with it?"
+
+"Katherine is no waster, and full of nobleness is her husband. Write
+thou to him, and put it in his charge for Katherine and her children.
+And tell him in his honour thou trust entirely; and I think that he will
+do in all things right. Nothing has he asked of thee."
+
+"To the devil he sent my dirty guilders, made in dirty trade. I have not
+forgot."
+
+"Joris, the Devil speaks for a man in a passion. Keep no such words in
+thy memory."
+
+"Lysbet?"
+
+"What then, Joris?"
+
+"The drinking-cup of silver, which my father gave us at our
+marriage,--the great silver one that has on it the view of Middleburg
+and the arms of the city. It was given to my great-grandfather when he
+was mayor of Middleburg. His name, also, was Joris. To my grandson shall
+I send it?"
+
+"Oh, my Joris, much pleasure would thou give Katherine and me also! Let
+the little fellow have it. Earl of Dorset and Hyde he may be yet."
+
+Joris blushed vividly, but he answered, "Mayor of New York he may be
+yet. That will please me best."
+
+"Five grandsons hast thou, but this is the first Joris. Anna has two
+sons, but for his dead brothers Rysbaack named them. Cornelia has two
+sons; but for thee they called neither, because Van Dorn's father is
+called Joris, and with him they are great unfriends. And when Joanna's
+son was born, they called him Peter, because Batavius hath a rich uncle
+called Peter, who may pay for the name. So, then, Katherine's son is the
+first of thy grandchildren that has thy name. The dear little Joris! He
+has blue eyes too; eyes like thine, she says. Yes, I would to him give
+the Middleburg cup. William Newman, the jeweller, will pack it safely,
+and by the next ship thou can send it to the bankers thou spoke of. I
+will tell Katherine so. But thou, too, write her a letter; for little
+she will think of her fortune or of the cup, if thy love thou send not
+with them."
+
+And Joris had done all that he purposed, and done it without one
+grudging thought or doubting word. The cup went, full of good-will. The
+money was given as Katherine's right, and was hampered with no
+restrictions but the wishes of Joris, left to the honour of Hyde. And
+Hyde was not indifferent to such noble trust. He fully determined to
+deserve it. As for Katherine, she desired no greater pleasure than to
+emphasize her reliance in her husband by leaving the money absolutely at
+his discretion. In fact, she felt a far greater interest in the
+Middleburg cup. It had always been an object of her admiration and
+desire. She believed her son would be proud to point it out and say, "It
+came from my mother's ancestor, who was mayor of Middleburg when that
+famous city ruled in the East India trade, and compelled all vessels
+with spice and wines and oils to come to the crane of Middleburg, there
+to be verified and gauged." She longed to receive this gift. She had
+resolved to put it between the baby fingers of little Joris as soon as
+it arrived. "A grand christening-cup it will be," she exclaimed, with
+childlike enthusiasm and Hyde kissed her, and promised to send it at
+once by a trusty messenger.
+
+[Illustration: Plate old and new]
+
+He was a little amused by her enthusiasm. The Hydes had much plate, old
+and new, and they were proud of its beauty and excellence, and well
+aware of its worth; but they were not able to judge of the value of
+flagons and cups and servers gathered slowly through many generations,
+every one representing some human drama of love or suffering, or some
+deed of national significance. Nearly all of Joris Van Heemskirk's
+silver was "storied:" it was the materialization of honour and
+patriotism, of self-denial or charity; and the silversmith's and
+engraver's work was the least part of the Van Heemskirk pride in it.
+
+As Joris sat smoking that night, he thought over his proposal; and then
+for the first time it struck him that the Middleburg cup might have a
+peculiar significance and value to Bram. It cost him an effort to put
+his vague suspicions into words, because by doing so he seemed to give
+shape and substance to shadows; but when Lysbet sat down with a little
+sigh of content beside him, and said, "A happy night is this to us,
+Joris," he answered, "God is good; always better to us than we trust Him
+for. I want to say now what I have been considering the last hour,--some
+other cup we will send to the little Joris, for I think Bram will like
+to have the Middleburg cup best of all."
+
+"Always Bram has been promised the Guilderland cup and the server that
+goes with it."
+
+"That is the truth; but I will tell you something, Lysbet. The
+Middelburg cup was given by the Jews of Middleburg to my ancestor
+because great favours and protection he gave them when he was mayor of
+the city. Bram is very often with Miriam Cohen, and"--
+
+Then Joris stopped, and Lysbet waited anxiously for him to finish the
+sentence; but he only puffed, puffed, and looked thoughtfully at the
+bowl of his pipe.
+
+"What mean you, Joris?"
+
+"I think that he loves her."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"That he would like to marry her."
+
+"Many things that are impossible, man would like to do: that is most
+impossible of all."
+
+"You think so?"
+
+"I am sure of it."
+
+"Not impossible was it for Katherine to marry one not of her own race."
+
+"In my mind it is not race so much as faith. Far more than race, faith
+claims."
+
+"Hyde is a Lutheran."
+
+"A Lutheran may also be a Christian, I hope, Joris."
+
+"I judge no man, Lysbet. I have known Jews that were better Christians
+than some baptized in the name of Christ and John Calvin,--Jews who,
+like the great Jew, loved God, and did to their fellow-creatures as they
+wished to be done by. And if you had ever seen Miriam Cohen, you would
+not make a wonder that Bram loves her."
+
+"Is she so fair?"
+
+"A beautiful face and gracious ways she has. Like her the beloved Rachel
+must have been, I think. Why do you not stand with Bram as you stood
+with Katherine?"
+
+"Little use it would be, Joris. To give consent in this matter would be
+a sacrifice refused. Be sure that Cohen will not listen to Bram; no, nor
+to you, nor to me, nor to Miriam. If it come to a question of race, more
+proud is the Jew of his race then even the Englishman or the Dutchman.
+If it come to a question of faith, if all the other faiths in the world
+die out, the Jew will hold to his own. Say to Bram, 'I am willing;' and
+Cohen will say to him, 'Never, never will I consent.' If you keep the
+'Jew's cup' for Bram and Miriam, always you will keep it; yes, and they
+that live after you, too."
+
+Why it is that certain trains of thought and feeling move to their end
+at the same hour, though that end affect a variety of persons, no one
+has yet explained. But there are undoubtedly currents of sympathy of
+whose nature and movements we are profoundly ignorant. Thus how often we
+think of an event just before some decisive action relating to it is
+made known to us! How often do we recall some friend just as we are
+about to see or hear from him! How often do we remember something that
+ought to be done, just at the last moment its successful accomplishment
+was possible to us!
+
+And at the very hour Joris and Lysbet were discussing the position of
+their son with regard to Miriam Cohen, the question was being definitely
+settled at another point. For Joris was not the only person who had
+observed Bram's devotion to the beautiful Jewess. Cohen had watched him
+with close and cautious jealousy for many months; but he was far too
+wise to stimulate love by opposition, and he did not believe in half
+measures. When he defined Miriam's duty to her, he meant it to be in
+such shape as precluded argument or uncertainty; and for this purpose
+delay was necessary. Much correspondence with England had to take place,
+and the mails were then irregular. But it happened that, after some
+months of negotiation, a final and satisfactory letter had come to him
+by the same post as brought Katherine's letter to Joris Van Heemskirk.
+
+He read its contents with a sad satisfaction, and then locked it away
+until the evening hours secured him from business interruption. Then he
+went to his grandchild. He found her sitting quietly among the cushions
+of a low couch. It seemed as if Miriam's thoughts were generally
+sufficient for her pleasure, for she was rarely busy. She had always
+time to sit and talk, or to sit and be silent. And Cohen liked best to
+see her thus,--beautiful and calm, with small hands dropped or folded,
+and eyes half shut, and mouth closed, but ready to smile and dimple if
+he decided to speak to her.
+
+She looked so pretty and happy and careless that for some time he did
+not like to break the spell of her restful beauty. Nor did he until his
+pipe was quite finished, and he had looked carefully over the notes in
+his "day-book." Then he said in slow, even tones, "My child, listen to
+me. This summer my young kinsman Judah Belasco will come here. He comes
+to marry you. You will be a happy wife, my dear. He has moneys, and he
+has the power to make moneys; and he is a good young man. I have been
+cautious concerning that, my dear."
+
+There was a long pause. He did not hurry her, but sat patiently waiting,
+with his eyes fixed upon the book in his hand.
+
+"I do not want to marry, grandfather. I am so young. I do not know Judah
+Belasco."
+
+"You shall have time, my dear. It is part of the agreement that he shall
+now live in New York. He is a rich young man, my dear. He is of the
+_sephardim_, as you are too, my dear. You must marry in your own caste;
+for we are of unmixed blood, faithful children of the tribe of Judah.
+All of our brethren here are _Ashkenasem_: therefore, I have had no rest
+until I got a husband fit for you, my dear. This was my duty, though I
+brought him from the end of the earth. It has cost me moneys, but I gave
+cheerfully. The thing is finished now, when you are ready. But you shall
+not be hurried, my dear."
+
+"Father, I have been a good daughter. Do not make me leave you."
+
+"You have been good, and you will be good always. What is the command?"
+
+"Honor thy father and thy mother."
+
+"And the promise?"
+
+"Then long shall be thy days on the earth."
+
+"And the vow you made, Miriam?"
+
+"That I would never disobey or deceive you."
+
+"Who have you vowed to?"
+
+"The God of Israel."
+
+"Will you lie unto Him?"
+
+"I would give my life first."
+
+"Now is the time to fulfil your vow. Put from your heart or fancy any
+other young man. Have you not thought of our neighbour, Bram Van
+Heemskirk?"
+
+"He is good; he is handsome. I fear he loves me."
+
+"You know not anything. If you choose a husband, or even a shoe, by
+their appearance, both may pinch you, my dear. Judah is of good stock.
+Of a good tree you may expect good fruit."
+
+"Bram Van Heemskirk is also the son of a good father. Many times you
+have said it."
+
+"Yes, I have said it. But Bram is not of our people. And if our law
+forbid us to sow different seeds at the same time in the same ground, or
+to graft one kind of fruit-tree on the stock of another, shall we dare
+to mingle ourselves with people alien in race and faith, and speech and
+customs? My dear, will you take your own way, or will you obey the word
+of the Lord?"
+
+"My way cannot stand before His way."
+
+"It is a hard thing for you, my dear. Your way is sweet to you. Offer it
+as a sacrifice; bind the sacrifice, even with cords, to the altar, if
+it be necessary. I mean, say to Bram Van Heemskirk words that you cannot
+unsay. Then there will be only one sorrow. It is hope and fear, and fear
+and hope, that make the heart sick. Be kind, and slay hope at once, my
+dear."
+
+"If Judah had been my own choice, father"--
+
+"_Choice?_ My dear, when did you get wisdom? Do not parents choose for
+their children their food, dress, friends, and teachers? What folly to
+do these things, and then leave them in the most serious question of
+life to their own wisdom, or want of wisdom! Choice! Remember Van
+Heemskirk's daughter, and the sin and suffering her own choice caused."
+
+[Illustration: "Make me not to remember the past"]
+
+"I think it was not her fault if two men quarrelled and fought about
+her."
+
+"She was not wholly innocent. Miriam, make me not to remember the past.
+My eyes are old now; they should not weep any more. I have drunk my cup
+of sorrow to the lees. O Miriam, Miriam, do not fill it again!"
+
+"God forbid! My father, I will keep the promise that I made you. I will
+do all that you wish."
+
+Cohen bowed his head solemnly, and remained for some minutes afterward
+motionless. His eyes were closed, his face was as still as a painted
+face. Whether he was praying or remembering, Miriam knew not. But
+solitude is the first cry of the wounded heart, and she went away into
+it. She was like a child that had been smitten, and whom there was none
+to comfort. But she never thought of disputing her grandfather's word,
+or of opposing his will. Often before he had been obliged to give her
+some bitter cup, or some disappointment; but her good had always been
+the end in view. She had perfect faith in his love and wisdom. But she
+suffered very much; though she bore it with that uncomplaining patience
+which is so characteristic of the child heart--a patience pathetic in
+its resignation, and sublime in its obedience.
+
+And it was during this hour of trial to Miriam that Joris was talking to
+Lysbet of her. It did him good to put his fears into words, for Lysbet's
+assurances were comfortable; and as it had been a day full of feeling,
+he was weary and went earlier to his room than usual. On the contrary,
+Lysbet was very wakeful. She carried her sewing to the candle, and sat
+down for an hour's work. The house was oppressively still; and she could
+not help remembering the days when it had been so different,--when Anna
+and Cornelia had been marriageable women, and Joanna and Katherine
+growing girls. All of them had now gone away from her. Only Bram was
+left, and she thought of him with great anxiety. Such a marriage as his
+father had hinted at filled her with alarm. She could neither conquer
+her prejudices nor put away her fears; and she tormented herself with
+imagining, in the event of such a misfortune, all the disagreeable and
+disapproving things the members of the Middle Kirk would have to say.
+
+In the midst of her reflections, Bram returned. She had not expected him
+so early, but the sound of his feet was pleasant. He came in slowly;
+and, after some pottering, irritating delays, he pushed his father's
+chair back from the light, and with a heavy sigh sat down in it.
+
+"Why sigh you so heavy, Bram? Every sigh still lower sinks the heart."
+
+"A light heart I shall never have again, mother."
+
+"You talk some foolishness. A young man like you! A quarrel with your
+sweetheart, is it? Well, it will be over as quick as a rainy day. Then
+the sunshine again."
+
+"For me there is no hope like that. So quiet and shy was my love."
+
+"Oh, indeed! Of all the coquettes, the quiet, shy ones are the worst."
+
+"No coquette is Miriam Cohen. My love life is at the end, mother."
+
+"When began it, Bram?"
+
+"It was at the time of the duel. I loved her from the first moment. O
+mother, mother!"
+
+"Does she not love you, Bram?"
+
+"I think so: many sweet hours we have had together. My heart was full of
+hope."
+
+"Her faith, Bram, should have kept you prudent."
+
+"'In what church do you pray?' Love asks not such a question, and as for
+her race, I thought a daughter of Israel is the beloved of all the
+daughters of God. A blessing to my house she will bring."
+
+"That is not what the world says, Bram. No, my son. It is thus, and like
+it: that God is angry with His people, and for that He has scattered
+them through all the nations of the earth."
+
+"Such folly is that! To colonize, to 'take possession' of the whole
+earth, is what the men of Israel have always intended. Long before the
+Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Jews were scattered throughout every
+known country. I will say that to the dominie. It is the truth, and he
+cannot deny it."
+
+"But surely God is angry with them."
+
+"I see it not. If once He was angry, long ago He has forgiven His
+people. 'To the third and fourth generation' only is His anger. His own
+limit that is. Who have such blessings? The gold and the wine and the
+fruit of all lands are theirs. Their increase comes when all others'
+fail. God is not angry with them. The light of His smile is on the face
+of Miriam. He teaches her father how to traffic and to prosper. Do not
+the Holy Scriptures say that the blessing, not the anger, of the Lord
+maketh rich?"
+
+"Well, then, my son, all this is little to the purpose, if she will not
+have thee for her husband. But be not easy to lose thy heart. Try once
+more."
+
+"Useless it would be. Miriam is not one of those who say 'no' and then
+'yes.'"
+
+"Nearly two years you have known her. That was long to keep you in hope
+and doubt. I think she is a coquette."
+
+"You know her not, mother. Very few words of love have I dared to say.
+We have been friends. I was happy to stand in the store and talk to
+Cohen, and watch her. A glance from her eyes, a pleasant word, was
+enough. I feared to lose all by asking too much."
+
+"Then, why did you ask her to-night? It would have been better had your
+father spoken first to Mr. Cohen."
+
+"I did not ask Miriam to-night. She spared me all she could. She was in
+the store as I passed, and I went in. This is what she said to me,
+'Bram, dear Bram, I fear that you begin to love me, because I think of
+you very often. And my grandfather has just told me that I am promised
+to Judah Belasco, of London. In the summer he will come here, and I
+shall marry him.' I wish, mother, you could have seen her leaning
+against the black _kas_; for between it and her black dress, her face
+was white as death, and beautiful and pitiful as an angel's."
+
+"What said you then?"
+
+"Oh, I scarce know! But I told her how dearly I loved her, and I asked
+her to be my wife."
+
+[Illustration: With a great sob Bram laid his head against her breast]
+
+"And she said what to thee?"
+
+"'My father I must obey. Though he told me to slay myself, I must obey
+him. By the God of Israel, I have promised it often.'"
+
+"Was that all, Bram?"
+
+"I asked her again and again. I said, 'Only in this one thing, Miriam,
+and all our lives after it we will give to him.' But she answered,
+'Obedience is better than sacrifice, Bram. That is what our law teaches.
+Though I could give my father the wealth and the power of King Solomon,
+it would be worth less than my obedience.' And for all my pleading, at
+the last it was the same, 'I cannot do wrong; for many right deeds will
+not undo one wrong one.' So she gave me her hands, and I kissed
+them,--my first and last kiss,--and I bade her farewell; for my hope is
+over--I know that."
+
+"She is a good girl. I wish that you had won her, Bram." And Lysbet put
+down her work and went to her son's side; and with a great sob Bram laid
+his head against her breast.
+
+"As one whom his mother comforteth!" Oh, tender and wonderful
+consolation! It is the mother that turns the bitter waters of life into
+wine. Bram talked his sorrow over to his mother's love and pity and
+sympathy; and when she parted with him, long after the midnight, she
+said cheerfully, "Thou hast a brave soul, _mijn zoon, mijn Bram_; and
+this trouble is not all for thy loss and grief. A sweet memory will this
+beautiful Miriam be as long as thou livest; and to have loved well a
+good woman will make thee always a better man for it."
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+          "_The town's a golden, but a fatal, circle,
+          Upon whose magic skirts a thousand devils,
+          In crystal forms, sit tempting Innocence,
+          And beckoning Virtue from its centre._"
+
+
+The trusting, generous letter which Joris had written to his son-in-law
+arrived a few days before Hyde's departure for London. With every decent
+show of pleasure and gratitude, he said, "It is an unexpected piece of
+good fortune, Katherine, and the interest of five thousand pounds will
+keep Hyde Manor up in a fine style. As for the principal, we will leave
+it at Secor's until it can be invested in land. What say you?"
+
+Katherine was quite satisfied; for, though naturally careful of all put
+under her own hands, she was at heart very far from being either selfish
+or mercenary. In fact, the silver cup was at that hour of more real
+interest to her. It would be a part of her old home in her new home. It
+was connected with her life memories, and it made a portion of her
+future hopes and dreams. There was also something more tangible about it
+than about the bit of paper certifying to five thousand pounds in her
+name at Secor's Bank.
+
+But Hyde knew well the importance of Katherine's fortune. It enabled him
+to face his relatives and friends on a very much better footing than he
+had anticipated. He was quite aware, too, that the simple fact was all
+that society needed. He expected to hear in a few days that the five
+thousand pounds had become fifty thousand pounds; for he knew that
+rumour, when on the boast, would magnify any kind of gossip, favourable
+or unfavourable. So he was no longer averse to meeting his former
+companions: even to them, a rich wife would excuse matrimony. And,
+besides, Hyde was one of those men who regard money in the bank as a
+kind of good conscience: he really felt morally five thousand pounds the
+better. Full of hope and happiness, he would have gone at a pace to suit
+his mood; but English roads at that date were left very much to nature
+and to weather, and the Norfolk clay in springtime was so deep and heavy
+that it was not until the third day after leaving that he was able to
+report for duty.
+
+His first social visit was paid to his maternal grandmother, the dowager
+Lady Capel. She was not a nice old woman; in fact, she was a very
+spiteful, ill-hearted, ill-tempered old woman, and Hyde had always had a
+certain fear of her. When he landed in London with his wife, Lady Capel
+had fortunately been at Bath; and he had then escaped the duty of
+presenting Katherine to her. But she was now at her mansion in Berkeley
+Square, and her claims upon his attention could not be postponed; and,
+as she had neither eyes nor ears in the evenings for any thing but loo
+or whist, Hyde knew that a conciliatory visit would have to be made in
+the early part of the day.
+
+He found her in the most careless dishabille, wigless and unpainted, and
+rolled up comfortably in an old wadded morning-gown that had seen years
+of snuffy service. But she had out-lived her vanity. Hyde had chosen the
+very hour in which she had nothing whatever to amuse her, and he was a
+very welcome interruption. And, upon the whole, she liked her grandson.
+She had paid his gambling-debts twice, she had taken the greatest
+interest in his various duels, and sided passionately with him in one
+abortive love-affair.
+
+"Dick is no milksop," she would say approvingly, when told of any of his
+escapades; "faith, he has my spirit exactly! I have a great deal more
+temper than any one would believe me capable of"--which was not the
+truth, for there were few people who really knew her ladyship who ever
+felt inclined to doubt her capabilities in that direction.
+
+So she heard the rattle of Hyde's sword, and the clatter of his feet on
+the polished stairs, with a good deal of satisfaction. "I have him here,
+and I shall do my best to keep him here," she thought. "Why should a
+proper young fellow like Dick bury himself alive in the fens for a
+Dutchwoman? In short, she has had enough, and too much, of him. His
+grandmother has a prior claim, I hope, and then Arabella Suffolk will
+help me. I foresee mischief and amusement.--Well, Dick, you rascal, so
+you have had to leave America! I expected it. Oh, sir, I have heard all
+about you from Adelaide! You are not to be trusted, either among men or
+women. And pray where is the wife you made such a fracas about? Is she
+in London with you?"
+
+"No, madam: she preferred to remain at Hyde, and I have no happiness
+beyond her desire."
+
+"Here's flame! Here's constancy! And you have been married a whole year!
+I am struck with admiration."
+
+"A whole year--a year of divine happiness, I assure you."
+
+"Lord, sir! You will be the laughing-stock of the town if you talk in
+such fashion. They will have you in the play-houses. Pray let us forget
+our domestic joys a little. I hear, however, that your divinity is
+rich."
+
+"She is not poor; though if"--
+
+"Though if she had been a beggar-girl you would have married her, rags
+and all. Swear to that, Dick, especially when she brings you fifty
+thousand pounds. I'm very much obliged to her; you can hardly, for
+shame, put your fingers in my poor purse now, sir. And you can make a
+good figure in the world; and as your cousin Arabella Suffolk is staying
+with me, you will be the properest gallant for her when Sir Thomas is at
+the House."
+
+"I am at yours and cousin Arabella's service, grandmother."
+
+"Exactly so, Captain; only no more quarrelling and fighting. Learn your
+catechism, or Dr. Watts, or somebody. Remember that we have now a bishop
+in the family. And I am getting old, and want to be at peace with the
+whole world, if you will let me."
+
+Hyde laughed merrily. "Why, grandmother, such advice from you! I don't
+trust it. There never was a more perfect hater than yourself."
+
+"I know, Dick. I used to say, 'Lord, this person is so bad, and that
+person is so bad, I hate them!' But at last I found out that every one
+was bad: so I hate nobody. One cannot take a sword and run the whole
+town through. I have seen some very religious people lately; and you
+will find me very serious, and much improved. Come and go as you please,
+Dick: Arabella and you can be perfectly happy, I dare say, without
+minding me."
+
+"What is the town doing now?"
+
+"Oh, balls and dances and weddings and other follies! Thank the moon,
+men and women never get weary of these things!"
+
+"Then you have not ceased to enjoy them, I hope."
+
+"I still take my share. Old fools will hobble after young ones. I ride a
+little, and visit a little, and have small societies quite to my taste.
+And I have my four kings and aces; that is saying everything. I want you
+to go to all the diversions, Dick; and pray tell me what they say of me
+behind my back. I like to know how much I annoy people."
+
+"I shall not listen to anything unflattering, I assure you."
+
+"La, Dick, you can't fight a rout of women and men about your
+grandmother! I don't want you to fight, not even if they talk about
+Arabella and you. It is none of their business; and as for Sir Thomas
+Suffolk, he hears nothing outside the House, and he thinks every Whig in
+England is watching him--a pompous old fool!"
+
+"Oh, indeed! I had an idea that he was a very merry fellow."
+
+"Merry, forsooth! He was never known to laugh. There is a report that he
+once condescended to smile, but it was at chess. As for fighting, he
+wouldn't fight a dog that bit him. He is too patriotic to deprive his
+country of his own abilities. No, Dick; I really do not see any quarrel
+ahead, unless you make it."
+
+"I shall think of my Kate when I am passionate, and so keep the peace."
+
+"'I shall think of my Kate.' Grant me patience with all young husbands.
+They ought to remain in seclusion until the wedding-fever is over. By
+the Lord Harry! If Jack Capel had spoken of me in such fashion, I would
+have given him the best of reasons for running some pretty fellow
+through the heart. Hush! Here comes Arabella, and I am anxious you
+should make a figure in her eyes."
+
+Arabella came in very quietly, but she seemed to take possession of the
+room as she entered it. She had a bright, piquant face, a tall, graceful
+form, and that air of high fashion which is perhaps quite as
+captivating.
+
+She was "delighted to meet cousin Dick. Oh, indeed, you have been the
+town talk!" she said, with an air of attention very flattering. "Such a
+passionate encounter was never heard of. The clubs were engaged with it
+for a week. I was told that Lord Paget and Sir Henry Dutton came near
+fighting it over themselves. Was it really about a bow of orange ribbon?
+And did you wear it over your heart? And did the Scotchman cut it off
+with his sword? And did you run him through the next moment? There were
+the most extraordinary accounts of the affair, and of the little girl
+with the unpronounceable Dutch name who"--
+
+"Who is now my wife, Lady Suffolk."
+
+"Certainly, we heard of that also. How romantic! The secret marriage,
+the midnight elopement, and the man-of-war waiting down the river with a
+broadside ready for any boat that attempted to stop you."
+
+"Oh, my lady, that is the completest nonsense!"
+
+"Say 'cousin Arabella,' if you please. Has not grandmother told you that
+I, not the Dutch girl, ought to have been your wife? It was all arranged
+years ago, sir. You have disappointed grandmother; as for me, I have
+consoled myself with Sir Thomas."
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Lady Capel; "though Dick was entirely out of the
+secret of the match, my son Will and I had agreed upon it. I don't know
+what Will thinks of a younger son like Dick choosing for himself."
+
+Then Arabella made Hyde a pretty, mocking courtesy, and he could not
+help looking with some interest at the woman who might have been his
+wife. The best of men, and the best of husbands, are liable to speculate
+a little under such circumstances, and in fancy to put themselves into a
+position they have probably no wish in reality to fill. She noticed his
+air of consideration; and, with a toss of her handsome head, she spread
+out all her finery. "You see," she said, "I am dressed so as to make a
+tearing show." She wore a white poudesoy gown, embroidered with gold,
+and the prettiest high-heeled satin slippers, and a head-dress of
+wonderful workmanship. "For I have been at a concert of music, cousin
+Dick, and heard two overtures of Mr. Handel's and a sonata by Corella,
+done by the very best hands."
+
+[Illustration: She spread out all her finery]
+
+"And, pray, whom did you see there, my dear? and what were they talking
+about?"
+
+"Of all people, grandmother, I saw Lady Susan Rye and the rest of her
+sort; and they talked of nothing else but the coming mask at Ranelagh's.
+Cousin, I bespeak you for my service. I am going as a gypsy, for it will
+give me the opportunity of telling the truth. In my own character, I
+rarely do it: nothing is so impolite. But I have a prodigious regard for
+truth; and at a mask I give myself the pleasure of saying all the
+disagreeable things that I owe to my acquaintances."
+
+Katherine was almost ignored; and Hyde did not feel any desire to bring
+even her name into such a mocking, jeering, perfectly heartless
+conversation. He was content to laugh, and let the hour go past in such
+flim-flams of criticism and persiflage. He remembered when he had been
+one of the units in such a life, and he wondered if it were possible
+that he could ever drift back into it. For even as he sat there, with
+the memory of his wife and child in his heart, he felt the light charm
+of Lady Arabella's claim upon him, and all the fascination of that gay,
+thoughtless animal life which appeals so strongly to the selfish
+instincts and appetites of youth.
+
+He had a plate of roast hare and a goblet of wine, and the ladies had
+chocolate and rout cakes; and he ate and drank, and laughed, and enjoyed
+their bright, ill-natured pleasantry, as men enjoy such piquant morsels.
+Thus a couple of hours passed; and then it became evident, from the
+pawing and snorting outside, that Mephisto's patience was quite
+exhausted. Hyde went to the window, and looked into the square. His
+orderly was vainly endeavoring to soothe the restless animal; and he
+said, "Mephisto will take no excuse, cousin, and I find myself obliged
+to leave you." But he went away in an excitement of hope and gay
+anticipations; and, with a sharp rebuke to the unruly animal, he vaulted
+into the saddle with soldierly grace and rapidity. A momentary glance
+upward showed him Lady Capel and Lady Suffolk at the window, watching
+him; the withered old woman in her soiled wrappings, the youthful beauty
+in all the bravery of her white and gold poudesoy. In spite of
+Mephisto's opposition, he made them a salute; and then, in a clamour of
+clattering hoofs, he dashed through the square.
+
+"That is the man you ought to have married Arabella," said Lady Capel,
+as she watched the young face at her side, which had suddenly become
+pensive and dreamy: "you would have been a couple for the world to look
+at."
+
+"Oh, indeed, you are mistaken, grandmother! Sir Thomas is an admirable
+husband--blind and deaf to all I do, as a good husband ought to be. And
+as for Dick, look at him--bowing and smiling, and ready to do me any
+service, while the girl he nearly died for is quite forgotten."
+
+"Upon my word, you wrong Dick. His love for that woman is beyond
+everything. I wish it wasn't. What right had she to come into our
+family, and spoil plans and projects made before she was born. I should
+clearly love to play her her own card back. And I must say, Arabella,
+that you seem to care very little about your own wrongs."
+
+"Oh, I am by no means certified that the woman has wronged me! I don't
+think I should have loved Dick, in any case."
+
+"_Ha!_" Lady Capel looked in her granddaughter's musing face, and then,
+with a chuckle, hobbled to the bell and rang for her maid. "You are very
+prudent, child, but I am not one that any woman can deceive. I know all
+the tricks of the sex. Oh, heavens! what a grand thing to be two and
+twenty, with a kind husband to manage, and lovers bowing and begging at
+your shoe-ties! Well, well, I had my day; and, thank the fools, I did
+some mischief in it! Yes, there were eight duels fought for me; and
+while Somers and Scrope were wetting their swords in the quarrel, I was
+dancing with Jack Capel. Jack told me that night he would make me marry
+him; and when I slapped his cheek with my fan, he took my hands in a
+rage, and swore I should do it that hour. And, faith, he mastered me!
+Your grandfather Capel had a dreadful temper, Arabella."
+
+"I have heard that Cousin Dick Hyde has a temper too."
+
+"Dick is vain; and you can make a vain man stand on his head, or go down
+on his knees, if you only vow that he performs the antics better than
+any other human creature. The town will fling itself at Dick Hyde's
+feet, and Dick will fling himself at yours. Mind what I say; my
+prophecies always come true, Arabella, for I never expect sinners to be
+saints, my dear."
+
+And during the next six months Lady Capel found plenty of opportunities
+for complimenting herself upon her own penetration. Society made an idol
+of Capt. Hyde; and if he was not at Lady Arabella's feet, he was
+certainly very constantly at her side. As to his marriage, it was a
+topic of constant doubt and dispute. The clubs betted on the subject. In
+the ball-rooms and the concert-rooms, the ladies positively denied it;
+and Lady Arabella's smile and shrug were of all opinions the most
+unsatisfactory and bewildering. Some, indeed, admitted the marriage, but
+averred, with a meaning emphasis, that madam was on the proper side of
+the Atlantic. Others were certain that Hyde had brought his wife to
+England, but felt himself obliged, on account of her great beauty, to
+keep her away from the conquering heroes of London society. It was a
+significant index to Hyde's real character, that not one of his
+associates ever dared to be familiar enough to ask him for the truth on
+a question so delicately personal.
+
+"Hyde is exactly the man to invite me to meet him in Marylebone Fields
+for the answer," said a young officer, who had been urged to make
+inquiries because he was on familiar terms with his comrade. "If it
+comes to a matter of catechism, gentlemen, I'll bet ten to one that none
+of you ask him two consecutive questions regarding the American lady."
+
+And perhaps many husbands may be able to understand a fact which to the
+general world seems beyond satisfactory explanation. Hyde loved his
+wife, loved her tenderly and constantly; he felt himself to be a better
+man whenever he thought of her and his little son, and he thought of
+them very frequently; and yet his eyes, his actions, the tones of his
+voice, daily led his cousin, Lady Suffolk, to imagine herself the
+empress of his heart and life. Nor was it to her alone that he permitted
+this affectation of love. He found beauty, wherever he met it,
+provocative of the same apparent devotion. There were a dozen men in his
+own circle who hated him with all the sincerity that jealousy gives to
+dislike and envy; there were a score of women who believed themselves to
+have private tokens of Hyde's special admiration for them.
+
+Unfortunately, his military duties were only on very rare occasions any
+restraint to him. His days were mainly spent in dangling after Lady
+Suffolk and other fair dames. It was auctions at Christie's, and morning
+concerts, and afternoon rides and plays, and dinners and balls and
+masks at Ranelagh's. It was sails down the river to Richmond, and trips
+to Sadler's Wells, and one perpetual round of flirting and folly, of
+dressing and dancing and dining and gaming.
+
+[Illustration: All kinds of frivolity and amusement]
+
+And it must be remembered that the English women of that day were such
+as England may well hope never to see again. They had little education:
+many very great ladies could hardly read and spell properly. Their sole
+accomplishments were dressing and embroidery; the ability to make a few
+delicate dishes for the table, and scents and pomade for the toilet. In
+the higher classes they married for money or position, and gave
+themselves up to intrigue. They drank deeply; they played high; they
+very seldom went to church, for Sunday was the fashionable day for all
+kinds of frivolity and amusement. And as the men of any generation are
+just what the women make them, England never had sons so profligate, so
+profane and drunken. The clubs, especially Brooke's, were the nightly
+scenes of indescribable orgies. Gambling alone was their serious
+occupation; duels were of constant occurrence.
+
+Such a life could not be lived except at frightful and generally ruinous
+expense. Hyde was soon embarrassed. His pay was small and uncertain and
+the allowance which his brother William added to it, in order that the
+heir-apparent to the earldom might live in becoming style, had not been
+calculated on the squandering basis of Hyde's expenditures. Toward
+Christmas bills began to pour in, creditors became importunate, and, for
+the first time in his life, creditors really troubled him. Lady Capel
+was not likely to pay his debts any more. The earl, in settling Hyde's
+American obligations, had warned him against incurring others, and had
+frankly told him he would permit him to go to jail rather than pay such
+wicked and foolish bills for him again. The income from Hyde Manor had
+never been more than was required for the expenses of the place; and the
+interest on Katherine's money had gone, though he could not tell how. He
+was destitute of ready cash, and he foresaw that he would have to borrow
+some from Lady Capel or some other accommodating friend.
+
+He returned to barracks one Sunday afternoon, and was moodily thinking
+over these things, when his orderly brought him a letter which had
+arrived during his absence. It was from Katherine. His face flushed with
+delight as he read it, so sweet and tender and pure was the neat
+epistle. He compared it mentally with some of the shameless scented
+billet-doux he was in the habit of receiving; and he felt as if his
+hands were unworthy to touch the white wings of his Katherine's most
+womanly, wifely message. "She wants to see me. Oh, the dear one! Not
+more than I want to see her. Fool, villain, that I am! I will go to her.
+Katherine! Kate! My dear little Kate!" So he ejaculated as he paced his
+narrow quarters, and tried to arrange his plans for a Christmas visit
+to his wife and child.
+
+First he went to his colonel's lodging, and easily obtained two weeks'
+absence; then he dressed carefully, and went to his club for dinner. He
+had determined to ask Lady Capel for a hundred pounds; and he thought it
+would be the best plan to make his request when she was surrounded by
+company, and under the pleasurable excitement of a winning rubber. And
+if the circumstances proved adverse, then he could try his fortune in
+the hours of her morning retirement.
+
+The mansion in Berkeley Square was brilliantly lighted when he
+approached it. Chairs and coaches were waiting in lines of three deep;
+coachmen and footmen quarrelling, shouting, talking; link-boys running
+here and there in search of lost articles or missing servants. But the
+hubbub did not at that time make his blood run quicker, or give any
+light of expectation to his countenance; for his heart and thoughts were
+near a hundred miles away.
+
+Sunday night was Lady Capel's great card-night, and the rooms were full
+of tables surrounded by powdered and painted beauties intent upon the
+game and the gold. The odour of musk was everywhere, and the sound of
+the tapping of gold snuff-boxes, and the fluttering of fans, and the
+sharp, technical calls of the gamesters, and the hollow laughter of
+hollow hearts. There was a hired singing-girl with a lute at one end of
+the room, babbling of Cupid and Daphne, and green meadow and larks. But
+she was poorly dressed and indifferent looking; and she sang with a
+sad, mechanical air, as if her thoughts were far off. Hyde would have
+passed her without a glance; but, as he approached, she broke her
+love-ditty in two, and began to sing, with a meaning look at him,--
+
+                "They say there is a happy land,
+                  Where husbands never prove untrue;
+                Where lovely maids may give their hearts,
+                  And never need the gift to rue;
+                Where men can make and keep a vow,
+                  And wives are never in despair.
+                I'm very fond of seeing sights--
+                  Pray tell me, how can I get there?"
+
+The question seemed so directly addressed to Hyde that he hesitated a
+moment, and looked at the girl, who then with a mocking smile
+continued,--
+
+                "They say there really is a land,
+                  Where husbands never are untrue,
+                Where wives are always beautiful,
+                  And the old love is always new.
+                I've asked the wise to tell me how
+                  A loving woman could get there;
+                And this is what they say to me,--
+                'If you that happy land would see,
+                  There's only one way to get there:
+                _Go straight along the crooked lane,
+                  And all around the square_.'"
+
+The scornful little song followed him, and conveyed a certain meaning to
+his mind. The girl must have taken her cue from the gossip of those who
+passed her to and fro. He burned with indignation, not for himself, but
+for his sweet, pure Katherine. He was determined that the world should
+in the future know that he held her peerless among women. In this
+half-aggressive mood he approached Lady Capel. She had been unfortunate
+all the evening, and was not amiable. As he stood behind her chair, Lord
+Leffham asked,--
+
+"What think you, Hyde, of a party at picquet?"
+
+"Oh, indeed, my lord, you are too much for me!"
+
+"I will give you three points." Then, calling a footman, "Here, fellow,
+get cards."
+
+Lady Capel flung her own down. "No, no, Leffham. Spare my grandson:
+there are bigger fish here. Dick, I am angry at you. I have a mind to
+banish you for a month."
+
+"I am going to Norfolk for two weeks, madam."
+
+[Illustration: "Dick, I am angry at you"]
+
+"That will do. It is a worse punishment than I should have given you.
+Norfolk! There is only one word between it and the plantations. At this
+time of the year, it is a clay pudding full of villages. Give me your
+arm, Dick; I shall play no more until my luck turns again. Losing cards
+are dull company indeed."
+
+"I am very sorry that you have been losing. I came to ask for the loan
+of a hundred pounds, grandmother."
+
+"No, sir, I will not lend you a hundred pounds; nor am I in the humour
+to do anything else you desire."
+
+"I make my apology for the request. I ought to have asked Katherine."
+
+"No, sir, you ought not to have asked Katherine. You ought to take what
+you want. Jack Capel took every shilling of my fortune and neither said
+'by your leave' nor 'thank you.' Did the Dutchman tie the bag too
+close?"
+
+"Councillor Van Heemskirk left it open, in my honour. When I am
+scoundrel enough to touch it, I shall not come and see you at all,
+grandmother."
+
+"Upon my word, a very pretty compliment! Well, sir, I'll pay you a
+hundred pounds for it. When do you start?"
+
+"To-morrow morning."
+
+"Make it afternoon, and take care of me as far as your aunt Julia's. The
+duke is of the royal bed-chamber this month, and I am going to see my
+daughter while he is away. It will make him supremely wretched at court
+to know that I am in his house. So I am going there, and I shall take
+care he knows it."
+
+"I have heard a great deal of his new house."
+
+"A play-house kind of affair, Dick, I assure you,--all in the French
+style; gods and goddesses above your head, and very badly dressed nymphs
+all around, and his pedigree on every window, and his coat of arms on
+the very stairs. I have the greatest satisfaction in treading upon them,
+I assure you."
+
+"Why do you take the trouble to go? It can give you no pleasure."
+
+"Imagine the true state of things, Dick. The duke is at court--say he is
+holding the royal gold wash-basin; but in the very sunshine of King
+George's smile, he is thinking, 'That snuffy old woman is lounging in my
+white and gilt satin chairs, and handling all my Chinese curiosities,
+and asking if every hideous Hindoo idol is a fresh likeness of me.' I am
+always willing to take some trouble to give pleasure to the people I
+like; I will gladly go to any amount of trouble to annoy the people I
+hate as cordially as I hate my good, rich, noble son-in-law, the great
+Duke of Exmouth."
+
+"Will you play again?"
+
+"No; I lost seventy pounds to-night."
+
+"I protest, grandmother, that such high stakes go not with amusement.
+People come here, not for civility, but for the chance of money."
+
+"Very well, sir. Money! It is the only excuse for card-playing. All the
+rest is sinning without temptation. But, Dick, put on the black coat to
+preach in,--why do they wear black to preach in?--and I am not in a
+humour for a sermon. Come to-morrow at one o'clock; we shall reach
+Julia's before dinner. And I dare say you want money to-night. Here are
+the keys of my desk. In the right-hand drawer are some _rouleaus_ of
+fifty pounds each. Take two."
+
+[Illustration: She was softly singing to the drowsy child]
+
+The weather, as Lady Capel said, was "so very Decemberish" that the
+roads were passably good, being frozen dry and hard; and on the evening
+of the third day Hyde came in sight of his home. His heart warmed to the
+lonely place; and the few lights in its windows beckoned him far more
+pleasantly than the brilliant illuminations of Vauxhall or Almacks, or
+even the cold splendours of royal receptions. He had given Katherine no
+warning of his visit--partly because he had a superstitious feeling
+about talking of expected joys (he had noticed that when he did so they
+vanished beyond his grasp); partly because love, like destiny, loves
+surprises; and he wanted to see with his own eyes, and hear with his own
+ears, the glad tokens of her happy wonder.
+
+So he rode his horse upon the turf, and, seeing a light in the stable,
+carried him there at once. It was just about the hour of the evening
+meal, and the house was brighter than it would have been a little later.
+The kitchen fire threw great lustres across the brick-paved yard; and
+the blinds in Katherine's parlour were undrawn, and its fire and
+candle-light shone on the freshly laid tea-table, and the dark walls
+gleaming with bunches of holly and mistletoe. But she was not there. He
+only glanced inside the room, and then, with a smile on his face, went
+swiftly upstairs. He had noticed the light in the upper windows, and he
+knew where he would find his wife. Before he reached the nursery, he
+heard Katherine's voice. The door was a little open, and he could see
+every part of the charming domestic scene within the room. A middle-aged
+woman was quietly putting to rights the sweet disorder incident to the
+undressing of the baby. Katherine had played with it until they were
+both a little flushed and weary; and she was softly singing to the
+drowsy child at her breast.
+
+It was a very singular chiming melody, and the low, sweet, tripping
+syllables were in a language quite unknown to him. But he thought that
+he had never heard music half so sweet and tender; and he listened to
+it, and watched the drowsy, swaying movements of the mother, with a
+strange delight,--
+
+                    "Trip a trop a tronjes,
+                     De varkens in de boonjes,
+                     De keojes in de klaver,
+                     De paardeen in de haver,
+                     De eenjes in de waterplass,
+                     So groot mijn kleine Joris wass."
+
+Over and over, softer and slower, went the melody. It was evident that
+the boy was asleep, and that Katherine was going to lay him in his
+cradle. He watched her do it; watched her gently tuck in the cover, and
+stand a moment to look down at the child. Then with a face full of love
+she turned away, smiling, and quite unconsciously came toward him on
+tiptoes. With his face beaming, with his arms opened, he entered; but
+with such a sympathetic understanding of the sweet need of silence and
+restraint that there was no alarm, no outcry, no fuss or amazement. Only
+a whispered "Katherine," and the swift rapture of meeting hearts and
+lips.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+              "_Death asks for no man's leave,
+          But lifts the latch, and enters, and sits down_."
+
+
+The great events of most lives occur in epochs. A certain period is
+marked by a succession of important changes, but that ride of fortune,
+be it good or ill, culminates, recedes, goes quite out, and leaves life
+on a level beach of commonplaces. Then, sooner or later, the current of
+affairs turns again; sometimes with a calm, irresistible flow, sometimes
+in a tidal wave of sudden and overwhelming strength. After Hyde's and
+Katherine's marriage, there was a long era noticeable only for such
+vicissitudes as were incident to their fortune and position. But in May,
+A.D. 1774, the first murmur of the returning tide of destiny was heard.
+Not but what there had been for long some vague and general expectation
+of momentous events which would touch many individual lives; but this
+May night, a singular prescience of change made Hyde restless and
+impatient.
+
+It was a dull, drizzling evening; and there was an air of depression in
+the city, to which he was unusually sensitive. For the trouble between
+England and her American Colonies was rapidly culminating; and party
+feeling ran high, not only among civilians, but throughout the royal
+regiments. Recently, also, a petition had been laid before the king from
+the Americans then resident in London, praying him not to send troops to
+coerce his subjects in America; and, when Hyde entered his club, some
+members were engaged in an angry altercation on this subject.
+
+"The petition was flung upon the table, as it ought to have been," said
+Lord Paget.
+
+"You are right," replied Mr. Hervey; "they ought to petition no longer.
+They ought now to resist. Mr. Dunning said in the House last night that
+the tone of the Government to the Colonies was, 'Resist, and we will cut
+your throats: acquiesce, and we will tax you.'"
+
+"A kind of 'stand and deliver' government," remarked Hyde, whistling
+softly.
+
+Lord Paget turned upon him with hardly concealed anger. "Captain, you,
+sir, wear the king's livery."
+
+"I give the king my service: my thoughts are my own. And, faith, Lord
+Paget, it is my humour to utter them when and how I please!"
+
+"Patience, gentlemen," returned Mr. Hervey. "I think, my lord, we may
+follow our leaders. The Duke of Richmond spoke warmly for Boston last
+night. 'The Bostonians are punished without a hearing,' he said; 'and if
+they resist punishment, I wish them success.' Are they not Englishmen,
+and many of them born on English soil? When have Englishmen submitted to
+oppression? Neither king, lords, nor commons can take away the rights of
+the people. It is past a doubt, too, that his Majesty, at the levee last
+night, laughed when he said he would just as lief fight the Bostonians
+as the French. I heard this speech was received with a dead silence, and
+that great offence was given by it."
+
+"I think the king was right," said Paget passionately. "Rebellious
+subjects are worse than open enemies like the French."
+
+"My lord, you must excuse me if I do not agree with your opinions. Was
+the king right to give a government to the Canadians at this precise
+time? What can his Protestant North-American subjects think, but that he
+designs the hundred thousand Catholics of Canada against their
+liberties? It is intolerable; and the king was mobbed this afternoon in
+the park, on the matter. As for the bishops who voted the Canada bill,
+they ought to be unfrocked."
+
+"Mr. Hervey, I beg to remind you that my uncle, who is of the see of St.
+Cuthbert, voted for it."
+
+"Oh, it is notorious that all the English bishops, excepting only Dr.
+Shipley, voted for war with America! I hear that they anticipate an
+hierarchy there when the country is conquered. And the fight has begun
+at home, for Parliament is dissolved on the subject."
+
+"It died in the Roman-Catholic faith," laughed Hyde, "and left us a
+rebellion for a legacy."
+
+"Captain Hyde, you are a traitor."
+
+"Lord Paget, I deny it. My loyalty does not compel me to swear by all
+the follies and crimes of the Government. My sword is my country's; but
+I would not for twenty kings draw it against my own countrymen,"--then,
+with a meaning glance at Lord Paget and an emphatic touch of his
+weapon,--"except in my own private quarrel. And if this be treason, let
+the king look to it. He will find such treason in every regiment in
+England. They say he is going to hire Hessians: he will need them for
+his American business, for he has no prerogative to force Englishmen to
+murder Englishmen."
+
+"I would advise you to be more prudent, Captain Hyde, if it is in your
+power."
+
+"I would advise you to mind your own affairs, Lord Paget."
+
+"It is said that you married an American."
+
+"If you are perfectly in your senses, my lord, leave my affairs alone."
+
+"For my part, I never believed it; and now that Lady Suffolk is a widow,
+with revenues, possibly you may"--
+
+"Ah, you are jealous, I perceive!" and Hyde laughed scornfully, and
+turned on his heel as if to go upstairs.
+
+Lord Paget followed, and laid his hand upon Hyde's arm.
+
+"Hands off, my lord. Hands off all that belongs to me. And I advise you
+also to cease your impertinent attentions to my cousin, Lady Suffolk."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Mr. Hervey, "this is no time for private quarrels;
+and, Captain, here is a fellow with a note for you. It is my Lady
+Capel's footman, and he says he comes in urgent speed."
+
+Hyde glanced at the message. "It is a last command, Mr. Harvey; and I
+must beg you to say what is proper for my honour to Lord Paget. Lady
+Capel is at the death-point, and to her requests I am first bounden."
+
+It was raining hard when he left the club, a most dreary night in the
+city. The coach rattled through the muddy streets, and brought, as it
+went along, many a bored, heavy countenance to the steaming windows, to
+watch and to wonder at its pace. Lady Capel had been death-stricken
+while at whist, and she had not been removed from the parlour in which
+she had been playing her last game. She was stretched upon a sofa in the
+midst of the deserted tables, yet covered with scattered cards and
+half-emptied tea-cups. Only Lady Suffolk and a physician were with her;
+though the corridor was full of terrified, curious servants, gloating
+not unkindly over such a bit of sensation in their prosaic lives.
+
+At this hour it was evident that, above everything in the world, the old
+lady had loved the wild extravagant grandson, whose debts she had paid
+over and over, and whom she had for years alternately petted and
+scolded.
+
+"O Dick," she whispered, "I've got to die! We all have. I've had a good
+time, Dick."
+
+"Shall I go for cousin Harold? I can bring him in an hour."
+
+"No, no. I want no priests; no better than we are, Dick. Harold is a
+proud sinner; Lord, what a proud sinner he is!" Then, with a glint of
+her usual temper, "He'd snub the twelve apostles if he met them without
+mitres. No priests, Dick. It is you I want. I have left you eight
+thousand pounds--all I could save, Dick. Everything goes back to William
+now; but the eight thousand pounds is yours. Arabella is witness to it.
+Dick, Dick, you will think of me sometimes?"
+
+And Hyde kissed her fondly. Ugly, heartless, sinful, she might be to
+others; but to him she had been a double mother. "I'll never forget
+you," he answered; "never, grandmother."
+
+"I know what the town will say: 'Well, well, old Lady Capel has gone to
+her deserts at last.' Don't mind them, Dick. Let them talk. They will
+have to go too; it's the old round--meat and mirth, and then to
+bed--a--long--sleep."
+
+"Grandmother?"
+
+"I hear you, Dick. Good-night."
+
+"Is there anything you want done? Think, dear grandmother."
+
+"Don't let Exmouth come to my funeral. I don't want him--grinning
+over--my coffin."
+
+"Any other thing?"
+
+"Put me beside Jack Capel. I wonder--if I shall--see Jack." A shadow,
+gray and swift, passed over her face. Her eyes flashed one piteous look
+into Hyde's eyes, and then closed forever.
+
+And while in the rainy, dreary London twilight Lady Capel was dying,
+Katherine was in the garden at Hyde Manor, watching the planting of
+seeds that were in a few weeks to be living things of beauty and
+sweetness. It had ceased raining at noon in Norfolk, and the gravel
+walks were perfectly dry, and the air full of the fragrance of
+innumerable violets. All the level land was wearing buttercups. Full of
+secrets, of fluttering wings, and building nests were the trees. In the
+apple-blooms the bees were humming, delirious with delight. From the
+beehives came the peculiar and exquisite odour of virgin wax. Somewhere
+near, also, the gurgle of running water spread an air of freshness all
+around.
+
+[Illustration: She was stretched upon a sofa]
+
+And Katherine, with a little basket full of flower-seeds, was going with
+the gardener from bed to bed, watching him plant them. No one who had
+seen her in the childlike loveliness of her early girlhood could have
+imagined the splendour of her matured beauty. She had grown "divinely
+tall," and the exercise of undisputed authority had added a gracious
+stateliness of manner. Her complexion was wonderful, her large blue eyes
+shining with tender lights, her face full of sympathetic revelations.
+Above all, she had that nameless charm which comes from a freedom from
+all anxious thought for the morrow; that charm of which the sweet secret
+is generally lost after the twentieth summer. Her basket of seeds was
+clasped to her side within the hollow of her left arm, and with her
+right hand she lifted a long petticoat of quilted blue satin. Above this
+garment she wore a gown of wood-coloured taffeta, sprigged with
+rose-buds, and a stomacher of fine lace to match the deep rufflings on
+her elbow-sleeves.
+
+Little Joris was with his mother, running hither and thither, as his
+eager spirits led him: now pausing to watch her drop from her white
+fingers the precious seed into its prepared bed, anon darting after some
+fancied joy among the pyramidal yews, and dusky treillages, and cradle
+walks of holly and privet. For, as Sir Thomas Swaffham said, "Hyde
+garden looked just as if brought from Holland;" and especially so in the
+spring, when it was ablaze with gorgeous tulips and hyacinths.
+
+She had heard much of Lady Capel, and she had a certain tenderness for
+the old woman who loved her husband so truly; but no thought of her
+entered into Katherine's mind that calm evening hour. Neither had she
+any presentiment of sorrow. Her soul was happy and untroubled, and she
+lingered in the sweet place until the tender touch of gray twilight was
+over fen and field. Then her maid, with a manner full of pleasant
+excitement, came to her, and said,--
+
+"Here be a London pedler, madam; and he do have all the latest fashions,
+and the news of the king and the Americans."
+
+Now, for many reasons, the advent of a London pedler was a great and
+pleasant event at the Manor House. Katherine had that delightful and
+excusable womanly foible, a love of fine clothing; and shops for its
+sale were very rare, even in towns of considerable size. It was from
+packmen and hawkers that fine ladies bought their laces and ribbons and
+gloves; their precious toilet and hair pins, their paints and powders,
+and India scarfs and fans, and even jewellery. These hawkers were also
+the great news-bearers to the lonely halls and granges and farmhouses;
+and they were everywhere sure of a welcome, and of such entertainment as
+they required. Generally each pedler had his recognized route and
+regular customers; but occasionally a strange dealer called, and such,
+having unfamiliar wares, was doubly welcome. "Is it Parkins, Lettice?"
+asked Katherine, as she turned with interest toward the house.
+
+"No, ma'am, it isn't Parkins; and I do think as the man never showed a
+face in Hyde before; but he do say that he has a miracle of fine
+things."
+
+In a few minutes he was exhibiting them to Katherine, and she was too
+much interested in the wares to notice their merchant particularly.
+
+Indeed, he had one of those faces which reveal nothing; a face flat,
+hard, secret as a wall, wrinkled as an old banner. He was a hale,
+thick-set man, dressed in breeches of corduroy, and a sleeved waistcoat
+down to his knees of the same material. His fur cap was on the carpet
+beside his pack; and he had a fluent tongue in praise of his wares, as
+he hung his silks over Lettice's outstretched arm, or arranged the
+scarfs across her shoulders.
+
+There was a slow but mutually satisfactory exchange of goods and money;
+and then the pedler began to repack his treasures, and Lettice to carry
+away the pretty trifles and the piece of satin her mistress had bought.
+Then, also, he found time to talk, to take out the last newspapers, and
+to describe the popular dissatisfaction at the stupid tyranny of the
+Government toward the Colonies. For either from information, or by some
+process rapid as instinct, he understood to which side Katherine's
+sympathies went.
+
+"Here be the 'Flying Postman,' madam, with the great speech of Mr. Burke
+in it about the port of Boston; but it won't do a mossel o' good, madam,
+though he do tell 'em to keep their hands out o' the Americans'
+pockets."
+
+"The port of Boston?"
+
+"See you, madam, they are a-going to shut the port o' Boston, and make
+Salem the place of entry; that's to punish the Bostonians; and Mr.
+Burke, he says, 'The House has been told that Salem is only seventeen
+miles from Boston but justice is not an idea of geography, and the
+Americans are condemned without being heard. Yet the universal custom,
+on any alteration of charters, is to hear the parties at the bar of the
+House. Now, the question is, Are the Americans to be heard, or not,
+before the charter is broken for our convenience?... The Boston bill is
+a diabolical bill.'"
+
+He read aloud this bit of Mr. Burke's fiery eloquence, in a high,
+droning voice, and would, according to his custom, have continued the
+entertainment; but Katherine, preferring to use her own intelligence,
+borrowed the paper and was about to leave the room with it, when he
+suddenly remembered a scarf of great beauty which he had not shown.
+
+"I bought it for my Lady Suffolk," he said; "but Lord Suffolk died
+sudden, and black my lady had to wear. It's forrin, madam; and here it
+is--the very colour of affradiles. But mayhap, as it is candle-teening,
+you'd like to wait till the day comes again."
+
+A singular look of speculation came into Katherine's face. She examined
+the scarf without delay; and, as she fingered the delicate silk, she led
+the man on to talk of Lady Suffolk, though, indeed, he scarcely needed
+the stimulus of questioning. Without regard as to whether Katherine was
+taking any interest or not in his information, he detailed with hurried
+avidity the town talk that had clung to her reputation for so many
+years; and he so fully described the handsome cavalry officer that was
+her devoted attendant that Katherine had no difficulty in recognizing
+her husband, even without the clews which her own knowledge of the
+parties gave her.
+
+She stood in the gray light by the window, fingering the delicate
+satin, and listening. The pedler glanced from his goods to her face, and
+talked rapidly, interloping bits of news about the court and the
+fashions; but going always back to Lady Suffolk and her lover, and what
+was likely to take place now that Lord Suffolk was out of the way.
+"Though there's them that do say the captain has a comely wife hid up in
+the country."
+
+Suddenly she turned and faced the stooping man: "Your scarf take: I will
+not have it. No, and I will not have anything that I have bought from
+you. All of the goods you shall receive back; and my money, give it to
+me. You are no honest hawker: you are a bad man, who have come here for
+a bad woman. You know that of my husband you have been talking--I mean
+_lying_. You know that this is his house, and that his true wife am I.
+Not one more word shall you speak.--Lettice, bring here all the goods I
+bought from this man; poisoned may be the unguents and scents and
+gloves. Of such things I have heard."
+
+She had spoken with an angry rapidity that for the moment confounded the
+stranger; but at this point he lifted himself with an insolent air, and
+said, "The goods be bought and paid for, madam; and, in faith, I will
+not buy them back again."
+
+"In faith, then, I will send for Sir Thomas Swaffham. A magistrate is
+he, and Captain Hyde's friend. Not one penny of my money shall you have;
+for, indeed, your goods I will not wear."
+
+She pointed then to the various articles which Lettice had brought
+back; and, with the shrug of a man who accepts the inevitable, he
+replaced them in his pack, and then ostentatiously counted back the
+money Katherine had given him. She examined every coin, and returned a
+crown. "My piece this is not. It may be false. I will have the one I
+gave to you.--Lettice, bring here water in a bowl; let the silver and
+gold lay in it until morning."
+
+[Illustration: She stood in the gray light by the window]
+
+And, turning to the pedler, "Your cap take from the floor, and go."
+
+"Of a truth, madam, you be not so cruel as to turn me on the fens, and
+it a dark night. There be bogs all about; and how the road do lay for
+the next house, I know not."
+
+"The road to my house was easy to find; well, then, you can find the
+road back to whoever it was sent you here. With my servants you shall
+not sit; under my roof you shall not stay."
+
+"I have no mind to go."
+
+"See you the mastiff at my feet? I advise you stir him not up, for
+death is in his jaw. To the gate, and with good haste! In one half-hour
+the kennels I will have opened. If then within my boundaries you are, it
+is at your life's peril."
+
+She spoke without passion and without hurry or alarm; but there was no
+mistaking the purpose in her white, resolute face and fearless attitude.
+And the pedler took in the situation very quickly; for the dog was
+already watching him with eyes of fiery suspicion, and an occasional
+deep growl was either a note of warning to his mistress, or of defiance
+to the intruder. With an evil glance at the beautiful, disdainful woman
+standing over him, the pedler rose and left the house; Katherine and the
+dog so closely following that the man, stooping under his heavy burden,
+heard her light footsteps and the mastiff's heavy breathing close at his
+heels, until he passed the large gates and found himself on the dark
+fen, with just half an hour to get clear of a precinct he had made so
+dangerous to himself.
+
+For, when he remembered Katherine's face, he muttered, "There isn't a
+mossel o' doubt but what she'll hev the brutes turned loose. Dash it!
+women do beat all. But I do hev one bit o' comfort--high-to-instep as
+she is, she's heving a bad time of it now by herself. I do think that,
+for sure." And the reflection gave him some gratification, as he
+cautiously felt his steps forward with his strong staff.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+          "_Let me not to the marriage of true minds
+            Admit impediments: love is not love
+          Which alters when it alteration finds._"
+
+
+In some respects, the pedler's anticipations were correct. Katherine had
+"a bad time by herself" that night; for evil has this woful
+prerogative,--it can wound the good and the innocent, it can make
+wretched without provocation and without desert. But, whatever her
+suffering, it was altogether her own. She made no complaint, and she
+offered no explanation of her singular conduct. Her household, however,
+had learned to trust her; and the men and women servants sitting around
+the kitchen-fire that night, talked over the circumstance, and found its
+very mystery a greater charm than any possible certainty, however
+terrible, could have given them.
+
+"She be a stout-hearted one," said the ostler admiringly. "Tony and I
+a-watched her and the dog a-driving him through the gates. With his
+bundle on his back, he was a-shuffling along, a-nigh on his all-fours;
+and the madam at his heels, with her head up in the air, and her eyes
+a-shining like candles."
+
+"It would be about the captain he spoke."
+
+The remark was ventured by Lettice in a low voice, and the company
+looked at each other and nodded confidentially. For the captain was a
+person of great and mysterious importance in the house. All that was
+done was in obedience to some order received from him. Katherine quoted
+him continually, granted every favour in his name, made him the
+authority for every change necessary. His visits were times of holiday,
+when discipline was relaxed, and the methodical economy of life at the
+manor house changed into festival. And Hyde had precisely that dashing
+manner, that mixture of frankness and authority, which dependents
+admire. The one place in the whole world where nobody would have
+believed wrong of Hyde was in Hyde's own home.
+
+And yet Katherine, in the secrecy of her chamber, felt her heart quake.
+She had refused to think of the circumstance until after she had made a
+pretence of eating her supper, and had seen little Joris asleep, and
+dismissed Lettice, with all her accustomed deliberation and order. But,
+oh, how gratefully she turned the key of her room! How glad she felt to
+be alone with the fear and the sorrow that had come to her! For she
+wanted to face it honestly; and as she stood with eyes cast down, and
+hands clasped behind her back, the calm, resolute spirit of her fathers
+gathered in her heart, and gave an air of sorrowful purpose to her face
+and attitude. At that hour she was singularly like Joris Van Heemskirk;
+and any one familiar with the councillor would have known Katherine to
+be his daughter.
+
+Most women are restless when they are in anxiety. Katherine felt motion
+to be a mental disturbance. She sat down, and remained still as a carven
+image, thinking over what had been told her. There had been a time when
+her husband's constant talk of Lady Suffolk had pained her, and when she
+had been a little jealous of the apparent familiarity which existed in
+their relations with each other; but Hyde had laughed at her fears, and
+she had taken a pride in putting _his word_ above all her suspicions.
+She had seen him receive letters which she knew to be from Lady Suffolk.
+She had seen him read and destroy them without remark. She was aware
+that many a love-billet from fine ladies followed him to Hyde. But it
+was in accord with the integrity of her own nature to believe in her
+husband's faithfulness. She had made one inquiry on the subject, and his
+assurance at that time she accepted as a final settlement of all doubts.
+And if she had needed further evidence, she had found it in his
+affectionate and constant regard for her, and in his love for his child
+and his home.
+
+It was also a part of Katherine's just and upright disposition to make
+allowances for the life by which her husband was surrounded. She
+understood that he must often be placed in circumstances of great
+temptation and suspicion. Hyde had told her that there were necessarily
+events in his daily experience of which it was better for her to be
+ignorant. "They belong to it, as my uniform does," he said; "they are a
+part of its appearance; but they never touch my feelings, and they never
+do you a moment's wrong, Katherine." This explanation it had been the
+duty both of love and of wisdom to accept; and she had done so with a
+faith which asked for no conviction beyond it.
+
+And now she was told that for years he had been the lover of another
+woman; that her own existence was doubted or denied; that if it were
+admitted, it was with a supposition which affected both her own good
+name and the rights of her child. In those days, America was at the ends
+of the earth. A war with it was imminent. The Colonies might be
+conquered. She knew nothing of international rights, nor what changes
+such a condition might render possible. Hyde was the probable
+representative of an ancient noble English family, and its influence was
+great: if he really wished to annul their marriage, perhaps it was in
+his power to do so. She knew well how greedy rank was of rank and
+riches, and she could understand that there might be powerful family
+reasons for an alliance which would add Lady Suffolk's wealth to the
+Hyde earldom.
+
+[Illustration: She knelt speechless and motionless]
+
+She was no craven, and she faced the position in all its cruel bearings.
+She asked herself if, even for the sake of her little Joris, she would
+remain a wife on sufferance, or by the tie of rights which she would
+have to legally enforce; and then she lifted the candle, and passed
+softly into his room to look at him. Though physically like the large,
+fair, handsome Van Heemskirks, little Joris had certain tricks of
+expression, certain movements and attitudes, which were the very
+reflection of his father's,--the same smile, the same droop of the hair
+on the forehead, the same careless toss of the arm upward in sleep. It
+was the father in the son that answered her at that hour. She slipped
+down upon her knees by the sleeping boy, and out of the terror and
+sorrow of her soul spoke to the Fatherhood in heaven. Nay, but she knelt
+speechless and motionless, and waited until He spoke to her; spoke to
+her by the sweet, trustful little lips whose lightest touch was dear to
+her. For the boy suddenly awoke; he flung his arms around her neck, he
+laid his face close to hers, and said,--
+
+"Oh, mother, beautiful mother, I thought my father was here!"
+
+"You have been dreaming, darling Joris."
+
+"Yes; I am sorry I have been dreaming. I thought my father was here--my
+good father, that loves us so much."
+
+Then, with a happy face, Katherine rose and gave the child cool water,
+and turned his hot pillow, and with kisses sent him smiling into
+dreamland again. In those few tender moments all her fears slipped away
+from her heart. "I will not believe what a bad man says against my
+husband--against my dear one who is not here to defend himself. Lies,
+lies! I will make the denial for him."
+
+And she kept within the comfort of this spirit, even though Hyde's usual
+letter was three days behind its usual time. Certainly they were hard
+days. She kept busy; but she could not swallow a mouthful of food, and
+the sickness and despair that crouched at the threshold of her life made
+her lightest duties so heavy that it required a constant effort and a
+constant watchfulness to fulfil them. And yet she kept saying to
+herself, "All is right. I shall hear in a day or two. There is some
+change in the service. There is no change in Richard--none."
+
+On the fourth day her trust had its reward. She found then that the
+delay had been caused by the necessary charge and care of ceremonies
+which Lady Capel's death forced upon her husband. She had almost a
+sentiment of gratitude to her, although she was yet ignorant of her
+bequest of eight thousand pounds. For Hyde had resolved to wait until
+the reading of the will made it certain, and then to resign his
+commission, and carry the double good news to Katherine himself.
+Henceforward, they were to be together. He would buy more land, and
+improve his estate, and live happily, away from the turmoil of the town,
+and the disagreeable duties of active service in a detestable quarrel.
+So this purpose, though unexpressed, gave a joyous ring to his letter;
+it was lover-like in its fondness and hopefulness, and Katherine thought
+of Lady Suffolk and her emissary with a contemptuous indifference.
+
+"My dear one she intended that I should make miserable with reproaches,
+and from his own home drive him to her home for some consolations;" and
+Katherine smiled as she reflected how hopeless such a plan of separation
+would be.
+
+Never, perhaps, are we so happy as when we have just escaped some feared
+calamity. That letter lifted the last fear from Katherine's heart, and
+it gave her also the expectation of an early visit. "I am very impatient
+to see you, my Kate," he wrote; "and as early as possible after the
+funeral, you may expect me." The words rang like music in her heart. She
+read them aloud to little Joris, and then the whole household warmed to
+the intelligence. For there was always much pleasant preparation for
+Hyde's visits,--clean rooms to make still cleaner, silver to polish,
+dainties to cook; every weed to take from the garden, every unnecessary
+straw from the yards. For the master's eye, everything must be
+beautiful. To the master's comfort, every hand was delighted to
+minister.
+
+So these last days of May were wonderfully happy ones to Katherine. The
+house was in its summer draperies--all its windows open to the garden,
+which had now not only the freshness of spring, but the richer promise
+of summer. Katherine was always dressed with extraordinary care and
+taste. Little Joris was always lingering about the gates which commanded
+the longest stretch of observation. A joyful "looking forward" was upon
+every face.
+
+Alas, these are the unguarded hours which sorrow surprises! But no
+thought of trouble, and no fear of it, had Katherine, as she stood
+before her mirror one afternoon. She was watching Lettice arrange the
+double folds of her gray taffeta gown, so as to display a trifle the
+high scarlet heels of her morocco slippers, with their scarlet rosettes
+and small diamond buckles.
+
+"Too cold a colour is gray for me, Lettice: give me those scarlet
+ribbons for a breast knot;" and as Lettice stood with her head a little
+on one side, watching her mistress arrange the bright bows at her
+stomacher, there came a knock at the chamber door.
+
+"Here be a strange gentleman, madam, to see you; from London, he do
+say."
+
+A startled look came into Katherine's face; she dropped the ribbon from
+her hand, and turned to the servant, who stood twisting a corner of her
+apron at the front-door.
+
+"Well, then, Jane, like what is the stranger?"
+
+"He be in soldier's dress, madam"--
+
+"What?"
+
+She asked no further question, but went downstairs; and, as the tapping
+of her heels was heard upon them, Jane lifted her apron to her eyes and
+whimpered, "I think there be trouble; I do that, Letty."
+
+"About the master?"
+
+[Illustration: Jane lifted her apron to her eyes]
+
+"It be like it. And the man rides a gray horse too. Drat the man, to
+come with news on a gray horse! It be that unlucky, as no one in their
+seven senses would do it."
+
+"For sure it be! When I was a young wench at school"--and then, as she
+folded up the loose ribbons, Letty told a gruesome story of a farmer
+robbed and murdered; but as she came to the part the gray horse played
+in the tale, Katherine slowly walked into the room, with a letter in her
+hand. She was white, even to her lips; and with a mournful shake of her
+head, she motioned to the girls to leave her alone. She put the paper
+out of her hand, and stood regarding it. Fully ten minutes elapsed ere
+she gathered strength sufficient to break its well-known seal, and take
+in the full meaning of words so full of agony to her.
+
+"It is midnight, beloved Katherine, and in six hours I may be dead. Lord
+Paget spoke of my cousin to me in such terms as leaves but one way out
+of the affront. I pray you, if you can, to pardon me. The world will
+condemn me, my own actions will condemn me; and yet I vow that you, and
+you only, have ever had my love. You I shall adore with my last breath.
+Kate, my Kate, forgive me. If this comes to you by strange hands, I
+shall be dead or dying. My will and papers of importance are in the
+drawer marked "B" in my escritoire. Kiss my son for me, and take my last
+hope and thought."
+
+These words she read, then wrung her hands, and moaned like a creature
+that had been wounded to death. Oh, the shame! Oh, the wrong and sorrow!
+How could she bear it? What should she do? Captain Lennox, who had
+brought the letter, was waiting for her decision. If she would go to her
+husband, then he could rest and return to London at his leisure. If not,
+Hyde wanted his will, to add a codicil regarding the eight thousand
+pounds left him by Lady Capel. For he had been wounded in his side; and
+a dangerous inflammation having set in, he had been warned of a possible
+fatal result.
+
+Katherine was not a rapid thinker. She had little, either, of that
+instinct which serves some women instead of all other prudences. Her
+actions generally arose from motives clear to her own mind, and of whose
+wisdom or kindness she had a conviction. But in this hour so many
+things appealed to her that she felt helpless and uncertain. The one
+thought that dominated all others was that her husband had fought and
+fallen for Lady Suffolk. He had risked her happiness and welfare, he had
+forgotten her and his child, for this woman. It was the sequel to the
+impertinence of the pedler's visit. She believed at that moment that the
+man had told her the truth. All these years she had been a slighted and
+deceived woman.
+
+This idea once admitted, jealousy of the crudest and most unreasonable
+kind assailed her. Incidents, words, looks, long forgotten rushed back
+upon her memory, and fed the flame. Very likely, if she left her child
+and went to London, she might find Lady Suffolk in attendance on her
+husband, or at least be compelled for his life's sake to submit to her
+visits. She pondered this supposition until it brought forth one still
+more shameful. Perhaps the whole story was a scheme to get her up to
+London. Perhaps she might disappear there. What, then, would be done to
+her child? If Richard Hyde was so infatuated with Lady Suffolk, what
+might he not do to win her and her large fortune? Even the news of Lady
+Capel's death was now food for her suspicions. Was she dead, or was the
+assertion only a part of the conspiracy? If she had been dead, Sir
+Thomas Swaffham would have heard of the death; yet she had seen him that
+morning, and he had made no mention of the circumstance.
+
+"To London I will not go," she decided. "There is some wicked plan for
+me. The will and the papers are wanted, that they may be altered to
+suit it. I will stay here with my child. Even sorrow great as mine is
+best borne in one's own home."
+
+She went to the escritoire to get the papers. When she opened the
+senseless chamber of wood, she found herself in the presence of many a
+torturing, tender memory. In one compartment there were a number of
+trout-flies. She remembered the day her husband had made them--a long,
+rainy, happy day during his last visit. Every time she passed him, he
+drew her face down to kiss it. And she could hear little Joris talking
+about the work, and his father's gay laughter at the child's remarks. In
+an open slide, there was a rude picture of a horse. It was the boy's
+first attempt to draw Mephisto, and it had been carefully put away. The
+place was full of such appeals. Katherine rarely wept; but, standing
+before these mementos, her eyes filled, and with a sob she clasped her
+hands across them, as if the sight of such tokens from a happy past was
+intolerable.
+
+Drawer B was a large compartment full of papers and of Hyde's personal
+treasures. Among them was a ring that his father had given him, his
+mother's last letter, a lock of his son's hair, her own first
+letter--the shy, anxious note that she wrote to Mrs. Gordon. She looked
+sadly at these things, and thought how valueless all had become to him
+at that hour. Then she began to arrange the papers according to their
+size, and a small sealed parcel slipped from among them. She lifted it,
+and saw a rhyme in her husband's writing on the outside,--
+
+"Oh, my love, my love! This thy gift I hold
+More than fame or treasure, more than life or gold."
+
+It had evidently been sealed within a few months, for it was in a kind
+of bluish-tinted paper which Hyde bought in Lynn one day during the past
+winter. She turned it over and over in her hand, and the temptation to
+see the love-token inside became greater every moment. This was a thing
+her husband had never designed any human eye but his own to see.
+Whatever revelation there was in it, much or little, would be true.
+Tortured by doubt and despair, she felt that impulse to rely on chance
+for a decision which all have experienced in matters of grave moment,
+apparently beyond natural elucidation.
+
+"If in this parcel there is some love-pledge from Lady Suffolk, then I
+go not; nothing shall make me go. If in it there is no word of her, no
+message to her or from her; if her name is not there, nor the letters of
+her name,--then I will go to my own. A new love, one not a year old, I
+can put aside. I will forgive every one but my Lady Suffolk."
+
+So Katherine decided as she broke the seal with firmness and rapidity.
+The first paper within the cover made her tremble. It was a half sheet
+which she had taken one day from Bram's hand, and it had Bram's name
+across it. On it she had written the first few lines which she had had
+the right to sign "Katherine Hyde." It was, indeed, her first "wife"
+letter; and within it was the precious love-token, her own
+love-token,--_the bow of orange ribbon_.
+
+She gave a sharp cry as it fell upon the desk; and then she lifted and
+kissed it, and held it to her breast, as she rocked herself to and fro
+in a passionate transport of triumphant love. Again and again she fed
+her eyes upon it. She recalled the night she wore it first, and the
+touch of her mother's fingers as she fastened it at her throat. She
+recalled her father's happy smile of proud admiration for her; the
+afternoon, next, when she had stood with Joanna at the foot of the
+garden and seen her lover wearing it on his breast. She remembered what
+she had heard about the challenge, and the desperate fight, and the
+intention of Semple's servant to remove the token from her senseless
+lover's breast, and her father's noble interference. The bit of fateful
+ribbon had had a strange history, yet she had forgotten it. It was her
+husband who had carefully sealed it away among the things most precious
+to his heart and house. It still kept much of its original splendid
+colour, but it was stained down all its length with blood. Nothing that
+Hyde could have done, no words that he could have said, would have been
+so potent to move her.
+
+"I will give it to him again. With my own hands I will give it to him
+once more. O Richard, my lover, my husband! Now I will hasten to see
+thee."
+
+[Illustration: "O Richard, my lover, my husband!"]
+
+With relays at every post-house, she reached London the next night, and,
+weary and terrified, drove at once to the small hostelry where Hyde lay.
+There was a soldier sitting outside his chamber-door, but the wounded
+man was quite alone when Katherine entered. She took in at a glance the
+bare, comfortless room, scarcely lit by the sputtering rush-candle, and
+the rude bed, and the burning cheeks of the fevered man upon it.
+
+"Katherine!" he cried; and his voice was as weak and as tearful as that
+of a troubled child.
+
+"Here come I, my dear one."
+
+"I do not deserve it. I have been so wicked, and you my pure good wife."
+
+"See, then, I have had no temptations, but thou hast lived in the midst
+of great ones. Then, how natural and how easy was it for thee to do
+wrong!"
+
+"Oh, how you love me, Katherine!"
+
+"God knows."
+
+"And for this wrong you will not forsake me?"
+
+She took from her bosom the St. Nicholas ribbon. "I give it to thee
+again. At the first time I loved thee; now, my husband, ten thousand
+times more I love thee. As I went through the papers, I found it. So
+much it said to me of thy true love! So sweetly for thee it pleaded! All
+that it asks for thee, I give. All that thou hast done wrong to me, it
+forgives."
+
+And between their clasped hands it lay,--the bit of orange ribbon that
+had handselled all their happiness.
+
+"It is the promise of everything I can give thee, my loved one,"
+whispered Katherine.
+
+"It is the luck of Richard Hyde. Dearest wife, thou hast given me my
+life back again."
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+          "_Wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes,
+          But presently prevent the ways to wail._"
+
+
+It was a hot August afternoon; and the garden at Hyde Manor was full of
+scent in all its shady places,--hot lavender, seductive carnation, the
+secretive intoxication of the large white lilies, and mingling with them
+the warm smell of ripe fruits from the raspberry hedges, and the
+apricots and plums turning gold and purple upon the southern walls.
+
+Hyde sat at an open window, breathing the balmy air, and basking in the
+light and heat, which really came to him with "healing on their wings."
+He was pale and wasted from his long sickness; but there was speculation
+and purpose in his face, and he had evidently cast away the mental
+apathy of the invalid. As he sat thus, a servant entered and said a few
+words which made him turn with a glad, expectant manner to the open
+door; and, as he did so, a man of near sixty years of age passed through
+it--a handsome, lordly-looking man, who had that striking personal
+resemblance to Hyde which affectionate brothers often have to one
+another.
+
+"Faith, William, you are welcome home! I am most glad to see you."
+
+"Sit still, Dick. You sad rascal, you've been playing with cold steel
+again, I hear! Can't you let it alone, at your age?"
+
+"Why, then, it was my business, as you know, sir. My dear William, how
+delighted I am to see you!"
+
+"'Tis twelve years since we met, Dick. You have been in America; I have
+been everywhere. I confess, too, I am amazed to hear of your marriage.
+And Hyde Manor is a miracle. I expected to find it mouldy and mossy--a
+haunt for frogs and fever. On the contrary, it is a place of perfect
+beauty."
+
+"And it was all my Katherine's doing."
+
+"I hear that she is Dutch; and, beyond a doubt, her people have a genius
+that develops in low lands."
+
+"She is my angel. I am unworthy of her goodness and beauty."
+
+"Why, then, Dick, I never saw you before in such a proper mood; and I
+may as well tell you, while you are in it, that I have also found a
+treasure past belief of the same kind. In fact, Dick, I am married, and
+have two sons."
+
+There was a moment's profound silence, and an inexplicable shadow passed
+rapidly over Hyde's face; but it was fleeting as a thought, and, ere
+the pause became strained and painful, he turned to his brother and
+said, "I am glad, William. With all my heart, I am glad."
+
+"Indeed, Dick, when Emily Capel died, I was sincere in my purpose never
+to marry; and I looked upon you always as the future earl, until one
+night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered."
+
+"I can understand that, William."
+
+"I was married very quietly, and have been in Italy ever since. Only
+four days have elapsed since I returned to England. My first inquiries
+were about you."
+
+"I pray you, do not believe all that my enemies will say of me."
+
+"Among other things, I was told that you had left the army."
+
+"That is exactly true. When I heard that Lord Percy's regiment was
+designed for America, and against the Americans, I put it out of the
+king's power to send me on such a business."
+
+"Indeed, I think the Americans have been ill-used; and I find the town
+in a great commotion upon the matter. The night I landed, there had come
+bad news from New York. The people of that city had burned effigies of
+Lord North and Governor Hutchinson, and the new troops were no sooner
+landed than five hundred of them deserted in a body. At White's it was
+said that the king fell into a fit of crying when the intelligence was
+brought him."
+
+Hyde's white face was crimson with excitement, and his eyes glowed like
+stars as he listened.
+
+[Illustration: "One night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered,"]
+
+"That was like New York; and, faith, if I had been there, I would have
+helped them!"
+
+"Why not go there? I owe you much for the hope of which my happiness has
+robbed you. I will take Hyde Manor at its highest price; I will add to
+it fifty thousand pounds indemnity for the loss of the succession. You
+may buy land enough for a duchy there, and found in the New World a new
+line of the old family. If there is war, you have your opportunity. If
+the colonists win their way, your family and means will make you a
+person of great consideration. Here, you can only be a member of the
+family; in America, you can be the head of your own line. Dick, my dear
+brother, out of real love and honour I speak these words."
+
+"Indeed, William, I am very sensible of your kindness, and I will
+consider well your proposition for you must know that it is a matter of
+some consequence to me now. I think, indeed, that my Katherine will be
+in a transport of delight to return to her native land. I hear her
+coming, and we will talk with her; and, anon, you shall confess,
+William, that you have seen the sweetest woman that ever the sun shone
+upon."
+
+Almost with the words she entered, clothed in a white India muslin, with
+carnations at her breast. Her high-heeled shoes, her large hoop, and the
+height to which her pale gold hair was raised, gave to the beautiful
+woman an air of majesty that amazed the earl. He bowed low, and then
+kissed her cheeks, and led her to a chair, which he placed between Hyde
+and himself.
+
+Of course the discussion of the American project was merely opened at
+that time. English people, even at this day, move only after slow and
+prudent deliberation; and then emigration was almost an irrevocable
+action. Katherine was predisposed to it, but yet she dearly loved the
+home she had made so beautiful. During Hyde's convalescence, also, other
+plans had been made and talked over until they had become very hopeful
+and pleasant; and they could not be cast aside without some reluctance.
+In fact, the purpose grew slowly, but surely, all through the following
+winter; being mainly fed by Katherine's loving desire to be near to her
+parents, and by Hyde's unconfessed desire to take part in the struggle
+which he foresaw, and which had his warmest sympathy. Every American
+letter strengthened these feelings; but the question was finally
+settled--as many an important event in every life is settled--by a
+person totally unknown to both Katherine and Hyde.
+
+It was on a cold, stormy afternoon in February, when the fens were white
+with snow. Hyde sat by the big wood-fire, re-reading a letter from Joris
+Van Heemskirk, which also enclosed a copy of Josiah Quincy's speech on
+the Boston Port Bill. Katherine had a piece of worsted work in her
+hands. Little Joris was curled up in a big chair with his book, seeing
+nothing of the present, only conscious of the gray, bleak waves of the
+English Channel, and the passionate Blake bearing down upon Tromp and De
+Ruyter.
+
+"What a battle that would be!" he said, jumping to his feet. "Father, I
+wish that I had lived a hundred years ago."
+
+"What are you talking about, George?"
+
+"Listen, then: 'Eighty sail put to sea under Blake. Tromp and De Ruyter,
+with seventy-six sail, were seen, upon the 18th of February, escorting
+three hundred merchant-ships up the channel. Three days of desperate
+fighting ensued, and Tromp acquired prodigious honour by this battle;
+for, though defeated, he saved nearly the whole of his immense convoy.'
+I wish I had been with Tromp, father."
+
+"But an English boy should wish to have been with Blake."
+
+"Tromp had the fewer vessels. One should always help the weaker side,
+father. And, besides, you know I am half Dutch."
+
+Katherine looked proudly at the boy, but Hyde had a long fit of musing.
+"Yes," he answered at length, "a brave man always helps those who need
+it most. Your father's letter, Katherine, stirs me wonderfully. Those
+Americans show the old Saxon love of liberty. Hear how one of them
+speaks for his people: 'Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will
+threats of a halter intimidate. For, under God, we are determined that
+wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our
+exit, we will die free men.' Such men ought to be free, Katherine, and
+they will be free."
+
+It was at this moment that Lettice came in with a bundle of newspapers:
+"They be brought by Sir Thomas Swaffham's man, sir, with Sir Thomas's
+compliments; there being news he thinks you would like to read, sir."
+
+Katherine turned promptly. "Spiced ale and bread and meat give to the
+man, Lettice; and to Sir Thomas and Lady Swaffham remind him to take
+our respectful thanks."
+
+Hyde opened the papers with eager curiosity. Little Joris was again with
+Tromp and Blake in the channel; and Katherine, remembering some
+household duty, left the father and son to their private enthusiasms.
+She was restless and anxious, for she had one of those temperaments that
+love a settled and orderly life. It would soon be spring, and there were
+a thousand things about the house and garden which would need her
+attention if they were to remain at Hyde. If not, her anxieties in other
+directions would be equally numerous and necessary. She stood at the
+window looking into the white garden close. Something about it recalled
+her father's garden; and she fell into such a train of tender memories
+that when Hyde called quickly, "Kate, Kate!" she found that there were
+tears in her eyes, and that it was with an effort and a sigh her soul
+returned to its present surroundings.
+
+[Illustration: "I must draw my sword again"]
+
+Hyde was walking about the room in great excitement,--his tall, nervous
+figure unconsciously throwing itself into soldierly attitudes; his dark,
+handsome face lit by an interior fire of sympathetic feeling.
+
+"I must draw my sword again, Katherine," he said, as his hand
+impulsively went to his left side,--"I must draw my sword again. I
+thought I had done with it forever; but, by St. George, I'll draw it in
+this quarrel!"
+
+"The American quarrel, Richard?"
+
+"No other could so move me. We have the intelligence now of their
+congress. They have not submitted; they have not drawn back, not an
+inch; they have not quarrelled among themselves. They have unanimously
+voted for non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption. They
+have drawn up a declaration of their rights. They have appealed to the
+sympathies of the people of Canada, and they have resolved to support by
+arms all their brethren unlawfully attacked. Hurrah, Katherine! Every
+good man and true wishes them well."
+
+"But it is treason, dear one."
+
+"_Soh!_ It was treason when the barons forced the Great Charter from
+King John. It was treason when Hampden fought against 'ship-money,' and
+Cromwell against Star Chambers, and the Dutchman William laid his firm
+hand on the British Constitution. All revolutions are treason until they
+are accomplished. We have long hesitated, we will waver no more. The
+conduct of Sir Jeffrey Amherst has decided me."
+
+"I know it not."
+
+"On the 6th of this month the king offered him a peerage if he would
+take command of the troops for America; and he answered, 'Your majesty
+must know that I cannot bring myself to fight the Americans, who are not
+only of my own race, but to whose former kindness I am also much
+obliged.' By the last mail, also, accounts have come of vast desertions
+of the soldiers of Boston; and three officers of Lord Percy's regiment
+are among the number. Katherine, our boy has told me this afternoon that
+he is half Dutch. Why should we stay in England, then, for his sake? We
+will do as Earl William advises us,--go to America and found a new
+house, of which I and he will be the heads. Are you willing?"
+
+"Only to be with you, only to please you, Richard. I have no other
+happiness."
+
+"Then it is settled; and I thank Sir Jeffrey Amherst, for his words have
+made me feel ashamed of my indecision. And look you, dear Kate, there
+shall be no more delays. The earl buys Hyde as it stands; we have
+nothing except our personal effects to pack: can you be ready in a
+week?"
+
+"You are too impatient, Richard. In a week it is impossible.
+
+"Then in two weeks. In short, my dear, I have taken an utter aversion to
+being longer in King George's land."
+
+"Poor king! Lady Swaffham says he means well; he misunderstands, he
+makes mistakes."
+
+"And political mistakes are crimes, Katherine. Write to-night to your
+father. Tell him that we are coming in two weeks to cast our lot with
+America. Upon my honour, I am impatient to be away."
+
+When Joris Van Heemskirk received this letter, he was very much excited
+by its contents. Putting aside his joy at the return of his beloved
+daughter, he perceived that the hour expected for years had really
+struck. The true sympathy that had been so long in his heart, he must
+now boldly express; and this meant in all probability a rupture with
+most of his old associates and friends--Elder Semple in the kirk, and
+the Matthews and Crugers and Baches in the council.
+
+He was sitting in the calm evening, with unloosened buckles, in a cloud
+of fragrant tobacco, talking of these things. "It is full time, come
+what will," said Lysbet. "Heard thou what Batavius said last night?"
+
+"Little I listen to Batavius."
+
+"But this was a wise word. 'The colonists are leaving the old ship,' he
+said; 'and the first in the new boat will have the choice of oars.'"
+
+"That was like Batavius, but I will take higher counsel than his."
+
+Then he rose, put on his hat, and walked down his garden; and, as he
+slowly paced between the beds of budding flowers, he thought of many
+things,--the traditions of the past struggles for freedom, and the
+irritating wrongs that had imbittered his own experience for ten years.
+There was plenty of life yet in the spirit his fathers had bequeathed to
+him; and, as this and that memory of wrong smote it, the soul-fire
+kindled, glowed, burned with passionate flame. "Free, God gave us this
+fair land, and we will keep it free. There has been in it no crowns and
+sceptres, no bloody Philips, no priestly courts of cruelty; and, in
+God's name, we will have none!"
+
+He was standing on the river-bank; and the meadows over it were green
+and fair to see, and the fresh wind blew into his soul a thought of its
+own untrammelled liberty. He looked up and down the river, and lifted
+his face to the clear sky, and said aloud, "Beautiful land! To be thy
+children we should not deserve, if one inch of thy soil we yielded to a
+tyrant. Truly a vaderland to me and to mine thou hast been. Truly do I
+love thee." And then, his soul being moved to its highest mark, he
+answered it tenderly, in the strong-syllabled mother-tongue that it knew
+so well,--
+
+"Indien ik u vergeet, o Vaderland! zoo vergete mijne regter-hand zich
+zelve!"
+
+Such communion he held with himself until the night came on, and the dew
+began to fall; and Lysbet said to herself, "I will walk down the garden:
+perhaps there is something I can say to him." As she rose, Joris
+entered, and they met in the centre of the room. He put his large hands
+upon her shoulders, and, looking solemnly in her face, said, "My Lysbet,
+I will go with the people; I will give myself willingly to the cause of
+freedom. A long battle is it. Two hundred years ago, a Joris Van
+Heemskirk was fighting in it. Not less of man than he was, am I, I
+hope."
+
+There was a mist of tears over his eyes--a mist that was no dishonour;
+it only showed that the cost had been fully counted, and his allegiance
+given with a clear estimate of the value and sweetness of all that he
+might have to give with it. Lysbet was a little awed by the solemnity of
+his manner. She had not before understood the grandeur of such a
+complete surrender of self as her husband had just consummated. But
+never had she been so proud of him. Everything commonplace had slipped
+away: he looked taller, younger, handsomer.
+
+[Illustration: "We have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever"]
+
+She dropped her knitting to her feet, she put her arms around his
+neck, and, laying her head upon his breast, said softly, "My good Joris!
+I will love thee forever."
+
+In a few minutes Elder Semple came in. He looked exceedingly worried;
+and, although Joris and he avoided politics by a kind of tacit
+agreement, he could not keep to kirk and commercial matters, but
+constantly returned to one subject,--a vessel lying at Murray's Wharf,
+which had sold her cargo of molasses and rum to the "Committee of
+Safety."
+
+"And we'll be haeing the custom-house about the city's ears, if there's
+'safety' in that,--the born idiots," he said.
+
+Joris was in that grandly purposeful mood that takes no heed of fretful
+worries. He let the elder drift from one grievance to another; and he
+was just in the middle of a sentence containing his opinion of Sears and
+Willet, when Bram's entrance arrested it. There was something in the
+young man's face and attitude which made every one turn to him. He
+walked straight to the side of Joris,--
+
+"Father, we have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever."
+
+"_We!_ Who, then, Bram?"
+
+"The Committee of Safety and the Sons of Liberty."
+
+Semple rose to his feet, trembling with passion. "Let me tell you, then,
+Bram, you are a parcel o' rogues and rebels; and, if I were his Majesty,
+I'd gibbet the last ane o' you."
+
+"Patience, Elder. Sit down, I'll speak"--
+
+"No, Councillor, I'll no sit down until I ken what kind o' men I'm
+sitting wi'. Oot wi' your maist secret thoughts. Wha are you for?"
+
+"For the people and for freedom am I," said Joris, calmly rising to his
+feet. "Too long have we borne injustice. My fathers would have spoken by
+the sword before this. Free kirk, free state, free commerce, are the
+breath of our nostrils. Not a king on earth our privileges and rights
+shall touch; no, not with his finger-tips. Bram, my son, I am your
+comrade in this quarrel." He spoke with fervent, but not rapid speech,
+and with a firm, round voice, full of magical sympathies.
+
+"I'll hear nae mair o' such folly.--Gie me my bonnet and plaid, madam,
+and I'll be going.--The King o' England needna ask his Dutch subjects
+for leave to wear his crown, I'm thinking."
+
+"Subjects!" said Bram, flashing up. "Subjection! Well, then, Elder,
+Dutchmen don't understand the word. Spain found that out."
+
+"Hoots! dinna look sae far back, Bram. It's a far cry, to Alva and
+Philip. Hae you naething fresher? Gude-night, a'. I hope the morn will
+bring you a measure o' common sense." He was at the door as he spoke;
+but, ere he passed it, he lifted his bonnet above his head and said,
+"God save the king! God save his gracious Majesty, George of England!"
+
+Joris turned to his son. To shut up the king's customs was an overt
+action of treason. Bram, then, had fully committed himself; and,
+following out his own thoughts, he asked abruptly, "What will come of
+it, Bram?"
+
+"War will come, and liberty--a great commonwealth, a great country."
+
+"It was about the sloop at Murray's Wharf?"
+
+"Yes. To the Committee of Safety her cargo she sold; but Collector
+Cruger would not that it should leave the vessel, although offered was
+the full duty."
+
+"For use against the king were the goods; then Cruger, as a servant of
+King George, did right."
+
+"Oh, but if a tyrant a man serves, we cannot suffer wrong that a good
+servant he may be! King George through him refused the duty: no more
+duties will we offer him. We have boarded up the doors and windows of
+the custom-house. Collector Cruger has a long holiday."
+
+He did not speak lightly, and his air was that of a man who accepts a
+grave responsibility. "I met Sears and about thirty men with him on Wall
+Street. I went with them, thinking well on what I was going to do. I am
+ready by the deed to stand."
+
+"And I with thee. Good-night, Bram, To-morrow there will be more to
+say."
+
+Then Bram drew his chair to the hearth, and his mother began to question
+him; and her fine face grew finer as she listened to the details of the
+exploit. Bram looked at her proudly. "I wish only that a fort full of
+soldiers and cannon it had been," he said. "It does not seem such a fine
+thing to take a few barrels of rum and molasses."
+
+"Every common thing is a fine thing when it is for justice. And a fine
+thing I think it was for these men to lay down every one his work and
+his tool, and quietly and orderly go do the work that was to be done for
+honour and for freedom. If there had been flying colours and beating
+drums, and much blood spilt, no grander thing would it have been, I
+think."
+
+And, as Bram filled and lighted his pipe, he hummed softly the rallying
+song of the day,--
+
+                 "In story we're told
+                  How our fathers of old
+       Braved the rage of the winds and the waves;
+                  And crossed the deep o'er,
+                  For this far-away shore,
+All because they would never be slaves--brave boys!
+    All because they would never be slaves.
+
+                 "The birthright we hold
+                  Shall never be sold,
+       But sacred maintained to our graves;
+                  And before we comply
+                  We will gallantly die,
+For we will not, we will not be slaves--brave boys!
+  For we will not, we will not be slaves."
+
+In the meantime Semple, fuming and ejaculating, was making his way
+slowly home. It was a dark night, and the road full of treacherous soft
+places, fatal to that spotless condition of hose and shoes which was one
+of his weak points. However, before he had gone very far, he was
+overtaken by his son Neil, now a very staid and stately gentleman,
+holding under the government a high legal position in the investigation
+of the disputed New-Hampshire grants.
+
+He listened respectfully to his father's animadversions on the folly of
+the Van Heemskirks; but he was thinking mainly of the first news told
+him,--the early return of Katherine. He was conscious that he still
+loved Katherine, and that he still hated Hyde. As they approached the
+house, the elder saw the gleam of a candle through the drawn blind; and
+he asked querulously, "What's your mother doing wi' a candle at this
+hour, I wonder?"
+
+"She'll be sewing or reading, father."
+
+"Hoots! she should aye mak' the wark and the hour suit. There's spinning
+and knitting for the night-time. Wi' soldiers quartered to the right
+hand and the left hand, and a civil war staring us in the face, it's
+neither tallow nor wax we'll hae to spare."
+
+He was climbing the pipe-clayed steps as he spoke, and in a few minutes
+was standing face to face with the offender. Madam Semple was reading
+and, as her husband opened the parlour door, she lifted her eyes from
+her book, and let them calmly rest upon him.
+
+[Illustration: "I am reading the Word"]
+
+"Fire-light and candle-light, baith, Janet! A fair illumination, and nae
+ither thing but bad news for it."
+
+"It is for reading the Word, Elder."
+
+"For the night season, meditation, Janet, meditation;" and he lifted the
+extinguisher, and put out the candle. "Meditate on what you hae read.
+The Word will bide a deal o' thinking about. You'll hae heard the ill
+news?"
+
+"I heard naething ill."
+
+"Didna Neil tell you?"
+
+"Anent what?"
+
+"The closing o' the king's customs."
+
+"Ay, Neil told me."
+
+"Weel?"
+
+"Weel, since you ask me, I say it was gude news."
+
+"Noo, Janet, we'll hae to come to an understanding. If I hae swithered
+in my loyalty before, I'll do sae nae mair. From this hour, me and my
+house will serve King George. I'll hae nae treason done in it, nor said;
+no, nor even thocht o'."
+
+"You'll be a vera Samson o' strength, and a vera Solomon o' wisdom, if
+you keep the hands and the tongues and the thochts o' this house.
+Whiles, you canna vera weel keep the door o' your ain mouth, gudeman.
+What's come o'er you, at a'?"
+
+"I'm surely master in my ain house, Janet."
+
+"'Deed, you are far from being that, Alexander Semple. Doesna King
+George quarter his men in it? And havena you to feed and shelter them,
+and to thole their ill tempers and their ill ways, morning, noon, and
+night? You master in your ain house! You're just a naebody in it!"
+
+"Dinna get on your high horse, madam. Things are coming to the upshot:
+there's nae doot o' it."
+
+"They've been lang aboot it--too lang."
+
+"Do you really mean that you are going to set yoursel' among the
+rebels?"
+
+"Going? Na, na; I have aye been amang them. And ten years syne, when the
+Stamp Act was the question, you were heart and soul wi' the people. The
+quarrel to-day is the same quarrel wi' a new name. Tak' the side o'
+honour and manhood and justice, and dinna mak' me ashamed o' you,
+Alexander. The Semples have aye been for freedom,--Kirk and State,--and
+I never heard tell o' them losing a chance to gie them proud English a
+set-down before. What for should you gie the lie to a' your forbears
+said and did? King George hasna put his hand in his pocket for you; he
+has done naething but tax your incomings and your outgoings. Ask Van
+Heemskirk: he's a prudent man, and you'll never go far wrong if you walk
+wi' him."
+
+"Ask Van Heemskirk, indeed! Not I. The rebellious spirit o' the ten
+tribes is through all the land; but I'll stand by King George, if I'm
+the only man to do it."
+
+"George may be king o' the Semples. I'm a Gordon. He's no king o' mine.
+The Gordons were a' for the Stuarts."
+
+"Jacobite and traitor, baith! Janet, Janet, how can you turn against me
+on every hand?"
+
+"I'll no turn against you, Elder; and I'll gie you no cause for
+complaint, if you dinna set King George on my hearthstone, and bring him
+to my table, and fling him at me early and late." She was going to light
+the candle again; and, with it in her hand, she continued: "That's
+enough anent George rex at night-time, for he isna a pleasant thought
+for a sleeping one. How is Van Heemskirk going? And Bram?"
+
+"Bram was wi' them that unloaded the schooner and closed the
+custom-house--the born idiots!"
+
+"I expected that o' Bram."
+
+"As for his father, he's the blackest rebel you could find or hear tell
+o' in the twelve Provinces."
+
+"He's a good man; Joris is a good man, true and sure. The cause he
+lifts, he'll never leave. Joris and Bram--excellent! They two are a
+multitude."
+
+"Humff!" It was all he could say. There was something in his wife's face
+that made it look unfamiliar to him. He felt himself to be like the
+prophet of Pethor--a man whose eyes are opened. But Elder Semple was not
+one of the foolish ones who waste words. "A wilfu' woman will hae her
+way," he thought; "and if Janet has turned rebel to the king, it's mair
+than likely she'll throw off my ain lawfu' authority likewise. But we'll
+see, we'll see," he muttered, glancing with angry determination at the
+little woman, who, for her part, seemed to have put quite away all
+thoughts of king and Congress.
+
+She stood with the tinder-box and the flint and brimstone matches in her
+hands. "I wonder if the tinder is burnt enough, Alexander," she said;
+and with the words she sharply struck the flint. A spark fell instantly
+and set fire to it, and she lit her match and watched it blaze with a
+singular look of triumph on her face. Somehow the trifling affair
+irritated the elder. "What are you doing at a'? You're acting like a
+silly bairn, makin' a blaze for naething. There's a fire on the hearth:
+whatna for, then, are you wasting tinder and a match?"
+
+"Maybe it wasna for naething, Elder. Maybe I was asking for a sign, and
+got the ane I wanted. There's nae sin in that, I hope. You ken Gideon
+did it when he had to stand up for the oppressed, and slay the tyrant."
+
+"Tut, woman, you arena Gideon, nor yet o' Gideon's kind; and, forbye,
+there's nae angel speaking wi' you."
+
+"You're right there, Elder. But, for a' that, I'm glad that the spark
+fired the tinder, and that the tinder lit the match, and that the match
+burnt sae bright and sae bravely. It has made a glow in my heart, and
+I'll sleep well wi' the pleasure o' it."
+
+Next morning the argument was not renewed. Neil was sombre and silent.
+His father was uncertain as to his views, and he did not want to force
+or hurry a decision. Besides, it would evidently be more prudent to
+speak with the young man when he could not be influenced by his mother's
+wilful, scornful tongue. Perhaps Neil shared this prudent feeling; for
+he deprecated conversation, and, on the plea of business, left the
+breakfast-table before the meal was finished.
+
+The elder, however, had some indemnification for his cautious silence.
+He permitted himself, at family prayers, a very marked reading of St.
+Paul's injunction, "Fear God and honour the king;" and ere he left the
+house he said to his wife, "Janet, I hope you hae come to your senses.
+You'll allow that you didna treat me wi' a proper respect yestreen?"
+
+She was standing face to face with him, her hands uplifted, fastening
+the broad silver clasp of his cloak. For a moment she hesitated, the
+next she raised herself on tiptoes, and kissed him. He pursed up his
+mouth a little sternly, and then stroked her white hair. "You heard
+what St. Paul says, Janet; isna that a settlement o' the question?"
+
+"I'm no blaming St. Paul, Alexander. If ever St. Paul approves o'
+submitting to tyranny, it's thae translators' fault. He wouldna tak'
+injustice himsel', not even from a Roman magistrate. I wish St. Paul was
+alive the day: I'm vera sure if he were, he'd write an epistle to the
+English wad put the king's dues just as free men would be willing to pay
+them. Now, don't be angry, Alexander. If you go awa' angry at me, you'll
+hae a bad day; you ken that, gudeman."
+
+It was a subtile plea; for no man, however wise or good or brave, likes
+to bespeak ill-fortune when it can be averted by a sacrifice so easy and
+so pleasant. But, in spite of Janet's kiss, he was unhappy; and when he
+reached the store, the clerks and porters were all standing together
+talking. He knew quite well what topic they were discussing with such
+eager movements and excited speech. But they dispersed to their work at
+the sight of his sour, stern face, and he did not intend to open a fresh
+dispute by any question.
+
+Apprentices and clerks then showed a great deal of deference to their
+masters, and Elder Semple demanded the full measure due to him.
+Something, however, in the carriage, in the faces, in the very, tones of
+his servants' voices, offended him; and he soon discovered that various
+small duties had been neglected.
+
+"Listen to me, lads," he said angrily; "I'll have nae politics mixed up
+wi' my exports and my imports. Neither king nor Congress has anything
+to do wi' my business. If there is among you ane o' them fools that ca'
+themselves the 'Sons o' Liberty,' I'll pay him whatever I owe him now,
+and he can gang to Madam Liberty for his future wage."
+
+[Illustration: He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk.]
+
+He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk as he spoke, and
+he peered over the little wooden railing at the men scattered about with
+pens or hammers or goods in their hands. There was a moment's silence;
+then a middle-aged man quietly laid down the tools with which he was
+closing a box, and walked up to the desk. The next moment, every one in
+the place had followed him. Semple was amazed and angry, but he made no
+sign of either emotion. He counted to the most accurate fraction every
+one's due, and let them go without one word of remonstrance.
+
+But as soon as he was alone, he felt the full bitterness of their
+desertion, and he could not keep the tears out of his eyes as he looked
+at their empty places. "Wha could hae thocht it?" he exclaimed. "Allan
+has been wi' me twenty-seven years, and Scott twenty, and Grey nearly
+seventeen. And the lads I have aye been kindly to. Maist o' them have
+wives and bairns, too; it's just a sin o' them. It's no to be believed.
+It's fair witchcraft. And the pride o' them! My certie, they all looked
+as if their hands were itching for a sword or a pair o' pistols!"
+
+At this juncture Neil entered the store. "Here's a bonnie pass, Neil;
+every man has left the store. I may as weel put up the shutters."
+
+"There are other men to be hired."
+
+"They were maistly a' auld standbys, auld married men that ought to have
+had mair sense."
+
+"The married men are the trouble-makers; the women have hatched and
+nursed this rebellion. If they would only spin their webs, and mind
+their knitting!"
+
+"But they willna, Neil; and they never would. If there's a pot o'
+rebellion brewing between the twa poles, women will be dabbling in it.
+They have aye been against lawfu' authority. The restraints o' paradise
+was tyranny to them. And they get worse and worse: it isna ane apple
+would do them the noo; they'd strip the tree, my lad, to its vera
+topmost branch."
+
+"There's mother."
+
+"Ay, there's your mother, she's a gude example. She's a Gordon; and
+thae Gordon women cried the '_slogan_' till their men's heads were a' on
+Carlisle gate or Temple Bar, and their lands a' under King George's
+thumb. But is she any wiser for the lesson? Not her. Women are born
+rebels; the 'powers that be' are always tyrants to them, Neil."
+
+"You ought to know, father. I have small and sad experience with them."
+
+"Sae, I hope you'll stand by my side. We twa can keep the house
+thegither. If we are a' right, the Government will whistle by a woman's
+talk."
+
+"Did you not say Katherine was coming back?"
+
+"I did that. See there, again. Hyde has dropped his uniform, and sold a'
+that he has, and is coming to fight in a quarrel that's nane o' his.
+Heard you ever such foolishness? But it is Katherine's doing; there's
+little doot o' that."
+
+"He's turned rebel, then?"
+
+"Ay has he. That's what women do. Politics and rebellion is the same
+thing to them."
+
+"Well, father, I shall not turn rebel."
+
+"O Neil, you take a load off my heart by thae words!"
+
+"I have nothing against the king, and I could not be Hyde's comrade."
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+          "_How glorious stand the valiant, sword in hand,
+           In front of battle for their native land!_"
+
+
+It was into this thundery atmosphere of coming conflict, of hopes and
+doubts, of sundering ties and fearful looking forward, that Richard and
+Katherine Hyde came, from the idyllic peace and beauty of their Norfolk
+house. But there was something in it that fitted Hyde's real
+disposition. He was a natural soldier, and he had arrived at the period
+of life when the mere show and pomp of the profession had lost all
+satisfying charm. He had found a quarrel worthy of his sword, one that
+had not only his deliberate approval, but his passionate sympathy. In
+fact, his first blow for American independence had been struck in the
+duel with Lord Paget; for that quarrel, though nominally concerning Lady
+Suffolk, was grounded upon a dislike engendered by their antagonism
+regarding the government of the Colonies.
+
+It was an exquisite April morning when they sailed up New York bay once
+more. Joris had been watching for the "Western Light;" and when she came
+to anchor at Murray's Wharf, his was the foremost figure on it. He had
+grown a little stouter, but was still a splendid-looking man; he had
+grown a little older, but his tenderness for his daughter was still
+young and fresh and strong as ever. He took her in his arms, murmuring,
+"_Mijn Katrijntje, mijn Katrijntje! Ach, mijn kind, mijn kind!_"
+
+Hyde had felt that there might be some embarrassment in his own case,
+perhaps some explanation or acknowledgment to make; but Joris waved
+aside any speech like it. He gave Hyde both hands; he called him "_mijn
+zoon_;" he stooped, and put the little lad's arms around his neck. In
+many a kind and delicate way he made them feel that all of the past was
+forgotten but its sweetness.
+
+And surely that hour Lysbet had the reward of her faithful affection.
+She had always admired Hyde; and she was proud and happy to have him in
+her home, and to have him call her mother. The little Joris took
+possession of her heart in a moment. Her Katherine was again at her
+side. She had felt the clasp of her hands; she had heard her whisper
+"_mijn moeder_" upon her lips.
+
+They landed upon a Saturday, upon one of those delightsome days that
+April frequently gives to New York. There was a fresh wind, full of the
+smell of the earth and the sea; an intensely blue sky, with flying
+battalions of white fleecy clouds across it; a glorious sunshine above
+everything. And people live, and live happily, even in the shadow of
+war. The stores were full of buyers and sellers. The doors and windows
+of the houses were open to the spring freshness. Lysbet had heard of
+their arrival, and was watching for them. Her hair was a little whiter,
+her figure a little stouter; but her face was fair and rosy, and sweet
+as ever.
+
+[Illustration: Lysbet and Catherine were unpacking]
+
+In a few hours things had fallen naturally and easily into place. Joris
+and Bram and Hyde sat talking of the formation of a regiment. Little
+Joris leaned on his grandfather's shoulder listening. Lysbet and
+Katherine were busy unpacking trunks full of fineries and pretty things;
+occasionally stopping to give instructions to Dinorah, who was preparing
+an extra tea, as Batavius and Joanna were coming to spend the evening.
+"And to the elder and Janet Semple I have sent a message, also," said
+Lysbet; "for I see not why anger should be nursed, or old friendships
+broken, for politics."
+
+Katherine had asked at once, with eager love, for Joanna; she had
+expected that she would be waiting to welcome her. Lysbet smiled faintly
+at the supposition. "She has a large family, then, and Batavius, and her
+house. Seldom comes she here now."
+
+But about four o'clock, as Katherine and Hyde were dressing, Joanna and
+Batavius and all their family arrived. In a moment, their presence
+seemed to diffuse itself through the house. There was a sense of
+confusion and unrest, and the loud crying of a hungry baby determined to
+be attended to. And Joanna was fulfilling this duty, when Katherine
+hastened to meet her. Wifehood and motherhood had greatly altered the
+slim, fair girl of ten years before. She had grown stout, and was untidy
+in her dress, and a worried, anxious expression was continually on her
+countenance. Batavius kept an eye on the children; there were five of
+them beside the baby,--fat, rosy, round-faced miniatures of himself, all
+having a fair share of his peculiar selfish traits, which each expressed
+after its individual fashion.
+
+Hyde met his brother-in-law with a gentlemanly cordiality; and Batavius,
+who had told Joanna "he intended to put down a bit that insolent
+Englishman," was quite taken off his guard, and, ere he was aware of his
+submission, was smoking amicably with him, as they discussed the
+proposed military organization. Very soon Hyde asked Batavius, "If he
+were willing to join it?"
+
+"When such a family a man has," he answered, waving his hand
+complacently toward the six children, "he must have some prudence and
+consideration. I had been well content with one child; but we must have
+our number, there is no remedy. And I am a householder, and I pay my
+way, and do my business. It is a fixed principle with me not to meddle
+with the business of other people."
+
+"But, sir, this is your business, and your children's business also."
+
+"I think, then, that it is King George's business."
+
+"It is liberty"--
+
+"Well, then, I have my liberty. I have liberty to buy and to sell, to go
+to my own kirk, to sail the 'Great Christopher' when and where I will.
+My house, my wife, my little children, nobody has touched."
+
+"Pray, sir, what of your rights? your honour?"
+
+"Oh, indeed, then, for ideas I quarrel not! Facts, they are different.
+Every man has his own creed, and every man his own liberty, so say
+I.--Come here, Alida," and he waved his hand imperiously to a little
+woman of four years old, who was sulking at the window, "what's the
+matter now? You have been crying again. I see that you have a
+discontented temper. There is a spot on your petticoat also, and your
+cap is awry. I fear that you will never become a neat, respectable
+girl--you that ought to set a good pattern to your little sister
+Femmetia."
+
+Evidently he wished to turn the current of the conversation; but as soon
+as the child had been sent to her mother, Joris resumed it.
+
+"If you go not yourself to the fight, Batavius, plenty of young men are
+there, longing to go, who have no arms and no clothes: send in your
+place one of them."
+
+"It is my fixed principle not to meddle in the affairs of other people,
+and my principles are sacred to me."
+
+"Batavius, you said not long ago that the colonists were leaving the old
+ship, and that the first in the new boat would have the choice of oars."
+
+"Bram, that is the truth. I said not that I would choose any of the
+oars."
+
+"A fair harbour we shall make, and the rewards will be great, Batavius."
+
+"It is not good to cry 'herrings,' till in the net you have them. And to
+talk of rowing, the colonists must row against wind and tide; the
+English will row with set sail. That is easy rowing. Into this question
+I have looked well, for always I think about everything."
+
+"Have you read the speeches of Adams and Hancock and Quincy? Have you
+heard what Colonel Washington said in the Assembly?"
+
+"Oh, these men are discontented! Something which they have not got, they
+want. They are troublesome and conceited. They expect the century will
+be called after them. Now I, who punctually fulfil my obligations as a
+father and a citizen, I am contented, I never make complaints, I never
+want more liberty. You may read in the Holy Scriptures that no good
+comes of rebellion. Did not Absalom sit in the gate, and say to the
+discontented, 'See thy matters are good and right; but there is no man
+deputed of the king to hear thee;' and, moreover, 'Oh, that I were made
+a judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might
+come unto me, and I would do him justice'? And did not Sheba blow a
+trumpet, and say, 'We have no part in David, neither have we
+inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel'?
+Well, then, what came of such follies? You may read in the Word of God
+that they ended in ruin."
+
+[Illustration: He marshalled the six children in front of him]
+
+Hyde looked with curiosity at the complacent orator. Bram rose, and,
+with a long-drawn whistle, left the room. Joris said sternly, "Enough
+you have spoken, Batavius. None are so blind as those who will not see."
+
+"Well, then, father, I can see what is in the way of mine own business;
+and it is a fixed principle with me not to meddle with the business of
+other people. And look here, Joanna, the night is coming, and the dew
+with it, and Alida had sore throat yesterday: we had better go. Fast in
+sleep the children ought to be at this hour." And he bustled about them,
+tying on caps and capes; and finally, having marshalled the six children
+and their two nurses in front of him he trotted off with Joanna upon his
+arm, fully persuaded that he had done himself great credit, and acted
+with uncommon wisdom. "But it belongs to me to do that, Joanna," he
+said; "among all the merchants, I am known for my great prudence."
+
+"I think that my father and Bram will get into trouble in this matter."
+
+"You took the word out of my mouth, Joanna; and I will have nothing to
+do with such follies, for they are waxing hand over hand like the great
+winds at sea, till the hurricane comes, and then the ruin."
+
+The next morning was the Sabbath, and it broke in a perfect splendour of
+sunshine. The New World was so new and fresh, and Katherine thought she
+had never before seen the garden so lovely. Joris was abroad in it very
+early. He looked at the gay crocus and the pale snowdrop and the budding
+pansies with a singular affection. He was going, perchance, on a long
+warfare. Would he ever return to greet them in the coming springs? If he
+did return, would they be there to greet him? As he stood pensively
+thoughtful, Katherine called him. He raised his eyes, and watched her
+approach as he had been used when she was a child, a school-girl, a
+lovely maiden. But never had she been so beautiful as now. She was
+dressed for church in a gown of rich brown brocade over a petticoat of
+paler satin, with costly ornaments of gold and rubies. As she joined her
+father, Hyde joined Lysbet in the parlour; and the two stood at the
+window watching her. She had clasped her hands upon his shoulder, and
+leaned her beautiful head against them. "A most perfect picture," said
+Hyde, and then he kissed Lysbet; and from that moment they were mother
+and son.
+
+They walked to church together; and Hyde thought how beautiful the
+pleasant city was that sabbath morning, with its pretty houses shaded by
+trees just turning green, its clear air full of the grave dilating
+harmony of the church-bells, its quiet streets thronged with men and
+women--both sexes dressed with a magnificence modern Broadway beaux and
+belles have nothing to compare with. What staid, dignified men in
+three-cornered hats and embroidered velvet coats and long plush vests!
+What buckles and wigs and lace ruffles and gold snuff-boxes! What
+beautiful women in brocades and taffetas, in hoops and high heels and
+gauze hats! Here and there a black-robed dominie; here and there a
+splendidly dressed British officer, in scarlet and white, and gold
+epaulettes and silver embroideries! New York has always been a highly
+picturesque city, but never more so than in the restless days of A.D.
+1775.
+
+Katherine and Hyde and Bram were together; Joris and Lysbet were slowly
+following them. They were none of them speaking much, nor thinking much,
+but all were very happy and full of content! Suddenly the peaceful
+atmosphere was troubled by the startling clamour of a trumpet. It was a
+note so distinct from the music of the bells, so full of terror and
+warning, that every one stood still. A second blast was accompanied by
+the rapid beat of a horse's hoofs; and the rider came down Broadway like
+one on a message of life and death, and made no pause until he had very
+nearly reached Maiden Lane.
+
+At that point a tall, muscular man seized the horse by the bridle, and
+asked, "What news?"
+
+"Great news! great news! There has been a battle, a massacre at
+Lexington, a running fight from Concord to Boston! Stay me not!" But, as
+he shook the bridle free, he threw a handbill, containing the official
+account of the affair at Lexington to the inquirer.
+
+Who then thought of church, though the church-bells were ringing? The
+crowd gathered around the man with the handbill, and in ominous silence
+listened to the tidings of the massacre at Lexington, the destruction of
+stores at Concord, the quick gathering of the militia from the hills and
+dales around Reading and Roxbury, the retreat of the British under their
+harassing fire, until, worn out and disorganized, they had found a
+refuge in Boston. "And this is the postscript at the last moment," added
+the reader: "'Men are pouring in from all the country sides; Putnam left
+his plough in the furrow, and rode night and day to the ground; Heath,
+also, is with him.'"
+
+Joris was white and stern in his emotion; Bram stood by the reader, with
+a face as bright as a bridegroom's; Hyde's lips were drawn tight, and
+his eyes were flashing with the true military flame. "Father," he said,
+"take mother and Katherine to church; Bram and I will stay here, for I
+can see that there is something to be done."
+
+"God help us! Yes, I will go to Him first;" and, taking his wife and
+daughter, he passed with them out of the crowd.
+
+Hyde turned to the reader, who stood with bent brows, and the paper in
+his hand. "Well, sir, what is to be done?" he asked.
+
+"There are five hundred stand of arms in the City Hall; there are men
+enough here to take them. Let us go."
+
+A loud cry of assent answered him.
+
+"My name is Richard Hyde, late of his Majesty's Windsor Guards; but I am
+with you, heart and soul."
+
+"I am Marinus Willet."
+
+"Then, Mr. Willet, where first?"
+
+[Illustration: The City Hall]
+
+"To the mayor's residence. He has the keys of the room in which the arms
+are kept."
+
+The news spread, no one knew how; but men poured out from the churches
+and the houses on their route, and Willet's force was soon nearly a
+thousand strong. The tumult, the tread, the _animus_ of the gathering,
+was felt in that part of the city even where it could not be heard.
+Joris could hardly endure the suspense, and the service did him very
+little good. About two o'clock, as he was walking restlessly about the
+house, Bram and Hyde returned together.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+"There were five hundred stand of arms in the City Hall, and I swear
+that we have taken them all. A man called Willet led us; a hero, quick
+of thought, prompt and daring,--a true soldier."
+
+"I know him well; a good man."
+
+"The keys the mayor refused to us," said Bram.
+
+"Oh, sir, he lied to us! Vowed he did not have them, and sent us to the
+armourer in Crown Street. The armourer vowed that he had given them to
+the mayor."
+
+"What then?"
+
+[Illustration: He swung a great axe]
+
+"Oh, indeed, all fortune fitted us! We went _en masse_ down Broadway
+into Wall Street, and so to the City Hall. Here some one, with too nice
+a sense of the sabbath, objected to breaking open the doors because of
+the day. But with very proper spirit Willet replied, 'If we wait until
+to-morrow, the king's men will not wait. The arms will be removed. And
+as for a key, here is one that will open any lock.' As he said the
+words, he swung a great axe around his head; and so, with a few blows,
+he made us an entrance. Indeed, I think that he is a grand fellow."
+
+"And you got the arms?"
+
+"Faith, we got all we went for! The arms were divided among the people.
+There was a drum and a fife also found with them, and some one made us
+very excellent music to step to. As we returned up Broadway, the
+congregation were just coming out of Trinity. Upon my word, I think we
+frightened them a little."
+
+"Where were the English soldiers?"
+
+"Indeed, they were shut up in barracks. Some of their officers were in
+church, others waiting for orders from the governor or mayor. 'Tis to be
+found out where the governor might be; the mayor was frightened beyond
+everything, and not capable of giving an order. Had my uncle Gordon been
+still in command here, he had not been so patient."
+
+"And for you that would have been a hard case."
+
+"Upon my word, I would not have fought my old comrades. I am glad, then,
+that they are in Quebec. Our swords will scarce reach so far."
+
+"And where went you with the arms?"
+
+"To a room in John Street. There they were stacked, the names of the men
+enrolled, and a guard placed over them. Bram is on the night patrol, by
+his own request. As for me, I have the honour of assisting New York in
+her first act of rebellion! and, if the military superstition be a true
+one, 'A Sunday fight is a lucky fight.'--And now, mother, we will have
+some dinner: 'The soldier loves his mess.'"
+
+Every one was watching him with admiration. Never in his uniform had he
+appeared so like a soldier as he did at that hour in his citizen coat
+and breeches of wine-coloured velvet, his black silk stockings and
+gold-buckled shoes. His spirits were infectious: Bram had already come
+into thorough sympathy with him, and grown almost gay in his company;
+Joris felt his heart beat to the joy and hope in his young comrades.
+All alike had recognized that the fight was inevitable, and that it
+would be well done if it were soon done.
+
+But events cannot be driven by wishes: many things had to be settled
+before a movement forward could be made. Joris had his store to let, and
+the stock and good-will to dispose of. Horses and accoutrements must be
+bought, uniforms made; and every day this charge increased: for, as soon
+as Van Heemskirk's intention to go to the front was known, a large
+number of young men from the best Dutch families were eager to enlist
+under him.
+
+Hyde's time was spent as a recruiting-officer. His old quarters, the
+"King's Arms," were of course closed to him; but there was a famous
+tavern on Water Street, shaded by a great horse-chestnut tree, and there
+the patriots were always welcome. There, also, the news of all political
+events was in some mysterious way sure to be first received. In company
+with Willet, Sears, and McDougall, Hyde might be seen under the
+chestnut-tree every day, enlisting men, or organizing the "Liberty
+Regiment" then raising.
+
+From the first, his valorous temper, his singleness of purpose, his
+military skill in handling troops, and his fine appearance and manners,
+had given him influence and authority. He soon, also, gained a wonderful
+power over Bram; and even the temperate wisdom and fine patience of
+Joris gradually kindled, until the man was at white heat all through.
+Every day's events fanned the temper of the city, although it was soon
+evident that the first fighting would be done in the vicinity of
+Boston.
+
+For, three weeks after that memorable April Sunday, Congress, in session
+at Philadelphia, had recognized the men in camp there as a Continental
+army, the nucleus of the troops that were to be raised for the defence
+of the country, and had commissioned Colonel Washington as
+commander-in-chief to direct their operations. Then every heart was in a
+state of the greatest expectation and excitement. No one remembered at
+that hour that the little army was without organization or discipline,
+most of its officers incompetent to command, its troops altogether
+unused to obey, and in the field without enlistment. Their few pieces of
+cannon were old and of various sizes, and scarce any one understood
+their service. There was no siege-train and no ordnance stores. There
+was no military chest, and nothing worthy the name of a _commissariat_.
+Yet every one was sure that some bold stroke would be struck, and the
+war speedily terminated in victory and independence.
+
+So New York was in the buoyant spirits of a young man rejoicing to run a
+race. The armourers, the saddlers, and the smiths were busy day and
+night; weapons were in every hand, the look of apprehended triumph on
+every face. In June the Van Heemskirk troops were ready to leave for
+Boston--nearly six hundred young men, full of pure purpose and brave
+thoughts, and with all their illusions and enthusiasms undimmed.
+
+The day before their departure, they escorted Van Heemskirk to his
+house. Lysbet and Katherine saw them coming, and fell weeping on each
+other's necks--tears that were both joyful and sorrowful, the expression
+of mingled love and patriotism and grief. It would have been hard to
+find a nobler-looking leader than Joris. Age had but added dignity to
+his fine bulk. His large, fair face was serene and confident. And the
+bright young lads who followed him looked like his sons, for most of
+them strongly resembled him in person; and any one might have been sure,
+even if the roll had not shown it, that they were Van Brunts and Van
+Ripers and Van Rensselaers, Roosevelts, Westervelts, and Terhunes.
+
+They had a very handsome uniform, and there had been no uncertainty or
+dispute about it. Blue, with orange trimmings, carried the question
+without one dissenting voice. Blue had been for centuries the colour of
+opposition to tyranny. The Scotch Covenanters chose it because the Lord
+ordered the children of Israel to wear a ribbon of blue that they might
+"look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do
+them; and seek not after their own heart and their own eyes, and be holy
+unto their God." (Num. xv. 38.) Into their cities of refuge in Holland,
+the Covenanters carried their sacred colour; and the Dutch Calvinists
+soon blended the blue of their faith with the orange of their
+patriotism. Very early in the American struggle, blue became the typical
+colour of freedom; and when Van Heemskirk's men chose the blue and
+orange for their uniform, they selected the colours which had already
+been famous on many a battle-field of freedom.
+
+Katherine and Lysbet had made the flag of the new regiment--an orange
+flag, with a cluster of twelve blue stars above the word _liberty_. It
+was Lysbet's hands that gave it to them. They stood in a body around the
+open door of the Van Heemskirk house; and the pretty old lady kissed it,
+and handed it with wet eyes to the colour-sergeant. Katherine stood by
+Lysbet's side. They were both dressed as for a festival, and their faces
+were full of tender love and lofty enthusiasm. To Joris and his men they
+represented the womanhood dear to each individual heart. Lysbet's white
+hair and white cap and pale-tinted face was "the mother's face;" and
+Katherine, in her brilliant beauty, her smiles and tears, her shining
+silks and glancing jewels, was the lovely substitute for many a precious
+sister and many a darling lady-love. But few words were said. Lysbet and
+Katherine could but stand and gaze as heads were bared, and the orange
+folds flung to the wind, and the inspiring word _liberty_ saluted with
+bright, upturned faces and a ringing shout of welcome.
+
+Such a lovely day it was--a perfect June day; doors and windows were
+wide open; a fresh wind blowing, a hundred blended scents from the
+garden were in the air; and there was a sunshine that warmed everything
+to the core. If there were tears in the hearts of the women, they put
+them back with smiles and hopeful words, and praises of the gallant men
+who were to fight a noble fight under the banner their fingers had
+fashioned.
+
+[Illustration: Lysbet's hands gave it to them]
+
+It was to be the last evening at home for Joris and Bram and Hyde, and
+Everything was done to make it a happy memory. The table was laid with the
+best silver and china; all the dainties that the three men liked best were
+prepared for them. The room was gay with flowers and blue and orange
+ribbons, and bows of the same colours fluttered at Lysbet's breast and
+on Katherine's shoulder. And as they went up and down the house, they
+were both singing,--singing to keep love from weeping, and hope and
+courage from failing; Lysbet's thin, sweet voice seeming like the shadow
+of Katherine's clear, ringing tones,--
+
+                "Oh, for the blue and the orange,
+                   Oh, for the orange and the blue!
+                 Orange for men that are free men,
+                   Blue for men that are true.
+                 Over the red of the tyrant,
+                   Bloody and cruel in hue,
+                 Fling out the banner of orange,
+                   With pennant and border of blue.
+                 Orange for men that are free men,
+                   Blue for men that are true."
+
+So they were singing when Joris and his sons came home.
+
+There had been some expectation of Joanna and Batavius, but at the last
+moment an excuse was sent. "The child is sick, writes Batavius; but I
+think, then, it is Batavius that is afraid, and not the child who is
+sick," said Joris.
+
+"To this side and to that side and to neither side, he will go; and he
+will miss all the good, and get all the bad of every side," said Bram
+contemptuously.
+
+"I think not so, Bram. Batavius can sail with the wind. All but his
+honour and his manhood he will save."
+
+"That is exactly true," continued Hyde. "He will grow rich upon the
+spoils of both parties. Upon my word, I expect to hear him say, 'Admire
+my prudence. While you have been fighting for an idea, I have been
+making myself some money. It is a principle of mine to attend only to my
+own affairs.'"
+
+After supper Bram went to bid a friend good-by; and as Joris and Lysbet
+sat in the quiet parlour, Elder Semple and his wife walked in. The elder
+was sad and still. He took the hands of Joris in his own, and looked him
+steadily in the face. "Man Joris," he said, "what's sending you on sic a
+daft-like errand?"
+
+Joris smiled, and grasped tighter his friend's hand. "So glad am I to
+see you at the last, Elder. As in you came, I was thinking about you.
+Let us part good friends and brothers. If I come not back"--
+
+"Tut, tut! You're sure and certain to come back; and sae I'll save the
+quarrel I hae wi' you until then. We'll hae mair opportunities; and I'll
+hae mair arguments against you, wi' every week that passes. Joris,
+you'll no hae a single word to say for yoursel' then. Sae, I'll bide my
+time. I came to speak anent things, in case o' the warst, to tell you
+that if any one wants to touch your wife or your bairns, a brick in your
+house, or a flower in your garden-plat, I'll stand by all that's yours,
+to the last shilling I hae, and nane shall harm them. Neil and I will
+baith do all men may do. Scotsmen hae lang memories for either friend or
+foe. O Joris, man, if you had only had an ounce o' common wisdom!"
+
+"I have a friend, then! I have you, Alexander. Never this hour shall I
+regret. If all else I lose, I have saved _mijn jongen_."
+
+The old men bent to each other; there were tears in their eyes. Without
+speaking, they were aware of kindness and faithfulness and gratitude
+beyond the power of words. They smoked a pipe together, and sometimes
+changed glances and smiles, as they looked at, or listened to, Lysbet
+and Janet Semple, who had renewed their long kindness in the sympathy of
+their patriotic hopes and fears.
+
+Hyde and Katherine were walking in the garden, lingering in the sweet
+June twilight by the lilac hedge and the river-bank. All Hyde's business
+was arranged: he was going into the fight without any anxiety beyond
+such as was natural to the circumstances. While he was away, his wife
+and son were to remain with Lysbet. He could desire no better home for
+them; their lives would be so quiet and orderly that he could almost
+tell what they would be doing at every hour. And while he was in the din
+and danger of siege and battle, he felt that it would be restful to
+think of Katherine in the still, fair rooms and the sweet garden of her
+first home.
+
+If he never came back, ample provision had been made for his wife and
+son's welfare; but--and he suddenly turned to Katherine, as if she had
+been conscious of his thoughts--"The war will not last very long, dear
+heart; and when liberty is won, and the foundation for a great
+commonwealth laid, why then we will buy a large estate somewhere upon
+the banks of this beautiful river. It will be delightful, in the midst
+of trees and parks, to build a grander Hyde Manor House. Most
+completely we will furnish it, in all respects; and the gardens you
+shall make at your own will and discretion. A hundred years after this,
+your descendants shall wander among the treillages and cut hedges
+and boxed walks, and say, 'What a sweet taste our dear
+great-great-grandmother had!'"
+
+And Katharine laughed at his merry talk and forecasting, and praised his
+uniform, and told him how soldierly and handsome he looked in it. And
+she touched his sword, and asked, "Is it the old sword, my Richard?"
+
+"The old sword, Kate, my sweet. With it I won my wife. Oh, indeed, yes!
+You know it was pity for my sufferings made you marry me that blessed
+October day, when I could not stand up beside you. It has a fight twice
+worthy of its keen edge now." He drew it partially from its sheath, and
+mused a moment. Then he slowly untwisted the ribbon and tassel of
+bullion at the hilt, and gave it into her hand. "I have a better
+hilt-ribbon than that," he said; "and when we go into the house, I will
+re-trim my sword."
+
+She thought little of the remark at the time, though she carefully put
+the tarnished tassel away among her dearest treasures; but it acquired a
+new meaning in the morning. The troops were to leave very early; and
+soon after dawn, she heard the clatter of galloping horses and the calls
+of the men as they reined up at their commander's door. Bram, as his
+father's lieutenant, was with them. The horses of Joris and Hyde were
+waiting.
+
+They rose from the breakfast-table and looked at their wives. Lysbet
+gave a little sob, and laid her head a moment upon her husband's breast.
+Katherine lifted her white face and whispered, with kisses, "Beloved
+one, go. Night and day I will pray for you, and long for you. My love,
+my dear one!"
+
+There was hurry and tumult, and the stress of leave-taking was lightened
+by it. Katherine held her husband's hand till they stood at the open
+door. Then he looked into her face, and down at his sword, with a
+meaning smile. And her eyes dilated, and a vivid blush spread over her
+cheeks and throat, and she drew him back a moment, and passionately
+kissed him again; and all her grief was lost in love and triumph. For,
+wound tightly around his sword-hilt, she saw--though it was brown and
+faded--her first, fateful love-token,--_The Bow of Orange Ribbon_.
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+
+
+POSTSCRIPT.
+
+[QUOTATION FROM A LETTER DATED JULY 5, A.D. 1885.]
+
+
+"Yesterday I went with my aunt to spend 'the Fourth' at the Hydes. They
+have the most delightful place,--a great stone house in a wilderness of
+foliage and beauty, and yet within convenient distance of the railroad
+and the river-boats. Why don't we build such houses now? You could make
+a ball-room out of the hall, and hold a grand reception on the
+staircase. Kate Hyde said the house is more than a hundred years old,
+and that the fifth generation is living in it. I am sure there are
+pictures enough of the family to account for three hundred years; but
+the two handsomest, after all, are those of the builders. They were very
+great people at the court of Washington, I believe. I suppose it is
+natural for those who have ancestors to brag about them, and to show off
+the old buckles and fans and court-dresses they have hoarded up, not to
+speak of the queer bits of plate and china; and, I must say, the Hydes
+have a really delightful lot of such bric-a-brac. But the strangest
+thing is the 'household talisman.' It is not like the luck of Eden Hall:
+it is neither crystal cup, nor silver vase, nor magic bracelet, nor an
+old slipper. But they have a tradition that the house will prosper as
+long as it lasts, and so this precious palladium is carefully kept in a
+locked box of carved sandal-wood; for it is only a bit of faded satin
+that was a love-token,--a St. Nicholas _Bow of Orange Ribbon_."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Bow of Orange Ribbon, by Amelia E. Barr
+
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+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" />
+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bow of Orange Ribbon by Amelia E. Barr.
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css">
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+    .poem span.i0     {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bow of Orange Ribbon, by Amelia E. Barr
+
+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: The Bow of Orange Ribbon
+       A Romance of New York
+
+Author: Amelia E. Barr
+
+Illustrator: Theo. Hampe
+
+Release Date: November 28, 2005 [EBook #17173]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Paul Ereaut and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/cover-0426-1.jpg" width="400" height="474"
+alt="Cover and spine" title="Cover and spine" />
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_Frontispiece" id="Page_Frontispiece">[Pg 4]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0382-1.jpg" width="400" height="580"
+alt="She was going down the steps with him" title="She was going down the steps with him" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>[Transcribers note: A title has been created for an unlisted illustration on P102
+of the original text and inserted into the list of illustrations.]</p>
+
+
+<h1><i>THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON</i></h1>
+
+<h2>A ROMANCE OF NEW YORK<br /></h2>
+
+<h4><i>BY AMELIA E. BARR<br /> AUTHOR OF
+"JAN VEDDER'S WIFE"<br /> "A DAUGHTER OF FIFE"
+ETC.</i></h4>
+
+<h4><i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THEO. HAMPE</i>
+
+<i>NEW YORK DODD, MEAD &amp; COMPANY PUBLISHERS</i>
+<br />
+Copyright, 1886, 1893 BY DODD, MEAD &amp; COMPANY
+<br />
+<i>All rights reserved</i></h4>
+
+
+
+<h4>Typography
+<br />
+BY ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL,
+<br />
+<i>Boston</i></h4>
+
+<h4>Presswork
+<br />
+BY JOHN WILSON AND SON,
+<br />
+<i>Cambridge</i>.</h4>
+
+<hr />
+<h5>BY PERMISSION</h5>
+
+<h5>This Book is Dedicated</h5>
+
+<h5>TO THE</h5>
+
+<h5><i>HOLLAND SOCIETY OF NEW YORK</i></h5>
+
+<hr />
+<h3>Contents</h3>
+<h4>Chapter</h4>
+
+<h4>
+<a href="#I"><b>I</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#II"><b>II.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#III"><b>III.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#IV"><b>IV.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#V"><b>V.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#VI"><b>VI.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#VII"><b>VII.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#VIII"><b>VIII.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#IX"><b>IX.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#X"><b>X.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#XI"><b>XI.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#XII"><b>XII.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#XIII"><b>XIII.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#XIV"><b>XIV.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#XV"><b>XV.</b></a>&nbsp;
+<a href="#XVI"><b>XVI.</b></a>
+</h4>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 577px;">
+<img src="images/illus-006.png" width="577" height="400" alt="ILLUSTRATIONS" title="ILLUSTRATIONS" />
+</div>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Illustrations">
+<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>She was going down the steps with him</td><td align='right'><i><a href='#Page_Frontispiece'>Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>May in New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_3'>3</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Joris Van Heemskirk</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_4'>4</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Locking-up the cupboards</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_7'>7</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>She was tying on her white apron</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Come awa', my bonnie lassie"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_13'>13</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Knitting</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_16'>16</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Neil and Bram</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_19'>19</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_20'>20</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_21'>21</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>With her spelling-book and Heidelberg</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_24'>24</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The amber necklace</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_27'>27</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>In one of those tall-backed Dutch chairs</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_34'>34</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_38'>38</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_39'>39</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>He heard her calling him to breakfast</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_42'>42</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The quill pens must be mended</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_49'>49</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A Guelderland flagon</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_53'>53</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"A very proper love-knot"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_57'>57</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_63'>63</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Hyde flung off the touch with a passionate oath</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_65'>65</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Batavius stood at the mainmast</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_67'>67</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>He took her in his arms</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_71'>71</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A little black boy entered</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_75'>75</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_82'>82</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_83'>83</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Sir, you are very uncivil"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_89'>89</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Listen to me, thy father!"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_97'>97</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>He took his solitary tea</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_102'>102</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>On the steps of the houses</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_105'>105</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_106'>106</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_107'>107</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Katherine, I am in great earnest"</td><td align='right'>1<a href='#Page_10'>10</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"In the interim, at your service"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_116'>116</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Why do you wait?"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_122'>122</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The swords of both men sprung from their hands</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_125'>125</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_127'>127</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_128'>128</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Oh, how she wept!</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_133'>133</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"O Bram! is he dead?"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_137'>137</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The streets were noisy with hawkers</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_146'>146</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Katherine was close to his side</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_151'>151</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_155'>155</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_156'>156</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>In its satin depths</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_162'>162</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Katherine knelt by Richard's side</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_164'>164</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"I am faint"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_175'>175</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Don't trouble yourself to come down"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_178'>178</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Listen to me!"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_183'>183</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_187'>187</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_188'>188</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>They stood together over the budding snowdrops</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_193'>193</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>His whole air and attitude had expressed delight</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_198'>198</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"I am going to take the air this afternoon"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_207'>207</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"I will go with you, Richard"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_211'>211</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_214'>214</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_215'>215</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Madam, I come not on courtesy"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_220'>220</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"O mother, my sister Katherine!"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_226'>226</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny!"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_231'>231</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Plain and dark were her garments</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_237'>237</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_240'>240</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_241'>241</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Katherine stood with her child in her arms</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_243'>243</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The garden next fell under Katherine's care</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_246'>246</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Thou has a grandson of thy own name"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_249'>249</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Plate old and new</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_252'>252</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Make me not to remember the past"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_258'>258</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>With a great sob Bram laid his head against her breast</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_263'>263</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_266'>266</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>She spread out all her finery</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_273'>273</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>All kinds of frivolity and amusement</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_278'>278</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Dick, I am angry at you"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_282'>282</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>She was softly singing to the drowsy child</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_285'>285</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_289'>289</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>She was stretched upon a sofa</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_295'>295</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>She stood in the gray light by the window</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_301'>301</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_303'>303</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>She knelt speechless and motionless</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_307'>307</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Jane lifted her apron to her eyes</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_311'>311</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"O Richard, my lover, my husband!"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_317'>317</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_320'>320</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"One night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered,"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_323'>323</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"I must draw my sword again"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_328'>328</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"We have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_333'>333</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"I am reading the Word"</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_339'>339</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk.</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_345'>345</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Chapter heading</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_348'>348</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lysbet and Catherine were unpacking</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_350'>350</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>He marshalled the six children in front of him</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_354'>354</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>The City Hall</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_358'>358</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>He swung a great axe</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_359'>359</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Lysbet's hands gave it to them</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_365'>365</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>Tail-piece</td><td align='right'><a href='#Page_371'>371</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<h2>THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 618px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0383-1.jpg" width="618" height="400" alt="May in New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago"
+title="May in New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>Love, that old song, of which the world is never weary</i>."</p>
+
+
+<p>It was one of those beautiful, lengthening days, when May was pressing
+back with both hands the shades of the morning and the evening; May in
+New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago, and yet the May of A.D.
+1886,&mdash;the same clear air and wind, the same rarefied freshness, full of
+faint, passing aromas from the wet earth and the salt sea and the
+blossoming gardens. For on the shore of the East River the gardens still
+sloped down, even to below Peck Slip; and behind old Trinity the
+apple-trees blossomed like bridal nosegays, the pear-trees rose in
+immaculate pyramids, and here and there cows were coming up heavily to
+the scattered houses; the lazy, intermitting tinkle of their bells
+giving a pleasant notice <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>of their approach to the waiting
+milking-women.</p>
+
+<p>In the city the business of the day was over; but at the open doors of
+many of the shops, little groups of apprentices in leather aprons were
+talking, and on the broad steps of the City Hall a number of
+grave-looking men were slowly separating after a very satisfactory civic
+session. They had been discussing the marvellous increase of the export
+trade of New York; and some vision of their city's future greatness may
+have appeared to them, for they held themselves with the lofty and
+confident air of wealthy merchants and "members of his Majesty's Council
+for the Province of New York."</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/illus-013.png" width="150" height="328" alt="Joris Van Heemskirk" title="Joris Van Heemskirk" />
+</div>
+
+<p>They were all noticeable men, but Joris Van Heemskirk specially so. His
+bulk was so great that it seemed as if he must have been built up: it
+was too much to expect that he had ever been a baby. He had a fair,
+ruddy face, and large, firm eyes, and a mouth that was at once strong
+and sweet. And he was also very handsomely dressed. The long, stiff
+skirts of his dark-blue coat were lined with satin, his breeches were
+black velvet, his ruffles edged with Flemish lace, his shoes clasped
+with silver buckles, his cocked hat made of the finest beaver.</p>
+
+<p>With his head a little forward, and his right arm across his back, he
+walked slowly up Wall Street into Broadway, and then took a
+north-westerly direction toward the river-bank. His home was on the
+outskirts of the city, but not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>far away; and his face lightened as he
+approached it. It was a handsome house, built of yellow bricks, two
+stories high, with windows in the roof, and gables sending up sharp
+points skyward. There were weather-cocks on the gables, and little round
+holes below the weather-cocks, and small iron cranes below the holes,
+and little windows below the cranes,&mdash;all perfectly useless, but also
+perfectly picturesque and perfectly Dutch. The rooms were large and
+airy, and the garden sloped down to the river-side. It had paths
+bordered by clipped box, and shaded by holly and yew trees cut in
+fantastic shapes.</p>
+
+<p>In the spring this garden was a wonder of tulips and hyacinths and
+lilacs, of sweet daffodils and white lilies. In the summer it was ruddy
+with roses, and blazing with verbenas, and gay with the laburnum's gold
+cascade. Then the musk carnations and the pale slashed pinks exhaled a
+fragrance that made the heart dream idyls. In the autumn there was the
+warm, sweet smell of peaches and pears and apples. There were
+morning-glories in riotous profusion, tall hollyhocks, and wonderful
+dahlias. In winter it still had charms,&mdash;the white snow, and the green
+box and cedar and holly, and the sharp descent of its frozen paths to
+the frozen river. Councillor Van Heemskirk's father had built the house
+and planted the garden, and he had the Dutch reverence for a good
+ancestry. Often he sent his thoughts backward to remember how he walked
+by his father's side, or leaned against his mother's chair, as they told
+him the tragic tales of the old Barneveldt and the hapless De Witts; or
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span>how his young heart glowed to their memories of the dear fatherland,
+and the proud march of the Batavian republic.</p>
+
+<p>But this night the mournful glamour of the past caught a fresh glory
+from the dawn of a grander day forespoken. "More than three hundred
+vessels may leave the port of New York this same year," he thought. "It
+is the truth; every man of standing says so. Good-evening, Mr. Justice.
+Good-evening, neighbours;" and he stood a minute, with his hands on his
+garden-gate, to bow to Justice Van Gaasbeeck and to Peter Sluyter, who,
+with their wives, were going to spend an hour or two at Christopher
+Laer's garden. There the women would have chocolate and hot waffles, and
+discuss the new camblets and shoes just arrived from England, and to be
+bought at Jacob Kip's store; and the men would have a pipe of Virginia
+and a glass of hot Hollands, and fight over again the quarrel pending
+between the governor and the Assembly.</p>
+
+<p>"Men can bear all things but good days," said Peter Sluyter, when they
+had gone a dozen yards in silence; "since Van Heemskirk has a seat in
+the council-room, it is a long way to his hat."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, now, he was very civil, Sluyter. He bows like a man not used to
+make a low bow, that is all."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well! with time, every one gets into his right place. In the City
+Hall, I may yet put my chair beside his, Van Gaasbeeck."</p>
+
+<p>"So say I, Sluyter; and, for the present, it is all well as it is."</p>
+
+<p>This little envious fret of his neighbour lost <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>itself outside Joris Van
+Heemskirk's home. Within it, all was love and content. He quickly
+divested himself of his fine coat and ruffles, and in a long scarlet
+vest, and a little skull-cap made of orange silk, sat down to smoke. He
+had talked a good deal in the City Hall, and he was now chewing
+deliberately the cud of his wisdom over again. Madam Van Heemskirk
+understood that, and she let the good man reconsider himself in peace.
+Besides, this was her busy hour. She was</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0384-1.jpg" width="200" height="283" alt="Locking-up the cupboards" title="Locking-up the cupboards" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>giving out the food for the morning's breakfast, and locking up the
+cupboards, and listening to complaints from the kitchen, and making a
+plaster for black Tom's bealing finger. In some measure, she prepared
+all day for this hour, and yet there was always something unforeseen to
+be done in it.</p>
+
+<p>She was a little woman, with clear-cut features, and brown hair drawn
+backward under a cap of lace very stiffly starched. Her tight fitting
+dress of blue taffeta was open in front, and looped up behind in order
+to show an elaborately quilted petticoat of light-blue camblet. Her
+white wool stockings were clocked with blue, her high-heeled shoes cut
+very low, and clasped with small silver buckles. From her trim cap to
+her trig shoes, she was a pleasant and comfortable picture of a happy,
+domestic woman; smiling, peaceful, and easy to live with.</p>
+
+<p>When the last duty was finished, she let her bunch of keys fall with a
+satisfactory "all done" jingle, that made her Joris look at her with a
+smile. "That is so," she said in answer to it. "A woman is glad when she
+gets all under lock and key for a few hours. Servants are not made
+without fingers; and, I can tell thee, all the thieves are not yet
+hung."</p>
+
+<p>"That needs no proving, Lysbet. But where, then, is Joanna and the
+little one? And Bram should be home ere this. He has stayed out late
+more than once lately, and it vexes me. Thou art his mother, speak to
+him."</p>
+
+<p>"Bram is good; do not make his bridle too short. Katherine troubles me
+more than Bram. She is quiet and thinks much; and when I say, 'What art
+thou thinking of?' she answers <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>always, 'Nothing, mother.' That is not
+right. When a girl says, 'Nothing, mother,' there is something&mdash;perhaps,
+indeed, <i>somebody</i>&mdash;on her mind."</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine is nothing but a child. Who would talk love to a girl who has
+not yet taken her first communion? What you think is nonsense, Lysbet;"
+but he looked annoyed, and the comfort of his pipe was gone. He put it
+down, and walked to a side-door, where he stood a little while, watching
+the road with a fretful anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't the children come, then? It is nearly dark, and the dew
+falls; and the river mist I like not for them."</p>
+
+<p>"For my part, I am not uneasy, Joris. They were to drink a dish of tea
+with Madam Semple, and Bram promised to go for them. And, see, they are
+coming; but Bram is not with them, only the elder. Now, what can be the
+matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"For every thing, there are more reasons than one; if there is a bad
+reason, Elder Semple will be sure to croak about it. I could wish that
+just now he had not come."</p>
+
+<p>"But then he is here, and the welcome must be given to a caller on the
+threshold. You know that, Joris."</p>
+
+<p>"I will not break a good custom."</p>
+
+<p>Elder Alexander Semple was a great man in his sphere. He had a
+reputation for both riches and godliness, and was scarcely more
+respected in the market-place than he was in the Middle Kirk. And there
+was an old tie between the Semples and the Van Heemskirks,&mdash;a tie going
+back to the days when the Scotch <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>Covenanters and the Netherland
+Confessors clasped hands as brothers in their "churches under the
+cross." Then one of the Semples had fled for life from Scotland to
+Holland, and been sheltered in the house of a Van Heemskirk; and from
+generation to generation the friendship had been continued. So there was
+much real kindness and very little ceremony between the families; and
+the elder met his friend Joris with a grumble about having to act as
+"convoy" for two lasses, when the river mist made the duty so
+unpleasant.</p>
+
+<p>"Not to say dangerous," he added, with a forced cough. "I hae my plaid
+and my bonnet on; but a coat o' mail couldna stand mists, that are a
+vera shadow o' death to an auld man, wi' a sair shortness o' the
+breath."</p>
+
+<p>"Sit down, Elder, near the fire. A glass of hot Hollands will take the
+chill from you."</p>
+
+<p>"You are mair than kind, gudewife; and I'll no say but what a sma' glass
+is needfu', what wi' the late hour, and the thick mist"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, Elder. Mists in every country you will find, until you
+reach the New Jerusalem."</p>
+
+<p>"Vera true, but there's a difference in mists. Noo, a Scotch mist isna
+at all unhealthy. When I was a laddie, I hae been out in them for a week
+thegither, ay, and felt the better o' them." He had taken off his plaid
+and bonnet as he spoke; and he drew the chair set for him in front of
+the blazing logs, and stretched out his thin legs to the comforting
+heat.</p>
+
+<p>In the mean time, the girls had gone upstairs together; and their
+footsteps and voices, and Katherine's rippling laugh, could be heard
+dis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>tinctly through the open doors. Then Madam called, "Joanna!" and the
+girl came down at once. She was tying on her white apron as she entered
+the room; and, at a word from her mother, she began to take from the
+cupboards various Dutch dainties, and East Indian jars of fruits and
+sweetmeats, and a case of crystal bottles, and some fine lemons. She was
+a fair, rosy girl, with a kind, cheerful face, a pleasant voice, and a
+smile that was at once innocent and bright. Her fine light hair was
+rolled high and backward; and no one could have imagined a dress more
+suitable to her than the trig dark bodice, the quilted skirt, and the
+white apron she wore.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-018.png" width="200" height="317" alt="She was tying on her white apron" title="She was tying on her white apron" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Her father and mother watched her with a loving satisfaction; and though
+Elder Semple was discoursing on that memorable dispute between the
+Caetus and Conferentie parties, which had resulted in the establishment
+of a new independent Dutch church in America, he was quite sensible of
+Joanna's presence, and of what she was doing.</p>
+
+<p>"I was aye for the ordaining o' American ministers in America," he said,
+as he touched the finger tips of his left hand with those of his right;
+and then in an aside full of deep personal interest, "Joanna, my dearie,
+I'll hae a Holland bloater and nae other thing. And I was a proud man
+when I got the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span>invite to be secretary to the first meeting o' the new
+Caetus. Maybe it is praising green barley to say just yet that it was a
+wise departure; but I think sae, I think sae."</p>
+
+<p>At this point, Katherine Van Heemskirk came into the room; and the elder
+slightly moved his chair, and said, "Come awa', my bonnie lassie, and
+let us hae a look at you." And Katherine laughingly pushed a stool
+toward the fire, and sat down between the two men on the hearthstone.
+She was the daintiest little Dutch maiden that ever latched a
+shoe,&mdash;very diminutive, with a complexion like a sea-shell, great blue
+eyes, and such a quantity of pale yellow hair, that it made light of its
+ribbon snood, and rippled over her brow and slender white neck in
+bewildering curls. She dearly loved fine clothes; and she had not
+removed her visiting dress of Indian silk, nor her necklace of amber
+beads. And in her hands she held a great mass of lilies of the valley,
+which she caressed almost as if they were living things.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," she said, nestling close to his side, "look at the lilies. How
+straight they are! How strong! Oh, the white bells full of sweet scent!
+In them put your face, father. They smell of the spring." Her fingers
+could scarcely hold the bunch she had gathered; and she buried her
+lovely face in them, and then lifted it, with a charming look of
+delight, and the cries of "Oh, oh, how delicious!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0385-1.jpg" width="400" height="572" alt="&quot;Come awa&#39;, my bonnie lassie&quot;" title="&quot;Come awa&#39;, my bonnie lassie&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span><br /></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Long before supper was over, Madam Van Heemskirk had discovered that
+this night Elder Semple had a special reason for his call. His talk of
+Mennon and the Anabaptists and the objectionable Lutherans, she
+perceived, was allsurface talk; and when the meal was finished, and the girls gone to
+their room, she was not astonished to hear him say, "Joris, let us light
+another pipe. I hae something to speak anent. Sit still, gudewife, we
+shall want your word on the matter."</p>
+
+<p>"On what matter, Elder?"</p>
+
+<p>"Anent a marriage between my son Neil and your daughter Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>The words fell with a sharp distinctness, not unkindly, but as if they
+were more than common words. They were followed by a marked silence, a
+silence which in no way disturbed Semple. He knew his friends well, and
+therefore he expected it. He puffed his pipe slowly, and glanced at
+Joris and Lysbet Van Heemskirk. The father's face had not moved a
+muscle; the mother's was like a handsome closed book. She went on with
+her knitting, and only showed that she had heard the proposal by a small
+pretence of finding it necessary to count the stitches in the heel she
+was turning. Still, there had been some faint, evanescent flicker on her
+face, some droop or lift of the eyelids, which Joris understood; for,
+after a glance at her, he said slowly, "For Katherine the marriage would
+be good, and Lysbet and I would like it. However, we will think a little
+about it; there is time, and to spare. One should not run on a new road.
+The first step is what I like to be sure of; as you know, Elder, to the
+second step it often binds you.&mdash;Say what you think, Lysbet."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-025.png" width="200" height="276" alt="Knitting" title="Knitting" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Neil is to my mind, when the time comes. But yet the child knows not
+perfectly her Heidelberg. And there is more: she must learn
+to help her mother about the house before she can manage a house of her own.
+So in time, I say, it would be a good thing. We have been long good friends."</p>
+
+<p>"We hae been friends for four generations, and we may safely tie the
+knot tighter now. There are wise folk that say the Dutch and the Lowland
+Scotch are of the same stock, and a vera gude stock it is,&mdash;the women o'
+baith being fair as lilies and thrifty as bees, and the men just a
+wonder o' every thing wise and weel-spoken o'. For-bye, baith o'
+us&mdash;Scotch and Dutch&mdash;are strict Protestors. The Lady o' Rome never
+threw dust in our een, and neither o' us would put our noses to the
+ground for either powers spiritual or powers temporal. When I think o'
+our John Knox"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"First came Erasmus, Elder."</p>
+
+<p>"Surely. Well, well, it was about wedding and housekeeping I came to
+speak, and we'll hae it oot. The land between this place and my place,
+on the river-side, is your land, Joris. Give it to Katherine, and I will
+build the young things a house; and the furnishing and plenishing we'll
+share between us."</p>
+
+<p>"There is more to a wedding than house and land, Elder."</p>
+
+<p>"Vera true, madam. There's the income to meet the outgo. Neil has a good
+practice now, and is like to have better. They'll be comfortable and
+respectable, madam; but I think well o' you for speering after the daily
+bread."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>"Well, look now, it was not the bread-making I was thinking about. It
+was the love-making. A young girl should be wooed before she is married.
+You know how it is; and Katherine, the little one, she thinks not of
+such a thing as love and marriage."</p>
+
+<p>"Wha kens what thoughts are under curly locks at seventeen? You'll hae
+noticed, madam, that Katherine has come mair often than ordinar' to
+Semple House lately?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is so. It was because of Colonel Gordon's wife, who likes
+Katherine. She is teaching her a new stitch in her crewel-work."</p>
+
+<p>"Hum-m-m! Mistress Gordon has likewise a nephew, a vera handsome lad. I
+hae seen that he takes a deal o' interest in the crewel-stitch likewise.
+And Neil has seen it too,&mdash;for Neil has set his heart on Katherine,&mdash;and
+this afternoon there was a look passed between the young men I dinna
+like. We'll be haeing a challenge, and twa fools playing at murder,
+next."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad you spoke, Elder. Thank you. I'll turn your words over in my
+heart." But Van Heemskirk was under a certain constraint: he was
+beginning to understand the situation, to see in what danger his darling
+might be. He was apparently calm; but an angry fire was gathering in his
+eyes, and stern lines settling about the lower part of his face.</p>
+
+<p>"You ken," answered Semple, who felt a trifle uneasy in the sudden
+constraint, "I hae little skill in the ordering o' girl bairns. The
+Almighty thought them beyond my guiding, and I must say they are a great
+charge, a great charge; and, wi' all my infirmities and
+simplicity,&mdash;anent women,&mdash;one that would hae been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>mair than I could
+hae kept. But I hae brought up my lads in a vera creditable way. They
+know how to manage their business, and they hae the true religion. I am
+sure Neil would make a good husband, and I would be glad to hae him
+settled near by. My three eldest lads hae gone far off, Joris, as you
+ken."</p>
+
+<p>"I remember. Two went to the Virginia Colony"&mdash;&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"To Norfolk,&mdash;tobacco brokers, and making money. My son Alexander&mdash;a
+wise lad&mdash;went to Boston, and is in the African trade. I may say that
+they are all honest, pious men, without wishing to be martyrs for
+honesty and piety, which, indeed, in these days is mercifully not called
+for. As for Neil, he's our last bairn; and his mother and I would fain
+keep him near us. Katherine would be a welcome daughter to our auld age,
+and weel loved, and much made o'; and I hope baith Madam Van Heemskirk
+and yoursel' will think with us."</p>
+
+<p>"We have said we would like the marriage. It is the truth. But, look
+now, Katherine shall not come any more to your house at this time, not
+while English soldiers come and go there; for I will not have her speak
+to one: they are no good for us."</p>
+
+<p>"That is right for you, but not for me. My wife was a Gordon, and we
+couldn't but offer our house to a cousin in a strange country. And
+you'll find few better men than Col. Nigel Gordon; as for his wife,
+she's a fine English leddy, and I hae little knowledge anent such women.
+But a Scot canna kithe a kindness; if I gie Colonel Gordon a share o'
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>my house, I must e'en show a sort o' hospitality to his friends and
+visitors. And the colonel's wife is much thought o', in the regiment and
+oot o' it. She has a sight o' vera good company,&mdash;young officers and
+bonnie leddies, and some o' the vera best o' our ain people."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-028.png" width="200" height="324" alt="Neil and Bram" title="Neil and Bram" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"There it is. I want not my daughters to learn new ways. There are the
+Van Voorts: they began to dine and dance at the governor's house, and
+then they went to the English Church."</p>
+
+<p>"They were Lutherans to begin wi', Joris."</p>
+
+<p>"My Lysbet is the finest lady in the whole land: let her daughters walk
+in her steps. That is what I want. But Neil can come here; I will make
+him welcome, and a good girl is to be courted on her father's hearth.
+Now, there is enough said, and also there is some one coming."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be Neil and Bram;" and, as the words were spoken, the young men
+entered.</p>
+
+<p>"Again you are late, Bram;" and the father looked curiously in his son's
+face. It was like looking back upon his own youth; for Bram Van
+Heemskirk had all the physical traits of his father, his great size, his
+commanding presence and winning address, his large eyes, his deep,
+sonorous voice and slow speech. He was well dressed in light-coloured
+broadcloth; but Neil Semple wore a coat and breeches of black velvet,
+with a long satin vest, and fine small <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>ruffles. He was tall and
+swarthy, and had a pointed, rather sombre face. Without speaking much in
+the way of conversation, he left an impression always of intellectual
+adroitness,&mdash;a young man of whom people expected a successful career.</p>
+
+<p>With the advent of Bram and Neil, the consultation ended. The elder,
+grumbling at the chill and mist, wrapped himself in his plaid, and
+leaning on his son's arm, cautiously picked his way home by the light of
+a lantern. Bram drew his chair to the hearth, and sat silently waiting
+for any question his father might wish to ask. But Van Heemskirk was not
+inclined to talk. He put aside his pipe, nodded gravely to his son, and
+went thoughtfully upstairs. At the closed door of his daughters' room,
+he stood still a moment. There was a murmur of conversation within it,
+and a ripple of quickly smothered laughter. How well his soul could see
+the child, with her white, small hands over her mouth, and her bright
+hair scattered upon the white pillow!</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Ach, mijn kind, mijn kind! Mijn liefste kind!</i>" he whispered. "God
+Almighty keep thee from sin and sorrow!"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 240px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0386-1.jpg" width="240" height="200" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+<hr />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-030.png" width="400" height="326" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+<hr />
+<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;"><i>"To be a sweetness more desired</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;"><i>than spring,&mdash;</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><i>This is the flower of life."</i></span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Joris Van Heemskirk had not thought of prayer; but, in his vague fear
+and apprehension, his soul beat at his lips, and its natural language
+had been that appeal at his daughter's closed door. For Semple's words
+had been like a hand lifting the curtain in a dark room: only a clouded
+and uncertain light had been thrown, but in it even familiar objects
+looked portentous. In these days, the tendency is to tone down and to
+assimilate, to deprecate every thing positive and demonstrative. But
+Joris lived when the great motives of humanity stood out sharp and bold,
+and surrounded by a religious halo.</p>
+
+<p>Many of his people had begun to associate with the governing race, to
+sit at their banquets, and even to worship in their church; but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>Joris,
+in his heart, looked upon such "indifferents" as renegades to their God
+and their fatherland. He was a Dutchman, soul and body; and no English
+duke was prouder of his line, or his royal quarterings, than was Joris
+Van Heemskirk of the race of sailors and patriots from whom he had
+sprung.</p>
+
+<p>Through his father, he clasped hands with men who had swept the narrow
+seas with De Ruyter, and sailed into Arctic darkness and icefields with
+Van Heemskirk. Farther back, among that mysterious, legendary army of
+patriots called "The Beggars of the Sea," he could proudly name his
+fore-goers,&mdash;rough, austere men, covered with scars, who followed
+Willemsen to the succour of Leyden. The likeness of one of them, Adrian
+Van Heemskirk, was in his best bedroom,&mdash;the big, square form wrapped in
+a pea-jacket; a crescent in his hat, with the device, "<i>Rather Turk than
+Papist</i>;" and upon his breast one of those medals, still hoarded in the
+Low Countries, which bore the significant words, "<i>In defiance of the
+Mass</i>."</p>
+
+<p>He knew all the stories of these men,&mdash;how, fortified by their natural
+bravery, and by their Calvinistic acquiescence in the purposes of
+Providence, they put out to sea in any weather, braved any danger,
+fought their enemies wherever they found them, worked like beavers
+behind their dams, and yet defiantly flung open their sluice-gates, and
+let in the ocean, to drown out their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>Through his mother, a beautiful Zealand woman, he was related to the
+Evertsens, the victorious admirals of Zealand, and also to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>great
+mercantile family of Doversteghe; and he thought the enterprise of the
+one as honourable as the valour of the other. Beside the sailor pictures
+of Cornelius and Jan Evertsen, and the famous "Keesje the Devil," he
+hung sundry likenesses of men with grave, calm faces, proud and lofty of
+aspect, dressed in rich black velvet and large wide collars,&mdash;merchants
+who were every inch princes of commerce and industry.</p>
+
+<p>These lines of thought, almost tedious to indicate, flashed hotly and
+vividly through his mind. The likes and dislikes, the faiths and
+aspirations, of past centuries, coloured the present moments, as light
+flung through richly stained glass has its white radiance tinged by it.
+The feeling of race&mdash;that strong and mysterious tie which no time nor
+circumstances can eradicate&mdash;was so living a motive in Joris Van
+Heemskirk's heart, that he had been quite conscious of its appeal when
+Semple spoke of a marriage between Katherine and his own son. And Semple
+had understood this, when he so cunningly insinuated a common stock and
+a common form of faith. For he had felt, instinctively, that even the
+long tie of friendship between them was hardly sufficient to bridge over
+the gulf of different nationalities.</p>
+
+<p>Then, Katherine was Van Heemskirk's darling, the very apple of his eye.
+He felt angry that already there should be plans laid to separate her in
+any way from him. His eldest daughters, Cornelia and Anna, had married
+men of substance in Esopus and Albany: he knew they had done well for
+themselves, and had become contented in that knowledge; but he also
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>felt that they were far away from his love and home. Joanna was already
+betrothed to Capt. Batavius de Vries; Bram would doubtless find himself
+a wife very soon; for a little while, he had certainly hoped to keep
+Katherine by his own side.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 150px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0387-1.jpg" width="150" height="463" alt="With her spelling-book and Heidelberg" title="With her spelling-book and Heidelberg" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Semple, in speaking of her as already marriageable, had given him a
+shock. It seemed such a few years since he had walked her to sleep at
+nights, cradled in his strong arms, close to his great, loving heart;
+such a little while ago when she toddled about the garden at his side,
+her plump white hands holding his big forefinger; only yesterday that
+she had been going to the school, with her spelling-book and Heidelberg
+in her hand. When Lysbet had spoken to him of the English lady staying
+with Madam Semple, who was teaching Katherine the new crewel-stitch, it
+had appeared to him quite proper that such a child should be busy
+learning something in the way of needlework. "Needlework" had been given
+as the reason of those visits, which he now remembered had been very
+frequent; and he was so absolutely truthful, that he never imagined the
+word to be in any measure a false definition.</p>
+
+<p>Therefore, Elder Semple's implication had stunned him like a buffet. In
+his own room, he sat down on a big oak chest; and, as he thought, his
+wrath slowly gathered. Semple knew that gay young English officers were
+coming and going about his house, and he had not told him until he
+feared they would interfere with his own plans for keeping Neil near <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>to
+him. The beautiful little Dutch maiden had been an attraction which he
+was proud to exhibit, just as he was proud of his imported furniture,
+his pictures, and his library. He remembered that Semple had spoken with
+touching emphasis of his longing to keep his last son near home; but
+must he give up his darling Katherine to further this plan?</p>
+
+<p>"I like not it," he muttered. "God for the Dutchman made the Dutchwoman.
+That is the right way; but I will not make angry myself for so much of
+passion, so much of nothing at all to the purpose. That is the truth.
+Always I have found it so."</p>
+
+<p>Then Lysbet, having finished her second locking up, entered the room.
+She came in as one wearied and troubled, and said with a sigh, as she
+untied her apron, "By the girls' bedside I stopped one minute. Dear me!
+when one is young, the sleep is sound."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, they were awake when I passed,&mdash;that is not so much as one
+quarter of the hour,&mdash;talking and laughing; I heard them."</p>
+
+<p>"And now they are fast in sleep; their heads are on one pillow, and
+Katherine's hand is fast clasped in Joanna's hand. The dear ones! Joris,
+the elder's words have made trouble in my heart. What did the man mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who can tell? What a man says, we know; but only God understands what
+he means. But I will say this, Lysbet, and it is what I mean: if Semple
+has led my daughter into the way of temptation, then, for all that is
+past and gone, we shall be unfriends."</p>
+
+<p>"Give yourself no <i>kommer</i> on that matter, Joris. Why should not our
+girls see what kind <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>of people the world is made of? Have not some of
+our best maidens married into the English set? And none of them were as
+beautiful as Katherine. There is no harm, I think, in a girl taking a
+few steps up when she puts on the wedding ring."</p>
+
+<p>"Mean you that our little daughter should marry some English
+good-for-nothing? Look, then, I would rather see her white and cold in
+the dead-chamber. In a word, I will have no Englishman among the Van
+Heemskirks. There, let us sleep. To-night I will speak no more."</p>
+
+<p>But madam could not sleep. She was quite sensible that she had tacitly
+encouraged Katherine's visits to Semple House, even after she understood
+that Captain Hyde and other fashionable and notable persons were
+frequent visitors there. In her heart she had dreamed such dreams of
+social advancement for her daughters as most mothers encourage. Her
+prejudices were less deep than those of her husband; or, perhaps, they
+were more powerfully combated by her greater respect for the pomps and
+vanities of life. She thought rather well than ill of those people of
+her own race and class who had made themselves a place in the most
+exclusive ranks. During the past ten years, there had been great changes
+in New York's social life: many families had become very wealthy, and
+there was a rapidly growing tendency to luxurious and splendid living.
+Lysbet Van Heemskirk saw no reason why her younger children should not
+move with this current, when it might set them among the growing
+aristocracy of the New World.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figright" style="width: 218px;">
+<img src="images/illus-036.png" width="218" height="200" alt="The amber necklace" title="The amber necklace" />
+</div>
+
+<p>She tried to recall Katharine's demeanour and words during the past day,
+and she could find no cause for alarm in them. True, the child had spent
+a long time in arranging her beautiful hair, and she had also begged
+from her the bright amber necklace that had been her own girlish pride;
+but what then? It was so natural, especially when there was likely to be
+fine young gentlemen to see them. She could not remember having noticed
+anything at all which ought to make her uneasy; and what Lysbet did not
+see or hear, she could not imagine.</p>
+
+<p>Yet the past ten hours had really been full of danger to the young girl.
+Early in the afternoon, some hours before Joanna was ready to go,
+Katherine was dressed for her visit to Semple House. It was the next
+dwelling to the Van Heemskirks' on the river-bank, about a quarter of a
+mile distant, but plainly in sight; and this very proximity gave the
+mother a sense of security for her children. It was a different house
+from the Dutchman's, one of those great square plain buildings, so
+common in the Georgian era,&mdash;not at all picturesque, but finished inside
+with handsomely carved wood-work, and with mirrors and wall-papering
+brought specially for it from England.</p>
+
+<p>It stood, like Van Heemskirk's, at the head of a garden sloping to the
+river; and there was a good deal of pleasant rivalry about these
+gardens, both proprietors having impressed their own individuality upon
+their pleasure-grounds. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>Semple's had nothing of the Dutchman's glowing
+prettiness and quaintness,&mdash;no clipped yews and hollies, no fanciful
+flower-beds and little Gothic summer-house. Its slope was divided into
+three fine terraces, the descent from one to the other being by broad,
+low steps; the last flight ending on a small pier, to which the pleasure
+and fishing boats were fastened. These terraced walks were finely shaded
+and adorned with shrubs; and on the main one there was a stone sun-dial,
+with a stone seat around it. Van Heemskirk did not think highly of
+Semple's garden; and Semple was sure, "that, in the matter o' flowers
+and fancy clippings, Van Heemskirk had o'er much o' a gude thing." But
+still the rivalry had always been a good-natured one, and, in the
+interchange of bulbs and seeds, productive of much friendly feeling.</p>
+
+<p>The space between the two houses was an enclosed meadow; and this
+afternoon, the grass being warm and dry, and full of wild flowers,
+Katherine followed the narrow foot-path through it, and entered the
+Semple garden by the small side gate. Near this gate was a stone dairy,
+sunk below the level of the ground,&mdash;a deliciously cool, clean spot,
+even in the hottest weather. Passing it, she saw that the door was open,
+and Madam Semple was busy among its large, shallow, pewter cream-dishes.
+Lifting her dainty silk skirts, she went down the few steps, and stood
+smiling and nodding in the doorway. Madam was beating some rich curd
+with eggs and currants and spices; and Katherine, with a sympathetic
+smile, asked delightedly,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Cheesecakes, madam?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>"Just cheesecakes, dearie."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I am glad! Joanna is coming, too, only she had first some flax to
+unplait. Wait for her I could not. Let me fill some of these pretty
+little patty pans."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll do naething o' the kind, Katherine. You'd be spoiling the bonnie
+silk dress you hae put on. Go to the house and sit wi' Mistress Gordon.
+She was asking for you no' an hour ago. And, Katherine, my bonnie
+lassie, dinna gie a thought to one word that black-eyed nephew o' her's
+may say to you. He's here the day and gane to-morrow, and the lasses
+that heed him will get sair hearts to themsel's."</p>
+
+<p>The bright young face shadowed, and a sudden fear came into Madam
+Semple's heart as she watched the girl turn thoughtfully and slowly
+away. The blinds of the house were closed against the afternoon sun; but
+the door stood open, and the wide, dim stairway was before her. All was
+as silent as if she had entered an enchanted castle. And on the upper
+hall the closed doors, and the soft lights falling through stained glass
+upon the dark, rich carpets, made an element of mystery, vague and
+charmful, to which Katherine's sensitive, childlike nature was fully
+responsive.</p>
+
+<p>Slowly she pushed back a heavy mahogany door, and entered a large room,
+whose richly wainscoted walls, heavy friezes, and beautifully painted
+ceiling were but the most obvious points in its general magnificence. On
+a lounge covered with a design done in red and blue tent stitch, an
+elegantly dressed woman was sitting, reading a novel. "The Girl of
+Spirit," "The Fair Maid of the Inn," <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>"The Curious Impertinent," and
+other favourite tales of the day, were lying upon an oval table at her
+side.</p>
+
+<p>"La, child!" she cried, "come here and give me a kiss. So you wear that
+sweet-fancied suit again. You are the most agreeable creature in it;
+though Dick vows upon his sword-hilt that you look a hundred times more
+bewitching in the dress you wore this morning."</p>
+
+<p>"How? This morning, madam? This morning Captain Hyde did not see me at
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray don't blush so, child; though, indeed, it is vastly becoming. I do
+assure you he saw you this morning. He had gone out early to take the
+air, and he had a most transporting piece of good fortune: for he
+bethought himself to walk under the great trees nearly opposite your
+house; and when you came to the door, with your excellent father, he
+noted all, from the ribbon on your head to the buckles on your shoes.
+His talk now is of nothing but your short quilted petticoat, and your
+tight bodice, and beautiful bare arms. Is that the Dutch style, then,
+child? It must be extremely charming."</p>
+
+<p>"If my mother you could see in it! She is beautiful. And we have a
+picture of my grandmother in the true Zealand dress. Like a princess she
+looks, my father says; but, indeed, I have never seen a princess."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, you must allow me to laugh a little. Will you believe it,
+princesses are sometimes very vulgar creatures? I am sure, however, that
+your grandmother was very genteel and agreeable. I must tell you that I
+have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>just received my new scarf from London. You shall see it, and give
+me your opinion."</p>
+
+<p>"O madam, you are very kind! What is it like?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is all extravagance in mode and fancy. I believe, my dear, there are
+two hundred yards of edging on it; and it has the most enchanting slope
+to the shoulders. I am wonderfully pleased with it, and hope it will
+prove becoming."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I think all your suits are becoming."</p>
+
+<p>"Faith, child, I think they are. I have always dressed with the most
+perfect intelligence. I follow all the fashions, and they must be
+French. La, here comes Richard. He is going to ask you to take a sail on
+the river; and I shall lend you my new green parasol. I do believe it is
+the only one in the country."</p>
+
+<p>"I came to sit with you, and work with my worsteds. Perhaps my
+mother&mdash;might not like me to go on the river with&mdash;any one."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, child, don't be affected. 'My mother&mdash;might not like me to go on
+the river with&mdash;any one;'" and she mimicked Katherine so cleverly that
+the girl's face burned with shame and annoyance.</p>
+
+<p>But she had no time to defend herself; for, with his cavalry cap in his
+hand, and a low bow, Captain Hyde entered the room; and Katharine's
+heart throbbed in her cheeks, and she trembled, and yet withal dimpled
+into smiles, like clear water in the sunshine. A few minutes afterward
+she was going down the terrace steps with him; and he was looking into
+her face <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>with shining eyes, and whispering the commonest words in such
+an enchanting manner that it seemed to her as if her feet scarcely
+touched the low, white steps, and she was some sort of glorified
+Katherine Van Heemskirk, who never, never, never could be unhappy again.</p>
+
+<p>They did not go on the river. Captain Hyde hated exertion. His splendid
+uniform was too tight to row in. He did not want a third party near, in
+any capacity. The lower steps were shaded by great water beeches, and
+the turf under them was green and warm. There was the scent of lilies
+around, the song of birds above, the ripple of water among pebbles at
+their feet. A sweeter hour, a lovelier maid, man could never hope to
+find; and Captain Hyde was not one to neglect his opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us stay here, my beloved," he whispered. "I have something sweet to
+tell you. Upon mine honour, I can keep my secret no longer."</p>
+
+<p>The innocent child! Who could blame her for listening to it?&mdash;at first
+with a little fear and a little reluctance, but gradually resigning her
+whole heart to the charm of his soft syllables and his fervent manner,
+until she gave him the promise he begged for,&mdash;love that was to be for
+him alone, love for him alone among all the sons of men.</p>
+
+<p>What an enchanted afternoon it was! how all too quickly it fled away,
+one golden moment after another! and what a pang it gave her to find at
+the end that there must be lying and deception! For, somehow, she had
+been persuaded to acquiesce in her lover's desire for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>secrecy. As for
+the lie, he told it with the utmost air of candour.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we had a beautiful sail; and how enchanting the banks above here
+are! Aunt, I am at your service to-morrow, if you wish to see them."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, your servant, Captain, but I am an indifferent sailor; and I trust
+I have too much respect for myself and my new frocks, to crowd them into
+a river cockboat!"</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes Joanna and the elder came in. He had called for her on
+his way home; for he liked the society of the young and beautiful, and
+there were many hours in which he thought Joanna fairer than her sister.
+Then tea was served in a pretty parlour with Turkish walls and coloured
+windows, which, being open into the garden, framed lovely living
+pictures of blossoming trees. Every one was eating and drinking,
+laughing and talking; so Katherine's unusual silence was unnoticed,
+except by the elder, who indeed saw and heard everything, and who knew
+what he did not see and hear by that kind of prescience to which wise
+and observant years attain. He saw that the cakes Katherine dearly loved
+remained upon her plate untasted, and that she was unusually,
+suspiciously quiet.</p>
+
+<p>After tea he walked down the garden with Colonel Gordon. The lily bed
+was near the river; and he made the gathering of some lilies for
+Katherine an excuse for going close enough to the pier to see how the
+boat lay, and whether the oars had been moved from the exact position in
+which he had placed them. And he found the boat rocking at its moorings,
+tied with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>his own peculiar knot. It told him everything, and he was
+sincerely troubled at the discovery.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0388-1.jpg" width="400" height="414" alt="In one of those tall-backed Dutch chairs" title="In one of those tall-backed Dutch chairs" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Love and lying," he mused. "I wonder why they are ever such thick
+friends. As for Dick Hyde, lying is his native tongue; but if Katharine
+Van Heemskirk has been aye one thing above another, it was to tell the
+truth. It ought to come easy to her likewise, for I'll say the same o'
+the hale nation o' Dutchmen. I dinna think Joris would tell a lie to
+save baith life and fortune."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span></p>
+<p>He looked at Katherine almost sternly when he went back to the house;
+though he gave her the lilies, and bid her keep her soul sweet and pure
+as their white bells. She was sitting by Mistress Gordon's side, in one
+of those tall-backed Dutch chairs, whose very blackness and straightness
+threw into high relief her own undulating roundness and mobility, the
+glowing colours of her Indian silk gown, the shining amber against her
+white throat, and the picturesque curl and flow of her fair hair.
+Captain Hyde sat opposite, bending toward her; and his aunt reclined
+upon the couch, and watched them with a singular look of speculation in
+her half-shut eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Joanna was talking to Neil Semple in the recess of a window; but Neil's
+face was white with suppressed anger, and, though he seemed to be
+listening to her, his eyes&mdash;full of passion&mdash;were fixed upon Hyde.
+Perhaps the young soldier was conscious of it; for he occasionally
+addressed some trivial remark to him, as if to prevent Neil from losing
+sight of the advantages he had over him.</p>
+
+<p>"The vera air o' this room is gunpowdery," thought the elder; "and ane
+or the other will be flinging a spark o' passion into it, and then the
+de'il will be to pay. O'er many women here! O'er many women here! One is
+enough in any house. I'll e'en tak' the lasses hame mysel'; and I'll
+speak to Joris for his daughter,&mdash;as good now as any other time."</p>
+
+<p>Then he said in his blandest tones, "Joanna, my dearie, you'll hae to
+tell Neil the rest o' your tale the morn; and, Katherine, put awa' now
+that bit o' busy idleness, and don your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>hoods and mantles, baith o'
+you. I'm going to tak' you hame, and I dinna want to get my deathe wi'
+the river mist."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, sir," said Hyde, "consider me at your service. I have occasion to
+go into town at once, and will do your duty to the young ladies with
+infinite pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>"Much obliged, Captain, vera much obliged; but it tak's an auld
+wise-headed, wise-hearted man like mysel' to walk safely atween twa
+bonnie lasses;" then turning to his son, he added, "Neil, my lad, put
+your beaver on, and go and find Bram. You can tell him, as he didna come
+to look after his sisters afore this hour, he needna come at a'."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know, father, where Bram is likely to be found?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hum-m-m! As if you didna know yoursel'! He will dootless be among that
+crowd o' young wiseacres wha are certain the safety o' the Provinces is
+in their keeping. It's the young who ken a' things, ken mair than
+councils and assemblies, and king and parliament, thegither."</p>
+
+<p>Colonel Gordon laughed. "Never mind, sir," he said, "they let the army
+alone, and the church; so you and I need hardly alarm ourselves"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I'm no sure o' that, Colonel. When it comes to the army, it's a mere
+question o' wha can strike the hardest blows; and as to kirk matters,
+I'm thinking men had better meddle wi' the things o' God, which they
+canna change, than wi' those o' the king wi' which they can wark a deal
+o' mischief."</p>
+
+<p>While he was speaking, Neil left the room. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>The little argument struck
+him as a pretext and a cover, and he was glad to escape from a position
+which he felt to be both painful and humiliating. He was in a measure
+Captain Hyde's host, and subject to traditions regarding the duties of
+that character; any display of anger would be derogatory to him, and yet
+how difficult was restraint! So his father's interference was a welcome
+one; and he was reconciled to his own disappointment, when, looking
+back, he saw the old gentleman slowly taking the road to Van Heemskirk's
+with the pretty girls in their quilted red hoods, one on each side of
+him.</p>
+
+<p>The elder was very polite to his charges; he never once regretted to
+them the loss of his pipe, and chat with Colonel Gordon. But he noticed
+that Katherine was silent and disappointed, and that she lingered in her
+own room after her arrival at home. Her subsequent pretty cheerfulness,
+her delight in her lilies, her confiding claims upon her father's
+love,&mdash;nothing in these things deceived him. He saw beneath all the
+fluttering young heart, trembling, and yet happy in the new, sweet
+feeling, never felt before, which had come to it that afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>But he thought that most girls had to have this initiative: it prepared
+the way for a soberer and more lasting affection. In the end, Katherine
+would perceive how imprudent, how impossible, a marriage with Captain
+Hyde must be; and her heart would turn back to Neil, who had been her
+lover from boyhood. Yet he reflected, it would be well to have the
+matter understood, and to give it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>that "possibility" which is best
+attained on a money basis.</p>
+
+<p>So while he and the Van Heemskirks discussed the matter,&mdash;a little
+reluctantly, he thought, on their part,&mdash;Katherine talked with Joanna of
+the Gordons. Her heart was so full of her lover, that it was a relief to
+discuss the people and things nearest to him. And her very repression
+excited her. She toyed with her cambric kerchief before the small
+looking-glass, and imitated the fashionable English lady with a piquant
+cleverness that provoked low peals of laughter, and a retrospective
+discussion of the evening, which was merry enough, without being in the
+least ill-natured.</p>
+
+<p>But, oh, in what strange solitudes every separate soul dwells! When
+Katherine kissed her sister, and said simperingly, with the highest
+English accent, "La, child, I protest it has been the most agreeable
+evening," Joanna had not a suspicion of the joy and danger that had come
+to the dear little one at her side.</p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 336px;">
+<img src="images/illus-047.png" width="336" height="300" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+<p>She was laughing softly with her,
+even while the fearful father stood at the closed door, and lifted up
+his tender soul in that pathetic petition, "<i>Ach, mijn kind! mijn kind!
+mijn liefste kind!</i> Almighty God preserve thee from all sin and sorrow!"</p>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 461px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0389-1.jpg" width="461" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III.</h2>
+
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 15em;">"<i>The proverb holds, that to be wise and love</i></span><br /></p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 15em;"><i>Is hardly granted to the gods above.</i>"</span><br /></p>
+
+
+
+<p>"Well, well, to-day goes to its forefathers, like all the rest; and, as
+for what comes after it, every thing is in the love and counsel of the
+Almighty One."</p>
+
+<p>This was Joris Van Heemskirk's last thought ere he fell asleep that
+night, after Elder Semple's cautious disclosure and proposition. In his
+calm, methodical, domestic life, it had been an "eventful day." We say
+the words often and unreflectingly, seldom pausing to consider that such
+days are the results which months, years, perchance centuries, have made
+possible. Thus, a long course of reckless living and reckless gambling,
+and the consequent urgent need of ready money, had first made Captain
+Hyde turn his thoughts to the pretty daughter of the rich Dutch
+merchant.</p>
+
+<p>Madam Semple, in her desire to enhance the importance of the Van
+Heemskirks, had mentioned more than once the handsome sums of ready
+money given to each of Katharine's sis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>ters on their wedding-day; and
+both Colonel Gordon and his wife had thought of this sum so often, as a
+relief to their nephew's embarrassments, that it seemed almost as much
+Hyde's property as if he had been born to inherit it. At first
+Katherine, as its encumbrance, had been discussed very heartlessly,&mdash;she
+could be left in New York when his regiment received marching orders, if
+it were thought desirable; or she could be taken to England, and settled
+as mistress of Hyde Manor House, a lonely mansion on the Norfolk fens,
+which was so rarely tenanted by the family that Hyde had never been
+there since his boyhood.</p>
+
+<p>"She is a homespun little thing," laughed the colonel's fashionable
+wife, "and quite unfit to go among people of our condition. But she
+adores you, Dick; and she will be passably happy with a house to manage,
+and a visit from you when you can spare the time."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, your servant, aunt! Then I am a very indifferent judge; for indeed
+she has much spirit below her gentle manner; and, upon my word, I think
+her as fine a creature as you can find in the best London society. The
+task, I assure you, is not easy. When Katherine is won, then, in faith,
+her father may be in no hurry of approval. And the child is a fair,
+innocent child: I am very uneasy to do her wrong. The ninety-nine
+plagues of an empty purse are to blame for all my ill deeds."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, Dick, nothing can be more commendable than your temper.
+You make vastly proper reflection, sir; but you are in troubled
+waters,&mdash;admit it,&mdash;and this little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>Dutch-craft may bring you
+respectably into harbour.</p>
+
+<p>It was in this mood that Katherine and her probable fortune had been
+discussed; and thus she was but one of the events, springing from lives
+anterior to her own, and very different from it. And causes nearly as
+remote had prepared the way for her ready reception of Hyde's homage,
+and the relaxation of domestic discipline which had trusted her so often
+and so readily in his society&mdash;causes which had been forgotten, but
+which had left behind them a positive and ever-growing result. When a
+babe, she was remarkably frail and delicate; and this circumstance,
+united to the fact of her being the youngest child, had made the whole
+household very tender to her, and she had been permitted a much larger
+portion of her own way than was usually given to any daughter in a Dutch
+family.</p>
+
+<p>Also, in her father's case, the motives influencing his decision
+stretched backward through many generations. None the less was their
+influence potent to move him. In fact, he forgot entirely to reflect how
+a marriage between his child and Captain Hyde would be regarded at that
+day; his first thoughts had been precisely such thoughts as would have
+occurred to a Van Heemskirk living two hundred years before him. And
+thus, though we hardly remember the fact, it is this awful solidarity of
+the human family which makes the third and fourth generations heirs of
+their forefathers, and brings into every life those critical hours we
+call "eventful days."</p>
+
+<p>Joris, however, made no such reflections. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>His age was not an age
+inclined to analysis, and he was still less inclined to it from a
+personal standpoint. For he was a man of few, but positive ideas; yet
+these ideas, having once commended themselves to his faith or his
+intelligence, were embraced with all his soul. It was this spirit which
+made him deprecate even religious discussions, so dear to the heart of
+his neighbour.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-051.png" width="400" height="527" alt="He heard her calling him to breakfast" title="He heard her calling him to breakfast" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"I like them not, Elder," he would say; "of what use are they, then?
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>
+The Calvinistic faith is the true faith. That is certain. Very well,
+then; what is true does not require to be examined, to see if it be
+true."</p>
+
+<p>Semple's communication regarding Captain Hyde and his daughter had
+aroused in him certain feelings, and led him to certain decisions. He
+went to sleep, satisfied with their propriety and justice. He awoke in
+precisely the same mood. Then he dressed, and went into his garden. It
+was customary for Katherine to join him there; and he frequently turned,
+as he went down the path, to see if she were coming. He watched eagerly
+for the small figure in its short quilted petticoat and buckled shoes,
+and the fair, pink face shaded by the large Zealand hat, with its long
+blue ribbons crossed over the back. But this morning she did not come.
+He walked alone to his lily bed, and stooped a little forlornly to
+admire the tulips and crocus-cups and little purple pansies; but his
+face brightened when he heard her calling him to breakfast, and very
+soon he saw her leaning over the half door, shading her eyes with both
+her hands, the better to watch his approach.</p>
+
+<p>Lysbet was already in her place; so was Joanna, and also Bram; and a
+slim black girl called Dinorah was handing around fricasseed chicken and
+venison steaks, hot fritters and johnny-cake; while the rich Java berry
+filled the room with an aroma of tropical life, and suggestions of the
+spice-breathing coasts of Sunda. Joris and Bram discussed the business
+of the day; Katherine was full of her visit to Semple House the
+preceding evening. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>Dinorah was no restraint. The slaves Joris owned,
+like those of Abraham, were born or brought up in his own household;
+they held to all the family feelings with a faithful, often an
+unreasonable, tenacity.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, this morning, Joris waited until Lysbet dismissed her handmaid,
+before he said the words he had determined to speak ere he began the
+work of the day. Then he put down his cup with an emphasis which made
+all eyes turn to him, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Katrijntje</i>, my daughter, call not to-day, nor call not any day, until
+I tell you different, at Madam Semple's. The people who go and come
+there, I like them not. They will be no good to you. Lysbet, what say
+you in this matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"What you say, I say, Joris. The father is to be obeyed. When he will
+not, the children can not."</p>
+
+<p>"Joanna, what say you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I like best of all things to do your pleasure, father."</p>
+
+<p>"And you, Bram?"</p>
+
+<p>"As for me, I think you are very right. I like not those English
+officers,&mdash;insolent and proud men, all of them. It would have been a
+great pleasure to me to strike down the one who yesterday spurned with
+his spurred boot our good neighbour Jacob Cohen, for no reason but that
+he was a Jew"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Heigho! go softly, Bram. That which burns thee not, cool not."</p>
+
+<p>"As he passed our store door where I stood, he said 'devil,' but he
+meant me."</p>
+
+<p>"Only God knows what men mean. Now, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>then, little one, thy will is my
+will, is it not?"</p>
+
+<p>She had drawn her chair close to her father's, and taken his big hand
+between her own, and was stroking and petting it as he spoke; and, ere
+she answered, she leaned her head upon his breast.</p>
+
+<p>"Father, I like to see the English lady; and she is teaching me the new
+stitch."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Schoone Lammetje</i>! There are many other things far better for thee to
+learn; for instance, to darn the fine Flemish lace, and to work the
+beautiful 'clocks' on thy stockings, and to make perfect thy Heidelberg
+and thy Confession of Faith. In these things, the best of all good
+teachers is thy mother."</p>
+
+<p>"I can do these things also, father. The lady loves me, and will be
+unhappy not to see me."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, let her come here and see thee. That will be the proper thing.
+Why not? She is not better than thou art. Once thy mother has called on
+her; thou and Joanna, a few times too often. Now, then, let her call on
+thee. Always honour thyself, as well as others. That is the Dutch way;
+that is the right way. Mind what I tell thee."</p>
+
+<p>His voice had gradually grown sterner; and he gently withdrew his hand
+from her clasp, and rose as a man in a hurry, and pressed with affairs:
+"Come, Bram, there is need now of some haste. The 'Sea Hound' has her
+cargo, and should sail at the noon-tide; and, as for the 'Crowned
+Bears,' thou knowest there is much to be said and done. I hear she left
+most of her cargo at Perth Amboy. Well, well, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>I have told Jerome Brakel
+what I think of that. It is his own affair."</p>
+
+<p>Thus talking, he left the room; and Lysbet instantly began to order the
+wants of the house with the same air of settled preoccupation. "Joanna,"
+she said, "the linen web in the loom, go and see how it is getting on;
+and the fine napkins must be sent to the lawn for the bleaching, and
+to-day the chambers must be aired and swept. The best parlour Katherine
+will attend to."</p>
+
+<p>Katherine still sat at the table; her eyes were cast down, and she was
+arranging&mdash;without a consciousness of doing so&mdash;her bread-crumbs upon
+her Delft plate. The directions roused her from her revery, and she
+comprehended in a moment how decisive her father's orders were intended
+to be. Yet in this matter she was so deeply interested that she
+instinctively made an appeal against them.</p>
+
+<p>"Mother, my mother, shall I not go once more to see Madam Gordon? So
+kind she has been to me! She will say I am ungrateful, that I am rude,
+and know not good manners. And I left there the cushion I am making, and
+the worsteds. I may go at once, and bring them home? Yes, mother, I may
+go at once. A young girl does not like to be thought ungrateful and
+rude."</p>
+
+<p>"More than that, Katherine; a young girl should not like to disobey a
+good father. You make me feel astonished and sorry. Here is the key of
+the best parlour; go now, and wash carefully the fine china-ware. As to
+the rose-leaves in the big jars, you must not let a drop of water touch
+them."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>"My cushion and my worsteds, mother!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, I will send Dinorah for them with a civil message. That
+will be right."</p>
+
+<p>So Lysbet turned and left the room. She did not notice the rebellious
+look on her daughter's face, the lowering brows, the resentment in the
+glance that followed her, the lips firmly set to the mental purpose. "To
+see her lover at all risks"&mdash;that was the purpose; but how best to
+accomplish it, was not clear to her. The ways of the household were so
+orderly, so many things brought the family together during the day,
+Lysbet and Joanna kept such a loving watch over her, the road between
+their own house and the Semples' was so straight and unscreened, and she
+was, beside, such a novice in deception,&mdash;all these circumstances
+flashing at once across her mind made her, for a moment or two, almost
+despair.</p>
+
+<p>But she lifted the key given her and went to the parlour. It was a
+large, low room, with wainscoted walls, and a big tiled fireplace nearly
+filling one end of it. The blinds were closed, but there was enough
+light to reveal its quaint and almost foreign character. Great jars with
+dragons at the handles stood in the recesses made by large oak cabinets,
+black with age, and elaborately carved with a marvellous nicety and
+skill. The oval tables were full of curious bits of china, dainty
+Oriental wicker work, exquisite shells on lacquered trays, wonderfully
+wrought workboxes and fans and amulets. The odours of calamus and myrrh
+and camphor from strange continents mingled with the faint perfume of
+the dried rose leaves and the scent-bags of English lavender. Many of
+these rare <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>and beautiful things were the spoils brought from India and
+Java by the sea-going Van Heemskirks of past generations. Others had
+come at long intervals as gifts from the captains of ships with whom the
+house did business. Katherine had often seen such visitors&mdash;men with
+long hair and fierce looks, and the pallor of hot, moist lands below the
+tan of wind and sunshine. It had always been her delight to dust and
+care for these various treasures; and the room itself, with its
+suggestive aromas, was her favourite hiding-place. Here she had made her
+own fairy tales, and built the enchanted castles which the less
+fortunate children of this day have clever writers build for them.</p>
+
+<p>And at length the prince of her imagination had come! As she moved about
+among the strange carven toys and beautiful ornaments, she could think
+only of him,&mdash;of his stately manner and dark, handsome face. Simple,
+even rustic, she might be; but she understood that he had treated her
+with as much deference and homage as if she had been a princess. She
+recalled every word he said to her as they sat under the water beeches.
+More vividly still she recalled the tender light in his eyes, the
+lingering clasp of his hand, his low, persuasive voice, and that
+nameless charm of fashion and culture which perhaps impressed her more
+than any other thing.</p>
+
+<p>Among the articles she had to dust was a square Indian box with drawers.
+It had always been called "the writing-box," and it was partly filled
+with paper and other materials for letter-writing. She stood before the
+open lid thoughtfully, and a sudden overwhelming desire <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>to send some
+message of apology to Mrs. Gordon came into her heart. She could write
+pretty well, and she had seen her mother and Joanna fold and seal
+letters; and, although she was totally inexperienced in the matter, she
+determined to make the effort.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0390-1.jpg" width="200" height="419" alt="The quill pens must be mended" title="The quill pens must be mended" />
+</div>
+
+<p>There was nothing in the materials then to help her. The letter paper
+was coarse; envelopes were unknown. She would have to bring a candle
+into the room in order to seal it; and a candle could only be lit by
+striking a spark from the flint upon the tinder, and then igniting a
+brimstone match from it,&mdash;unless she lit it at the kindled fire, which
+would subject her to questions and remonstrances. Also, the quill pens
+must be mended, and the ink renewed. But all these difficulties were
+overcome, one by one; and the following note was intrusted to the care
+of Diedrich Becker, the old man who worked in the garden and milked the
+cows:<br /><br /></p>
+
+<p>To MISTRESS COLONEL GORDON: HONOURED MADAM: My father forbids that I
+come to see you. He thinks you should upon my mother call. That you will
+judge me to be rude and ungrateful I fear very much. But that is not
+true. I am unhappy, indeed. I think all the day of you.</p>
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">Your obedient servant,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">KATHERINE VAN HEEMSKIRK.</span><br />
+<br /></p>
+
+<p>"'The poor child," said Mrs. Gordon, when <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>she had read the few anxious
+sentences. "Look here, Dick;" and Dick, who was beating a tattoo upon
+the window-pane, turned listlessly and asked, "Pray, madam, what is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of all earthly things, a letter from that poor child, Katherine Van
+Heemskirk. She has more wit than I expected. So her father won't let her
+come to me. Why, then, upon my word, I will go to her."</p>
+
+<p>Captain Hyde was interested at once. He took the letter his aunt
+offered, and read it with a feeling of love and pity and resentment.
+"You will go to-morrow?" he asked; "and would it be beyond good breeding
+for me to accompany you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, nephew, I think it would. But I will give your service, and say
+everything that is agreeable. Be patient; to-morrow morning I will call
+upon our fair neighbour."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning was damp, for there had been heavy rain during the
+night; but Captain Hyde would not let his aunt forget or forego her
+promise. She had determined to make an unceremonious visit; and early in
+the day she put on her bonnet and pelisse, and walked over to the Van
+Heemskirks. A negro woman was polishing the brass ornaments of the door,
+and over its spotless threshold she passed without question or delay.</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes she waited alone in the best parlour, charmed with its far
+off air and Eastern scents, and then Madam Van Heemskirk welcomed her.
+In her heart she was pleased at the visit. She thought privately that
+her Joris had been a little too strict. She did not really see why her
+beautiful daughters should not have <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>the society and admiration of the
+very best people in the Province. And Mrs. Gordon's praise of Katharine,
+and her declaration that "she was inconsolable without the dear
+creature's society," seemed to the fond mother the most proper and
+natural of feelings.</p>
+
+<p>"Do but let me see her an hour, madam," she said. "You know my sincere
+admiration. Is not that her voice? I vow, she sings to perfection And
+what a singular melody! Please to set wide the door, madam."</p>
+
+<p>"It is the brave song of the brave men of Zealand, when from the walls
+of Leyden they drove away the Spaniards;" and madam stood in the open
+door, and called to her daughter, "Well, then, Katharine, begin again
+the song of 'The Beggars of the Sea.'"</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"We are the Beggars of the Sea,&mdash;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Strong, gray Beggars from Zealand we;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">We are fighting for liberty:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Hardy sons of old Zierikzee,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Fed on the breath of the wild North Sea.<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beggars are kings if free they be:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"'<i>True to the Wallet</i>,' whatever betide;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">'<i>Long live the Gueux</i>,'&mdash;the sea will provide<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Graves for the enemy, deep and wide:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Beggars, but not from the Spaniard's hand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beggars, 'under the Cross' we stand;<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Beggars, for love of the fatherland:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!<br /></span>
+</div><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0">"Now, if the Spaniard comes our way,<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">What shall we give him, Beggars gray?<br /></span>
+<span class="i0">Give him a moment to kneel and pray:<br /></span>
+<span class="i2">Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!"<br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>At the second verse, Mrs. Gordon rose and said, "Indeed, madam, I find
+my good-breeding no match against such singing. And the tune is
+wonderful; it has the ring of trumpets, and the roar of the waves, in
+it. Pray let us go at once to your daughters."</p>
+
+<p>"At work are they; but, if you mind not that, you are welcome indeed."
+Then she led the way to the large living, or dining, room, where
+Katherine stood at the table cleaning the silver flagons and cups and
+plates that adorned the great oak sideboard.</p>
+
+<p>Joanna, who was darning some fine linen, rose and made her respects with
+perfect composure. She had very little liking, either for Mrs. Gordon or
+her nephew; and many of their ways appeared to her utterly foolish, and
+not devoid of sin. But Katherine trembled and blushed with pleasure and
+excitement, and Mrs. Gordon watched her with a certain kind of curious
+delight. Her hair was combed backward, plaited, and tied with a ribbon;
+her arms bare to the shoulders, her black bodice and crimson petticoat
+neatly shielded with a linen apron: and poised in one hand she held a
+beautiful silver flagon covered with raised figures, which with patient
+labour she had brought into shining relief.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," cried the visitor, "that is indeed a piece of plate worth looking
+at! Surely, child, it has a history,&mdash;a romance perhaps. La, there are
+words also upon it! Pray, madam, be so obliging as to read the
+inscription;" and madam, blushing with pride and pleasure, read it
+aloud,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p><p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"'Hoog van Moed,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Klein van Goed,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Een zwaard in de hand:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Is 't wapen van Gelderland.'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Dutch, I vow! Surely, madam, it is very sonorous and emphatic; vastly
+different, I do assure you, from the vowelled idioms of Italy and Spain.
+Pray, madam, be so civil as to translate the words for me."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-062.png" width="200" height="417" alt="A Guelderland flagon" title="A Guelderland flagon" />
+</div>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"'Of spirit great,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Of small estate,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">A sword in the hand:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Such are the arms of Guelderland.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"You must know," continued Madam Van Heemskirk, "that my husband's
+father had a brother, who, in a great famine in Guelderland, filled one
+hundred flat boats with wheat of Zealand,&mdash;in all the world it is the
+finest wheat, that is the truth,&mdash;and help he sent to those who were
+ready to perish. And when came better days, then, because their hearts
+were good, they gave to their preserver this flagon. Joris Van
+Heemskirk, my husband, sets on it great store, that is so."</p>
+
+<p>Conversation in this channel was easily maintained. Madame Van Heemskirk
+knew the pedigree or the history of every tray or cup, and in
+reminiscence and story an hour passed away very pleasantly indeed.
+Joanna did not linger to listen. The visitor did not touch her liking or
+her interest; and besides, as every one knows, the work of a house must
+go on, no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>matter what guest opens the door. But Katherine longed and
+watched and feared. Surely her friend would not go away without some
+private token or message for her. She turned sick at heart when she rose
+as if to depart. But Mrs. Gordon proved herself equal to the emergency;
+for, after bidding madam an effusive good-by, she turned suddenly and
+said, "Pray allow your daughter to show me the many ornaments in your
+parlour. The glimpse I had has made me very impatient to see them more
+particularly."</p>
+
+<p>The request was one entirely in sympathy with the mood and the previous
+conversation, and madam was pleased to gratify it; also pleased, that,
+having fully satisfied the claims of social life, she could with
+courtesy leave her visitor's further entertainment with Katherine, and
+return to her regular domestic cares. To her the visit had appeared to
+be one of such general interest, that she never suspected any motive
+beneath or beyond the friendliness it implied. Yet the moment the
+parlour-door had been shut, Mrs. Gordon lifted Katharine's face between
+her palms, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Faith, child, I am almost run off my head with all the fine things I
+have listened to for your sake. Do you know <i>who</i> sent me here?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think, madam, Captain Hyde."</p>
+
+<p>"Psha! Why don't you blush, and stammer, and lie about it? 'I think,
+madam, Captain Hyde,'" mimicking Katherine's slight Dutch accent. "'Tis
+to be seen, miss, that you understand a thing or two. Now, Captain Hyde
+wishes to see you; when can you oblige him so much?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>"I know not. To come to Madam Semple's is forbidden me by my father."</p>
+
+<p>"It is on my account. I protest your father is very uncivil."</p>
+
+<p>"Madam, no; but it is the officers; many come and go, and he thinks it
+is not good for me to meet them."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, miss, it is very hard on Captain Hyde, who is more in love
+than is reasonable Has your father forbidden you to walk down your
+garden to the river-bank?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, madam."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, if Captain Hyde pass about two o'clock, he might see you there?"</p>
+
+<p>"At two I am busy with Joanna."</p>
+
+<p>"La, child! At three then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Three?"</p>
+
+<p>The word was a question more than an assent; but Mrs. Gordon assumed the
+assent, and did not allow Katharine to contradict it. "And I promised to
+bring him a token from you,&mdash;he was exceedingly anxious about that
+matter; give me the ribbon from your hair."</p>
+
+<p>"Only last week Joanna bought it for me. She would surely ask me, 'Where
+is your new ribbon?'"</p>
+
+<p>"Tell her that you lost it."</p>
+
+<p>"How could I say that? It would not be true."</p>
+
+<p>The girl's face was so sincere, that Mrs. Gordon found herself unable to
+ridicule the position. "My dear," she answered, "you are a miracle. But,
+among all these pretty things, is there nothing you can send?"</p>
+
+<p>Katherine looked thoughtfully around. There was a small Chinese cabinet
+on a table: she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>went to it, and took from a drawer a bow of orange
+ribbon. Holding it doubtfully in her hand, she said, "My St. Nicholas
+ribbon."</p>
+
+<p>"La, miss, I thought you were a Calvinist! What are you talking of the
+saints for?"</p>
+
+<p>"St. Nicholas is our saint, our own saint; and on his day we wear
+orange. Yes, even my father then, on his silk cap, puts an orange bow.
+Orange is the Dutch colour, you know, madam."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, child, I do <i>not</i> know; but, if so, then it is the best colour
+to send to your true love."</p>
+
+<p>"For the Dutch, orange always. On the great days of the kirk, my father
+puts blue with it. Blue is the colour of the Dutch Calvinists."</p>
+
+<p>"Make me thankful to learn so much. Then when Councillor Van Heemskirk
+wears his blue and orange, he says to the world, 'I am a Dutchman and a
+Calvinist'?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is the truth. For the <i>Vaderland</i> the <i>Moeder-Kerk</i> he wears their
+colours. The English, too, they will have their own colour!"</p>
+
+<p>"La, my dear, England claims every colour! But, indeed, even an English
+officer may now wear an orange favour; for I remember well when our
+Princess Anne married the young Prince of Orange. Oh, I assure you the
+House of Nassau is close kin to the House of Hanover! And when English
+princesses marry Dutch princes, then surely English officers may marry
+Dutch maidens. Your bow of orange ribbon is a very proper love-knot."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, madam, I never"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There, there! I can really wait no longer. <i>Some one</i> is already in a
+fever of impatience.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0391-1.jpg" width="400" height="569" alt="&quot;A very proper love-knot&quot;" title="&quot;A very proper love-knot&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p>
+<p>'Tis a quaintly pretty room; I am happy to have seen its curious
+treasures. Good-by again, child; my service once more to your mother and
+sister;" and so, with many compliments, she passed chatting and laughing
+out of the house.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine closed the best parlour, and lingered a moment in the act. She
+felt that she had permitted Mrs. Gordon to make an appointment for her
+lover, and a guilty sense of disobedience made bitter the joy of
+expectation. For absolute truthfulness is the foundation of the Dutch
+character; and an act of deception was not only a sin according to
+Katherine's nature, but one in direct antagonism to it. As she turned
+away from the closed parlour, she felt quite inclined to confide
+everything to her sister Joanna; but Joanna, who had to finish the
+cleaning of the silver, was not in that kind of a temper which invites
+confidence; and indeed, Katherine, looking into her calm, preoccupied
+face, felt her manner to be a reproof and a restraint.</p>
+
+<p>So she kept her own counsel, and doubted and debated the matter in her
+heart until the hands of the great clock were rising quickly to the hour
+of fate. Then she laid down her fine sewing, and said, "Mother, I want
+to walk in the garden. When I come back my task I will finish."</p>
+
+<p>"That is well. Joanna, too, has let her work fall down to her lap. Go,
+both of you, and get the fine air from the river."</p>
+
+<p>This was not what Katherine wished; but nothing but assent was possible,
+and the girls strolled slowly down the box-bordered walks to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>gether.
+Madam Van Heemskirk watched them from the window for a few minutes. A
+smile of love and pleasure was on her fine, placid face; but she said
+with a sigh, as she turned away,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well, if it is the will of God they should not rise in the world,
+one must be content. To the spider the web is as large as to the whale
+the whole wide sea; that is the truth."</p>
+
+<p>Joanna was silent; she was thinking of her own love-affairs; but
+Katherine, doubtful of herself, thought also that her sister suspected
+her. When they reached the river-bank, Joanna perceived that the lilacs
+were in bloom, and at their root the beautiful auriculas; and she
+stooped low to inhale their strange, nameless, earthy perfume. At that
+moment a boat rowed by with two English soldiers, stopped just below
+them, and lay rocking on her oars. Then an officer in the stern rose and
+looked towards Katherine, who stood in the full sunlight with her large
+hat in her hand. Before she could make any sign of recognition, Joanna
+raised herself from the auriculas and stood beside her sister; yet in
+the slight interval Katherine had seen Captain Hyde fling back from his
+left shoulder his cloak, in order to display the bow of orange ribbon on
+his breast.</p>
+
+<p>The presence of Joanna baffled and annoyed him; but he raised his beaver
+with a gallant grace, and Joanna dropped a courtesy, and then, taking
+Katherine's hand, turned toward home with her, saying, "That is the boat
+of Captain Hyde. What comes he this way for?"</p>
+
+<p>"The river way is free to all, Joanna." And <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>Joanna looked sharply at
+her sister and remained silent.</p>
+
+<p>But Katherine was merry as a bird. She chattered of this and of that,
+and sang snatches of songs, old and new. And all the time her heart beat
+out its own glad refrain, "My bow of orange ribbon, my bow of orange
+ribbon!" Her needle went to her thoughts, and her thoughts went to
+melody; for, as she worked, she sang,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"Will you have a pink knot?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Is it blue you prize?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">One is like a fresh rose,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">One is like your eyes.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">No, the maid of Holland,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For her own true love,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Ties the splendid orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Orange still above!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;"><i>O oranje boven!</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Orange still above.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"Will you have the white knot?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">No, it is too cold.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Give me splendid orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Tint of flame and gold;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Rich and glowing orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">For the heart I love;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;"><i>Under</i>, white and pink and blue;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Orange still <i>above</i>!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;"><i>O oranje boven!</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">Orange still above!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"How merry you sing, <i>mijn Katrijntje</i>! Like a little bird you sing.
+What, then, is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"A pretty song made by the schoolmaster, <i>mijn moeder. 'Oranje Boven'</i>
+the name is."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a good name. Your father I will remind to have it painted over
+the door of the summer-house."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>"There already are two mottoes painted,&mdash;Peaceful is my garden,' and
+'Contentment is my lot.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, there is always room for two more good words, is there
+not?" And Katherine gayly sung her answer,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"Tie the splendid orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Orange still above!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;"><i>O oranje boven!</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Orange still above."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-071.png" width="200" height="238" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 662px;">
+<img src="images/illus-072.png" width="662" height="400" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">"<i>The trifles of our daily lives,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>The common things scarce worth recall,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>Whereof no visible trace survives,&mdash;</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>These are the mainsprings, after all.</i>"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>"Honoured gentleman, when will you pay me my money?"</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was an old man, dressed in a black coat buttoned to the
+ankles, and a cap of silk and fur, from beneath which fell a fringe of
+gray hair. His long beard was also gray, and he leaned upon an ivory
+staff carved with many strange signs. The inquiry was addressed to
+Captain Hyde. He paid no attention whatever to it, but, gayly humming a
+stave of "Marlbrook," watched the crush of wagons and pedestrians, in
+order to find a suitable moment to cross the narrow street.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Honoured gentleman, when will you pay me my moneys?"</p>
+
+<p>The second inquiry elicited still less attention for, just as it was
+made, Neil Semple came out of the City Hall, and his appearance gave the
+captain a good excuse for ignoring the unpleasant speaker.</p>
+
+<p>"Faith, Mr. Semple," he cried, "you came in an excellent time. I am for
+Fraunce's Tavern, and a chop and a bottle of Madeira. I shall be vastly
+glad of your company."</p>
+
+<p>The grave young lawyer, with his hands full of troublesome-looking
+papers, had little of the air of a boon companion; and, indeed, the
+invitation was at once courteously declined.</p>
+
+<p>"I have a case on in the Admiralty Court, Captain," he answered, "and so
+my time is not my own. It belongs, I may say, to the man who has paid me
+good money for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Lawyer Semple?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Cohen, at your service, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Hyde owes me one hundred guineas, with the interests, since the
+fifteenth day of last December. He will not hear me when I say to him,
+'Pay me my moneys;' perhaps he will listen, if you speak for me."</p>
+
+<p>"If you are asking my advice in the way of business, you know my
+office-door, Cohen; if in the way of friendship, I may as well say at
+once, that I never name friendship and money in the same breath.
+Good-day, gentlemen. I am in something of a hurry, as you may
+understand." Cohen bowed low in response to the civil greeting; Captain
+Hyde stared indignantly at the man who had presumed to couple one of
+his Majesty's officers with a money-lender and a Jew.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"I do not wish to make you more expenses, Captain;" and Cohen, following
+the impulse of his anxiety, laid his hand upon his debtor's arm. Hyde
+turned in a rage, and flung off the touch with a passionate oath. Then
+the Jew left him. There was neither anger nor impatience visible in his
+face or movements. He cast a glance up at the City Hall,&mdash;an involuntary
+appeal, perhaps, to the justice supposed to inhabit its chambers,&mdash;and
+then he walked slowly toward his store and home.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-074.png" width="200" height="278" alt="Hyde flung off the touch with a passionate oath" title="Hyde flung off the touch with a passionate oath" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Both were under one roof,&mdash;a two-storied building in the lower part of
+Pearl Street, dingy and unattractive in outward appearance, but crowded
+in its interior with articles of beauty and worth,&mdash;Flemish paintings
+and rich metal work, Venetian glasses and velvets, Spanish and Moorish
+leather goods, silverware, watches, jewellery, etc. The window of the
+large room in which all was stored was dim with cobwebs, and there was
+no arrangement of the treasures. They were laid in the drawers of the
+great Dutch presses and in cabinets, or packed in boxes, or hung against
+the walls.</p>
+
+<p>At the back of the store, there was a small sitting-room, and behind it
+a kitchen, built in a yard which was carefully boarded up. A narrow
+stair<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>way near the front of the store led to the apartments above. They
+were three in number. One was a kind of lumber-room; a second, Cohen's
+sleeping-room; and the largest, at the back of the house, belonged to
+the Jew's grandchild Miriam. There was one servant in the family, an old
+woman who had come to America with Jacob. She spoke little English, and
+she lived in complete seclusion in her kitchen and yard. As far as Jacob
+Cohen was concerned, he preserved an Oriental reticence about the women
+of his household; he never spoke of them, and he was never seen in their
+company. It was seldom they went abroad; when they did so, it was early
+in the morning, and usually to the small synagogue in Mill Street.</p>
+
+<p>He soon recovered the calmness which had been lost during his
+unsatisfactory interview with Captain Hyde. "A wise man frets not
+himself for the folly of a fool;" and, having come to this decision, he
+entered his house with the invocation for its peace and prosperity on
+his lips. A party of three gentlemen were examining his stock: they were
+Governor Clinton and his friends Colden and Belcher.</p>
+
+<p>"Cohen," said Clinton, "you have many fine things here; in particular,
+this Dutch cabinet, with heavy brass mountings. Send it to my residence.
+And that Venetian mirror with the silver frame will match the silver
+sconces you sold me at the New Year. I do not pretend to be a judge, but
+these things are surely extremely handsome. Pray, sir, let us see the
+Moorish leather that William Walton has reserved for his new house. I
+hear you are to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>have the ordering of the carpets and tapestries. You
+will make money, Jacob Cohen."</p>
+
+<p>"Your Excellency knows best. I shall make my just profits,&mdash;no more, no
+more."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes; you have many ways to make profits, I hear. All do well,
+too."</p>
+
+<p>"When God pleases, it rains with every wind, your Excellency."</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a little stir in the street,&mdash;that peculiar sense of
+something more than usual, which can make itself felt in the busiest
+thoroughfare,&mdash;and Golden went to the door and looked out. Joris Van
+Heemskirk was just passing, and his walk was something quicker than
+usual.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-day to you, Councillor. Pray, sir, what is to do at the wharf? I
+perceive a great bustle comes thence."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-076.png" width="200" height="444" alt="Batavius stood at the mainmast" title="Batavius stood at the mainmast" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"At your service, Councillor Golden. At the wharf there is good news.
+The 'Great Christopher' has come to anchor,&mdash;Captain Batavius de Vries.
+So a good-morrow, sir;" and Joris lifted his beaver, and proceeded on
+his way to Murray's Wharf.</p>
+
+<p>Bram was already on board. His hands were clasped across the big right
+shoulder of Batavius, who stood at the mainmast, giving orders about his
+cargo. He was a large man, with the indisputable air of a sailor from
+strange seas, familiar with the idea of solitude, and used to absolute
+authority. He loved Bram after his own fashion, but his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>vocabulary of
+affectionate words was not a large one. Bram, however, understood him;
+he had been quite satisfied with his short and undemonstrative
+greeting,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Thee, Bram? Good! How goes it?"</p>
+
+<p>The advent of Joris added a little to the enthusiasm of the meeting.
+Joris thoroughly liked Batavius, and their hands slipped into each
+other's with a mighty grasp almost spontaneously. After some necessary
+delay, the three men left the ship together. There was quite a crowd on
+the wharf. Some were attracted by curiosity; others, by the hope of a
+good job on the cargo; others, again, not averse to a little private
+bargaining for any curious or valuable goods the captain of the "Great
+Christopher" had for sale. Cohen was among the latter; but he had too
+much intelligence to interfere with a family party, especially as he
+heard Joris say to the crowd with a polite authority, "Make way,
+friends, make way. When a man is off a three-years' cruise, for a trifle
+he should not be stopped."</p>
+
+<p>Joanna had had a message from her lover, and she was watching for his
+arrival. There was no secrecy in her love-affairs, and it was amid the
+joy and smiles of the whole household that she met her affianced
+husband. They were one of those loving, sensible couples, for whom it is
+natural to predict a placid and happy life; and the first words of
+Batavius seemed to assure it.</p>
+
+<p>"My affairs have gone well, Joanna, as they generally do; and now I
+shall build the house, and we shall be married."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>Joanna laughed. "I shall just say a word or two, also, about that,
+Batavius."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, come, the word or two was said so long ago. Have you got the
+pretty Chinese <i>kas</i> I sent from the ship? and the Javanese <i>cabaya</i>,
+and the sweetmeats, and the golden pins?"</p>
+
+<p>"All of them I have got. Much money, Batavius, they must have cost."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well, then! There is enough left. A man does not go to the
+African coast for nothing. <i>Katrijntje, mijn meisje</i>, what's the matter
+now, that you never come once?"</p>
+
+<p>Katherine was standing at the open window, apparently watching the
+honey-bees among the locust blooms, but really perceiving something far
+beyond them,&mdash;a boat on the river at the end of the garden. She could
+not have told how she knew that it was there; but she saw it, saw it
+through the intervening space, barred and shaded by many trees. She felt
+the slow drift of the resting oars, and the fascination of an eager,
+handsome face lifted to the lilac-bushes which hedged the bank. So the
+question of Batavius touched very lightly her physical consciousness. A
+far sweeter, a far more peremptory voice called her; but she answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing the matter, Batavius. I am well, I am happy. And now I
+will go into the garden to make me a fine nosegay."</p>
+
+<p>"Three times this week, into the garden you have gone to get a nosegay;
+and then all about it you forget. It will be better to listen to
+Batavius, I think. He will tell us of the strange countries where he has
+been, and of the strange men and women."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>"For you, Joanna, that will be pleasant; but"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"For you also. To listen to Batavius is to learn something."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, that is the truth. But to me all this talk is not very
+interesting. I will go into the garden;" and she walked slowly out of
+the door, and stopped or stooped at every flower-bed, while Joanna
+watched her.</p>
+
+<p>"The child is now a woman. It will be a lover next, Joanna."</p>
+
+<p>"There is a lover already; but to anything he says, Katrijntje listens
+not. It is at her father's knee she sits, not at the lover's."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be Rem Verplanck? And what will come of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is Neil Semple. To-night you will see. He comes in and talks of
+the Assembly and the governor, and of many things of great moment. But
+it is Katherine for all that. A girl has not been in love four years for
+nothing. I can see, too, that my father looks sad, and my mother says
+neither yes nor no in the matter."</p>
+
+<p>"The Semples are good business managers. They are also rich, and they
+approve of good morals and the true religion. Be content, Joanna. Many
+roads lead to happiness beside the road we take. Now, let us talk of our
+own affairs."</p>
+
+<p>It was at this moment that Katherine turned to observe if she were
+watched. No: Batavius and Joanna had gone away from the window, and for
+a little while she would not be missed.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0392-1.jpg" width="200" height="226" alt="He took her in his arms" title="He took her in his arms" />
+</div>
+
+<p>She ran rapidly to the end of the garden, and, parting the lilac-bushes,
+stood flushed and panting on the river-bank. There was a stir of oars below her. It was precisely
+as she had known it would be. Captain Hyde's pretty craft shot into
+sight, and a few strokes put it at the landing-stair. In a moment he was
+at her side. He took her in his arms; and, in spite of the small hands
+covering her blushing face, he kissed her with passionate affection.</p>
+
+
+<p>"My darling, my charmer," he said, "how you have tortured me! By my
+soul, I have been almost distracted. Pray, now let me see thy lovely
+face." He lifted it in his hands and kissed it again,&mdash;kissed the rosy
+cheeks, and white dropped eyelids, and red smiling mouth; vowed with
+every kiss that she was the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>most adorable of women, and protested, "on
+his honour as a soldier," that he would make her his wife, or die a
+bachelor for her sake.</p>
+
+<p>And who can blame a young girl if she listens and believes, when
+listening and believing mean to her perfect happiness? Not women who
+have ever stood, trembling with love and joy, close to the dear one's
+heart. If they be gray-haired, and on the very shoal of life, they must
+remember still those moments of delight,&mdash;the little lane, the fire-lit
+room, the drifting boat, that is linked with them. If they be young and
+lovely, and have but to say, "It was yesterday," or, "It was last week,"
+still better they will understand the temptation that was too great for
+Katherine to overcome.</p>
+
+<p>And, as yet, nothing definite had been said to her about Neil Semple,
+and the arrangement made for her future. Joris had intended every day to
+tell her, and every day his heart had failed him. He felt as if the
+entire acceptance of the position would be giving his little daughter
+away. As long as she was not formally betrothed, she was all his own;
+and Neil could not use that objectionable word "my" in regard to her.
+Lysbet was still more averse to a decisive step. She had had "dreams"
+and "presentiments" of unusual honour for Katherine, which she kept with
+a superstitious reverence in her memory; and the girl's great beauty and
+winning manners had fed this latent expectancy. But to see her the wife
+of Neil Semple did not seem to be any realization of her ambitious
+hopes. She had known Neil all his life; and she could not help feeling,
+that, if Katherine's fortune lay with him, her loving dreams <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>were all
+illusions and doomed to disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>Besides, with a natural contradiction, she was a little angry at Neil's
+behaviour. He had been coming to their house constantly for a month at
+least; every opportunity of speaking to Katherine on his own behalf had
+been given him, and he had not spoken. He was too indifferent, or he was
+too confident; and either feeling she resented. But she judged Neil
+wrongly. He was an exceedingly cautious young man; and he <i>felt</i> what
+the mother could not perceive,&mdash;a certain atmosphere about the charming
+girl which was a continual repression to him. In the end, he determined
+to win her, win her entirely, heart and hand; therefore he did not wish
+to embarrass his subsequent wooing by having to surmount at the outset
+the barrier of a premature "no." And, as yet, his jealousy of Captain
+Hyde was superficial and intermitting; it had not entered his mind that
+an English officer could possibly be an actual rival to him. They were
+all of them notoriously light of love, and the Colonial beauties treated
+their homage with as light a belief; only it angered and pained him that
+Katherine should suffer herself to be made the pastime of Hyde's idle
+hours.</p>
+
+<p>On the night of De Vries' return, there was a great gathering at Van
+Heemskirk's house. No formal invitations were given, but all the friends
+of the family understood that it would be so. Joris kept on his coat and
+ruffles and fine cravat, Batavius wore his blue broadcloth and gilt
+buttons, and Lysbet and her daughters were in their kirk dresses of silk
+and camblet. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>It was an exquisite summer evening, and the windows
+looking into the garden were all open; so also was the door; and long
+before sunset the stoop was full of neighbourly men, smoking with Joris
+and Batavius, and discussing Colonial and commercial affairs.</p>
+
+<p>In the living-room and the best parlour their wives were
+gathered,&mdash;women with finely rounded forms, very handsomely clothed, and
+all busily employed in the discussion of subjects of the greatest
+interest to them. For Joanna's marriage was now to be freely talked
+over,&mdash;the house Batavius was going to build described, the linen and
+clothing she had prepared examined, and the numerous and rich presents
+her lover had brought her wondered over, and commented upon.</p>
+
+<p>Conspicuous in the happy chattering company, Lysbet Van Heemskirk
+bustled about, in the very whitest and stiffest of lace caps; making a
+suggestion, giving an opinion, scolding a careless servant, putting out
+upon the sideboard Hollands, Geneva, and other strong waters, and
+ordering in from the kitchen hot chocolate and cakes of all kinds for
+the women of the company. Very soon after sundown, Elder Semple and
+madam his wife arrived; and the elder, as usual, made a decided stir
+among the group which he joined.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no, Councillor," he said, in answer to the invitation of Joris to
+come outside. "No, no, I'll not risk my health, maybe my vera life, oot
+on the stoop after sunset. 'Warm,' do you say? Vera warm, and all the
+waur for being warm. My medical man thinks I hae a tendency to fever,
+and there's four-fourths o' fever <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>in every inch o' river mist that a
+man breathes these warm nights."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, neighbours, we'll go inside," said Joris. "Clean pipes, and
+a snowball, or a glass of Holland, will not, I think, be amiss."</p>
+
+<p>The movement was made among some jokes and laughter; and they gathered
+near the hearthstone, where, in front of the unlit hickory logs, stood a
+tall blue jar filled with feathery branches of fennel and asparagus.
+But, as the jar of Virginia was passed round, Lysbet looked at Dinorah,
+and Dinorah went to the door and called, "Baltus;" and in a minute or
+two a little black boy entered with some hot coals on a brass
+chafing-dish, and the fire was as solemnly and silently passed round as
+if it were some occult religious ceremony.</p>
+
+<p>The conversation interrupted by Semples entrance was not resumed.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 527px;">
+<img src="images/illus-084.png" width="527" height="400" alt="A little black boy entered" title="A little black boy entered" />
+</div>
+
+<p>It had been one dealing out unsparing and scornful disapproval of
+Governor Clinton's financial methods, and Clinton was known to be a
+personal friend of Semple's. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>But the elder would perhaps hardly have
+appreciated the consideration, if he had divined it; for he dearly loved
+an argument, and had no objections to fight for his own side
+single-handed. In fact, it was so natural for him to be "in opposition,"
+that he could not bear to join the general congratulation to De Vries on
+his fortunate voyage.</p>
+
+<p>"You were lang awa', Captain," was his opening speech. "It would tak' a
+deal o' gude fortune to mak' it worth your while to knock around the
+high seas for three years or mair."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, look now, Elder, I didn't come home with empty hands. I have
+always been apt to get into the place where gold and good bargains were
+going."</p>
+
+<p>"Hum-m-m! You sailed for Rotterdam, I think?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is true; from Rotterdam I went to Batavia, and then to the coast
+of Africa. The African cargo took me to the West Indies. From Kingston
+it was easy to St. Thomas and Surinam for cotton, and then to Cura&ccedil;oa
+for dyeing-woods and spices. The 'Great Christopher' took luck with her.
+Every cargo was a good cargo."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll no be certain o' that, Captain. I would hae some scruples mysel'
+anent buying and selling men and women o' any colour. We hae no
+quotations from the other world, and it may be the Almighty holds his
+black men at as high a figure as his white men. I'm just speculating,
+you ken. I hae a son&mdash;my third son, Alexander Semple, o' Boston&mdash;wha has
+made money on the Africans. I hae told him, likewise, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>that trading in
+wheat and trading in humanity may hae ethical differences; but every one
+settles his ain bill, and I'll hae enough to do to secure mysel'."</p>
+
+<p>Batavius was puzzled; and at the words "ethical differences," his big
+brown hand was "in the hair" at once. He scratched his head and looked
+doubtfully at Semple, whose face was peculiarly placid and thoughtful
+and kindly.</p>
+
+<p>"Men must work, Elder, and these blacks won't work unless they are
+forced to. I, who am a baptized Christian, have to do my duty in this
+life; and, as for pagans, they must be made to do it. I am myself a
+great lover of morality, and that is what I think. Also, you may read in
+the Scriptures, that St. Paul says that if a man will not work, neither
+shall he eat."</p>
+
+<p>"St. Paul dootless kent a' about the question o' forced labour, seeing
+that he lived when baith white and black men were sold for a price.
+However, siller in the hand answers a' questions and the dominie made a
+vera true observe one Sabbath, when he said that the Almighty so ordered
+things in this warld that orthodoxy and good living led to wealth and
+prosperity."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the truth," answered Justice Van Gaasbeeck; "Holland is Holland
+because she has the true faith. You may see that in France there is
+anarchy and bloodshed and great poverty; that is because they are Roman
+Catholics."</p>
+
+<p>It was at this moment that Katherine came and stood behind her father's
+chair. She let <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>her hand fall down over his shoulder, and he raised his
+own to clasp it. "What is it, then, <i>mijn Katrijntje kleintje</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is to dance. Mother says 'yes' if thou art willing."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I say 'yes,' also."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment she laid her cheek against his; and the happy tears came
+into his eyes, and he stroked her face, and half-reluctantly let
+Batavius lead her away. For, at the first mention of a dance, Batavius
+had risen and put down his pipe; and in a few minutes he was
+triumphantly guiding Joanna in a kind of mazy waltzing movement, full of
+spirit and grace.</p>
+
+<p>At that day there were but few families of any wealth who did not own
+one black man who could play well upon the violin. Joris possessed two;
+and they were both on hand, putting their own gay spirits into the
+fiddle and the bow. And oh, how happy were the beating feet and the
+beating hearts that went to the stirring strains! It was joy and love
+and youth in melodious motion. The old looked on with gleaming,
+sympathetic eyes; the young forgot that they were mortal.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a short pause; and the ladies sipped chocolate, and the
+gentlemen sipped something a little stronger, and a merry ripple of
+conversation and of hearty laughter ran with the clink of glass and
+china, and the scraping of the fiddle-bows.</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Katern Van Heemskirk and Mr. Neil Semple will now hab de honour of
+'bliging de company wid de French minuet."</p>
+
+<p>At this announcement, made by the first negro violin, there was a sudden
+silence; and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>Neil rose, and with a low bow offered the tips of his
+fingers to the beautiful girl, who rose blushing to take them. The elder
+deliberately turned his chair around, in order to watch the movement
+comfortably; and there was an inexpressible smile of satisfaction on his
+face as his eyes followed the young people. Neil's dark, stately beauty
+was well set off by his black velvet suit and powdered hair and gold
+buckles. And no lovelier contrast could have faced him than Katherine
+Van Heemskirk; so delicately fresh, so radiantly fair, she looked in her
+light-blue robe and white lace stomacher, with a pink rose at her
+breast. There were shining amber beads around her white throat, and a
+large amber comb fastened her pale brown hair. A gilded Indian fan was
+in her hand, and she used it with all the pretty airs she had so aptly
+copied from Mrs. Gordon.</p>
+
+<p>Neil had a natural majesty in his carriage; Katherine supplemented it
+with a natural grace, and with certain courtly movements which made the
+little Dutch girls, who had never seen Mrs. Gordon practising them,
+admire and wonder. As she was in the very act of making Neil a profound
+courtesy, the door opened, and Mrs. Gordon and Captain Hyde entered. The
+latter took in the exquisite picture in a moment; and there was a fire
+of jealousy in his heart when he saw Neil lead his partner to her seat,
+and with the deepest respect kiss her pretty fingers ere he resigned
+them.</p>
+
+<p>But he was compelled to control himself, as he was ceremoniously
+introduced to Councillor and Madam Van Heemskirk by his aunt, who, with
+a charming effusiveness, declared "she <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>was very uneasy to intrude so
+far; but, in faith, Councillor," she pleaded, "I am but a woman, and I
+find the news of a wedding beyond my nature to resist."</p>
+
+<p>There was something so frank and persuasive about the elegant stranger,
+that Joris could not refuse the courtesy she asked for herself and her
+nephew. And, having yielded, he yielded with entire truth and
+confidence. He gave his hand to his visitors, and made them heartily
+welcome to join in his household rejoicing. True, Mrs. Gordon's
+persuasive words were ably seconded by causes which she had probably
+calculated. The elder and Madam Semple were present, and it would have
+been impossible for Joris to treat their friends rudely. Bram was also
+another conciliating element, for Captain Hyde was on pleasant speaking
+terms with him; and, as yet, even Neil's relations were at least those
+of presumed friendship. Also, the Van Gaasbeeks and others present were
+well inclined to make the acquaintance of a woman so agreeable, and an
+officer so exceptionally handsome and genteel. Besides which, Joris was
+himself in a happy and genial mood; he had opened his house and his
+heart to his friends; and he did not feel at that hour as if he could
+doubt any human being, or close his door against even the stranger and
+the alien who wished to rejoice with him.</p>
+
+<p>Elder Semple was greatly pleased at his friend's complaisance. He gave
+Joris full credit for his victory over his national prejudices, and he
+did his very best to make the concession a pleasant event. In this
+effort, he was greatly assisted by Mrs. Gordon; she set <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>herself to
+charm Van Heemskirk, as she had set herself to charm Madam Van Heemskirk
+on her previous visit; and she succeeded so well, that, when "Sir Roger
+de Coverley" was called, Joris rose, offered her his hand, and, to the
+delight of every one present, led the dance with her.</p>
+
+<p>It was a little triumph for the elder; and he sat smiling, and twirling
+his fingers, and thoroughly enjoying the event. Indeed, he was so
+interested in listening to the clever way in which "the bonnie woman
+flattered Van Heemskirk," that he was quite oblivious of the gathering
+wrath in his son's face, and the watchful gloom in Bram's eyes, as the
+two men stood together, jealously observant of Captain Hyde's attentions
+to Katherine. Without any words spoken on the subject, there was an
+understood compact between them to guard the girl from any private
+conversation with him; and yet two men with hearts full of suspicion and
+jealousy were not a match for one man with a heart full of love. In a
+moment, in the interchange of their hands in a dance, Katherine clasped
+tightly a little note, and unobserved hid it behind the rose at her
+breast.</p>
+
+<p>But nothing is a wonder in love, or else it would have been amazing that
+Joanna did not notice the rose absent from her sister's dress after
+Captain Hyde's departure; nor yet that Katherine, ere she went to rest
+that night, kissed fervently a tiny bit of paper which she hid within
+the silver clasps of her Kirk Bible. The loving girl thought it no wrong
+to put it there; she even hoped that some kind of blessing or sanction
+might come through such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>sacred keeping; and she went to sleep
+whispering to herself,&mdash;"<i>Happy I am. Me he loves; me he loves; me only
+he loves; me forever he loves</i>!"</p>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-091.png" width="200" height="260" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0393-1.jpg" width="500" height="294" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a>V.</h2>
+
+<p>"<i>All pleasure must be bought at the price of pain. The true pay the
+price before they enjoy it; the false, after they enjoy it</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Dick, I am exceedingly concerned to find you in such a
+taking,&mdash;a soldier who has known some of the finest women of the day,
+moping about a Dutch school-girl! Pshaw! Don't be a fool! I had a much
+better opinion of you."</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis a kind of folly that runs in the family, aunt. I have heard that
+you preferred Colonel Gordon to a duke."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, sir, you are ill-natured. Dukes are not uncommon: a man of sense
+and sensibility is a treasure. Make me grateful that I secured one."</p>
+
+<p>"Lend me your wit, then, for the same consummation. I assure you that I
+consider Katherine Van Heemskirk a treasure past belief. Confess, now,
+that she was the loveliest of creatures last night."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>"She has truly a fine complexion, and she dances with all the elegance
+imaginable. I know, too, that she sings to perfection, and has most
+agreeable and obliging manners."</p>
+
+<p>"And a heart which abounds in every tender feeling."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, sir! I was not aware that you knew her so well."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that I love her beyond everything, and that I am likely so to
+love her all my life."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, Dick, love may live an age&mdash;if you don't marry it."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me make you understand that I wish to marry it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, sir! Then the church door stands open. Go in. I suppose the
+lady will oblige you so far."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, my dear aunt, talk sensibly. Give me your advice; you know
+already that I value it. What is the first step to be taken?"</p>
+
+<p>"Go and talk with her father. I assure you, no real progress can be made
+without it. The girl you think worth asking for; but it is very
+necessary for you to know what fortune goes with her beauty."</p>
+
+<p>"If her father refuse to give her to me"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"That is not to be thought of. I have seen that some of the best of
+these Dutch families are very willing to be friendly with us. You come
+of a noble race. You wear your sword with honour. You are not far from
+the heritage of a great title and estate. If you ask for her fortune,
+you offer far above its equivalent, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard Mr. Neil Semple say that Van Heemskirk is a great stickler
+for trade, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>and that he hates every man who wears a sword."</p>
+
+<p>"You have heard more than you need listen to. I talked to the man an
+hour last night. He is as honest as a looking-glass, and I read him all
+through with the greatest ease. I am sure that he has a heart very
+tender, and devoid of anger or prejudice of any kind."</p>
+
+<p>"That is to be seen. I have discovered already that men who can be very
+gentle can also be very rough. But this suspense is intolerable, and not
+to be borne. I will go and end it. Pray, what is the hour?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is about three o'clock; a very suitable hour, I think."</p>
+
+<p>"Then give me your good wishes."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall be impatient to hear the result."</p>
+
+<p>"In an hour or two."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, I am not so foolish as to expect you in an hour or two! When
+you have spoken with the father, you will doubtless go home with him and
+drink a dish of tea with your divinity. I can imagine your unreasonable
+felicity, Dick,&mdash;seas of milk, and ships of amber, and all sails set for
+the desired haven! I know it all, so I hope you will spare me every
+detail,&mdash;except, indeed, such as relate to pounds, shillings, and
+pence."</p>
+
+<p>It was a very hot afternoon; and Van Heemskirk's store, though open to
+the river-breezes, was not by any means a cool or pleasant place. Bram
+was just within the doors, marking "Boston" on a number of
+flour-barrels, which were being rapidly transferred to a vessel lying at
+the wharf. He was absorbed and hurried in the matter, and received the
+visitor with rather <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>a cool courtesy; but whether the coolness was of
+intention or preoccupation, Captain Hyde did not perceive it. He asked
+for Councillor Van Heemskirk, and was taken to his office, a small room,
+intensely warm and sunny at that hour of the day.</p>
+
+<p>"Your servant, Captain."</p>
+
+<p>"Yours, most sincerely, Councillor. It is a hot day."</p>
+
+<p>"That is so. We come near to midsummer. Is there anything I can oblige
+you in, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>Joris asked the question because the manner of the young man struck him
+as uneasy and constrained; and he thought, "Perhaps he has come to
+borrow money." It was notorious that his Majesty's officers gambled, and
+were often in very great need of it; and, although Joris had not any
+intention of risking his gold, he thought it as well to bring out the
+question, and have the refusal understood before unnecessary politeness
+made it more difficult. He was not, therefore, astonished when Captain
+Hyde answered,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, you can indeed oblige me, and that in a matter of the greatest
+moment."</p>
+
+<p>"If money it be, Captain, at once I may tell you, that I borrow not, and
+I lend not."</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, it is not money&mdash;in particular."</p>
+
+<p>"So?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is your daughter Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>Then Joris stood up, and looked steadily at the suitor. His large,
+amiable face had become in a moment hard and stern; and the light in his
+eyes was like the cold, sharp light that falls from drawn steel.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>"My daughter is not for you to name. Sir, it is a wrong to her, if you
+speak her name."</p>
+
+<p>"By my honour, it is not! Though I come of as good family as any in
+England, and may not unreasonably hope to inherit its earldom, I do
+assure you, sir, I sue as humbly for your daughter's hand as if she were
+a princess."</p>
+
+<p>"Your family! Talk not of it. King nor kaiser do I count better men than
+my own fore-goers. Like to like, that is what I say. Your wife seek,
+Captain, among your own women."</p>
+
+<p>"I protest that I love your daughter. I wish above all things to make
+her my wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Many things men desire, that they come not near to. My daughter is to
+another man promised."</p>
+
+<p>"Look you, Councillor, that would be monstrous. Your daughter loves me."</p>
+
+<p>Joris turned white to the lips. "It is not the truth," he answered in a
+slow, husky voice.</p>
+
+<p>"By the sun in heaven, it is the truth! Ask her."</p>
+
+<p>"Then a great scoundrel are you, unfit with honest men to talk. Ho! Yes,
+your sword pull from its scabbard. Strike. To the heart strike me. Less
+wicked would be the deed than the thing you have done."</p>
+
+<p>"In faith, sir, 'tis no crime to win a woman's love."</p>
+
+<p>"No crime it would be to take the guilders from my purse, if my consent
+was to it. But into my house to come, and while warm was yet my welcome,
+with my bread and wine in your lips, to take my gold, a shame and a
+crime would be. My daughter than gold is far more precious."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>There was something very impressive in the angry sorrow of Joris. It
+partook of his own magnitude. Standing in front of him, it was
+impossible for Captain Hyde not to be sensible of the difference between
+his own slight, nervous frame, and the fair, strong massiveness of Van
+Heemskirk; and, in a dim way, he comprehended that this physical
+difference was only the outward and visible sign of a mental and moral
+one quite as positive and unchangeable.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he persevered in his solicitation. With a slight impatience of
+manner he said, "Do but hear me, sir. I have done nothing contrary to
+the custom of people in my condition, and I assure you that with all my
+soul I love your daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"Love! So talk you. You see a girl beautiful, sweet, and innocent. Your
+heart, greedy and covetous, wants her as it has wanted, doubtless, many
+others. For yourself only you seek her. And what is it you ask then!
+That <i>she</i> should give up for you her father, mother, home, her own
+faith, her own people, her own country,&mdash;the poor little one!&mdash;for a
+cold, cheerless land among strangers, alone in the sorrows and pains
+that to all women come. Love! In God's name, what know you of love?"</p>
+
+<p>"No man can love her better."</p>
+
+<p>"What say you? How, then, do I love her? I who carried her&mdash;<i>mijn witte
+lammetje</i>&mdash;in these arms before yet she could say to me, 'Fader'!" His
+wrath had been steadily growing, in spite of the mist in his eyes and
+the tenderness in his voice; and suddenly striking the desk a ponderous blow with
+his closed hand, he said with an unmistakable passion, "My daughter you shall not
+have. God in heaven to himself take her ere such sorrow come to her and me!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0394-1.jpg" width="400" height="586" alt="&quot;Sir, you are very uncivil&quot;" title="&quot;Sir, you are very uncivil&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Sir, you are very uncivil; but I am thankful to know so much of your
+mind. And, to be plain with you, I am determined to marry your daughter
+if I can compass the matter in any way. It is now, then, open war
+between us; and so, sir, your servant."</p>
+
+<p>"Stay. To me listen. Not one guilder will I give to my daughter, if"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"To the devil with your guilders! Dirty money made in dirty traffic"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"You lie!"</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, you take an infamous advantage. You know, that, being Katherine's
+father, I will not challenge you."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Christus!</i>!" roared Joris, "challenge me one hundred times. A fool I
+would be to answer you. Life my God gave to me. Well, then, only my God
+shall from me take it. See you these arms and hands? In them you will be
+as the child of one year. Ere beyond my reason you move me, <i>go</i>!" and
+he strode to the door and flung it open with a passion that made every
+one in the store straighten themselves, and look curiously toward the
+two men.</p>
+
+<p>White with rage, and with his hand upon his sword-hilt, Captain Hyde
+stamped his way through the crowded store to the dusty street. Then it
+struck him that he had not asked the name of the man to whom Katharine
+was promised. He swore at himself for the omis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>sion. Whether he knew him
+or not, he was determined to fight him. In the meantime, the most
+practical revenge was to try and see Katherine before her father had the
+opportunity to give her any orders regarding him. Just then he met Neil
+Semple, and he stopped and asked him the time.</p>
+
+<p>"It will be the half hour after four, Captain. I am going home; shall I
+have your company, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not much leisure to-night. Make a thousand regrets to Madam
+Semple and my aunt for me."</p>
+
+<p>Neil's calm, complacent gravity was unendurable. He turned from him
+abruptly, and, muttering passionate exclamations, went to the river-bank
+for a boat. Often he had seen Katherine between five and six o'clock at
+the foot of the Van Heemskirk garden; for it was then possible for her
+to slip away while madam was busy about her house, and Joanna and
+Batavius talking over their own affairs. And this evening he felt that
+the very intensity of his desire must surely bring her to their
+trysting-place behind the lilac hedge.</p>
+
+<p>Whether he was right or wrong, he did not consider; for he was not one
+of those potent men who have themselves in their own power. Nor had it
+ever entered his mind that "love's strength standeth in love's
+sacrifice," or that the only love worthy of the name refuses to blend
+with anything that is low or vindictive or clandestine. And, even if he
+had not loved Katherine, he would now have been determined to marry her.
+Never before in all his life had he found an object so engrossing. Pride
+and re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>venge were added to love, as motives; but who will say that love
+was purer or stronger or sweeter for them?</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Joris was suffering as only such deep natures can
+suffer. There are domestic fatalities which the wisest and tenderest of
+parents seem impotent to contend with. Joris had certainly been alarmed
+by Semple's warning; but in forbidding his daughter to visit Mrs.
+Gordon, and in permitting the suit of Neil Semple, he thought he had
+assured her safety. Through all the past weeks, he had seen no shadow on
+her face. The fear had died out, and the hope had been slowly growing;
+so that Captain Hyde's proposal, and his positive assertion that
+Katherine loved him, had fallen upon the father's heart with the force
+of a blow, and the terror of a shock. And the sting of the sorrow was
+this,&mdash;that his child had deceived him. Certainly she had not spoken
+false words, but truth can be outraged by silence quite as cruelly as by
+speech.</p>
+
+<p>After Hyde's departure, he shut the door of his office, walked to the
+window, and stood there some minutes, clasping and unclasping his large
+hands, like a man full of grief and perplexity. Ere long he remembered
+his friend Semple. This trouble concerned him also, for Captain Hyde was
+in a manner his guest; and, if he were informed of the marriage arranged
+between Katherine and Neil Semple, he would doubtless feel himself bound
+in honour to retire. Elder Semple had opened his house to Colonel
+Gordon, his wife and nephew. For months they had lived in comfort under
+his roof, and been made heartily welcome to the best of all he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>possessed. Joris put himself in Hyde's place; and he was certain, that,
+under the same circumstances, he would feel it disgraceful to interfere
+with the love-affairs of his host's son.</p>
+
+<p>He found Semple with his hat in his hand, giving his last orders before
+leaving business for the day; but when Joris said, "There is trouble,
+and your advice I want," he returned with him to the back of the store,
+where, through half-opened shutters, the sunshine and the river-breeze
+stole into an atmosphere laden with the aromas of tea and coffee and
+West Indian produce.</p>
+
+<p>In a few short, strong sentences, Joris put the case before Semple. The
+latter stroked his right knee thoughtfully, and listened. But his first
+words were not very comforting: "I must say, that it is maistly your own
+fault, Joris. You hae given Neil but a half welcome, and you should hae
+made a' things plain and positive to Katherine. Such skimble-skamble,
+yea and nay kind o' ways willna do wi' women. Why didna you say to her,
+out and out, 'I hae promised you to Neil Semple, my lassie. He'll mak'
+you the best o' husbands; you'll marry him at the New Year, and you'll
+get gold and plenishing and a' things suitable'?"</p>
+
+<p>"So young she is yet, Elder."</p>
+
+<p>"She has been o'er auld for you, Joris. Young! My certie! When girls are
+auld enough for a lover, they are a match for any gray head. I'm a
+thankfu' man that I wasna put in charge o' any o' them. You and your
+household will hae to keep your e'en weel open, or there will be a
+wedding to which nane o' us <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>will get an invite. But there is little
+good in mair words. Hame is the place we are baith needed in. I shall
+hae to speak my mind to Neil, and likewise to Colonel Gordon; and you
+canna put off your duty to your daughter an hour longer. Dear me! To
+think, Joris, o' a man being able to sit wi' the councillors o' the
+nation, and yet no match for a lassie o' seventeen!"</p>
+
+<p>There are men who can talk their troubles away: Joris was not one of
+them. He was silent when in sorrow or perplexity; silent, and ever
+looking around for something to <i>do</i> in the matter. As they walked
+homewards, the elder talked, and Joris pondered, not what was said, but
+the thoughts and purposes that were slowly forming in his own mind. He
+was later than usual, and the tea and the cakes had passed their prime
+condition; but, when Lysbet saw the trouble in his eyes, she thought
+them not worth mentioning. Joanna and Batavius were discussing their new
+house then building on the East River bank, and they had forgotten all
+else. But Katherine fretted about her father's delay, and it was at her
+Joris first looked. The veil had now been taken from his eyes; and he
+noticed her pretty dress, her restless glances at the clock, her
+ill-concealed impatience at the slow movement of the evening meal.</p>
+
+<p>When it was over, Joanna and Batavius went out to walk, and Madame Van
+Heemskirk rose to put away her silver and china. "So warm as it is!"
+said Katherine. "Into the garden I am going, mother."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>"Well, then, there are currants to pull. The dish take with you."</p>
+
+<p>Joris rose then, and laying his hand on Katherine's shoulder said,
+"There is something to talk about. Sit down, Lysbet; the door shut
+close, and listen to me."</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible to mistake the stern purpose on her husband's face,
+and Lysbet silently obeyed the order.</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine, Katrijntje, <i>mijn kind</i>, this afternoon there comes to the
+store the young man, Captain Hyde. To thy father he said many ill words.
+To him thou shalt never speak again. Thy promise give to me."</p>
+
+<p>She sat silent, with dropped eyes, and cheeks as red as the pomegranate
+flower at her breast.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn kind</i>, speak to me."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>O wee, O wee!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn kind</i>, speak to me."</p>
+
+<p>Weeping bitterly, she rose and went to her mother, and laid her head
+upon Lysbet's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Look now, Joris. One must know the 'why' and the 'wherefore.' What mean
+you? <i>Whish, mijn kindje</i>!"</p>
+
+<p>"This I mean, Lysbet. No more meetings with the Englishman will I have.
+No love secrets will I bear. Danger is with them; yes, and sin too."</p>
+
+<p>"Joris, if he has spoken to you, then where is the secret?"</p>
+
+<p>"Too late he spoke. When worked was his own selfish way, to tell me of
+his triumph he comes. It is a shameful wrong. Forgive it? No, I will
+not,&mdash;never!"</p>
+
+<p>No one answered him; only Katherine's <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>low weeping broke the silence,
+and for a few moments Joris paced the room sorrowful and amazed. Then he
+looked at Lysbet, and she rose and gave her place to him. He put his
+arms around his darling, and kissed her fondly.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-106.png" width="300" height="312" alt="&quot;Listen to me, thy father!&quot;" title="&quot;Listen to me, thy father!&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn kindje</i>, listen to me thy father. It is for thy happy life here,
+it is for thy eternal life, I speak to thee. This man for whom thou art
+now weeping is not good for thee. He is not of thy faith, he is a
+Lutheran; not of thy people, he is an Englishman; not of thy station, he
+talks of his nobility; a gambler also, a man of fashion, of loose talk,
+of principles still more loose. If with the hawk a singing-bird might
+mate happily, then this English soldier thou might safely marry. <i>Mijn
+beste kindje</i>, do I love thee?"</p>
+
+<p>"My father!"</p>
+
+<p>"Do I love thee?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes."</p>
+
+<p>"Dost thou, then, love me?"</p>
+
+<p>She put her arms round his neck, and laid her cheek against his, and
+kissed him many times.</p>
+
+<p>"Wilt thou go away and leave me, and leave thy mother, in our old age?
+My heart thou would break. My gray hairs to the grave would go in
+sorrow. Katrijntje, my dear, dear <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>child, what for me, and for thy
+mother, wilt thou do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thy wish&mdash;if I can."</p>
+
+<p>Then he told her of the provision made for her future. He reminded her
+of Neil's long affection, and of her satisfaction with it until Hyde had
+wooed her from her love and her duty. And, remembering the elder's
+reproach on his want of explicitness, he added, "To-morrow, about thy
+own house, I will take the first step. Near my house it shall be; and
+when I walk in my garden, in thy garden I will see thee, and only a
+little fence shall be between us. And at the feast of St. Nicholas thou
+shalt be married; for then thy sisters will be here, thy sisters Anna
+and Cornelia. And money, plenty of money, I will give thee; and all that
+is proper thy mother and thee shall buy. But no more, no more at all,
+shalt thou see or speak to that bad man who has so beguiled thee."</p>
+
+<p>At this remark Katherine sadly shook her head; and Lysbet's face so
+plainly expressed caution, that Joris somewhat modified his last order,
+"That is, little one, no more until the feast of St. Nicholas. Then thou
+wilt be married and then it is good, if it is safe, to forgive all
+wrongs, and to begin again with all the world in peace and good living.
+Wilt thou these things promise me? me and thy mother?"</p>
+
+<p>"Richard I must see once more. That is what I ask."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Richard!</i> So far is it?"</p>
+
+<p>She did not answer; and Joris rose, and looked at the girl's mother
+inquiringly. Her face expressed assent; and he said reluctantly, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>"Well,
+then, I will as easy make it as I can. Once more, and for one hour, thou
+may see him. But I lay it on thee to tell him the truth, for this and
+for all other time."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Now</i> may I go? He is a-nigh. His boat I hear at the landing;" and she
+stood up, intent, listening, with her fair head lifted, and her wet eyes
+fixed on the distance.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, be it so. Go."</p>
+
+<p>With the words she slipped from the room; and Joris called Baltus to
+bring him some hot coals, and began to fill his pipe. As he did so, he
+watched Lysbet with some anxiety. She had offered him no sympathy, she
+evinced no disposition to continue the conversation; and, though she
+kept her face from him, he understood that all her movements expressed a
+rebellious temper. In and out of the room she passed, very busy about
+her own affairs, and apparently indifferent to his anxiety and sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>At first Joris felt some natural anger at her attitude; but, as the
+Virginia calmed and soothed him, he remembered that he had told her
+nothing of his interview with Hyde, and that she might be feeling and
+reasoning from a different standpoint from himself. Then the sweetness
+of his nature was at once in the ascendant, and he said, "Lysbet, come
+then, and talk with me about the child."</p>
+
+<p>She turned the keys in her press slowly, and stood by it with them in
+her hand. "What has been told thee, Joris, to-day? And who has spoken?
+Tongues evil and envious, I am sure of that."</p>
+
+<p>"Thou art wrong. The young man to me <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>spoke himself. He said, 'I love
+your daughter. I want to marry her.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, he did no wrong. And as for Katrijntje, it is in nature
+that a young girl should want a lover. It is in nature she should choose
+the one she likes best. That is what I say."</p>
+
+<p>"That is what I say, Lysbet. It is in nature, also, that we want too
+much food and wine, too much sleep, too much pleasure, too little work.
+It is in nature that our own way we want. It is in nature that the good
+we hate, and the sin we love. My Lysbet, to us God gives his own good
+grace, that the things that are in nature we might put below the reason
+and the will."</p>
+
+<p>"So hard that is, Joris."</p>
+
+<p>"No, it is not; so far thou hast done the right way. When Katherine was
+a babe, it was in nature that with the fire she wanted to make play. But
+thou said, 'There is danger, my precious one;' and in thy arms thou
+carried her out of the temptation. When older she grew, it was in nature
+she said, 'I like not the school, and my Heidelberg is hard, and I
+cannot learn it.' But thou answered, 'For thy good is the school, and go
+thou every day; and for thy salvation is thy catechism, and I will see
+that thou learn it well.' Now, then, it is in nature the child should
+want this handsome stranger; but with me thou wilt certainly say, 'He is
+not fit for thy happiness; he has not the true faith, he gambles, he
+fights duels, he is a waster, he lives badly, he will take thee far from
+thy own people and thy own home.'"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Can the man help that he was born an Englishman and a Lutheran?"</p>
+
+<p>"They have their own women. Look now, from the beginning it has been
+like to like. Thou may see in the Holy Scriptures that, after Esau
+married the Hittite woman, he sold his birthright, and became a wanderer
+and a vagabond. And it is said that it was a 'grief of mind unto Isaac
+and Rebekah.' I am sorry this day for Isaac and Rebekah. The heart of
+the father is the same always."</p>
+
+<p>"And the heart of the mother, also, Joris." She drew close to him, and
+laid her arm across his broad shoulders; and he took his pipe from his
+lips and turned his face to her. "Kind and wise art thou, my husband;
+and whatever is thy wish, that is my wish too."</p>
+
+<p>"A good woman thou art. And what pleasure would it be to thee if
+Katherine was a countess, and went to the court, and bowed down to the
+king and the queen? Thou would not see it; and, if thou spoke of it, thy
+neighbours they would hate thee, and mock thee behind thy back, and say,
+'How proud is Lysbet Van Heemskirk of her noble son-in-law that comes
+never once to see her!' And dost thou believe he is an earl? Not I."</p>
+
+<p>"That is where the mother's love is best, Joris. What my neighbours said
+would be little care to me, if my Katherine was well and was happy. With
+her sorrow would I buy my own pleasure? No; I would not so selfish be."</p>
+
+<p>"Would I, Lysbet? Right am I, and I know I am right. And I think that
+Neil Semple will be a very great person. Already, as a man of affairs,
+he is much spoken of. He is handsome <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>and of good morality. The elders
+in the kirk look to such young men as Neil to fill their places when
+they are no more in them. On the judge's bench he will sit down yet."</p>
+
+<p>"A good young man he may be, but he is a very bad lover; that is the
+truth. If a little less wise he could only be! A young girl likes some
+foolish talk. It is what women understand. Little fond words, very
+strong they are! Thou thyself said them to me."</p>
+
+<p>"That is right. To Neil I will talk a little. A man must seek a good
+wife with more heart than he seeks gold. Yes, yes; her price above
+rubies is."</p>
+
+<p>At the very moment Joris made this remark, the elder was speaking for
+him. When he arrived at home, he found that his wife was out making
+calls with Mrs. Gordon, so he had not the relief of a marital
+conversation. He took his solitary tea, and fell into a nap, from which
+he awoke in a querulous, uneasy temper. Neil was walking about the
+terrace, and he joined him.</p>
+
+<p>"You are stepping in a vera majestic way, Neil; what's in your thoughts,
+I wonder?"</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 216px;">
+<img src="images/illus-111.png" width="216" height="200" alt="He took his solitary tea" title="He took his solitary tea" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"I have a speech to make to-morrow, sir. My thoughts were on the law,
+which has a certain majesty of its own."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better be thinking o' a speech you ought to make to-night, if you
+care at a' aboot saving yoursel' wi' Katherine Van Heemskirk; and ma
+certie it will be an extraordinar' case that is <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>worth mair, even in the
+way o' siller, than she is."</p>
+
+<p>The elder was not in the habit of making unmeaning speeches, and Neil
+was instantly alarmed. In his own way, he loved Katherine with all his
+soul. "Yes," continued the old man, "you hae a rival, sir. Captain Hyde
+asked Van Heemskirk for his daughter this afternoon, and an earldom in
+prospect isna a poor bait."</p>
+
+<p>"What a black scoundrel he must be!&mdash;to use your hospitality to steal
+from your son the woman he loves."</p>
+
+<p>"Tak' your time, Neil, and you won't lose your judgment. How was he to
+ken that Katherine was your sweetheart? You made little o' the lassie,
+vera little, I may say. Lawyer-like you may be, but nane could call you
+lover-like. And while he and his are my guests, and in my house, I'll no
+hae you fighting him. Tak' a word o' advice now,&mdash;I'll gie it without a
+fee,&mdash;you are fond enough to plead for others, go and plead an hour for
+yoursel'. Certie! When I was your age, I was aye noted for my persuading
+way. Your father, sir, never left a spare corner for a rival. And I can
+tell you this: a woman isna to be counted your ain, until you hae her
+inside a wedding-ring."</p>
+
+<p>"What did the councillor say?"</p>
+
+<p>"To tell the truth, he said 'no,' a vera plain 'no,' too. You ken Van
+Heemskirk's 'no' isn't a shilly-shallying kind o' a negative; but for a'
+that, if I hae any skill in judging men, Richard Hyde isna one o' the
+kind that tak's 'no' from either man or woman."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>Neil was intensely angry, and his dark eyes glowed beneath their
+dropped lids with a passionate hate. But he left his father with an
+assumed coldness and calmness which made him mutter as he watched Neil
+down the road, "I needna hae fashed mysel' to warn him against fighting.
+He's a prudent lad. It's no right to fight, and it would be a matter for
+a kirk session likewise; but <i>Bruce and Wallace</i>! was there ever a
+Semple, before Neil, that keepit his hand off his weapon when his love
+or his right was touched? And there's his mother out the night, of all
+the nights in the year, and me wanting a word o' advice sae bad; not
+that Janet has o'er much good sense, but whiles she can make an obsarve
+that sets my ain wisdom in a right line o' thought. I wish to patience
+she'd bide at home. She never kens when I may be needing her. And, now I
+came to think o' things, it will be the warst o' all bad hours for Neil
+to seek Katherine the night. She'll be fretting, and the mother pouting,
+and the councillor in ane o' his particular Dutch touch-me-not tempers.
+I do hope the lad will hae the uncommon sense to let folks cool, and
+come to theirsel's a wee."</p>
+
+<p>For the elder, judging his son by the impetuosity of his own youthful
+temper, expected him to go directly to Van Heemskirk's house. But there
+were qualities in Neil which his father forgot to take into
+consideration, and their influence was to suggest to the young man how
+inappropriate a visit to Katherine would be at that time. Indeed, he did
+not much desire it. He was very angry with Katherine. He was sure that
+she understood his entire devotion to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>her. He could not see any
+necessity to set it forth as particularly as a legal contract, in
+certain set phrases and with conventional ceremonies.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0395-1.jpg" width="200" height="305" alt="On the steps of the houses" title="On the steps of the houses" />
+</div>
+
+<p>But his father's sarcastic advice annoyed him, and he wanted time to
+fully consider his ways. He was no physical coward; he was a fine
+swordsman, and he felt that it would be a real joy to stand with a drawn
+rapier between himself and his rival. But what if revenge cost him too
+much? What if he slew Hyde, and had to leave his love and his home, and
+his fine business prospects? To win Katherine and to marry her, in the
+face of the man whom he felt that he detested, would not that be the
+best of all "satisfactions"?</p>
+
+<p>He walked about the streets, discussing these points with himself, till
+the shops all closed, and on the stoops of the houses in Maiden Lane and
+Liberty Street there were merry parties of gossiping belles and beaux.
+Then he returned to Broadway. Half a dozen gentlemen were standing
+before the King's Arms Tavern, discussing some governmental statement in
+the "Weekly Mercury;" but though they asked him to stop, and enlighten
+them on some legal point, he excused himself for that night, and went
+toward Van Heemskirk's. He had suddenly resolved upon a visit. Why
+should he put off until the morrow what he might begin that night?</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>Still debating with himself, he came to a narrow road which ran to the
+river, along the southern side of Van Heemskirk's house. It was only a
+trodden path used by fishermen, and made by usage through the unenclosed
+ground. But coming swiftly up it, as if to detain him, was Captain Hyde.
+The two men looked at each other defiantly; and Neil said with a cold,
+meaning emphasis,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"At your service, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Semple, at your service,"&mdash;and touching his sword,&mdash;"to the very
+hilt, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, yours to the same extremity."</p>
+
+<p>"As for the cause, Mr. Semple, here it is;" and he pushed aside his
+embroidered coat in order to exhibit to Neil the bow of orange ribbon
+beneath it.</p>
+
+<p>"I will die it crimson in your blood," said Neil, passionately.</p>
+
+<p>"In the meantime, I have the felicity of wearing it;" and with an
+offensively deep salute, he terminated the interview.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 225px;">
+<img src="images/illus-115.png" width="225" height="200" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+><br /><br /></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 526px;">
+<img src="images/illus-116.png" width="526" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">"<i>Love and a crown no rivalship can bear.</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;"><i>Love, love! Thou sternly dost thy power maintain,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;"><i>And wilt not bear a rival in thy reign</i>."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Neil's first emotion was not so much one of anger as of exultation. The
+civilization of the Semples was scarce a century old; and behind them
+were generations of fierce men, whose hands had been on their dirks for
+a word or a look. "I shall have him at my sword's point;" that was what
+he kept saying to himself as he turned from Hyde to Van Heemskirk's
+house. The front-door stood open; and he walked through it to the
+back-stoop, where Joris was smoking.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine sat upon the steps of the stoop. Her head was in her hand, her
+eyes red with weeping, her whole attitude one of desponding sorrow. But,
+at this hour, Neil was indifferent to adverse circumstances. He was
+moving in that exultation of spirit which may be simulated by the first
+rapture of good wine, but which is only genuine when the soul takes
+entire posses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>sion of the man, and makes him for some rare, short
+interval lord of himself, and contemptuous of all fears and doubts and
+difficulties. He never noticed that Joris was less kind than usual; but
+touching Katherine, to arouse her attention, said, "Come with me down
+the garden, my love."</p>
+
+<p>She looked at him wonderingly. His words and manner were strange and
+potent; and, although she had just been assuring herself that she would
+resist his advances on every occasion, she rose at his request and gave
+him her hand.</p>
+
+<p>Then the tender thoughts which had lain so deep in his heart flew to his
+lips, and he wooed her with a fervour and nobility as astonishing to
+himself as to Katherine. He reminded her of all the sweet intercourse of
+their happy lives, and of the fidelity with which he had loved her.
+"When I was a lad ten years old, and saw you first in your mother's
+arms, I called you then 'my little wife.' Oh, my Katherine, my sweet
+Katherine! Who is there that can take you from me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Neil, like a brother to me you have been. Like a dear brother, I love
+you. But your wife to be! That is not the same. Ask me not that."</p>
+
+<p>"Only that can satisfy me, Katherine. Do you think I will ever give you
+up? Not while I live."</p>
+
+<p>"No one will I marry. With my father and my mother I will stay."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, till you learn to love me as I love you, with the whole soul." He
+drew her close to his side, and bent tenderly to her face.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>"No, you shall not kiss me, Neil,&mdash;never again. No right have you,
+Neil."</p>
+
+<p>"You are to be my wife, Katherine?"</p>
+
+<p>"That I have not said."</p>
+
+<p>She drew herself from his embrace, and stood leaning against an
+elm-tree, watchful of Neil, full of wonder at the sudden warmth of his
+love, and half fearful of his influence over her.</p>
+
+<p>"But you have known it, Katherine, ay, for many a year. No words could
+make the troth-plight truer. From this hour, mine and only mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Such things you shall not say."</p>
+
+<p>"I will say them before all the world. Katherine, is it true that an
+English soldier is wearing a bow of your ribbon? You must tell me."</p>
+
+<p>"What mean you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will make my meaning plain. Is Captain Hyde wearing a bow of your
+orange ribbon?"</p>
+
+<p>"Can I tell?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. Do not lie to me."</p>
+
+<p>"A lie I would not speak."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you give him one? an orange one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. A bow of my St. Nicholas ribbon I gave him."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?"</p>
+
+<p>"Me he loves, and him I love."</p>
+
+<p>"And he wears it at his breast?"</p>
+
+<p>"On his breast I have seen it. Neil, do not quarrel with him. Do not
+look so angry. I fear you. My fault it is; all my fault, Neil. Only to
+please me he wears it."</p>
+
+<p>"You have more St. Nicholas ribbons?"</p>
+
+<p>"That is so."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>"Go and get me one. Get a bow, Katherine, and give it to me. I will
+wait here for it."</p>
+
+<p>"No, that I will not do. How false, how wicked I would be, if two lovers
+my colours wore!"</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine, I am in great earnest. A bow of that ribbon I must have. Get
+one for me."</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0396-1.jpg" width="200" height="334" alt="&quot;Katherine, I am in great earnest&quot;" title="&quot;Katherine, I am in great earnest&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"My hands I would cut off first."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, I will cut <i>my bow</i> from Hyde's breast. I will, though I
+cut his heart out with it."</p>
+
+<p>He turned from her as he said the words, and, without speaking to Joris,
+passed through the garden-gate to his own home. His mother and Mrs.
+Gordon, and several young ladies and gentlemen were sitting on the
+stoop, arranging for a turtle feast on the East River; and Neil's advent
+was hailed with ejaculations of pleasure. He affected to listen for a
+few minutes, and then excused himself upon the "assurance of having some
+very important writing to attend to." But, as he passed the parlour
+door, his father called him. The elder was casting up some kirk
+accounts; but, as Neil answered the summons, he carefully put the
+extinguisher on one candle, and turned his chair from the table in a way
+which Neil understood as an invitation for his company.</p>
+
+<p>A moment's reflection con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>vinced Neil that it was his wisest plan to
+accede. It was of the utmost importance that his father should be kept
+absolutely ignorant of his quarrel with Hyde; for Neil was certain that,
+if he suspected their intention to fight, he would invoke the aid of the
+law to preserve peace, and such a course would infallibly subject him to
+suspicions which would be worse than death to his proud spirit.</p>
+
+<p>"Weel, Neil, my dear lad, you are early hame. Where were you the night?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have just left Katherine, sir, having followed your advice in my
+wooing. I wish I had done so earlier."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, ay; when a man is seventy years auld, he has read the book o' life,
+'specially the chapter anent women, and he kens a' about them. A bonnie
+lass expects to hae a kind o' worship; but the service is na unpleasant,
+quite the contrary. Did you see Captain Hyde?"</p>
+
+<p>"We met near Broadway, and exchanged civilities."</p>
+
+<p>"A gude thing to exchange. When Gordon gets back frae Albany, I'll hae a
+talk wi' him, and I'll get the captain sent there. In Albany there are
+bonnie lasses and rich lasses in plenty for him to try his enchantments
+on. There was talk o' sending him there months syne; it will be done ere
+long, or my name isna Alexander Semple."</p>
+
+<p>"I see you are casting up the kirk accounts. Can I help you, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hae everything ready for the consistory. Neil, what is the gude o' us
+speaking o' this and that, and thinking that we are deceiving each
+other? I am vera anxious anent affairs <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>between Captain Hyde and
+yoursel'; and I'm 'feard you'll be coming to hot words, maybe to blows,
+afore I manage to put twa hundred miles atween you. My lad, my ain dear
+lad! You are the Joseph o' a' my sons; you are the joy o' your mother's
+life. For our sake, keep a calm sough, and dinna let a fool provoke you
+to break our hearts, and maybe send you into God's presence uncalled and
+unblessed.</p>
+
+<p>"Father, put yoursel' in my place. How would you feel toward Captain
+Hyde?"</p>
+
+<p>"Weel, I'll allow that I wouldna feel kindly. I dinna feel kindly to
+him, even in my ain place."</p>
+
+<p>"As you desire it, we will speak plainly to each other anent this
+subject. You know his proud and hasty temper; you know also that I am
+more like yourself than like Moses in the way of meekness. Now, if
+Captain Hyde insults me, what course would you advise me to adopt?"</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldna gie him the chance to insult you. I would keep oot o' his
+way. There is naething unusual or discreditable in taking a journey to
+Boston, to speir after the welfare o' your brother Alexander."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, sir, I cannot leave my affairs for an insolent and
+ungrateful fool! I ask your advice for the ordinary way of life, not for
+the way that cowardice or fear dictates. If without looking for him, or
+avoiding him, we meet, and a quarrel is inevitable, what then, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, weel, in that case, God prevent it! But in sic a strait, my lad, it
+is better to gie the insult than to tak' it."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>"You know what must follow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Wha doesna ken? Blood, if not murder. Neil, you are a wise and prudent
+lad; now, isna the sword o' the law sharper than the rapier o' honour?"</p>
+
+<p>"Law has no remedy for the wrongs men of honour redress with the sword.
+A man may call me every shameful name; but, unless I can show some
+actual loss in money or money's worth, I have no redress. And suppose
+that I tried it, and that after long sufferance and delays I got my
+demands, pray, sir, tell me, how can offences which have flogged a man's
+most sacred feelings be atoned for by something to put in the pocket?"</p>
+
+<p>"Society, Neil"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Society, father, always convicts and punishes the man who takes an
+insult <i>on view</i>, without waiting for his indictment or trial."</p>
+
+<p>"There ought to be a law, Neil"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"No law will administer itself, sir. The statute-book is a dead letter
+when it conflicts with public opinion. There is not a week passes but
+you may see that for yourself, father. If a man is insulted, he must
+protect his honour; and he will do so until the law is able to protect
+him better than his own strength."</p>
+
+<p>"There is another way&mdash;a mair Christian way"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"The world has not taken it yet; at any rate, I am very sure none of the
+Semples have."</p>
+
+<p>"You are, maybe, o'er sure, Neil. Deacon Van Vorst has said mair than my
+natural man could thole, many a time, in the sessions and oot o' them;
+but the dominie aye stood be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>tween us wi' his word, and we hae managed
+so far to keep the peace, though a mair pig-headed, provoking,
+pugnacious auld Dutchman never sat down on the dominie's left hand."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, father, if Captain Hyde should quarrel with me, and if he should
+challenge me, you advise me to refuse the challenge, and to send for the
+dominie to settle the matter?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didna say the like o' that, Neil. I am an auld man, and Van Vorst is
+an aulder one. We'd be a bonnie picture wi' drawn swords in oor shaking
+hands; though, for mysel', I may say that there wasna a better fencer in
+Ayrshire, and <i>that</i> the houses o' Lockerby and Lanark hae reason to
+remember. And I wouldna hae the honour o' the Semples doubted; I'd fight
+myself first. But I'm in a sair strait, Neil; and oh, my dear lad, what
+will I say, when it's the Word o' the Lord on one hand, and the scaith
+and scorn of a' men on the other? But I'll trust to your prudence, Neil,
+and no begin to feel the weight o' a misery that may ne'er come my way.
+All my life lang, when evils hae threatened me, I hae sought God's help;
+and He has either averted them or turned them to my advantage."</p>
+
+<p>"That is a good consolation, father."</p>
+
+<p>"It is that; and I ken nae better plan for life than, when I rise up, to
+gie mysel' to His direction, and, when I lay me down to sleep, to gie
+mysel' to His care."</p>
+
+<p>"In such comfortable assurance, sir, I think we may say good-night. I
+have business early in the morning, and may not wait for your company,
+if you will excuse me so far."</p>
+
+<p>"Right; vera right, Neil. The dawn has <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>gold in its hand. I used to be
+an early worker mysel'; but I'm an auld man noo, and may claim some
+privileges. Good-night, Neil, and a good-morning to follow it."</p>
+
+<p>Neil then lit his candle; and, not forgetting that courteous salute
+which the young then always rendered to honourable age, he went slowly
+upstairs, feeling suddenly a great weariness and despair. If Katherine
+had only been true to him! He was sure, then, that he could have fought
+almost joyfully any pretender to her favour. But he was deserted by the
+girl whom he had loved all her sweet life. He was betrayed by the man
+who had shared the hospitality of his home, and in the cause of such
+loss, compelled to hazard a life opening up with fair hopes of honour
+and distinction.</p>
+
+<p>In the calm of his own chamber, through the silent, solemn hours, when
+the world was shut out of his life, Neil reviewed his position; but he
+could find no honourable way out of his predicament. Physically, he was
+as brave as brave could be; morally, he had none of that grander courage
+which made Joris Van Heemskirk laugh to scorn the idea of yielding God's
+gift of life at the demand of a passionate fool. He was quite sensible
+that his first words to Captain Hyde that night had been intended to
+provoke a quarrel, and he knew that he would be expected to redeem them
+by a formal defiance. However, as the idea became familiar, it became
+imperative; and at length it was with a fierce satisfaction that he
+opened his desk and without hesitation wrote the decisive words:</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-125.png" width="300" height="379" alt="&quot;In the interim, at your service&quot;" title="&quot;In the interim, at your service&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>To CAPTAIN RICHARD HYDE OF HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE: SIR: A person of the
+character I bear cannot allow the treachery and dishonourable conduct of
+which you have been guilty to pass without punishment. Convince me that
+you are more of a gentleman than I have reason to believe, by meeting me
+to-night as the sun drops in the wood on the Kalchhook Hill. Our seconds
+can locate the spot; and that you may have no pretence to delay, I send
+by bearer two swords, of which I give you the privilege to make choice.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 17.5em;">In the interim, at your service,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 27.5em;">NEIL SEMPLE.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>He had already selected Adrian Beekman as his second. He was a young
+man of wealth and good family, exceedingly anxious for social
+distinction, and, moreover, so fastidiously honourable that Neil felt
+himself in his hands to be beyond reproach. As he anticipated, Beekman
+accepted the duty with alacrity, and, indeed, so promptly carried out
+his principal's instructions, that he found Captain Hyde still sleeping
+when he waited upon him. But Hyde was neither astonished nor annoyed. He
+laughed lightly at "Mr. Semple's impatience of offence," and directed
+Mr. Beekman to Captain Earle as his second; leaving the choice of swords
+and of the ground entirely to his direction.</p>
+
+<p>"A more civil, agreeable, handsome gentleman, impossible it would be to
+find; and I think the hot haughty temper of Neil is to blame in this
+affair," was Beekman's private comment. But he stood watchfully by his
+principal's interests, and affected a gentlemanly disapproval of Captain
+Hyde's behaviour.</p>
+
+<p>And lightly as Hyde had taken the challenge, he was really more
+disinclined to fight than Neil was. In his heart he knew that Semple had
+a just cause of anger; "but then," he argued, "Neil is a proud, pompous
+fellow, for whom I never assumed a friendship. His father's hospitality
+I regret in any way to have abused; but who the deuce could have
+suspected that Neil Semple was in love with the adorable Katherine? In
+faith, I did not at the first, and now 'tis too late. I would not resign
+the girl for my life; for I am sensible that life, if she is another's,
+will be a very tedious thing to me."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>All day Neil was busy in making his will, and in disposing of his
+affairs. He knew himself well enough to be certain, that, if he struck
+the first blow, he would not hesitate to strike the death blow, and that
+nothing less than such conclusion would satisfy him. Hyde also
+anticipated a deathly persistence of animosity in his opponent, and felt
+equally the necessity for some definite arrangement of his business.
+Unfortunately, it was in a very confused state. He owed many debts of
+honour, and Cohen's bill was yet unsettled. He drank a cup of coffee,
+wrote several important letters, and then went to Fraunce's, and had a
+steak and a bottle of wine. During his meal his thoughts wandered
+between Katherine and the Jew Cohen. After it he went straight to
+Cohen's store.</p>
+
+<p>It happened to be Saturday; and the shutters were closed, though the
+door was slightly open, and Cohen was sitting with his granddaughter in
+the cool shadows of the crowded place. Hyde was not in a ceremonious
+mood, and he took no thought of it being the Jew's sabbath. He pushed
+wider the door, and went clattering into their presence; and with an air
+of pride and annoyance the Jew rose to meet him. At the same time, by a
+quick look of intelligence, he dismissed Miriam; but she did not retreat
+farther than within the deeper shadows of some curtains of stamped
+Moorish leather, for she anticipated the immediate departure of the
+intruder.</p>
+
+<p>She was therefore astonished when her grandfather, after listening to a
+few sentences, sat down, and entered into a lengthy conversation. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>And
+her curiosity was also aroused; for, though Hyde had often been in the
+store, she had never hitherto seen him in such a sober mood, it was also
+remarkable that on the sabbath her grandfather should receive papers,
+and a ring which she watched Hyde take from his finger; and there was,
+beside, a solemn, a final air about the transaction which gave her the
+feeling of some anticipated tragedy.</p>
+
+<p>When at last they rose, Hyde extended his hand. "Cohen," he said, "few
+men would have been as generous and, at this hour, as considerate as
+you. I have judged from tradition, and misjudged you. Whether we meet
+again or not, we part as friends."</p>
+
+<p>"You have settled all things as a gentleman, Captain. May my white hairs
+say a word to your heart this hour?" Hyde bowed; and he continued, in a
+voice of serious benignity: "The words of the Holy One are to be
+regarded, and not the words of men. Men call that 'honour' which He will
+call murder. What excuse is there in your lips if you go this night into
+His presence?"</p>
+
+<p>There was no excuse in Hyde's lips, even for his mortal interrogator. He
+merely bowed again, and slipped through the partially opened door into
+the busy street. Then Cohen put clean linen upon his head and arm, and
+went and stood with his face to the east, and recited, in low,
+rhythmical sentences, the prayer called the "Assault." Miriam sat quiet
+during his devotion but, when he returned to his place, she asked him
+plainly, "What murder is there to be, grandfather?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is a duel between Captain Hyde and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>another. It shall be called
+murder at the last."</p>
+
+<p>"The other, who is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"The young man Semple."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry. He is a courteous young man. I have heard you say so. I
+have heard you speak well of him."</p>
+
+<p>"O Miriam, what sin and sorrow thy sex ever bring to those who love it!
+There are two young lives to be put in death peril for the smile of a
+woman,&mdash;a very girl she is."</p>
+
+<p>"Do I know her, grandfather?"</p>
+
+<p>"She passes here often. The daughter of Van Heemskirk,&mdash;the little fair
+one, the child."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but now I am twice sorry! She has smiled at me often. We have even
+spoken. The good old man, her father, will die; and her brother, he was
+always like a watch-dog at her side."</p>
+
+<p>"But not the angels in heaven can watch a woman. For a lover, be he good
+or bad, she will put heaven behind her back, and stand on the brink of
+perdition. Miriam, if thou should deceive me,&mdash;as thy mother did,&mdash;God
+of Israel, may I not know it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Though I die, I will not deceive you, grandfather."</p>
+
+<p>"The Holy One hears thee, Miriam. Let Him be between us."</p>
+
+<p>Then Cohen, with his hands on his staff, and his head in them, sat
+meditating, perhaps praying; and the hot, silent moments went slowly
+away. In them, Miriam was coming to a decision which at first alarmed
+her, but which, as it grew familiar, grew also lawful and kind. She was
+quite certain that her <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>grandfather would not interfere between the
+young men, and probably he had given Hyde his promise not to do so; but
+she neither had received a charge, nor entered into any obligation, of
+silence. A word to Van Heemskirk or to the Elder Semple would be
+sufficient. Should she not say it? Her heart answered "yes," although
+she did not clearly perceive how the warning was to be given.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps Cohen divined her purpose, and was not unfavourable to it; for
+he suddenly rose, and, putting on his cap, said, "I am going to see my
+kinsman John Cohen. At sunset, set wide the door; an hour after sunset I
+will return."</p>
+
+<p>As soon as he had gone, Miriam wrote to Van Heemskirk these words: "Good
+sir,&mdash;This is a matter of life and death: so then, come at once, and I
+will tell you. MIRIAM COHEN."</p>
+
+<p>With the slip of paper in her hand, she stood within the door, watching
+for some messenger she could trust. It was not many minutes before Van
+Heemskirk's driver passed, leading his loaded wagon; and to him she gave
+the note.</p>
+
+<p>That day Joris had gone home earlier than usual, and Bram only was in
+the store. But it was part of his duty to open and attend to orders, and
+he supposed the strip of paper to refer to a barrel of flour or some
+other household necessity.</p>
+
+<p>Its actual message was so unusual and unlooked for, that it took him a
+moment or two to realize the words; then, fearing it might be some
+practical joke, he recalled the driver, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>heard with amazement that
+the Jew's granddaughter had herself given him the message. Assured of
+this fact, he answered the summons for his father promptly. Miriam was
+waiting just within the door; and, scarcely heeding his explanation, she
+proceeded at once to give him such information as she possessed. Bram
+was slow of thought and slow of speech. He stood gazing at the
+beautiful, earnest girl, and felt all the fear and force of her words;
+but for some moments he could not speak, nor decide on his first step.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0397-1.jpg" width="300" height="431" alt="&quot;Why do you wait?&quot;" title="&quot;Why do you wait?&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Why do you wait?" pleaded Miriam. "At sunset, I tell you. It is now
+near it. Oh, no thanks! Do not stop for them, but hasten to them at
+once."</p>
+
+<p>He obeyed like one in a dream; but, before he had reached Semple's
+store, he had fully realized the actual situation. Semple was just
+leaving business. He put his hand on him, and said, "Elder, no time have
+you to lose. At sunset, Neil and that d&mdash;&mdash;English soldier a duel are to
+fight."</p>
+
+<p>"Eh? Where? Who told you?"</p>
+
+<p>"On the Kalchhook Hill. Stay not for a moment's talk."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>"Run for your father, Bram. Run, my lad. Get Van Gaasbeeck's light
+wagon as you go, and ask your mother for a mattress. Dinna stand
+glowering at me, but awa' with you. I'll tak' twa o' my ain lads and my
+ain wagon, and be there instanter. God help me! God spare the lad!"</p>
+
+<p>At that moment Neil and Hyde were on their road to the fatal spot. Neil
+had been gathering anger all day; Hyde, a vague regret. The folly of
+what they were going to do was clear to both; but Neil was dominated by
+a fury of passion, which made the folly a revengeful joy. If there had
+been any thought of an apology in Hyde's heart, he must have seen its
+hopelessness in the white wrath of Neil's face, and the calm
+deliberation with which he assumed and prepared for a fatal termination
+of the affair.</p>
+
+<p>The sun dropped as the seconds measured off the space and offered the
+lot for the standing ground. Then Neil flung off his coat and waistcoat,
+and stood with bared breast on the spot his second indicated. This
+action had been performed in such a passion of hurry, that he was
+compelled to watch Hyde's more calm and leisurely movements. He removed
+his fine scarlet coat and handed it to Captain Earle, and would then
+have taken his sword; but Beekman advanced to remove also his waistcoat.
+The suspicion implied by this act roused the soldier's indignation. "Do
+you take me to be a person of so little honour?" he passionately asked;
+and then with his own hands he tore off the richly embroidered satin
+garment, and by so doing exposed what perhaps some delicate feeling had
+made him wish to conceal,&mdash;a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>bow of orange ribbon which he wore above
+his heart.</p>
+
+<p>The sight of it to Neil was like oil flung upon flame. He could scarcely
+restrain himself until the word "<i>go</i>" gave him license to charge Hyde,
+which he did with such impetuous rage, that it was evident he cared less
+to preserve his own life, than to slay his enemy.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde was an excellent swordsman, and had fought several duels; but he
+was quite disconcerted by the deadly reality of Neil's attack. In the
+second thrust, his foot got entangled in a tuft of grass; and, in
+evading a lunge aimed at his heart, he fell on his right side.
+Supporting himself, however, on his sword hand, he sprang backwards with
+great dexterity, and thus escaped the probable death-blow. But, as he
+was bleeding from a wound in the throat, his second interfered, and
+proposed a reconciliation. Neil angrily refused to listen. He declared
+that he "had not come to enact a farce;" and then, happening to glance
+at the ribbon on Hyde's breast, he swore furiously, "He would make his
+way through the body of any man who stood between him and his just
+anger."</p>
+
+<p>Up to this point, there had been in Hyde's mind a latent disinclination
+to slay Neil. After it, he flung away every kind memory; and the fight
+was renewed with an almost brutal impetuosity, until there ensued one of
+those close locks which it was evident nothing but "the key of the body
+could open." In the frightful wrench which followed, the swords of both
+men sprang from their hands, flying some four or five yards upward with
+the force.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0398-1.jpg" width="400" height="566" alt="The swords of both men sprung from their hands" title="The swords of both men sprung from their hands" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p>
+<p>Both recovered their weapons at the same time, and both, bleeding and exhausted,
+would have again renewed the fight; but at that moment Van Heemskirk and
+Semple, with their attendants, reached the spot.</p>
+
+<p>Without hesitation, they threw themselves between the young men,&mdash;Van
+Heemskirk facing Hyde, and the elder his son. "Neil, you dear lad, you
+born fool, gie me your weapon instanter, sir!" But there was no need to
+say another word. Neil fell senseless upon his sword, making in his fall
+a last desperate effort to reach the ribbon on Hyde's breast; for Hyde
+had also dropped fainting to the ground, bleeding from at least half a
+dozen wounds. Then one of Semple's young men, who had probably defined
+the cause of quarrel, and who felt a sympathy for his young master, made
+as if he would pick up the fatal bit of orange satin, now died crimson
+in Hyde's blood.</p>
+
+<p>But Joris pushed the rifling hand fiercely away. "To touch it would be
+the vilest theft," he said. "His own it is. With his life he has bought
+it."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-136.png" width="400" height="116" alt="Tail piece" title="Tail piece" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 522px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0399-1.jpg" width="522" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">"<i>I know I felt Love's face</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;"><i>Pressed on my neck, with moan of pity and grace,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;"><i>Till both our heads were in his aureole</i>."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>The news of the duel spread with the proverbial rapidity of evil news.
+At the doors of all the public houses, in every open shop, on every
+private stoop, and at the street-corners, people were soon discussing
+the event, with such additions and comments as their imaginations and
+prejudices suggested. One party insisted that lawyer Semple was dead;
+another, that it was the English officer; a third, that both died as
+they were being carried from the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Batavius, who had lingered to the last moment at the house which he was
+building, heard the story from many a lip as he went home. He was
+bitterly indignant at Katherine. He felt, indeed, as if his own
+character for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>morality of every kind had been smirched by his intended
+connection with her. And his Joanna! How wicked Katherine had been not
+to remember that she had a sister whose spotless name would be tarnished
+by her kinship! He was hot with haste and anger when he reached Van
+Heemskirk's house.</p>
+
+<p>Madam stood with Joanna on the front-stoop, looking anxiously down the
+road. She was aware that Bram had called for his father, and she had
+heard them leave the house together in unexplained haste. At first, the
+incident did not trouble her much. Perhaps one of the valuable Norman
+horses was sick, or there was an unexpected ship in, or an unusually
+large order. Bram was a young man who relied greatly on his father. She
+only worried because supper must be delayed an hour, and that delay
+would also keep back the completion of that exquisite order in which it
+was her habit to leave the house for the sabbath rest.</p>
+
+<p>After some time had elapsed, she went upstairs, and began to lay out the
+clean linen and the kirk clothes. Suddenly she noticed that it was
+nearly dark; and, with a feeling of hurry and anxiety, she remembered
+the delayed meal. Joanna was on the front-stoop watching for Batavius,
+who was also unusually late; and, like many other loving women, she
+could think of nothing good which might have detained him, but her heart
+was full only of evil apprehensions.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Katherine?" That was the mother's first question, and she
+called her through the house. From the closed best parlour, Katherine
+came, white and weeping.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>"What is the matter, then, that you are crying? And why into the dark
+room go you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Full of sorrow I am, mother, and I went to the room to pray to God; but
+I cannot pray."</p>
+
+<p>"'Full of sorrow.' Yes, for that Englishman you are full of sorrow. And
+how can you pray when you are disobeying your good father? God will not
+hear you."</p>
+
+<p>The mother was not pitiless; but she was anxious and troubled, and
+Katherine's grief irritated her at the moment. "Go and tell Dinorah to
+bring in the tea. The work of the house must go on," she muttered. "And
+I think, that it was Saturday night Joris might have remembered."</p>
+
+<p>Then she went back to Joanna, and stood with her, looking through the
+gray mist down the road, and feeling even the croaking of the frogs and
+the hum of the insects to be an unusual provocation. Just as Dinorah
+said, "The tea is served, madam," the large figure of Batavius loomed
+through the gathering grayness; and the women waited for him. He came up
+the steps without his usual greeting; and his face was so injured and
+portentous that Joanna, with a little cry, put her arms around his neck.
+He gently removed them.</p>
+
+<p>"No time is this, Joanna, for embracing. A great disgrace has come to
+the family; and I, who have always stood up for morality, must bear it
+too."</p>
+
+<p>"Disgrace! The word goes not with our name, Batavius; and what mean you,
+then? In one word, speak."</p>
+
+<p>But Batavius loved too well any story that was to be wondered over, to
+give it in a word; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>though madam's manner snubbed him a little, and he
+said, with less of the air of a wronged man,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, Neil Semple and Captain Hyde have fought a duel. That is
+what comes of giving way to passion. I never fought a duel. No one
+should make me. It is a fixed principle with me."</p>
+
+<p>"But what? And how?"</p>
+
+<p>"With swords they fought. Like two devils they fought, as if to pieces
+they would cut each other."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Neil! His fault I am sure it was not."</p>
+
+<p>"Joanna! Neil is nearly dead. If he had been in the right, he would not
+be nearly dead. The Lord does not forsake a person who is in the right
+way."</p>
+
+<p>In the hall behind them Katherine stood. The pallor of her face, the
+hopeless droop of her white shoulders and arms, were visible in its
+gloomy shadows. Softly as a spirit she walked as she drew nearer to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"And the Englishman? Is he hurt?"</p>
+
+<p>"Killed. He has at least twenty wounds. Till morning he will not live.
+It was the councillor himself who separated the men."</p>
+
+<p>"My good Joris, it was like him."</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Katherine's consciousness reeled. The roar of the ocean
+which girds our life round was in her ears, the feeling of chill and
+collapse at her heart. But with a supreme will she took possession of
+herself. "Weak I will not be. All I will know. All I will suffer." And
+with these thoughts she went back to the room, and took her place at the
+table. In <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>a few minutes the rest followed. Batavius did not speak to
+her. It was also something of a cross to him that madam would not talk
+of the event. He did not think that Katherine deserved to have her
+ill-regulated feelings so far considered, and he had almost a sense of
+personal injury in the restraint of the whole household.</p>
+
+<p>He had anticipated madam's amazement and shock. He had felt a just
+satisfaction in the suffering he was bringing to Katherine. He had
+determined to point out to Joanna the difference between herself and her
+sister, and the blessedness of her own lot in loving so respectably and
+prudently as she had done. But nothing had happened as he expected. The
+meal, instead of being pleasantly lengthened over such dreadful
+intelligence, was hurried and silent. Katherine, instead of making
+herself an image of wailing or unconscious remorse, sat like other
+people at the table, and pretended to drink her tea.</p>
+
+<p>It was some comfort that after it Joanna and he could walk in the
+garden, and talk the affair thoroughly over. Katherine watched them
+away, and then she fled to her room. For a few minutes she could let her
+sorrow have way, and it would help her to bear the rest. And oh, how she
+wept! She took from their hiding-place the few letters her lover had
+written her, and she mourned over them as women mourn in such
+extremities. She kissed the words with passionate love; she vowed, amid
+her broken ejaculations of tenderness, to be faithful to him if he
+lived, to be faithful to his memory if he died. She never thought of
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>Neil; or, if she did, it was with an anger that frightened her. In the
+full tide of her anguish, Lysbet stood at the door. She heard the
+inarticulate words of woe, and her heart ached for her child. She had
+followed her to give her comfort, to weep with her; but she felt that
+hour that Katherine was no more a child to be soothed with her mother's
+kiss. She had become a woman, and a woman's sorrow had found her.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 332px;">
+<img src="images/illus-142.png" width="332" height="300" alt="Oh, how she wept!" title="Oh, how she wept!" />
+</div>
+
+<p>It was near ten o'clock when Joris came home. His face was troubled, his
+clothing disarranged and blood-stained; and Lysbet never remembered to
+have seen him so completely exhausted. "Bram is with Neil," he said; "he
+will not be home."</p>
+
+<p>"And thou?"</p>
+
+<p>"I helped them carry&mdash;the other. To the 'King's Arms' we took him. A
+strong man was needed until their work the surgeons had done. I stayed;
+that is all."</p>
+
+<p>"Live will he?"</p>
+
+<p>"His right lung is pierced clean through. A bad wound in the throat he
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>has. At death's door is he, from loss of the blood. But then, youth he
+has, and a great spirit, and hope. I wish not for his death, my God
+knows."</p>
+
+<p>"Neil, what of him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Unconscious he was when I left him at his home. I stayed not there. His
+father and his mother were by his side; Bram also. Does Katherine know?"</p>
+
+<p>"She knows."</p>
+
+<p>"How then?"</p>
+
+<p>"O Joris, if in her room thou could have heard her crying! My heart for
+her aches, the sorrowful one!"</p>
+
+<p>"See, then, that this lesson she miss not. It is a hard one, but learn
+it she must. If thy love would pass it by, think this, for her good it
+is. Many bitter things are in it. What unkind words will now be said!
+Also, my share in the matter I must tell in the kirk session; and
+Dominie de Ronde is not one slack in giving the reproof. With our own
+people a disgrace it will be counted. Can I not hear Van Vleek grumble,
+'Well, now, I hope Joris Van Heemskirk has had enough of his fine
+English company;' and Elder Brouwer will say, 'He must marry his
+daughter to an Englishman; and, see, what has come of it;' and that evil
+old woman, Madam Van Corlaer, will shake her head and whisper, 'Yes,
+neighbours, and depend upon it, the girl is of a light mind and bad
+morals, and it is her fault; and I shall take care my nieces to her
+speak no more.' So it will be; Katherine herself will find it so."</p>
+
+<p>"The poor child! Sorry am I she ever went <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>to Madam Semple's to see Mrs.
+Gordon. If thy word I had taken, Joris!"</p>
+
+<p>"If my word the elder also had taken. When first, he told me that his
+house he would offer to the Gordons, I said to him, 'So foolish art
+them! In the end, what does not fit will fight.' If to-night them could
+have seen Mistress Gordon when she heard of her nephew's hurt. Without
+one word of regret, without one word of thanks, and in a great passion,
+she left the house. For Neil she cared not. 'He had been ever an envious
+kill-joy. He had ever hated her dear Dick. He had ever been jealous of
+any one handsomer than himself. He was a black dog in the manger; and
+she hoped, with all her heart, that Dick had done for him.' Beside
+herself with grief and passion she was, or the elder had not borne so
+patiently her words."</p>
+
+<p>"As her own son, she loved him."</p>
+
+<p>"Yea, Lysbet; but <i>just</i> one should be. Weary and sad am I to-night."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning was the sabbath, and many painful questions suggested
+themselves to Joris and Lysbet Van Heemskirk. Joris felt that he must
+not take his seat among the deacons until he had been fully exonerated
+of all blame of blood-guiltiness by the dominie and his elders and
+deacons in full kirk session. Madam could hardly endure the thought of
+the glances that would be thrown at her daughter, and the probable
+slights she would receive. Batavius plainly showed an aversion to being
+seen in Katherine's company. But these things did not seem to Joris a
+sufficient reason for neglecting worship. He thought it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>best for people
+to face the unpleasant consequences of wrong-doing; and he added, "In
+trouble also, my dear ones, where should we go but into the house of the
+good God?"</p>
+
+<p>Katherine had not spoken during the discussion but, when it was over,
+she said, "<i>Mijn vader, mijn moeder</i>, to-day I cannot go! For me have
+some pity. The dominie I will speak to first; and what he says, I will
+do."</p>
+
+<p>"Between me and thy <i>moeder</i> thou shalt be."</p>
+
+<p>"Bear it I cannot. I shall fall down, I shall be ill; and there shall be
+shame and fear, and the service to make stop, and then more wonder and
+more talk, and the dominie angry also! At home I am the best."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, so it shall be."</p>
+
+<p>But Joris was stern to Katherine, and his anger added the last
+bitterness to her grief. No one had said a word of reproach to her; but,
+equally, no one had said a word of pity. Even Joanna was shy and cold,
+for Batavius had made her feel that one's own sister may fall below
+moral par and sympathy. "If either of the men die," he had said, "I
+shall always consider Katherine guilty of murder; and nowhere in the
+Holy Scriptures are we told to forgive murder, Joanna. And even while
+the matter is uncertain, is it not right to be careful? Are we not told
+to avoid even the appearance of evil?" So that, with this charge before
+him, Batavius felt that countenancing Katherine in any way was not
+keeping it.</p>
+
+<p>And certainly the poor girl might well fear the disapproval of the
+general public, when her own family made her feel her fault so keenly.
+The kirk that morning would have been the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>pillory to her. She was
+unspeakably grateful for the solitude of the house, for space and
+silence, in which she could have the relief of unrestrained weeping.
+About the middle of the morning, she heard Bram's footsteps. She divined
+<i>why</i> he had come home, and she shrank from meeting him until he removed
+the clothing he had worn during the night's bloody vigil. Bram had not
+thought of Katherine's staying from kirk; and when she confronted him,
+so tear-stained and woe-begone, his heart was full of pity for her. "My
+poor little Katherine!" he said; and she threw her arms around his neck,
+and sobbed upon his breast as if her heart would break.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0400-1.jpg" width="300" height="621" alt="&quot;O Bram! is he dead?&quot;" title="&quot;O Bram! is he dead?&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn kleintje</i>, who has grieved thee?"</p>
+
+<p>"O Bram! is he dead?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who? Neil? I think he will get well once more."</p>
+
+<p>"What care I for Neil? The wicked one! I wish that he might die. Yes,
+that I do."</p>
+
+<p>"Whish!&mdash;to say that is wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"Bram! Bram! A little pity give me. It is the other one. Hast thou
+heard?"</p>
+
+<p>"How can he live? Look at that sorrow, dear one, and ask God to forgive
+and help thee."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I will not look at it. I will ask God every <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>moment that he may get
+well. Could I help that I should love him? So kind, so generous, is he!
+Oh, my dear one, my dear one, would I had died for thee!"</p>
+
+<p>Bram was much moved. Within the last twenty-four hours he had begun to
+understand the temptation in which Katherine had been; begun to
+understand that love never asks, 'What is thy name? Of what country art
+thou? Who is thy father?' He felt that so long as he lived he must
+remember Miriam Cohen as she stood talking to him in the shadowy store.
+Beauty like hers was strange and wonderful to the young Dutchman. He
+could not forget her large eyes, soft and brown as gazelle's; the warm
+pallor and brilliant carnation of her complexion; her rosy, tender
+mouth; her abundant black hair, fastened with large golden pins, studded
+with jewels. He could not forget the grace of her figure, straight and
+slim as a young palm-tree, clad in a plain dark garment, and a
+neckerchief of white India silk falling away from her exquisite throat.
+He did not yet know that he was in love; he only felt how sweet it was
+to sit still and dream of the dim place, and the splendidly beautiful
+girl standing among its piled-up furniture and its hanging draperies.
+And this memory of Miriam made him very pitiful to Katherine.</p>
+
+<p>"Every one is angry at me, Bram, even my father; and Batavius will not
+sit on the chair at my side; and Joanna says a great disgrace I have
+made for her. And thou? Wilt thou also scold me? I think I shall die of
+grief."</p>
+
+<p>"Scold thee, thou little one? That I will not. And those that are angry
+with thee may <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>be angry with me also. And if there is any comfort I can
+get thee, tell thy brother Bram. He will count thee first, before all
+others. How could they make thee weep? Cruel are they to do so. And as
+for Batavius, mind him not. Not much I think of Batavius! If he says
+this or that to thee, I will answer him."</p>
+
+<p>"Bram! my Bram! my brother! There is one comfort for me,&mdash;if I knew that
+he still lived; if one hope thou could give me!"</p>
+
+<p>"What hope there is, I will go and see. Before they are back from kirk,
+I will be back; and, if there is good news, I will be glad for thee."</p>
+
+<p>Not half an hour was Bram away; and yet, to the miserable girl, how
+grief and fear lengthened out the moments! She tried to prepare herself
+for the worst; she tried to strengthen her soul even for the message of
+death. But very rarely is any grief as bad as our own terror of it. When
+Bram came back, it was with a word of hope on his lips.</p>
+
+<p>"I have seen," he said, "who dost thou think?&mdash;the Jew Cohen. He of all
+men, he has sat by Captain Hyde's side all night; and he has dressed the
+wound the English surgeon declared 'beyond mortal skill.' And he said to
+me, 'Three times, in the Persian desert, I have cured wounds still
+worse, and the Holy One hath given me the power of healing; and, if He
+wills, the young man shall recover.' That is what he said, Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>"Forever I will love the Jew. Though he fail, I will love him. So kind
+he is, even to those who have not spoken well, nor done well, to him."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>"So kind, also, was the son of David to all of us. Now, then, go wash
+thy face, and take comfort and courage."</p>
+
+<p>"Bram, leave me not."</p>
+
+<p>"There is Neil. We have been companions; and his father and his mother
+are old, and need me."</p>
+
+<p>"Also, I need thee. All the time they will make me to feel how wicked is
+Katherine Van Heemskirk!"</p>
+
+<p>At this moment the family returned from the morning service, and Bram
+rather defiantly drew his sister to his side. Joris was not with them.
+He had stopped at the "King's Arms" to ask if Captain Hyde was still
+alive; for, in spite of everything, the young man's heroic cheerfulness
+in the agony of the preceding night had deeply touched Joris. No one
+spoke to Katherine; even her mother was annoyed and humiliated at the
+social ordeal through which they had just passed, and she thought it
+only reasonable that the erring girl should be made to share the trial.
+Batavius, however, had much curiosity; and his first thought on seeing
+Bram at home was, "Neil is of course dead, and Bram is of no further
+use;" and, in the tone of one personally injured by such a fatality, he
+ejaculated,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"So it is the end, then. On the sabbath day Neil has gone. If it should
+be the sabbath day in the other world,&mdash;which is likely,&mdash;it will be the
+worse for Neil."</p>
+
+<p>"What mean you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Is not Neil Semple dead?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I think, also, that he will live."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad. It is good for Katherine."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>"I see it not."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, if he dies, is it not Katherine's fault?"</p>
+
+<p>"Heaven and hell! No! Katherine is not to blame."</p>
+
+<p>"All respectable and moral people will say so."</p>
+
+<p>"Better for them not to say so. If I hear of it, then I will make them
+say it to my face."</p>
+
+<p>"Then? Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have my hands and my feet, for them&mdash;to punish their tongues."</p>
+
+<p>"And the kirk session?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I care not! What is the kirk session to my little Katherine?
+Batavius, if man or woman you hear speak ill of her, tell them it is not
+Katherine, but Bram Van Heemskirk, that will bring everything back to
+them. What words I say, them I mean."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes! And mind this, Bram, the words I think, them words I will say,
+whether you like them or like them not."</p>
+
+<p>"As the wind you bluster,&mdash;on the sabbath day, also. In your ship I sail
+not, Batavius. Good-by, then, Katherine; and if any are unkind to thee,
+tell thy brother. For thou art right, and not wrong."</p>
+
+<p>But, though Bram bravely championed his sister, he could not protect her
+from those wicked innuendoes disseminated for the gratification of the
+virtuous; nor from those malicious regrets of very good people over
+rumours which they declare to "be incredible," and yet which,
+nevertheless, they "unfortunately believe to be too true." The Scotch
+have a national precept which says, "Never speak ill of the dead."
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>Would it not be much better to speak no ill of the living? Little could
+it have mattered to Madam Bogardus or Madam Stuyvesant what a lot of
+silly people said of them in Pearl Street or Maiden Lane, a century
+after their death; but poor Katherine Van Heemskirk shivered and
+sickened in the presence of averted eyes and uplifted shoulders, and in
+that chill atmosphere of disapproval which separated her from the
+sympathy and confidence of her old friends and acquaintances.</p>
+
+<p>"It is thy punishment," said her mother, "bear it bravely and patiently.
+In a little while, it will be forgot." But the weeks went on, and the
+wounded men slowly fought death away from their pillows, and Katherine
+did not recover the place in social estimation which she had lost
+through the ungovernable tempers of her lovers. For, alas, there are few
+social pleasures that have so much vital power as that of exploring the
+faults of others, and comparing them with our own virtues!</p>
+
+<p>But nothing ill lasts forever; and in three months Neil Semple was in
+his office again, wan and worn with fever and suffering, and wearing his
+sword arm in a sling, but still decidedly world-like and life-like. It
+was characteristic of Neil that few, even of his intimates, cared to
+talk of the duel to him, to make any observations on his absence, or any
+inquiries about his health. But it was evident that public opinion was
+in a large measure with him. Every young Provincial, who resented the
+domineering spirit of the army, felt Hyde's punishment in the light of a
+personal satisfaction. Beekman also had talked highly of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>unbending
+spirit and physical bravery of his principal; and though in the Middle
+Kirk the affair was sure to be the subject of a reproof, and of a
+suspension of its highest privileges, yet it was not difficult to feel
+that sympathy often given to deeds publicly censured, but privately
+admired. Joris remarked this spirit with a little astonishment and
+dissent. He could not find in his heart any excuse for either Neil or
+Hyde; and, when the elder enlarged with some acerbity upon the
+requirements of honour among men, Joris offended him by replying,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, Elder, little I think of that 'honour' which runs not with
+the laws of God and country."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me tell you, Joris, the 'voice of the people is the voice of God,'
+in a measure; and you may see with your ain een that it mair than
+acquits Neil o' wrong-doing. Man, Joris! would you punish a fair
+sword-fight wi' the hangman?"</p>
+
+<p>"A better way there is. In the pillory I would stand these men of
+honour, who of their own feelings think more than of the law of God. A
+very quick end that punishment would put to a custom wicked and absurd."</p>
+
+<p>"Weel, Joris, we'll hae no quarrel anent the question. You are a
+Dutchman, and hae practical ideas o' things in general. Honour is a
+virtue that canna be put in the Decalogue, like idolatry and murder and
+theft."</p>
+
+<p>"Say you the Decalogue? Its yea and nay are enough. Harder than any of
+God's laws are the laws we make for ourselves. Little I think of their
+justice and wisdom. If right was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>Neil, if wrong was Hyde, honour
+punished both. A very foolish law is honour, I think."</p>
+
+<p>"Here comes Neil, and we'll let the question fa' to the ground. There
+are wiser men than either you or I on baith sides."</p>
+
+<p>Joris nodded gravely, and turned to welcome the young man. More than
+ever he liked him; for, apart from moral and prudential reasons, it was
+easy for the father to forgive an unreasonable love for his Katharine.
+Also, he was now more anxious for a marriage between Neil and his
+daughter. It was indeed the best thing to fully restore her to the
+social esteem of her own people; for by making her his wife, Neil would
+most emphatically exonerate her from all blame in the quarrel. Just this
+far, and no farther, had Neil's three months' suffering aided his
+suit,&mdash;he had now the full approval of Joris, backed by the weight of
+this social justification.</p>
+
+<p>But, in spite of these advantages, he was really much farther away from
+Katherine. The three months had been full of mental suffering to her,
+and she blamed Neil entirely for it. She had heard from Bram the story
+of the challenge and the fight; heard how patiently Hyde had parried
+Neil's attack rather than return it, until Neil had so passionately
+refused any satisfaction less than his life; heard, also, how even at
+the point of death, fainting and falling, Hyde had tried to protect her
+ribbon at his breast. She never wearied of talking with Bram on the
+subject; she thought of it all day, dreamed of it all night.</p>
+
+<p>And she knew much more about it than her parents or Joanna supposed.
+Bram had easily fallen into the habit of calling at Cohen's to ask
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>after his patient. He would have gone for his sister's comfort alone,
+but it was also a great pleasure to himself. At first he saw Miriam
+often; and, when he did, life became a heavenly thing to Bram Van
+Heemskirk. And though latterly it was always the Jew himself who
+answered his questions, there was at least the hope that Miriam would be
+in the store, and lift her eyes to him, or give him a smile or a few
+words of greeting. Katherine very soon suspected how matters stood with
+her brother, and gratitude led her to talk with him about the lovely
+Jewess. Every day she listened with apparent interest to his
+descriptions of Miriam, as he had seen her at various times; and every
+day she felt more desirous to know the girl whom she was certain Bram
+deeply loved.</p>
+
+<p>But for some weeks after the duel she could not bear to leave the house.
+It was only after both men were known to be recovering, that she
+ventured to kirk; and her experience there was not one which tempted her
+to try the streets and the stores. However, no interest is a living
+interest in a community but politics; and these probably retain their
+power because change is their element. People eventually got weary to
+death of Neil Semple and Captain Hyde and Katherine Van Heemskirk. The
+subject had been discussed in every possible light; and, when it was
+known that neither of the men was going to die, gossipers felt as if
+they had been somewhat defrauded, and the topic lost every touch of
+speculation.</p>
+
+<p>Also, far more important events had now the public attention. During the
+previous March, the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>passed both
+houses of Parliament; and Virginia and Massachusetts, conscious of their
+dangerous character, had roused the fears of the other Provinces; and a
+convention of their delegates was appointed to meet during October in
+New York. It was this important session which drew Neil Semple, with
+scarcely healed wounds, from his chamber. The streets were noisy with
+hawkers crying the detested Acts, and crowded with groups of
+stern-looking men discussing them. And, with the prospect of soldiers
+quartered in every home, women had a real grievance to talk over; and
+Katherine Van Heemskirk's love-affair became an intrusion and a bore, if
+any one was foolish enough to name it.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-155.png" width="300" height="378" alt="The streets were noisy with hawkers" title="The streets were noisy with hawkers" />
+</div>
+
+<p>It was during this time of excitement that Katherine said one morning,
+at breakfast, "Bram wait one minute for me. I am going to do an errand
+or two for my mother.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a bad time, Katherine, you have chosen," said Batavius. "Full of
+men are the streets, excited men too, and of swaggering <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>British
+soldiers, whom it would be a great pleasure to tie up in a halter. The
+British I hate,&mdash;bullying curs, everyone of them!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I know that you hate the British, Batavius. You say so every
+hour."</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine!"</p>
+
+<p>"That is so, Joanna."</p>
+
+<p>Madam looked annoyed. Joris rose, and said, "Come then, Katherine, thou
+shalt go with me and with Bram both. Batavius need not then fear for
+thee."</p>
+
+<p>His voice was so tender that Katherine felt an unusual happiness and
+exultation; and she was also young enough to be glad to see the familiar
+streets again, and to feel the pulse of their vivid life make her heart
+beat quicker.</p>
+
+<p>At Kip's store, Bram left her. She had felt so free and unremarked, that
+she said, "Wait not for me, Bram. By myself I will go home. Or perhaps I
+might call upon Miriam Cohen. What dost thou think?" And Bram's large,
+handsome face flushed like a girl's with pleasure, as he answered, "That
+I would like, and there thou could rest until the dinner-hour. As I go
+home, I could call for thee."</p>
+
+<p>So, after selecting the goods her mother needed at Kip's, Katherine was
+going up Pearl Street, when she heard herself called in a familiar and
+urgent voice. At the same moment a door was flung open; and Mrs. Gordon,
+running down the few steps, put her hand upon the girl's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my dear, this is a piece of good fortune past belief! Come into my
+lodgings. Oh, indeed you shall! I will have no excuse. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>Surely you owe
+Dick and me some reward after the pangs we have suffered for you."</p>
+
+<p>She was leading Katherine into the house as she spoke; and Katherine had
+not the will, and therefore not the power, to oppose her. She placed the
+girl by her side on the sofa; she took her hands, and, with a genuine
+grief and love, told her all that "poor Dick" had suffered and was still
+suffering for her sake.</p>
+
+<p>"It was the most unprovoked challenge, my dear; and Neil Semple behaved
+like a savage, I assure you. When Dick was bleeding from half a dozen
+wounds, a gentleman would have been satisfied, and accepted the
+mediation of the seconds; but Neil, in his blind passion, broke the code
+to pieces. A man who can do nothing but be in a rage is a ridiculous and
+offensive animal. Have you seen him since his recovery? For I hear that
+he has crawled out of his bed again."</p>
+
+<p>"Him I have not seen."</p>
+
+<p>"Gracious powers, miss! Is that all you say, 'Him I have not seen'? Make
+me patient with so insensible a creature! Here am I almost distracted
+with my three months' anxiety and poor Dick, so gone as to be past
+knowledge, breaking his true heart for a sight of you; and you answer me
+as if I had asked, 'Pray, have you seen the newspaper to-day?'"</p>
+
+<p>Then Katherine covered her face, and sobbed with a hopelessness and
+abandon that equally fretted Mrs. Gordon. "I wish I knew one corner of
+this world inaccessible to lovers," she cried. "Of all creatures, they
+are the most ridiculous and unreasonable. Now, what are you crying for,
+child?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>"If I could only see Richard,&mdash;only see him for one moment!"</p>
+
+<p>"That is exactly what I am going to propose. He will get better when he
+has seen you. I will call a coach, and we will go at once."</p>
+
+<p>"Alas! Go I dare not. My father and my mother!"</p>
+
+<p>"And Dick,&mdash;what of Dick, poor Dick, who is dying for you?" She went to
+the door, and gave the order for a coach. "Your lover, Katherine. Child,
+have you no heart? Shall I tell Dick you would not come with me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Be not so cruel to me. That you have seen me at all, why need you say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh! indeed, miss, do not imagine yourself the only person who values
+the truth. Dick always asks me, 'Have you seen her?' 'Tis my humour to
+be truthful, and I am always swayed by my inclination. I shall feel it
+to be my duty to inform him how indifferent you are. Katherine, put on
+your bonnet again. Here also are my veil and cloak. No one will perceive
+that it is you. It is the part of humanity, I assure you. Do so much for
+a poor soul who is at the grave's mouth."</p>
+
+<p>"My father, I promised him"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"O child! have six penny worth of common feeling about you. The man is
+dying for your sake. If he were your enemy, instead of your true lover,
+you might pity him so much. Do you not wish to see Dick?"</p>
+
+<p>"My life for his life I would give."</p>
+
+<p>"Words, words, my dear. It is not your life he wants. He asks only ten
+minutes of your time. And if you desire to see him, give your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>self the
+pleasure. There is nothing more silly than to be too wise to be happy."</p>
+
+<p>While thus alternately urging and persuading Katherine, the coach came,
+the disguise was assumed, and the two drove rapidly to the "King's
+Arms." Hyde was lying upon a couch which had been drawn close to the
+window. But in order to secure as much quiet as possible, he had been
+placed in one of the rooms at the rear of the tavern,&mdash;a large, airy
+room, looking into the beautiful garden which stretched away backward as
+far as the river. He had been in extremity. He was yet too weak to
+stand, too weak to endure long the strain of company or books or papers.</p>
+
+<p>He heard his aunt's voice and footfall, and felt, as he always did, a
+vague pleasure in her advent. Whatever of life came into his chamber of
+suffering came through her. She brought him daily such intelligences as
+she thought conducive to his recovery; and it must be acknowledged that
+it was not always her "humour to be truthful." For Hyde had so craved
+news of Katherine, that she believed he would die wanting it; and she
+had therefore fallen, without one conscientious scruple, into the
+reporter's temptation,&mdash;inventing the things which ought to have taken
+place, and did not. "For, in faith, Nigel," she said to her husband, in
+excuse, "those who have nothing to tell must tell lies."</p>
+
+<p>Her reports had been ingenious and diversified. "She had seen Katherine
+at one of the windows,&mdash;the very picture of distraction." "She had been
+told that Katherine was breaking her heart about him;" also, "that Elder</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0401-1.jpg" width="400" height="549" alt="Katherine was close to his side" title="Katherine was close to his side" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>Semple and Councillor Van Heemskirk had quarrelled because Katharine
+had refused to see Neil, and the elder blamed Van Heemskirk for not
+compelling her obedience." Whenever Hyde had been unusually depressed or
+unusually nervous, Mrs. Gordon had always had some such comforting
+fiction ready. Now, here was the real Katherine. Her very presence, her
+smiles, her tears, her words, would be a consolation so far beyond all
+hope, that the girl by her side seemed a kind of miracle to her.</p>
+
+<p>She was far more than a miracle to Hyde. As the door opened, he slowly
+turned his head. When he saw <i>who</i> was really there, he uttered a low
+cry of joy,&mdash;a cry pitiful in its shrill weakness. In a moment Katherine
+was close to his side. This was no time for coyness, and she was too
+tender and true a woman to feel or to affect it. She kissed his hands
+and face, and whispered on his lips the sweetest words of love and
+fidelity. Hyde was in a rapture. His joyful soul made his pale face
+luminous. He lay still, speechless, motionless, watching and listening
+to her.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Gordon had removed Katherine's veil and cloak, and considerately
+withdrawn to a mirror at the extremity of the room, where she appeared
+to be altogether occupied with her own ringlets. But, indeed, it was
+with Katherine and Hyde one of those supreme hours when love conquers
+every other feeling. Before the whole world they would have avowed their
+affection, their pity, and their truth.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde could speak little, but there was no need of speech. Had he not
+nearly died for her? Was not his very helplessness a plea <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>beyond the
+power of words? She had only to look at the white shadow of humanity
+holding her hand, and remember the gay, gallant, handsome soldier who
+had wooed her under the water-beeches, to feel that all the love of her
+life was too little to repay his devotion. And so quickly, so quickly,
+went the happy moments! Ere Katherine had half said, "I love thee," Mrs.
+Gordon reminded her that it was near the noon; "and I have an excellent
+plan," she continued; "you can leave my veil and cloak in the coach, and
+I will leave you at the first convenient place near your home. At the
+turn of the road, one sees nobody but your excellent father or brother,
+or perhaps Justice Van Gaasbeek, all of whom we may avoid, if you will
+but consider the time."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we must part, <i>my Katherine</i>, for a little. When will you come
+again?"</p>
+
+<p>This was a painful question, because Katherine felt, that, however she
+might excuse herself for the unforeseen stress of pity that all unaware
+had hurried her into this interview, she knew she could not find the
+same apology for one deliberate and prearranged.</p>
+
+<p>"Only once more," Hyde pleaded. "I had, my Katherine, so many things to
+say to you. In my joy, I forgot all. Come but once more. Upon my honour,
+I promise to ask Katherine Van Heemskirk only this once. To-morrow?
+'No.' Two days hence, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Two days hence I will come again. Then no more."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled at her, and put out his hands; and she knelt again by his
+side, and kissed her "farewell" on his lips. And, as she put on <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>again
+her cloak and veil, he drew a small volume towards him, and with
+trembling hands tore out of it a scrap of paper, and gave it to her.</p>
+
+<p>Under the lilac hedge that night she read it, read it over and
+over,&mdash;the bit of paper made almost warm and sentient by Ph&oelig;dria's
+tender petition to his beloved,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"When you are in company with that other man, behave as if you were
+absent; but continue to love me by day and by night; want me, dream of
+me, expect me, think of me, wish for me, delight in me, be wholly with
+me; in short, be my very soul, as I am yours."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 494px;">
+<img src="images/illus-164.png" width="494" height="200" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 349px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0402-1.jpg" width="349" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"<i>Let determined things to destiny</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>Hold unbewailed their way.</i>"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>If Katherine had lived at this day, she would probably have spent her
+time between her promise and its fulfilment in self-analysis and
+introspective reasoning with her own conscience. But the women of a
+century ago were not tossed about with winds of various opinions, or
+made foolishly subtile by arguments about principles which ought never
+to be associated with dissent. A few strong, plain dictates had been set
+before Katherine as the law of her daily life; and she knew, beyond all
+controversy, when she disobeyed them.</p>
+
+<p>In her own heart, she called the sin she had determined to commit by its
+most unequivocal name. "I shall make happy Richard; but my father I
+shall deceive and disobey, and against <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>my own soul there will be the
+lie." This was the position she admitted, but every woman is Eve in some
+hours of her life. The law of truth and wisdom may be in her ears, but
+the apple of delight hangs within her reach, and, with a full
+understanding of the consequences of disobedience, she takes the
+forbidden pleasure. And if the vocal, positive command of Divinity was
+unheeded by the first woman, mere mortal parents surely ought not to
+wonder that their commands, though dictated by truest love and clearest
+wisdom, are often lightly held, or even impotent against the voice of
+some charmer, pleading personal pleasure against duty, and self-will
+against the law infinitely higher and purer.</p>
+
+<p>In truth, Katherine had grown very weary of the perpetual eulogies which
+Batavius delivered of everything respectable and conservative. A kind of
+stubbornness in evil followed her acceptance of evil. This time, at
+least, she was determined to do wrong, whatever the consequences might
+be. Batavius and his inflexible propriety irritated her: she had a
+rebellious desire to give him little moral shocks; and she deeply
+resented his constant injunctions to "remember that Joanna's and his own
+good name were, in a manner, in her keeping."</p>
+
+<p>Very disagreeable she thought Batavius had grown, and she also jealously
+noted the influence he was exercising over Joanna. There are women who
+prefer secrecy to honesty, and sin to truthfulness; but Katherine was
+not one of them. If it had been possible to see her lover honourably,
+she would have much preferred it. She was totally destitute of that
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>contemptible sentimentality which would rather invent difficulties in a
+love-affair than not have them, but she knew well the storm of reproach
+and disapproval which would answer any such request; and her thoughts
+were all bent toward devising some plan which would enable her to leave
+home early on that morning which she had promised her lover.</p>
+
+<p>But all her little arrangements failed; and it was almost at the last
+hour of the evening previous, that circumstances offered her a
+reasonable excuse. It came through Batavius, who returned home later
+than usual, bringing with him a great many patterns of damask and
+figured cloth and stamped leather. At once he announced his intention of
+staying at home the next morning in order to have Joanna's aid in
+selecting the coverings for their new chairs, and counting up their
+cost. He had taken the strips out of his pocket with an air of
+importance and complaisance; and Katherine, glancing from them to her
+mother, thought she perceived a fleeting shadow of a feeling very much
+akin to her own contempt of the man's pronounced self-satisfaction. So
+when supper was over, and the house duties done, she determined to speak
+to her. Joris was at a town meeting, and Lysbet did not interfere with
+the lovers. Katherine found her standing at an open window, looking
+thoughtfully into the autumn garden.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn moeder</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn kind</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me go away with Bram in the morning. Batavius I cannot bear. About
+every chair-cover he will call in the whole house. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>only
+chair-covers in the world they will be. Listen, how he will talk: 'See
+here, Joanna. A fine piece is this; ten shillings and sixpence the yard,
+and good enough for the governor's house. But I am a man of some
+substance,&mdash;<i>Gode zij dank!</i>&mdash;and people will expect that I, who give
+every Sunday twice to the kirk, should have chairs in accordance.'
+<i>Moeder</i>, you know how it will be. To-morrow I cannot bear him. Very
+near quarrelling have we been for a week."</p>
+
+<p>"I know, Katharine, I know. Leave, then, with Bram, and go first to
+Margaret Pitt's, and ask her if the new winter fashions will arrive from
+London this month. I heard also that Mary Blankaart has lost a silk
+purse, and in it five gold jacobus, and some half and quarter johannes.
+Ask kindly for her, and about the money; and so the morning could be
+passed. And look now, Katherine, peace is the best thing; and to his own
+house Batavius will go in a few weeks."</p>
+
+<p>"That will make me glad."</p>
+
+<p>"Whish, <i>mijn kind!</i> Thy bad thoughts should be dumb thoughts."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn moeder</i>, sad and troubled are thy looks. What is thy sorrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"For thee my heart aches often,&mdash;mine and thy good father's, too. Dost
+thou not suffer? Can thy mother be blind? Nothing hast thou eaten
+lately. Joanna says thou art restless all the night long. Thou art so
+changed then, that wert ever such a happy little one. Once thou did love
+me, Katrijntje."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Ach, mijn moeder</i>, still I love thee!"</p>
+
+<p>"But that English soldier?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>"Never can I cease to love him. See, now, the love I give him is his
+love. It never was thine. For him I brought it into the world. None of
+thy love have I given to him. <i>Mijn moeder</i>, thee I would not rob for
+the whole world; not I!"</p>
+
+<p>"For all that, <i>kleintje</i>, hard is the mother's lot. The dear children I
+nursed on my breast, they go here and they go there, with this strange
+one and that strange one. Last night, ere to our sleep we went, thy
+father read to me some words of the loving, motherlike Jacob. They are
+true words. Every good mother has said them, at the grave or at the
+bridal, 'En mij aangaande, als ik van kinderen beroofd ben, zoo ben ik
+beroofd!'"</p>
+
+<p>There was a sad pathos in the homely old words as they dropped slowly
+from Lysbet's lips,&mdash;a pathos that fitted perfectly the melancholy air
+of the fading garden, the melancholy light of the fading day, and the
+melancholy regret for a happy home gradually scattering far and wide.
+Many a year afterward Katharine remembered the hour and the words,
+especially in the gray glooms of late October evenings.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning was one of perfect beauty, and Katharine awoke with a
+feeling of joyful expectation. She dressed beautifully her pale brown
+hair; and her intended visit to Mary Blankaart gave her an excuse for
+wearing her India silk,&mdash;the pretty dress Richard had seen her first in,
+the dress he had so often admired. Her appearance caused some remarks,
+which Madam Van Heemskirk replied to; and with much of her old gayety
+Katherine walked between her father and brother away from home.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>She paid a very short visit to the mantua-maker, and then went to Mrs.
+Gordon's. There was less effusion in that lady's manner than at her last
+interview with Katherine. She had a little spasm of jealousy; she had
+some doubts about Katherine's deserts; she wondered whether her nephew
+really adored the girl with the fervour he affected, or whether he had
+determined, at all sacrifices, to prevent her marriage with Neil Semple.
+Katherine had never before seen her so quiet and so cool; and a feeling
+of shame sprang up in the girl's heart. "Perhaps she was going to do
+something not exactly proper in Mrs. Gordon's eyes, and in advance that
+lady was making her sensible of her contempt."</p>
+
+<p>With this thought, she rose, and with burning cheeks said, "I will go
+home, madam. Now I feel that I am doing wrong. To write to Captain Hyde
+will be the best way."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray don't be foolish, Katherine. I am of a serious turn this morning,
+that is all. How pretty you are! and how vastly becoming your gown! But,
+indeed, I am going to ask you to change it. Yesterday, at the 'King's
+Arms,' I said my sister would arrive this morning with me; and I bespoke
+a little cotillon in Dick's rooms. In that dress you will be too
+familiar, my dear. See here, is not this the prettiest fashion? It is
+lately come over. So airy! so French! so all that!"</p>
+
+<p>It was a light-blue gown and petticoat of rich satin, sprigged with
+silver, and a manteau of dark-blue velvet trimmed with bands of delicate
+fur. The bonnet was not one which the present generation would call
+"lovely;" but, in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>its satin depths, Katharine's fresh, sweet face
+looked like a rose. She hardly knew herself when the toilet was
+completed; and, during its progress, Mrs. Gordon recovered all her
+animation and interest.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-171.png" width="200" height="289" alt="In its satin depths" title="In its satin depths" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Before they were ready, a coach was in waiting; and in a few minutes
+they stood together at Hyde's door. There was a sound of voices within;
+and, when they entered, Katherine saw, with a pang of disappointment, a
+fine, soldierly looking man in full uniform sitting by Richard's side.
+But Richard appeared to be in no way annoyed by his company. He was
+looking much better, and wore a chamber gown of maroon satin, with deep
+laces showing at the wrists and bosom. When Katherine entered, he was
+amazed and charmed with her appearance. "Come near to me, my Katherine,"
+he said; and as Mrs. Gordon drew from her shoulders the mantle, and from
+her head the bonnet, and revealed more perfectly her beautiful person
+and dress, his love and admiration were beyond words.</p>
+
+<p>With an air that plainly said, "This is the maiden for whom I fought and
+have suffered: is she not worthy of my devotion?" he introduced her to
+his friend, Captain Earle. But, even as they spoke, Earle joined Mrs.
+Gordon, at a call from her; and Katherine noticed that a door near which
+they stood was open, and that they went into the room to which it led,
+and that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>other voices then blended with theirs. But these things were
+as nothing. She was with her lover, alone for a moment with him; and
+Richard had never before seemed to her half so dear or half so
+fascinating.</p>
+
+<p>"My Katharine," he said, "I have one tormenting thought. Night and day
+it consumes me like a fever. I hear that Neil Semple is well. Yesterday
+Captain Earle met him; he was walking with your father. He will be
+visiting at your house very soon. He will see you; he will speak to you.
+You have such obliging manners, he may even clasp this hand, <i>my hand</i>.
+Heavens! I am but a man, and I find myself unable to endure the
+thought."</p>
+
+<p>"In my heart, Richard, there is only room for you. Neil Semple I fear
+and dislike."</p>
+
+<p>"They will make you marry him, my darling."</p>
+
+<p>"No; that they can never do."</p>
+
+<p>"But I suffer in the fear. I suffer a thousand deaths. If you were only
+my wife, Katherine!"</p>
+
+<p>She blushed divinely. She was kneeling at his side; and she put her arms
+around his neck, and laid her face against his. "Only your wife I will
+be. That is what I desire also."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Now</i>, Katherine? This minute, darling? Make me sure of the felicity
+you have promised. You have my word of honour, that as Katherine Van
+Heemskirk I will not again ask you to come here. But it is past my
+impatience to exist, and not see you. <i>Katherine Hyde</i> would have the
+right to come."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my love, my love!"</p>
+
+<p>"See how I tremble, Katherine. Life <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>scarcely cares to inhabit a body so
+weak. If you refuse me, I will let it go. If you refuse me, I shall know
+that in your heart you expect to marry Neil Semple,&mdash;the savage who has
+made me to suffer unspeakable agonies."</p>
+
+<p>"Never will I marry him, Richard,&mdash;never, never. My word is true. You
+only I will marry."</p>
+
+<p>"Then <i>now, now</i>, Katharine. Here is the ring. Here is the special
+license from the governor; my aunt has made him to understand all. The
+clergyman and the witnesses are waiting. Some good fortune has dressed
+you in bridal beauty. <i>Now</i>, Katherine? <i>Now, now</i>!"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0403-1.jpg" width="400" height="407" alt="Katherine knelt by Richard&#39;s side" title="Katherine knelt by Richard&#39;s side" />
+</div>
+
+<p>She rose, and stood white and trembling by his dear side,&mdash;speechless,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>also. To her father and her mother her thoughts fled in a kind of
+loving terror. But how could she resist the pleading of one whom she so
+tenderly loved, and to whom, in her maiden simplicity, she imagined
+herself to be so deeply bounden? That very self-abnegation which forms
+so large a portion of a true affection urged her to compliance far more
+than love itself. And when Richard ceased to speak, and only besought
+her with the unanswerable pathos of his evident suffering for her sake,
+she felt the argument to be irresistible.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my Katherine, will you pity me so far?"</p>
+
+<p>"All you ask, my loved one, I will grant."</p>
+
+<p>"Angel of goodness! <i>Now</i>?"</p>
+
+<p>"At your wish, Richard."</p>
+
+<p>He took her hand in a passion of joy and gratitude, and touched a small
+bell. Immediately there was a sudden silence, and then a sudden
+movement, in the adjoining room. The next moment a clergyman in
+canonical dress came toward them. By his side was Colonel Gordon, and
+Mrs. Gordon and Captain Earle followed. If Katherine had then been
+sensible of any misgiving or repentant withdrawal, the influences
+surrounding her were irresistible. But she had no distinct wish to
+resist them. Indeed, Colonel Gordon said afterward to his wife, "he had
+never seen a bride look at once so lovely and so happy." The ceremony
+was full of solemnity, and of that deepest joy which dims the eyes with
+tears, even while it wreathes the lips with smiles. During it, Katherine
+knelt by Richard's side; and every eye was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>fixed upon him, for he was
+almost fainting with the fatigue of his emotions; and it was with
+fast-receding consciousness that he whispered rapturously at its close,
+"My wife, my wife!"</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the sleep of exhaustion which followed, she sat watching him.
+The company in the next room were quietly making merry "over Dick's
+triumph," but Katherine shook her head at all proposals to join them.
+The band of gold around her finger fascinated her. She was now really
+Richard's wife; and the first sensation of such a mighty change was, in
+her pure soul, one of infinite and reverent love. When Richard awoke, he
+was refreshed and supremely happy. Then Katherine brought him food and
+wine, and ate her own morsel beside him. "Our first meal we must take
+together," she said; and Hyde was already sensible of some exquisite
+change, some new and rarer tenderness and solicitude in all her ways
+toward him.</p>
+
+<p>The noon hour was long past, but she made no mention of it. The wedding
+guests also lingered, talking and laughing softly, and occasionally
+visiting the happy bride and bridegroom in their blissful companionship.
+In those few hours Richard made sure his dominion over his wife's heart;
+and he had so much to tell her, and so many directions to give her,
+that, ere they were aware, the afternoon was well spent. The clergyman
+and the soldiers departed, Mrs. Gordon was a little weary, and Hyde was
+fevered with the very excess of his joy. The moment for parting had
+come; and, when it has, wise are those who delay it not. Hyde fixed his
+eyes upon his wife until <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>Mrs. Gordon had arranged again her bonnet and
+manteau; then, with a smile, he shut in their white portals the
+exquisite picture. He could let her go with a smile now, for he knew
+that Katherine's absence was but a parted presence; knew that her better
+part remained with him, that</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">"Her heart was never away,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16.5em;">But ever with his forever."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The coach was waiting; and, without delay, Katharine returned with Mrs.
+Gordon to her lodgings. Both were silent on the journey. When a great
+event has taken place, only the shallow and unfeeling chatter about it.
+Katherine's heart was full, even to solemnity; and Mrs. Gordon, whose
+affectation of fashionable levity was in a large measure pretence, had a
+kind and sensible nature, and she watched the quiet girl by her side
+with decided approval. "She may not be in the mode, but she is neither
+silly nor heartless," she decided; "and as for loving foolishly my poor,
+delightful Dick, why, any girl may be excused the folly."</p>
+
+<p>Upon leaving the coach at Mrs. Gordon's, Katherine went to an inner room
+to resume her own dress. The India silk lay across a chair; and she took
+off, and folded with her accustomed neatness, the elegant suit she had
+worn. As she did so, she became sensible of a singular liking for it;
+and, when Mrs. Gordon entered the room, she said to her, "Madam, very
+much I desire this suit: it is my wedding-gown. Will you save it for me?
+Some day I may wear it again, when Richard is well."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>"Indeed, Katherine, that is a womanly thought; it does you a vast deal
+of credit; and, upon my word, you shall have the gown. I shall be put to
+straits without it, to out-dress Miss Betty Lawson; but never mind, I
+have a few decent gowns beside it."</p>
+
+<p>"Richard, too, he will like it? You think so, madam?"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, don't begin to quote Richard to me. I shall be impatient if
+you do. I assure you I have never considered him a prodigy." Then,
+kissing her fondly, "Madam Katherine Hyde, my entire service to you.
+Pray be sure I shall give your husband my best concern. And now I think
+you can walk out of the door without much notice; there is a crowd on
+the street, and every one is busy about their own appearance or
+affairs."</p>
+
+<p>"The time, madam? What is the hour?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I think it is much after four o'clock. Half an hour hence, you
+will have to bring out your excuses. I shall wish for a little devil at
+your elbow to help them out. Indeed, I am vastly troubled for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Her excuses" Katherine had not suffered herself to consider. She could
+not bear to shadow the present with the future. She had, indeed, a happy
+faculty of leaving her emergencies to take care of themselves; and
+perhaps wiser people than Katherine might, with advantage, trust less to
+their own planning and foresight, and more to that inscrutable power
+which we call chance, but which so often arranges favourably the events
+apparently very unfavourable. For, at the best, foresight has but
+probabilities to work with; but chance, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>whose tools we know not, very
+often contradicts all our bad prophecies, and untangles untoward events
+far beyond our best prudence or wisdom. And Katharine was so happy. She
+was really Richard's wife; and on that solid vantage-ground she felt
+able to beat off trouble, and to defend her own and his rights.</p>
+
+<p>"So much better you look, Katherine," said Madam Van Heemskirk. "Where
+have you been all the day? And did you see Mary Blankaart? And the
+money, is it found yet?"</p>
+
+<p>The family were at the supper-table; and Joris looked kindly at his
+truant daughter, and motioned to the vacant chair at his side. She
+slipped into it, touching her father's cheek as she passed; and then she
+answered, "At Mary Blankaart's I was not at all, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Where, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"To Margaret Pitt's I went first, and with Mrs. Gordon I have been all
+the day. She is lodging with Mrs. Lanier, on Pearl Street."</p>
+
+<p>"Who sent you there, Katherine?"</p>
+
+<p>"No one, mother. When I passed the house, my name I heard, and Mrs.
+Gordon came out to me; and how could I refuse her? Much had we to talk
+of."</p>
+
+<p>Batavius saw the girl's placid face, and heard her open confession, with
+the greatest amazement. He looked at Joanna, and was just going to
+express his opinion, when Joris rose, pushed his chair a little angrily
+aside, and said, "There is no blame to you, Katherine. Very kind was
+Mrs. Gordon to you, and she is a pleasant woman. For others' faults she
+must not answer. That, also, is what Elder Semple says; for when past
+was her anger, with a heart <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>full of sorrow she went to him and to Madam
+Semple."</p>
+
+<p>"The sorrow that is too late, of what use is it? A very pleasant woman!
+Perhaps she is, but then, also, a very vain, foolish woman. Every person
+of discretion says so; and if I had a daughter"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, Batavius, a daughter thou may have some day. To the man
+with a tender heart, God gives his daughters. Wanting in some good thing
+I had felt myself, if only sons I had been trusted with. A daughter is a
+little white lamb in the household to teach men to be gentle men."</p>
+
+<p>"I was going to say this, if I had a daughter"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, when thou hast, more wisdom will be given thee. Come with
+thy father, <i>Katrijntje</i>, and down the garden we will walk, and see if
+there are dahlias yet, and how grow the gold and the white
+chrysanthemums."</p>
+
+<p>But all the time they were in the garden together, Joris never spoke of
+Mrs. Gordon, nor of Katherine's visit to her. About the flowers, and the
+restless swallows, and the bluebirds, who still lingered, silent and
+anxious, he talked; and a little also of Joanna, and her new house, and
+of the great wedding feast that was the desire of Batavius.</p>
+
+<p>"Every one he has ever spoken to, he will ask," said Katherine; "so hard
+he tries to have many friends, and to be well spoken of."</p>
+
+<p>"That is his way, <i>Katrijntje</i>; every man has his way."</p>
+
+<p>"And I like not the way of Batavius."</p>
+
+<p>"In business, then, he has a good name, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>honest and prudent. He will
+make thy sister a good husband."</p>
+
+<p>But, though Joris said nothing to his daughter concerning her visit to
+Mrs. Gordon, he talked long with Lysbet about it. "What will be the end,
+thou may see by the child's face and air," he said; "the shadow and the
+heaviness are gone. Like the old Katherine she is to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"And this afternoon comes here Neil Semple. Scarcely he believed me that
+Katherine was out. Joris, what wilt thou do about the young man?"</p>
+
+<p>"His fair chance he is to have, Lysbet. That to the elder is promised."</p>
+
+<p>"The case now is altered. Neil Semple I like not. Little he thought of
+our child's good name. With his sword he wounded her most. No patience
+have I with the man. And his dark look thou should have seen when I
+said, 'Katherine is not at home.' Plainly his eyes said to me, 'Thou art
+lying.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, what thought hast thou?"</p>
+
+<p>"This: one lover must push away the other. The young dominie that is now
+with the Rev. Lambertus de Ronde, he is handsome and a great hero. From
+Surinam has he come, a man who for the cross has braved savage men and
+savage beasts and deadly fever. No one but he is now to be talked of in
+the kirk; and I would ask him to the house. Often I have seen the gown
+and bands put the sword and epaulets behind them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, at the wedding of Batavius he will be asked; and if before
+there is a good time, I will say, 'Come into my house, and eat and drink
+with us.'"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>So the loving, anxious parents, in their ignorance, planned. Even then,
+accustomed in all their ways to move with caution, they saw no urgent
+need of interference with the regular and appointed events of life. A
+few weeks hence, when Joanna was married, if there was in the meantime
+no special opportunity, the dominie could be offered as an antidote to
+the soldier; and, in the interim, Neil Semple was to honourably have
+such "chance" as his ungovernable temper had left him.</p>
+
+<p>The next afternoon he called again on Katherine. His arm was still
+useless; his pallor and weakness so great as to win, even from Lysbet,
+that womanly pity which is often irrespective of desert. She brought him
+wine, she made him rest upon the sofa, and by her quiet air of sympathy
+bespoke for him a like indulgence from her daughter. Katherine sat by
+her small wheel, unplaiting some flax; and Neil thought her the most
+beautiful creature he had ever seen. He kept angrily asking himself why
+he had not perceived this rare loveliness before; why he had not made
+sure his claim ere rivals had disputed it with him. He did not
+understand that it was love which had called this softer, more exquisite
+beauty into existence. The tender light in the eyes; the flush upon the
+cheek; the lips, conscious of sweet words and sweeter kisses; the heart,
+beating to pure and loving thoughts,&mdash;in short, the loveliness of the
+soul, transfiguring the meaner loveliness of flesh and blood, Neil had
+perceived and wondered at; but he had not that kind of love experience
+which divines the cause from the result.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>On the contrary, had Hyde been watching Katherine, he would have been
+certain that she was musing on her lover. He would have understood that
+bewitching languor, that dreaming silence, that tender air and light and
+colour which was the physical atmosphere of a soul communing with its
+beloved; a soul touching things present only with its intelligence, but
+reaching out to the absent with intensity of every loving emotion.</p>
+
+<p>For some time the conversation was general. The meeting of the
+delegates, and the hospitalities offered them; the offensive and
+tyrannical Stamp Act; the new organization of patriots who called
+themselves "Sons of Liberty;" and the loss of Miss Mary Blankaart's
+purse,&mdash;furnished topics of mild dispute. But no one's interest was in
+their words, and presently Madam Van Heemskirk rose and left the room.
+Her husband had said, "Neil was to have some opportunities;" and the
+words of Joris were a law of love to Lysbet.</p>
+
+<p>Neil was not slow to improve the favour. "Katherine, I wish to speak to
+you. I am weak and ill. Will you come here beside me?"</p>
+
+<p>She rose slowly, and stood beside him; but, when he tried to take her
+hands, she clasped them behind her back.</p>
+
+<p>"So?" he asked; and the blood surged over his white face in a crimson
+tide that made him for a moment or two speechless. "Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Blood-stained are your hands. I will not take them."</p>
+
+<p>The answer gave him a little comfort. It was, then, only a moral qualm.
+He had even no objection to such a keen sense of purity in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>her; and
+sooner or later she would forgive his action, or be made to see it with
+the eyes of the world in which he moved.</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine, I am very sorry I had to guard my honour with my sword; and
+it was your love I was fighting for."</p>
+
+<p>"My honour you cared not for, and with the sword I could not guard it.
+Of me cruel and false words have been said by every one. On the streets
+I was ashamed to go. Even the dominie thought it right to come and give
+me admonition. Batavius never since has liked or trusted me. He says
+Joanna's good name also I have injured. And my love,&mdash;is it a thing to
+be fought for? You have guarded your honour, but what of mine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your honour is my honour. They that speak ill of you, sweet Katherine,
+speak ill of me. Your life is my life. O my precious one, my wife!"</p>
+
+<p>"Such words I will not listen to. Plainly now I tell you, your wife I
+will never be,&mdash;never, never, never!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will love you, Katherine, beyond your dream of love. I will die
+rather than see you the wife of another man. For your bow of ribbon,
+only see what I have suffered."</p>
+
+<p>"And, also, what have you made another to suffer?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I wish that I had slain him!"</p>
+
+<p>"Not your fault is it that you did not murder him."</p>
+
+<p>"An affair of honour is not murder, Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>"Honour!&mdash;Name not the word. From a dozen wounds your enemy was
+bleeding; to go <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>on fighting a dying man was murder, not honour. Brave
+some call you: in my heart I say, 'Neil Semple was a savage and a
+coward.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine, I will not be angry with you."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish that you should be angry with me."</p>
+
+<p>"Because some day you will be very sorry for these foolish words, my
+dear love."</p>
+
+<p>"Your dear love I am not."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear love, give me a drink of wine, I am faint."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-184.png" width="200" height="240" alt="&quot;I am faint&quot;" title="&quot;I am faint&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>His faint whispered words and deathlike countenance moved her to human
+pity. She rose for the wine, and, as she did so, called her mother; but
+Neil had at least the satisfaction of feeling that she had ministered to
+his weakness, and held the wine to his lips. From this time, he visited
+her constantly, unmindful of her frowns, deaf to all her unkind words,
+patient under the most pointed slights and neglect. And as most men rate
+an object according to the difficulty experienced in attaining it,
+Katherine became every day more precious and desirable in Neil's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, without being watched, Katherine felt herself to be
+under a certain amount of restraint. If she proposed a walk into the
+city, Joanna or madam was sure to have the same desire. She was not
+forbidden to visit Mrs. Gordon, but events were so arranged as to make
+the visit almost impossible; and only once, during the month after her
+marriage, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>had she an interview with her husband. For even Hyde's
+impatience had recognized the absolute necessity of circumspection. The
+landlord's suspicions had been awakened, and not very certainly allayed.
+"There must be no scandal about my house, Captain," he said. "I merit
+something better from you;" and, after this injunction, it was very
+likely that Mrs. Gordon's companions would be closely scrutinized. True,
+the "King's Arms" was the great rendezvous of the military and
+government officials, and the landlord himself subserviently loyal; but,
+also, Joris Van Heemskirk was not a man with whom any good citizen would
+like to quarrel. Personally he was much beloved, and socially he stood
+as representative of a class which held in their hands commercial and
+political power no one cared to oppose or offend.</p>
+
+<p>The marriage license had been obtained from the governor, but
+extraordinary influence had been used to procure it. Katherine was under
+age, and yet subject to her father's authority. In spite of book and
+priest and ring, he could retain his child for at least three years; and
+three years, Hyde&mdash;in talking with his aunt &mdash;called "an eternity of
+doubt and despair." These facts, Hyde, in his letters, had fully
+explained to Katherine; and she understood clearly how important the
+preservation of her secret was, and how much toward allaying suspicion
+depended upon her own behaviour. Fortunately Joanna's wedding day was
+drawing near, and it absorbed what attention the general public had for
+the Van Heemskirk family. For it was a certain thing, developing into
+feasting <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span>and dancing; and it quite put out of consideration suspicions
+which resulted in nothing, when people examined them in the clear
+atmosphere of Katherine's home.</p>
+
+<p>At the feast of St. Nicholas the marriage was to take place. Early in
+November the preparations for it began. No such great event could happen
+without an extraordinary housecleaning; and from garret to cellar the
+housemaid's pail and brush were in demand. Spotless was every inch of
+paint, shining every bit of polished wood and glass; not a thimbleful of
+dust in the whole house. Toward the end of the month, Anna and Cornelia
+arrived, with their troops of rosy boys and girls, and their slow,
+substantial husbands. Batavius felt himself to be a very great man. The
+weight of his affairs made him solemn and preoccupied. He was not one of
+those light, foolish ones, who can become a husband and a householder
+without being sensible of the responsibilities they assume.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of all this household excitement Katherine found some
+opportunities of seeing Mrs. Gordon; and in the joy of receiving letters
+from, and sending letters to, her husband, she recovered a gayety of
+disposition which effectually repressed all urgent suspicions. Besides,
+as the eventful day drew near, there was so much to attend to. Joanna's
+personal goods, her dresses and household linen, her china, and wedding
+gifts, had to be packed; the house was decorated; and there was a most
+amazing quantity of delicacies to be prepared for the table.</p>
+
+<p>In the middle of the afternoon of the day before the marriage, there was
+the loud rat-tat-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>tat of the brass knocker, announcing a visitor. But
+visitors had been constant since the arrival of Cornelia and Anna, and
+Katherine did not much trouble herself as to whom it might be. She was
+standing upon a ladder, pinning among the evergreens and scarlet berries
+rosettes and bows of ribbon of the splendid national colour, and singing
+with a delightsome cheeriness,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"But the maid of Holland,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">For her own true love,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Ties the splendid orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">Orange still above!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>O oranje boven!</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">Orange still above!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Orange still above! Oh, my dear, don't trouble yourself to come down! I
+can pass the time tolerably well, watching you."</p>
+
+<p>It was Mrs. Gordon, and she nodded and laughed in a triumphant way that
+very quickly brought Katherine to her side. "My dear, I kiss you. You
+are the top beauty of my whole acquaintance." Then, in a whisper,
+"<i>Richard sends his devotion. And put your hand in my muff: there is a
+letter. </i> And pray give me joy: I have just secured an invitation. I
+asked the councillor and madam point blank for it. Faith, I think I am a
+little of a favourite with them! Every one is talking of the bridegroom,
+and the bridegroom is talking to every one. Surely, my dear, he imagines
+himself to be the only man that will ever again commit matrimony.
+<i>Oranje boven</i>, everywhere!" Then, with a little exultant laugh, "<i>Above
+the Tartan</i>, at any rate. How is the young Bruce? My <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>dear, if you don't
+make him suffer, I shall never forgive you. Alternate doses of hope and
+despair, that would be my prescription."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-188.png" width="200" height="412" alt="&quot;Don&#39;t trouble yourself to come down&quot;" title="&quot;Don&#39;t trouble yourself to come down&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Katherine shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Take notice, in particular, that I don't understand nods and shakes and
+sighs and signs. What is your opinion, frankly?"</p>
+
+<p>"On my wedding day, as I left Richard, this he said to me: 'My honour,
+Katherine, is now in your keeping.' By the lifting of one eyelash, I
+will not stain it."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, you are perfectly charming. You always convince me that I am a
+better woman than I imagine myself. I shall go straight to Dick, and
+tell him how exactly proper you are. Really, you have more perfections
+than any one woman has a right to."</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow, if I have a letter ready, you will take it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will run the risk, child. But really, if you could see the way mine
+host of the 'King's Arms' looks at me, you would be sensible of my
+courage. I am persuaded he thinks I carry you under my new wadded cloak.
+Now, adieu. Return to your evergreens and ribbons.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"'For your own true love,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Tie the splendid orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Orange still above!'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>And so, lightly humming Katharine's favourite song, she left the busy
+house.</p>
+
+<p>Before daylight the next morning, Batavius had every one at his post.
+The ceremony was to be performed in the Middle Kirk, and he took care
+that Joanna kept neither Dominie de Ronde nor himself waiting. He was
+exceedingly gratified to find the building crowded when the wedding
+party arrived. Joanna's dress had cost a guinea a yard, his own
+broadcloth and satin were of the finest quality, and he felt that the
+good citizens who respected him ought to have an opportunity to see how
+deserving he was of their esteem. Joanna, also, was a beautiful bride;
+and the company was entirely composed of men of honour and substance,
+and women of irreproachable characters, dressed with that solid
+magnificence gratifying to a man who, like Batavius, dearly loved
+respectability.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine looked for Mrs. Gordon in vain; she was not in the kirk, and
+she did not arrive until the festival dinner was nearly over. Batavius
+was then considerably under the excitement of his fine position and fine
+fare. He sat by the side of his bride, at the right hand of Joris; and
+Katherine assisted her mother at the other end of the table. Peter
+Block, the first mate of the "Great Christopher," was just beginning to
+sing a song,&mdash;a foolish, sentimental ditty for so big and bluff a
+fellow,&mdash;in which some girl was thus entreated,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"Come, fly with me, my own fair love;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">My bark is waiting in the bay,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">And soon its snowy wings will speed</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">To happy lands so far away,</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"And there, for us, the rose of love</span><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Shall sweetly bloom and never die.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Oh, fly with me! We'll happy be</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Beneath fair Java's smiling sky."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"Peter, such nonsense as you sing," said Batavius, with all the
+authority of a skipper to his mate. "How can a woman fly when she has no
+wings? And to say any bark has wings is not the truth. And what kind of
+rose is the rose of love? Twelve kinds of roses I have chosen for my new
+garden, but that kind I never heard of; and I will not believe in any
+rose that never dies. And you also have been to Java; and well you know
+of the fever and blacks, and the sky that is not smiling, but hot as the
+place which is not heaven. No respectable person would want to be a
+married man in Java. I never did."</p>
+
+<p>"Sing your own songs, skipper. By yourself you measure every man. If to
+the kingdom of heaven you did not want to go, astonished and angry you
+would be that any one did not like the place which is not heaven."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, friends and neighbours," said Joris cheerily, "I will sing you a
+song; and every one knows the tune to it, and every one has heard their
+vaders and their moeders sing it, &mdash;sometimes, perhaps, on the great
+dikes of Vaderland, and sometimes in their sweet homes that the great
+Hendrick Hudson found out for them. Now, then, all, a song for</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20.5em;">"'MOEDER HOLLAND.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"'We have taken our land from the sea,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Its fields are all yellow with grain,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Its meadows are green on the lea,&mdash;</span><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">And now shall we give it to Spain?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">No, no, no, no!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"'We have planted the faith that is pure,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">That faith to the end we'll maintain;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">For the word and the truth must endure.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Shall we bow to the Pope and to Spain?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">No, no, no, no!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"'Our ships are on every sea,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Our honour has never a stain,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Our law and our commerce are free:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Are we slaves for the tyrant of Spain?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">No, no, no, no!</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"'Then, sons of Batavia, the spade,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">The spade and the pike and the main,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">And the heart and the hand and the blade;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Is there mercy for merciless Spain?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;">No, no, no, no!'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>By this time the enthusiasm was wonderful. The short, quick denials came
+hotter and louder at every verse; and it was easy to understand how
+these large, slow men, once kindled to white heat, were both
+irresistible and unconquerable. Every eye was turned to Joris, who stood
+in his massive, manly beauty a very conspicuous figure. His face was
+full of feeling and purpose, his large blue eyes limpid and shining;
+and, as the tumult of applause gradually ceased, he said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My friends and neighbours, no poet am I; but always wrongs burn in the
+heart until plain prose cannot utter them. Listen to me. If we wrung the
+Great Charter and the right of self-taxation from Mary in A.D. 1477; if
+in A.D. 1572 we taught Alva, by force of arms, how dear to us was our
+maxim, 'No taxation without representation,'&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0404-1.jpg" width="300" height="424" alt="&quot;Listen to me!&quot;" title="&quot;Listen to me!&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">"Shall we give up our long-cherished right?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">Make the blood of our fathers in vain?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">Do we fear any tyrant to fight?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">Shall we hold out our hands for the chain?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">No, no, no, no!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Even the women had caught fire at this allusion to the injustice of the
+Stamp Act and Quartering Acts, then hanging over the liberties of the
+Province; and Mrs. Gordon looked curiously and not unkindly at the
+latent rebels. "England will have foemen worthy of her steel if she
+turns these good friends into enemies," she reflected; and then,
+following some irresistible impulse, she rose with the company, at the
+request of Joris, to sing unitedly the patriotic invocation,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">"O Vaderland, can we forget thee,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">Thy courage, thy glory, thy strife?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">O Moeder Kirk, can we forget thee?</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">No, never! no, never! through life.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">No, no, no, no!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The emotion was too intense to be prolonged; and Joris instantly pushed
+back his chair, and said, "Now, then, friends, for the dance. Myself I
+think not too old to take out the bride."</p>
+
+<p>Neil Semple, who had looked like a man in a dream during the singing,
+went eagerly to Katherine as soon as Joris spoke of dancing. "He felt
+strong enough," he said, "to tread a measure in the bride dance, and he
+hoped she would so far honour him."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I will not, Neil. I will not take your hands. Often I have told you
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"Just for to-night, forgive me, Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sorry that all must end so; I cannot <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>dance any more with you;"
+and then she affected to hear her mother calling, and left him standing
+among the jocund crowd, hopeless and distraught with grief. He was not
+able to recover himself, and the noise and laughter distracted and made
+him angry. He had expected so much from this occasion, from its
+influence and associations; and it had been altogether a disappointment.
+Mrs. Gordon's presence troubled him, and he was not free from jealousy
+regarding the young dominie. He had received a call from a church in
+Haarlem; and the Consistory had requested him to become a member of the
+Coetus, and accept it. Joris had interested himself much in his favour;
+Katherine listened with evident pleasure to his conversation. The fire
+of jealousy burns with very little fuel; and Neil went away from
+Joanna's wedding-feast hating very cordially the young and handsome
+Dominie Lambertus Van Linden.</p>
+
+<p>The elder noticed every thing, and he was angry at this new turn in
+affairs. He felt as if Joris had purposely brought the dominie into his
+house to further embarrass Neil; and he said to his wife after their
+return home, "Janet, our son Neil has lost the game for Katherine Van
+Heemskirk. I dinna care a bodle for it now. A man that gets the woman he
+wants vera seldom gets any other gude thing."</p>
+
+<p>"Elder!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, weel, there's excepts! I hae mind o' them. But Neil won't be long
+daunted. I looked in on him as I cam' upstairs. He was sitting wi' a law
+treatise, trying to read his trouble awa'. He's a brave soul. He'll hae
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span>honours and charges in plenty; and there's vera few women that are
+worth a gude office&mdash;if you hae to choose atween them."</p>
+
+<p>"You go back on your ain words, Elder. Tak' a sleep to yoursel'. Your
+pillow may gie you wisdom."</p>
+
+<p>And, while this conversation was taking place, they heard the pleasant
+voices of Van Heemskirk's departing guests, as, with snatches of song
+and merry laughter, they convoyed Batavius and his bride to their own
+home. And, when they got there, Batavius lifted up his lantern and
+showed them the motto he had chosen for its lintel; and it passed from
+lip to lip, till it was lifted altogether, and the young couple crossed
+their threshold to his ringing good-will,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">"Poverty&mdash;always a day's sail behind us!"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 436px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0405-1.jpg" width="436" height="300" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 529px;">
+<img src="images/illus-197.png" width="529" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>Now many memories make solicitous</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>The delicate love lines of her mouth, till, lit</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>With quivering fire, the words take wing from it;</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>As here between our kisses we sit thus</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>Speaking of things remembered, and so sit</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>Speechless while things forgotten call to us</i>."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>Joanna's wedding occurred at the beginning of the winter and the winter
+festivities. But, amid all the dining and dancing and skating, there was
+a political anxiety and excitement that leavened strongly every social
+and domestic event. The first Colonial Congress had passed the three
+resolutions which proved to be the key-note of resistance and of
+liberty. Joris had emphatically indorsed its action. The odious Stamp
+Act was to be met by the refusal of American merchants either to import
+English goods, or to sell them upon commission, until it was repealed.
+Homespun became fashionable. During the first three months of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>the year,
+it was a kind of disgrace to wear silk or satin or broadcloth; and a
+great fair was opened for the sale of articles of home manufacture. The
+Government kept its hand upon the sword. The people were divided into
+two parties, bitterly antagonistic to each other. The "Sons of Liberty"
+were keeping guard over the pole which symbolized their determination;
+the British soldiery were swaggering and boasting and openly insulting
+patriots on the streets; and the "New York Gazette," in flaming
+articles, was stimulating to the utmost the spirit of resistance to
+tyranny.</p>
+
+<p>And these great public interests had in every family their special
+modifications. Joris was among the two hundred New York merchants who
+put their names to the resolutions of the October Congress; Bram was a
+conspicuous member of the "Sons of Liberty;" but Batavius, though
+conscientiously with the people's party, was very sensible of the
+annoyance and expense it put him to. Only a part of his house was
+finished, but the building of the rest was in progress; and many things
+were needed for its elegant completion, which were only to be bought
+from Tory importers, and which had been therefore nearly doubled in
+value. When liberty interfered with the private interests of Batavius,
+he had his doubts as to whether it was liberty. Often Bram's overt
+disloyalty irritated him beyond endurance. For, since he had joined the
+ranks of married men and householders, Batavius felt that unmarried men
+ought to wait for the opinions and leadership of those who had
+responsibilities.</p>
+
+<p>Joanna talked precisely as Batavius talked. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>All of his enunciations met
+with her "Amen." There are women who are incapable of but one
+affection,&mdash;that one which affects them in especial,&mdash;and Joanna was of
+this order. "My husband" was perpetually on her tongue. She looked upon
+her position as a wife and housekeeper as unique. Other woman might
+have, during the past six thousand years, held these positions in an
+indifferent kind of way; but only she had ever comprehended and properly
+fulfilled the duties they involved. Madam Van Heemskirk smiled a little
+when Joanna gave her advices about her house and her duties, when she
+disapproved of her father's political attitude, when she looked injured
+by Bram's imprudence.</p>
+
+<p>"Not only is wisdom born with Joanna and Batavius, it will also die with
+them; so they think," said Katharine indignantly, after one of Joanna's
+periodical visitations.</p>
+
+<p>A tear twinkled in madam's eyes; but she answered, "I shall not distress
+myself overmuch. Always I have said, 'Joanna has a little soul. Only
+what is for her own good can she love.'"</p>
+
+<p>"It is Batavius; and a woman must love her husband, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the truth: first and best of all, she must love him, Katherine;
+but not as the dog loves and fawns on his master, or the squaw bends
+down to her brave. A good woman gives not up her own principles and
+thoughts and ways. A good woman will remember the love of her father and
+mother and brother and sister, her old home, her old friends; and
+contempt she will not feel and show for the things <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>of the past, which
+often, for her, were far better than she was worthy of."</p>
+
+<p>"There is one I love, mother, love with all my soul. For him I would
+die. But for thee also I would die. Love thee, mother? I love thee and
+my father better because I love him. My mother, fret thee not, nor think
+that ever Joanna can really forget thee. If a daughter could forget her
+good father and her good mother, then with the women who sit weeping in
+the outer darkness, God would justly give her her portion. Such a
+daughter could not be."</p>
+
+<p>Lysbet sadly shook her head. "When I was a little girl, Katherine, I
+read in a book about the old Romans, how a wicked daughter over the
+bleeding corpse of her father drove her chariot. She wanted his crown
+for her own husband; and over the warm, quivering body of her father she
+drove. When I read that story, Katherine, my eyes I covered with my
+hands. I thought such a wicked woman in the world could not be. Alas,
+<i>mijn kind!</i> often since then I have seen daughters over the bleeding
+hearts of their mothers and fathers drive; and frown and scold and be
+much injured and offended if once, in their pain and sorrow, they cry
+out."</p>
+
+<p>"But this of me remember, mother: if I am not near thee, I shall be
+loving thee, thinking of thee; telling my husband, and perhaps my little
+children about thee,&mdash;how good thou art, how pretty, how wise. I will
+order my house as thou hast taught me, and my own dear ones will love me
+better because I love thee. If to my own mother I be not true, can my
+husband <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>be sure I will be true to him, if comes the temptation strong
+enough? Sorry would I be if my heart only one love could hold, and ever
+the last love the strong love."</p>
+
+<p>Still, in spite of this home trouble, and in spite of the national
+anxiety, the winter months went with a delightsome peace and regularity
+in the Van Heemskirk household. Neil Semple ceased to visit Katherine
+after Joanna's wedding. There was no quarrel, and no interruption to the
+kindness that had so long existed between the families; frequently they
+walked from kirk together,&mdash;Madam Semple and Madam Van Heemskirk, Joris
+and the elder, Katherine and Neil. But Neil never again offered her his
+hand; and such conversation as they had was constrained and of the most
+conventional character.</p>
+
+<p>Very frequently, also, Dominic Van Linden spent the evening with them.
+Joris delighted in his descriptions of Java and Surinam; and Lysbet and
+Katherine knit their stockings, and listened to the conversation. It was
+evident that the young minister was deeply in love, and equally evident
+that Katharine's parents favoured his suit. But the lover felt, that,
+whenever he attempted to approach her as a lover, Katherine surrounded
+herself with an atmosphere that froze the words of admiration or
+entreaty upon his lips.</p>
+
+<p>Joris, however, spoke for him. "He has told me how truly he loves thee.
+Like an honest man he loves thee, and he will make thee a wife honoured
+of many. No better husband can thou have, Katherine." So spoke her
+father to her one evening in the early spring, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>as they stood together
+over the budding snowdrops and crocus.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-202.png" width="300" height="424" alt="They stood together over the budding snowdrops" title="They stood together over the budding snowdrops" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"There is no love in my heart for him, father."</p>
+
+<p>"Neil pleases thee not, nor the dominie. Whom is it thou would have,
+then? Surely not that Englishman now? The whole race I
+hate,&mdash;swaggering, boastful tyrants, all of them. I will not give thee
+to any Englishman."</p>
+
+<p>"If I marry not him, then will I stay with thee always."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense that is. Thou must marry, like other women. But not him; I
+would never forgive thee; I would never see thy face again."</p>
+
+<p>"Very hard art thou to me. I love Richard; can I love this one and then
+that one? If I were so light-of-love, contempt I should have from all,
+even from thee."</p>
+
+<p>"Now, I have something to say. I have heard that some one,&mdash;very like to
+thee,&mdash;some one went twice or three times with Mrs. Gordon to see the
+man when he lay ill at the 'King's Arms.' To such talk, my anger and my
+scorn soon put an end; and I will not ask of thee whether it be true, or
+whether it be false. For a young girl I can feel."</p>
+
+<p>"O father, if for me thou could feel!"</p>
+
+<p>"See, now, if I thought this man would be to thee a good husband, I
+would say, 'God made <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>him, and God does not make all his men Dutchmen;'
+and I would forgive him his light, loose life, and his wicked wasting of
+gold and substance, and give thee to him, with thy fortune and with my
+blessing. But I think he will be to thee a careless husband. He will get
+tired of thy beauty; thy goodness he will not value; thy money he will
+soon spend. Three sweethearts had he in New York before thee. Their very
+names, I dare say, he hath forgotten ere this."</p>
+
+<p>"If Richard could make you sure, father, that he would be a good
+husband, would you then be content that we should be married?"</p>
+
+<p>"That he cannot do. Can the night make me sure it is the day? Once very
+much I respected Batavius. I said, 'He is a strict man of business;
+honourable, careful, and always apt to make a good bargain. He does not
+drink nor swear, and he is a firm member of the true Church. He will
+make my Joanna a good husband.' That was what I thought. Now I see that
+he is a very small, envious, greedy man; and like himself he quickly
+made thy sister. This is what I fear: if thou marry that soldier, either
+thou must grow like him, or else he will hate thee, and make thee
+miserable."</p>
+
+<p>"Just eighteen I am. Let us not talk of husbands. Why are you so
+hurried, father, to give me to this strange dominie? Little is known of
+him but what he says. It is easy for him to speak well of Lambertus Van
+Linden."</p>
+
+<p>"The committee from the Great Consistory have examined his testimonials.
+They are very good. And I am not in a hurry to give thee <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>away. What I
+fear is, that thou wilt be a foolish woman, and give thyself away."</p>
+
+<p>Katherine stood with dropped head, looking apparently at the brown
+earth, and the green box borders, and the shoots of white and purple and
+gold. But what she really saw, was the pale, handsome face of her sick
+husband, its pathetic entreaty for her love, its joyful flush, when with
+bridal kisses he whispered, "<i>Wife, wife, wife!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Joris watched her curiously. The expression on her face he could not
+understand. "So happy she looks!" he thought, "and for what reason?"
+Katherine was the first to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"Who has told you anything about Captain Hyde, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Many have spoken."</p>
+
+<p>"Does he get back his good health again?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that. When the warm days come, to England he is going. So says
+Jacob Cohen. What has Mrs. Gordon told thee? for to see her I know thou
+goes."</p>
+
+<p>"Twice only have I been. I heard not of England."</p>
+
+<p>"But that is certain. He will go, and what then? Thee he will quite
+forget, and never more will thou see or hear tell of him."</p>
+
+<p>"That I believe not. In the cold winter one would have said of these
+flowers, 'They come no more.' But the winter goes away, and then here
+they are. Richard has been in the dead valley, <i>der shaduwe des doods</i>.
+Sometimes I thought, he will come back to me no more. But now I am sure
+I shall see him again."</p>
+
+<p>Joris turned sadly away. That night he did <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>not speak to her more. But
+he had the persistence which is usually associated with slow natures. He
+could not despair. He felt that he must go steadily on trying to move
+Katherine to what he really believed was her highest interest. And he
+permitted nothing to discourage him for very long. Dominie Van Linden
+was also a prudent man. He had no intention in his wooing to make haste
+and lose speed. As to Katherine's love troubles, he had not been left in
+ignorance of them. A great many people had given him such information as
+would enable him to keep his own heart from the wiles of the siren. He
+had also a wide knowledge of books and life, and in the light of this
+knowledge he thought that he could understand her. But the conclusion
+that he deliberately came to was, that Katherine had cared neither for
+Hyde nor Semple, and that the unpleasant termination of their courtship
+had made her shy of all lover-like attentions. He believed that if he
+advanced cautiously to her he might have the felicity of surprising and
+capturing her virgin affection. And just about so far does any amount of
+wisdom and experience help a man in a love perplexity; because every
+mortal woman is a different woman, and no two can be wooed and won in
+precisely the same way.</p>
+
+<p>Amid all these different elements, political, social, and domestic,
+Nature kept her own even, unvarying course. The gardens grew every day
+fairer, the air more soft and balmy, the sunshine warmer and more
+cherishing. Katherine was not unhappy. As Hyde grew stronger, he spent
+his hours in writing long letters to his wife. He told her every trivial
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>event, he commented on all she told him. And her letters revealed to
+him a soul so pure, so true, so loving, that he vowed "he fell in love
+with her afresh every day of his life." Katherine's communications
+reached her husband readily by the ordinary post; Hyde's had to be sent
+through Mrs. Gordon. But it was evident from the first that Katherine
+could not call there for them. Colonel Gordon would soon have objected
+to being made an obvious participant in his nephew's clandestine
+correspondence; and Joris would have decidedly interfered with visits
+sure to cause unpleasant remarks about his daughter. The medium was
+found in the mantua-maker, Miss Pitt. Mrs. Gordon was her most
+profitable customer, and Katherine went there for needles and threads
+and such small wares as are constantly needed in a household. And
+whenever she did so, Miss Pitt was sure to remark, in an after-thought
+kind of way, "Oh, I had nearly forgotten, miss! Here is a small parcel
+that Mrs. Gordon desired me to present to you."</p>
+
+<p>One exquisite morning in May, Katherine stood at an open window looking
+over the garden and the river, and the green hills and meadows across
+the stream. Her heart was full of hope. Richard's recovery was so far
+advanced that he had taken several rides in the middle of the day.
+Always he had passed the Van Heemskirks' house, and always Katherine had
+been waiting to rain down upon his lifted face the influence of her most
+bewitching beauty and her tenderest smiles. She was thinking of the last
+of these events,&mdash;of Richard's rapid exhibition of a long, folded paper,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>and the singular and emphatic wave which he gave it towards the river.
+His whole air and attitude had expressed delight and hope; could he
+really mean that she was to meet him again at their old trysting-place?</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-207.png" width="300" height="378" alt="His whole air and attitude had expressed delight" title="His whole air and attitude had expressed delight" />
+</div>
+
+<p>As thus she happily mused, some one called her mother from the front
+hall. On fine mornings it was customary to leave the door standing open;
+and the visitor advanced to the foot of the stairs, and called once
+more, "Lysbet Van Heemskirk! Is there naebody in to bid me welcome?"
+Then Katherine knew it was Madam Semple; and she ran to her mother's
+room, and begged her to go down and receive the caller. For in these
+days Katherine dreaded Madam Semple a little. Very naturally, the mother
+blamed her for Neil's suffering and loss of time and prestige; and she
+found it hard to forgive also her positive rejection of his suit. For
+her sake, she herself had been made to suffer mortification and
+disappointment. She had lost her friends in a way which deprived her of
+all the fruits of her kindness. The Gordons thought Neil had
+transgressed all the laws of hospitality. The Semples had a similar
+charge to make. And it provoked Madam Semple that Mrs. Gordon continued
+her friendship with Katherine. Every one else blamed Katherine
+altogether in the matter; Mrs. Gordon had defied the use and wont of
+society on such occasions, and thrown the whole blame on Neil. Somehow,
+in her secret heart, she even blamed Lysbet a little. "Ever since I told
+her there was an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>earldom in the family, she's been daft to push her
+daughter into it," was her frequent remark to the elder; and he also
+reflected that the proposed alliance of Neil and Katharine had been
+received with coolness by Joris and Lysbet. "It was the soldier or the
+dominie, either o' them before our Neil;" and, though there was no
+apparent diminution of friendship, Semple and his wife frequently had a
+little private grumble at their own fireside.</p>
+
+<p>And toward Neil, Joris had also a secret feeling of resentment. He had
+taken no pains to woo Katherine until some one else wanted her. It was
+universally conceded that he had been the first to draw his sword, and
+thus indulge his own temper at the expense of their child's good name
+and happiness. Taking these faults as rudimentary ones, Lysbet could
+enlarge on them indefinitely; and Joris had undoubtedly been influenced
+by his wife's opinions. So, below the smiles and kind words of a long
+friendship, there was bitterness. If there had not been, Janet Semple
+would hardly have paid that morning visit; for before Lysbet was half
+way down the stairs, Katherine heard her call out,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Here's a bonnie come of. But it is what a' folks expected. 'The
+Dauntless' sailed the morn, and Captain Earle wi' a contingent for the
+West Indies station. And who wi' him, guess you, but Captain Hyde, and
+no less? They say he has a furlough in his pocket for a twelvemonth:
+more like it's a clean, total dismissal. The gude ken it ought to be."</p>
+
+<p>So much Katherine heard, then her mother <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>shut to the door of the
+sitting-room. A great fear made her turn faint and sick. Were her
+father's words true? Was this the meaning of the mysterious wave of the
+folded paper toward the ocean? The suspicion once entertained, she
+remembered several little things which strengthened it. Her heart failed
+her; she uttered a low cry of pain, and tottered to a chair, like one
+wounded.</p>
+
+<p>It was then ten o'clock. She thought the noon hour would never come.
+Eagerly she watched for Bram and her father; for any certainty would be
+better than such cruel fear and suspense. And, if Richard had really
+gone, the fact would be known to them. Bram came first. For once she
+felt impatient of his political enthusiasm. How could she care about
+liberty poles and impressed fishermen, with such a real terror at her
+heart? But Bram said nothing; only, as he went out, she caught him
+looking at her with such pitiful eyes. "What did he mean?" She turned
+coward then, and could not voice the question. Joris was tenderly
+explicit. He said to her at once, "'The Dauntless' sailed this morning.
+Oh, my little one, sorry I am for thee!"</p>
+
+<p>"Is <i>he</i> gone?" Very low and slow were the words; and Joris only
+answered, "Yes."</p>
+
+<p>Without any further question or remark, she went away. They were amazed
+at her calmness. And for some minutes after she had locked the door of
+her room, she stood still in the middle of the floor, more like one that
+has forgotten something, and is trying to remember, than a woman who has
+received a blow upon her heart. No tears came to her eyes. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>She did not
+think of weeping, or reproaching, or lamenting. The only questions she
+asked herself were, "How am I to get life over? Will such suffering kill
+me very soon?"</p>
+
+<p>Joris and Lysbet talked it over together. "Cohen told me," said Joris,
+"that Captain Hyde called to bid him good-by. He said, 'He is a very
+honourable young man, a very grateful young man, and I rejoice that I
+was helpful in saving his life.' Then I asked him in what ship he was to
+sail, and he said 'The Dauntless.' She left her moorings this morning
+between nine and ten. She carries troops to Kingston, Captain Earle in
+command; and I heard that Captain Hyde has a year's furlough."</p>
+
+<p>Lysbet drew her lips tight, and said nothing. The last shadow of her own
+dream had departed also, but it was of her child she thought. At that
+hour she hated Hyde; and, after Joris had gone, she said in low, angry
+tones, over and over, as she folded the freshly ironed linen, "I wish
+that Neil had killed him!" About two o'clock she went to Katherine. The
+girl opened her door at once to her. There was nothing to be said, no
+hope to offer. Joris had seen Hyde embark; he had heard Mrs. Gordon and
+the colonel bid him farewell. Several of his brother officers, also, and
+the privates of his own troop, had been on the dock to see him sail. His
+departure was beyond dispute.</p>
+
+<p>And even while she looked at the woeful young face before her, the
+mother anticipated the smaller, festering sorrows that would spring from
+this great one,&mdash;the shame and mortification the mockery of those who
+had envied <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>Katherine; the inquiries, condolences, and advices of
+friends; the complacent self-congratulation of Batavius, who would be
+certain to remind them of every provoking admonition he had given on the
+subject. And who does not know that these little trials of life are its
+hardest trials? The mother did not attempt to say one word of comfort,
+or hope, or excuse. She only took the child in her arms, and wept for
+her. At this hour she would not wound her by even an angry word
+concerning him.</p>
+
+<p>"I loved him so much, <i>moeder</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Thou could not help it. Handsome, and gallant, and gay he was. I never
+shall forget seeing thee dance with him."</p>
+
+<p>"And he did love me. A woman knows when she is loved."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I am sure he loved thee."</p>
+
+<p>"He has gone? Really gone?"</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt is there of it. Stay in thy room, and have thy grief out with
+thyself."</p>
+
+<p>"No; I will come to my work. Every day will now be the same. I shall
+look no more for any joy; but my duty I will do."</p>
+
+<p>They went downstairs together. The clean linen, the stockings that
+required mending, lay upon the table. Katherine sat down to the task.
+Resolutely, but almost unconsciously, she put her needle through and
+through. Her suffering was pitiful; this little one, who a few months
+ago would have wept for a cut finger, now silently battling with the
+bitterest agony that can come to a loving woman,&mdash;the sense of cruel,
+unexpected, unmerited desertion. At first Lysbet tried to talk to her;
+but she soon saw that the effort to answer was beyond <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>Katherine's
+power, and conversation was abandoned. So for an hour, an hour of
+speechless sorrow, they sat. The tick of the clock, the purr of the cat,
+the snap of a breaking thread, alone relieved the tension of silence in
+which this act of suffering was completed. Its atmosphere was becoming
+intolerable, like that of a nightmare; and Lysbet was feeling that she
+must speak and move, and so dissipate it, when there was a loud knock at
+the front door.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine trembled all over. "To-day I cannot bear it, mother. No one
+can I see. I will go upstairs."</p>
+
+<p>Ere the words were finished, Mrs. Gordon's voice was audible. She came
+into the room laughing, with the smell of fresh violets and the feeling
+of the brisk wind around her. "Dear madam," she cried, "I entreat you
+for a favour. I am going to take the air this afternoon: be so good as
+to let Katherine come with me. For I must tell you that the colonel has
+orders for Boston, and I may see my charming friend no more after
+to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine, what say you? Will you go?"</p>
+
+<p>"Please, <i>mijn moeder</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"Make great haste, then." For Lysbet was pleased with the offer, and
+fearful that Joris might arrive, and refuse to let his daughter accept
+it. She hoped that Katherine would receive some comforting message; and
+she was glad that on this day, of all others, Captain Hyde's aunt should
+be seen with her. It would in some measure stop evil surmises; and it
+left an air of uncertainty about the captain's relationship to
+Katherine, which made the humiliation of his departure less keen.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 357px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0406-1.jpg" width="357" height="300" alt="&quot;I am going to take the air this afternoon&quot;" title="&quot;I am going to take the air this afternoon&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Stay not long," she whispered, "for your father's sake. There is no
+good, more trouble to give him."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my dear, you look like a ghost. Have you not one smile for a
+woman so completely in your interest? When I promised Dick this morning
+that I would be <i>sure</i> to get word to you, I was at my wits' end to
+discover a way. But, when I am between the horns of a dilemma, I find it
+the best plan to take the bull by the horns. Hence, I have made you a
+visit which seems to have quite nonplussed you and your good mother."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought Richard had gone."</p>
+
+<p>"And you were breaking your heart, that is easy to be seen. He has gone,
+but he will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>come back to-night at eight o'clock. No matter what
+happens, be at the river-side. Do not fail Dick: he is taking his life
+in his hand to see you."</p>
+
+<p>"I will be there."</p>
+
+<p>"La! what are you crying for, child? Poor girl! What are you crying for?
+Dick, the scamp? He is not worthy of such pure tears; and yet, believe
+me, he loves you to distraction."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought he had gone&mdash;gone, without a word."</p>
+
+<p>"Faith, you are not complimentary! I flatter myself that our Dick is a
+gentleman. I do, indeed. And, as he is yet perfectly in his senses, you
+might have trusted him."</p>
+
+<p>"And you, do you go to Boston to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"The colonel does. At present, I have no such intentions. But I had to
+have some extraordinary excuse, and I could invent no other. However,
+you may say anything, if you only say it with an assurance. Madam wished
+me a pleasant journey. I felt a little sorry to deceive so fine a lady."</p>
+
+<p>"When will Richard return?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I think you will have to answer for his resolves. But he will
+speak for himself; and, in faith, I told him that he had come to a point
+where I would be no longer responsible for his actions. I am thankful to
+own that I have some conscience left."</p>
+
+<p>The ride was not a very pleasant one. Katherine could not help feeling
+that Mrs. Gordon was <i>distrait</i> and inconsistent; and, towards its
+close, she became very silent. Yet she kissed her kindly, and drawing
+her closely for a last word, said, "Do not forget to wear <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>your wadded
+cloak and hood. You may have to take the water; for the councillor is
+very suspicious, let me tell you. Remember what I say,&mdash;the wadded cloak
+and hood; and good-by, good-by, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I see you soon?"</p>
+
+<p>"When we may meet again, I do not pretend to say; till then, I am
+entirely yours; and so again good-by."</p>
+
+<p>The ride had not occupied an hour; but, when Katherine got home, Lysbet
+was making tea. "A cup will be good for you, <i>mijn kind</i>." And she
+smiled tenderly in the face that had been so white in its woeful
+anguish, but on which there was now the gleam of hope. And she perceived
+that Katherine had received some message, she even divined that there
+might be some appointment to keep; and she determined not to be too wise
+and prudent, but to trust Katherine for this evening with her own
+destiny.</p>
+
+<p>That night there was a meeting at the Town Hall, and Joris left the
+house soon after his tea. He was greatly touched by Katharine's effort
+to appear cheerful; and when she followed him to the door, and, ere he
+opened it, put her arms round his neck, and kissed him, murmuring, "My
+father, <i>mijn vader</i>!" he could not restrain his tears.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Mijn kind, my liefste kind</i>!" he answered. And then his soul in its
+great emotion turned affectionately to the supreme fatherhood; for he
+whispered to himself, as he walked slowly and solemnly in the pleasant
+evening light: "'<i>Gelijk sich een vader outfermt over de kinderen</i>!' Oh,
+so great must be Thy pity! My own heart can tell that now."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>For an hour or more Katherine sat in the broad light of the window,
+folding and unfolding the pieces of white linen, sewing a stitch or two
+here, and putting on a button or tape there. Madam passed quietly to and
+fro about her home duties, sometimes stopping to say a few words to her
+daughter. It was a little interval of household calm, full of household
+work; of love assured without need of words, of confidence anchored in
+undoubting souls. When Lysbet was ready to do so, she began to lay into
+the deep drawers of the presses the table-linen which Katherine had so
+neatly and carefully examined. Over a pile of fine damask napkins she
+stood, with a perplexed, annoyed face; and Katherine, detecting it, at
+once understood the cause.</p>
+
+<p>"One is wanting of the dozen, mother. At the last cake-baking, with the
+dish of cake sent to Joanna it went. Back it has not come."</p>
+
+<p>"For it you might go, Katherine. I like not that my sets are broken."</p>
+
+<p>Katherine blushed scarlet. This was the opportunity she wanted. She
+wondered if her mother suspected the want; but Lysbet's face expressed
+only a little worry about the missing damask. Slowly, though her heart
+beat almost at her lips, she folded away her work, and put her needle,
+and thread, and thimble, and scissors, each in its proper place in her
+house-wife. So deliberate were all her actions, that Lysbet's suspicions
+were almost allayed. Yet she thought, "If out she wishes to go, leave I
+have now given her; and, if not, still the walk will do her some good."
+And yet there was in her heart just that element of doubt, which,
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>whenever it is present, ought to make us pause and reconsider the words
+we are going to speak or write, and the deed we are going to do.</p>
+
+<p>The nights were yet chilly,&mdash;though the first blooms were on the
+trees,&mdash;and the wadded cloak and hood were not so far out of season as
+to cause remark. As she came downstairs, the clock struck seven. There
+was yet an hour, and she durst not wait so long at the bottom of the
+garden while it was early in the evening. When her work was done, Lysbet
+frequently walked down it; she had a motherly interest in the budding
+fruit-trees and the growing flowers. And a singular reluctance to leave
+home assailed Katherine. If she had known that it was to be forever, her
+soul could not have more sensibly taken its farewell of all the dear,
+familiar objects of her daily life. About her mother this feeling
+culminated. She found her cap a little out of place; and her fingers
+lingered in the lace, and stroked fondly her hair and pink cheeks, until
+Lysbet felt almost embarrassed by the tender, but unusual show of
+affection.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, then, go, my Katherine. To Joanna give my dear love. Tell her that
+very good were the cheesecakes and the krullers, and that to-morrow I
+will come over and see the new carpet they have bought."</p>
+
+<p>And while she spoke she was retying Katherine's hood, and admiring as
+she did so the fair, sweet face in its quiltings or crimson satin, and
+the small, dimpled chin resting upon the fine bow she tied under it.
+Then she followed her to the door, and watched her down the road until
+she saw her meet Dominie Van <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>Linden, and stand a moment holding his
+hand. "A message I am going for my mother," she said, as she firmly
+refused his escort. "Then with madam, your mother, I will sit until you
+return," he replied cheerfully; and Katherine answered, "That will be a
+great pleasure to her, sir."</p>
+
+<p>A little farther she walked; but suddenly remembering that the dominie's
+visit would keep her mother in the house, and being made restless by the
+gathering of the night shadows, she turned quickly, and taking the very
+road up which Hyde had come the night Neil Semple challenged him, she
+entered the garden by a small gate at its foot, which was intended for
+the gardener's use. The lilacs had not much foliage, but in the dim
+light her dark, slim figure was undistinguishable behind them. Longingly
+and anxiously she looked up and down the water-way. A mist was gathering
+over it; and there were no boats in the channel except two
+pleasure-shallops, already tacking to their proper piers. "The
+Dauntless" had been out of sight for hours. There was not the splash of
+an oar, and no other river sound at that point, but the low, peculiar
+"wish-h-h" of the turning tide.</p>
+
+<p>In the pettiest character there are unfathomable depths; and
+Katherine's, though yet undeveloped, was full of noble aspirations and
+singularly sensitive. As she stood there alone, watching and waiting in
+the dim light, she had a strange consciousness of some mysterious life
+ante-dating this life! and of a long-forgotten voice filling the
+ear-chambers of that spiritual body which was the celestial inhabitant
+of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>her natural body. "<i>Richard, Richard</i>," she murmured; and she never
+doubted but that he heard her.</p>
+
+<p>All her senses were keenly on the alert. Suddenly there was the sound of
+oars, and the measure was that of steady, powerful strokes. She turned
+her face southward, and watched. Like a flash a boat shot out of the
+shadow,&mdash;a long, swift boat, that came like a Fate, rapidly and without
+hesitation, to her very feet. Richard quickly left it and with a few
+strokes it was carried back into the dimness of the central channel.
+Then he turned to the lilac-trees.</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine!"</p>
+
+<p>It was but a whisper, but she heard it. He opened his arms, and she flew
+to their shelter like a bird to her mate.</p>
+
+<p>"My love, my wife, my beautiful wife! My true, good heart! Now, at last
+my own; nothing shall part us again, Katherine,&mdash;never again. I have
+come for you&mdash;come at all risks for you. Only five minutes the boat can
+wait. Are you ready?"</p>
+
+<p>"I know not, Richard. My father&mdash;my mother"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My husband! Say that also, beloved. Am I not first? If you will not go
+with me, <i>here</i> I shall stay; and, as I am still on duty, death and
+dishonour will be the end. O Katherine, shall I die again for you? Will
+you break my sword in disgrace over my head! Faith, darling, I know that
+you would rather die for me."</p>
+
+<p>"If one word I could send them! They suspect me not. They think you are
+gone. It will kill my father."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0407-1.jpg" width="300" height="436" alt="&quot;I will go with you, Richard&quot;" title="&quot;I will go with you, Richard&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>"You shall write to them on the ship. There are a dozen fishing-boats
+near it. We will send the letter by one of them. They will get it early
+in the morning. Sweet Kate, come. Here is the boat. 'The Dauntless' lies
+down the bay, and we have a long pull. My wife, do you need more
+persuasion?"</p>
+
+<p>He released her from his embrace with the words, and stood holding her
+hands, and looking into her face. No woman is insensible to a certain
+kind of authority; and there was fascination as well as power in Hyde's
+words and manner, emphasized by the splendour of his uniform, and the
+air of command that seemed to be a part of it.</p>
+
+<p>"It is for you to decide, Katherine. The boat is here. Even I must obey
+or disobey orders. Will you not go with me, your husband, to love and
+life and honour; or shall I stay with you, for disgrace and death? For
+from you I will not part again."</p>
+
+<p>She had no time to consider how much truth there was in this desperate
+statement. The boat was waiting. Richard was wooing her consent with
+kisses and entreaties. Her own soul urged her, not only by the joy of
+his presence, but by the memory of the anguish she had endured that day
+in the terror of his desertion. From the first moment she had hesitated;
+therefore, from the first moment she had yielded. She clung to her
+husband's arm, she lifted her face to his, she said softly, but clearly,
+"I will go with you, Richard. With you I will go. Where to, I care not
+at all."</p>
+
+<p>They stepped into the boat, and Hyde said, "Oars." Not a word was
+spoken. He held <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>her within his left arm, close to his side, and
+partially covered with his military cloak. It was the boat belonging to
+the commander of "The Dauntless," and the six sailors manning it sent
+the light craft flying like an arrow down the bay. All the past was
+behind her. She had done what was irrevocable. For joy or for sorrow,
+her place was evermore at her husband's side. Richard understood the
+decision she was coming to; knew that every doubt and fear had vanished
+when her hand stole into his hand, when she slightly lifted her face,
+and whispered, "Richard."</p>
+
+<p>They were practically alone upon the misty river; and Richard answered
+the tender call with sweet, impassioned kisses; with low, lover-like,
+encouraging words; with a silence that thrilled with such soft beat and
+subsidence of the spirit's wing, as&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left:16em;">"When it feels, in cloud-girt wayfaring,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">The breath of kindred plumes against its feet."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 484px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0408-1.jpg" width="484" height="300" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 585px;">
+<img src="images/illus-224.png" width="585" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a>X.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"<i>Good people, how they wrangle!</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;"><i>The manners that they never mend,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>The characters they mangle!</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;"><i>They eat and drink, and scheme and plod,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>And go to church on Sunday;</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;"><i>And many are afraid of God,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>And some of Mrs. Grundy</i>."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>During that same hour Joris was in the town council. There had been a
+stormy and prolonged session on the Quartering Act. "To little purpose
+have we compelled the revocation of the Stamp Act," he cried, "if the
+Quartering Act upon us is to be forced. We want not English soldiers
+here. In our homes why should we quarter them?"</p>
+
+<p>All the way home he was asking himself the question; and, when he found
+Dominie Van Linden talking to Lysbet, he gladly discussed it over again
+with him. Lysbet sat beside them, knitting and listening. Until after
+nine o'clock Joris did not notice the absence of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>his daughter. "She
+went to Joanna's," said Lysbet calmly. No fear had yet entered her
+heart. Perhaps she had a vague suspicion that Katherine might also go to
+Mrs. Gordon's, and she was inclined to avoid any notice of the lateness
+of the hour. If it were even ten o'clock when she returned, Lysbet
+intended to make no remarks. But ten o'clock came, and the dominie went,
+and Joris suddenly became anxious about Katherine.</p>
+
+<p>His first anger fell upon Bram. "He ought to have been at home. Then he
+could have gone for his sister. He is not attentive enough to Katherine;
+and very fond is he of hanging about Miriam Cohen's doorstep."</p>
+
+<p>"What say you, Joris, about Miriam Cohen?"</p>
+
+<p>"I spoke in my temper."</p>
+
+<p>He would not explain his words, and Lysbet would not worry him about
+Katherine. "To Joanna's she went, and Batavius is in Boston. Very well,
+then, she has stayed with her sister."</p>
+
+<p>Still, in her own heart there was a certain uneasiness. Katherine had
+never remained all night before without sending some message, or on a
+previous understanding to that effect. But the absence of Batavius, and
+the late hour at which she went, might account for the omission,
+especially as Lysbet remembered that Joanna's servant had been sick, and
+might be unfit to come. She was determined to excuse Katherine, and she
+refused to acknowledge the dumb doubt and fear that crouched at her own
+heart.</p>
+
+<p>In the morning Joris rose very early and went into the garden. Generally
+this service to nature calmed and cheered him; but he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>came to breakfast
+from it, silent and cross. And Lysbet was still disinclined to open a
+conversation about Katharine. She had enough to do to combat her own
+feeling on the subject; and she was sensible that Joris, in the absence
+of any definite object for his anger, blamed her for permitting
+Katherine so much liberty.</p>
+
+<p>"Where, then, is Bram?" he asked testily. "When I was a young man, it
+was the garden or the store for me before this hour. Too much you
+indulge the children, Lysbet."</p>
+
+<p>"Bram was late to bed. He was on the watch last night at the pole. You
+know, Councillor, who in that kind of business has encouraged him."</p>
+
+<p>"Every night the watch is not for him."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, then, but the bad habit is made!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well; tell him to Joanna's to go the first thing, and to send
+home Katherine. I like her not in the house of Batavius."</p>
+
+<p>"Joanna is her sister, Joris."</p>
+
+<p>"Joanna is nothing at all in this world but the wife of Batavius. Send
+for Katherine home. I like her best to be with her mother."</p>
+
+<p>As he spoke, Bram came to the table, looking a little heavy and sleepy.
+Joris rose without more words, and in a few moments the door shut
+sharply behind him. "What is the matter with my father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Cross he is." By this time Lysbet was also cross; and she continued,
+"No wonder at it. Katherine has stayed at Joanna's all night, and late
+to breakfast were you. Yet ever since you were a little boy, you have
+heard your father say one thing, 'Late to breakfast, hur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>ried at dinner,
+behind at supper;' and I also have noticed, that, when the comfort of
+the breakfast is spoiled, then all the day its bad influence is felt."</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Joris reached his store in that mood which apprehends
+trouble, and finds out annoyances that under other circumstances would
+not have any attention. The store was in its normal condition, but he
+was angry at the want of order in it. The mail was no later than usual,
+but he complained of its delay. He was threatening a general reform in
+everything and everybody, when a man came to the door, and looked up at
+the name above it.</p>
+
+<p>"Joris Van Heemskirk is the name, sir;" and Joris went forward, and
+asked a little curtly, "What, then, can I do for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am Martin Hudde the fisherman."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you are Joris Van Heemskirk, I have a letter for you. I got it from
+'The Dauntless' last night, when I was fishing in the bay."</p>
+
+<p>Without a word Joris took the letter, turned into his office, and shut
+the door; and Hudde muttered as he left, "I am glad that I got a crown
+with it, for here I have not got a 'thank you.'"</p>
+
+<p>It was Katherine's writing; and Joris held the folded paper in his hand,
+and looked stupidly at it. The truth was forcing itself into his mind,
+and the slow-coming conviction was a real physical agony to him. He put
+his hand on the desk to steady himself; and Nature, in great drops of
+sweat, made an effort to relieve the oppression and stupor which
+followed the blow. In a few minutes he opened and laid it before <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>him.
+Through a mist he made out these words:<br /><br /></p>
+
+
+<p>MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER: I have gone with my husband. I married Richard
+when he was ill, and to-night he came for me. When I left home, I knew
+not I was to go. Only five minutes I had. In God's name, this is the
+truth. Always, at the end of the world, I shall love you. Forgive me,
+forgive me, <i>mijn fader, mijn moeder</i>.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 22.5em;">Your child,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 27em;">KATHERINE HYDE.</span><br /><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>He tore the letter into fragments; but the next moment he picked them
+up, folded them in a piece of paper, and put them in his pocket. Then he
+went to Mrs. Gordon's. She had anticipated the visit, and was, in a
+measure, prepared for it. With a smile and outstretched hands, she rose
+from her chocolate to meet him. "You see, I am a terrible sluggard,
+Councillor," she laughed; "but the colonel left early for Boston this
+morning, and I cried myself into another sleep. And will you have a cup
+of chocolate? I am sure you are too polite to refuse me."</p>
+
+<p>"Madam, I came not on courtesy, but for my daughter. Where is my
+Katherine?"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-229.png" width="300" height="321" alt="&quot;Madam, I come not on courtesy&quot;" title="&quot;Madam, I come not on courtesy&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Truth, sir, I believe her to be where every woman wishes,&mdash;with her
+husband. I am sure I wish the colonel was with me."</p>
+
+<p>"Her husband! Who, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, Councillor, that is a question easily answered,&mdash;my nephew,
+Captain Hyde, at your service. You perceive, sir, we are now
+connections; and I assure you I have the highest sense imaginable of the
+honour."</p>
+
+<p>"When were they married?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>"In faith, I have forgotten the precise date. It was in last October; I
+know it was, because I had just received my winter manteau,&mdash;my blue
+velvet one, with the fur bands.'</p>
+
+<p>"Who married them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed! It was the governor's chaplain,&mdash;the Rev. Mr. Somers, a
+relative of my Lord Somers, a most estimable and respectable person, I
+assure you. Colonel Gordon, and Captain Earle, and myself, were the
+witnesses. The governor gave the license; and, in consid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>eration of
+Dick's health, the ceremony was performed in his room. All was perfectly
+correct and regular, I"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"It is not the truth. Pardon, madam; full of trouble am I. And it was
+all irregular, and very wicked, and very cruel. If regular and right it
+had been, then in secret it had not taken place."</p>
+
+<p>"Admit, Councillor, that then it had not taken place at all; or, at
+least, Richard would have had to wait until Katherine was of age."</p>
+
+<p>"So; and that would have been right. Until then, if love had lasted, I
+would have said, 'Their love is stronger than my dislike;' and I would
+have been content."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, sir, there was more to the question than that! My nephew's chances
+for life were very indifferent, and he desired to shield Katherine's
+name with his own"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Christus!</i> What say you, madam? Had Katherine no father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, be not so warm, Councillor! A husband's name is a far bigger shield
+than a father's. I assure you that the world forgives a married woman
+what it would not forgive an angel. And I must tell you, also, that
+Dick's very life depended on the contentment which he felt in his
+success. It is the part of humanity to consider that."</p>
+
+<p>"Twice over deceived I have been then"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In short, sir, there was no help for it. Dick received a most
+unexpected favour of a year's furlough two days ago. It was important
+for his wounded lung that he should go at once to a warm climate. 'The
+Dauntless' was on the point of sailing for the West Indies. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>To have
+bestowed our confidence on you, would have delayed or detained our
+patient, or sent him away without his wife. It was my fault that
+Katherine had only five minutes given her. Oh, sir, I know my own sex!
+And, if you will take time to reflect, I am sure that you will be
+reasonable."</p>
+
+<p>"Without his wife! His wife! Without my consent? No, she is not his
+wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Sir, you must excuse me if I do not honour your intelligence or your
+courtesy. I have said '<i>she is his wife</i>.' It is past a doubt that they
+are married."</p>
+
+<p>"I know not, I know not&mdash;O my Katherine, my Katherine!"</p>
+
+<p>"I pray you, sit down, Councillor. You look faint and ill; and in faith
+I am very sorry that, to make two people happy, others must be made so
+wretched." She rose and filled a glass with wine, and offered it to
+Joris, who was the very image of mental suffering,&mdash;all the fine colour
+gone out of his face, and his large blue eyes swimming in unshed tears.</p>
+
+<p>"Drink, sir. Upon my word, you are vastly foolish to grieve so. I
+protest to you that Katherine is happy; and grieving will not restore
+your loss."</p>
+
+<p>"For that reason I grieve, madam. Nothing can give me back my child."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, sir, every one has his calamity; and, upon my word, you are very
+fortunate to have one no greater than the marriage of your daughter to
+an agreeable man, of honourable profession and noble family."</p>
+
+<p>"Five minutes only! How could the child think? To take her away thus was
+cruel. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>Many things a woman needs when she journeys."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, Katharine was well considered! I myself packed a trunk for
+her with every conceivable necessity, as well as gowns and manteaus of
+the finest material and the most elegant fashion. If Dick had been
+permitted, he would have robbed the Province for her. I assure you that
+I had to lock my trunks to preserve a change of gowns for myself. When
+the colonel returns, he will satisfy you that Katherine has done
+tolerably well in her marriage with our nephew. And, indeed, I must beg
+you to excuse me further. I have been in a hurry of affairs and emotions
+for two days; and I am troubled with the vapours this morning, and feel
+myself very indifferently."</p>
+
+<p>Then Joris understood that he had been politely dismissed. But there was
+no unkindness in the act. He glanced at the effusive little lady, and
+saw that she was on the point of crying, and very likely in the first
+pangs of a nervous headache; and, without further words, he left her.</p>
+
+<p>The interview had given Joris very little comfort. At first, his great
+terror had been that Katherine had fled without any religious sanction;
+but no sooner was this fear dissipated, than he became conscious, in all
+its force, of his own personal loss and sense of grievance. From Mrs.
+Gordon's lodgings he went to those of Dominie Van Linden. He felt sure
+of his personal sympathy; and he knew that the dominie would be the best
+person to investigate the circumstances of the marriage, and
+authenticate their propriety.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>Then Joris went home. On his road he met Bram, full of the first terror
+of his sister's disappearance. He told him all that was necessary, and
+sent him back to the store. "And see you keep a modest face, and make no
+great matter of it," he said. "Be not troubled nor elated. It belongs to
+you to be very prudent; for your sister's good name is in your care, and
+this is a sorrow outsiders may not meddle with. Also, at once go back to
+Joanna's, and tell her the same thing. I will not have Katherine made a
+wonder to gaping women."</p>
+
+<p>Lysbet was still a little on the defensive; but, when she saw Joris
+coming home, her heart turned sick with fear. She was beating eggs for
+her cake-making, and she went on with the occupation; merely looking up
+to say, "Thee, Joris; dinner will not be ready for two hours! Art thou
+sick?"</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine&mdash;she has gone!"</p>
+
+<p>"Gone? And where, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"With that Englishman; in 'The Dauntless' they have gone."</p>
+
+<p>"Believe it not. 'The Dauntless' left yesterday morning: Katherine at
+seven o'clock last night was with me."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, he must have returned for her! Well he knew that if he did not
+steal her away, I had taken her from him. Yes, and I feared him. When I
+heard that 'The Dauntless' was to take him to the West Indies, I watched
+the ship. After I kissed Katherine yesterday morning, I went straight to
+the pier, and waited until she was on her way." Then he told her all
+Mrs. Gordon had said, and showed her the fragments of Katherine's
+letter. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>mother kissed them, and put them in her bosom; and, as she
+did so, she said softly, "it was a great strait, Joris."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well, we also must pass through it. The Dominie Van Linden has
+gone to examine the records; and then, if she his lawful wife be, in the
+newspapers I must advertise the marriage. Much talk and many questions I
+shall have to bear."</p>
+
+<p>"'If,' 'if she his lawful wife be!' Say not 'if' in my hearing; say not
+'if' of my Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>"When a girl runs away from her home"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"With her husband she went; keep that in mind when people speak to
+thee."</p>
+
+<p>"What kind of a husband will he be to her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, I think not bad of him. Nearer home there are worse men.
+Now, if sensible thou be, thou wilt make the best of what is beyond thy
+power. Every bird its own nest builds in its own way. Nay, but blind
+birds are we all, and God builds for us. This marriage of God's ordering
+may be, though not of thy ordering; and against it I would no longer
+fight. I think my Katherine is happy; and happy with her I will be,
+though the child in her joy I see not."</p>
+
+<p>"So much talk as there will be. In the store and the streets, a man must
+listen. And some with me will condole, and some with congratulations
+will come; and both to me will be vinegar and gall."</p>
+
+<p>"To all&mdash;friends and unfriends&mdash;say this: 'Every one chooses for
+themselves. Captain Hyde loved my daughter, and for her love <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>nearly he
+died; and my daughter loved him; and what has been from the creation,
+will be.' Say also, 'Worse might have come; for he hath a good heart,
+and in the army he is much loved, and of a very high family is he.'
+Joris, let me see thee pluck up thy courage like a man. Better may come
+of this than has come of things better looking. Much we thought of
+Batavius"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"On that subject wilt thou be quiet?"</p>
+
+<p>"And, if at poor little Katherine thou be angry, speak out thy mind to
+me; to others, say nothing but well of the dear one. Now, then, I will
+get thee thy dinner; for in sorrow a good meal is a good medicine."</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 137px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0409-1.jpg" width="137" height="300" alt="&quot;O mother, my sister Katherine!&quot;" title="&quot;O mother, my sister Katherine!&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>While they were eating this early dinner, Joanna came in, sad and
+tearful; and with loud lamentings she threw herself upon her mother's
+shoulder. "What, then, is the matter with thee?" asked Lysbet, with
+great composure.</p>
+
+<p>"O mother, my Katherine! my sister Katherine!"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought perhaps thou had bad news of Batavius. Thy sister Katherine
+hath married a very fine gentleman, and she is happy. For thou must
+remember that all the good men do not come from Dordrecht."</p>
+
+<p>"I am glad that so you take it. I thought in very great sorrow you would
+be."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>"See that you do not say such words to any one, Joanna. Very angry will
+I be if I hear them. Batavius, also; he must be quiet on this matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, then, Batavius has many things of greater moment to think about! Of
+Katherine he never approved; and the talk there will be he will not like
+it. Before from Boston he comes back, I shall be glad to have it over."</p>
+
+<p>"None of his affair it is," said Joris. "Of my own house and my own
+daughter, I can take the care. And if he like the talk, or if he like
+not the talk, there it will be. Who will stop talking because Batavius
+comes home?"</p>
+
+<p>When Joris spoke in this tone on any subject, no one wished to continue
+it: and it was not until her father had left the house, that Joanna
+asked her mother particularly about Katherine's marriage. "Was she sure
+of it? Had they proofs? Would it be legal? More than a dozen people
+stopped me as I came over here," she said, "and asked me about
+everything."</p>
+
+<p>"I know not how more than a dozen people knew of anything, Joanna. But
+many ill-natured words will be spoken, doubtless. Even Janet Semple came
+here yesterday, thinking over Katherine to exult a little. But Katherine
+is a great deal beyond her to-day. And perhaps a countess she may yet
+be. That is what her husband said to thy father."</p>
+
+<p>"I knew not that he spoke to my father about Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>"Thou knows not all things. Before thou wert married to Batavius, before
+Neil Semple nearly murdered him, he asked of thy father her hand. Thou
+wast born on thy wedding <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>day, I think. All things that happened before
+it have from thy memory passed away."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I am a good wife, I know that. That also is what Batavius says.
+Just before I got to the gate, I met Madam Semple and Gertrude Van
+Gaasbeeck; they had been shopping together."</p>
+
+<p>"Did they speak of Katherine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed they did."</p>
+
+<p>"Or did you speak first, Joanna? It is an evil bird that pulls to pieces
+its own nest."</p>
+
+<p>"O mother, scolded I cannot be for Katherine's folly! My Batavius always
+said, 'The favourite is Katherine.' Always he thought that of me too
+much was expected. And Madam Semple said&mdash;and always she liked
+Katherine&mdash;that very badly had she behaved for a whole year, and that
+the end was what everybody had looked for. It is on me very hard,&mdash;I who
+have always been modest, and taken care of my good name. Nobody in the
+whole city will have one kind word to say for Katherine. You will see
+that it is so, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"You will see something very different, Joanna. Many will praise
+Katherine, for she to herself has done well. And, when back she comes,
+at the governor's she will visit, and with all the great ladies; and not
+one among them will be so lovely as Katherine Hyde."</p>
+
+<p>And, if Joanna had been in Madam Semple's parlour a few hours later, she
+would have had a most decided illustration of Lysbet's faith in the
+popular verdict. Madam was sitting at her tea-table talking to the
+elder, who had brought home with him the full supplement to Joanna's
+story. Both were really sorry for their old <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>friends, although there is
+something in the best kind of human nature that indorses the punishment
+of those things in which old friends differ from us.</p>
+
+<p>Neil had heard nothing. He had been shut up in his office all day over
+an important suit; and, when he took the street again, he was weary, and
+far from being inclined to join any acquaintances in conversation. In
+fact, the absorbing topic was one which no one cared to introduce in
+Neil's presence; and he himself was too full of professional matters to
+notice that he attracted more than usual attention from the young men
+standing around the store-doors, and the officers lounging in front of
+the 'King's Arms' tavern.</p>
+
+<p>He was irritable, too, with exhaustion, though he was doing his best to
+keep himself in control and when madam his mother said pointedly, "I'm
+fearing, Neil, that the bad news has made you ill; you arena at a' like
+yoursel'," he asked without much interest, "What bad news?"</p>
+
+<p>"The news anent Katherine Van Heemskirk."</p>
+
+<p>He had supposed it was some political disappointment, and at Katherine's
+name his pale face grew suddenly crimson.</p>
+
+<p>"What of her?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Didna you hear? She ran awa' last night wi' Captain Hyde; stole awa'
+wi' him on 'The Dauntless.'"</p>
+
+<p>"She would have the right to go with him, I have no doubt," said Neil
+with guarded calmness.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really think she was his wife?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>"If she went with him, <i>I am sure she was</i>." He dropped the words with
+an emphatic precision, and looked with gloomy eyes out of the window;
+gloomy, but steadfast, as if he were trying to face a future in which
+there was no hope. His mother did not observe him. She went on prattling
+as she filled the elder's cup, "If there had been any wedding worth the
+name o' the thing, we would hae been bidden to it. I dinna believe she
+is married."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure that she sailed with Captain Hyde in 'The Dauntless,' or
+is it a pack of women's tales?"</p>
+
+<p>"The news cam' wi' your fayther the elder," answered madam, much
+offended. "You can mak' your inquiries there if you think he's mair
+reliable than I am."</p>
+
+<p>Neil looked at his father, and the elder said quietly, "I wouldna be
+positive anent any woman; the bad are whiles good, and the good are
+whiles bad. But there is nae doubt that Katherine has gone with Hyde;
+and I heard that the military at the 'King's Arms' have been drinking
+bumpers to Captain Hyde and his bride; and I know that Mrs. Gordon has
+said they were married lang syne, when Hyde couldna raise himsel' or put
+a foot to the ground. But Joanna told your mother <i>she</i> had neither seen
+nor heard tell o' book, ring, or minister; and, as I say, for mysel'
+I'll no venture a positive opinion, but I <i>think</i> the lassie is married
+to the man she's off an' awa' wi'."</p>
+
+<p>"But if she isna?" persisted madam.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment Neil let slip the rein in which he had been holding himself,
+and in a slow, intense voice answered, "I shall make it my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>business to
+find out. If Katherine is married, God bless her! If she is not, I will
+follow Hyde though it were around the world until I cleave his coward's
+heart in two." His passion grew stronger with its utterance. He pushed
+away his chair, and put down his cup so indifferently that it missed the
+table and fell with a crash to the floor.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-240.png" width="300" height="333" alt="&quot;Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny!&quot;" title="&quot;Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny!&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny! Oh, my bonnie cups that I hae used for forty
+years, and no' a piece broken afore!"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, weel, Janet," said the elder, "you shouldna badger an angry man
+when he's drinking from your best cups."</p>
+
+<p>"I canna mend nor match it in the whole Province, Elder. Oh, my bonnie
+cup."</p>
+
+<p>"I was thinking, Janet, o' Katherine's good name. If it is gane, it is
+neither to mend nor to match in the whole wide world. I'll awa' and see
+Joris and Lysbet. And put every cross thought where you'll never find
+them again, Janet; an tak' your good-will in your hands, and come wi'
+me. Lysbet will want to see you."</p>
+
+<p>"Not her, indeed! I can tell you, Elder, that Lysbet was vera cool and
+queer wi' me yesterday."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>"Come, Janet, dinna keep your good-nature in remnants. Let's hae enough
+to make a cloak big enough to cover a' bygone faults."</p>
+
+<p>"I think, then, I ought to stay wi' Neil."</p>
+
+<p>"Neil doesna want anybody near him. Leave him alane. Neil's a' right.
+Forty years syne I would hae broke my mother's cheeny, and drawn steel
+as quick as Neil did, if I heard a word against bonnie Janet Gordon."
+And the old man made his wife a bow; and madam blushed with pleasure,
+and went upstairs to put on her bonnet and India shawl.</p>
+
+<p>"Woman, woman," meditated the smiling elder; "she is never too angry to
+be won wi' a mouthful o' sweet words, special if you add a bow or a kiss
+to them. My certie! when a husband can get his ain way at sic a sma'
+price, it's just wonderfu' he doesna buy it in perpetuity."</p>
+
+<p>Joris was somewhat comforted by his old friend's sympathy; for the
+elder, in the hour of trial, knew how to be magnanimous. But the
+father's wound lay deeper than human love could reach. He was suffering
+from what all suffer who are wounded in their affections; for alas,
+alas, how poorly do we love even those whom we love most! We are not
+only bruised by the limitations of their love for us, but also by the
+limitations of our own love for them. And those who know what it is to
+be strong enough to wrestle, and yet not strong enough to overcome, will
+understand how the grief, the anger, the jealousy, the resentment, from
+which he suffered, amazed Joris; he had not realized before the depth
+and strength of his feelings.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>He tried to put the memory of Katherine away, but he could not
+accomplish a miracle. The girl's face was ever before him. He felt her
+caressing fingers linked in his own; and, as he walked in his house and
+his garden, her small feet pattered beside him. For as there are in
+creation invisible bonds that do not break like mortal bonds, so also
+there are correspondences subsisting between souls, despite the
+separation of distance.</p>
+
+<p>"I would forget Katherine if I could," he said to Dominie Van Linden;
+and the good man, bravely putting aside his private grief, took the
+hands of Joris in his own, and bending toward him, answered, "That would
+be a great pity. Why forget? Trust, rather, that out of sorrow God will
+bring to you joy."</p>
+
+<p>"Not natural is that, Dominie. How can it be? I do not understand how it
+can be."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not understand! Well, then, <i>och mijn jongen</i>, what matters
+comprehension, if you have faith? Trust, now, that it is well with the
+child,"</p>
+
+<p>But Joris believed it was ill with her; and he blamed not only himself,
+but every one in connection with Katherine, for results which he was
+certain might have been foreseen and prevented. Did he not foresee them?
+Had he not spoken plainly enough to Hyde and to Lysbet and to the child
+herself? He should have seen her to Albany, to her sister Cornelia. For
+he believed now that Lysbet had not cordially disapproved of Hyde; and
+as for Joanna, she had been far too much occupied with Batavius and her
+own marriage to care for any other thing. And one of his great fears was
+that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>Katherine also would forget her father and mother and home, and
+become a willing alien from her own people.</p>
+
+<p>He was so wrapped up in his grief, that he did not notice that Bram was
+suffering also. Bram got the brunt of the world's wonderings and
+inquiries. People who did not like to ask Joris questions, felt no such
+delicacy with Bram. And Bram not only tenderly loved his sister: he
+hated with the unreasoning passion of youth the entire English soldiery.
+He made no exception now. They were the visible marks of a subjection
+which he was sworn, heart and soul, to oppose. It humiliated him among
+his fellows, that his sister should have fled with one of them. It gave
+those who envied and disliked him an opportunity of inflicting covert
+and cruel wounds. Joris could, in some degree, control himself; he could
+speak of the marriage with regret, but without passion; he had even
+alluded, in some cases, to Hyde's family and expectations. The majority
+believed that he was secretly a little proud of the alliance. But Bram
+was aflame with indignation; first, if the marriage were at all doubted;
+second, if it were supposed to be a satisfactory one to any member of
+the Van Heemskirk family.</p>
+
+<p>As to the doubters, they were completely silenced when the next issue of
+the "New York Gazette" appeared; for among its most conspicuous
+advertisements was the following:</p>
+
+<p>Married, Oct. 19, 1765, by the Rev. Mr. Somers, chaplain to his
+Excellency the Governor, Richard Drake Hyde, of Hyde Manor, Norfolk, son
+of the late Richard Drake Hyde, and brother of William Drake Hyde, Earl
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>of Dorset and Hyde, to Katherine, the youngest daughter of Joris and
+Lysbet Van Heemskirk, of the city and province of New York.</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 10em;"><i>Witnesses</i>: NIGEL GORDON, H.M. Nineteenth</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Light Cavalry.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">GEORGE EARLE, H.M. Nineteenth</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Light Cavalry.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">ADELAIDE GORDON, wife of Nigel</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">Gordon.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>This announcement took every one a little by surprise. A few were really
+gratified; the majority perceived that it silenced gossip of a very
+enthralling kind. No one could now deplore or insinuate, or express
+sorrow or astonishment. And, as rejoicing with one's friends and
+neighbours soon becomes a very monotonous thing, Katherine Van
+Heemskirk's fine marriage was tacitly dropped. Only for that one day on
+which it was publicly declared, was it an absorbing topic. The whole
+issue of the "Gazette" was quickly bought; and then people, having seen
+the fact with their own eyes, felt a sudden satiety of the whole affair.</p>
+
+<p>On some few it had a more particular influence. Hyde's brother officers
+held high festival to their comrade's success. To every bumper they read
+the notice aloud, as a toast, and gave a kind of national triumph to
+what was a purely personal affair. Joris read it with dim eyes, and then
+lit his long Gouda pipe and sat smoking with an air of inexpressible
+loneliness. Lysbet read it, and then put the paper carefully away among
+the silks and satins in her bottom drawer. Joanna read it, and then
+immediately bought a dozen copies and sent them to the relatives of
+Batavius, in Dordrecht, Holland.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>Neil Sample read and re-read it. It seemed to have a fascination for
+him; and for more than an hour he sat musing, with his eyes fixed upon
+the fateful words. Then he rose and went to the hearth. There were a few
+sticks of wood burning upon it, but they had fallen apart. He put them
+together, and, tearing out the notice, he laid it upon them. It meant
+much more to Neil than the destruction of a scrap of paper, and he stood
+watching it, long after it had become a film of grayish ash.</p>
+
+<p>Bram would not read it at all. He was too full of shame and trouble at
+the event; and the moments went as if they moved on lead. But the
+unhappy day wore away to its evening; and after tea he gathered a great
+nosegay of narcissus, and went to Isaac Cohen's. He did not "hang about
+the steps," as Joris in his temper had said. Miriam was not one of those
+girls who sit in the door to be gazed at by every passing man. He went
+into the store, and she seemed to know his footstep. He had no need to
+speak: she came at once from the mystery behind the crowded place into
+the clearer light. Plain and dark were her garments, and Bram would have
+been unable to describe her dress; but it was as fitting to her as are
+the green leaves of the rose-tree to the rose.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-246.png" width="400" height="565" alt="Plain and dark were her garments" title="Plain and dark were her garments" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Their acquaintance had evidently advanced since that anxious evening
+when she had urged upon Bram the intelligence of the duel between Hyde
+and Neil Semple; for Bram gave her the flowers without embarrassment,
+and she buried her sweet face in their sweet petals, and then lifted it
+with a smile at once grateful and confidential. Then they began to talk
+of Katherine.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>"She was so beautiful and so kind," said Miriam; "just a week since
+she passed here, with some violets in her hand; and, when she saw me,
+she ran up the steps, and said, 'I have brought them for you;' and she
+clasped my fingers, and looked so pleasantly in my face. If I had a
+sister, Bram, I think she would smile at me in the same way."</p>
+
+<p>"Very grateful to you was Katharine. All you did about the duel, I told
+her. She knows her husband had not been alive to-day, but for you. O
+Miriam, if you had not spoken!"</p>
+
+<p>"I should have had the stain of blood on my conscience. I did right to
+speak. My grandfather said to me, 'You did quite right, my dear.'"</p>
+
+<p>Then Bram told her all the little things that had grieved him, and they
+talked as dear companions might talk; only, beneath all the common words
+of daily life, there was some subtile sweetness that made their voices
+low and their glances shy and tremulous.</p>
+
+<p>It was not more than an hour ere Cohen came home. He looked quickly at
+the young people, and then stood by Bram, and began to talk courteously
+of passing events. Miriam leaned, listening, against a magnificent
+"apostle's cabinet" in black oak&mdash;one of those famous ones made in
+Nuremburg in the fifteenth century, with locks and hinges of
+hammered-steel work, and finely chased handles of the same material.
+Against its carved and pillared background her dark drapery fell in
+almost unnoticed grace; but her fair face and small hands, with the mass
+of white narcissus in them, had a singular and alluring beauty. She
+affected <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>Bram as something sweetly supernatural might have done. It was
+an effort for him to answer Cohen; he felt as if it would be impossible
+for him to go away.</p>
+
+<p>But the clock struck the hour, and the shop boy began to put up the
+shutters; and the old man walked to the door, taking Bram with him. Then
+Miriam, smiling her farewell, passed like a shadow into the darker
+shadows beyond; and Bram went home, wondering to find that she had cast
+out of his heart hatred, malice, fretful worry, and all
+uncharitableness. How could he blend them with thoughts of her? and how
+could he forget the slim, dark-robed figure, or the lovely face against
+the old black <i>kas</i>, crowned with its twelve sombre figures, or the
+white slender hands holding the white fragrant flowers?</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 420px;">
+<img src="images/illus-249.png" width="420" height="300" alt="Tail piece" title="Tail piece" />
+</div>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;">
+<img src="images/illus-250.png" width="550" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a>XI.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">"<i>Each man's homestead is his golden milestone,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;"><i>Is the central point from which he measures</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 21em;"><i>Every distance</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;"><i>Through the gateways of the world around him.</i>"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>There are certain months in every life which seem to be full of fate,
+good or evil, for that life; and May was Katherine Hyde's luck month. It
+was on a May afternoon that Hyde had asked her love; it was on a May
+night she fled with him through the gray shadows of the misty river.
+Since then a year had gone by, and it was May once more,&mdash;an English
+May, full of the magic of the month; clear skies, and young foliage, and
+birds' songs, the cool, woody smell of wall-flowers, and the ethereal
+perfume of lilies.</p>
+
+<p>In Hyde Manor House, there was that stir of preparation which indicates
+a departure. The house was before time; it had the air of early rising;
+the atmosphere of yesterday had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>not been dismissed, but lingered
+around, and gave the idea of haste and change, and departure from
+regular custom. It was, indeed, an hour before the usual breakfast-time;
+but Hyde and Katharine were taking a hasty meal together. Hyde was in
+full uniform, his sword at his side, his cavalry cap and cloak on a
+chair near him; and up and down the gravelled walk before the main
+entrance a groom was leading his horse.</p>
+
+<p>"I must see what is the matter with Mephisto," said Hyde. "How he is
+snorting and pawing! And if Park loses control of him, I shall be
+greatly inconvenienced for both horse and time."</p>
+
+<p>The remark was partially the excuse of a man who feels that he must go,
+and who tries to say the hard words in less ominous form. They both rose
+together,&mdash;Katherine bravely smiling away tears, and looking exceedingly
+lovely in her blue morning-gown trimmed with frillings of thread lace;
+and Hyde, gallant and tender, but still with the air of a man not averse
+to go back to life's real duty. He took Katherine in his arms, kissed
+away her tears, made her many a loving promise, and then, lifting his
+cap and cloak, left the room. The servants were lingering around to get
+his last word, and to wish him "God-speed;" and for a few minutes he
+stood talking to his groom and soothing Mephisto. Evidently he had quite
+recovered his health and strength; for he sprang very easily into the
+saddle, and, gathering the reins in his hand, kept the restive animal in
+perfect control.</p>
+
+<p>A moment he stood thus, the very ideal of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>a fearless, chivalrous,
+handsome soldier; the next, his face softened to almost womanly
+tenderness, for he saw Katherine coming hastily through the dim hall and
+into the clear sunshine, and in her arms was his little son. She came
+fearlessly to his side, and lifted the sleeping child to him. He stooped
+and kissed it, and then kissed again the beautiful mother; and calling
+happily backward, "Good-by, my love; God keep you, love; good-by!" he
+gave Mephisto his own wild will, and was soon lost to sight among the
+trees of the park.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0411-1.jpg" width="300" height="464" alt="Katherine stood with her child in her arms" title="Katherine stood with her child in her arms" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Katherine stood with her child in her arms, listening to the ever faint
+and fainter beat of Mephisto's hoofs. Her husband had gone back to duty,
+his furlough had expired, and their long, and leisurely honeymoon was
+over. But she was neither fearful nor unhappy. Hyde's friends had
+procured his exchange into a court regiment. He was only going to
+London, and he was still her lover. She looked forward with clear eyes
+as she said gratefully over to herself, "So happy am I! So good is my
+husband! So dear is my child! So fair and sweet is my home!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>And though to many minds Hyde Manor might seem neither fair nor sweet,
+Katherine really liked it. Perhaps she had some inherited taste for low
+lands, with their shimmer of water and patches of green; or perhaps the
+gentle beauty of the landscape specially fitted her temperament. But, at
+any rate, the wide brown stretches, dotted with lonely windmills and low
+farmhouses, pleased her. So also did the marshes, fringed with yellow
+and purple flags; and the great ditches, white with water-lilies; and
+the high belts of natural turf; and the summer sunshine, which over this
+level land had a white brilliancy to which other sunshine seemed shadow.
+Hyde had never before found the country endurable, except during the
+season when the marshes were full of birds; or when, at the Christmas
+holidays, the ice was firm as marble and smooth as glass, and the wind
+blowing fair from behind. Then he had liked well a race with the famous
+fen-skaters.</p>
+
+<p>The Manor House was neither handsome nor picturesque, though its
+dark-red bricks made telling contrasts among the ivy and the few large
+trees surrounding it. It contained a great number of rooms, but none
+were of large proportions. The ceilings were low, and often crossed with
+heavy oak beams; while the floors, though of polished oak, were very
+uneven. Hyde had refurnished a few of the rooms; and the showy paperings
+and chintzes, the fine satin and gilding, looked oddly at variance with
+the black oak wainscots, the Elizabethan fireplaces, and the other
+internal decorations.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine, however, had no sense of any incongruity. She was charmed
+with her home, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>from its big garrets to the great wine-bins in its
+underground cellars; and while Hyde wandered about the fens with his
+fishing-rod or gun, or went into the little town of Hyde to meet over a
+market dinner the neighbouring squires, she was busy arranging every
+room with that scrupulous nicety and cleanliness which had been not only
+an important part of her education, but was also a fundamental trait of
+her character. Indeed, no Dutch wife ever had the <i>netheid</i>, or passion
+for order and cleanliness, in greater perfection than Katherine. She
+might almost have come from Wormeldingen, "where the homes are washed
+and waxed, and the streets brushed and dusted till not a straw lies
+about, and the trees have a combed and brushed appearance, and do not
+dare to grow a leaf out of its place." So, then, the putting in order of
+this large house, with all its miscellaneous, uncared-for furniture,
+gave her a genuine pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>Always pretty and sweet as a flower, always beautifully dressed, she yet
+directed, personally, her little force of servants, until room after
+room became a thing of beauty. It was her employment during those days
+on which Hyde was fishing or shooting; and it was not until the whole
+house was in exquisite condition that Katherine took him through his
+renovated dwelling. He was delighted, and not too selfish and
+indifferent to express his wonder and pleasure.</p>
+
+<p>"Faith, Kate," he said, "you have made me a home out of an old
+lumber-house! I thought of taking you to London with me; but, upon my
+word, we had better stay at Hyde and beau<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>tify the place. I can run down
+whenever it is possible to get a few days off."</p>
+
+<p>This idea gained gradually on both, and articles of luxury and adornment
+were occasionally added to the better rooms. The garden next fell under
+Katharine's care. "In sweet neglect," it no longer flaunted its
+beauties. Roses and stocks and tiger-lilies learned what boundaries of
+box meant; and if flowers have any sense of territorial rights,
+Katherine's must have found they were respected. Encroaching vines were
+securely confined within their proper limits, and grass that wandered
+into the gravel paths sought for itself a merciless destruction.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-255.png" width="200" height="274" alt="The garden next fell under Katherine&#39;s care" title="The garden next fell under Katherine&#39;s care" />
+</div>
+
+<p>All such reforms, if they are not offensive, are stimulating and
+progressive. The stables, kennels, and park, as well as the land
+belonging to the manor, became of sudden interest to Hyde. He surprised
+his lawyer by asking after it, and by giving orders that in future the
+hay cut in the meadows should be cut for the Hyde stables. Every small
+wrong which he investigated and redressed increased his sense of
+responsibility; and the birth of his son made him begin to plan for the
+future in a way which brought not only great pleasure to Katherine, but
+also a comfortable self-satisfaction to his own heart.</p>
+
+<p>Yet, even with all these favourable conditions, Katherine would not have
+been happy had the estrangement between herself and her parents
+continued a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>bitter or a silent one. She did not suppose they would
+answer the letter she had sent by the fisherman Hudde; she was prepared
+to ask, and to wait, for pardon and for a re-gift of that precious love
+which she had apparently slighted for a newer and as yet untested one.
+So, immediately after her arrival at Jamaica, Katherine wrote to her
+mother; and, without waiting for replies, she continued her letters
+regularly from Hyde. They were in a spirit of the sweetest and frankest
+confidence. She made her familiar with all her household plans and
+wifely cares; as room by room in the old manor was finished, she
+described it. She asked her advice with all the faith of a child and the
+love of a daughter; and she sent through her those sweet messages of
+affection to her father which she feared a little to offer without her
+mother's mediation.</p>
+
+<p>But when she had a son, and when Hyde agreed that the boy should be
+named <i>George</i>, she wrote a letter to him. Joris found it one April
+morning on his desk, and it happened to come in a happy hour. He had
+been working in his garden, and every plant and flower had brought his
+Katherine pleasantly back to his memory. All the walks were haunted by
+her image. The fresh breeze of the river was full of her voice and her
+clear laughter. The returning birds, chattering in the trees above him,
+seemed to ask, "Where, then, is the little one gone?"</p>
+
+<p>Her letter, full of love, starred all through with pet words, and wisely
+reminding him more of their own past happiness than enlarging on her
+present joy, made his heart melt. He <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>could do no business that day. He
+felt that he must go home and tell Lysbet: only the mother could fully
+understand and share his joy. He found her cleaning the "Guilderland
+cup"&mdash;the very cup Mrs. Gordon had found Katherine cleaning when she
+brought the first love message, and took back that fateful token, her
+bow of orange ribbon. At that moment Lysbet's thoughts were entirely
+with Katherine. She was wondering whether Joris and herself might not
+some day cross the ocean to see their child. When she heard her
+husband's step at that early hour, she put down the cup in fear, and
+stood watching the door for his approach. The first glimpse of his face
+told her that he was no messenger of sorrow. He gave her the letter with
+a smile, and then walked up and down while she read it.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Joris, a beautiful letter this is. And thou has a grandson of thy
+own name&mdash;a little Joris. Oh, how I long to see him! I hope that he will
+grow like thee&mdash;so big and handsome as thou art, and also with thy good
+heart. Oh, the little Joris! Would God he was here!"</p>
+
+<p>The face of Joris was happy, and his eyes shining; but he had not yet
+much to say. He walked about for an hour, and listened to Lysbet, who,
+as she polished her silver, retold him all that Katherine had said of
+her husband's love, and of his goodness to her. With great attention he
+listened to her description of the renovated house and garden, and of
+Hyde's purposes with regard to the estate. Then he sat down and smoked
+his pipe, and after dinner he returned to his pipe and his meditation.
+Lysbet wondered what he was considering, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>hoped that it might be a
+letter of full forgiveness for her beloved Katherine.</p>
+
+<p>At last he rose and went into the garden; and she watched him wander
+from bed to bed, and stand looking down at the green shoots of the early
+flowers, and the lovely inverted urns of the brave snowdrops. To the
+river and back again several times he walked; but about three o'clock he
+came into the house with a firm, quick step, and, not finding Lysbet in
+the sitting-room, called her cheerily. She was in their room upstairs,
+and he went to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Lysbet, thinking I have been&mdash;thinking of Katherine's marriage. Better
+than I expected, it has turned out."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that Katherine has made a good marriage&mdash;the best marriage of
+all the children."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0412-1.jpg" width="300" height="340" alt="&quot;Thou has a grandson of thy own name&quot;" title="&quot;Thou has a grandson of thy own name&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Dost thou believe that her husband is so kind and so prudent as she
+says?"</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt of it I have."</p>
+
+<p>"See, then: I will send to Katherine her portion. Cohen will give me the
+order on Secor's Bank in Threadneedle Street. It is for her and her
+children. Can I trust them with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Katherine is no waster, and full of nobleness is her husband. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>Write
+thou to him, and put it in his charge for Katherine and her children.
+And tell him in his honour thou trust entirely; and I think that he will
+do in all things right. Nothing has he asked of thee."</p>
+
+<p>"To the devil he sent my dirty guilders, made in dirty trade. I have not
+forgot."</p>
+
+<p>"Joris, the Devil speaks for a man in a passion. Keep no such words in
+thy memory."</p>
+
+<p>"Lysbet?"</p>
+
+<p>"What then, Joris?"</p>
+
+<p>"The drinking-cup of silver, which my father gave us at our
+marriage,&mdash;the great silver one that has on it the view of Middleburg
+and the arms of the city. It was given to my great-grandfather when he
+was mayor of Middleburg. His name, also, was Joris. To my grandson shall
+I send it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my Joris, much pleasure would thou give Katherine and me also! Let
+the little fellow have it. Earl of Dorset and Hyde he may be yet."</p>
+
+<p>Joris blushed vividly, but he answered, "Mayor of New York he may be
+yet. That will please me best."</p>
+
+<p>"Five grandsons hast thou, but this is the first Joris. Anna has two
+sons, but for his dead brothers Rysbaack named them. Cornelia has two
+sons; but for thee they called neither, because Van Dorn's father is
+called Joris, and with him they are great unfriends. And when Joanna's
+son was born, they called him Peter, because Batavius hath a rich uncle
+called Peter, who may pay for the name. So, then, Katherine's son is the
+first of thy grandchildren that has thy name. The dear little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>Joris! He
+has blue eyes too; eyes like thine, she says. Yes, I would to him give
+the Middleburg cup. William Newman, the jeweller, will pack it safely,
+and by the next ship thou can send it to the bankers thou spoke of. I
+will tell Katherine so. But thou, too, write her a letter; for little
+she will think of her fortune or of the cup, if thy love thou send not
+with them."</p>
+
+<p>And Joris had done all that he purposed, and done it without one
+grudging thought or doubting word. The cup went, full of good-will. The
+money was given as Katherine's right, and was hampered with no
+restrictions but the wishes of Joris, left to the honour of Hyde. And
+Hyde was not indifferent to such noble trust. He fully determined to
+deserve it. As for Katherine, she desired no greater pleasure than to
+emphasize her reliance in her husband by leaving the money absolutely at
+his discretion. In fact, she felt a far greater interest in the
+Middleburg cup. It had always been an object of her admiration and
+desire. She believed her son would be proud to point it out and say, "It
+came from my mother's ancestor, who was mayor of Middleburg when that
+famous city ruled in the East India trade, and compelled all vessels
+with spice and wines and oils to come to the crane of Middleburg, there
+to be verified and gauged." She longed to receive this gift. She had
+resolved to put it between the baby fingers of little Joris as soon as
+it arrived. "A grand christening-cup it will be," she exclaimed, with
+childlike enthusiasm and Hyde kissed her, and promised to send it at
+once by a trusty messenger.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 543px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0413-1.jpg" width="543" height="300" alt="Plate old and new" title="Plate old and new" />
+</div>
+
+<p>He was a little amused by her enthusiasm. The Hydes had much plate, old
+and new, and they were proud of its beauty and excellence, and well
+aware of its worth; but they were not able to judge of the value of
+flagons and cups and servers gathered slowly through many generations,
+every one representing some human drama of love or suffering, or some
+deed of national significance. Nearly all of Joris Van Heemskirk's
+silver was "storied:" it was the materialization of honour and
+patriotism, of self-denial or charity; and the silversmith's and
+engraver's work was the least part of the Van Heemskirk pride in it.</p>
+
+<p>As Joris sat smoking that night, he thought over his proposal; and then
+for the first time it struck him that the Middleburg cup might have a
+peculiar significance and value to Bram. It cost him an effort to put
+his vague suspicions into words, because by doing so he seemed to give
+shape and substance to shadows; but <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>when Lysbet sat down with a little
+sigh of content beside him, and said, "A happy night is this to us,
+Joris," he answered, "God is good; always better to us than we trust Him
+for. I want to say now what I have been considering the last hour,&mdash;some
+other cup we will send to the little Joris, for I think Bram will like
+to have the Middleburg cup best of all."</p>
+
+<p>"Always Bram has been promised the Guilderland cup and the server that
+goes with it."</p>
+
+<p>"That is the truth; but I will tell you something, Lysbet. The
+Middelburg cup was given by the Jews of Middleburg to my ancestor
+because great favours and protection he gave them when he was mayor of
+the city. Bram is very often with Miriam Cohen, and"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Then Joris stopped, and Lysbet waited anxiously for him to finish the
+sentence; but he only puffed, puffed, and looked thoughtfully at the
+bowl of his pipe.</p>
+
+<p>"What mean you, Joris?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think that he loves her."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"That he would like to marry her."</p>
+
+<p>"Many things that are impossible, man would like to do: that is most
+impossible of all."</p>
+
+<p>"You think so?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Not impossible was it for Katherine to marry one not of her own race."</p>
+
+<p>"In my mind it is not race so much as faith. Far more than race, faith
+claims."</p>
+
+<p>"Hyde is a Lutheran."</p>
+
+<p>"A Lutheran may also be a Christian, I hope, Joris."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>"I judge no man, Lysbet. I have known Jews that were better Christians
+than some baptized in the name of Christ and John Calvin,&mdash;Jews who,
+like the great Jew, loved God, and did to their fellow-creatures as they
+wished to be done by. And if you had ever seen Miriam Cohen, you would
+not make a wonder that Bram loves her."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she so fair?"</p>
+
+<p>"A beautiful face and gracious ways she has. Like her the beloved Rachel
+must have been, I think. Why do you not stand with Bram as you stood
+with Katherine?"</p>
+
+<p>"Little use it would be, Joris. To give consent in this matter would be
+a sacrifice refused. Be sure that Cohen will not listen to Bram; no, nor
+to you, nor to me, nor to Miriam. If it come to a question of race, more
+proud is the Jew of his race then even the Englishman or the Dutchman.
+If it come to a question of faith, if all the other faiths in the world
+die out, the Jew will hold to his own. Say to Bram, 'I am willing;' and
+Cohen will say to him, 'Never, never will I consent.' If you keep the
+'Jew's cup' for Bram and Miriam, always you will keep it; yes, and they
+that live after you, too."</p>
+
+<p>Why it is that certain trains of thought and feeling move to their end
+at the same hour, though that end affect a variety of persons, no one
+has yet explained. But there are undoubtedly currents of sympathy of
+whose nature and movements we are profoundly ignorant. Thus how often we
+think of an event just before some decisive action relating to it is
+made known to us! How often do we recall some <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>friend just as we are
+about to see or hear from him! How often do we remember something that
+ought to be done, just at the last moment its successful accomplishment
+was possible to us!</p>
+
+<p>And at the very hour Joris and Lysbet were discussing the position of
+their son with regard to Miriam Cohen, the question was being definitely
+settled at another point. For Joris was not the only person who had
+observed Bram's devotion to the beautiful Jewess. Cohen had watched him
+with close and cautious jealousy for many months; but he was far too
+wise to stimulate love by opposition, and he did not believe in half
+measures. When he defined Miriam's duty to her, he meant it to be in
+such shape as precluded argument or uncertainty; and for this purpose
+delay was necessary. Much correspondence with England had to take place,
+and the mails were then irregular. But it happened that, after some
+months of negotiation, a final and satisfactory letter had come to him
+by the same post as brought Katherine's letter to Joris Van Heemskirk.</p>
+
+<p>He read its contents with a sad satisfaction, and then locked it away
+until the evening hours secured him from business interruption. Then he
+went to his grandchild. He found her sitting quietly among the cushions
+of a low couch. It seemed as if Miriam's thoughts were generally
+sufficient for her pleasure, for she was rarely busy. She had always
+time to sit and talk, or to sit and be silent. And Cohen liked best to
+see her thus,&mdash;beautiful and calm, with small hands dropped or folded,
+and eyes half shut, and mouth closed, but ready to smile and dimple if
+he decided to speak to her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>She looked so pretty and happy and careless that for some time he did
+not like to break the spell of her restful beauty. Nor did he until his
+pipe was quite finished, and he had looked carefully over the notes in
+his "day-book." Then he said in slow, even tones, "My child, listen to
+me. This summer my young kinsman Judah Belasco will come here. He comes
+to marry you. You will be a happy wife, my dear. He has moneys, and he
+has the power to make moneys; and he is a good young man. I have been
+cautious concerning that, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>There was a long pause. He did not hurry her, but sat patiently waiting,
+with his eyes fixed upon the book in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not want to marry, grandfather. I am so young. I do not know Judah
+Belasco."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have time, my dear. It is part of the agreement that he shall
+now live in New York. He is a rich young man, my dear. He is of the
+<i>sephardim</i>, as you are too, my dear. You must marry in your own caste;
+for we are of unmixed blood, faithful children of the tribe of Judah.
+All of our brethren here are <i>Ashkenasem</i>: therefore, I have had no rest
+until I got a husband fit for you, my dear. This was my duty, though I
+brought him from the end of the earth. It has cost me moneys, but I gave
+cheerfully. The thing is finished now, when you are ready. But you shall
+not be hurried, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Father, I have been a good daughter. Do not make me leave you."</p>
+
+<p>"You have been good, and you will be good always. What is the command?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>"Honor thy father and thy mother."</p>
+
+<p>"And the promise?"</p>
+
+<p>"Then long shall be thy days on the earth."</p>
+
+<p>"And the vow you made, Miriam?"</p>
+
+<p>"That I would never disobey or deceive you."</p>
+
+<p>"Who have you vowed to?"</p>
+
+<p>"The God of Israel."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you lie unto Him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I would give my life first."</p>
+
+<p>"Now is the time to fulfil your vow. Put from your heart or fancy any
+other young man. Have you not thought of our neighbour, Bram Van
+Heemskirk?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is good; he is handsome. I fear he loves me."</p>
+
+<p>"You know not anything. If you choose a husband, or even a shoe, by
+their appearance, both may pinch you, my dear. Judah is of good stock.
+Of a good tree you may expect good fruit."</p>
+
+<p>"Bram Van Heemskirk is also the son of a good father. Many times you
+have said it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have said it. But Bram is not of our people. And if our law
+forbid us to sow different seeds at the same time in the same ground, or
+to graft one kind of fruit-tree on the stock of another, shall we dare
+to mingle ourselves with people alien in race and faith, and speech and
+customs? My dear, will you take your own way, or will you obey the word
+of the Lord?"</p>
+
+<p>"My way cannot stand before His way."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a hard thing for you, my dear. Your way is sweet to you. Offer it
+as a sacrifice; bind the sacrifice, even with cords, to the altar, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>if
+it be necessary. I mean, say to Bram Van Heemskirk words that you cannot
+unsay. Then there will be only one sorrow. It is hope and fear, and fear
+and hope, that make the heart sick. Be kind, and slay hope at once, my
+dear."</p>
+
+<p>"If Judah had been my own choice, father"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Choice?</i> My dear, when did you get wisdom? Do not parents choose for
+their children their food, dress, friends, and teachers? What folly to
+do these things, and then leave them in the most serious question of
+life to their own wisdom, or want of wisdom! Choice! Remember Van
+Heemskirk's daughter, and the sin and suffering her own choice caused."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-267.png" width="400" height="451" alt="&quot;Make me not to remember the past&quot;" title="&quot;Make me not to remember the past&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"I think it was not her fault if two men quarrelled and fought about
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"She was not wholly innocent. Miriam, make me not to remember the past.
+My <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>eyes are old now; they should not weep any more. I have drunk my cup
+of sorrow to the lees. O Miriam, Miriam, do not fill it again!"</p>
+
+<p>"God forbid! My father, I will keep the promise that I made you. I will
+do all that you wish."</p>
+
+<p>Cohen bowed his head solemnly, and remained for some minutes afterward
+motionless. His eyes were closed, his face was as still as a painted
+face. Whether he was praying or remembering, Miriam knew not. But
+solitude is the first cry of the wounded heart, and she went away into
+it. She was like a child that had been smitten, and whom there was none
+to comfort. But she never thought of disputing her grandfather's word,
+or of opposing his will. Often before he had been obliged to give her
+some bitter cup, or some disappointment; but her good had always been
+the end in view. She had perfect faith in his love and wisdom. But she
+suffered very much; though she bore it with that uncomplaining patience
+which is so characteristic of the child heart&mdash;a patience pathetic in
+its resignation, and sublime in its obedience.</p>
+
+<p>And it was during this hour of trial to Miriam that Joris was talking to
+Lysbet of her. It did him good to put his fears into words, for Lysbet's
+assurances were comfortable; and as it had been a day full of feeling,
+he was weary and went earlier to his room than usual. On the contrary,
+Lysbet was very wakeful. She carried her sewing to the candle, and sat
+down for an hour's work. The house was oppressively still; and she could
+not help <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>remembering the days when it had been so different,&mdash;when Anna
+and Cornelia had been marriageable women, and Joanna and Katherine
+growing girls. All of them had now gone away from her. Only Bram was
+left, and she thought of him with great anxiety. Such a marriage as his
+father had hinted at filled her with alarm. She could neither conquer
+her prejudices nor put away her fears; and she tormented herself with
+imagining, in the event of such a misfortune, all the disagreeable and
+disapproving things the members of the Middle Kirk would have to say.</p>
+
+<p>In the midst of her reflections, Bram returned. She had not expected him
+so early, but the sound of his feet was pleasant. He came in slowly;
+and, after some pottering, irritating delays, he pushed his father's
+chair back from the light, and with a heavy sigh sat down in it.</p>
+
+<p>"Why sigh you so heavy, Bram? Every sigh still lower sinks the heart."</p>
+
+<p>"A light heart I shall never have again, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"You talk some foolishness. A young man like you! A quarrel with your
+sweetheart, is it? Well, it will be over as quick as a rainy day. Then
+the sunshine again."</p>
+
+<p>"For me there is no hope like that. So quiet and shy was my love."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed! Of all the coquettes, the quiet, shy ones are the worst."</p>
+
+<p>"No coquette is Miriam Cohen. My love life is at the end, mother."</p>
+
+<p>"When began it, Bram?"</p>
+
+<p>"It was at the time of the duel. I loved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>her from the first moment. O
+mother, mother!"</p>
+
+<p>"Does she not love you, Bram?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so: many sweet hours we have had together. My heart was full of
+hope."</p>
+
+<p>"Her faith, Bram, should have kept you prudent."</p>
+
+<p>"'In what church do you pray?' Love asks not such a question, and as for
+her race, I thought a daughter of Israel is the beloved of all the
+daughters of God. A blessing to my house she will bring."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not what the world says, Bram. No, my son. It is thus, and like
+it: that God is angry with His people, and for that He has scattered
+them through all the nations of the earth."</p>
+
+<p>"Such folly is that! To colonize, to 'take possession' of the whole
+earth, is what the men of Israel have always intended. Long before the
+Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Jews were scattered throughout every
+known country. I will say that to the dominie. It is the truth, and he
+cannot deny it."</p>
+
+<p>"But surely God is angry with them."</p>
+
+<p>"I see it not. If once He was angry, long ago He has forgiven His
+people. 'To the third and fourth generation' only is His anger. His own
+limit that is. Who have such blessings? The gold and the wine and the
+fruit of all lands are theirs. Their increase comes when all others'
+fail. God is not angry with them. The light of His smile is on the face
+of Miriam. He teaches her father how to traffic and to prosper. Do not
+the Holy Scriptures say that the blessing, not the anger, of the Lord
+maketh rich?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>"Well, then, my son, all this is little to the purpose, if she will not
+have thee for her husband. But be not easy to lose thy heart. Try once
+more."</p>
+
+<p>"Useless it would be. Miriam is not one of those who say 'no' and then
+'yes.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Nearly two years you have known her. That was long to keep you in hope
+and doubt. I think she is a coquette."</p>
+
+<p>"You know her not, mother. Very few words of love have I dared to say.
+We have been friends. I was happy to stand in the store and talk to
+Cohen, and watch her. A glance from her eyes, a pleasant word, was
+enough. I feared to lose all by asking too much."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, why did you ask her to-night? It would have been better had your
+father spoken first to Mr. Cohen."</p>
+
+<p>"I did not ask Miriam to-night. She spared me all she could. She was in
+the store as I passed, and I went in. This is what she said to me,
+'Bram, dear Bram, I fear that you begin to love me, because I think of
+you very often. And my grandfather has just told me that I am promised
+to Judah Belasco, of London. In the summer he will come here, and I
+shall marry him.' I wish, mother, you could have seen her leaning
+against the black <i>kas</i>; for between it and her black dress, her face
+was white as death, and beautiful and pitiful as an angel's."</p>
+
+<p>"What said you then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I scarce know! But I told her how dearly I loved her, and I asked
+her to be my wife."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p>
+<p>"And she said what to thee?"</p>
+
+<p>"'My father I must obey. Though he told me to slay myself, I must obey
+him. By the God of Israel, I have promised it often.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Was that all, Bram?"</p>
+
+<p>"I asked her again and again. I said, 'Only in this one thing, Miriam,
+and all our lives after it we will give to him.' But she answered,
+'Obedience is better than sacrifice, Bram. That is what our law teaches.
+Though I could give my father the wealth and the power of King Solomon,
+it would be worth less than my obedience.' And for all my pleading, at
+the last it was the same, 'I cannot do wrong; for many right deeds will
+not undo one wrong one.' So she gave me her hands, and I kissed
+them,&mdash;my first and last kiss,&mdash;and I bade her farewell; for my hope is
+over&mdash;I know that."</p>
+
+<p>"She is a good girl. I wish that you had won her, Bram." And Lysbet put
+down her work and went to her son's side; and with a great sob Bram laid
+his head against her breast.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0414-1.jpg" width="300" height="438" alt="With a great sob Bram laid his head against her breast" title="With a great sob Bram laid his head against her breast" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"As one whom his mother comforteth!" Oh, tender and wonderful
+consolation! It is the mother that turns the bitter waters of life into
+wine. Bram talked his sorrow over to his mother's love and pity and
+sympathy; and when she parted with him, long after the midnight, she
+said cheerfully, "Thou hast a brave soul, <i>mijn zoon, mijn Bram</i>; and
+this trouble is not all for thy loss and grief. A sweet memory will this
+beautiful Miriam be as long as thou livest; and to have loved well a
+good woman will make thee always a better man for it."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 509px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0415-1.jpg" width="509" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a>XII.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">"<i>The town's a golden, but a fatal, circle,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>Upon whose magic skirts a thousand devils,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>In crystal forms, sit tempting Innocence,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>And beckoning Virtue from its centre.</i>"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>The trusting, generous letter which Joris had written to his son-in-law
+arrived a few days before Hyde's departure for London. With every decent
+show of pleasure and gratitude, he said, "It is an unexpected piece of
+good fortune, Katherine, and the interest of five thousand pounds will
+keep Hyde Manor up in a fine style. As for the principal, we will leave
+it at Secor's until it can be invested in land. What say you?"</p>
+
+<p>Katherine was quite satisfied; for, though naturally careful of all put
+under her own hands, she was at heart very far from being either selfish
+or mercenary. In fact, the silver cup was at that hour of more real
+interest to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>her. It would be a part of her old home in her new home. It
+was connected with her life memories, and it made a portion of her
+future hopes and dreams. There was also something more tangible about it
+than about the bit of paper certifying to five thousand pounds in her
+name at Secor's Bank.</p>
+
+<p>But Hyde knew well the importance of Katherine's fortune. It enabled him
+to face his relatives and friends on a very much better footing than he
+had anticipated. He was quite aware, too, that the simple fact was all
+that society needed. He expected to hear in a few days that the five
+thousand pounds had become fifty thousand pounds; for he knew that
+rumour, when on the boast, would magnify any kind of gossip, favourable
+or unfavourable. So he was no longer averse to meeting his former
+companions: even to them, a rich wife would excuse matrimony. And,
+besides, Hyde was one of those men who regard money in the bank as a
+kind of good conscience: he really felt morally five thousand pounds the
+better. Full of hope and happiness, he would have gone at a pace to suit
+his mood; but English roads at that date were left very much to nature
+and to weather, and the Norfolk clay in springtime was so deep and heavy
+that it was not until the third day after leaving that he was able to
+report for duty.</p>
+
+<p>His first social visit was paid to his maternal grandmother, the dowager
+Lady Capel. She was not a nice old woman; in fact, she was a very
+spiteful, ill-hearted, ill-tempered old woman, and Hyde had always had a
+certain fear of her. When he landed in London with his wife, Lady <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>Capel
+had fortunately been at Bath; and he had then escaped the duty of
+presenting Katherine to her. But she was now at her mansion in Berkeley
+Square, and her claims upon his attention could not be postponed; and,
+as she had neither eyes nor ears in the evenings for any thing but loo
+or whist, Hyde knew that a conciliatory visit would have to be made in
+the early part of the day.</p>
+
+<p>He found her in the most careless dishabille, wigless and unpainted, and
+rolled up comfortably in an old wadded morning-gown that had seen years
+of snuffy service. But she had out-lived her vanity. Hyde had chosen the
+very hour in which she had nothing whatever to amuse her, and he was a
+very welcome interruption. And, upon the whole, she liked her grandson.
+She had paid his gambling-debts twice, she had taken the greatest
+interest in his various duels, and sided passionately with him in one
+abortive love-affair.</p>
+
+<p>"Dick is no milksop," she would say approvingly, when told of any of his
+escapades; "faith, he has my spirit exactly! I have a great deal more
+temper than any one would believe me capable of"&mdash;which was not the
+truth, for there were few people who really knew her ladyship who ever
+felt inclined to doubt her capabilities in that direction.</p>
+
+<p>So she heard the rattle of Hyde's sword, and the clatter of his feet on
+the polished stairs, with a good deal of satisfaction. "I have him here,
+and I shall do my best to keep him here," she thought. "Why should a
+proper young fellow like Dick bury himself alive in the fens for a
+Dutchwoman? In short, she has had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>enough, and too much, of him. His
+grandmother has a prior claim, I hope, and then Arabella Suffolk will
+help me. I foresee mischief and amusement.&mdash;Well, Dick, you rascal, so
+you have had to leave America! I expected it. Oh, sir, I have heard all
+about you from Adelaide! You are not to be trusted, either among men or
+women. And pray where is the wife you made such a fracas about? Is she
+in London with you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, madam: she preferred to remain at Hyde, and I have no happiness
+beyond her desire."</p>
+
+<p>"Here's flame! Here's constancy! And you have been married a whole year!
+I am struck with admiration."</p>
+
+<p>"A whole year&mdash;a year of divine happiness, I assure you."</p>
+
+<p>"Lord, sir! You will be the laughing-stock of the town if you talk in
+such fashion. They will have you in the play-houses. Pray let us forget
+our domestic joys a little. I hear, however, that your divinity is
+rich."</p>
+
+<p>"She is not poor; though if"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Though if she had been a beggar-girl you would have married her, rags
+and all. Swear to that, Dick, especially when she brings you fifty
+thousand pounds. I'm very much obliged to her; you can hardly, for
+shame, put your fingers in my poor purse now, sir. And you can make a
+good figure in the world; and as your cousin Arabella Suffolk is staying
+with me, you will be the properest gallant for her when Sir Thomas is at
+the House."</p>
+
+<p>"I am at yours and cousin Arabella's service, grandmother."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>"Exactly so, Captain; only no more quarrelling and fighting. Learn your
+catechism, or Dr. Watts, or somebody. Remember that we have now a bishop
+in the family. And I am getting old, and want to be at peace with the
+whole world, if you will let me."</p>
+
+<p>Hyde laughed merrily. "Why, grandmother, such advice from you! I don't
+trust it. There never was a more perfect hater than yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"I know, Dick. I used to say, 'Lord, this person is so bad, and that
+person is so bad, I hate them!' But at last I found out that every one
+was bad: so I hate nobody. One cannot take a sword and run the whole
+town through. I have seen some very religious people lately; and you
+will find me very serious, and much improved. Come and go as you please,
+Dick: Arabella and you can be perfectly happy, I dare say, without
+minding me."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the town doing now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, balls and dances and weddings and other follies! Thank the moon,
+men and women never get weary of these things!"</p>
+
+<p>"Then you have not ceased to enjoy them, I hope."</p>
+
+<p>"I still take my share. Old fools will hobble after young ones. I ride a
+little, and visit a little, and have small societies quite to my taste.
+And I have my four kings and aces; that is saying everything. I want you
+to go to all the diversions, Dick; and pray tell me what they say of me
+behind my back. I like to know how much I annoy people."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not listen to anything unflattering, I assure you."</p>
+
+<p>"La, Dick, you can't fight a rout of women <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>and men about your
+grandmother! I don't want you to fight, not even if they talk about
+Arabella and you. It is none of their business; and as for Sir Thomas
+Suffolk, he hears nothing outside the House, and he thinks every Whig in
+England is watching him&mdash;a pompous old fool!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed! I had an idea that he was a very merry fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"Merry, forsooth! He was never known to laugh. There is a report that he
+once condescended to smile, but it was at chess. As for fighting, he
+wouldn't fight a dog that bit him. He is too patriotic to deprive his
+country of his own abilities. No, Dick; I really do not see any quarrel
+ahead, unless you make it."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall think of my Kate when I am passionate, and so keep the peace."</p>
+
+<p>"'I shall think of my Kate.' Grant me patience with all young husbands.
+They ought to remain in seclusion until the wedding-fever is over. By
+the Lord Harry! If Jack Capel had spoken of me in such fashion, I would
+have given him the best of reasons for running some pretty fellow
+through the heart. Hush! Here comes Arabella, and I am anxious you
+should make a figure in her eyes."</p>
+
+<p>Arabella came in very quietly, but she seemed to take possession of the
+room as she entered it. She had a bright, piquant face, a tall, graceful
+form, and that air of high fashion which is perhaps quite as
+captivating.</p>
+
+<p>She was "delighted to meet cousin Dick. Oh, indeed, you have been the
+town talk!" she said, with an air of attention very flattering. "Such a
+passionate encounter was never heard <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>of. The clubs were engaged with it
+for a week. I was told that Lord Paget and Sir Henry Dutton came near
+fighting it over themselves. Was it really about a bow of orange ribbon?
+And did you wear it over your heart? And did the Scotchman cut it off
+with his sword? And did you run him through the next moment? There were
+the most extraordinary accounts of the affair, and of the little girl
+with the unpronounceable Dutch name who"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Who is now my wife, Lady Suffolk."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, we heard of that also. How romantic! The secret marriage,
+the midnight elopement, and the man-of-war waiting down the river with a
+broadside ready for any boat that attempted to stop you."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, my lady, that is the completest nonsense!"</p>
+
+<p>"Say 'cousin Arabella,' if you please. Has not grandmother told you that
+I, not the Dutch girl, ought to have been your wife? It was all arranged
+years ago, sir. You have disappointed grandmother; as for me, I have
+consoled myself with Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed," said Lady Capel; "though Dick was entirely out of the
+secret of the match, my son Will and I had agreed upon it. I don't know
+what Will thinks of a younger son like Dick choosing for himself."</p>
+
+<p>Then Arabella made Hyde a pretty, mocking courtesy, and he could not
+help looking with some interest at the woman who might have been his
+wife. The best of men, and the best of husbands, are liable to speculate
+a little under such circumstances, and in fancy to put themselves into a
+position they have probably <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>no wish in reality to fill. She noticed his
+air of consideration; and, with a toss of her handsome head, she spread
+out all her finery. "You see," she said, "I am dressed so as to make a
+tearing show." She wore a white poudesoy gown, embroidered with gold,
+and the prettiest high-heeled satin slippers, and a head-dress of
+wonderful workmanship. "For I have been at a concert of music, cousin
+Dick, and heard two overtures of Mr. Handel's and a sonata by Corella,
+done by the very best hands."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-282.png" width="200" height="310" alt="She spread out all her finery" title="She spread out all her finery" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"And, pray, whom did you see there, my dear? and what were they talking
+about?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of all people, grandmother, I saw Lady Susan Rye and the rest of her
+sort; and they talked of nothing else but the coming mask at Ranelagh's.
+Cousin, I bespeak you for my service. I am going as a gypsy, for it will
+give me the opportunity of telling the truth. In my own character, I
+rarely do it: nothing is so impolite. But I have a prodigious regard for
+truth; and at a mask I give myself the pleasure of saying all the
+disagreeable things that I owe to my acquaintances."</p>
+
+<p>Katherine was almost ignored; and Hyde did not feel any desire to bring
+even her name into such a mocking, jeering, perfectly heartless
+conversation. He was content to laugh, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>let the hour go past in such
+flim-flams of criticism and persiflage. He remembered when he had been
+one of the units in such a life, and he wondered if it were possible
+that he could ever drift back into it. For even as he sat there, with
+the memory of his wife and child in his heart, he felt the light charm
+of Lady Arabella's claim upon him, and all the fascination of that gay,
+thoughtless animal life which appeals so strongly to the selfish
+instincts and appetites of youth.</p>
+
+<p>He had a plate of roast hare and a goblet of wine, and the ladies had
+chocolate and rout cakes; and he ate and drank, and laughed, and enjoyed
+their bright, ill-natured pleasantry, as men enjoy such piquant morsels.
+Thus a couple of hours passed; and then it became evident, from the
+pawing and snorting outside, that Mephisto's patience was quite
+exhausted. Hyde went to the window, and looked into the square. His
+orderly was vainly endeavoring to soothe the restless animal; and he
+said, "Mephisto will take no excuse, cousin, and I find myself obliged
+to leave you." But he went away in an excitement of hope and gay
+anticipations; and, with a sharp rebuke to the unruly animal, he vaulted
+into the saddle with soldierly grace and rapidity. A momentary glance
+upward showed him Lady Capel and Lady Suffolk at the window, watching
+him; the withered old woman in her soiled wrappings, the youthful beauty
+in all the bravery of her white and gold poudesoy. In spite of
+Mephisto's opposition, he made them a salute; and then, in a clamour of
+clattering hoofs, he dashed through the square.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>"That is the man you ought to have married Arabella," said Lady Capel,
+as she watched the young face at her side, which had suddenly become
+pensive and dreamy: "you would have been a couple for the world to look
+at."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, you are mistaken, grandmother! Sir Thomas is an admirable
+husband&mdash;blind and deaf to all I do, as a good husband ought to be. And
+as for Dick, look at him&mdash;bowing and smiling, and ready to do me any
+service, while the girl he nearly died for is quite forgotten."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, you wrong Dick. His love for that woman is beyond
+everything. I wish it wasn't. What right had she to come into our
+family, and spoil plans and projects made before she was born. I should
+clearly love to play her her own card back. And I must say, Arabella,
+that you seem to care very little about your own wrongs."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I am by no means certified that the woman has wronged me! I don't
+think I should have loved Dick, in any case."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Ha!</i>" Lady Capel looked in her granddaughter's musing face, and then,
+with a chuckle, hobbled to the bell and rang for her maid. "You are very
+prudent, child, but I am not one that any woman can deceive. I know all
+the tricks of the sex. Oh, heavens! what a grand thing to be two and
+twenty, with a kind husband to manage, and lovers bowing and begging at
+your shoe-ties! Well, well, I had my day; and, thank the fools, I did
+some mischief in it! Yes, there were eight duels fought for me; and
+while Somers and Scrope were wetting their swords in the quarrel, I was
+dancing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>with Jack Capel. Jack told me that night he would make me marry
+him; and when I slapped his cheek with my fan, he took my hands in a
+rage, and swore I should do it that hour. And, faith, he mastered me!
+Your grandfather Capel had a dreadful temper, Arabella."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard that Cousin Dick Hyde has a temper too."</p>
+
+<p>"Dick is vain; and you can make a vain man stand on his head, or go down
+on his knees, if you only vow that he performs the antics better than
+any other human creature. The town will fling itself at Dick Hyde's
+feet, and Dick will fling himself at yours. Mind what I say; my
+prophecies always come true, Arabella, for I never expect sinners to be
+saints, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>And during the next six months Lady Capel found plenty of opportunities
+for complimenting herself upon her own penetration. Society made an idol
+of Capt. Hyde; and if he was not at Lady Arabella's feet, he was
+certainly very constantly at her side. As to his marriage, it was a
+topic of constant doubt and dispute. The clubs betted on the subject. In
+the ball-rooms and the concert-rooms, the ladies positively denied it;
+and Lady Arabella's smile and shrug were of all opinions the most
+unsatisfactory and bewildering. Some, indeed, admitted the marriage, but
+averred, with a meaning emphasis, that madam was on the proper side of
+the Atlantic. Others were certain that Hyde had brought his wife to
+England, but felt himself obliged, on account of her great beauty, to
+keep her away from the conquering heroes of London society. It was a
+significant index to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>Hyde's real character, that not one of his
+associates ever dared to be familiar enough to ask him for the truth on
+a question so delicately personal.</p>
+
+<p>"Hyde is exactly the man to invite me to meet him in Marylebone Fields
+for the answer," said a young officer, who had been urged to make
+inquiries because he was on familiar terms with his comrade. "If it
+comes to a matter of catechism, gentlemen, I'll bet ten to one that none
+of you ask him two consecutive questions regarding the American lady."</p>
+
+<p>And perhaps many husbands may be able to understand a fact which to the
+general world seems beyond satisfactory explanation. Hyde loved his
+wife, loved her tenderly and constantly; he felt himself to be a better
+man whenever he thought of her and his little son, and he thought of
+them very frequently; and yet his eyes, his actions, the tones of his
+voice, daily led his cousin, Lady Suffolk, to imagine herself the
+empress of his heart and life. Nor was it to her alone that he permitted
+this affectation of love. He found beauty, wherever he met it,
+provocative of the same apparent devotion. There were a dozen men in his
+own circle who hated him with all the sincerity that jealousy gives to
+dislike and envy; there were a score of women who believed themselves to
+have private tokens of Hyde's special admiration for them.</p>
+
+<p>Unfortunately, his military duties were only on very rare occasions any
+restraint to him. His days were mainly spent in dangling after Lady
+Suffolk and other fair dames. It was auctions at Christie's, and morning
+concerts, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>and afternoon rides and plays, and dinners and balls and
+masks at Ranelagh's. It was sails down the river to Richmond, and trips
+to Sadler's Wells, and one perpetual round of flirting and folly, of
+dressing and dancing and dining and gaming.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 200px;">
+<img src="images/illus-287.png" width="200" height="234" alt="All kinds of frivolity and amusement" title="All kinds of frivolity and amusement" />
+</div>
+
+<p>And it must be remembered that the English women of that day were such
+as England may well hope never to see again. They had little education:
+many very great ladies could hardly read and spell properly. Their sole
+accomplishments were dressing and embroidery; the ability to make a few
+delicate dishes for the table, and scents and pomade for the toilet. In
+the higher classes they married for money or position, and gave
+themselves up to intrigue. They drank deeply; they played high; they
+very seldom went to church, for Sunday was the fashionable day for all
+kinds of frivolity and amusement. And as the men of any generation are
+just what the women make them, England never had sons so profligate, so
+profane and drunken. The clubs, especially Brooke's, were the nightly
+scenes of indescribable orgies. Gambling alone was their serious
+occupation; duels were of constant occurrence.</p>
+
+<p>Such a life could not be lived except at frightful and generally ruinous
+expense. Hyde was soon <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>embarrassed. His pay was small and uncertain and
+the allowance which his brother William added to it, in order that the
+heir-apparent to the earldom might live in becoming style, had not been
+calculated on the squandering basis of Hyde's expenditures. Toward
+Christmas bills began to pour in, creditors became importunate, and, for
+the first time in his life, creditors really troubled him. Lady Capel
+was not likely to pay his debts any more. The earl, in settling Hyde's
+American obligations, had warned him against incurring others, and had
+frankly told him he would permit him to go to jail rather than pay such
+wicked and foolish bills for him again. The income from Hyde Manor had
+never been more than was required for the expenses of the place; and the
+interest on Katherine's money had gone, though he could not tell how. He
+was destitute of ready cash, and he foresaw that he would have to borrow
+some from Lady Capel or some other accommodating friend.</p>
+
+<p>He returned to barracks one Sunday afternoon, and was moodily thinking
+over these things, when his orderly brought him a letter which had
+arrived during his absence. It was from Katherine. His face flushed with
+delight as he read it, so sweet and tender and pure was the neat
+epistle. He compared it mentally with some of the shameless scented
+billet-doux he was in the habit of receiving; and he felt as if his
+hands were unworthy to touch the white wings of his Katherine's most
+womanly, wifely message. "She wants to see me. Oh, the dear one! Not
+more than I want to see her. Fool, villain, that I am! I will go to her.
+Kathe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>rine! Kate! My dear little Kate!" So he ejaculated as he paced his
+narrow quarters, and tried to arrange his plans for a Christmas visit
+to his wife and child.</p>
+
+<p>First he went to his colonel's lodging, and easily obtained two weeks'
+absence; then he dressed carefully, and went to his club for dinner. He
+had determined to ask Lady Capel for a hundred pounds; and he thought it
+would be the best plan to make his request when she was surrounded by
+company, and under the pleasurable excitement of a winning rubber. And
+if the circumstances proved adverse, then he could try his fortune in
+the hours of her morning retirement.</p>
+
+<p>The mansion in Berkeley Square was brilliantly lighted when he
+approached it. Chairs and coaches were waiting in lines of three deep;
+coachmen and footmen quarrelling, shouting, talking; link-boys running
+here and there in search of lost articles or missing servants. But the
+hubbub did not at that time make his blood run quicker, or give any
+light of expectation to his countenance; for his heart and thoughts were
+near a hundred miles away.</p>
+
+<p>Sunday night was Lady Capel's great card-night, and the rooms were full
+of tables surrounded by powdered and painted beauties intent upon the
+game and the gold. The odour of musk was everywhere, and the sound of
+the tapping of gold snuff-boxes, and the fluttering of fans, and the
+sharp, technical calls of the gamesters, and the hollow laughter of
+hollow hearts. There was a hired singing-girl with a lute at one end of
+the room, babbling of Cupid and Daphne, and green meadow and larks. But
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>she was poorly dressed and indifferent looking; and she sang with a
+sad, mechanical air, as if her thoughts were far off. Hyde would have
+passed her without a glance; but, as he approached, she broke her
+love-ditty in two, and began to sing, with a meaning look at him,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"They say there is a happy land,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Where husbands never prove untrue;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Where lovely maids may give their hearts,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">And never need the gift to rue;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Where men can make and keep a vow,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">And wives are never in despair.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">I'm very fond of seeing sights&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Pray tell me, how can I get there?"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The question seemed so directly addressed to Hyde that he hesitated a
+moment, and looked at the girl, who then with a mocking smile
+continued,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"They say there really is a land,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Where husbands never are untrue,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">Where wives are always beautiful,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">And the old love is always new.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">I've asked the wise to tell me how</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">A loving woman could get there;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">And this is what they say to me,&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">'If you that happy land would see,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">There's only one way to get there:</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;"><i>Go straight along the crooked lane, </i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;"><i>And all around the square</i>.'"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The scornful little song followed him, and conveyed a certain meaning to
+his mind. The girl must have taken her cue from the gossip of those who
+passed her to and fro. He burned with indignation, not for himself, but
+for his sweet, pure Katherine. He was determined that the world should
+in the future know <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>that he held her peerless among women. In this
+half-aggressive mood he approached Lady Capel. She had been unfortunate
+all the evening, and was not amiable. As he stood behind her chair, Lord
+Leffham asked,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"What think you, Hyde, of a party at picquet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, my lord, you are too much for me!"</p>
+
+<p>"I will give you three points." Then, calling a footman, "Here, fellow,
+get cards."</p>
+
+<p>Lady Capel flung her own down. "No, no, Leffham. Spare my grandson:
+there are bigger fish here. Dick, I am angry at you. I have a mind to
+banish you for a month."</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to Norfolk for two weeks, madam."</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-291.png" width="300" height="334" alt="&quot;Dick, I am angry at you&quot;" title="&quot;Dick, I am angry at you&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"That will do. It is a worse punishment than I should have given you.
+Norfolk! There is only one word between it and the plantations. At this
+time of the year, it is a clay pudding full of villages. Give me your
+arm, Dick; I shall play no more until my luck turns again. Losing cards
+are dull company indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"I am very sorry that you have been losing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> I came to ask for the loan
+of a hundred pounds, grandmother."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, I will not lend you a hundred pounds; nor am I in the humour
+to do anything else you desire."</p>
+
+<p>"I make my apology for the request. I ought to have asked Katherine."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir, you ought not to have asked Katherine. You ought to take what
+you want. Jack Capel took every shilling of my fortune and neither said
+'by your leave' nor 'thank you.' Did the Dutchman tie the bag too
+close?"</p>
+
+<p>"Councillor Van Heemskirk left it open, in my honour. When I am
+scoundrel enough to touch it, I shall not come and see you at all,
+grandmother."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, a very pretty compliment! Well, sir, I'll pay you a
+hundred pounds for it. When do you start?"</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Make it afternoon, and take care of me as far as your aunt Julia's. The
+duke is of the royal bed-chamber this month, and I am going to see my
+daughter while he is away. It will make him supremely wretched at court
+to know that I am in his house. So I am going there, and I shall take
+care he knows it."</p>
+
+<p>"I have heard a great deal of his new house."</p>
+
+<p>"A play-house kind of affair, Dick, I assure you,&mdash;all in the French
+style; gods and goddesses above your head, and very badly dressed nymphs
+all around, and his pedigree on every window, and his coat of arms on
+the very stairs. I have the greatest satisfaction in treading upon them,
+I assure you."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>"Why do you take the trouble to go? It can give you no pleasure."</p>
+
+<p>"Imagine the true state of things, Dick. The duke is at court&mdash;say he is
+holding the royal gold wash-basin; but in the very sunshine of King
+George's smile, he is thinking, 'That snuffy old woman is lounging in my
+white and gilt satin chairs, and handling all my Chinese curiosities,
+and asking if every hideous Hindoo idol is a fresh likeness of me.' I am
+always willing to take some trouble to give pleasure to the people I
+like; I will gladly go to any amount of trouble to annoy the people I
+hate as cordially as I hate my good, rich, noble son-in-law, the great
+Duke of Exmouth."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you play again?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; I lost seventy pounds to-night."</p>
+
+<p>"I protest, grandmother, that such high stakes go not with amusement.
+People come here, not for civility, but for the chance of money."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, sir. Money! It is the only excuse for card-playing. All the
+rest is sinning without temptation. But, Dick, put on the black coat to
+preach in,&mdash;why do they wear black to preach in?&mdash;and I am not in a
+humour for a sermon. Come to-morrow at one o'clock; we shall reach
+Julia's before dinner. And I dare say you want money to-night. Here are
+the keys of my desk. In the right-hand drawer are some <i>rouleaus</i> of
+fifty pounds each. Take two."</p>
+
+<p>The weather, as Lady Capel said, was "so very Decemberish" that the
+roads were passably good, being frozen dry and hard; and on the evening
+of the third day Hyde came in sight of his home. His heart warmed to the</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0416-1.jpg" width="400" height="565" alt="She was softly singing to the drowsy child" title="She was softly singing to the drowsy child" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>lonely place; and the few lights in its windows beckoned him far more
+pleasantly than the brilliant illuminations of Vauxhall or Almacks, or
+even the cold splendours of royal receptions. He had given Katherine no
+warning of his visit&mdash;partly because he had a superstitious feeling
+about talking of expected joys (he had noticed that when he did so they
+vanished beyond his grasp); partly because love, like destiny, loves
+surprises; and he wanted to see with his own eyes, and hear with his own
+ears, the glad tokens of her happy wonder.</p>
+
+<p>So he rode his horse upon the turf, and, seeing a light in the stable,
+carried him there at once. It was just about the hour of the evening
+meal, and the house was brighter than it would have been a little later.
+The kitchen fire threw great lustres across the brick-paved yard; and
+the blinds in Katherine's parlour were undrawn, and its fire and
+candle-light shone on the freshly laid tea-table, and the dark walls
+gleaming with bunches of holly and mistletoe. But she was not there. He
+only glanced inside the room, and then, with a smile on his face, went
+swiftly upstairs. He had noticed the light in the upper windows, and he
+knew where he would find his wife. Before he reached the nursery, he
+heard Katherine's voice. The door was a little open, and he could see
+every part of the charming domestic scene within the room. A middle-aged
+woman was quietly putting to rights the sweet disorder incident to the
+undressing of the baby. Katherine had played with it until they were
+both a little flushed and weary; and she was softly singing to the
+drowsy child at her breast.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>It was a very singular chiming melody, and the low, sweet, tripping
+syllables were in a language quite unknown to him. But he thought that
+he had never heard music half so sweet and tender; and he listened to
+it, and watched the drowsy, swaying movements of the mother, with a
+strange delight,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">"Trip a trop a tronjes,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">De varkens in de boonjes,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">De keojes in de klaver,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">De paardeen in de haver,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">De eenjes in de waterplass,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 20em;">So groot mijn kleine Joris wass."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>Over and over, softer and slower, went the melody. It was evident that
+the boy was asleep, and that Katherine was going to lay him in his
+cradle. He watched her do it; watched her gently tuck in the cover, and
+stand a moment to look down at the child. Then with a face full of love
+she turned away, smiling, and quite unconsciously came toward him on
+tiptoes. With his face beaming, with his arms opened, he entered; but
+with such a sympathetic understanding of the sweet need of silence and
+restraint that there was no alarm, no outcry, no fuss or amazement. Only
+a whispered "Katherine," and the swift rapture of meeting hearts and
+lips.</p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 431px;">
+<img src="images/illus-298.png" width="431" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII"></a>XIII.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;">"<i>Death asks for no man's leave,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;"><i>But lifts the latch, and enters, and sits down</i>."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>The great events of most lives occur in epochs. A certain period is
+marked by a succession of important changes, but that ride of fortune,
+be it good or ill, culminates, recedes, goes quite out, and leaves life
+on a level beach of commonplaces. Then, sooner or later, the current of
+affairs turns again; sometimes with a calm, irresistible flow, sometimes
+in a tidal wave of sudden and overwhelming strength. After Hyde's and
+Katherine's marriage, there was a long era noticeable only for such
+vicissitudes as were incident to their fortune and position. But in May,
+A.D. 1774, the first murmur of the returning tide of destiny was heard.
+Not but what there had been for long some vague and general expecta<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>tion
+of momentous events which would touch many individual lives; but this
+May night, a singular prescience of change made Hyde restless and
+impatient.</p>
+
+<p>It was a dull, drizzling evening; and there was an air of depression in
+the city, to which he was unusually sensitive. For the trouble between
+England and her American Colonies was rapidly culminating; and party
+feeling ran high, not only among civilians, but throughout the royal
+regiments. Recently, also, a petition had been laid before the king from
+the Americans then resident in London, praying him not to send troops to
+coerce his subjects in America; and, when Hyde entered his club, some
+members were engaged in an angry altercation on this subject.</p>
+
+<p>"The petition was flung upon the table, as it ought to have been," said
+Lord Paget.</p>
+
+<p>"You are right," replied Mr. Hervey; "they ought to petition no longer.
+They ought now to resist. Mr. Dunning said in the House last night that
+the tone of the Government to the Colonies was, 'Resist, and we will cut
+your throats: acquiesce, and we will tax you.'"</p>
+
+<p>"A kind of 'stand and deliver' government," remarked Hyde, whistling
+softly.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Paget turned upon him with hardly concealed anger. "Captain, you,
+sir, wear the king's livery."</p>
+
+<p>"I give the king my service: my thoughts are my own. And, faith, Lord
+Paget, it is my humour to utter them when and how I please!"</p>
+
+<p>"Patience, gentlemen," returned Mr. Hervey. "I think, my lord, we may
+follow our leaders. The Duke of Richmond spoke warmly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>for Boston last
+night. 'The Bostonians are punished without a hearing,' he said; 'and if
+they resist punishment, I wish them success.' Are they not Englishmen,
+and many of them born on English soil? When have Englishmen submitted to
+oppression? Neither king, lords, nor commons can take away the rights of
+the people. It is past a doubt, too, that his Majesty, at the levee last
+night, laughed when he said he would just as lief fight the Bostonians
+as the French. I heard this speech was received with a dead silence, and
+that great offence was given by it."</p>
+
+<p>"I think the king was right," said Paget passionately. "Rebellious
+subjects are worse than open enemies like the French."</p>
+
+<p>"My lord, you must excuse me if I do not agree with your opinions. Was
+the king right to give a government to the Canadians at this precise
+time? What can his Protestant North-American subjects think, but that he
+designs the hundred thousand Catholics of Canada against their
+liberties? It is intolerable; and the king was mobbed this afternoon in
+the park, on the matter. As for the bishops who voted the Canada bill,
+they ought to be unfrocked."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Hervey, I beg to remind you that my uncle, who is of the see of St.
+Cuthbert, voted for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it is notorious that all the English bishops, excepting only Dr.
+Shipley, voted for war with America! I hear that they anticipate an
+hierarchy there when the country is conquered. And the fight has begun
+at home, for Parliament is dissolved on the subject."</p>
+
+<p>"It died in the Roman-Catholic faith," <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>laughed Hyde, "and left us a
+rebellion for a legacy."</p>
+
+<p>"Captain Hyde, you are a traitor."</p>
+
+<p>"Lord Paget, I deny it. My loyalty does not compel me to swear by all
+the follies and crimes of the Government. My sword is my country's; but
+I would not for twenty kings draw it against my own countrymen,"&mdash;then,
+with a meaning glance at Lord Paget and an emphatic touch of his
+weapon,&mdash;"except in my own private quarrel. And if this be treason, let
+the king look to it. He will find such treason in every regiment in
+England. They say he is going to hire Hessians: he will need them for
+his American business, for he has no prerogative to force Englishmen to
+murder Englishmen."</p>
+
+<p>"I would advise you to be more prudent, Captain Hyde, if it is in your
+power."</p>
+
+<p>"I would advise you to mind your own affairs, Lord Paget."</p>
+
+<p>"It is said that you married an American."</p>
+
+<p>"If you are perfectly in your senses, my lord, leave my affairs alone."</p>
+
+<p>"For my part, I never believed it; and now that Lady Suffolk is a widow,
+with revenues, possibly you may"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, you are jealous, I perceive!" and Hyde laughed scornfully, and
+turned on his heel as if to go upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>Lord Paget followed, and laid his hand upon Hyde's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Hands off, my lord. Hands off all that belongs to me. And I advise you
+also to cease your impertinent attentions to my cousin, Lady Suffolk."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>"Gentlemen," said Mr. Hervey, "this is no time for private quarrels;
+and, Captain, here is a fellow with a note for you. It is my Lady
+Capel's footman, and he says he comes in urgent speed."</p>
+
+<p>Hyde glanced at the message. "It is a last command, Mr. Harvey; and I
+must beg you to say what is proper for my honour to Lord Paget. Lady
+Capel is at the death-point, and to her requests I am first bounden."</p>
+
+<p>It was raining hard when he left the club, a most dreary night in the
+city. The coach rattled through the muddy streets, and brought, as it
+went along, many a bored, heavy countenance to the steaming windows, to
+watch and to wonder at its pace. Lady Capel had been death-stricken
+while at whist, and she had not been removed from the parlour in which
+she had been playing her last game. She was stretched upon a sofa in the
+midst of the deserted tables, yet covered with scattered cards and
+half-emptied tea-cups. Only Lady Suffolk and a physician were with her;
+though the corridor was full of terrified, curious servants, gloating
+not unkindly over such a bit of sensation in their prosaic lives.</p>
+
+<p>At this hour it was evident that, above everything in the world, the old
+lady had loved the wild extravagant grandson, whose debts she had paid
+over and over, and whom she had for years alternately petted and
+scolded.</p>
+
+<p>"O Dick," she whispered, "I've got to die! We all have. I've had a good
+time, Dick."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall I go for cousin Harold? I can bring him in an hour."</p>
+
+<p>"No, no. I want no priests; no better than <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>we are, Dick. Harold is a
+proud sinner; Lord, what a proud sinner he is!" Then, with a glint of
+her usual temper, "He'd snub the twelve apostles if he met them without
+mitres. No priests, Dick. It is you I want. I have left you eight
+thousand pounds&mdash;all I could save, Dick. Everything goes back to William
+now; but the eight thousand pounds is yours. Arabella is witness to it.
+Dick, Dick, you will think of me sometimes?"</p>
+
+<p>And Hyde kissed her fondly. Ugly, heartless, sinful, she might be to
+others; but to him she had been a double mother. "I'll never forget
+you," he answered; "never, grandmother."</p>
+
+<p>"I know what the town will say: 'Well, well, old Lady Capel has gone to
+her deserts at last.' Don't mind them, Dick. Let them talk. They will
+have to go too; it's the old round&mdash;meat and mirth, and then to
+bed&mdash;a&mdash;long&mdash;sleep."</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hear you, Dick. Good-night."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there anything you want done? Think, dear grandmother."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let Exmouth come to my funeral. I don't want him&mdash;grinning
+over&mdash;my coffin."</p>
+
+<p>"Any other thing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Put me beside Jack Capel. I wonder&mdash;if I shall&mdash;see Jack." A shadow,
+gray and swift, passed over her face. Her eyes flashed one piteous look
+into Hyde's eyes, and then closed forever.</p>
+
+<p>And while in the rainy, dreary London twilight Lady Capel was dying,
+Katherine was in the garden at Hyde Manor, watching the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>planting of
+seeds that were in a few weeks to be living things of beauty and
+sweetness. It had ceased raining at noon in Norfolk, and the gravel
+walks were perfectly dry, and the air full of the fragrance of
+innumerable violets. All the level land was wearing buttercups. Full of
+secrets, of fluttering wings, and building nests were the trees. In the
+apple-blooms the bees were humming, delirious with delight. From the
+beehives came the peculiar and exquisite odour of virgin wax. Somewhere
+near, also, the gurgle of running water spread an air of freshness all
+around.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0417-1.jpg" width="400" height="424" alt="She was stretched upon a sofa" title="She was stretched upon a sofa" />
+</div>
+
+<p>And Katherine, with a little basket full of flower-seeds, was going with
+the gardener from bed to bed, watching him plant them. No one who had
+seen her in the childlike <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>loveliness of her early girlhood could have
+imagined the splendour of her matured beauty. She had grown "divinely
+tall," and the exercise of undisputed authority had added a gracious
+stateliness of manner. Her complexion was wonderful, her large blue eyes
+shining with tender lights, her face full of sympathetic revelations.
+Above all, she had that nameless charm which comes from a freedom from
+all anxious thought for the morrow; that charm of which the sweet secret
+is generally lost after the twentieth summer. Her basket of seeds was
+clasped to her side within the hollow of her left arm, and with her
+right hand she lifted a long petticoat of quilted blue satin. Above this
+garment she wore a gown of wood-coloured taffeta, sprigged with
+rose-buds, and a stomacher of fine lace to match the deep rufflings on
+her elbow-sleeves.</p>
+
+<p>Little Joris was with his mother, running hither and thither, as his
+eager spirits led him: now pausing to watch her drop from her white
+fingers the precious seed into its prepared bed, anon darting after some
+fancied joy among the pyramidal yews, and dusky treillages, and cradle
+walks of holly and privet. For, as Sir Thomas Swaffham said, "Hyde
+garden looked just as if brought from Holland;" and especially so in the
+spring, when it was ablaze with gorgeous tulips and hyacinths.</p>
+
+<p>She had heard much of Lady Capel, and she had a certain tenderness for
+the old woman who loved her husband so truly; but no thought of her
+entered into Katherine's mind that calm evening hour. Neither had she
+any presentiment of sorrow. Her soul was happy and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>untroubled, and she
+lingered in the sweet place until the tender touch of gray twilight was
+over fen and field. Then her maid, with a manner full of pleasant
+excitement, came to her, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Here be a London pedler, madam; and he do have all the latest fashions,
+and the news of the king and the Americans."</p>
+
+<p>Now, for many reasons, the advent of a London pedler was a great and
+pleasant event at the Manor House. Katherine had that delightful and
+excusable womanly foible, a love of fine clothing; and shops for its
+sale were very rare, even in towns of considerable size. It was from
+packmen and hawkers that fine ladies bought their laces and ribbons and
+gloves; their precious toilet and hair pins, their paints and powders,
+and India scarfs and fans, and even jewellery. These hawkers were also
+the great news-bearers to the lonely halls and granges and farmhouses;
+and they were everywhere sure of a welcome, and of such entertainment as
+they required. Generally each pedler had his recognized route and
+regular customers; but occasionally a strange dealer called, and such,
+having unfamiliar wares, was doubly welcome. "Is it Parkins, Lettice?"
+asked Katherine, as she turned with interest toward the house.</p>
+
+<p>"No, ma'am, it isn't Parkins; and I do think as the man never showed a
+face in Hyde before; but he do say that he has a miracle of fine
+things."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes he was exhibiting them to Katherine, and she was too
+much interested in the wares to notice their merchant particularly.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>Indeed, he had one of those faces which reveal nothing; a face flat,
+hard, secret as a wall, wrinkled as an old banner. He was a hale,
+thick-set man, dressed in breeches of corduroy, and a sleeved waistcoat
+down to his knees of the same material. His fur cap was on the carpet
+beside his pack; and he had a fluent tongue in praise of his wares, as
+he hung his silks over Lettice's outstretched arm, or arranged the
+scarfs across her shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>There was a slow but mutually satisfactory exchange of goods and money;
+and then the pedler began to repack his treasures, and Lettice to carry
+away the pretty trifles and the piece of satin her mistress had bought.
+Then, also, he found time to talk, to take out the last newspapers, and
+to describe the popular dissatisfaction at the stupid tyranny of the
+Government toward the Colonies. For either from information, or by some
+process rapid as instinct, he understood to which side Katherine's
+sympathies went.</p>
+
+<p>"Here be the 'Flying Postman,' madam, with the great speech of Mr. Burke
+in it about the port of Boston; but it won't do a mossel o' good, madam,
+though he do tell 'em to keep their hands out o' the Americans'
+pockets."</p>
+
+<p>"The port of Boston?"</p>
+
+<p>"See you, madam, they are a-going to shut the port o' Boston, and make
+Salem the place of entry; that's to punish the Bostonians; and Mr.
+Burke, he says, 'The House has been told that Salem is only seventeen
+miles from Boston but justice is not an idea of geography, and the
+Americans are condemned without <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>being heard. Yet the universal custom,
+on any alteration of charters, is to hear the parties at the bar of the
+House. Now, the question is, Are the Americans to be heard, or not,
+before the charter is broken for our convenience?... The Boston bill is
+a diabolical bill.'"</p>
+
+<p>He read aloud this bit of Mr. Burke's fiery eloquence, in a high,
+droning voice, and would, according to his custom, have continued the
+entertainment; but Katherine, preferring to use her own intelligence,
+borrowed the paper and was about to leave the room with it, when he
+suddenly remembered a scarf of great beauty which he had not shown.</p>
+
+<p>"I bought it for my Lady Suffolk," he said; "but Lord Suffolk died
+sudden, and black my lady had to wear. It's forrin, madam; and here it
+is&mdash;the very colour of affradiles. But mayhap, as it is candle-teening,
+you'd like to wait till the day comes again."</p>
+
+<p>A singular look of speculation came into Katherine's face. She examined
+the scarf without delay; and, as she fingered the delicate silk, she led
+the man on to talk of Lady Suffolk, though, indeed, he scarcely needed
+the stimulus of questioning. Without regard as to whether Katherine was
+taking any interest or not in his information, he detailed with hurried
+avidity the town talk that had clung to her reputation for so many
+years; and he so fully described the handsome cavalry officer that was
+her devoted attendant that Katherine had no difficulty in recognizing
+her husband, even without the clews which her own knowledge of the
+parties gave her.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>She stood in the gray light by the window, fingering the delicate
+satin, and listening. The pedler glanced from his goods to her face, and
+talked rapidly, interloping bits of news about the court and the
+fashions; but going always back to Lady Suffolk and her lover, and what
+was likely to take place now that Lord Suffolk was out of the way.
+"Though there's them that do say the captain has a comely wife hid up in
+the country."</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly she turned and faced the stooping man: "Your scarf take: I will
+not have it. No, and I will not have anything that I have bought from
+you. All of the goods you shall receive back; and my money, give it to
+me. You are no honest hawker: you are a bad man, who have come here for
+a bad woman. You know that of my husband you have been talking&mdash;I mean
+<i>lying</i>. You know that this is his house, and that his true wife am I.
+Not one more word shall you speak.&mdash;Lettice, bring here all the goods I
+bought from this man; poisoned may be the unguents and scents and
+gloves. Of such things I have heard."</p>
+
+<p>She had spoken with an angry rapidity that for the moment confounded the
+stranger; but at this point he lifted himself with an insolent air, and
+said, "The goods be bought and paid for, madam; and, in faith, I will
+not buy them back again."</p>
+
+<p>"In faith, then, I will send for Sir Thomas Swaffham. A magistrate is
+he, and Captain Hyde's friend. Not one penny of my money shall you have;
+for, indeed, your goods I will not wear."</p>
+
+<p>She pointed then to the various articles which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>Lettice had brought
+back; and, with the shrug of a man who accepts the inevitable, he
+replaced them in his pack, and then ostentatiously counted back the
+money Katherine had given him. She examined every coin, and returned a
+crown. "My piece this is not. It may be false. I will have the one I
+gave to you.&mdash;Lettice, bring here water in a bowl; let the silver and
+gold lay in it until morning."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-310.png" width="300" height="400" alt="She stood in the gray light by the window" title="She stood in the gray light by the window" />
+</div>
+
+<p>And, turning to the pedler, "Your cap take from the floor, and go."</p>
+
+<p>"Of a truth, madam, you be not so cruel as to turn me on the fens, and
+it a dark night. There be bogs all about; and how the road do lay for
+the next house, I know not."</p>
+
+<p>"The road to my house was easy to find; well, then, you can find the
+road back to whoever it was sent you here. With my servants you shall
+not sit; under my roof you shall not stay."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no mind to go."</p>
+
+<p>"See you the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>mastiff at my feet? I advise you stir him not up, for
+death is in his jaw. To the gate, and with good haste! In one half-hour
+the kennels I will have opened. If then within my boundaries you are, it
+is at your life's peril."</p>
+
+<p>She spoke without passion and without hurry or alarm; but there was no
+mistaking the purpose in her white, resolute face and fearless attitude.
+And the pedler took in the situation very quickly; for the dog was
+already watching him with eyes of fiery suspicion, and an occasional
+deep growl was either a note of warning to his mistress, or of defiance
+to the intruder. With an evil glance at the beautiful, disdainful woman
+standing over him, the pedler rose and left the house; Katherine and the
+dog so closely following that the man, stooping under his heavy burden,
+heard her light footsteps and the mastiff's heavy breathing close at his
+heels, until he passed the large gates and found himself on the dark
+fen, with just half an hour to get clear of a precinct he had made so
+dangerous to himself.</p>
+
+<p>For, when he remembered Katherine's face, he muttered, "There isn't a
+mossel o' doubt but what she'll hev the brutes turned loose. Dash it!
+women do beat all. But I do hev one bit o' comfort&mdash;high-to-instep as
+she is, she's heving a bad time of it now by herself. I do think that,
+for sure." And the reflection gave him some gratification, as he
+cautiously felt his steps forward with his strong staff.</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 468px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0418-1.jpg" width="468" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV"></a>XIV.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">"<i>Let me not to the marriage of true minds</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 17em;"><i>Admit impediments: love is not love</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>Which alters when it alteration finds.</i>"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>In some respects, the pedler's anticipations were correct. Katherine had
+"a bad time by herself" that night; for evil has this woful
+prerogative,&mdash;it can wound the good and the innocent, it can make
+wretched without provocation and without desert. But, whatever her
+suffering, it was altogether her own. She made no complaint, and she
+offered no explanation of her singular conduct. Her household, however,
+had learned to trust her; and the men and women servants sitting around
+the kitchen-fire that night, talked over the circumstance, and found its
+very mystery a greater charm than any possible certainty, however
+terrible, could have given them.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>"She be a stout-hearted one," said the ostler admiringly. "Tony and I
+a-watched her and the dog a-driving him through the gates. With his
+bundle on his back, he was a-shuffling along, a-nigh on his all-fours;
+and the madam at his heels, with her head up in the air, and her eyes
+a-shining like candles."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be about the captain he spoke."</p>
+
+<p>The remark was ventured by Lettice in a low voice, and the company
+looked at each other and nodded confidentially. For the captain was a
+person of great and mysterious importance in the house. All that was
+done was in obedience to some order received from him. Katherine quoted
+him continually, granted every favour in his name, made him the
+authority for every change necessary. His visits were times of holiday,
+when discipline was relaxed, and the methodical economy of life at the
+manor house changed into festival. And Hyde had precisely that dashing
+manner, that mixture of frankness and authority, which dependents
+admire. The one place in the whole world where nobody would have
+believed wrong of Hyde was in Hyde's own home.</p>
+
+<p>And yet Katherine, in the secrecy of her chamber, felt her heart quake.
+She had refused to think of the circumstance until after she had made a
+pretence of eating her supper, and had seen little Joris asleep, and
+dismissed Lettice, with all her accustomed deliberation and order. But,
+oh, how gratefully she turned the key of her room! How glad she felt to
+be alone with the fear and the sorrow that had come to her! For she
+wanted to face it honestly; and as she stood with eyes cast down, and
+hands clasped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>behind her back, the calm, resolute spirit of her fathers
+gathered in her heart, and gave an air of sorrowful purpose to her face
+and attitude. At that hour she was singularly like Joris Van Heemskirk;
+and any one familiar with the councillor would have known Katherine to
+be his daughter.</p>
+
+<p>Most women are restless when they are in anxiety. Katherine felt motion
+to be a mental disturbance. She sat down, and remained still as a carven
+image, thinking over what had been told her. There had been a time when
+her husband's constant talk of Lady Suffolk had pained her, and when she
+had been a little jealous of the apparent familiarity which existed in
+their relations with each other; but Hyde had laughed at her fears, and
+she had taken a pride in putting <i>his word</i> above all her suspicions.
+She had seen him receive letters which she knew to be from Lady Suffolk.
+She had seen him read and destroy them without remark. She was aware
+that many a love-billet from fine ladies followed him to Hyde. But it
+was in accord with the integrity of her own nature to believe in her
+husband's faithfulness. She had made one inquiry on the subject, and his
+assurance at that time she accepted as a final settlement of all doubts.
+And if she had needed further evidence, she had found it in his
+affectionate and constant regard for her, and in his love for his child
+and his home.</p>
+
+<p>It was also a part of Katherine's just and upright disposition to make
+allowances for the life by which her husband was surrounded. She
+understood that he must often be placed in circumstances of great
+temptation and sus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>picion. Hyde had told her that there were necessarily
+events in his daily experience of which it was better for her to be
+ignorant. "They belong to it, as my uniform does," he said; "they are a
+part of its appearance; but they never touch my feelings, and they never
+do you a moment's wrong, Katherine." This explanation it had been the
+duty both of love and of wisdom to accept; and she had done so with a
+faith which asked for no conviction beyond it.</p>
+
+<p>And now she was told that for years he had been the lover of another
+woman; that her own existence was doubted or denied; that if it were
+admitted, it was with a supposition which affected both her own good
+name and the rights of her child. In those days, America was at the ends
+of the earth. A war with it was imminent. The Colonies might be
+conquered. She knew nothing of international rights, nor what changes
+such a condition might render possible. Hyde was the probable
+representative of an ancient noble English family, and its influence was
+great: if he really wished to annul their marriage, perhaps it was in
+his power to do so. She knew well how greedy rank was of rank and
+riches, and she could understand that there might be powerful family
+reasons for an alliance which would add Lady Suffolk's wealth to the
+Hyde earldom.</p>
+
+<p>She was no craven, and she faced the position in all its cruel bearings.
+She asked herself if, even for the sake of her little Joris, she would
+remain a wife on sufferance, or by the tie of rights which she would
+have to legally enforce; and then she lifted the candle, and passed
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>softly into his room to look at him. Though physically like the large,
+fair, handsome Van Heemskirks, little Joris had certain tricks of
+expression, certain movements and attitudes, which were the very
+reflection of his father's,&mdash;the same smile, the same droop of the hair
+on the forehead, the same careless toss of the arm upward in sleep. It
+was the father in the son that answered her at that hour. She slipped
+down upon her knees by the sleeping boy, and out of the terror and
+sorrow of her soul spoke to the Fatherhood in heaven. Nay, but she knelt
+speechless and motionless, and waited until He spoke to her; spoke to
+her by the sweet, trustful little lips whose lightest touch was dear to
+her. For the boy suddenly awoke; he flung his arms around her neck, he laid his face close to hers, and said,&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-316.png" width="300" height="336" alt="She knelt speechless and motionless" title="She knelt speechless and motionless" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, mother, beautiful mother, I thought my father was here!"</p>
+
+<p>"You have been dreaming, darling Joris."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I am sorry I have been dreaming. I thought my father was here&mdash;my
+good father, that loves us so much."</p>
+
+<p>Then, with a happy face, Katherine rose and gave the child cool water,
+and turned his hot pillow, and with kisses sent him smiling into
+dreamland again. In those few tender moments all her fears slipped away
+from her heart. "I will not believe what a bad man says against my
+husband&mdash;against my dear one who is not here to defend himself. Lies,
+lies! I will make the denial for him."</p>
+
+<p>And she kept within the comfort of this spirit, even though Hyde's usual
+letter was three days behind its usual time. Certainly they were hard
+days. She kept busy; but she could not swallow a mouthful of food, and
+the sickness and despair that crouched at the threshold of her life made
+her lightest duties so heavy that it required a constant effort and a
+constant watchfulness to fulfil them. And yet she kept saying to
+herself, "All is right. I shall hear in a day or two. There is some
+change in the service. There is no change in Richard&mdash;none."</p>
+
+<p>On the fourth day her trust had its reward. She found then that the
+delay had been caused by the necessary charge and care of ceremonies
+which Lady Capel's death forced upon her husband. She had almost a
+sentiment of gratitude to her, although she was yet ignorant of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>her
+bequest of eight thousand pounds. For Hyde had resolved to wait until
+the reading of the will made it certain, and then to resign his
+commission, and carry the double good news to Katherine himself.
+Henceforward, they were to be together. He would buy more land, and
+improve his estate, and live happily, away from the turmoil of the town,
+and the disagreeable duties of active service in a detestable quarrel.
+So this purpose, though unexpressed, gave a joyous ring to his letter;
+it was lover-like in its fondness and hopefulness, and Katherine thought
+of Lady Suffolk and her emissary with a contemptuous indifference.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear one she intended that I should make miserable with reproaches,
+and from his own home drive him to her home for some consolations;" and
+Katherine smiled as she reflected how hopeless such a plan of separation
+would be.</p>
+
+<p>Never, perhaps, are we so happy as when we have just escaped some feared
+calamity. That letter lifted the last fear from Katherine's heart, and
+it gave her also the expectation of an early visit. "I am very impatient
+to see you, my Kate," he wrote; "and as early as possible after the
+funeral, you may expect me." The words rang like music in her heart. She
+read them aloud to little Joris, and then the whole household warmed to
+the intelligence. For there was always much pleasant preparation for
+Hyde's visits,&mdash;clean rooms to make still cleaner, silver to polish,
+dainties to cook; every weed to take from the garden, every unnecessary
+straw from the yards. For the master's eye, everything must be
+beautiful. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>To the master's comfort, every hand was delighted to
+minister.</p>
+
+<p>So these last days of May were wonderfully happy ones to Katherine. The
+house was in its summer draperies&mdash;all its windows open to the garden,
+which had now not only the freshness of spring, but the richer promise
+of summer. Katherine was always dressed with extraordinary care and
+taste. Little Joris was always lingering about the gates which commanded
+the longest stretch of observation. A joyful "looking forward" was upon
+every face.</p>
+
+<p>Alas, these are the unguarded hours which sorrow surprises! But no
+thought of trouble, and no fear of it, had Katherine, as she stood
+before her mirror one afternoon. She was watching Lettice arrange the
+double folds of her gray taffeta gown, so as to display a trifle the
+high scarlet heels of her morocco slippers, with their scarlet rosettes
+and small diamond buckles.</p>
+
+<p>"Too cold a colour is gray for me, Lettice: give me those scarlet
+ribbons for a breast knot;" and as Lettice stood with her head a little
+on one side, watching her mistress arrange the bright bows at her
+stomacher, there came a knock at the chamber door.</p>
+
+<p>"Here be a strange gentleman, madam, to see you; from London, he do
+say."</p>
+
+<p>A startled look came into Katherine's face; she dropped the ribbon from
+her hand, and turned to the servant, who stood twisting a corner of her
+apron at the front-door.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, Jane, like what is the stranger?"</p>
+
+<p>"He be in soldier's dress, madam"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>"What?"</p>
+
+<p>She asked no further question, but went downstairs; and, as the tapping
+of her heels was heard upon them, Jane lifted her apron to her eyes and
+whimpered, "I think there be trouble; I do that, Letty."</p>
+
+<p>"About the master?"</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-320.png" width="300" height="346" alt="Jane lifted her apron to her eyes" title="Jane lifted her apron to her eyes" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"It be like it. And the man rides a gray horse too. Drat the man, to
+come with news on a gray horse! It be that unlucky, as no one in their
+seven senses would do it."</p>
+
+<p>"For sure it be! When I was a young wench at school"&mdash;and then, as she
+folded up the loose ribbons, Letty told a gruesome story of a farmer
+robbed and murdered; but as she came to the part the gray horse played
+in the tale, Katherine slowly walked into the room, with a letter in her
+hand. She was white, even to her lips; and with a mournful shake of her
+head, she motioned to the girls to leave her alone. She put the paper
+out of her hand, and stood regarding it. Fully ten minutes elapsed ere
+she gathered strength sufficient to break its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>well-known seal, and take
+in the full meaning of words so full of agony to her.</p>
+
+<p>"It is midnight, beloved Katherine, and in six hours I may be dead. Lord
+Paget spoke of my cousin to me in such terms as leaves but one way out
+of the affront. I pray you, if you can, to pardon me. The world will
+condemn me, my own actions will condemn me; and yet I vow that you, and
+you only, have ever had my love. You I shall adore with my last breath.
+Kate, my Kate, forgive me. If this comes to you by strange hands, I
+shall be dead or dying. My will and papers of importance are in the
+drawer marked "B" in my escritoire. Kiss my son for me, and take my last
+hope and thought."</p>
+
+<p>These words she read, then wrung her hands, and moaned like a creature
+that had been wounded to death. Oh, the shame! Oh, the wrong and sorrow!
+How could she bear it? What should she do? Captain Lennox, who had
+brought the letter, was waiting for her decision. If she would go to her
+husband, then he could rest and return to London at his leisure. If not,
+Hyde wanted his will, to add a codicil regarding the eight thousand
+pounds left him by Lady Capel. For he had been wounded in his side; and
+a dangerous inflammation having set in, he had been warned of a possible
+fatal result.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine was not a rapid thinker. She had little, either, of that
+instinct which serves some women instead of all other prudences. Her
+actions generally arose from motives clear to her own mind, and of whose
+wisdom or kindness she had a conviction. But in this hour so <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>many
+things appealed to her that she felt helpless and uncertain. The one
+thought that dominated all others was that her husband had fought and
+fallen for Lady Suffolk. He had risked her happiness and welfare, he had
+forgotten her and his child, for this woman. It was the sequel to the
+impertinence of the pedler's visit. She believed at that moment that the
+man had told her the truth. All these years she had been a slighted and
+deceived woman.</p>
+
+<p>This idea once admitted, jealousy of the crudest and most unreasonable
+kind assailed her. Incidents, words, looks, long forgotten rushed back
+upon her memory, and fed the flame. Very likely, if she left her child
+and went to London, she might find Lady Suffolk in attendance on her
+husband, or at least be compelled for his life's sake to submit to her
+visits. She pondered this supposition until it brought forth one still
+more shameful. Perhaps the whole story was a scheme to get her up to
+London. Perhaps she might disappear there. What, then, would be done to
+her child? If Richard Hyde was so infatuated with Lady Suffolk, what
+might he not do to win her and her large fortune? Even the news of Lady
+Capel's death was now food for her suspicions. Was she dead, or was the
+assertion only a part of the conspiracy? If she had been dead, Sir
+Thomas Swaffham would have heard of the death; yet she had seen him that
+morning, and he had made no mention of the circumstance.</p>
+
+<p>"To London I will not go," she decided. "There is some wicked plan for
+me. The will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>and the papers are wanted, that they may be altered to
+suit it. I will stay here with my child. Even sorrow great as mine is
+best borne in one's own home."</p>
+
+<p>She went to the escritoire to get the papers. When she opened the
+senseless chamber of wood, she found herself in the presence of many a
+torturing, tender memory. In one compartment there were a number of
+trout-flies. She remembered the day her husband had made them&mdash;a long,
+rainy, happy day during his last visit. Every time she passed him, he
+drew her face down to kiss it. And she could hear little Joris talking
+about the work, and his father's gay laughter at the child's remarks. In
+an open slide, there was a rude picture of a horse. It was the boy's
+first attempt to draw Mephisto, and it had been carefully put away. The
+place was full of such appeals. Katherine rarely wept; but, standing
+before these mementos, her eyes filled, and with a sob she clasped her
+hands across them, as if the sight of such tokens from a happy past was
+intolerable.</p>
+
+<p>Drawer B was a large compartment full of papers and of Hyde's personal
+treasures. Among them was a ring that his father had given him, his
+mother's last letter, a lock of his son's hair, her own first
+letter&mdash;the shy, anxious note that she wrote to Mrs. Gordon. She looked
+sadly at these things, and thought how valueless all had become to him
+at that hour. Then she began to arrange the papers according to their
+size, and a small sealed parcel slipped from among them. She lifted it,
+and saw a rhyme in her husband's writing on the outside,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span></p>
+<p>"Oh, my love, my love! This thy gift I hold<br />
+More than fame or treasure, more than life or gold."<br />
+</p>
+
+<p>It had evidently been sealed within a few months, for it was in a kind
+of bluish-tinted paper which Hyde bought in Lynn one day during the past
+winter. She turned it over and over in her hand, and the temptation to
+see the love-token inside became greater every moment. This was a thing
+her husband had never designed any human eye but his own to see.
+Whatever revelation there was in it, much or little, would be true.
+Tortured by doubt and despair, she felt that impulse to rely on chance
+for a decision which all have experienced in matters of grave moment,
+apparently beyond natural elucidation.</p>
+
+<p>"If in this parcel there is some love-pledge from Lady Suffolk, then I
+go not; nothing shall make me go. If in it there is no word of her, no
+message to her or from her; if her name is not there, nor the letters of
+her name,&mdash;then I will go to my own. A new love, one not a year old, I
+can put aside. I will forgive every one but my Lady Suffolk."</p>
+
+<p>So Katherine decided as she broke the seal with firmness and rapidity.
+The first paper within the cover made her tremble. It was a half sheet
+which she had taken one day from Bram's hand, and it had Bram's name
+across it. On it she had written the first few lines which she had had
+the right to sign "Katherine Hyde." It was, indeed, her first "wife"
+letter; and within it was the precious love-token, her own
+love-token,&mdash;<i>the bow of orange ribbon</i>.</p>
+
+<p>She gave a sharp cry as it fell upon the desk; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>and then she lifted and
+kissed it, and held it to her breast, as she rocked herself to and fro
+in a passionate transport of triumphant love. Again and again she fed
+her eyes upon it. She recalled the night she wore it first, and the
+touch of her mother's fingers as she fastened it at her throat. She
+recalled her father's happy smile of proud admiration for her; the
+afternoon, next, when she had stood with Joanna at the foot of the
+garden and seen her lover wearing it on his breast. She remembered what
+she had heard about the challenge, and the desperate fight, and the
+intention of Semple's servant to remove the token from her senseless
+lover's breast, and her father's noble interference. The bit of fateful
+ribbon had had a strange history, yet she had forgotten it. It was her
+husband who had carefully sealed it away among the things most precious
+to his heart and house. It still kept much of its original splendid
+colour, but it was stained down all its length with blood. Nothing that
+Hyde could have done, no words that he could have said, would have been
+so potent to move her.</p>
+
+<p>"I will give it to him again. With my own hands I will give it to him
+once more. O Richard, my lover, my husband! Now I will hasten to see
+thee."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0419-1.jpg" width="300" height="425" alt="&quot;O Richard, my lover, my husband!&quot;" title="&quot;O Richard, my lover, my husband!&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>With relays at every post-house, she reached London the next night, and,
+weary and terrified, drove at once to the small hostelry where Hyde lay.
+There was a soldier sitting outside his chamber-door, but the wounded
+man was quite alone when Katherine entered. She took in at a glance the
+bare, comfortless room, scarcely lit by the sputtering rush-candle, and the rude bed, and the
+burning cheeks of the fevered man upon it.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Katherine!" he cried; and his voice was as weak and as tearful as that
+of a troubled child.</p>
+
+<p>"Here come I, my dear one."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not deserve it. I have been so wicked, and you my pure good wife."</p>
+
+<p>"See, then, I have had no temptations, but thou hast lived in the midst
+of great ones. Then, how natural and how easy was it for thee to do
+wrong!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how you love me, Katherine!"</p>
+
+<p>"God knows."</p>
+
+<p>"And for this wrong you will not forsake me?"</p>
+
+<p>She took from her bosom the St. Nicholas ribbon. "I give it to thee
+again. At the first time I loved thee; now, my husband, ten thousand
+times more I love thee. As I went through the papers, I found it. So
+much it said to me of thy true love! So sweetly for thee it pleaded! All
+that it asks for thee, I give. All that thou hast done wrong to me, it
+forgives."</p>
+
+<p>And between their clasped hands it lay,&mdash;the bit of orange ribbon that
+had handselled all their happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the promise of everything I can give thee, my loved one,"
+whispered Katherine.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the luck of Richard Hyde. Dearest wife, thou hast given me my
+life back again."</p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 434px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0420-1.jpg" width="434" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="XV" id="XV"></a>XV.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;">"<i>Wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 16em;"><i>But presently prevent the ways to wail.</i>"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+
+<p>It was a hot August afternoon; and the garden at Hyde Manor was full of
+scent in all its shady places,&mdash;hot lavender, seductive carnation, the
+secretive intoxication of the large white lilies, and mingling with them
+the warm smell of ripe fruits from the raspberry hedges, and the
+apricots and plums turning gold and purple upon the southern walls.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde sat at an open window, breathing the balmy air, and basking in the
+light and heat, which really came to him with "healing on their wings."
+He was pale and wasted from his long sickness; but there was speculation
+and purpose in his face, and he had evidently cast away the mental
+apathy of the invalid. As he sat thus, a servant entered and said a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span>few
+words which made him turn with a glad, expectant manner to the open
+door; and, as he did so, a man of near sixty years of age passed through
+it&mdash;a handsome, lordly-looking man, who had that striking personal
+resemblance to Hyde which affectionate brothers often have to one
+another.</p>
+
+<p>"Faith, William, you are welcome home! I am most glad to see you."</p>
+
+<p>"Sit still, Dick. You sad rascal, you've been playing with cold steel
+again, I hear! Can't you let it alone, at your age?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, then, it was my business, as you know, sir. My dear William, how
+delighted I am to see you!"</p>
+
+<p>"'Tis twelve years since we met, Dick. You have been in America; I have
+been everywhere. I confess, too, I am amazed to hear of your marriage.
+And Hyde Manor is a miracle. I expected to find it mouldy and mossy&mdash;a
+haunt for frogs and fever. On the contrary, it is a place of perfect
+beauty."</p>
+
+<p>"And it was all my Katherine's doing."</p>
+
+<p>"I hear that she is Dutch; and, beyond a doubt, her people have a genius
+that develops in low lands."</p>
+
+<p>"She is my angel. I am unworthy of her goodness and beauty."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, then, Dick, I never saw you before in such a proper mood; and I
+may as well tell you, while you are in it, that I have also found a
+treasure past belief of the same kind. In fact, Dick, I am married, and
+have two sons."</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment's profound silence, and an inexplicable shadow passed
+rapidly over <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>Hyde's face; but it was fleeting as a thought, and, ere
+the pause became strained and painful, he turned to his brother and
+said, "I am glad, William. With all my heart, I am glad."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, Dick, when Emily Capel died, I was sincere in my purpose never
+to marry; and I looked upon you always as the future earl, until one
+night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0421-1.jpg" width="300" height="412" alt="&quot;One night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered,&quot;" title="&quot;One night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered,&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"I can understand that, William."</p>
+
+<p>"I was married very quietly, and have been in Italy ever since. Only
+four days have elapsed since I returned to England. My first inquiries
+were about you."</p>
+
+<p>"I pray you, do not believe all that my enemies will say of me."</p>
+
+<p>"Among other things, I was told that you had left the army."</p>
+
+<p>"That is exactly true. When I heard that Lord Percy's regiment was
+designed for America, and against the Americans, I put it out of the
+king's power to send me on such a business."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, I think the Americans have been ill-used; and I find the town
+in a great commotion upon the matter. The night I landed, there had come
+bad news from New York. The people of that city had burned effigies of
+Lord North and Governor Hutchinson, and the new troops were no sooner
+landed than five hundred of them deserted in a body. At White's it was
+said that the king fell into a fit of crying when the intelligence was
+brought him."</p>
+
+<p>Hyde's white face was crimson with excitement, and his eyes glowed like
+stars as he listened.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span></p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>"That was like New York; and, faith, if I had been there, I would have
+helped them!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not go there? I owe you much for the hope of which my happiness has
+robbed you. I will take Hyde Manor at its highest price; I will add to
+it fifty thousand pounds indemnity for the loss of the succession. You
+may buy land enough for a duchy there, and found in the New World a new
+line of the old family. If there is war, you have your opportunity. If
+the colonists win their way, your family and means will make you a
+person of great consideration. Here, you can only be a member of the
+family; in America, you can be the head of your own line. Dick, my dear
+brother, out of real love and honour I speak these words."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, William, I am very sensible of your kindness, and I will
+consider well your proposition for you must know that it is a matter of
+some consequence to me now. I think, indeed, that my Katherine will be
+in a transport of delight to return to her native land. I hear her
+coming, and we will talk with her; and, anon, you shall confess,
+William, that you have seen the sweetest woman that ever the sun shone
+upon."</p>
+
+<p>Almost with the words she entered, clothed in a white India muslin, with
+carnations at her breast. Her high-heeled shoes, her large hoop, and the
+height to which her pale gold hair was raised, gave to the beautiful
+woman an air of majesty that amazed the earl. He bowed low, and then
+kissed her cheeks, and led her to a chair, which he placed between Hyde
+and himself.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>Of course the discussion of the American project was merely opened at
+that time. English people, even at this day, move only after slow and
+prudent deliberation; and then emigration was almost an irrevocable
+action. Katherine was predisposed to it, but yet she dearly loved the
+home she had made so beautiful. During Hyde's convalescence, also, other
+plans had been made and talked over until they had become very hopeful
+and pleasant; and they could not be cast aside without some reluctance.
+In fact, the purpose grew slowly, but surely, all through the following
+winter; being mainly fed by Katherine's loving desire to be near to her
+parents, and by Hyde's unconfessed desire to take part in the struggle
+which he foresaw, and which had his warmest sympathy. Every American
+letter strengthened these feelings; but the question was finally
+settled&mdash;as many an important event in every life is settled&mdash;by a
+person totally unknown to both Katherine and Hyde.</p>
+
+<p>It was on a cold, stormy afternoon in February, when the fens were white
+with snow. Hyde sat by the big wood-fire, re-reading a letter from Joris
+Van Heemskirk, which also enclosed a copy of Josiah Quincy's speech on
+the Boston Port Bill. Katherine had a piece of worsted work in her
+hands. Little Joris was curled up in a big chair with his book, seeing
+nothing of the present, only conscious of the gray, bleak waves of the
+English Channel, and the passionate Blake bearing down upon Tromp and De
+Ruyter.</p>
+
+<p>"What a battle that would be!" he said, jumping to his feet. "Father, I
+wish that I had lived a hundred years ago."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>"What are you talking about, George?"</p>
+
+<p>"Listen, then: 'Eighty sail put to sea under Blake. Tromp and De Ruyter,
+with seventy-six sail, were seen, upon the 18th of February, escorting
+three hundred merchant-ships up the channel. Three days of desperate
+fighting ensued, and Tromp acquired prodigious honour by this battle;
+for, though defeated, he saved nearly the whole of his immense convoy.'
+I wish I had been with Tromp, father."</p>
+
+<p>"But an English boy should wish to have been with Blake."</p>
+
+<p>"Tromp had the fewer vessels. One should always help the weaker side,
+father. And, besides, you know I am half Dutch."</p>
+
+<p>Katherine looked proudly at the boy, but Hyde had a long fit of musing.
+"Yes," he answered at length, "a brave man always helps those who need
+it most. Your father's letter, Katherine, stirs me wonderfully. Those
+Americans show the old Saxon love of liberty. Hear how one of them
+speaks for his people: 'Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will
+threats of a halter intimidate. For, under God, we are determined that
+wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our
+exit, we will die free men.' Such men ought to be free, Katherine, and
+they will be free."</p>
+
+<p>It was at this moment that Lettice came in with a bundle of newspapers:
+"They be brought by Sir Thomas Swaffham's man, sir, with Sir Thomas's
+compliments; there being news he thinks you would like to read, sir."</p>
+
+<p>Katherine turned promptly. "Spiced ale and bread and meat give to the
+man, Lettice; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>and to Sir Thomas and Lady Swaffham remind him to take
+our respectful thanks."</p>
+
+<p>Hyde opened the papers with eager curiosity. Little Joris was again with
+Tromp and Blake in the channel; and Katherine, remembering some
+household duty, left the father and son to their private enthusiasms.
+She was restless and anxious, for she had one of those temperaments that
+love a settled and orderly life. It would soon be spring, and there were
+a thousand things about the house and garden which would need her
+attention if they were to remain at Hyde. If not, her anxieties in other
+directions would be equally numerous and necessary. She stood at the
+window looking into the white garden close. Something about it recalled
+her father's garden; and she fell into such a train of tender memories
+that when Hyde called quickly, "Kate, Kate!" she found that there were
+tears in her eyes, and that it was with an effort and a sigh her soul
+returned to its present surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde was walking about the room in great excitement,&mdash;his tall, nervous
+figure unconsciously throwing itself into soldierly attitudes; his dark,
+handsome face lit by an interior fire of sympathetic feeling.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-337.png" width="300" height="462" alt="&quot;I must draw my sword again&quot;" title="&quot;I must draw my sword again&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"I must draw my sword again, Katherine," he said, as his hand
+impulsively went to his left side,&mdash;"I must draw my <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>sword again. I
+thought I had done with it forever; but, by St. George, I'll draw it in
+this quarrel!"</p>
+
+<p>"The American quarrel, Richard?"</p>
+
+<p>"No other could so move me. We have the intelligence now of their
+congress. They have not submitted; they have not drawn back, not an
+inch; they have not quarrelled among themselves. They have unanimously
+voted for non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption. They
+have drawn up a declaration of their rights. They have appealed to the
+sympathies of the people of Canada, and they have resolved to support by
+arms all their brethren unlawfully attacked. Hurrah, Katherine! Every
+good man and true wishes them well."</p>
+
+<p>"But it is treason, dear one."</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Soh!</i> It was treason when the barons forced the Great Charter from
+King John. It was treason when Hampden fought against 'ship-money,' and
+Cromwell against Star Chambers, and the Dutchman William laid his firm
+hand on the British Constitution. All revolutions are treason until they
+are accomplished. We have long hesitated, we will waver no more. The
+conduct of Sir Jeffrey Amherst has decided me."</p>
+
+<p>"I know it not."</p>
+
+<p>"On the 6th of this month the king offered him a peerage if he would
+take command of the troops for America; and he answered, 'Your majesty
+must know that I cannot bring myself to fight the Americans, who are not
+only of my own race, but to whose former kindness I am also much
+obliged.' By the last <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>mail, also, accounts have come of vast desertions
+of the soldiers of Boston; and three officers of Lord Percy's regiment
+are among the number. Katherine, our boy has told me this afternoon that
+he is half Dutch. Why should we stay in England, then, for his sake? We
+will do as Earl William advises us,&mdash;go to America and found a new
+house, of which I and he will be the heads. Are you willing?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only to be with you, only to please you, Richard. I have no other
+happiness."</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is settled; and I thank Sir Jeffrey Amherst, for his words have
+made me feel ashamed of my indecision. And look you, dear Kate, there
+shall be no more delays. The earl buys Hyde as it stands; we have
+nothing except our personal effects to pack: can you be ready in a
+week?"</p>
+
+<p>"You are too impatient, Richard. In a week it is impossible.</p>
+
+<p>"Then in two weeks. In short, my dear, I have taken an utter aversion to
+being longer in King George's land."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor king! Lady Swaffham says he means well; he misunderstands, he
+makes mistakes."</p>
+
+<p>"And political mistakes are crimes, Katherine. Write to-night to your
+father. Tell him that we are coming in two weeks to cast our lot with
+America. Upon my honour, I am impatient to be away."</p>
+
+<p>When Joris Van Heemskirk received this letter, he was very much excited
+by its contents. Putting aside his joy at the return of his beloved
+daughter, he perceived that the hour expected for years had really
+struck. The true sympathy that had been so long in his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>heart, he must
+now boldly express; and this meant in all probability a rupture with
+most of his old associates and friends&mdash;Elder Semple in the kirk, and
+the Matthews and Crugers and Baches in the council.</p>
+
+<p>He was sitting in the calm evening, with unloosened buckles, in a cloud
+of fragrant tobacco, talking of these things. "It is full time, come
+what will," said Lysbet. "Heard thou what Batavius said last night?"</p>
+
+<p>"Little I listen to Batavius."</p>
+
+<p>"But this was a wise word. 'The colonists are leaving the old ship,' he
+said; 'and the first in the new boat will have the choice of oars.'"</p>
+
+<p>"That was like Batavius, but I will take higher counsel than his."</p>
+
+<p>Then he rose, put on his hat, and walked down his garden; and, as he
+slowly paced between the beds of budding flowers, he thought of many
+things,&mdash;the traditions of the past struggles for freedom, and the
+irritating wrongs that had imbittered his own experience for ten years.
+There was plenty of life yet in the spirit his fathers had bequeathed to
+him; and, as this and that memory of wrong smote it, the soul-fire
+kindled, glowed, burned with passionate flame. "Free, God gave us this
+fair land, and we will keep it free. There has been in it no crowns and
+sceptres, no bloody Philips, no priestly courts of cruelty; and, in
+God's name, we will have none!"</p>
+
+<p>He was standing on the river-bank; and the meadows over it were green
+and fair to see, and the fresh wind blew into his soul a thought of its
+own untrammelled liberty. He looked up <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>and down the river, and lifted
+his face to the clear sky, and said aloud, "Beautiful land! To be thy
+children we should not deserve, if one inch of thy soil we yielded to a
+tyrant. Truly a vaderland to me and to mine thou hast been. Truly do I
+love thee." And then, his soul being moved to its highest mark, he
+answered it tenderly, in the strong-syllabled mother-tongue that it knew
+so well,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Indien ik u vergeet, o Vaderland! zoo vergete mijne regter-hand zich
+zelve!"</p>
+
+<p>Such communion he held with himself until the night came on, and the dew
+began to fall; and Lysbet said to herself, "I will walk down the garden:
+perhaps there is something I can say to him." As she rose, Joris
+entered, and they met in the centre of the room. He put his large hands
+upon her shoulders, and, looking solemnly in her face, said, "My Lysbet,
+I will go with the people; I will give myself willingly to the cause of
+freedom. A long battle is it. Two hundred years ago, a Joris Van
+Heemskirk was fighting in it. Not less of man than he was, am I, I
+hope."</p>
+
+<p>There was a mist of tears over his eyes&mdash;a mist that was no dishonour;
+it only showed that the cost had been fully counted, and his allegiance
+given with a clear estimate of the value and sweetness of all that he
+might have to give with it. Lysbet was a little awed by the solemnity of
+his manner. She had not before understood the grandeur of such a
+complete surrender of self as her husband had just consummated. But
+never had she been so proud of him. Everything commonplace had slipped
+away: he looked taller, younger, handsomer.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>She dropped her knitting to her feet, she put her arms around his
+neck, and, laying her head upon his breast, said softly, "My good Joris!
+I will love thee forever."</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes Elder Semple came in. He looked exceedingly worried;
+and, although Joris and he avoided politics by a kind of tacit
+agreement, he could not keep to kirk and commercial matters, but
+constantly returned to one subject,&mdash;a vessel lying at Murray's Wharf,
+which had sold her cargo of molasses and rum to the "Committee of
+Safety."</p>
+
+<p>"And we'll be haeing the custom-house about the city's ears, if there's
+'safety' in that,&mdash;the born idiots," he said.</p>
+
+<p>Joris was in that grandly purposeful mood that takes no heed of fretful
+worries. He let the elder drift from one grievance to another; and he
+was just in the middle of a sentence containing his opinion of Sears and
+Willet, when Bram's entrance arrested it. There was something in the
+young man's face and attitude which made every one turn to him. He
+walked straight to the side of Joris,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Father, we have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever."</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0422-1.jpg" width="300" height="342" alt="&quot;We have closed his Majesty&#39;s custom-house forever&quot;" title="&quot;We have closed his Majesty&#39;s custom-house forever&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"<i>We!</i> Who, then, Bram?"</p>
+
+<p>"The Committee of Safety and the Sons of Liberty."</p>
+
+<p>Semple rose to his feet, trembling with passion. "Let me tell you, then,
+Bram, you are a parcel o' rogues and rebels; and, if I were his Majesty,
+I'd gibbet the last ane o' you."</p>
+
+<p>"Patience, Elder. Sit down, I'll speak"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"No, Councillor, I'll no sit down until I ken what kind o' men I'm
+sitting wi'. Oot <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>wi' your maist secret thoughts. Wha are you for?"</p>
+
+<p>"For the people and for freedom am I," said Joris, calmly rising to his
+feet. "Too long have we borne injustice. My fathers would have spoken by
+the sword before this. Free kirk, free state, free commerce, are the
+breath of our nostrils. Not a king on earth our privileges and rights
+shall touch; no, not with his finger-tips. Bram, my son, I am your
+comrade in this quarrel." He spoke with fervent, but not rapid speech,
+and with a firm, round voice, full of magical sympathies.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll hear nae mair o' such folly.&mdash;Gie me my bonnet and plaid, madam,
+and I'll be going.&mdash;The King o' England needna ask his Dutch subjects
+for leave to wear his crown, I'm thinking."</p>
+
+<p>"Subjects!" said Bram, flashing up. "Subjection! Well, then, Elder,
+Dutchmen don't understand the word. Spain found that out."</p>
+
+<p>"Hoots! dinna look sae far back, Bram. It's a far cry, to Alva and
+Philip. Hae you naething fresher? Gude-night, a'. I hope the morn will
+bring you a measure o' common sense." He was at the door as he spoke;
+but, ere he passed it, he lifted his bonnet above his head and said,
+"God save the king! God save his gracious Majesty, George of England!"</p>
+
+<p>Joris turned to his son. To shut up the king's customs was an overt
+action of treason. Bram, then, had fully committed himself; and,
+following out his own thoughts, he asked abruptly, "What will come of
+it, Bram?"</p>
+
+<p>"War will come, and liberty&mdash;a great commonwealth, a great country."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>"It was about the sloop at Murray's Wharf?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. To the Committee of Safety her cargo she sold; but Collector
+Cruger would not that it should leave the vessel, although offered was
+the full duty."</p>
+
+<p>"For use against the king were the goods; then Cruger, as a servant of
+King George, did right."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but if a tyrant a man serves, we cannot suffer wrong that a good
+servant he may be! King George through him refused the duty: no more
+duties will we offer him. We have boarded up the doors and windows of
+the custom-house. Collector Cruger has a long holiday."</p>
+
+<p>He did not speak lightly, and his air was that of a man who accepts a
+grave responsibility. "I met Sears and about thirty men with him on Wall
+Street. I went with them, thinking well on what I was going to do. I am
+ready by the deed to stand."</p>
+
+<p>"And I with thee. Good-night, Bram, To-morrow there will be more to
+say."</p>
+
+<p>Then Bram drew his chair to the hearth, and his mother began to question
+him; and her fine face grew finer as she listened to the details of the
+exploit. Bram looked at her proudly. "I wish only that a fort full of
+soldiers and cannon it had been," he said. "It does not seem such a fine
+thing to take a few barrels of rum and molasses."</p>
+
+<p>"Every common thing is a fine thing when it is for justice. And a fine
+thing I think it was for these men to lay down every one his work and
+his tool, and quietly and orderly go do the work that was to be done for
+honour and for freedom. If there had been flying <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>colours and beating
+drums, and much blood spilt, no grander thing would it have been, I
+think."</p>
+
+<p>And, as Bram filled and lighted his pipe, he hummed softly the rallying
+song of the day,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">"In story we're told</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">How our fathers of old</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">Braved the rage of the winds and the waves;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">And crossed the deep o'er,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">For this far-away shore,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">All because they would never be slaves&mdash;brave boys!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">All because they would never be slaves.</span><br />
+<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">"The birthright we hold</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">Shall never be sold,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 13.5em;">But sacred maintained to our graves;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">And before we comply</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19em;">We will gallantly die,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 8em;">For we will not, we will not be slaves&mdash;brave boys!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 12em;">For we will not, we will not be slaves."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Semple, fuming and ejaculating, was making his way
+slowly home. It was a dark night, and the road full of treacherous soft
+places, fatal to that spotless condition of hose and shoes which was one
+of his weak points. However, before he had gone very far, he was
+overtaken by his son Neil, now a very staid and stately gentleman,
+holding under the government a high legal position in the investigation
+of the disputed New-Hampshire grants.</p>
+
+<p>He listened respectfully to his father's animadversions on the folly of
+the Van Heemskirks; but he was thinking mainly of the first news told
+him,&mdash;the early return of Katherine. He was conscious that he still
+loved Katherine, and that he still hated Hyde. As they approached the
+house, the elder saw the gleam of a candle <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>through the drawn blind; and
+he asked querulously, "What's your mother doing wi' a candle at this
+hour, I wonder?"</p>
+
+<p>"She'll be sewing or reading, father."</p>
+
+<p>"Hoots! she should aye mak' the wark and the hour suit. There's spinning
+and knitting for the night-time. Wi' soldiers quartered to the right
+hand and the left hand, and a civil war staring us in the face, it's
+neither tallow nor wax we'll hae to spare."</p>
+
+<p>He was climbing the pipe-clayed steps as he spoke, and in a few minutes
+was standing face to face with the offender. Madam Semple was reading
+and, as her husband opened the parlour door, she lifted her eyes from
+her book, and let them calmly rest upon him.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-348.png" width="300" height="375" alt="&quot;I am reading the Word&quot;" title="&quot;I am reading the Word&quot;" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Fire-light and candle-light, baith, Janet! A fair illumination, and nae
+ither thing but bad news for it."</p>
+
+<p>"It is for reading the Word, Elder."</p>
+
+<p>"For the night season, meditation, Janet, meditation;" and he lifted the
+extinguisher, and put out the candle. "Meditate on what you hae read.
+The Word will bide a deal o' thinking about. You'll hae heard the ill
+news?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>"I heard naething ill."</p>
+
+<p>"Didna Neil tell you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Anent what?"</p>
+
+<p>"The closing o' the king's customs."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, Neil told me."</p>
+
+<p>"Weel?"</p>
+
+<p>"Weel, since you ask me, I say it was gude news."</p>
+
+<p>"Noo, Janet, we'll hae to come to an understanding. If I hae swithered
+in my loyalty before, I'll do sae nae mair. From this hour, me and my
+house will serve King George. I'll hae nae treason done in it, nor said;
+no, nor even thocht o'."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be a vera Samson o' strength, and a vera Solomon o' wisdom, if
+you keep the hands and the tongues and the thochts o' this house.
+Whiles, you canna vera weel keep the door o' your ain mouth, gudeman.
+What's come o'er you, at a'?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm surely master in my ain house, Janet."</p>
+
+<p>"'Deed, you are far from being that, Alexander Semple. Doesna King
+George quarter his men in it? And havena you to feed and shelter them,
+and to thole their ill tempers and their ill ways, morning, noon, and
+night? You master in your ain house! You're just a naebody in it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Dinna get on your high horse, madam. Things are coming to the upshot:
+there's nae doot o' it."</p>
+
+<p>"They've been lang aboot it&mdash;too lang."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really mean that you are going to set yoursel' among the
+rebels?"</p>
+
+<p>"Going? Na, na; I have aye been amang them. And ten years syne, when the
+Stamp <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>Act was the question, you were heart and soul wi' the people. The
+quarrel to-day is the same quarrel wi' a new name. Tak' the side o'
+honour and manhood and justice, and dinna mak' me ashamed o' you,
+Alexander. The Semples have aye been for freedom,&mdash;Kirk and State,&mdash;and
+I never heard tell o' them losing a chance to gie them proud English a
+set-down before. What for should you gie the lie to a' your forbears
+said and did? King George hasna put his hand in his pocket for you; he
+has done naething but tax your incomings and your outgoings. Ask Van
+Heemskirk: he's a prudent man, and you'll never go far wrong if you walk
+wi' him."</p>
+
+<p>"Ask Van Heemskirk, indeed! Not I. The rebellious spirit o' the ten
+tribes is through all the land; but I'll stand by King George, if I'm
+the only man to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"George may be king o' the Semples. I'm a Gordon. He's no king o' mine.
+The Gordons were a' for the Stuarts."</p>
+
+<p>"Jacobite and traitor, baith! Janet, Janet, how can you turn against me
+on every hand?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll no turn against you, Elder; and I'll gie you no cause for
+complaint, if you dinna set King George on my hearthstone, and bring him
+to my table, and fling him at me early and late." She was going to light
+the candle again; and, with it in her hand, she continued: "That's
+enough anent George rex at night-time, for he isna a pleasant thought
+for a sleeping one. How is Van Heemskirk going? And Bram?"</p>
+
+<p>"Bram was wi' them that unloaded the schooner and closed the
+custom-house&mdash;the born idiots!"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>"I expected that o' Bram."</p>
+
+<p>"As for his father, he's the blackest rebel you could find or hear tell
+o' in the twelve Provinces."</p>
+
+<p>"He's a good man; Joris is a good man, true and sure. The cause he
+lifts, he'll never leave. Joris and Bram&mdash;excellent! They two are a
+multitude."</p>
+
+<p>"Humff!" It was all he could say. There was something in his wife's face
+that made it look unfamiliar to him. He felt himself to be like the
+prophet of Pethor&mdash;a man whose eyes are opened. But Elder Semple was not
+one of the foolish ones who waste words. "A wilfu' woman will hae her
+way," he thought; "and if Janet has turned rebel to the king, it's mair
+than likely she'll throw off my ain lawfu' authority likewise. But we'll
+see, we'll see," he muttered, glancing with angry determination at the
+little woman, who, for her part, seemed to have put quite away all
+thoughts of king and Congress.</p>
+
+<p>She stood with the tinder-box and the flint and brimstone matches in her
+hands. "I wonder if the tinder is burnt enough, Alexander," she said;
+and with the words she sharply struck the flint. A spark fell instantly
+and set fire to it, and she lit her match and watched it blaze with a
+singular look of triumph on her face. Somehow the trifling affair
+irritated the elder. "What are you doing at a'? You're acting like a
+silly bairn, makin' a blaze for naething. There's a fire on the hearth:
+whatna for, then, are you wasting tinder and a match?"</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe it wasna for naething, Elder. Maybe I was asking for a sign, and
+got the ane I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>wanted. There's nae sin in that, I hope. You ken Gideon
+did it when he had to stand up for the oppressed, and slay the tyrant."</p>
+
+<p>"Tut, woman, you arena Gideon, nor yet o' Gideon's kind; and, forbye,
+there's nae angel speaking wi' you."</p>
+
+<p>"You're right there, Elder. But, for a' that, I'm glad that the spark
+fired the tinder, and that the tinder lit the match, and that the match
+burnt sae bright and sae bravely. It has made a glow in my heart, and
+I'll sleep well wi' the pleasure o' it."</p>
+
+<p>Next morning the argument was not renewed. Neil was sombre and silent.
+His father was uncertain as to his views, and he did not want to force
+or hurry a decision. Besides, it would evidently be more prudent to
+speak with the young man when he could not be influenced by his mother's
+wilful, scornful tongue. Perhaps Neil shared this prudent feeling; for
+he deprecated conversation, and, on the plea of business, left the
+breakfast-table before the meal was finished.</p>
+
+<p>The elder, however, had some indemnification for his cautious silence.
+He permitted himself, at family prayers, a very marked reading of St.
+Paul's injunction, "Fear God and honour the king;" and ere he left the
+house he said to his wife, "Janet, I hope you hae come to your senses.
+You'll allow that you didna treat me wi' a proper respect yestreen?"</p>
+
+<p>She was standing face to face with him, her hands uplifted, fastening
+the broad silver clasp of his cloak. For a moment she hesitated, the
+next she raised herself on tiptoes, and kissed him. He pursed up his
+mouth a little sternly, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>and then stroked her white hair. "You heard
+what St. Paul says, Janet; isna that a settlement o' the question?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm no blaming St. Paul, Alexander. If ever St. Paul approves o'
+submitting to tyranny, it's thae translators' fault. He wouldna tak'
+injustice himsel', not even from a Roman magistrate. I wish St. Paul was
+alive the day: I'm vera sure if he were, he'd write an epistle to the
+English wad put the king's dues just as free men would be willing to pay
+them. Now, don't be angry, Alexander. If you go awa' angry at me, you'll
+hae a bad day; you ken that, gudeman."</p>
+
+<p>It was a subtile plea; for no man, however wise or good or brave, likes
+to bespeak ill-fortune when it can be averted by a sacrifice so easy and
+so pleasant. But, in spite of Janet's kiss, he was unhappy; and when he
+reached the store, the clerks and porters were all standing together
+talking. He knew quite well what topic they were discussing with such
+eager movements and excited speech. But they dispersed to their work at
+the sight of his sour, stern face, and he did not intend to open a fresh
+dispute by any question.</p>
+
+<p>Apprentices and clerks then showed a great deal of deference to their
+masters, and Elder Semple demanded the full measure due to him.
+Something, however, in the carriage, in the faces, in the very, tones of
+his servants' voices, offended him; and he soon discovered that various
+small duties had been neglected.</p>
+
+<p>"Listen to me, lads," he said angrily; "I'll have nae politics mixed up
+wi' my exports <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>and my imports. Neither king nor Congress has anything
+to do wi' my business. If there is among you ane o' them fools that ca'
+themselves the 'Sons o' Liberty,' I'll pay him whatever I owe him now,
+and he can gang to Madam Liberty for his future wage."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 342px;">
+<img src="images/illus-352.png" width="342" height="300" alt="He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk." title="He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk." />
+</div>
+
+<p>He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk as he spoke, and
+he peered over the little wooden railing at the men scattered about with
+pens or hammers or goods in their hands. There was a moment's silence;
+then a middle-aged man quietly laid down the tools with which he was
+closing a box, and walked up to the desk. The next moment, every one in
+the place had followed him. Semple was amazed and angry, but he made no
+sign of either emotion. He counted to the most accurate fraction every
+one's due, and let them go without one word of remonstrance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>But as soon as he was alone, he felt the full bitterness of their
+desertion, and he could not keep the tears out of his eyes as he looked
+at their empty places. "Wha could hae thocht it?" he exclaimed. "Allan
+has been wi' me twenty-seven years, and Scott twenty, and Grey nearly
+seventeen. And the lads I have aye been kindly to. Maist o' them have
+wives and bairns, too; it's just a sin o' them. It's no to be believed.
+It's fair witchcraft. And the pride o' them! My certie, they all looked
+as if their hands were itching for a sword or a pair o' pistols!"</p>
+
+<p>At this juncture Neil entered the store. "Here's a bonnie pass, Neil;
+every man has left the store. I may as weel put up the shutters."</p>
+
+<p>"There are other men to be hired."</p>
+
+<p>"They were maistly a' auld standbys, auld married men that ought to have
+had mair sense."</p>
+
+<p>"The married men are the trouble-makers; the women have hatched and
+nursed this rebellion. If they would only spin their webs, and mind
+their knitting!"</p>
+
+<p>"But they willna, Neil; and they never would. If there's a pot o'
+rebellion brewing between the twa poles, women will be dabbling in it.
+They have aye been against lawfu' authority. The restraints o' paradise
+was tyranny to them. And they get worse and worse: it isna ane apple
+would do them the noo; they'd strip the tree, my lad, to its vera
+topmost branch."</p>
+
+<p>"There's mother."</p>
+
+<p>"Ay, there's your mother, she's a gude <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>example. She's a Gordon; and
+thae Gordon women cried the '<i>slogan</i>' till their men's heads were a' on
+Carlisle gate or Temple Bar, and their lands a' under King George's
+thumb. But is she any wiser for the lesson? Not her. Women are born
+rebels; the 'powers that be' are always tyrants to them, Neil."</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to know, father. I have small and sad experience with them."</p>
+
+<p>"Sae, I hope you'll stand by my side. We twa can keep the house
+thegither. If we are a' right, the Government will whistle by a woman's
+talk."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you not say Katherine was coming back?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did that. See there, again. Hyde has dropped his uniform, and sold a'
+that he has, and is coming to fight in a quarrel that's nane o' his.
+Heard you ever such foolishness? But it is Katherine's doing; there's
+little doot o' that."</p>
+
+<p>"He's turned rebel, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ay has he. That's what women do. Politics and rebellion is the same
+thing to them."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, father, I shall not turn rebel."</p>
+
+<p>"O Neil, you take a load off my heart by thae words!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing against the king, and I could not be Hyde's comrade."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 410px;">
+<img src="images/illus-355.png" width="410" height="300" alt="Chapter heading" title="Chapter heading" />
+</div>
+
+<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI"></a>XVI.</h2>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 15em;">"<i>How glorious stand the valiant, sword in hand,</i></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 15.5em;"><i>In front of battle for their native land!</i>"</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>It was into this thundery atmosphere of coming conflict, of hopes and
+doubts, of sundering ties and fearful looking forward, that Richard and
+Katherine Hyde came, from the idyllic peace and beauty of their Norfolk
+house. But there was something in it that fitted Hyde's real
+disposition. He was a natural soldier, and he had arrived at the period
+of life when the mere show and pomp of the profession had lost all
+satisfying charm. He had found a quarrel worthy of his sword, one that
+had not only his deliberate approval, but his passionate sympathy. In
+fact, his first blow for American independence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span>had been struck in the
+duel with Lord Paget; for that quarrel, though nominally concerning Lady
+Suffolk, was grounded upon a dislike engendered by their antagonism
+regarding the government of the Colonies.</p>
+
+<p>It was an exquisite April morning when they sailed up New York bay once
+more. Joris had been watching for the "Western Light;" and when she came
+to anchor at Murray's Wharf, his was the foremost figure on it. He had
+grown a little stouter, but was still a splendid-looking man; he had
+grown a little older, but his tenderness for his daughter was still
+young and fresh and strong as ever. He took her in his arms, murmuring,
+"<i>Mijn Katrijntje, mijn Katrijntje! Ach, mijn kind, mijn kind!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>Hyde had felt that there might be some embarrassment in his own case,
+perhaps some explanation or acknowledgment to make; but Joris waved
+aside any speech like it. He gave Hyde both hands; he called him "<i>mijn
+zoon</i>;" he stooped, and put the little lad's arms around his neck. In
+many a kind and delicate way he made them feel that all of the past was
+forgotten but its sweetness.</p>
+
+<p>And surely that hour Lysbet had the reward of her faithful affection.
+She had always admired Hyde; and she was proud and happy to have him in
+her home, and to have him call her mother. The little Joris took
+possession of her heart in a moment. Her Katherine was again at her
+side. She had felt the clasp of her hands; she had heard her whisper
+"<i>mijn moeder</i>" upon her lips.</p>
+
+<p>They landed upon a Saturday, upon one of those delightsome days that
+April frequently <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>gives to New York. There was a fresh wind, full of the
+smell of the earth and the sea; an intensely blue sky, with flying
+battalions of white fleecy clouds across it; a glorious sunshine above
+everything. And people live, and live happily, even in the shadow of
+war. The stores were full of buyers and sellers. The doors and windows
+of the houses were open to the spring freshness. Lysbet had heard of
+their arrival, and was watching for them. Her hair was a little whiter,
+her figure a little stouter; but her face was fair and rosy, and sweet
+as ever.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 237px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0423-1.jpg" width="237" height="300" alt="Lysbet and Catherine were unpacking" title="Lysbet and Catherine were unpacking" />
+</div>
+
+<p>In a few hours things had fallen naturally and easily into place. Joris
+and Bram and Hyde sat talking of the formation of a regiment. Little
+Joris leaned on his grandfather's shoulder listening. Lysbet and
+Katherine were busy unpacking trunks full of fineries and pretty things;
+occasionally stopping to give instructions to Dinorah, who was preparing
+an extra tea, as Batavius and Joanna were coming to spend the evening.
+"And to the elder and Janet Semple I have sent a message, also," said
+Lysbet; "for I see not why anger should be nursed, or old friendships
+broken, for politics."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>Katherine had asked at once, with eager love, for Joanna; she had
+expected that she would be waiting to welcome her. Lysbet smiled faintly
+at the supposition. "She has a large family, then, and Batavius, and her
+house. Seldom comes she here now."</p>
+
+<p>But about four o'clock, as Katherine and Hyde were dressing, Joanna and
+Batavius and all their family arrived. In a moment, their presence
+seemed to diffuse itself through the house. There was a sense of
+confusion and unrest, and the loud crying of a hungry baby determined to
+be attended to. And Joanna was fulfilling this duty, when Katherine
+hastened to meet her. Wifehood and motherhood had greatly altered the
+slim, fair girl of ten years before. She had grown stout, and was untidy
+in her dress, and a worried, anxious expression was continually on her
+countenance. Batavius kept an eye on the children; there were five of
+them beside the baby,&mdash;fat, rosy, round-faced miniatures of himself, all
+having a fair share of his peculiar selfish traits, which each expressed
+after its individual fashion.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde met his brother-in-law with a gentlemanly cordiality; and Batavius,
+who had told Joanna "he intended to put down a bit that insolent
+Englishman," was quite taken off his guard, and, ere he was aware of his
+submission, was smoking amicably with him, as they discussed the
+proposed military organization. Very soon Hyde asked Batavius, "If he
+were willing to join it?"</p>
+
+<p>"When such a family a man has," he answered, waving his hand
+complacently toward the six children, "he must have some prudence <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>and
+consideration. I had been well content with one child; but we must have
+our number, there is no remedy. And I am a householder, and I pay my
+way, and do my business. It is a fixed principle with me not to meddle
+with the business of other people."</p>
+
+<p>"But, sir, this is your business, and your children's business also."</p>
+
+<p>"I think, then, that it is King George's business."</p>
+
+<p>"It is liberty"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, I have my liberty. I have liberty to buy and to sell, to go
+to my own kirk, to sail the 'Great Christopher' when and where I will.
+My house, my wife, my little children, nobody has touched."</p>
+
+<p>"Pray, sir, what of your rights? your honour?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, then, for ideas I quarrel not! Facts, they are different.
+Every man has his own creed, and every man his own liberty, so say
+I.&mdash;Come here, Alida," and he waved his hand imperiously to a little
+woman of four years old, who was sulking at the window, "what's the
+matter now? You have been crying again. I see that you have a
+discontented temper. There is a spot on your petticoat also, and your
+cap is awry. I fear that you will never become a neat, respectable
+girl&mdash;you that ought to set a good pattern to your little sister
+Femmetia."</p>
+
+<p>Evidently he wished to turn the current of the conversation; but as soon
+as the child had been sent to her mother, Joris resumed it.</p>
+
+<p>"If you go not yourself to the fight, Batavius, plenty of young men are
+there, longing to go, who have no arms and no clothes: send in your
+place one of them."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>"It is my fixed principle not to meddle in the affairs of other people,
+and my principles are sacred to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Batavius, you said not long ago that the colonists were leaving the old
+ship, and that the first in the new boat would have the choice of oars."</p>
+
+<p>"Bram, that is the truth. I said not that I would choose any of the
+oars."</p>
+
+<p>"A fair harbour we shall make, and the rewards will be great, Batavius."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not good to cry 'herrings,' till in the net you have them. And to
+talk of rowing, the colonists must row against wind and tide; the
+English will row with set sail. That is easy rowing. Into this question
+I have looked well, for always I think about everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you read the speeches of Adams and Hancock and Quincy? Have you
+heard what Colonel Washington said in the Assembly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, these men are discontented! Something which they have not got, they
+want. They are troublesome and conceited. They expect the century will
+be called after them. Now I, who punctually fulfil my obligations as a
+father and a citizen, I am contented, I never make complaints, I never
+want more liberty. You may read in the Holy Scriptures that no good
+comes of rebellion. Did not Absalom sit in the gate, and say to the
+discontented, 'See thy matters are good and right; but there is no man
+deputed of the king to hear thee;' and, moreover, 'Oh, that I were made
+a judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might
+come unto me, and I would do him justice'? And did not Sheba blow a
+trumpet, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span>say, 'We have no part in David, neither have we
+inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel'?
+Well, then, what came of such follies? You may read in the Word of God
+that they ended in ruin."</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-361.png" width="300" height="652" alt="He marshalled the six children in front of him" title="He marshalled the six children in front of him" />
+</div>
+
+<p>Hyde looked with curiosity at the complacent orator. Bram rose, and,
+with a long-drawn whistle, left the room. Joris said sternly, "Enough
+you have spoken, Batavius. None are so blind as those who will not see."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, then, father, I can see what is in the way of mine own business;
+and it is a fixed principle with me not to meddle with the business of
+other people. And look here, Joanna, the night is coming, and the dew
+with it, and Alida had sore throat yesterday: we had better go. Fast in
+sleep the children ought to be at this hour." And he bustled about them,
+tying on caps and capes; and finally, having marshalled the six children
+and their two nurses in front of him he trotted off with Joanna upon his
+arm, fully persuaded that he had done himself great credit, and acted
+with uncommon wisdom. "But it belongs to me to do that, Joanna," he
+said; "among all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span>the merchants, I am known for my great prudence."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that my father and Bram will get into trouble in this matter."</p>
+
+<p>"You took the word out of my mouth, Joanna; and I will have nothing to
+do with such follies, for they are waxing hand over hand like the great
+winds at sea, till the hurricane comes, and then the ruin."</p>
+
+<p>The next morning was the Sabbath, and it broke in a perfect splendour of
+sunshine. The New World was so new and fresh, and Katherine thought she
+had never before seen the garden so lovely. Joris was abroad in it very
+early. He looked at the gay crocus and the pale snowdrop and the budding
+pansies with a singular affection. He was going, perchance, on a long
+warfare. Would he ever return to greet them in the coming springs? If he
+did return, would they be there to greet him? As he stood pensively
+thoughtful, Katherine called him. He raised his eyes, and watched her
+approach as he had been used when she was a child, a school-girl, a
+lovely maiden. But never had she been so beautiful as now. She was
+dressed for church in a gown of rich brown brocade over a petticoat of
+paler satin, with costly ornaments of gold and rubies. As she joined her
+father, Hyde joined Lysbet in the parlour; and the two stood at the
+window watching her. She had clasped her hands upon his shoulder, and
+leaned her beautiful head against them. "A most perfect picture," said
+Hyde, and then he kissed Lysbet; and from that moment they were mother
+and son.</p>
+
+<p>They walked to church together; and Hyde <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>thought how beautiful the
+pleasant city was that sabbath morning, with its pretty houses shaded by
+trees just turning green, its clear air full of the grave dilating
+harmony of the church-bells, its quiet streets thronged with men and
+women&mdash;both sexes dressed with a magnificence modern Broadway beaux and
+belles have nothing to compare with. What staid, dignified men in
+three-cornered hats and embroidered velvet coats and long plush vests!
+What buckles and wigs and lace ruffles and gold snuff-boxes! What
+beautiful women in brocades and taffetas, in hoops and high heels and
+gauze hats! Here and there a black-robed dominie; here and there a
+splendidly dressed British officer, in scarlet and white, and gold
+epaulettes and silver embroideries! New York has always been a highly
+picturesque city, but never more so than in the restless days of A.D.
+1775.</p>
+
+<p>Katherine and Hyde and Bram were together; Joris and Lysbet were slowly
+following them. They were none of them speaking much, nor thinking much,
+but all were very happy and full of content! Suddenly the peaceful
+atmosphere was troubled by the startling clamour of a trumpet. It was a
+note so distinct from the music of the bells, so full of terror and
+warning, that every one stood still. A second blast was accompanied by
+the rapid beat of a horse's hoofs; and the rider came down Broadway like
+one on a message of life and death, and made no pause until he had very
+nearly reached Maiden Lane.</p>
+
+<p>At that point a tall, muscular man seized the horse by the bridle, and
+asked, "What news?"</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>"Great news! great news! There has been a battle, a massacre at
+Lexington, a running fight from Concord to Boston! Stay me not!" But, as
+he shook the bridle free, he threw a handbill, containing the official
+account of the affair at Lexington to the inquirer.</p>
+
+<p>Who then thought of church, though the church-bells were ringing? The
+crowd gathered around the man with the handbill, and in ominous silence
+listened to the tidings of the massacre at Lexington, the destruction of
+stores at Concord, the quick gathering of the militia from the hills and
+dales around Reading and Roxbury, the retreat of the British under their
+harassing fire, until, worn out and disorganized, they had found a
+refuge in Boston. "And this is the postscript at the last moment," added
+the reader: "'Men are pouring in from all the country sides; Putnam left
+his plough in the furrow, and rode night and day to the ground; Heath,
+also, is with him.'"</p>
+
+<p>Joris was white and stern in his emotion; Bram stood by the reader, with
+a face as bright as a bridegroom's; Hyde's lips were drawn tight, and
+his eyes were flashing with the true military flame. "Father," he said,
+"take mother and Katherine to church; Bram and I will stay here, for I
+can see that there is something to be done."</p>
+
+<p>"God help us! Yes, I will go to Him first;" and, taking his wife and
+daughter, he passed with them out of the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde turned to the reader, who stood with bent brows, and the paper in
+his hand. "Well, sir, what is to be done?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"There are five hundred stand of arms in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>City Hall; there are men
+enough here to take them. Let us go."</p>
+
+<p>A loud cry of assent answered him.</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Richard Hyde, late of his Majesty's Windsor Guards; but I am
+with you, heart and soul."</p>
+
+<p>"I am Marinus Willet."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, Mr. Willet, where first?"</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0424-1.jpg" width="400" height="258" alt="The City Hall" title="The City Hall" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"To the mayor's residence. He has the keys of the room in which the arms
+are kept."</p>
+
+<p>The news spread, no one knew how; but men poured out from the churches
+and the houses on their route, and Willet's force was soon nearly a
+thousand strong. The tumult, the tread, the <i>animus</i> of the gathering,
+was felt in that part of the city even where it could not be heard.
+Joris could hardly endure the suspense, and the service did him very
+little good. About two o'clock, as he was walking restlessly about the
+house, Bram and Hyde returned together.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span>"There were five hundred stand of arms in the City Hall, and I swear
+that we have taken them all. A man called Willet led us; a hero, quick
+of thought, prompt and daring,&mdash;a true soldier."</p>
+
+<p>"I know him well; a good man."</p>
+
+<p>"The keys the mayor refused to us," said Bram.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, sir, he lied to us! Vowed he did not have them, and sent us to the
+armourer in Crown Street. The armourer vowed that he had given them to
+the mayor."</p>
+
+<p>"What then?"</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-366.png" width="300" height="406" alt="He swung a great axe" title="He swung a great axe" />
+</div>
+
+<p>"Oh, indeed, all fortune fitted us! We went <i>en masse</i> down Broadway
+into Wall Street, and so to the City Hall. Here some one, with too nice
+a sense of the sabbath, objected to breaking open the doors because of
+the day. But with very proper spirit Willet replied, 'If we wait until
+to-morrow, the king's men will not wait. The arms will be removed. And
+as for a key, here is one that will open any lock.' As he said the
+words, he swung a great axe around his head; and so, with a few blows,
+he made us an entrance. Indeed, I think that he is a grand fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"And you got the arms?"</p>
+
+<p>"Faith, we got all we went for! The arms were divided among the people.
+There was a drum and a fife also found with them, and some one made us
+very excellent music to step to. As we re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>turned up Broadway, the
+congregation were just coming out of Trinity. Upon my word, I think we
+frightened them a little."</p>
+
+<p>"Where were the English soldiers?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, they were shut up in barracks. Some of their officers were in
+church, others waiting for orders from the governor or mayor. 'Tis to be
+found out where the governor might be; the mayor was frightened beyond
+everything, and not capable of giving an order. Had my uncle Gordon been
+still in command here, he had not been so patient."</p>
+
+<p>"And for you that would have been a hard case."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, I would not have fought my old comrades. I am glad, then,
+that they are in Quebec. Our swords will scarce reach so far."</p>
+
+<p>"And where went you with the arms?"</p>
+
+<p>"To a room in John Street. There they were stacked, the names of the men
+enrolled, and a guard placed over them. Bram is on the night patrol, by
+his own request. As for me, I have the honour of assisting New York in
+her first act of rebellion! and, if the military superstition be a true
+one, 'A Sunday fight is a lucky fight.'&mdash;And now, mother, we will have
+some dinner: 'The soldier loves his mess.'"</p>
+
+<p>Every one was watching him with admiration. Never in his uniform had he
+appeared so like a soldier as he did at that hour in his citizen coat
+and breeches of wine-coloured velvet, his black silk stockings and
+gold-buckled shoes. His spirits were infectious: Bram had already come
+into thorough sympathy with him, and grown almost gay in his company;
+Joris felt <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>his heart beat to the joy and hope in his young comrades.
+All alike had recognized that the fight was inevitable, and that it
+would be well done if it were soon done.</p>
+
+<p>But events cannot be driven by wishes: many things had to be settled
+before a movement forward could be made. Joris had his store to let, and
+the stock and good-will to dispose of. Horses and accoutrements must be
+bought, uniforms made; and every day this charge increased: for, as soon
+as Van Heemskirk's intention to go to the front was known, a large
+number of young men from the best Dutch families were eager to enlist
+under him.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde's time was spent as a recruiting-officer. His old quarters, the
+"King's Arms," were of course closed to him; but there was a famous
+tavern on Water Street, shaded by a great horse-chestnut tree, and there
+the patriots were always welcome. There, also, the news of all political
+events was in some mysterious way sure to be first received. In company
+with Willet, Sears, and McDougall, Hyde might be seen under the
+chestnut-tree every day, enlisting men, or organizing the "Liberty
+Regiment" then raising.</p>
+
+<p>From the first, his valorous temper, his singleness of purpose, his
+military skill in handling troops, and his fine appearance and manners,
+had given him influence and authority. He soon, also, gained a wonderful
+power over Bram; and even the temperate wisdom and fine patience of
+Joris gradually kindled, until the man was at white heat all through.
+Every day's events fanned the temper of the city, although it was soon
+evident that the first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>fighting would be done in the vicinity of
+Boston.</p>
+
+<p>For, three weeks after that memorable April Sunday, Congress, in session
+at Philadelphia, had recognized the men in camp there as a Continental
+army, the nucleus of the troops that were to be raised for the defence
+of the country, and had commissioned Colonel Washington as
+commander-in-chief to direct their operations. Then every heart was in a
+state of the greatest expectation and excitement. No one remembered at
+that hour that the little army was without organization or discipline,
+most of its officers incompetent to command, its troops altogether
+unused to obey, and in the field without enlistment. Their few pieces of
+cannon were old and of various sizes, and scarce any one understood
+their service. There was no siege-train and no ordnance stores. There
+was no military chest, and nothing worthy the name of a <i>commissariat</i>.
+Yet every one was sure that some bold stroke would be struck, and the
+war speedily terminated in victory and independence.</p>
+
+<p>So New York was in the buoyant spirits of a young man rejoicing to run a
+race. The armourers, the saddlers, and the smiths were busy day and
+night; weapons were in every hand, the look of apprehended triumph on
+every face. In June the Van Heemskirk troops were ready to leave for
+Boston&mdash;nearly six hundred young men, full of pure purpose and brave
+thoughts, and with all their illusions and enthusiasms undimmed.</p>
+
+<p>The day before their departure, they escorted Van Heemskirk to his
+house. Lysbet and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>Katherine saw them coming, and fell weeping on each
+other's necks&mdash;tears that were both joyful and sorrowful, the expression
+of mingled love and patriotism and grief. It would have been hard to
+find a nobler-looking leader than Joris. Age had but added dignity to
+his fine bulk. His large, fair face was serene and confident. And the
+bright young lads who followed him looked like his sons, for most of
+them strongly resembled him in person; and any one might have been sure,
+even if the roll had not shown it, that they were Van Brunts and Van
+Ripers and Van Rensselaers, Roosevelts, Westervelts, and Terhunes.</p>
+
+<p>They had a very handsome uniform, and there had been no uncertainty or
+dispute about it. Blue, with orange trimmings, carried the question
+without one dissenting voice. Blue had been for centuries the colour of
+opposition to tyranny. The Scotch Covenanters chose it because the Lord
+ordered the children of Israel to wear a ribbon of blue that they might
+"look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do
+them; and seek not after their own heart and their own eyes, and be holy
+unto their God." (Num. xv. 38.) Into their cities of refuge in Holland,
+the Covenanters carried their sacred colour; and the Dutch Calvinists
+soon blended the blue of their faith with the orange of their
+patriotism. Very early in the American struggle, blue became the typical
+colour of freedom; and when Van Heemskirk's men chose the blue and
+orange for their uniform, they selected the colours which had already
+been famous on many a battle-field of freedom.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>Katherine and Lysbet had made the flag of the new regiment&mdash;an orange
+flag, with a cluster of twelve blue stars above the word <i>liberty</i>. It
+was Lysbet's hands that gave it to them. They stood in a body around the
+open door of the Van Heemskirk house; and the pretty old lady kissed it,
+and handed it with wet eyes to the colour-sergeant. Katherine stood by
+Lysbet's side. They were both dressed as for a festival, and their faces
+were full of tender love and lofty enthusiasm. To Joris and his men they
+represented the womanhood dear to each individual heart. Lysbet's white
+hair and white cap and pale-tinted face was "the mother's face;" and
+Katherine, in her brilliant beauty, her smiles and tears, her shining
+silks and glancing jewels, was the lovely substitute for many a precious
+sister and many a darling lady-love. But few words were said. Lysbet and
+Katherine could but stand and gaze as heads were bared, and the orange
+folds flung to the wind, and the inspiring word <i>liberty</i> saluted with
+bright, upturned faces and a ringing shout of welcome.</p>
+
+<p>Such a lovely day it was&mdash;a perfect June day; doors and windows were
+wide open; a fresh wind blowing, a hundred blended scents from the
+garden were in the air; and there was a sunshine that warmed everything
+to the core. If there were tears in the hearts of the women, they put
+them back with smiles and hopeful words, and praises of the gallant men
+who were to fight a noble fight under the banner their fingers had
+fashioned.</p>
+
+<p>It was to be the last evening at home for Joris and Bram and Hyde, and
+everything</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span></p>
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;">
+<img src="images/illus-0425-1.jpg" width="400" height="517" alt="Lysbet&#39;s hands gave it to them" title="Lysbet&#39;s hands gave it to them" />
+</div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>was done to make it a happy memory. The table was laid with the best
+silver and china; all the dainties that the three men liked best were
+prepared for them. The room was gay with flowers and blue and orange
+ribbons, and bows of the same colours fluttered at Lysbet's breast and
+on Katherine's shoulder. And as they went up and down the house, they
+were both singing,&mdash;singing to keep love from weeping, and hope and
+courage from failing; Lysbet's thin, sweet voice seeming like the shadow
+of Katherine's clear, ringing tones,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 18em;">"Oh, for the blue and the orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">Oh, for the orange and the blue!</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">Orange for men that are free men,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">Blue for men that are true.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">Over the red of the tyrant,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">Bloody and cruel in hue,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">Fling out the banner of orange,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">With pennant and border of blue.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 18.5em;">Orange for men that are free men,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 19.5em;">Blue for men that are true."</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>So they were singing when Joris and his sons came home.</p>
+
+<p>There had been some expectation of Joanna and Batavius, but at the last
+moment an excuse was sent. "The child is sick, writes Batavius; but I
+think, then, it is Batavius that is afraid, and not the child who is
+sick," said Joris.</p>
+
+<p>"To this side and to that side and to neither side, he will go; and he
+will miss all the good, and get all the bad of every side," said Bram
+contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>"I think not so, Bram. Batavius can sail with the wind. All but his
+honour and his manhood he will save."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>"That is exactly true," continued Hyde. "He will grow rich upon the
+spoils of both parties. Upon my word, I expect to hear him say, 'Admire
+my prudence. While you have been fighting for an idea, I have been
+making myself some money. It is a principle of mine to attend only to my
+own affairs.'"</p>
+
+<p>After supper Bram went to bid a friend good-by; and as Joris and Lysbet
+sat in the quiet parlour, Elder Semple and his wife walked in. The elder
+was sad and still. He took the hands of Joris in his own, and looked him
+steadily in the face. "Man Joris," he said, "what's sending you on sic a
+daft-like errand?"</p>
+
+<p>Joris smiled, and grasped tighter his friend's hand. "So glad am I to
+see you at the last, Elder. As in you came, I was thinking about you.
+Let us part good friends and brothers. If I come not back"&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"Tut, tut! You're sure and certain to come back; and sae I'll save the
+quarrel I hae wi' you until then. We'll hae mair opportunities; and I'll
+hae mair arguments against you, wi' every week that passes. Joris,
+you'll no hae a single word to say for yoursel' then. Sae, I'll bide my
+time. I came to speak anent things, in case o' the warst, to tell you
+that if any one wants to touch your wife or your bairns, a brick in your
+house, or a flower in your garden-plat, I'll stand by all that's yours,
+to the last shilling I hae, and nane shall harm them. Neil and I will
+baith do all men may do. Scotsmen hae lang memories for either friend or
+foe. O Joris, man, if you had only had an ounce o' common wisdom!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have a friend, then! I have you, Alexan<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>der. Never this hour shall I
+regret. If all else I lose, I have saved <i>mijn jongen</i>."</p>
+
+<p>The old men bent to each other; there were tears in their eyes. Without
+speaking, they were aware of kindness and faithfulness and gratitude
+beyond the power of words. They smoked a pipe together, and sometimes
+changed glances and smiles, as they looked at, or listened to, Lysbet
+and Janet Semple, who had renewed their long kindness in the sympathy of
+their patriotic hopes and fears.</p>
+
+<p>Hyde and Katherine were walking in the garden, lingering in the sweet
+June twilight by the lilac hedge and the river-bank. All Hyde's business
+was arranged: he was going into the fight without any anxiety beyond
+such as was natural to the circumstances. While he was away, his wife
+and son were to remain with Lysbet. He could desire no better home for
+them; their lives would be so quiet and orderly that he could almost
+tell what they would be doing at every hour. And while he was in the din
+and danger of siege and battle, he felt that it would be restful to
+think of Katherine in the still, fair rooms and the sweet garden of her
+first home.</p>
+
+<p>If he never came back, ample provision had been made for his wife and
+son's welfare; but&mdash;and he suddenly turned to Katherine, as if she had
+been conscious of his thoughts&mdash;"The war will not last very long, dear
+heart; and when liberty is won, and the foundation for a great
+commonwealth laid, why then we will buy a large estate somewhere upon
+the banks of this beautiful river. It will be delightful, in the midst
+of trees and parks, to build a grander <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span>Hyde Manor House. Most
+completely we will furnish it, in all respects; and the gardens you
+shall make at your own will and discretion. A hundred years after this,
+your descendants shall wander among the treillages and cut hedges and
+boxed walks, and say, 'What a sweet taste our dear
+great-great-grandmother had!'"</p>
+
+<p>And Katharine laughed at his merry talk and forecasting, and praised his
+uniform, and told him how soldierly and handsome he looked in it. And
+she touched his sword, and asked, "Is it the old sword, my Richard?"</p>
+
+<p>"The old sword, Kate, my sweet. With it I won my wife. Oh, indeed, yes!
+You know it was pity for my sufferings made you marry me that blessed
+October day, when I could not stand up beside you. It has a fight twice
+worthy of its keen edge now." He drew it partially from its sheath, and
+mused a moment. Then he slowly untwisted the ribbon and tassel of
+bullion at the hilt, and gave it into her hand. "I have a better
+hilt-ribbon than that," he said; "and when we go into the house, I will
+re-trim my sword."</p>
+
+<p>She thought little of the remark at the time, though she carefully put
+the tarnished tassel away among her dearest treasures; but it acquired a
+new meaning in the morning. The troops were to leave very early; and
+soon after dawn, she heard the clatter of galloping horses and the calls
+of the men as they reined up at their commander's door. Bram, as his
+father's lieutenant, was with them. The horses of Joris and Hyde were
+waiting.</p>
+
+<p>They rose from the breakfast-table and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>looked at their wives. Lysbet
+gave a little sob, and laid her head a moment upon her husband's breast.
+Katherine lifted her white face and whispered, with kisses, "Beloved
+one, go. Night and day I will pray for you, and long for you. My love,
+my dear one!"</p>
+
+<p>There was hurry and tumult, and the stress of leave-taking was lightened
+by it. Katherine held her husband's hand till they stood at the open
+door. Then he looked into her face, and down at his sword, with a
+meaning smile. And her eyes dilated, and a vivid blush spread over her
+cheeks and throat, and she drew him back a moment, and passionately
+kissed him again; and all her grief was lost in love and triumph. For,
+wound tightly around his sword-hilt, she saw&mdash;though it was brown and
+faded&mdash;- her first, fateful love-token,&mdash;<i>The Bow of Orange Ribbon</i>.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/illus-378.png" width="300" height="416" alt="Tail-piece" title="Tail-piece" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span></p>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p>POSTSCRIPT.</p>
+
+<p>[QUOTATION FROM A LETTER DATED JULY 5, A.D. 1885.]</p>
+
+
+<p>"Yesterday I went with my aunt to spend 'the Fourth' at the Hydes. They
+have the most delightful place,&mdash;a great stone house in a wilderness of
+foliage and beauty, and yet within convenient distance of the railroad
+and the river-boats. Why don't we build such houses now? You could make
+a ball-room out of the hall, and hold a grand reception on the
+staircase. Kate Hyde said the house is more than a hundred years old,
+and that the fifth generation is living in it. I am sure there are
+pictures enough of the family to account for three hundred years; but
+the two handsomest, after all, are those of the builders. They were very
+great people at the court of Washington, I believe. I suppose it is
+natural for those who have ancestors to brag about them, and to show off
+the old buckles and fans and court-dresses they have hoarded up, not to
+speak of the queer bits of plate and china; and, I must say, the Hydes
+have a really delightful lot of such bric-a-brac. But the strangest
+thing is the 'household talisman.' It is not like the luck of Eden Hall:
+it is neither crystal cup, nor silver vase, nor magic bracelet, nor an
+old slipper. But they have a tradition that the house will prosper as
+long as it lasts, and so this precious palladium is carefully kept in a
+locked box of carved sandal-wood; for it is only a bit of faded satin
+that was a love-token,&mdash;a St. Nicholas <i>Bow of Orange Ribbon</i>."</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Bow of Orange Ribbon, by Amelia E. Barr
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Bow of Orange Ribbon, by Amelia E. Barr
+
+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: The Bow of Orange Ribbon
+       A Romance of New York
+
+Author: Amelia E. Barr
+
+Illustrator: Theo. Hampe
+
+Release Date: November 28, 2005 [EBook #17173]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Paul Ereaut and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover and spine]
+
+[Illustration: She was going down the steps with him]
+
+
+[Transcribers note: A title has been created for an unlisted illustration
+on p102 of the original text and inserted into the list of illustrations.]
+
+
+                  _THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON_
+
+                    A ROMANCE OF NEW YORK
+
+                _BY AMELIA E. BARR AUTHOR OF
+                    "JAN VEDDER'S WIFE"
+                  "A DAUGHTER OF FIFE" ETC._
+
+            _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THEO. HAMPE_
+
+         _NEW YORK DODD, MEAD & COMPANY PUBLISHERS_
+
+          Copyright, 1886, 1893 BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
+
+                  _All rights reserved_
+
+         Typography                     Presswork
+
+  BY ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL,     BY JOHN WILSON AND SON,
+
+          _Boston_                     _Cambridge_.
+
+                       BY PERMISSION
+
+                   This Book is Dedicated
+
+                            TO THE
+
+               _HOLLAND SOCIETY OF NEW YORK_
+
+
+[Illustration: ILLUSTRATIONS:]
+
+She was going down the steps with him
+May in New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago
+Joris Van Heemskirk
+Locking-up the cupboards
+She was tying on her white apron
+"Come awa', my bonnie lassie"
+Knitting
+Neil and Bram
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+With her spelling-book and Heidelberg
+The amber necklace
+In one of those tall-backed Dutch chairs
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+He heard her calling him to breakfast
+The quill pens must be mended
+A Guelderland flagon
+"A very proper love-knot"
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+Hyde flung off the touch with a passionate oath
+Batavius stood at the mainmast
+He took her in his arms
+A little black boy entered
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+"Sir, you are very uncivil"
+"Listen to me, thy father!"
+He took his solitary tea
+On the steps of the houses
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+"Katherine, I am in great earnest"
+"In the interim, at your service"
+"Why do you wait?"
+The swords of both men sprung from their hands
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+Oh, how she wept!
+"O Bram! is he dead?"
+The streets were noisy with hawkers
+Katherine was close to his side
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+In its satin depths
+Katherine knelt by Richard's side
+"I am faint"
+"Don't trouble yourself to come down"
+"Listen to me!"
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+They stood together over the budding snowdrops
+His whole air and attitude had expressed delight
+"I am going to take the air this afternoon"
+"I will go with you, Richard"
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+"Madam, I come not on courtesy"
+"O mother, my sister Katherine!"
+"Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny!"
+Plain and dark were her garments
+Tail-piece
+Chapter heading
+Katherine stood with her child in her arms
+The garden next fell under Katherine's care
+"Thou has a grandson of thy own name"
+Plate old and new
+"Make me not to remember the past"
+With a great sob Bram laid his head against her breast
+Chapter heading
+She spread out all her finery
+All kinds of frivolity and amusement
+"Dick, I am angry at you"
+She was softly singing to the drowsy child
+Chapter heading
+She was stretched upon a sofa
+She stood in the gray light by the window
+Chapter heading
+She knelt speechless and motionless
+Jane lifted her apron to her eyes
+"O Richard, my lover, my husband!"
+Chapter heading
+"One night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered,"
+"I must draw my sword again"
+"We have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever"
+"I am reading the Word"
+He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk.
+Chapter heading
+Lysbet and Catherine were unpacking
+He marshalled the six children in front of him
+The City Hall
+He swung a great axe
+Lysbet's hands gave it to them
+Tail-piece
+
+
+
+THE BOW OF ORANGE RIBBON
+
+
+[Illustration: May in New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago]
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+"_Love, that old song, of which the world is never weary_."
+
+
+It was one of those beautiful, lengthening days, when May was pressing
+back with both hands the shades of the morning and the evening; May in
+New York one hundred and twenty-one years ago, and yet the May of A.D.
+1886,--the same clear air and wind, the same rarefied freshness, full of
+faint, passing aromas from the wet earth and the salt sea and the
+blossoming gardens. For on the shore of the East River the gardens still
+sloped down, even to below Peck Slip; and behind old Trinity the
+apple-trees blossomed like bridal nosegays, the pear-trees rose in
+immaculate pyramids, and here and there cows were coming up heavily to
+the scattered houses; the lazy, intermitting tinkle of their bells
+giving a pleasant notice of their approach to the waiting
+milking-women.
+
+In the city the business of the day was over; but at the open doors of
+many of the shops, little groups of apprentices in leather aprons were
+talking, and on the broad steps of the City Hall a number of
+grave-looking men were slowly separating after a very satisfactory civic
+session. They had been discussing the marvellous increase of the export
+trade of New York; and some vision of their city's future greatness may
+have appeared to them, for they held themselves with the lofty and
+confident air of wealthy merchants and "members of his Majesty's Council
+for the Province of New York."
+
+[Illustration: Joris Van Heemskirk]
+
+They were all noticeable men, but Joris Van Heemskirk specially so. His
+bulk was so great that it seemed as if he must have been built up: it
+was too much to expect that he had ever been a baby. He had a fair,
+ruddy face, and large, firm eyes, and a mouth that was at once strong
+and sweet. And he was also very handsomely dressed. The long, stiff
+skirts of his dark-blue coat were lined with satin, his breeches were
+black velvet, his ruffles edged with Flemish lace, his shoes clasped
+with silver buckles, his cocked hat made of the finest beaver.
+
+With his head a little forward, and his right arm across his back, he
+walked slowly up Wall Street into Broadway, and then took a
+north-westerly direction toward the river-bank. His home was on the
+outskirts of the city, but not far away; and his face lightened as he
+approached it. It was a handsome house, built of yellow bricks, two
+stories high, with windows in the roof, and gables sending up sharp
+points skyward. There were weather-cocks on the gables, and little round
+holes below the weather-cocks, and small iron cranes below the holes,
+and little windows below the cranes,--all perfectly useless, but also
+perfectly picturesque and perfectly Dutch. The rooms were large and
+airy, and the garden sloped down to the river-side. It had paths
+bordered by clipped box, and shaded by holly and yew trees cut in
+fantastic shapes.
+
+In the spring this garden was a wonder of tulips and hyacinths and
+lilacs, of sweet daffodils and white lilies. In the summer it was ruddy
+with roses, and blazing with verbenas, and gay with the laburnum's gold
+cascade. Then the musk carnations and the pale slashed pinks exhaled a
+fragrance that made the heart dream idyls. In the autumn there was the
+warm, sweet smell of peaches and pears and apples. There were
+morning-glories in riotous profusion, tall hollyhocks, and wonderful
+dahlias. In winter it still had charms,--the white snow, and the green
+box and cedar and holly, and the sharp descent of its frozen paths to
+the frozen river. Councillor Van Heemskirk's father had built the house
+and planted the garden, and he had the Dutch reverence for a good
+ancestry. Often he sent his thoughts backward to remember how he walked
+by his father's side, or leaned against his mother's chair, as they told
+him the tragic tales of the old Barneveldt and the hapless De Witts; or
+how his young heart glowed to their memories of the dear fatherland,
+and the proud march of the Batavian republic.
+
+But this night the mournful glamour of the past caught a fresh glory
+from the dawn of a grander day forespoken. "More than three hundred
+vessels may leave the port of New York this same year," he thought. "It
+is the truth; every man of standing says so. Good-evening, Mr. Justice.
+Good-evening, neighbours;" and he stood a minute, with his hands on his
+garden-gate, to bow to Justice Van Gaasbeeck and to Peter Sluyter, who,
+with their wives, were going to spend an hour or two at Christopher
+Laer's garden. There the women would have chocolate and hot waffles, and
+discuss the new camblets and shoes just arrived from England, and to be
+bought at Jacob Kip's store; and the men would have a pipe of Virginia
+and a glass of hot Hollands, and fight over again the quarrel pending
+between the governor and the Assembly.
+
+"Men can bear all things but good days," said Peter Sluyter, when they
+had gone a dozen yards in silence; "since Van Heemskirk has a seat in
+the council-room, it is a long way to his hat."
+
+"Come, now, he was very civil, Sluyter. He bows like a man not used to
+make a low bow, that is all."
+
+"Well, well! with time, every one gets into his right place. In the City
+Hall, I may yet put my chair beside his, Van Gaasbeeck."
+
+"So say I, Sluyter; and, for the present, it is all well as it is."
+
+This little envious fret of his neighbour lost itself outside Joris Van
+Heemskirk's home. Within it, all was love and content. He quickly divested
+himself of his fine coat and ruffles, and in a long scarlet vest, and a
+little skull-cap made of orange silk, sat down to smoke. He had talked a
+good deal in the City Hall, and he was now chewing deliberately the cud of
+his wisdom over again. Madam Van Heemskirk understood that, and she let
+the good man reconsider himself in peace. Besides, this was her busy hour.
+She was giving out the food for the morning's breakfast, and locking up
+the cupboards, and listening to complaints from the kitchen, and making a
+plaster for black Tom's bealing finger. In some measure, she prepared all
+day for this hour, and yet there was always something unforeseen to be
+done in it.
+
+[Illustration: Locking-up the cupboards]
+
+She was a little woman, with clear-cut features, and brown hair drawn
+backward under a cap of lace very stiffly starched. Her tight fitting
+dress of blue taffeta was open in front, and looped up behind in order
+to show an elaborately quilted petticoat of light-blue camblet. Her
+white wool stockings were clocked with blue, her high-heeled shoes cut
+very low, and clasped with small silver buckles. From her trim cap to
+her trig shoes, she was a pleasant and comfortable picture of a happy,
+domestic woman; smiling, peaceful, and easy to live with.
+
+When the last duty was finished, she let her bunch of keys fall with a
+satisfactory "all done" jingle, that made her Joris look at her with a
+smile. "That is so," she said in answer to it. "A woman is glad when she
+gets all under lock and key for a few hours. Servants are not made
+without fingers; and, I can tell thee, all the thieves are not yet
+hung."
+
+"That needs no proving, Lysbet. But where, then, is Joanna and the
+little one? And Bram should be home ere this. He has stayed out late
+more than once lately, and it vexes me. Thou art his mother, speak to
+him."
+
+"Bram is good; do not make his bridle too short. Katherine troubles me
+more than Bram. She is quiet and thinks much; and when I say, 'What art
+thou thinking of?' she answers always, 'Nothing, mother.' That is not
+right. When a girl says, 'Nothing, mother,' there is something--perhaps,
+indeed, _somebody_--on her mind."
+
+"Katherine is nothing but a child. Who would talk love to a girl who has
+not yet taken her first communion? What you think is nonsense, Lysbet;"
+but he looked annoyed, and the comfort of his pipe was gone. He put it
+down, and walked to a side-door, where he stood a little while, watching
+the road with a fretful anxiety.
+
+"Why don't the children come, then? It is nearly dark, and the dew
+falls; and the river mist I like not for them."
+
+"For my part, I am not uneasy, Joris. They were to drink a dish of tea
+with Madam Semple, and Bram promised to go for them. And, see, they are
+coming; but Bram is not with them, only the elder. Now, what can be the
+matter?"
+
+"For every thing, there are more reasons than one; if there is a bad
+reason, Elder Semple will be sure to croak about it. I could wish that
+just now he had not come."
+
+"But then he is here, and the welcome must be given to a caller on the
+threshold. You know that, Joris."
+
+"I will not break a good custom."
+
+Elder Alexander Semple was a great man in his sphere. He had a
+reputation for both riches and godliness, and was scarcely more
+respected in the market-place than he was in the Middle Kirk. And there
+was an old tie between the Semples and the Van Heemskirks,--a tie going
+back to the days when the Scotch Covenanters and the Netherland
+Confessors clasped hands as brothers in their "churches under the
+cross." Then one of the Semples had fled for life from Scotland to
+Holland, and been sheltered in the house of a Van Heemskirk; and from
+generation to generation the friendship had been continued. So there was
+much real kindness and very little ceremony between the families; and
+the elder met his friend Joris with a grumble about having to act as
+"convoy" for two lasses, when the river mist made the duty so
+unpleasant.
+
+"Not to say dangerous," he added, with a forced cough. "I hae my plaid
+and my bonnet on; but a coat o' mail couldna stand mists, that are a
+vera shadow o' death to an auld man, wi' a sair shortness o' the
+breath."
+
+"Sit down, Elder, near the fire. A glass of hot Hollands will take the
+chill from you."
+
+"You are mair than kind, gudewife; and I'll no say but what a sma' glass
+is needfu', what wi' the late hour, and the thick mist"--
+
+"Come, come, Elder. Mists in every country you will find, until you
+reach the New Jerusalem."
+
+"Vera true, but there's a difference in mists. Noo, a Scotch mist isna
+at all unhealthy. When I was a laddie, I hae been out in them for a week
+thegither, ay, and felt the better o' them." He had taken off his plaid
+and bonnet as he spoke; and he drew the chair set for him in front of
+the blazing logs, and stretched out his thin legs to the comforting
+heat.
+
+In the mean time, the girls had gone upstairs together; and their
+footsteps and voices, and Katherine's rippling laugh, could be heard
+distinctly through the open doors. Then Madam called, "Joanna!" and the
+girl came down at once. She was tying on her white apron as she entered
+the room; and, at a word from her mother, she began to take from the
+cupboards various Dutch dainties, and East Indian jars of fruits and
+sweetmeats, and a case of crystal bottles, and some fine lemons. She was
+a fair, rosy girl, with a kind, cheerful face, a pleasant voice, and a
+smile that was at once innocent and bright. Her fine light hair was
+rolled high and backward; and no one could have imagined a dress more
+suitable to her than the trig dark bodice, the quilted skirt, and the
+white apron she wore.
+
+[Illustration: She was tying on her white apron]
+
+Her father and mother watched her with a loving satisfaction; and though
+Elder Semple was discoursing on that memorable dispute between the
+Caetus and Conferentie parties, which had resulted in the establishment
+of a new independent Dutch church in America, he was quite sensible of
+Joanna's presence, and of what she was doing.
+
+"I was aye for the ordaining o' American ministers in America," he said,
+as he touched the finger tips of his left hand with those of his right;
+and then in an aside full of deep personal interest, "Joanna, my dearie,
+I'll hae a Holland bloater and nae other thing. And I was a proud man
+when I got the invite to be secretary to the first meeting o' the new
+Caetus. Maybe it is praising green barley to say just yet that it was a
+wise departure; but I think sae, I think sae."
+
+At this point, Katherine Van Heemskirk came into the room; and the elder
+slightly moved his chair, and said, "Come awa', my bonnie lassie, and
+let us hae a look at you." And Katherine laughingly pushed a stool
+toward the fire, and sat down between the two men on the hearthstone.
+She was the daintiest little Dutch maiden that ever latched a
+shoe,--very diminutive, with a complexion like a sea-shell, great blue
+eyes, and such a quantity of pale yellow hair, that it made light of its
+ribbon snood, and rippled over her brow and slender white neck in
+bewildering curls. She dearly loved fine clothes; and she had not
+removed her visiting dress of Indian silk, nor her necklace of amber
+beads. And in her hands she held a great mass of lilies of the valley,
+which she caressed almost as if they were living things.
+
+"Father," she said, nestling close to his side, "look at the lilies. How
+straight they are! How strong! Oh, the white bells full of sweet scent!
+In them put your face, father. They smell of the spring." Her fingers
+could scarcely hold the bunch she had gathered; and she buried her
+lovely face in them, and then lifted it, with a charming look of
+delight, and the cries of "Oh, oh, how delicious!"
+
+[Illustration: "Come awa', my bonnie lassie"]
+
+Long before supper was over, Madam Van Heemskirk had discovered that this
+night Elder Semple had a special reason for his call. His talk of Mennon
+and the Anabaptists and the objectionable Lutherans, she perceived, was
+all surface talk; and when the meal was finished, and the girls gone to
+their room, she was not astonished to hear him say, "Joris, let us light
+another pipe. I hae something to speak anent. Sit still, gudewife, we
+shall want your word on the matter."
+
+"On what matter, Elder?"
+
+"Anent a marriage between my son Neil and your daughter Katherine."
+
+The words fell with a sharp distinctness, not unkindly, but as if they
+were more than common words. They were followed by a marked silence, a
+silence which in no way disturbed Semple. He knew his friends well, and
+therefore he expected it. He puffed his pipe slowly, and glanced at
+Joris and Lysbet Van Heemskirk. The father's face had not moved a
+muscle; the mother's was like a handsome closed book. She went on with
+her knitting, and only showed that she had heard the proposal by a small
+pretence of finding it necessary to count the stitches in the heel she
+was turning. Still, there had been some faint, evanescent flicker on her
+face, some droop or lift of the eyelids, which Joris understood; for,
+after a glance at her, he said slowly, "For Katherine the marriage would
+be good, and Lysbet and I would like it. However, we will think a little
+about it; there is time, and to spare. One should not run on a new road.
+The first step is what I like to be sure of; as you know, Elder, to the
+second step it often binds you.--Say what you think, Lysbet."
+
+"Neil is to my mind, when the time comes. But yet the child knows not
+perfectly her Heidelberg. And there is more: she must learn to help her
+mother about the house before she can manage a house of her own. So in
+time, I say, it would be a good thing. We have been long good friends."
+
+[Illustration: Knitting]
+
+"We hae been friends for four generations, and we may safely tie the
+knot tighter now. There are wise folk that say the Dutch and the Lowland
+Scotch are of the same stock, and a vera gude stock it is,--the women o'
+baith being fair as lilies and thrifty as bees, and the men just a
+wonder o' every thing wise and weel-spoken o'. For-bye, baith o'
+us--Scotch and Dutch--are strict Protestors. The Lady o' Rome never
+threw dust in our een, and neither o' us would put our noses to the
+ground for either powers spiritual or powers temporal. When I think o'
+our John Knox"--
+
+"First came Erasmus, Elder."
+
+"Surely. Well, well, it was about wedding and housekeeping I came to
+speak, and we'll hae it oot. The land between this place and my place,
+on the river-side, is your land, Joris. Give it to Katherine, and I will
+build the young things a house; and the furnishing and plenishing we'll
+share between us."
+
+"There is more to a wedding than house and land, Elder."
+
+"Vera true, madam. There's the income to meet the outgo. Neil has a good
+practice now, and is like to have better. They'll be comfortable and
+respectable, madam; but I think well o' you for speering after the daily
+bread."
+
+"Well, look now, it was not the bread-making I was thinking about. It
+was the love-making. A young girl should be wooed before she is married.
+You know how it is; and Katherine, the little one, she thinks not of
+such a thing as love and marriage."
+
+"Wha kens what thoughts are under curly locks at seventeen? You'll hae
+noticed, madam, that Katherine has come mair often than ordinar' to
+Semple House lately?"
+
+"That is so. It was because of Colonel Gordon's wife, who likes
+Katherine. She is teaching her a new stitch in her crewel-work."
+
+"Hum-m-m! Mistress Gordon has likewise a nephew, a vera handsome lad. I
+hae seen that he takes a deal o' interest in the crewel-stitch likewise.
+And Neil has seen it too,--for Neil has set his heart on Katherine,--and
+this afternoon there was a look passed between the young men I dinna
+like. We'll be haeing a challenge, and twa fools playing at murder,
+next."
+
+"I am glad you spoke, Elder. Thank you. I'll turn your words over in my
+heart." But Van Heemskirk was under a certain constraint: he was
+beginning to understand the situation, to see in what danger his darling
+might be. He was apparently calm; but an angry fire was gathering in his
+eyes, and stern lines settling about the lower part of his face.
+
+"You ken," answered Semple, who felt a trifle uneasy in the sudden
+constraint, "I hae little skill in the ordering o' girl bairns. The
+Almighty thought them beyond my guiding, and I must say they are a great
+charge, a great charge; and, wi' all my infirmities and
+simplicity,--anent women,--one that would hae been mair than I could
+hae kept. But I hae brought up my lads in a vera creditable way. They
+know how to manage their business, and they hae the true religion. I am
+sure Neil would make a good husband, and I would be glad to hae him
+settled near by. My three eldest lads hae gone far off, Joris, as you
+ken."
+
+"I remember. Two went to the Virginia Colony"--
+
+"To Norfolk,--tobacco brokers, and making money. My son Alexander--a
+wise lad--went to Boston, and is in the African trade. I may say that
+they are all honest, pious men, without wishing to be martyrs for
+honesty and piety, which, indeed, in these days is mercifully not called
+for. As for Neil, he's our last bairn; and his mother and I would fain
+keep him near us. Katherine would be a welcome daughter to our auld age,
+and weel loved, and much made o'; and I hope baith Madam Van Heemskirk
+and yoursel' will think with us."
+
+"We have said we would like the marriage. It is the truth. But, look
+now, Katherine shall not come any more to your house at this time, not
+while English soldiers come and go there; for I will not have her speak
+to one: they are no good for us."
+
+"That is right for you, but not for me. My wife was a Gordon, and we
+couldn't but offer our house to a cousin in a strange country. And
+you'll find few better men than Col. Nigel Gordon; as for his wife,
+she's a fine English leddy, and I hae little knowledge anent such women.
+But a Scot canna kithe a kindness; if I gie Colonel Gordon a share o'
+my house, I must e'en show a sort o' hospitality to his friends and
+visitors. And the colonel's wife is much thought o', in the regiment and
+oot o' it. She has a sight o' vera good company,--young officers and
+bonnie leddies, and some o' the vera best o' our ain people."
+
+"There it is. I want not my daughters to learn new ways. There are the
+Van Voorts: they began to dine and dance at the governor's house, and
+then they went to the English Church."
+
+"They were Lutherans to begin wi', Joris."
+
+"My Lysbet is the finest lady in the whole land: let her daughters walk
+in her steps. That is what I want. But Neil can come here; I will make
+him welcome, and a good girl is to be courted on her father's hearth.
+Now, there is enough said, and also there is some one coming."
+
+"It will be Neil and Bram;" and, as the words were spoken, the young men
+entered.
+
+[Illustration: Neil and Bram]
+
+"Again you are late, Bram;" and the father looked curiously in his son's
+face. It was like looking back upon his own youth; for Bram Van
+Heemskirk had all the physical traits of his father, his great size, his
+commanding presence and winning address, his large eyes, his deep,
+sonorous voice and slow speech. He was well dressed in light-coloured
+broadcloth; but Neil Semple wore a coat and breeches of black velvet,
+with a long satin vest, and fine small ruffles. He was tall and
+swarthy, and had a pointed, rather sombre face. Without speaking much in
+the way of conversation, he left an impression always of intellectual
+adroitness,--a young man of whom people expected a successful career.
+
+With the advent of Bram and Neil, the consultation ended. The elder,
+grumbling at the chill and mist, wrapped himself in his plaid, and
+leaning on his son's arm, cautiously picked his way home by the light of
+a lantern. Bram drew his chair to the hearth, and sat silently waiting
+for any question his father might wish to ask. But Van Heemskirk was not
+inclined to talk. He put aside his pipe, nodded gravely to his son, and
+went thoughtfully upstairs. At the closed door of his daughters' room,
+he stood still a moment. There was a murmur of conversation within it,
+and a ripple of quickly smothered laughter. How well his soul could see
+the child, with her white, small hands over her mouth, and her bright
+hair scattered upon the white pillow!
+
+"_Ach, mijn kind, mijn kind! Mijn liefste kind!_" he whispered. "God
+Almighty keep thee from sin and sorrow!"
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+                _"To be a sweetness more desired
+                       than spring,--
+                    This is the flower of life."_
+
+
+Joris Van Heemskirk had not thought of prayer; but, in his vague fear
+and apprehension, his soul beat at his lips, and its natural language
+had been that appeal at his daughter's closed door. For Semple's words
+had been like a hand lifting the curtain in a dark room: only a clouded
+and uncertain light had been thrown, but in it even familiar objects
+looked portentous. In these days, the tendency is to tone down and to
+assimilate, to deprecate every thing positive and demonstrative. But
+Joris lived when the great motives of humanity stood out sharp and bold,
+and surrounded by a religious halo.
+
+Many of his people had begun to associate with the governing race, to
+sit at their banquets, and even to worship in their church; but Joris,
+in his heart, looked upon such "indifferents" as renegades to their God
+and their fatherland. He was a Dutchman, soul and body; and no English
+duke was prouder of his line, or his royal quarterings, than was Joris
+Van Heemskirk of the race of sailors and patriots from whom he had
+sprung.
+
+Through his father, he clasped hands with men who had swept the narrow
+seas with De Ruyter, and sailed into Arctic darkness and icefields with
+Van Heemskirk. Farther back, among that mysterious, legendary army of
+patriots called "The Beggars of the Sea," he could proudly name his
+fore-goers,--rough, austere men, covered with scars, who followed
+Willemsen to the succour of Leyden. The likeness of one of them, Adrian
+Van Heemskirk, was in his best bedroom,--the big, square form wrapped in
+a pea-jacket; a crescent in his hat, with the device, "_Rather Turk than
+Papist_;" and upon his breast one of those medals, still hoarded in the
+Low Countries, which bore the significant words, "_In defiance of the
+Mass_."
+
+He knew all the stories of these men,--how, fortified by their natural
+bravery, and by their Calvinistic acquiescence in the purposes of
+Providence, they put out to sea in any weather, braved any danger,
+fought their enemies wherever they found them, worked like beavers
+behind their dams, and yet defiantly flung open their sluice-gates, and
+let in the ocean, to drown out their enemies.
+
+Through his mother, a beautiful Zealand woman, he was related to the
+Evertsens, the victorious admirals of Zealand, and also to the great
+mercantile family of Doversteghe; and he thought the enterprise of the
+one as honourable as the valour of the other. Beside the sailor pictures
+of Cornelius and Jan Evertsen, and the famous "Keesje the Devil," he
+hung sundry likenesses of men with grave, calm faces, proud and lofty of
+aspect, dressed in rich black velvet and large wide collars,--merchants
+who were every inch princes of commerce and industry.
+
+These lines of thought, almost tedious to indicate, flashed hotly and
+vividly through his mind. The likes and dislikes, the faiths and
+aspirations, of past centuries, coloured the present moments, as light
+flung through richly stained glass has its white radiance tinged by it.
+The feeling of race--that strong and mysterious tie which no time nor
+circumstances can eradicate--was so living a motive in Joris Van
+Heemskirk's heart, that he had been quite conscious of its appeal when
+Semple spoke of a marriage between Katherine and his own son. And Semple
+had understood this, when he so cunningly insinuated a common stock and
+a common form of faith. For he had felt, instinctively, that even the
+long tie of friendship between them was hardly sufficient to bridge over
+the gulf of different nationalities.
+
+Then, Katherine was Van Heemskirk's darling, the very apple of his eye.
+He felt angry that already there should be plans laid to separate her in
+any way from him. His eldest daughters, Cornelia and Anna, had married
+men of substance in Esopus and Albany: he knew they had done well for
+themselves, and had become contented in that knowledge; but he also
+felt that they were far away from his love and home. Joanna was already
+betrothed to Capt. Batavius de Vries; Bram would doubtless find himself
+a wife very soon; for a little while, he had certainly hoped to keep
+Katherine by his own side. Semple, in speaking of her as already
+marriageable, had given him a shock. It seemed such a few years since he
+had walked her to sleep at nights, cradled in his strong arms, close to
+his great, loving heart; such a little while ago when she toddled about
+the garden at his side, her plump white hands holding his big
+forefinger; only yesterday that she had been going to the school, with
+her spelling-book and Heidelberg in her hand. When Lysbet had spoken to
+him of the English lady staying with Madam Semple, who was teaching
+Katherine the new crewel-stitch, it had appeared to him quite proper
+that such a child should be busy learning something in the way of
+needlework. "Needlework" had been given as the reason of those visits,
+which he now remembered had been very frequent; and he was so absolutely
+truthful, that he never imagined the word to be in any measure a false
+definition.
+
+[Illustration: With her spelling-book and Heidelberg]
+
+Therefore, Elder Semple's implication had stunned him like a buffet. In
+his own room, he sat down on a big oak chest; and, as he thought, his
+wrath slowly gathered. Semple knew that gay young English officers were
+coming and going about his house, and he had not told him until he
+feared they would interfere with his own plans for keeping Neil near to
+him. The beautiful little Dutch maiden had been an attraction which he
+was proud to exhibit, just as he was proud of his imported furniture,
+his pictures, and his library. He remembered that Semple had spoken with
+touching emphasis of his longing to keep his last son near home; but
+must he give up his darling Katherine to further this plan?
+
+"I like not it," he muttered. "God for the Dutchman made the Dutchwoman.
+That is the right way; but I will not make angry myself for so much of
+passion, so much of nothing at all to the purpose. That is the truth.
+Always I have found it so."
+
+Then Lysbet, having finished her second locking up, entered the room.
+She came in as one wearied and troubled, and said with a sigh, as she
+untied her apron, "By the girls' bedside I stopped one minute. Dear me!
+when one is young, the sleep is sound."
+
+"Well, then, they were awake when I passed,--that is not so much as one
+quarter of the hour,--talking and laughing; I heard them."
+
+"And now they are fast in sleep; their heads are on one pillow, and
+Katherine's hand is fast clasped in Joanna's hand. The dear ones! Joris,
+the elder's words have made trouble in my heart. What did the man mean?"
+
+"Who can tell? What a man says, we know; but only God understands what
+he means. But I will say this, Lysbet, and it is what I mean: if Semple
+has led my daughter into the way of temptation, then, for all that is
+past and gone, we shall be unfriends."
+
+"Give yourself no _kommer_ on that matter, Joris. Why should not our
+girls see what kind of people the world is made of? Have not some of
+our best maidens married into the English set? And none of them were as
+beautiful as Katherine. There is no harm, I think, in a girl taking a
+few steps up when she puts on the wedding ring."
+
+"Mean you that our little daughter should marry some English
+good-for-nothing? Look, then, I would rather see her white and cold in
+the dead-chamber. In a word, I will have no Englishman among the Van
+Heemskirks. There, let us sleep. To-night I will speak no more."
+
+But madam could not sleep. She was quite sensible that she had tacitly
+encouraged Katherine's visits to Semple House, even after she understood
+that Captain Hyde and other fashionable and notable persons were
+frequent visitors there. In her heart she had dreamed such dreams of
+social advancement for her daughters as most mothers encourage. Her
+prejudices were less deep than those of her husband; or, perhaps, they
+were more powerfully combated by her greater respect for the pomps and
+vanities of life. She thought rather well than ill of those people of
+her own race and class who had made themselves a place in the most
+exclusive ranks. During the past ten years, there had been great changes
+in New York's social life: many families had become very wealthy, and
+there was a rapidly growing tendency to luxurious and splendid living.
+Lysbet Van Heemskirk saw no reason why her younger children should not
+move with this current, when it might set them among the growing
+aristocracy of the New World.
+
+[Illustration: The amber necklace]
+
+She tried to recall Katharine's demeanour and words during the past day,
+and she could find no cause for alarm in them. True, the child had spent
+a long time in arranging her beautiful hair, and she had also begged
+from her the bright amber necklace that had been her own girlish pride;
+but what then? It was so natural, especially when there was likely to be
+fine young gentlemen to see them. She could not remember having noticed
+anything at all which ought to make her uneasy; and what Lysbet did not
+see or hear, she could not imagine.
+
+Yet the past ten hours had really been full of danger to the young girl.
+Early in the afternoon, some hours before Joanna was ready to go,
+Katherine was dressed for her visit to Semple House. It was the next
+dwelling to the Van Heemskirks' on the river-bank, about a quarter of a
+mile distant, but plainly in sight; and this very proximity gave the
+mother a sense of security for her children. It was a different house
+from the Dutchman's, one of those great square plain buildings, so
+common in the Georgian era,--not at all picturesque, but finished inside
+with handsomely carved wood-work, and with mirrors and wall-papering
+brought specially for it from England.
+
+It stood, like Van Heemskirk's, at the head of a garden sloping to the
+river; and there was a good deal of pleasant rivalry about these
+gardens, both proprietors having impressed their own individuality upon
+their pleasure-grounds. Semple's had nothing of the Dutchman's glowing
+prettiness and quaintness,--no clipped yews and hollies, no fanciful
+flower-beds and little Gothic summer-house. Its slope was divided into
+three fine terraces, the descent from one to the other being by broad,
+low steps; the last flight ending on a small pier, to which the pleasure
+and fishing boats were fastened. These terraced walks were finely shaded
+and adorned with shrubs; and on the main one there was a stone sun-dial,
+with a stone seat around it. Van Heemskirk did not think highly of
+Semple's garden; and Semple was sure, "that, in the matter o' flowers
+and fancy clippings, Van Heemskirk had o'er much o' a gude thing." But
+still the rivalry had always been a good-natured one, and, in the
+interchange of bulbs and seeds, productive of much friendly feeling.
+
+The space between the two houses was an enclosed meadow; and this
+afternoon, the grass being warm and dry, and full of wild flowers,
+Katherine followed the narrow foot-path through it, and entered the
+Semple garden by the small side gate. Near this gate was a stone dairy,
+sunk below the level of the ground,--a deliciously cool, clean spot,
+even in the hottest weather. Passing it, she saw that the door was open,
+and Madam Semple was busy among its large, shallow, pewter cream-dishes.
+Lifting her dainty silk skirts, she went down the few steps, and stood
+smiling and nodding in the doorway. Madam was beating some rich curd
+with eggs and currants and spices; and Katherine, with a sympathetic
+smile, asked delightedly,--
+
+"Cheesecakes, madam?"
+
+"Just cheesecakes, dearie."
+
+"Oh, I am glad! Joanna is coming, too, only she had first some flax to
+unplait. Wait for her I could not. Let me fill some of these pretty
+little patty pans."
+
+"I'll do naething o' the kind, Katherine. You'd be spoiling the bonnie
+silk dress you hae put on. Go to the house and sit wi' Mistress Gordon.
+She was asking for you no' an hour ago. And, Katherine, my bonnie
+lassie, dinna gie a thought to one word that black-eyed nephew o' her's
+may say to you. He's here the day and gane to-morrow, and the lasses
+that heed him will get sair hearts to themsel's."
+
+The bright young face shadowed, and a sudden fear came into Madam
+Semple's heart as she watched the girl turn thoughtfully and slowly
+away. The blinds of the house were closed against the afternoon sun; but
+the door stood open, and the wide, dim stairway was before her. All was
+as silent as if she had entered an enchanted castle. And on the upper
+hall the closed doors, and the soft lights falling through stained glass
+upon the dark, rich carpets, made an element of mystery, vague and
+charmful, to which Katherine's sensitive, childlike nature was fully
+responsive.
+
+Slowly she pushed back a heavy mahogany door, and entered a large room,
+whose richly wainscoted walls, heavy friezes, and beautifully painted
+ceiling were but the most obvious points in its general magnificence. On
+a lounge covered with a design done in red and blue tent stitch, an
+elegantly dressed woman was sitting, reading a novel. "The Girl of
+Spirit," "The Fair Maid of the Inn," "The Curious Impertinent," and
+other favourite tales of the day, were lying upon an oval table at her
+side.
+
+"La, child!" she cried, "come here and give me a kiss. So you wear that
+sweet-fancied suit again. You are the most agreeable creature in it;
+though Dick vows upon his sword-hilt that you look a hundred times more
+bewitching in the dress you wore this morning."
+
+"How? This morning, madam? This morning Captain Hyde did not see me at
+all."
+
+"Pray don't blush so, child; though, indeed, it is vastly becoming. I do
+assure you he saw you this morning. He had gone out early to take the
+air, and he had a most transporting piece of good fortune: for he
+bethought himself to walk under the great trees nearly opposite your
+house; and when you came to the door, with your excellent father, he
+noted all, from the ribbon on your head to the buckles on your shoes.
+His talk now is of nothing but your short quilted petticoat, and your
+tight bodice, and beautiful bare arms. Is that the Dutch style, then,
+child? It must be extremely charming."
+
+"If my mother you could see in it! She is beautiful. And we have a
+picture of my grandmother in the true Zealand dress. Like a princess she
+looks, my father says; but, indeed, I have never seen a princess."
+
+"My dear, you must allow me to laugh a little. Will you believe it,
+princesses are sometimes very vulgar creatures? I am sure, however, that
+your grandmother was very genteel and agreeable. I must tell you that I
+have just received my new scarf from London. You shall see it, and give
+me your opinion."
+
+"O madam, you are very kind! What is it like?"
+
+"It is all extravagance in mode and fancy. I believe, my dear, there are
+two hundred yards of edging on it; and it has the most enchanting slope
+to the shoulders. I am wonderfully pleased with it, and hope it will
+prove becoming."
+
+"Indeed, I think all your suits are becoming."
+
+"Faith, child, I think they are. I have always dressed with the most
+perfect intelligence. I follow all the fashions, and they must be
+French. La, here comes Richard. He is going to ask you to take a sail on
+the river; and I shall lend you my new green parasol. I do believe it is
+the only one in the country."
+
+"I came to sit with you, and work with my worsteds. Perhaps my
+mother--might not like me to go on the river with--any one."
+
+"Pray, child, don't be affected. 'My mother--might not like me to go on
+the river with--any one;'" and she mimicked Katherine so cleverly that
+the girl's face burned with shame and annoyance.
+
+But she had no time to defend herself; for, with his cavalry cap in his
+hand, and a low bow, Captain Hyde entered the room; and Katharine's
+heart throbbed in her cheeks, and she trembled, and yet withal dimpled
+into smiles, like clear water in the sunshine. A few minutes afterward
+she was going down the terrace steps with him; and he was looking into
+her face with shining eyes, and whispering the commonest words in such
+an enchanting manner that it seemed to her as if her feet scarcely
+touched the low, white steps, and she was some sort of glorified
+Katherine Van Heemskirk, who never, never, never could be unhappy again.
+
+They did not go on the river. Captain Hyde hated exertion. His splendid
+uniform was too tight to row in. He did not want a third party near, in
+any capacity. The lower steps were shaded by great water beeches, and
+the turf under them was green and warm. There was the scent of lilies
+around, the song of birds above, the ripple of water among pebbles at
+their feet. A sweeter hour, a lovelier maid, man could never hope to
+find; and Captain Hyde was not one to neglect his opportunity.
+
+"Let us stay here, my beloved," he whispered. "I have something sweet to
+tell you. Upon mine honour, I can keep my secret no longer."
+
+The innocent child! Who could blame her for listening to it?--at first
+with a little fear and a little reluctance, but gradually resigning her
+whole heart to the charm of his soft syllables and his fervent manner,
+until she gave him the promise he begged for,--love that was to be for
+him alone, love for him alone among all the sons of men.
+
+What an enchanted afternoon it was! how all too quickly it fled away,
+one golden moment after another! and what a pang it gave her to find at
+the end that there must be lying and deception! For, somehow, she had
+been persuaded to acquiesce in her lover's desire for secrecy. As for
+the lie, he told it with the utmost air of candour.
+
+"Yes, we had a beautiful sail; and how enchanting the banks above here
+are! Aunt, I am at your service to-morrow, if you wish to see them."
+
+"Oh, your servant, Captain, but I am an indifferent sailor; and I trust
+I have too much respect for myself and my new frocks, to crowd them into
+a river cockboat!"
+
+In a few minutes Joanna and the elder came in. He had called for her on
+his way home; for he liked the society of the young and beautiful, and
+there were many hours in which he thought Joanna fairer than her sister.
+Then tea was served in a pretty parlour with Turkish walls and coloured
+windows, which, being open into the garden, framed lovely living
+pictures of blossoming trees. Every one was eating and drinking,
+laughing and talking; so Katherine's unusual silence was unnoticed,
+except by the elder, who indeed saw and heard everything, and who knew
+what he did not see and hear by that kind of prescience to which wise
+and observant years attain. He saw that the cakes Katherine dearly loved
+remained upon her plate untasted, and that she was unusually,
+suspiciously quiet.
+
+After tea he walked down the garden with Colonel Gordon. The lily bed
+was near the river; and he made the gathering of some lilies for
+Katherine an excuse for going close enough to the pier to see how the
+boat lay, and whether the oars had been moved from the exact position in
+which he had placed them. And he found the boat rocking at its moorings,
+tied with his own peculiar knot. It told him everything, and he was
+sincerely troubled at the discovery.
+
+[Illustration: In one of those tall-backed Dutch chairs]
+
+"Love and lying," he mused. "I wonder why they are ever such thick
+friends. As for Dick Hyde, lying is his native tongue; but if Katharine
+Van Heemskirk has been aye one thing above another, it was to tell the
+truth. It ought to come easy to her likewise, for I'll say the same o'
+the hale nation o' Dutchmen. I dinna think Joris would tell a lie to
+save baith life and fortune."
+
+He looked at Katherine almost sternly when he went back to the house;
+though he gave her the lilies, and bid her keep her soul sweet and pure
+as their white bells. She was sitting by Mistress Gordon's side, in one
+of those tall-backed Dutch chairs, whose very blackness and straightness
+threw into high relief her own undulating roundness and mobility, the
+glowing colours of her Indian silk gown, the shining amber against her
+white throat, and the picturesque curl and flow of her fair hair.
+Captain Hyde sat opposite, bending toward her; and his aunt reclined
+upon the couch, and watched them with a singular look of speculation in
+her half-shut eyes.
+
+Joanna was talking to Neil Semple in the recess of a window; but Neil's
+face was white with suppressed anger, and, though he seemed to be
+listening to her, his eyes--full of passion--were fixed upon Hyde.
+Perhaps the young soldier was conscious of it; for he occasionally
+addressed some trivial remark to him, as if to prevent Neil from losing
+sight of the advantages he had over him.
+
+"The vera air o' this room is gunpowdery," thought the elder; "and ane
+or the other will be flinging a spark o' passion into it, and then the
+de'il will be to pay. O'er many women here! O'er many women here! One is
+enough in any house. I'll e'en tak' the lasses hame mysel'; and I'll
+speak to Joris for his daughter,--as good now as any other time."
+
+Then he said in his blandest tones, "Joanna, my dearie, you'll hae to
+tell Neil the rest o' your tale the morn; and, Katherine, put awa' now
+that bit o' busy idleness, and don your hoods and mantles, baith o'
+you. I'm going to tak' you hame, and I dinna want to get my deathe wi'
+the river mist."
+
+"Pray, sir," said Hyde, "consider me at your service. I have occasion to
+go into town at once, and will do your duty to the young ladies with
+infinite pleasure."
+
+"Much obliged, Captain, vera much obliged; but it tak's an auld
+wise-headed, wise-hearted man like mysel' to walk safely atween twa
+bonnie lasses;" then turning to his son, he added, "Neil, my lad, put
+your beaver on, and go and find Bram. You can tell him, as he didna come
+to look after his sisters afore this hour, he needna come at a'."
+
+"Do you know, father, where Bram is likely to be found?"
+
+"Hum-m-m! As if you didna know yoursel'! He will dootless be among that
+crowd o' young wiseacres wha are certain the safety o' the Provinces is
+in their keeping. It's the young who ken a' things, ken mair than
+councils and assemblies, and king and parliament, thegither."
+
+Colonel Gordon laughed. "Never mind, sir," he said, "they let the army
+alone, and the church; so you and I need hardly alarm ourselves"--
+
+"I'm no sure o' that, Colonel. When it comes to the army, it's a mere
+question o' wha can strike the hardest blows; and as to kirk matters,
+I'm thinking men had better meddle wi' the things o' God, which they
+canna change, than wi' those o' the king wi' which they can wark a deal
+o' mischief."
+
+While he was speaking, Neil left the room. The little argument struck
+him as a pretext and a cover, and he was glad to escape from a position
+which he felt to be both painful and humiliating. He was in a measure
+Captain Hyde's host, and subject to traditions regarding the duties of
+that character; any display of anger would be derogatory to him, and yet
+how difficult was restraint! So his father's interference was a welcome
+one; and he was reconciled to his own disappointment, when, looking
+back, he saw the old gentleman slowly taking the road to Van Heemskirk's
+with the pretty girls in their quilted red hoods, one on each side of
+him.
+
+The elder was very polite to his charges; he never once regretted to
+them the loss of his pipe, and chat with Colonel Gordon. But he noticed
+that Katherine was silent and disappointed, and that she lingered in her
+own room after her arrival at home. Her subsequent pretty cheerfulness,
+her delight in her lilies, her confiding claims upon her father's
+love,--nothing in these things deceived him. He saw beneath all the
+fluttering young heart, trembling, and yet happy in the new, sweet
+feeling, never felt before, which had come to it that afternoon.
+
+But he thought that most girls had to have this initiative: it prepared
+the way for a soberer and more lasting affection. In the end, Katherine
+would perceive how imprudent, how impossible, a marriage with Captain
+Hyde must be; and her heart would turn back to Neil, who had been her
+lover from boyhood. Yet he reflected, it would be well to have the
+matter understood, and to give it that "possibility" which is best
+attained on a money basis.
+
+So while he and the Van Heemskirks discussed the matter,--a little
+reluctantly, he thought, on their part,--Katherine talked with Joanna of
+the Gordons. Her heart was so full of her lover, that it was a relief to
+discuss the people and things nearest to him. And her very repression
+excited her. She toyed with her cambric kerchief before the small
+looking-glass, and imitated the fashionable English lady with a piquant
+cleverness that provoked low peals of laughter, and a retrospective
+discussion of the evening, which was merry enough, without being in the
+least ill-natured.
+
+But, oh, in what strange solitudes every separate soul dwells! When
+Katherine kissed her sister, and said simperingly, with the highest
+English accent, "La, child, I protest it has been the most agreeable
+evening," Joanna had not a suspicion of the joy and danger that had come
+to the dear little one at her side. She was laughing softly with her,
+even while the fearful father stood at the closed door, and lifted up
+his tender soul in that pathetic petition, "_Ach, mijn kind! mijn kind!
+mijn liefste kind!_ Almighty God preserve thee from all sin and sorrow!"
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+          "_The proverb holds, that to be wise and love
+          Is hardly granted to the gods above._"
+
+
+"Well, well, to-day goes to its forefathers, like all the rest; and, as
+for what comes after it, every thing is in the love and counsel of the
+Almighty One."
+
+This was Joris Van Heemskirk's last thought ere he fell asleep that
+night, after Elder Semple's cautious disclosure and proposition. In his
+calm, methodical, domestic life, it had been an "eventful day." We say
+the words often and unreflectingly, seldom pausing to consider that such
+days are the results which months, years, perchance centuries, have made
+possible. Thus, a long course of reckless living and reckless gambling,
+and the consequent urgent need of ready money, had first made Captain
+Hyde turn his thoughts to the pretty daughter of the rich Dutch
+merchant.
+
+Madam Semple, in her desire to enhance the importance of the Van
+Heemskirks, had mentioned more than once the handsome sums of ready
+money given to each of Katharine's sisters on their wedding-day; and
+both Colonel Gordon and his wife had thought of this sum so often, as a
+relief to their nephew's embarrassments, that it seemed almost as much
+Hyde's property as if he had been born to inherit it. At first
+Katherine, as its encumbrance, had been discussed very heartlessly,--she
+could be left in New York when his regiment received marching orders, if
+it were thought desirable; or she could be taken to England, and settled
+as mistress of Hyde Manor House, a lonely mansion on the Norfolk fens,
+which was so rarely tenanted by the family that Hyde had never been
+there since his boyhood.
+
+"She is a homespun little thing," laughed the colonel's fashionable
+wife, "and quite unfit to go among people of our condition. But she
+adores you, Dick; and she will be passably happy with a house to manage,
+and a visit from you when you can spare the time."
+
+"Oh, your servant, aunt! Then I am a very indifferent judge; for indeed
+she has much spirit below her gentle manner; and, upon my word, I think
+her as fine a creature as you can find in the best London society. The
+task, I assure you, is not easy. When Katherine is won, then, in faith,
+her father may be in no hurry of approval. And the child is a fair,
+innocent child: I am very uneasy to do her wrong. The ninety-nine
+plagues of an empty purse are to blame for all my ill deeds."
+
+"Upon my word, Dick, nothing can be more commendable than your temper.
+You make vastly proper reflection, sir; but you are in troubled
+waters,--admit it,--and this little Dutch-craft may bring you
+respectably into harbour.
+
+It was in this mood that Katherine and her probable fortune had been
+discussed; and thus she was but one of the events, springing from lives
+anterior to her own, and very different from it. And causes nearly as
+remote had prepared the way for her ready reception of Hyde's homage,
+and the relaxation of domestic discipline which had trusted her so often
+and so readily in his society--causes which had been forgotten, but
+which had left behind them a positive and ever-growing result. When a
+babe, she was remarkably frail and delicate; and this circumstance,
+united to the fact of her being the youngest child, had made the whole
+household very tender to her, and she had been permitted a much larger
+portion of her own way than was usually given to any daughter in a Dutch
+family.
+
+Also, in her father's case, the motives influencing his decision
+stretched backward through many generations. None the less was their
+influence potent to move him. In fact, he forgot entirely to reflect how
+a marriage between his child and Captain Hyde would be regarded at that
+day; his first thoughts had been precisely such thoughts as would have
+occurred to a Van Heemskirk living two hundred years before him. And
+thus, though we hardly remember the fact, it is this awful solidarity of
+the human family which makes the third and fourth generations heirs of
+their forefathers, and brings into every life those critical hours we
+call "eventful days."
+
+Joris, however, made no such reflections. His age was not an age
+inclined to analysis, and he was still less inclined to it from a
+personal standpoint. For he was a man of few, but positive ideas; yet
+these ideas, having once commended themselves to his faith or his
+intelligence, were embraced with all his soul. It was this spirit which
+made him deprecate even religious discussions, so dear to the heart of
+his neighbour.
+
+[Illustration: He heard her calling him to breakfast]
+
+"I like them not, Elder," he would say; "of what use are they, then?
+The Calvinistic faith is the true faith. That is certain. Very well,
+then; what is true does not require to be examined, to see if it be
+true."
+
+Semple's communication regarding Captain Hyde and his daughter had
+aroused in him certain feelings, and led him to certain decisions. He
+went to sleep, satisfied with their propriety and justice. He awoke in
+precisely the same mood. Then he dressed, and went into his garden. It
+was customary for Katherine to join him there; and he frequently turned,
+as he went down the path, to see if she were coming. He watched eagerly
+for the small figure in its short quilted petticoat and buckled shoes,
+and the fair, pink face shaded by the large Zealand hat, with its long
+blue ribbons crossed over the back. But this morning she did not come.
+He walked alone to his lily bed, and stooped a little forlornly to
+admire the tulips and crocus-cups and little purple pansies; but his
+face brightened when he heard her calling him to breakfast, and very
+soon he saw her leaning over the half door, shading her eyes with both
+her hands, the better to watch his approach.
+
+Lysbet was already in her place; so was Joanna, and also Bram; and a
+slim black girl called Dinorah was handing around fricasseed chicken and
+venison steaks, hot fritters and johnny-cake; while the rich Java berry
+filled the room with an aroma of tropical life, and suggestions of the
+spice-breathing coasts of Sunda. Joris and Bram discussed the business
+of the day; Katherine was full of her visit to Semple House the
+preceding evening. Dinorah was no restraint. The slaves Joris owned,
+like those of Abraham, were born or brought up in his own household;
+they held to all the family feelings with a faithful, often an
+unreasonable, tenacity.
+
+And yet, this morning, Joris waited until Lysbet dismissed her handmaid,
+before he said the words he had determined to speak ere he began the
+work of the day. Then he put down his cup with an emphasis which made
+all eyes turn to him, and said,--
+
+"_Katrijntje_, my daughter, call not to-day, nor call not any day, until
+I tell you different, at Madam Semple's. The people who go and come
+there, I like them not. They will be no good to you. Lysbet, what say
+you in this matter?"
+
+"What you say, I say, Joris. The father is to be obeyed. When he will
+not, the children can not."
+
+"Joanna, what say you?"
+
+"I like best of all things to do your pleasure, father."
+
+"And you, Bram?"
+
+"As for me, I think you are very right. I like not those English
+officers,--insolent and proud men, all of them. It would have been a
+great pleasure to me to strike down the one who yesterday spurned with
+his spurred boot our good neighbour Jacob Cohen, for no reason but that
+he was a Jew"--
+
+"Heigho! go softly, Bram. That which burns thee not, cool not."
+
+"As he passed our store door where I stood, he said 'devil,' but he
+meant me."
+
+"Only God knows what men mean. Now, then, little one, thy will is my
+will, is it not?"
+
+She had drawn her chair close to her father's, and taken his big hand
+between her own, and was stroking and petting it as he spoke; and, ere
+she answered, she leaned her head upon his breast.
+
+"Father, I like to see the English lady; and she is teaching me the new
+stitch."
+
+"_Schoone Lammetje_! There are many other things far better for thee to
+learn; for instance, to darn the fine Flemish lace, and to work the
+beautiful 'clocks' on thy stockings, and to make perfect thy Heidelberg
+and thy Confession of Faith. In these things, the best of all good
+teachers is thy mother."
+
+"I can do these things also, father. The lady loves me, and will be
+unhappy not to see me."
+
+"Then, let her come here and see thee. That will be the proper thing.
+Why not? She is not better than thou art. Once thy mother has called on
+her; thou and Joanna, a few times too often. Now, then, let her call on
+thee. Always honour thyself, as well as others. That is the Dutch way;
+that is the right way. Mind what I tell thee."
+
+His voice had gradually grown sterner; and he gently withdrew his hand
+from her clasp, and rose as a man in a hurry, and pressed with affairs:
+"Come, Bram, there is need now of some haste. The 'Sea Hound' has her
+cargo, and should sail at the noon-tide; and, as for the 'Crowned
+Bears,' thou knowest there is much to be said and done. I hear she left
+most of her cargo at Perth Amboy. Well, well, I have told Jerome Brakel
+what I think of that. It is his own affair."
+
+Thus talking, he left the room; and Lysbet instantly began to order the
+wants of the house with the same air of settled preoccupation. "Joanna,"
+she said, "the linen web in the loom, go and see how it is getting on;
+and the fine napkins must be sent to the lawn for the bleaching, and
+to-day the chambers must be aired and swept. The best parlour Katherine
+will attend to."
+
+Katherine still sat at the table; her eyes were cast down, and she was
+arranging--without a consciousness of doing so--her bread-crumbs upon
+her Delft plate. The directions roused her from her revery, and she
+comprehended in a moment how decisive her father's orders were intended
+to be. Yet in this matter she was so deeply interested that she
+instinctively made an appeal against them.
+
+"Mother, my mother, shall I not go once more to see Madam Gordon? So
+kind she has been to me! She will say I am ungrateful, that I am rude,
+and know not good manners. And I left there the cushion I am making, and
+the worsteds. I may go at once, and bring them home? Yes, mother, I may
+go at once. A young girl does not like to be thought ungrateful and
+rude."
+
+"More than that, Katherine; a young girl should not like to disobey a
+good father. You make me feel astonished and sorry. Here is the key of
+the best parlour; go now, and wash carefully the fine china-ware. As to
+the rose-leaves in the big jars, you must not let a drop of water touch
+them."
+
+"My cushion and my worsteds, mother!"
+
+"Well, then, I will send Dinorah for them with a civil message. That
+will be right."
+
+So Lysbet turned and left the room. She did not notice the rebellious
+look on her daughter's face, the lowering brows, the resentment in the
+glance that followed her, the lips firmly set to the mental purpose. "To
+see her lover at all risks"--that was the purpose; but how best to
+accomplish it, was not clear to her. The ways of the household were so
+orderly, so many things brought the family together during the day,
+Lysbet and Joanna kept such a loving watch over her, the road between
+their own house and the Semples' was so straight and unscreened, and she
+was, beside, such a novice in deception,--all these circumstances
+flashing at once across her mind made her, for a moment or two, almost
+despair.
+
+But she lifted the key given her and went to the parlour. It was a
+large, low room, with wainscoted walls, and a big tiled fireplace nearly
+filling one end of it. The blinds were closed, but there was enough
+light to reveal its quaint and almost foreign character. Great jars with
+dragons at the handles stood in the recesses made by large oak cabinets,
+black with age, and elaborately carved with a marvellous nicety and
+skill. The oval tables were full of curious bits of china, dainty
+Oriental wicker work, exquisite shells on lacquered trays, wonderfully
+wrought workboxes and fans and amulets. The odours of calamus and myrrh
+and camphor from strange continents mingled with the faint perfume of
+the dried rose leaves and the scent-bags of English lavender. Many of
+these rare and beautiful things were the spoils brought from India and
+Java by the sea-going Van Heemskirks of past generations. Others had
+come at long intervals as gifts from the captains of ships with whom the
+house did business. Katherine had often seen such visitors--men with
+long hair and fierce looks, and the pallor of hot, moist lands below the
+tan of wind and sunshine. It had always been her delight to dust and
+care for these various treasures; and the room itself, with its
+suggestive aromas, was her favourite hiding-place. Here she had made her
+own fairy tales, and built the enchanted castles which the less
+fortunate children of this day have clever writers build for them.
+
+And at length the prince of her imagination had come! As she moved about
+among the strange carven toys and beautiful ornaments, she could think
+only of him,--of his stately manner and dark, handsome face. Simple,
+even rustic, she might be; but she understood that he had treated her
+with as much deference and homage as if she had been a princess. She
+recalled every word he said to her as they sat under the water beeches.
+More vividly still she recalled the tender light in his eyes, the
+lingering clasp of his hand, his low, persuasive voice, and that
+nameless charm of fashion and culture which perhaps impressed her more
+than any other thing.
+
+Among the articles she had to dust was a square Indian box with drawers.
+It had always been called "the writing-box," and it was partly filled
+with paper and other materials for letter-writing. She stood before the
+open lid thoughtfully, and a sudden overwhelming desire to send some
+message of apology to Mrs. Gordon came into her heart. She could write
+pretty well, and she had seen her mother and Joanna fold and seal
+letters; and, although she was totally inexperienced in the matter, she
+determined to make the effort.
+
+[Illustration: The quill pens must be mended]
+
+There was nothing in the materials then to help her. The letter paper
+was coarse; envelopes were unknown. She would have to bring a candle
+into the room in order to seal it; and a candle could only be lit by
+striking a spark from the flint upon the tinder, and then igniting a
+brimstone match from it,--unless she lit it at the kindled fire, which
+would subject her to questions and remonstrances. Also, the quill pens
+must be mended, and the ink renewed. But all these difficulties were
+overcome, one by one; and the following note was intrusted to the care
+of Diedrich Becker, the old man who worked in the garden and milked the
+cows:
+
+To MISTRESS COLONEL GORDON: HONOURED MADAM: My father forbids that I
+come to see you. He thinks you should upon my mother call. That you will
+judge me to be rude and ungrateful I fear very much. But that is not
+true. I am unhappy, indeed. I think all the day of you.
+
+                                   Your obedient servant,
+                                                KATHERINE VAN HEEMSKIRK.
+
+"'The poor child," said Mrs. Gordon, when she had read the few anxious
+sentences. "Look here, Dick;" and Dick, who was beating a tattoo upon
+the window-pane, turned listlessly and asked, "Pray, madam, what is it?"
+
+"Of all earthly things, a letter from that poor child, Katherine Van
+Heemskirk. She has more wit than I expected. So her father won't let her
+come to me. Why, then, upon my word, I will go to her."
+
+Captain Hyde was interested at once. He took the letter his aunt
+offered, and read it with a feeling of love and pity and resentment.
+"You will go to-morrow?" he asked; "and would it be beyond good breeding
+for me to accompany you?"
+
+"Indeed, nephew, I think it would. But I will give your service, and say
+everything that is agreeable. Be patient; to-morrow morning I will call
+upon our fair neighbour."
+
+The next morning was damp, for there had been heavy rain during the
+night; but Captain Hyde would not let his aunt forget or forego her
+promise. She had determined to make an unceremonious visit; and early in
+the day she put on her bonnet and pelisse, and walked over to the Van
+Heemskirks. A negro woman was polishing the brass ornaments of the door,
+and over its spotless threshold she passed without question or delay.
+
+A few minutes she waited alone in the best parlour, charmed with its far
+off air and Eastern scents, and then Madam Van Heemskirk welcomed her.
+In her heart she was pleased at the visit. She thought privately that
+her Joris had been a little too strict. She did not really see why her
+beautiful daughters should not have the society and admiration of the
+very best people in the Province. And Mrs. Gordon's praise of Katharine,
+and her declaration that "she was inconsolable without the dear
+creature's society," seemed to the fond mother the most proper and
+natural of feelings.
+
+"Do but let me see her an hour, madam," she said. "You know my sincere
+admiration. Is not that her voice? I vow, she sings to perfection And
+what a singular melody! Please to set wide the door, madam."
+
+"It is the brave song of the brave men of Zealand, when from the walls
+of Leyden they drove away the Spaniards;" and madam stood in the open
+door, and called to her daughter, "Well, then, Katharine, begin again
+the song of 'The Beggars of the Sea.'"
+
+    "We are the Beggars of the Sea,--
+    Strong, gray Beggars from Zealand we;
+    We are fighting for liberty:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "Hardy sons of old Zierikzee,
+    Fed on the breath of the wild North Sea.
+    Beggars are kings if free they be:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "'_True to the Wallet_,' whatever betide;
+    '_Long live the Gueux_,'--the sea will provide
+    Graves for the enemy, deep and wide:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "Beggars, but not from the Spaniard's hand;
+    Beggars, 'under the Cross' we stand;
+    Beggars, for love of the fatherland:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!
+
+    "Now, if the Spaniard comes our way,
+    What shall we give him, Beggars gray?
+    Give him a moment to kneel and pray:
+      Heave ho! rip the brown sails free!"
+
+At the second verse, Mrs. Gordon rose and said, "Indeed, madam, I find
+my good-breeding no match against such singing. And the tune is
+wonderful; it has the ring of trumpets, and the roar of the waves, in
+it. Pray let us go at once to your daughters."
+
+"At work are they; but, if you mind not that, you are welcome indeed."
+Then she led the way to the large living, or dining, room, where
+Katherine stood at the table cleaning the silver flagons and cups and
+plates that adorned the great oak sideboard.
+
+Joanna, who was darning some fine linen, rose and made her respects with
+perfect composure. She had very little liking, either for Mrs. Gordon or
+her nephew; and many of their ways appeared to her utterly foolish, and
+not devoid of sin. But Katherine trembled and blushed with pleasure and
+excitement, and Mrs. Gordon watched her with a certain kind of curious
+delight. Her hair was combed backward, plaited, and tied with a ribbon;
+her arms bare to the shoulders, her black bodice and crimson petticoat
+neatly shielded with a linen apron: and poised in one hand she held a
+beautiful silver flagon covered with raised figures, which with patient
+labour she had brought into shining relief.
+
+"Oh," cried the visitor, "that is indeed a piece of plate worth looking
+at! Surely, child, it has a history,--a romance perhaps. La, there are
+words also upon it! Pray, madam, be so obliging as to read the
+inscription;" and madam, blushing with pride and pleasure, read it
+aloud,--
+
+                    "'Hoog van Moed,
+                    Klein van Goed,
+                    Een zwaard in de hand:
+                    Is 't wapen van Gelderland.'"
+
+"Dutch, I vow! Surely, madam, it is very sonorous and emphatic; vastly
+different, I do assure you, from the vowelled idioms of Italy and Spain.
+Pray, madam, be so civil as to translate the words for me."
+
+                    "'Of spirit great,
+                    Of small estate,
+                    A sword in the hand:
+                    Such are the arms of Guelderland.'
+
+[Illustration: A Guelderland flagon]
+
+"You must know," continued Madam Van Heemskirk, "that my husband's
+father had a brother, who, in a great famine in Guelderland, filled one
+hundred flat boats with wheat of Zealand,--in all the world it is the
+finest wheat, that is the truth,--and help he sent to those who were
+ready to perish. And when came better days, then, because their hearts
+were good, they gave to their preserver this flagon. Joris Van
+Heemskirk, my husband, sets on it great store, that is so."
+
+Conversation in this channel was easily maintained. Madame Van Heemskirk
+knew the pedigree or the history of every tray or cup, and in
+reminiscence and story an hour passed away very pleasantly indeed.
+Joanna did not linger to listen. The visitor did not touch her liking or
+her interest; and besides, as every one knows, the work of a house must
+go on, no matter what guest opens the door. But Katherine longed and
+watched and feared. Surely her friend would not go away without some
+private token or message for her. She turned sick at heart when she rose
+as if to depart. But Mrs. Gordon proved herself equal to the emergency;
+for, after bidding madam an effusive good-by, she turned suddenly and
+said, "Pray allow your daughter to show me the many ornaments in your
+parlour. The glimpse I had has made me very impatient to see them more
+particularly."
+
+The request was one entirely in sympathy with the mood and the previous
+conversation, and madam was pleased to gratify it; also pleased, that,
+having fully satisfied the claims of social life, she could with
+courtesy leave her visitor's further entertainment with Katherine, and
+return to her regular domestic cares. To her the visit had appeared to
+be one of such general interest, that she never suspected any motive
+beneath or beyond the friendliness it implied. Yet the moment the
+parlour-door had been shut, Mrs. Gordon lifted Katharine's face between
+her palms, and said,--
+
+"Faith, child, I am almost run off my head with all the fine things I
+have listened to for your sake. Do you know _who_ sent me here?"
+
+"I think, madam, Captain Hyde."
+
+"Psha! Why don't you blush, and stammer, and lie about it? 'I think,
+madam, Captain Hyde,'" mimicking Katherine's slight Dutch accent. "'Tis
+to be seen, miss, that you understand a thing or two. Now, Captain Hyde
+wishes to see you; when can you oblige him so much?"
+
+"I know not. To come to Madam Semple's is forbidden me by my father."
+
+"It is on my account. I protest your father is very uncivil."
+
+"Madam, no; but it is the officers; many come and go, and he thinks it
+is not good for me to meet them."
+
+"Oh, indeed, miss, it is very hard on Captain Hyde, who is more in love
+than is reasonable Has your father forbidden you to walk down your
+garden to the river-bank?"
+
+"No, madam."
+
+"Then, if Captain Hyde pass about two o'clock, he might see you there?"
+
+"At two I am busy with Joanna."
+
+"La, child! At three then?"
+
+"Three?"
+
+The word was a question more than an assent; but Mrs. Gordon assumed the
+assent, and did not allow Katharine to contradict it. "And I promised to
+bring him a token from you,--he was exceedingly anxious about that
+matter; give me the ribbon from your hair."
+
+"Only last week Joanna bought it for me. She would surely ask me, 'Where
+is your new ribbon?'"
+
+"Tell her that you lost it."
+
+"How could I say that? It would not be true."
+
+The girl's face was so sincere, that Mrs. Gordon found herself unable to
+ridicule the position. "My dear," she answered, "you are a miracle. But,
+among all these pretty things, is there nothing you can send?"
+
+Katherine looked thoughtfully around. There was a small Chinese cabinet
+on a table: she went to it, and took from a drawer a bow of orange
+ribbon. Holding it doubtfully in her hand, she said, "My St. Nicholas
+ribbon."
+
+"La, miss, I thought you were a Calvinist! What are you talking of the
+saints for?"
+
+"St. Nicholas is our saint, our own saint; and on his day we wear
+orange. Yes, even my father then, on his silk cap, puts an orange bow.
+Orange is the Dutch colour, you know, madam."
+
+"Indeed, child, I do _not_ know; but, if so, then it is the best colour
+to send to your true love."
+
+"For the Dutch, orange always. On the great days of the kirk, my father
+puts blue with it. Blue is the colour of the Dutch Calvinists."
+
+"Make me thankful to learn so much. Then when Councillor Van Heemskirk
+wears his blue and orange, he says to the world, 'I am a Dutchman and a
+Calvinist'?"
+
+"That is the truth. For the _Vaderland_ the _Moeder-Kerk_ he wears their
+colours. The English, too, they will have their own colour!"
+
+"La, my dear, England claims every colour! But, indeed, even an English
+officer may now wear an orange favour; for I remember well when our
+Princess Anne married the young Prince of Orange. Oh, I assure you the
+House of Nassau is close kin to the House of Hanover! And when English
+princesses marry Dutch princes, then surely English officers may marry
+Dutch maidens. Your bow of orange ribbon is a very proper love-knot."
+
+"Indeed, madam, I never"--
+
+[Illustration: "A very proper love-knot"]
+
+"There, there! I can really wait no longer. _Some one_ is already in a
+fever of impatience. 'Tis a quaintly pretty room; I am happy to have seen
+its curious treasures. Good-by again, child; my service once more to your
+mother and sister;" and so, with many compliments, she passed chatting and
+laughing out of the house.
+
+Katherine closed the best parlour, and lingered a moment in the act. She
+felt that she had permitted Mrs. Gordon to make an appointment for her
+lover, and a guilty sense of disobedience made bitter the joy of
+expectation. For absolute truthfulness is the foundation of the Dutch
+character; and an act of deception was not only a sin according to
+Katherine's nature, but one in direct antagonism to it. As she turned
+away from the closed parlour, she felt quite inclined to confide
+everything to her sister Joanna; but Joanna, who had to finish the
+cleaning of the silver, was not in that kind of a temper which invites
+confidence; and indeed, Katherine, looking into her calm, preoccupied
+face, felt her manner to be a reproof and a restraint.
+
+So she kept her own counsel, and doubted and debated the matter in her
+heart until the hands of the great clock were rising quickly to the hour
+of fate. Then she laid down her fine sewing, and said, "Mother, I want
+to walk in the garden. When I come back my task I will finish."
+
+"That is well. Joanna, too, has let her work fall down to her lap. Go,
+both of you, and get the fine air from the river."
+
+This was not what Katherine wished; but nothing but assent was possible,
+and the girls strolled slowly down the box-bordered walks together.
+Madam Van Heemskirk watched them from the window for a few minutes. A
+smile of love and pleasure was on her fine, placid face; but she said
+with a sigh, as she turned away,--
+
+"Well, well, if it is the will of God they should not rise in the world,
+one must be content. To the spider the web is as large as to the whale
+the whole wide sea; that is the truth."
+
+Joanna was silent; she was thinking of her own love-affairs; but
+Katherine, doubtful of herself, thought also that her sister suspected
+her. When they reached the river-bank, Joanna perceived that the lilacs
+were in bloom, and at their root the beautiful auriculas; and she
+stooped low to inhale their strange, nameless, earthy perfume. At that
+moment a boat rowed by with two English soldiers, stopped just below
+them, and lay rocking on her oars. Then an officer in the stern rose and
+looked towards Katherine, who stood in the full sunlight with her large
+hat in her hand. Before she could make any sign of recognition, Joanna
+raised herself from the auriculas and stood beside her sister; yet in
+the slight interval Katherine had seen Captain Hyde fling back from his
+left shoulder his cloak, in order to display the bow of orange ribbon on
+his breast.
+
+The presence of Joanna baffled and annoyed him; but he raised his beaver
+with a gallant grace, and Joanna dropped a courtesy, and then, taking
+Katherine's hand, turned toward home with her, saying, "That is the boat
+of Captain Hyde. What comes he this way for?"
+
+"The river way is free to all, Joanna." And Joanna looked sharply at
+her sister and remained silent.
+
+But Katherine was merry as a bird. She chattered of this and of that,
+and sang snatches of songs, old and new. And all the time her heart beat
+out its own glad refrain, "My bow of orange ribbon, my bow of orange
+ribbon!" Her needle went to her thoughts, and her thoughts went to
+melody; for, as she worked, she sang,--
+
+                    "Will you have a pink knot?
+                      Is it blue you prize?
+                    One is like a fresh rose,
+                      One is like your eyes.
+                    No, the maid of Holland,
+                      For her own true love,
+                    Ties the splendid orange,
+                      Orange still above!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                      Orange still above.
+
+                    "Will you have the white knot?
+                      No, it is too cold.
+                    Give me splendid orange,
+                      Tint of flame and gold;
+                    Rich and glowing orange,
+                      For the heart I love;
+                    _Under_, white and pink and blue;
+                      Orange still _above_!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                      Orange still above!"
+
+"How merry you sing, _mijn Katrijntje_! Like a little bird you sing.
+What, then, is it?"
+
+"A pretty song made by the schoolmaster, _mijn moeder. 'Oranje Boven'_
+the name is."
+
+"That is a good name. Your father I will remind to have it painted over
+the door of the summer-house."
+
+"There already are two mottoes painted,--Peaceful is my garden,' and
+'Contentment is my lot.'"
+
+"Well, then, there is always room for two more good words, is there
+not?" And Katherine gayly sung her answer,--
+
+                    "Tie the splendid orange,
+                    Orange still above!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                    Orange still above."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+                "_The trifles of our daily lives,
+                The common things scarce worth recall,
+                Whereof no visible trace survives,--
+                These are the mainsprings, after all._"
+
+
+"Honoured gentleman, when will you pay me my money?"
+
+The speaker was an old man, dressed in a black coat buttoned to the
+ankles, and a cap of silk and fur, from beneath which fell a fringe of
+gray hair. His long beard was also gray, and he leaned upon an ivory
+staff carved with many strange signs. The inquiry was addressed to
+Captain Hyde. He paid no attention whatever to it, but, gayly humming a
+stave of "Marlbrook," watched the crush of wagons and pedestrians, in
+order to find a suitable moment to cross the narrow street.
+
+"Honoured gentleman, when will you pay me my moneys?"
+
+The second inquiry elicited still less attention for, just as it was
+made, Neil Semple came out of the City Hall, and his appearance gave the
+captain a good excuse for ignoring the unpleasant speaker.
+
+"Faith, Mr. Semple," he cried, "you came in an excellent time. I am for
+Fraunce's Tavern, and a chop and a bottle of Madeira. I shall be vastly
+glad of your company."
+
+The grave young lawyer, with his hands full of troublesome-looking
+papers, had little of the air of a boon companion; and, indeed, the
+invitation was at once courteously declined.
+
+"I have a case on in the Admiralty Court, Captain," he answered, "and so
+my time is not my own. It belongs, I may say, to the man who has paid me
+good money for it."
+
+"Lawyer Semple?"
+
+"Mr. Cohen, at your service, sir."
+
+"Captain Hyde owes me one hundred guineas, with the interests, since the
+fifteenth day of last December. He will not hear me when I say to him,
+'Pay me my moneys;' perhaps he will listen, if you speak for me."
+
+"If you are asking my advice in the way of business, you know my
+office-door, Cohen; if in the way of friendship, I may as well say at
+once, that I never name friendship and money in the same breath.
+Good-day, gentlemen. I am in something of a hurry, as you may
+understand." Cohen bowed low in response to the civil greeting; Captain
+Hyde stared indignantly at the man who had presumed to couple one of
+his Majesty's officers with a money-lender and a Jew.
+
+"I do not wish to make you more expenses, Captain;" and Cohen, following
+the impulse of his anxiety, laid his hand upon his debtor's arm. Hyde
+turned in a rage, and flung off the touch with a passionate oath. Then
+the Jew left him. There was neither anger nor impatience visible in his
+face or movements. He cast a glance up at the City Hall,--an involuntary
+appeal, perhaps, to the justice supposed to inhabit its chambers,--and
+then he walked slowly toward his store and home.
+
+[Illustration: Hyde flung off the touch with a passionate oath]
+
+Both were under one roof,--a two-storied building in the lower part of
+Pearl Street, dingy and unattractive in outward appearance, but crowded
+in its interior with articles of beauty and worth,--Flemish paintings
+and rich metal work, Venetian glasses and velvets, Spanish and Moorish
+leather goods, silverware, watches, jewellery, etc. The window of the
+large room in which all was stored was dim with cobwebs, and there was
+no arrangement of the treasures. They were laid in the drawers of the
+great Dutch presses and in cabinets, or packed in boxes, or hung against
+the walls.
+
+At the back of the store, there was a small sitting-room, and behind it
+a kitchen, built in a yard which was carefully boarded up. A narrow
+stairway near the front of the store led to the apartments above. They
+were three in number. One was a kind of lumber-room; a second, Cohen's
+sleeping-room; and the largest, at the back of the house, belonged to
+the Jew's grandchild Miriam. There was one servant in the family, an old
+woman who had come to America with Jacob. She spoke little English, and
+she lived in complete seclusion in her kitchen and yard. As far as Jacob
+Cohen was concerned, he preserved an Oriental reticence about the women
+of his household; he never spoke of them, and he was never seen in their
+company. It was seldom they went abroad; when they did so, it was early
+in the morning, and usually to the small synagogue in Mill Street.
+
+He soon recovered the calmness which had been lost during his
+unsatisfactory interview with Captain Hyde. "A wise man frets not
+himself for the folly of a fool;" and, having come to this decision, he
+entered his house with the invocation for its peace and prosperity on
+his lips. A party of three gentlemen were examining his stock: they were
+Governor Clinton and his friends Colden and Belcher.
+
+"Cohen," said Clinton, "you have many fine things here; in particular,
+this Dutch cabinet, with heavy brass mountings. Send it to my residence.
+And that Venetian mirror with the silver frame will match the silver
+sconces you sold me at the New Year. I do not pretend to be a judge, but
+these things are surely extremely handsome. Pray, sir, let us see the
+Moorish leather that William Walton has reserved for his new house. I
+hear you are to have the ordering of the carpets and tapestries. You
+will make money, Jacob Cohen."
+
+"Your Excellency knows best. I shall make my just profits,--no more, no
+more."
+
+"Yes, yes; you have many ways to make profits, I hear. All do well,
+too."
+
+"When God pleases, it rains with every wind, your Excellency."
+
+Then there was a little stir in the street,--that peculiar sense of
+something more than usual, which can make itself felt in the busiest
+thoroughfare,--and Golden went to the door and looked out. Joris Van
+Heemskirk was just passing, and his walk was something quicker than
+usual.
+
+"Good-day to you, Councillor. Pray, sir, what is to do at the wharf? I
+perceive a great bustle comes thence."
+
+"At your service, Councillor Golden. At the wharf there is good news.
+The 'Great Christopher' has come to anchor,--Captain Batavius de Vries.
+So a good-morrow, sir;" and Joris lifted his beaver, and proceeded on
+his way to Murray's Wharf.
+
+[Illustration: Batavius stood at the mainmast]
+
+Bram was already on board. His hands were clasped across the big right
+shoulder of Batavius, who stood at the mainmast, giving orders about his
+cargo. He was a large man, with the indisputable air of a sailor from
+strange seas, familiar with the idea of solitude, and used to absolute
+authority. He loved Bram after his own fashion, but his vocabulary of
+affectionate words was not a large one. Bram, however, understood him;
+he had been quite satisfied with his short and undemonstrative
+greeting,--
+
+"Thee, Bram? Good! How goes it?"
+
+The advent of Joris added a little to the enthusiasm of the meeting.
+Joris thoroughly liked Batavius, and their hands slipped into each
+other's with a mighty grasp almost spontaneously. After some necessary
+delay, the three men left the ship together. There was quite a crowd on
+the wharf. Some were attracted by curiosity; others, by the hope of a
+good job on the cargo; others, again, not averse to a little private
+bargaining for any curious or valuable goods the captain of the "Great
+Christopher" had for sale. Cohen was among the latter; but he had too
+much intelligence to interfere with a family party, especially as he
+heard Joris say to the crowd with a polite authority, "Make way,
+friends, make way. When a man is off a three-years' cruise, for a trifle
+he should not be stopped."
+
+Joanna had had a message from her lover, and she was watching for his
+arrival. There was no secrecy in her love-affairs, and it was amid the
+joy and smiles of the whole household that she met her affianced
+husband. They were one of those loving, sensible couples, for whom it is
+natural to predict a placid and happy life; and the first words of
+Batavius seemed to assure it.
+
+"My affairs have gone well, Joanna, as they generally do; and now I
+shall build the house, and we shall be married."
+
+Joanna laughed. "I shall just say a word or two, also, about that,
+Batavius."
+
+"Come, come, the word or two was said so long ago. Have you got the
+pretty Chinese _kas_ I sent from the ship? and the Javanese _cabaya_,
+and the sweetmeats, and the golden pins?"
+
+"All of them I have got. Much money, Batavius, they must have cost."
+
+"Well, well, then! There is enough left. A man does not go to the
+African coast for nothing. _Katrijntje, mijn meisje_, what's the matter
+now, that you never come once?"
+
+Katherine was standing at the open window, apparently watching the
+honey-bees among the locust blooms, but really perceiving something far
+beyond them,--a boat on the river at the end of the garden. She could
+not have told how she knew that it was there; but she saw it, saw it
+through the intervening space, barred and shaded by many trees. She felt
+the slow drift of the resting oars, and the fascination of an eager,
+handsome face lifted to the lilac-bushes which hedged the bank. So the
+question of Batavius touched very lightly her physical consciousness. A
+far sweeter, a far more peremptory voice called her; but she answered,--
+
+"There is nothing the matter, Batavius. I am well, I am happy. And now I
+will go into the garden to make me a fine nosegay."
+
+"Three times this week, into the garden you have gone to get a nosegay;
+and then all about it you forget. It will be better to listen to
+Batavius, I think. He will tell us of the strange countries where he has
+been, and of the strange men and women."
+
+"For you, Joanna, that will be pleasant; but"--
+
+"For you also. To listen to Batavius is to learn something."
+
+"Well, that is the truth. But to me all this talk is not very
+interesting. I will go into the garden;" and she walked slowly out of
+the door, and stopped or stooped at every flower-bed, while Joanna
+watched her.
+
+"The child is now a woman. It will be a lover next, Joanna."
+
+"There is a lover already; but to anything he says, Katrijntje listens
+not. It is at her father's knee she sits, not at the lover's."
+
+"It will be Rem Verplanck? And what will come of it?"
+
+"No, it is Neil Semple. To-night you will see. He comes in and talks of
+the Assembly and the governor, and of many things of great moment. But
+it is Katherine for all that. A girl has not been in love four years for
+nothing. I can see, too, that my father looks sad, and my mother says
+neither yes nor no in the matter."
+
+"The Semples are good business managers. They are also rich, and they
+approve of good morals and the true religion. Be content, Joanna. Many
+roads lead to happiness beside the road we take. Now, let us talk of our
+own affairs."
+
+It was at this moment that Katherine turned to observe if she were
+watched. No: Batavius and Joanna had gone away from the window, and for
+a little while she would not be missed. She ran rapidly to the end of
+the garden, and, parting the lilac-bushes, stood flushed and panting on
+the river-bank. There was a stir of oars below her. It was precisely as
+she had known it would be. Captain Hyde's pretty craft shot into sight,
+and a few strokes put it at the landing-stair. In a moment he was at her
+side. He took her in his arms; and, in spite of the small hands covering
+her blushing face, he kissed her with passionate affection.
+
+[Illustration: He took her in his arms]
+
+"My darling, my charmer," he said, "how you have tortured me! By my
+soul, I have been almost distracted. Pray, now let me see thy lovely
+face." He lifted it in his hands and kissed it again,--kissed the rosy
+cheeks, and white dropped eyelids, and red smiling mouth; vowed with
+every kiss that she was the most adorable of women, and protested, "on
+his honour as a soldier," that he would make her his wife, or die a
+bachelor for her sake.
+
+And who can blame a young girl if she listens and believes, when
+listening and believing mean to her perfect happiness? Not women who
+have ever stood, trembling with love and joy, close to the dear one's
+heart. If they be gray-haired, and on the very shoal of life, they must
+remember still those moments of delight,--the little lane, the fire-lit
+room, the drifting boat, that is linked with them. If they be young and
+lovely, and have but to say, "It was yesterday," or, "It was last week,"
+still better they will understand the temptation that was too great for
+Katherine to overcome.
+
+And, as yet, nothing definite had been said to her about Neil Semple,
+and the arrangement made for her future. Joris had intended every day to
+tell her, and every day his heart had failed him. He felt as if the
+entire acceptance of the position would be giving his little daughter
+away. As long as she was not formally betrothed, she was all his own;
+and Neil could not use that objectionable word "my" in regard to her.
+Lysbet was still more averse to a decisive step. She had had "dreams"
+and "presentiments" of unusual honour for Katherine, which she kept with
+a superstitious reverence in her memory; and the girl's great beauty and
+winning manners had fed this latent expectancy. But to see her the wife
+of Neil Semple did not seem to be any realization of her ambitious
+hopes. She had known Neil all his life; and she could not help feeling,
+that, if Katherine's fortune lay with him, her loving dreams were all
+illusions and doomed to disappointment.
+
+Besides, with a natural contradiction, she was a little angry at Neil's
+behaviour. He had been coming to their house constantly for a month at
+least; every opportunity of speaking to Katherine on his own behalf had
+been given him, and he had not spoken. He was too indifferent, or he was
+too confident; and either feeling she resented. But she judged Neil
+wrongly. He was an exceedingly cautious young man; and he _felt_ what
+the mother could not perceive,--a certain atmosphere about the charming
+girl which was a continual repression to him. In the end, he determined
+to win her, win her entirely, heart and hand; therefore he did not wish
+to embarrass his subsequent wooing by having to surmount at the outset
+the barrier of a premature "no." And, as yet, his jealousy of Captain
+Hyde was superficial and intermitting; it had not entered his mind that
+an English officer could possibly be an actual rival to him. They were
+all of them notoriously light of love, and the Colonial beauties treated
+their homage with as light a belief; only it angered and pained him that
+Katherine should suffer herself to be made the pastime of Hyde's idle
+hours.
+
+On the night of De Vries' return, there was a great gathering at Van
+Heemskirk's house. No formal invitations were given, but all the friends
+of the family understood that it would be so. Joris kept on his coat and
+ruffles and fine cravat, Batavius wore his blue broadcloth and gilt
+buttons, and Lysbet and her daughters were in their kirk dresses of silk
+and camblet. It was an exquisite summer evening, and the windows
+looking into the garden were all open; so also was the door; and long
+before sunset the stoop was full of neighbourly men, smoking with Joris
+and Batavius, and discussing Colonial and commercial affairs.
+
+In the living-room and the best parlour their wives were
+gathered,--women with finely rounded forms, very handsomely clothed, and
+all busily employed in the discussion of subjects of the greatest
+interest to them. For Joanna's marriage was now to be freely talked
+over,--the house Batavius was going to build described, the linen and
+clothing she had prepared examined, and the numerous and rich presents
+her lover had brought her wondered over, and commented upon.
+
+Conspicuous in the happy chattering company, Lysbet Van Heemskirk
+bustled about, in the very whitest and stiffest of lace caps; making a
+suggestion, giving an opinion, scolding a careless servant, putting out
+upon the sideboard Hollands, Geneva, and other strong waters, and
+ordering in from the kitchen hot chocolate and cakes of all kinds for
+the women of the company. Very soon after sundown, Elder Semple and
+madam his wife arrived; and the elder, as usual, made a decided stir
+among the group which he joined.
+
+"No, no, Councillor," he said, in answer to the invitation of Joris to
+come outside. "No, no, I'll not risk my health, maybe my vera life, oot
+on the stoop after sunset. 'Warm,' do you say? Vera warm, and all the
+waur for being warm. My medical man thinks I hae a tendency to fever,
+and there's four-fourths o' fever in every inch o' river mist that a
+man breathes these warm nights."
+
+"Well, then, neighbours, we'll go inside," said Joris. "Clean pipes, and
+a snowball, or a glass of Holland, will not, I think, be amiss."
+
+The movement was made among some jokes and laughter; and they gathered
+near the hearthstone, where, in front of the unlit hickory logs, stood a
+tall blue jar filled with feathery branches of fennel and asparagus.
+But, as the jar of Virginia was passed round, Lysbet looked at Dinorah,
+and Dinorah went to the door and called, "Baltus;" and in a minute or
+two a little black boy entered with some hot coals on a brass
+chafing-dish, and the fire was as solemnly and silently passed round as
+if it were some occult religious ceremony.
+
+The conversation interrupted by Semples entrance was not resumed.
+
+[Illustration: A little black boy entered]
+
+It had been one dealing out unsparing and scornful disapproval of
+Governor Clinton's financial methods, and Clinton was known to be a
+personal friend of Semple's. But the elder would perhaps hardly have
+appreciated the consideration, if he had divined it; for he dearly loved
+an argument, and had no objections to fight for his own side
+single-handed. In fact, it was so natural for him to be "in opposition,"
+that he could not bear to join the general congratulation to De Vries on
+his fortunate voyage.
+
+"You were lang awa', Captain," was his opening speech. "It would tak' a
+deal o' gude fortune to mak' it worth your while to knock around the
+high seas for three years or mair."
+
+"Well, look now, Elder, I didn't come home with empty hands. I have
+always been apt to get into the place where gold and good bargains were
+going."
+
+"Hum-m-m! You sailed for Rotterdam, I think?"
+
+"That is true; from Rotterdam I went to Batavia, and then to the coast
+of Africa. The African cargo took me to the West Indies. From Kingston
+it was easy to St. Thomas and Surinam for cotton, and then to Curacoa
+for dyeing-woods and spices. The 'Great Christopher' took luck with her.
+Every cargo was a good cargo."
+
+"I'll no be certain o' that, Captain. I would hae some scruples mysel'
+anent buying and selling men and women o' any colour. We hae no
+quotations from the other world, and it may be the Almighty holds his
+black men at as high a figure as his white men. I'm just speculating,
+you ken. I hae a son--my third son, Alexander Semple, o' Boston--wha has
+made money on the Africans. I hae told him, likewise, that trading in
+wheat and trading in humanity may hae ethical differences; but every one
+settles his ain bill, and I'll hae enough to do to secure mysel'."
+
+Batavius was puzzled; and at the words "ethical differences," his big
+brown hand was "in the hair" at once. He scratched his head and looked
+doubtfully at Semple, whose face was peculiarly placid and thoughtful
+and kindly.
+
+"Men must work, Elder, and these blacks won't work unless they are
+forced to. I, who am a baptized Christian, have to do my duty in this
+life; and, as for pagans, they must be made to do it. I am myself a
+great lover of morality, and that is what I think. Also, you may read in
+the Scriptures, that St. Paul says that if a man will not work, neither
+shall he eat."
+
+"St. Paul dootless kent a' about the question o' forced labour, seeing
+that he lived when baith white and black men were sold for a price.
+However, siller in the hand answers a' questions and the dominie made a
+vera true observe one Sabbath, when he said that the Almighty so ordered
+things in this warld that orthodoxy and good living led to wealth and
+prosperity."
+
+"That is the truth," answered Justice Van Gaasbeeck; "Holland is Holland
+because she has the true faith. You may see that in France there is
+anarchy and bloodshed and great poverty; that is because they are Roman
+Catholics."
+
+It was at this moment that Katherine came and stood behind her father's
+chair. She let her hand fall down over his shoulder, and he raised his
+own to clasp it. "What is it, then, _mijn Katrijntje kleintje_?"
+
+"It is to dance. Mother says 'yes' if thou art willing."
+
+"Then I say 'yes,' also."
+
+For a moment she laid her cheek against his; and the happy tears came
+into his eyes, and he stroked her face, and half-reluctantly let
+Batavius lead her away. For, at the first mention of a dance, Batavius
+had risen and put down his pipe; and in a few minutes he was
+triumphantly guiding Joanna in a kind of mazy waltzing movement, full of
+spirit and grace.
+
+At that day there were but few families of any wealth who did not own
+one black man who could play well upon the violin. Joris possessed two;
+and they were both on hand, putting their own gay spirits into the
+fiddle and the bow. And oh, how happy were the beating feet and the
+beating hearts that went to the stirring strains! It was joy and love
+and youth in melodious motion. The old looked on with gleaming,
+sympathetic eyes; the young forgot that they were mortal.
+
+Then there was a short pause; and the ladies sipped chocolate, and the
+gentlemen sipped something a little stronger, and a merry ripple of
+conversation and of hearty laughter ran with the clink of glass and
+china, and the scraping of the fiddle-bows.
+
+"Miss Katern Van Heemskirk and Mr. Neil Semple will now hab de honour of
+'bliging de company wid de French minuet."
+
+At this announcement, made by the first negro violin, there was a sudden
+silence; and Neil rose, and with a low bow offered the tips of his
+fingers to the beautiful girl, who rose blushing to take them. The elder
+deliberately turned his chair around, in order to watch the movement
+comfortably; and there was an inexpressible smile of satisfaction on his
+face as his eyes followed the young people. Neil's dark, stately beauty
+was well set off by his black velvet suit and powdered hair and gold
+buckles. And no lovelier contrast could have faced him than Katherine
+Van Heemskirk; so delicately fresh, so radiantly fair, she looked in her
+light-blue robe and white lace stomacher, with a pink rose at her
+breast. There were shining amber beads around her white throat, and a
+large amber comb fastened her pale brown hair. A gilded Indian fan was
+in her hand, and she used it with all the pretty airs she had so aptly
+copied from Mrs. Gordon.
+
+Neil had a natural majesty in his carriage; Katherine supplemented it
+with a natural grace, and with certain courtly movements which made the
+little Dutch girls, who had never seen Mrs. Gordon practising them,
+admire and wonder. As she was in the very act of making Neil a profound
+courtesy, the door opened, and Mrs. Gordon and Captain Hyde entered. The
+latter took in the exquisite picture in a moment; and there was a fire
+of jealousy in his heart when he saw Neil lead his partner to her seat,
+and with the deepest respect kiss her pretty fingers ere he resigned
+them.
+
+But he was compelled to control himself, as he was ceremoniously
+introduced to Councillor and Madam Van Heemskirk by his aunt, who, with
+a charming effusiveness, declared "she was very uneasy to intrude so
+far; but, in faith, Councillor," she pleaded, "I am but a woman, and I
+find the news of a wedding beyond my nature to resist."
+
+There was something so frank and persuasive about the elegant stranger,
+that Joris could not refuse the courtesy she asked for herself and her
+nephew. And, having yielded, he yielded with entire truth and
+confidence. He gave his hand to his visitors, and made them heartily
+welcome to join in his household rejoicing. True, Mrs. Gordon's
+persuasive words were ably seconded by causes which she had probably
+calculated. The elder and Madam Semple were present, and it would have
+been impossible for Joris to treat their friends rudely. Bram was also
+another conciliating element, for Captain Hyde was on pleasant speaking
+terms with him; and, as yet, even Neil's relations were at least those
+of presumed friendship. Also, the Van Gaasbeeks and others present were
+well inclined to make the acquaintance of a woman so agreeable, and an
+officer so exceptionally handsome and genteel. Besides which, Joris was
+himself in a happy and genial mood; he had opened his house and his
+heart to his friends; and he did not feel at that hour as if he could
+doubt any human being, or close his door against even the stranger and
+the alien who wished to rejoice with him.
+
+Elder Semple was greatly pleased at his friend's complaisance. He gave
+Joris full credit for his victory over his national prejudices, and he
+did his very best to make the concession a pleasant event. In this
+effort, he was greatly assisted by Mrs. Gordon; she set herself to
+charm Van Heemskirk, as she had set herself to charm Madam Van Heemskirk
+on her previous visit; and she succeeded so well, that, when "Sir Roger
+de Coverley" was called, Joris rose, offered her his hand, and, to the
+delight of every one present, led the dance with her.
+
+It was a little triumph for the elder; and he sat smiling, and twirling
+his fingers, and thoroughly enjoying the event. Indeed, he was so
+interested in listening to the clever way in which "the bonnie woman
+flattered Van Heemskirk," that he was quite oblivious of the gathering
+wrath in his son's face, and the watchful gloom in Bram's eyes, as the
+two men stood together, jealously observant of Captain Hyde's attentions
+to Katherine. Without any words spoken on the subject, there was an
+understood compact between them to guard the girl from any private
+conversation with him; and yet two men with hearts full of suspicion and
+jealousy were not a match for one man with a heart full of love. In a
+moment, in the interchange of their hands in a dance, Katherine clasped
+tightly a little note, and unobserved hid it behind the rose at her
+breast.
+
+But nothing is a wonder in love, or else it would have been amazing that
+Joanna did not notice the rose absent from her sister's dress after
+Captain Hyde's departure; nor yet that Katherine, ere she went to rest
+that night, kissed fervently a tiny bit of paper which she hid within
+the silver clasps of her Kirk Bible. The loving girl thought it no wrong
+to put it there; she even hoped that some kind of blessing or sanction
+might come through such sacred keeping; and she went to sleep
+whispering to herself,--"_Happy I am. Me he loves; me he loves; me only
+he loves; me forever he loves_!"
+
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+
+"_All pleasure must be bought at the price of pain. The true pay the
+price before they enjoy it; the false, after they enjoy it_."
+
+"My dear Dick, I am exceedingly concerned to find you in such a
+taking,--a soldier who has known some of the finest women of the day,
+moping about a Dutch school-girl! Pshaw! Don't be a fool! I had a much
+better opinion of you."
+
+"'Tis a kind of folly that runs in the family, aunt. I have heard that
+you preferred Colonel Gordon to a duke."
+
+"Now, sir, you are ill-natured. Dukes are not uncommon: a man of sense
+and sensibility is a treasure. Make me grateful that I secured one."
+
+"Lend me your wit, then, for the same consummation. I assure you that I
+consider Katherine Van Heemskirk a treasure past belief. Confess, now,
+that she was the loveliest of creatures last night."
+
+"She has truly a fine complexion, and she dances with all the elegance
+imaginable. I know, too, that she sings to perfection, and has most
+agreeable and obliging manners."
+
+"And a heart which abounds in every tender feeling."
+
+"Oh, indeed, sir! I was not aware that you knew her so well."
+
+"I know that I love her beyond everything, and that I am likely so to
+love her all my life."
+
+"Upon my word, Dick, love may live an age--if you don't marry it."
+
+"Let me make you understand that I wish to marry it."
+
+"Oh, indeed, sir! Then the church door stands open. Go in. I suppose the
+lady will oblige you so far."
+
+"Pray, my dear aunt, talk sensibly. Give me your advice; you know
+already that I value it. What is the first step to be taken?"
+
+"Go and talk with her father. I assure you, no real progress can be made
+without it. The girl you think worth asking for; but it is very
+necessary for you to know what fortune goes with her beauty."
+
+"If her father refuse to give her to me"--
+
+"That is not to be thought of. I have seen that some of the best of
+these Dutch families are very willing to be friendly with us. You come
+of a noble race. You wear your sword with honour. You are not far from
+the heritage of a great title and estate. If you ask for her fortune,
+you offer far above its equivalent, sir."
+
+"I have heard Mr. Neil Semple say that Van Heemskirk is a great stickler
+for trade, and that he hates every man who wears a sword."
+
+"You have heard more than you need listen to. I talked to the man an
+hour last night. He is as honest as a looking-glass, and I read him all
+through with the greatest ease. I am sure that he has a heart very
+tender, and devoid of anger or prejudice of any kind."
+
+"That is to be seen. I have discovered already that men who can be very
+gentle can also be very rough. But this suspense is intolerable, and not
+to be borne. I will go and end it. Pray, what is the hour?"
+
+"It is about three o'clock; a very suitable hour, I think."
+
+"Then give me your good wishes."
+
+"I shall be impatient to hear the result."
+
+"In an hour or two."
+
+"Oh, sir, I am not so foolish as to expect you in an hour or two! When
+you have spoken with the father, you will doubtless go home with him and
+drink a dish of tea with your divinity. I can imagine your unreasonable
+felicity, Dick,--seas of milk, and ships of amber, and all sails set for
+the desired haven! I know it all, so I hope you will spare me every
+detail,--except, indeed, such as relate to pounds, shillings, and
+pence."
+
+It was a very hot afternoon; and Van Heemskirk's store, though open to
+the river-breezes, was not by any means a cool or pleasant place. Bram
+was just within the doors, marking "Boston" on a number of
+flour-barrels, which were being rapidly transferred to a vessel lying at
+the wharf. He was absorbed and hurried in the matter, and received the
+visitor with rather a cool courtesy; but whether the coolness was of
+intention or preoccupation, Captain Hyde did not perceive it. He asked
+for Councillor Van Heemskirk, and was taken to his office, a small room,
+intensely warm and sunny at that hour of the day.
+
+"Your servant, Captain."
+
+"Yours, most sincerely, Councillor. It is a hot day."
+
+"That is so. We come near to midsummer. Is there anything I can oblige
+you in, sir?"
+
+Joris asked the question because the manner of the young man struck him
+as uneasy and constrained; and he thought, "Perhaps he has come to
+borrow money." It was notorious that his Majesty's officers gambled, and
+were often in very great need of it; and, although Joris had not any
+intention of risking his gold, he thought it as well to bring out the
+question, and have the refusal understood before unnecessary politeness
+made it more difficult. He was not, therefore, astonished when Captain
+Hyde answered,--
+
+"Sir, you can indeed oblige me, and that in a matter of the greatest
+moment."
+
+"If money it be, Captain, at once I may tell you, that I borrow not, and
+I lend not."
+
+"Sir, it is not money--in particular."
+
+"So?"
+
+"It is your daughter Katherine."
+
+Then Joris stood up, and looked steadily at the suitor. His large,
+amiable face had become in a moment hard and stern; and the light in his
+eyes was like the cold, sharp light that falls from drawn steel.
+
+"My daughter is not for you to name. Sir, it is a wrong to her, if you
+speak her name."
+
+"By my honour, it is not! Though I come of as good family as any in
+England, and may not unreasonably hope to inherit its earldom, I do
+assure you, sir, I sue as humbly for your daughter's hand as if she were
+a princess."
+
+"Your family! Talk not of it. King nor kaiser do I count better men than
+my own fore-goers. Like to like, that is what I say. Your wife seek,
+Captain, among your own women."
+
+"I protest that I love your daughter. I wish above all things to make
+her my wife."
+
+"Many things men desire, that they come not near to. My daughter is to
+another man promised."
+
+"Look you, Councillor, that would be monstrous. Your daughter loves me."
+
+Joris turned white to the lips. "It is not the truth," he answered in a
+slow, husky voice.
+
+"By the sun in heaven, it is the truth! Ask her."
+
+"Then a great scoundrel are you, unfit with honest men to talk. Ho! Yes,
+your sword pull from its scabbard. Strike. To the heart strike me. Less
+wicked would be the deed than the thing you have done."
+
+"In faith, sir, 'tis no crime to win a woman's love."
+
+"No crime it would be to take the guilders from my purse, if my consent
+was to it. But into my house to come, and while warm was yet my welcome,
+with my bread and wine in your lips, to take my gold, a shame and a
+crime would be. My daughter than gold is far more precious."
+
+There was something very impressive in the angry sorrow of Joris. It
+partook of his own magnitude. Standing in front of him, it was
+impossible for Captain Hyde not to be sensible of the difference between
+his own slight, nervous frame, and the fair, strong massiveness of Van
+Heemskirk; and, in a dim way, he comprehended that this physical
+difference was only the outward and visible sign of a mental and moral
+one quite as positive and unchangeable.
+
+Yet he persevered in his solicitation. With a slight impatience of
+manner he said, "Do but hear me, sir. I have done nothing contrary to
+the custom of people in my condition, and I assure you that with all my
+soul I love your daughter."
+
+"Love! So talk you. You see a girl beautiful, sweet, and innocent. Your
+heart, greedy and covetous, wants her as it has wanted, doubtless, many
+others. For yourself only you seek her. And what is it you ask then!
+That _she_ should give up for you her father, mother, home, her own
+faith, her own people, her own country,--the poor little one!--for a
+cold, cheerless land among strangers, alone in the sorrows and pains
+that to all women come. Love! In God's name, what know you of love?"
+
+"No man can love her better."
+
+"What say you? How, then, do I love her? I who carried her--_mijn witte
+lammetje_--in these arms before yet she could say to me, 'Fader'!" His
+wrath had been steadily growing, in spite of the mist in his eyes and
+the tenderness in his voice; and suddenly striking the desk a ponderous
+blow with his closed hand, he said with an unmistakable passion, "My
+daughter you shall not have. God in heaven to himself take her ere such
+sorrow come to her and me!"
+
+[Illustration: "Sir, you are very uncivil"]
+
+"Sir, you are very uncivil; but I am thankful to know so much of your
+mind. And, to be plain with you, I am determined to marry your daughter
+if I can compass the matter in any way. It is now, then, open war
+between us; and so, sir, your servant."
+
+"Stay. To me listen. Not one guilder will I give to my daughter, if"--
+
+"To the devil with your guilders! Dirty money made in dirty traffic"--
+
+"You lie!"
+
+"Sir, you take an infamous advantage. You know, that, being Katherine's
+father, I will not challenge you."
+
+"_Christus!_!" roared Joris, "challenge me one hundred times. A fool I
+would be to answer you. Life my God gave to me. Well, then, only my God
+shall from me take it. See you these arms and hands? In them you will be
+as the child of one year. Ere beyond my reason you move me, _go_!" and
+he strode to the door and flung it open with a passion that made every
+one in the store straighten themselves, and look curiously toward the
+two men.
+
+White with rage, and with his hand upon his sword-hilt, Captain Hyde
+stamped his way through the crowded store to the dusty street. Then it
+struck him that he had not asked the name of the man to whom Katharine
+was promised. He swore at himself for the omission. Whether he knew him
+or not, he was determined to fight him. In the meantime, the most
+practical revenge was to try and see Katherine before her father had the
+opportunity to give her any orders regarding him. Just then he met Neil
+Semple, and he stopped and asked him the time.
+
+"It will be the half hour after four, Captain. I am going home; shall I
+have your company, sir?"
+
+"I have not much leisure to-night. Make a thousand regrets to Madam
+Semple and my aunt for me."
+
+Neil's calm, complacent gravity was unendurable. He turned from him
+abruptly, and, muttering passionate exclamations, went to the river-bank
+for a boat. Often he had seen Katherine between five and six o'clock at
+the foot of the Van Heemskirk garden; for it was then possible for her
+to slip away while madam was busy about her house, and Joanna and
+Batavius talking over their own affairs. And this evening he felt that
+the very intensity of his desire must surely bring her to their
+trysting-place behind the lilac hedge.
+
+Whether he was right or wrong, he did not consider; for he was not one
+of those potent men who have themselves in their own power. Nor had it
+ever entered his mind that "love's strength standeth in love's
+sacrifice," or that the only love worthy of the name refuses to blend
+with anything that is low or vindictive or clandestine. And, even if he
+had not loved Katherine, he would now have been determined to marry her.
+Never before in all his life had he found an object so engrossing. Pride
+and revenge were added to love, as motives; but who will say that love
+was purer or stronger or sweeter for them?
+
+In the meantime Joris was suffering as only such deep natures can
+suffer. There are domestic fatalities which the wisest and tenderest of
+parents seem impotent to contend with. Joris had certainly been alarmed
+by Semple's warning; but in forbidding his daughter to visit Mrs.
+Gordon, and in permitting the suit of Neil Semple, he thought he had
+assured her safety. Through all the past weeks, he had seen no shadow on
+her face. The fear had died out, and the hope had been slowly growing;
+so that Captain Hyde's proposal, and his positive assertion that
+Katherine loved him, had fallen upon the father's heart with the force
+of a blow, and the terror of a shock. And the sting of the sorrow was
+this,--that his child had deceived him. Certainly she had not spoken
+false words, but truth can be outraged by silence quite as cruelly as by
+speech.
+
+After Hyde's departure, he shut the door of his office, walked to the
+window, and stood there some minutes, clasping and unclasping his large
+hands, like a man full of grief and perplexity. Ere long he remembered
+his friend Semple. This trouble concerned him also, for Captain Hyde was
+in a manner his guest; and, if he were informed of the marriage arranged
+between Katherine and Neil Semple, he would doubtless feel himself bound
+in honour to retire. Elder Semple had opened his house to Colonel
+Gordon, his wife and nephew. For months they had lived in comfort under
+his roof, and been made heartily welcome to the best of all he
+possessed. Joris put himself in Hyde's place; and he was certain, that,
+under the same circumstances, he would feel it disgraceful to interfere
+with the love-affairs of his host's son.
+
+He found Semple with his hat in his hand, giving his last orders before
+leaving business for the day; but when Joris said, "There is trouble,
+and your advice I want," he returned with him to the back of the store,
+where, through half-opened shutters, the sunshine and the river-breeze
+stole into an atmosphere laden with the aromas of tea and coffee and
+West Indian produce.
+
+In a few short, strong sentences, Joris put the case before Semple. The
+latter stroked his right knee thoughtfully, and listened. But his first
+words were not very comforting: "I must say, that it is maistly your own
+fault, Joris. You hae given Neil but a half welcome, and you should hae
+made a' things plain and positive to Katherine. Such skimble-skamble,
+yea and nay kind o' ways willna do wi' women. Why didna you say to her,
+out and out, 'I hae promised you to Neil Semple, my lassie. He'll mak'
+you the best o' husbands; you'll marry him at the New Year, and you'll
+get gold and plenishing and a' things suitable'?"
+
+"So young she is yet, Elder."
+
+"She has been o'er auld for you, Joris. Young! My certie! When girls are
+auld enough for a lover, they are a match for any gray head. I'm a
+thankfu' man that I wasna put in charge o' any o' them. You and your
+household will hae to keep your e'en weel open, or there will be a
+wedding to which nane o' us will get an invite. But there is little
+good in mair words. Hame is the place we are baith needed in. I shall
+hae to speak my mind to Neil, and likewise to Colonel Gordon; and you
+canna put off your duty to your daughter an hour longer. Dear me! To
+think, Joris, o' a man being able to sit wi' the councillors o' the
+nation, and yet no match for a lassie o' seventeen!"
+
+There are men who can talk their troubles away: Joris was not one of
+them. He was silent when in sorrow or perplexity; silent, and ever
+looking around for something to _do_ in the matter. As they walked
+homewards, the elder talked, and Joris pondered, not what was said, but
+the thoughts and purposes that were slowly forming in his own mind. He
+was later than usual, and the tea and the cakes had passed their prime
+condition; but, when Lysbet saw the trouble in his eyes, she thought
+them not worth mentioning. Joanna and Batavius were discussing their new
+house then building on the East River bank, and they had forgotten all
+else. But Katherine fretted about her father's delay, and it was at her
+Joris first looked. The veil had now been taken from his eyes; and he
+noticed her pretty dress, her restless glances at the clock, her
+ill-concealed impatience at the slow movement of the evening meal.
+
+When it was over, Joanna and Batavius went out to walk, and Madame Van
+Heemskirk rose to put away her silver and china. "So warm as it is!"
+said Katherine. "Into the garden I am going, mother."
+
+"Well, then, there are currants to pull. The dish take with you."
+
+Joris rose then, and laying his hand on Katherine's shoulder said,
+"There is something to talk about. Sit down, Lysbet; the door shut
+close, and listen to me."
+
+It was impossible to mistake the stern purpose on her husband's face,
+and Lysbet silently obeyed the order.
+
+"Katherine, Katrijntje, _mijn kind_, this afternoon there comes to the
+store the young man, Captain Hyde. To thy father he said many ill words.
+To him thou shalt never speak again. Thy promise give to me."
+
+She sat silent, with dropped eyes, and cheeks as red as the pomegranate
+flower at her breast.
+
+"_Mijn kind_, speak to me."
+
+"_O wee, O wee!_"
+
+"_Mijn kind_, speak to me."
+
+Weeping bitterly, she rose and went to her mother, and laid her head
+upon Lysbet's shoulder.
+
+"Look now, Joris. One must know the 'why' and the 'wherefore.' What mean
+you? _Whish, mijn kindje_!"
+
+"This I mean, Lysbet. No more meetings with the Englishman will I have.
+No love secrets will I bear. Danger is with them; yes, and sin too."
+
+"Joris, if he has spoken to you, then where is the secret?"
+
+"Too late he spoke. When worked was his own selfish way, to tell me of
+his triumph he comes. It is a shameful wrong. Forgive it? No, I will
+not,--never!"
+
+No one answered him; only Katherine's low weeping broke the silence,
+and for a few moments Joris paced the room sorrowful and amazed. Then he
+looked at Lysbet, and she rose and gave her place to him. He put his
+arms around his darling, and kissed her fondly.
+
+[Illustration: "Listen to me, thy father!"]
+
+"_Mijn kindje_, listen to me thy father. It is for thy happy life here,
+it is for thy eternal life, I speak to thee. This man for whom thou art
+now weeping is not good for thee. He is not of thy faith, he is a
+Lutheran; not of thy people, he is an Englishman; not of thy station, he
+talks of his nobility; a gambler also, a man of fashion, of loose talk,
+of principles still more loose. If with the hawk a singing-bird might
+mate happily, then this English soldier thou might safely marry. _Mijn
+beste kindje_, do I love thee?"
+
+"My father!"
+
+"Do I love thee?"
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+"Dost thou, then, love me?"
+
+She put her arms round his neck, and laid her cheek against his, and
+kissed him many times.
+
+"Wilt thou go away and leave me, and leave thy mother, in our old age?
+My heart thou would break. My gray hairs to the grave would go in
+sorrow. Katrijntje, my dear, dear child, what for me, and for thy
+mother, wilt thou do?"
+
+"Thy wish--if I can."
+
+Then he told her of the provision made for her future. He reminded her
+of Neil's long affection, and of her satisfaction with it until Hyde had
+wooed her from her love and her duty. And, remembering the elder's
+reproach on his want of explicitness, he added, "To-morrow, about thy
+own house, I will take the first step. Near my house it shall be; and
+when I walk in my garden, in thy garden I will see thee, and only a
+little fence shall be between us. And at the feast of St. Nicholas thou
+shalt be married; for then thy sisters will be here, thy sisters Anna
+and Cornelia. And money, plenty of money, I will give thee; and all that
+is proper thy mother and thee shall buy. But no more, no more at all,
+shalt thou see or speak to that bad man who has so beguiled thee."
+
+At this remark Katherine sadly shook her head; and Lysbet's face so
+plainly expressed caution, that Joris somewhat modified his last order,
+"That is, little one, no more until the feast of St. Nicholas. Then thou
+wilt be married and then it is good, if it is safe, to forgive all
+wrongs, and to begin again with all the world in peace and good living.
+Wilt thou these things promise me? me and thy mother?"
+
+"Richard I must see once more. That is what I ask."
+
+"_Richard!_ So far is it?"
+
+She did not answer; and Joris rose, and looked at the girl's mother
+inquiringly. Her face expressed assent; and he said reluctantly, "Well,
+then, I will as easy make it as I can. Once more, and for one hour, thou
+may see him. But I lay it on thee to tell him the truth, for this and
+for all other time."
+
+"_Now_ may I go? He is a-nigh. His boat I hear at the landing;" and she
+stood up, intent, listening, with her fair head lifted, and her wet eyes
+fixed on the distance.
+
+"Well, be it so. Go."
+
+With the words she slipped from the room; and Joris called Baltus to
+bring him some hot coals, and began to fill his pipe. As he did so, he
+watched Lysbet with some anxiety. She had offered him no sympathy, she
+evinced no disposition to continue the conversation; and, though she
+kept her face from him, he understood that all her movements expressed a
+rebellious temper. In and out of the room she passed, very busy about
+her own affairs, and apparently indifferent to his anxiety and sorrow.
+
+At first Joris felt some natural anger at her attitude; but, as the
+Virginia calmed and soothed him, he remembered that he had told her
+nothing of his interview with Hyde, and that she might be feeling and
+reasoning from a different standpoint from himself. Then the sweetness
+of his nature was at once in the ascendant, and he said, "Lysbet, come
+then, and talk with me about the child."
+
+She turned the keys in her press slowly, and stood by it with them in
+her hand. "What has been told thee, Joris, to-day? And who has spoken?
+Tongues evil and envious, I am sure of that."
+
+"Thou art wrong. The young man to me spoke himself. He said, 'I love
+your daughter. I want to marry her.'"
+
+"Well, then, he did no wrong. And as for Katrijntje, it is in nature
+that a young girl should want a lover. It is in nature she should choose
+the one she likes best. That is what I say."
+
+"That is what I say, Lysbet. It is in nature, also, that we want too
+much food and wine, too much sleep, too much pleasure, too little work.
+It is in nature that our own way we want. It is in nature that the good
+we hate, and the sin we love. My Lysbet, to us God gives his own good
+grace, that the things that are in nature we might put below the reason
+and the will."
+
+"So hard that is, Joris."
+
+"No, it is not; so far thou hast done the right way. When Katherine was
+a babe, it was in nature that with the fire she wanted to make play. But
+thou said, 'There is danger, my precious one;' and in thy arms thou
+carried her out of the temptation. When older she grew, it was in nature
+she said, 'I like not the school, and my Heidelberg is hard, and I
+cannot learn it.' But thou answered, 'For thy good is the school, and go
+thou every day; and for thy salvation is thy catechism, and I will see
+that thou learn it well.' Now, then, it is in nature the child should
+want this handsome stranger; but with me thou wilt certainly say, 'He is
+not fit for thy happiness; he has not the true faith, he gambles, he
+fights duels, he is a waster, he lives badly, he will take thee far from
+thy own people and thy own home.'"
+
+"Can the man help that he was born an Englishman and a Lutheran?"
+
+"They have their own women. Look now, from the beginning it has been
+like to like. Thou may see in the Holy Scriptures that, after Esau
+married the Hittite woman, he sold his birthright, and became a wanderer
+and a vagabond. And it is said that it was a 'grief of mind unto Isaac
+and Rebekah.' I am sorry this day for Isaac and Rebekah. The heart of
+the father is the same always."
+
+"And the heart of the mother, also, Joris." She drew close to him, and
+laid her arm across his broad shoulders; and he took his pipe from his
+lips and turned his face to her. "Kind and wise art thou, my husband;
+and whatever is thy wish, that is my wish too."
+
+"A good woman thou art. And what pleasure would it be to thee if
+Katherine was a countess, and went to the court, and bowed down to the
+king and the queen? Thou would not see it; and, if thou spoke of it, thy
+neighbours they would hate thee, and mock thee behind thy back, and say,
+'How proud is Lysbet Van Heemskirk of her noble son-in-law that comes
+never once to see her!' And dost thou believe he is an earl? Not I."
+
+"That is where the mother's love is best, Joris. What my neighbours said
+would be little care to me, if my Katherine was well and was happy. With
+her sorrow would I buy my own pleasure? No; I would not so selfish be."
+
+"Would I, Lysbet? Right am I, and I know I am right. And I think that
+Neil Semple will be a very great person. Already, as a man of affairs,
+he is much spoken of. He is handsome and of good morality. The elders
+in the kirk look to such young men as Neil to fill their places when
+they are no more in them. On the judge's bench he will sit down yet."
+
+"A good young man he may be, but he is a very bad lover; that is the
+truth. If a little less wise he could only be! A young girl likes some
+foolish talk. It is what women understand. Little fond words, very
+strong they are! Thou thyself said them to me."
+
+"That is right. To Neil I will talk a little. A man must seek a good
+wife with more heart than he seeks gold. Yes, yes; her price above
+rubies is."
+
+At the very moment Joris made this remark, the elder was speaking for
+him. When he arrived at home, he found that his wife was out making
+calls with Mrs. Gordon, so he had not the relief of a marital
+conversation. He took his solitary tea, and fell into a nap, from which
+he awoke in a querulous, uneasy temper. Neil was walking about the
+terrace, and he joined him.
+
+[Illustration: He took his solitary tea]
+
+"You are stepping in a vera majestic way, Neil; what's in your thoughts,
+I wonder?"
+
+"I have a speech to make to-morrow, sir. My thoughts were on the law,
+which has a certain majesty of its own."
+
+"You'd better be thinking o' a speech you ought to make to-night, if you
+care at a' aboot saving yoursel' wi' Katherine Van Heemskirk; and ma
+certie it will be an extraordinar' case that is worth mair, even in the
+way o' siller, than she is."
+
+The elder was not in the habit of making unmeaning speeches, and Neil
+was instantly alarmed. In his own way, he loved Katherine with all his
+soul. "Yes," continued the old man, "you hae a rival, sir. Captain Hyde
+asked Van Heemskirk for his daughter this afternoon, and an earldom in
+prospect isna a poor bait."
+
+"What a black scoundrel he must be!--to use your hospitality to steal
+from your son the woman he loves."
+
+"Tak' your time, Neil, and you won't lose your judgment. How was he to
+ken that Katherine was your sweetheart? You made little o' the lassie,
+vera little, I may say. Lawyer-like you may be, but nane could call you
+lover-like. And while he and his are my guests, and in my house, I'll no
+hae you fighting him. Tak' a word o' advice now,--I'll gie it without a
+fee,--you are fond enough to plead for others, go and plead an hour for
+yoursel'. Certie! When I was your age, I was aye noted for my persuading
+way. Your father, sir, never left a spare corner for a rival. And I can
+tell you this: a woman isna to be counted your ain, until you hae her
+inside a wedding-ring."
+
+"What did the councillor say?"
+
+"To tell the truth, he said 'no,' a vera plain 'no,' too. You ken Van
+Heemskirk's 'no' isn't a shilly-shallying kind o' a negative; but for a'
+that, if I hae any skill in judging men, Richard Hyde isna one o' the
+kind that tak's 'no' from either man or woman."
+
+Neil was intensely angry, and his dark eyes glowed beneath their
+dropped lids with a passionate hate. But he left his father with an
+assumed coldness and calmness which made him mutter as he watched Neil
+down the road, "I needna hae fashed mysel' to warn him against fighting.
+He's a prudent lad. It's no right to fight, and it would be a matter for
+a kirk session likewise; but _Bruce and Wallace_! was there ever a
+Semple, before Neil, that keepit his hand off his weapon when his love
+or his right was touched? And there's his mother out the night, of all
+the nights in the year, and me wanting a word o' advice sae bad; not
+that Janet has o'er much good sense, but whiles she can make an obsarve
+that sets my ain wisdom in a right line o' thought. I wish to patience
+she'd bide at home. She never kens when I may be needing her. And, now I
+came to think o' things, it will be the warst o' all bad hours for Neil
+to seek Katherine the night. She'll be fretting, and the mother pouting,
+and the councillor in ane o' his particular Dutch touch-me-not tempers.
+I do hope the lad will hae the uncommon sense to let folks cool, and
+come to theirsel's a wee."
+
+For the elder, judging his son by the impetuosity of his own youthful
+temper, expected him to go directly to Van Heemskirk's house. But there
+were qualities in Neil which his father forgot to take into
+consideration, and their influence was to suggest to the young man how
+inappropriate a visit to Katherine would be at that time. Indeed, he did
+not much desire it. He was very angry with Katherine. He was sure that
+she understood his entire devotion to her. He could not see any
+necessity to set it forth as particularly as a legal contract, in
+certain set phrases and with conventional ceremonies.
+
+[Illustration: On the steps of the houses]
+
+But his father's sarcastic advice annoyed him, and he wanted time to
+fully consider his ways. He was no physical coward; he was a fine
+swordsman, and he felt that it would be a real joy to stand with a drawn
+rapier between himself and his rival. But what if revenge cost him too
+much? What if he slew Hyde, and had to leave his love and his home, and
+his fine business prospects? To win Katherine and to marry her, in the
+face of the man whom he felt that he detested, would not that be the
+best of all "satisfactions"?
+
+He walked about the streets, discussing these points with himself, till
+the shops all closed, and on the stoops of the houses in Maiden Lane and
+Liberty Street there were merry parties of gossiping belles and beaux.
+Then he returned to Broadway. Half a dozen gentlemen were standing
+before the King's Arms Tavern, discussing some governmental statement in
+the "Weekly Mercury;" but though they asked him to stop, and enlighten
+them on some legal point, he excused himself for that night, and went
+toward Van Heemskirk's. He had suddenly resolved upon a visit. Why
+should he put off until the morrow what he might begin that night?
+
+Still debating with himself, he came to a narrow road which ran to the
+river, along the southern side of Van Heemskirk's house. It was only a
+trodden path used by fishermen, and made by usage through the unenclosed
+ground. But coming swiftly up it, as if to detain him, was Captain Hyde.
+The two men looked at each other defiantly; and Neil said with a cold,
+meaning emphasis,--
+
+"At your service, sir."
+
+"Mr. Semple, at your service,"--and touching his sword,--"to the very
+hilt, sir."
+
+"Sir, yours to the same extremity."
+
+"As for the cause, Mr. Semple, here it is;" and he pushed aside his
+embroidered coat in order to exhibit to Neil the bow of orange ribbon
+beneath it.
+
+"I will die it crimson in your blood," said Neil, passionately.
+
+"In the meantime, I have the felicity of wearing it;" and with an
+offensively deep salute, he terminated the interview.
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+          "_Love and a crown no rivalship can bear.
+          Love, love! Thou sternly dost thy power maintain,
+          And wilt not bear a rival in thy reign_."
+
+
+Neil's first emotion was not so much one of anger as of exultation. The
+civilization of the Semples was scarce a century old; and behind them
+were generations of fierce men, whose hands had been on their dirks for
+a word or a look. "I shall have him at my sword's point;" that was what
+he kept saying to himself as he turned from Hyde to Van Heemskirk's
+house. The front-door stood open; and he walked through it to the
+back-stoop, where Joris was smoking.
+
+Katherine sat upon the steps of the stoop. Her head was in her hand, her
+eyes red with weeping, her whole attitude one of desponding sorrow. But,
+at this hour, Neil was indifferent to adverse circumstances. He was
+moving in that exultation of spirit which may be simulated by the first
+rapture of good wine, but which is only genuine when the soul takes
+entire possession of the man, and makes him for some rare, short
+interval lord of himself, and contemptuous of all fears and doubts and
+difficulties. He never noticed that Joris was less kind than usual; but
+touching Katherine, to arouse her attention, said, "Come with me down
+the garden, my love."
+
+She looked at him wonderingly. His words and manner were strange and
+potent; and, although she had just been assuring herself that she would
+resist his advances on every occasion, she rose at his request and gave
+him her hand.
+
+Then the tender thoughts which had lain so deep in his heart flew to his
+lips, and he wooed her with a fervour and nobility as astonishing to
+himself as to Katherine. He reminded her of all the sweet intercourse of
+their happy lives, and of the fidelity with which he had loved her.
+"When I was a lad ten years old, and saw you first in your mother's
+arms, I called you then 'my little wife.' Oh, my Katherine, my sweet
+Katherine! Who is there that can take you from me?"
+
+"Neil, like a brother to me you have been. Like a dear brother, I love
+you. But your wife to be! That is not the same. Ask me not that."
+
+"Only that can satisfy me, Katherine. Do you think I will ever give you
+up? Not while I live."
+
+"No one will I marry. With my father and my mother I will stay."
+
+"Yes, till you learn to love me as I love you, with the whole soul." He
+drew her close to his side, and bent tenderly to her face.
+
+"No, you shall not kiss me, Neil,--never again. No right have you,
+Neil."
+
+"You are to be my wife, Katherine?"
+
+"That I have not said."
+
+She drew herself from his embrace, and stood leaning against an
+elm-tree, watchful of Neil, full of wonder at the sudden warmth of his
+love, and half fearful of his influence over her.
+
+"But you have known it, Katherine, ay, for many a year. No words could
+make the troth-plight truer. From this hour, mine and only mine."
+
+"Such things you shall not say."
+
+"I will say them before all the world. Katherine, is it true that an
+English soldier is wearing a bow of your ribbon? You must tell me."
+
+"What mean you?"
+
+"I will make my meaning plain. Is Captain Hyde wearing a bow of your
+orange ribbon?"
+
+"Can I tell?"
+
+"Yes. Do not lie to me."
+
+"A lie I would not speak."
+
+"Did you give him one? an orange one?"
+
+"Yes. A bow of my St. Nicholas ribbon I gave him."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Me he loves, and him I love."
+
+"And he wears it at his breast?"
+
+"On his breast I have seen it. Neil, do not quarrel with him. Do not
+look so angry. I fear you. My fault it is; all my fault, Neil. Only to
+please me he wears it."
+
+"You have more St. Nicholas ribbons?"
+
+"That is so."
+
+"Go and get me one. Get a bow, Katherine, and give it to me. I will
+wait here for it."
+
+"No, that I will not do. How false, how wicked I would be, if two lovers
+my colours wore!"
+
+"Katherine, I am in great earnest. A bow of that ribbon I must have. Get
+one for me."
+
+"My hands I would cut off first."
+
+"Well, then, I will cut _my bow_ from Hyde's breast. I will, though I
+cut his heart out with it."
+
+He turned from her as he said the words, and, without speaking to Joris,
+passed through the garden-gate to his own home. His mother and Mrs.
+Gordon, and several young ladies and gentlemen were sitting on the
+stoop, arranging for a turtle feast on the East River; and Neil's advent
+was hailed with ejaculations of pleasure. He affected to listen for a
+few minutes, and then excused himself upon the "assurance of having some
+very important writing to attend to." But, as he passed the parlour
+door, his father called him. The elder was casting up some kirk
+accounts; but, as Neil answered the summons, he carefully put the
+extinguisher on one candle, and turned his chair from the table in a way
+which Neil understood as an invitation for his company.
+
+[Illustration: "Katherine, I am in great earnest"]
+
+A moment's reflection convinced Neil that it was his wisest plan to
+accede. It was of the utmost importance that his father should be kept
+absolutely ignorant of his quarrel with Hyde; for Neil was certain that,
+if he suspected their intention to fight, he would invoke the aid of the
+law to preserve peace, and such a course would infallibly subject him to
+suspicions which would be worse than death to his proud spirit.
+
+"Weel, Neil, my dear lad, you are early hame. Where were you the night?"
+
+"I have just left Katherine, sir, having followed your advice in my
+wooing. I wish I had done so earlier."
+
+"Ay, ay; when a man is seventy years auld, he has read the book o' life,
+'specially the chapter anent women, and he kens a' about them. A bonnie
+lass expects to hae a kind o' worship; but the service is na unpleasant,
+quite the contrary. Did you see Captain Hyde?"
+
+"We met near Broadway, and exchanged civilities."
+
+"A gude thing to exchange. When Gordon gets back frae Albany, I'll hae a
+talk wi' him, and I'll get the captain sent there. In Albany there are
+bonnie lasses and rich lasses in plenty for him to try his enchantments
+on. There was talk o' sending him there months syne; it will be done ere
+long, or my name isna Alexander Semple."
+
+"I see you are casting up the kirk accounts. Can I help you, father?"
+
+"I hae everything ready for the consistory. Neil, what is the gude o' us
+speaking o' this and that, and thinking that we are deceiving each
+other? I am vera anxious anent affairs between Captain Hyde and
+yoursel'; and I'm 'feard you'll be coming to hot words, maybe to blows,
+afore I manage to put twa hundred miles atween you. My lad, my ain dear
+lad! You are the Joseph o' a' my sons; you are the joy o' your mother's
+life. For our sake, keep a calm sough, and dinna let a fool provoke you
+to break our hearts, and maybe send you into God's presence uncalled and
+unblessed.
+
+"Father, put yoursel' in my place. How would you feel toward Captain
+Hyde?"
+
+"Weel, I'll allow that I wouldna feel kindly. I dinna feel kindly to
+him, even in my ain place."
+
+"As you desire it, we will speak plainly to each other anent this
+subject. You know his proud and hasty temper; you know also that I am
+more like yourself than like Moses in the way of meekness. Now, if
+Captain Hyde insults me, what course would you advise me to adopt?"
+
+"I wouldna gie him the chance to insult you. I would keep oot o' his
+way. There is naething unusual or discreditable in taking a journey to
+Boston, to speir after the welfare o' your brother Alexander."
+
+"Oh, indeed, sir, I cannot leave my affairs for an insolent and
+ungrateful fool! I ask your advice for the ordinary way of life, not for
+the way that cowardice or fear dictates. If without looking for him, or
+avoiding him, we meet, and a quarrel is inevitable, what then, father?"
+
+"Ay, weel, in that case, God prevent it! But in sic a strait, my lad, it
+is better to gie the insult than to tak' it."
+
+"You know what must follow?"
+
+"Wha doesna ken? Blood, if not murder. Neil, you are a wise and prudent
+lad; now, isna the sword o' the law sharper than the rapier o' honour?"
+
+"Law has no remedy for the wrongs men of honour redress with the sword.
+A man may call me every shameful name; but, unless I can show some
+actual loss in money or money's worth, I have no redress. And suppose
+that I tried it, and that after long sufferance and delays I got my
+demands, pray, sir, tell me, how can offences which have flogged a man's
+most sacred feelings be atoned for by something to put in the pocket?"
+
+"Society, Neil"--
+
+"Society, father, always convicts and punishes the man who takes an
+insult _on view_, without waiting for his indictment or trial."
+
+"There ought to be a law, Neil"--
+
+"No law will administer itself, sir. The statute-book is a dead letter
+when it conflicts with public opinion. There is not a week passes but
+you may see that for yourself, father. If a man is insulted, he must
+protect his honour; and he will do so until the law is able to protect
+him better than his own strength."
+
+"There is another way--a mair Christian way"--
+
+"The world has not taken it yet; at any rate, I am very sure none of the
+Semples have."
+
+"You are, maybe, o'er sure, Neil. Deacon Van Vorst has said mair than my
+natural man could thole, many a time, in the sessions and oot o' them;
+but the dominie aye stood between us wi' his word, and we hae managed
+so far to keep the peace, though a mair pig-headed, provoking,
+pugnacious auld Dutchman never sat down on the dominie's left hand."
+
+"Then, father, if Captain Hyde should quarrel with me, and if he should
+challenge me, you advise me to refuse the challenge, and to send for the
+dominie to settle the matter?"
+
+"I didna say the like o' that, Neil. I am an auld man, and Van Vorst is
+an aulder one. We'd be a bonnie picture wi' drawn swords in oor shaking
+hands; though, for mysel', I may say that there wasna a better fencer in
+Ayrshire, and _that_ the houses o' Lockerby and Lanark hae reason to
+remember. And I wouldna hae the honour o' the Semples doubted; I'd fight
+myself first. But I'm in a sair strait, Neil; and oh, my dear lad, what
+will I say, when it's the Word o' the Lord on one hand, and the scaith
+and scorn of a' men on the other? But I'll trust to your prudence, Neil,
+and no begin to feel the weight o' a misery that may ne'er come my way.
+All my life lang, when evils hae threatened me, I hae sought God's help;
+and He has either averted them or turned them to my advantage."
+
+"That is a good consolation, father."
+
+"It is that; and I ken nae better plan for life than, when I rise up, to
+gie mysel' to His direction, and, when I lay me down to sleep, to gie
+mysel' to His care."
+
+"In such comfortable assurance, sir, I think we may say good-night. I
+have business early in the morning, and may not wait for your company,
+if you will excuse me so far."
+
+"Right; vera right, Neil. The dawn has gold in its hand. I used to be
+an early worker mysel'; but I'm an auld man noo, and may claim some
+privileges. Good-night, Neil, and a good-morning to follow it."
+
+Neil then lit his candle; and, not forgetting that courteous salute
+which the young then always rendered to honourable age, he went slowly
+upstairs, feeling suddenly a great weariness and despair. If Katherine
+had only been true to him! He was sure, then, that he could have fought
+almost joyfully any pretender to her favour. But he was deserted by the
+girl whom he had loved all her sweet life. He was betrayed by the man
+who had shared the hospitality of his home, and in the cause of such
+loss, compelled to hazard a life opening up with fair hopes of honour
+and distinction.
+
+In the calm of his own chamber, through the silent, solemn hours, when
+the world was shut out of his life, Neil reviewed his position; but he
+could find no honourable way out of his predicament. Physically, he was
+as brave as brave could be; morally, he had none of that grander courage
+which made Joris Van Heemskirk laugh to scorn the idea of yielding God's
+gift of life at the demand of a passionate fool. He was quite sensible
+that his first words to Captain Hyde that night had been intended to
+provoke a quarrel, and he knew that he would be expected to redeem them
+by a formal defiance. However, as the idea became familiar, it became
+imperative; and at length it was with a fierce satisfaction that he
+opened his desk and without hesitation wrote the decisive words:
+
+[Illustration: "In the interim, at your service"]
+
+To CAPTAIN RICHARD HYDE OF HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE: SIR: A person of the
+character I bear cannot allow the treachery and dishonourable conduct of
+which you have been guilty to pass without punishment. Convince me that
+you are more of a gentleman than I have reason to believe, by meeting me
+to-night as the sun drops in the wood on the Kalchhook Hill. Our seconds
+can locate the spot; and that you may have no pretence to delay, I send
+by bearer two swords, of which I give you the privilege to make choice.
+
+                                   In the interim, at your service,
+                                                       NEIL SEMPLE.
+
+He had already selected Adrian Beekman as his second. He was a young
+man of wealth and good family, exceedingly anxious for social
+distinction, and, moreover, so fastidiously honourable that Neil felt
+himself in his hands to be beyond reproach. As he anticipated, Beekman
+accepted the duty with alacrity, and, indeed, so promptly carried out
+his principal's instructions, that he found Captain Hyde still sleeping
+when he waited upon him. But Hyde was neither astonished nor annoyed. He
+laughed lightly at "Mr. Semple's impatience of offence," and directed
+Mr. Beekman to Captain Earle as his second; leaving the choice of swords
+and of the ground entirely to his direction.
+
+"A more civil, agreeable, handsome gentleman, impossible it would be to
+find; and I think the hot haughty temper of Neil is to blame in this
+affair," was Beekman's private comment. But he stood watchfully by his
+principal's interests, and affected a gentlemanly disapproval of Captain
+Hyde's behaviour.
+
+And lightly as Hyde had taken the challenge, he was really more
+disinclined to fight than Neil was. In his heart he knew that Semple had
+a just cause of anger; "but then," he argued, "Neil is a proud, pompous
+fellow, for whom I never assumed a friendship. His father's hospitality
+I regret in any way to have abused; but who the deuce could have
+suspected that Neil Semple was in love with the adorable Katherine? In
+faith, I did not at the first, and now 'tis too late. I would not resign
+the girl for my life; for I am sensible that life, if she is another's,
+will be a very tedious thing to me."
+
+All day Neil was busy in making his will, and in disposing of his
+affairs. He knew himself well enough to be certain, that, if he struck
+the first blow, he would not hesitate to strike the death blow, and that
+nothing less than such conclusion would satisfy him. Hyde also
+anticipated a deathly persistence of animosity in his opponent, and felt
+equally the necessity for some definite arrangement of his business.
+Unfortunately, it was in a very confused state. He owed many debts of
+honour, and Cohen's bill was yet unsettled. He drank a cup of coffee,
+wrote several important letters, and then went to Fraunce's, and had a
+steak and a bottle of wine. During his meal his thoughts wandered
+between Katherine and the Jew Cohen. After it he went straight to
+Cohen's store.
+
+It happened to be Saturday; and the shutters were closed, though the
+door was slightly open, and Cohen was sitting with his granddaughter in
+the cool shadows of the crowded place. Hyde was not in a ceremonious
+mood, and he took no thought of it being the Jew's sabbath. He pushed
+wider the door, and went clattering into their presence; and with an air
+of pride and annoyance the Jew rose to meet him. At the same time, by a
+quick look of intelligence, he dismissed Miriam; but she did not retreat
+farther than within the deeper shadows of some curtains of stamped
+Moorish leather, for she anticipated the immediate departure of the
+intruder.
+
+She was therefore astonished when her grandfather, after listening to a
+few sentences, sat down, and entered into a lengthy conversation. And
+her curiosity was also aroused; for, though Hyde had often been in the
+store, she had never hitherto seen him in such a sober mood, it was also
+remarkable that on the sabbath her grandfather should receive papers,
+and a ring which she watched Hyde take from his finger; and there was,
+beside, a solemn, a final air about the transaction which gave her the
+feeling of some anticipated tragedy.
+
+When at last they rose, Hyde extended his hand. "Cohen," he said, "few
+men would have been as generous and, at this hour, as considerate as
+you. I have judged from tradition, and misjudged you. Whether we meet
+again or not, we part as friends."
+
+"You have settled all things as a gentleman, Captain. May my white hairs
+say a word to your heart this hour?" Hyde bowed; and he continued, in a
+voice of serious benignity: "The words of the Holy One are to be
+regarded, and not the words of men. Men call that 'honour' which He will
+call murder. What excuse is there in your lips if you go this night into
+His presence?"
+
+There was no excuse in Hyde's lips, even for his mortal interrogator. He
+merely bowed again, and slipped through the partially opened door into
+the busy street. Then Cohen put clean linen upon his head and arm, and
+went and stood with his face to the east, and recited, in low,
+rhythmical sentences, the prayer called the "Assault." Miriam sat quiet
+during his devotion but, when he returned to his place, she asked him
+plainly, "What murder is there to be, grandfather?"
+
+"It is a duel between Captain Hyde and another. It shall be called
+murder at the last."
+
+"The other, who is he?"
+
+"The young man Semple."
+
+"I am sorry. He is a courteous young man. I have heard you say so. I
+have heard you speak well of him."
+
+"O Miriam, what sin and sorrow thy sex ever bring to those who love it!
+There are two young lives to be put in death peril for the smile of a
+woman,--a very girl she is."
+
+"Do I know her, grandfather?"
+
+"She passes here often. The daughter of Van Heemskirk,--the little fair
+one, the child."
+
+"Oh, but now I am twice sorry! She has smiled at me often. We have even
+spoken. The good old man, her father, will die; and her brother, he was
+always like a watch-dog at her side."
+
+"But not the angels in heaven can watch a woman. For a lover, be he good
+or bad, she will put heaven behind her back, and stand on the brink of
+perdition. Miriam, if thou should deceive me,--as thy mother did,--God
+of Israel, may I not know it!"
+
+"Though I die, I will not deceive you, grandfather."
+
+"The Holy One hears thee, Miriam. Let Him be between us."
+
+Then Cohen, with his hands on his staff, and his head in them, sat
+meditating, perhaps praying; and the hot, silent moments went slowly
+away. In them, Miriam was coming to a decision which at first alarmed
+her, but which, as it grew familiar, grew also lawful and kind. She was
+quite certain that her grandfather would not interfere between the
+young men, and probably he had given Hyde his promise not to do so; but
+she neither had received a charge, nor entered into any obligation, of
+silence. A word to Van Heemskirk or to the Elder Semple would be
+sufficient. Should she not say it? Her heart answered "yes," although
+she did not clearly perceive how the warning was to be given.
+
+Perhaps Cohen divined her purpose, and was not unfavourable to it; for
+he suddenly rose, and, putting on his cap, said, "I am going to see my
+kinsman John Cohen. At sunset, set wide the door; an hour after sunset I
+will return."
+
+As soon as he had gone, Miriam wrote to Van Heemskirk these words: "Good
+sir,--This is a matter of life and death: so then, come at once, and I
+will tell you. MIRIAM COHEN."
+
+With the slip of paper in her hand, she stood within the door, watching
+for some messenger she could trust. It was not many minutes before Van
+Heemskirk's driver passed, leading his loaded wagon; and to him she gave
+the note.
+
+That day Joris had gone home earlier than usual, and Bram only was in
+the store. But it was part of his duty to open and attend to orders, and
+he supposed the strip of paper to refer to a barrel of flour or some
+other household necessity.
+
+Its actual message was so unusual and unlooked for, that it took him a
+moment or two to realize the words; then, fearing it might be some
+practical joke, he recalled the driver, and heard with amazement that
+the Jew's granddaughter had herself given him the message. Assured of
+this fact, he answered the summons for his father promptly. Miriam was
+waiting just within the door; and, scarcely heeding his explanation, she
+proceeded at once to give him such information as she possessed. Bram
+was slow of thought and slow of speech. He stood gazing at the
+beautiful, earnest girl, and felt all the fear and force of her words;
+but for some moments he could not speak, nor decide on his first step.
+
+[Illustration: "Why do you wait?"]
+
+"Why do you wait?" pleaded Miriam. "At sunset, I tell you. It is now
+near it. Oh, no thanks! Do not stop for them, but hasten to them at
+once."
+
+He obeyed like one in a dream; but, before he had reached Semple's
+store, he had fully realized the actual situation. Semple was just
+leaving business. He put his hand on him, and said, "Elder, no time have
+you to lose. At sunset, Neil and that d---- English soldier a duel are to
+fight."
+
+"Eh? Where? Who told you?"
+
+"On the Kalchhook Hill. Stay not for a moment's talk."
+
+"Run for your father, Bram. Run, my lad. Get Van Gaasbeeck's light
+wagon as you go, and ask your mother for a mattress. Dinna stand
+glowering at me, but awa' with you. I'll tak' twa o' my ain lads and my
+ain wagon, and be there instanter. God help me! God spare the lad!"
+
+At that moment Neil and Hyde were on their road to the fatal spot. Neil
+had been gathering anger all day; Hyde, a vague regret. The folly of
+what they were going to do was clear to both; but Neil was dominated by
+a fury of passion, which made the folly a revengeful joy. If there had
+been any thought of an apology in Hyde's heart, he must have seen its
+hopelessness in the white wrath of Neil's face, and the calm
+deliberation with which he assumed and prepared for a fatal termination
+of the affair.
+
+The sun dropped as the seconds measured off the space and offered the
+lot for the standing ground. Then Neil flung off his coat and waistcoat,
+and stood with bared breast on the spot his second indicated. This
+action had been performed in such a passion of hurry, that he was
+compelled to watch Hyde's more calm and leisurely movements. He removed
+his fine scarlet coat and handed it to Captain Earle, and would then
+have taken his sword; but Beekman advanced to remove also his waistcoat.
+The suspicion implied by this act roused the soldier's indignation. "Do
+you take me to be a person of so little honour?" he passionately asked;
+and then with his own hands he tore off the richly embroidered satin
+garment, and by so doing exposed what perhaps some delicate feeling had
+made him wish to conceal,--a bow of orange ribbon which he wore above
+his heart.
+
+The sight of it to Neil was like oil flung upon flame. He could scarcely
+restrain himself until the word "_go_" gave him license to charge Hyde,
+which he did with such impetuous rage, that it was evident he cared less
+to preserve his own life, than to slay his enemy.
+
+Hyde was an excellent swordsman, and had fought several duels; but he
+was quite disconcerted by the deadly reality of Neil's attack. In the
+second thrust, his foot got entangled in a tuft of grass; and, in
+evading a lunge aimed at his heart, he fell on his right side.
+Supporting himself, however, on his sword hand, he sprang backwards with
+great dexterity, and thus escaped the probable death-blow. But, as he
+was bleeding from a wound in the throat, his second interfered, and
+proposed a reconciliation. Neil angrily refused to listen. He declared
+that he "had not come to enact a farce;" and then, happening to glance
+at the ribbon on Hyde's breast, he swore furiously, "He would make his
+way through the body of any man who stood between him and his just
+anger."
+
+[Illustration: The swords of both men sprung from their hands]
+
+Up to this point, there had been in Hyde's mind a latent disinclination
+to slay Neil. After it, he flung away every kind memory; and the fight
+was renewed with an almost brutal impetuosity, until there ensued one of
+those close locks which it was evident nothing but "the key of the body
+could open." In the frightful wrench which followed, the swords of both
+men sprang from their hands, flying some four or five yards upward with
+the force. Both recovered their weapons at the same time, and both,
+bleeding and exhausted, would have again renewed the fight; but at that
+moment Van Heemskirk and Semple, with their attendants, reached the spot.
+
+Without hesitation, they threw themselves between the young men,--Van
+Heemskirk facing Hyde, and the elder his son. "Neil, you dear lad, you
+born fool, gie me your weapon instanter, sir!" But there was no need to
+say another word. Neil fell senseless upon his sword, making in his fall
+a last desperate effort to reach the ribbon on Hyde's breast; for Hyde
+had also dropped fainting to the ground, bleeding from at least half a
+dozen wounds. Then one of Semple's young men, who had probably defined
+the cause of quarrel, and who felt a sympathy for his young master, made
+as if he would pick up the fatal bit of orange satin, now died crimson
+in Hyde's blood.
+
+But Joris pushed the rifling hand fiercely away. "To touch it would be
+the vilest theft," he said. "His own it is. With his life he has bought
+it."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+          "_I know I felt Love's face
+           Pressed on my neck, with moan of pity and grace,
+           Till both our heads were in his aureole_."
+
+
+The news of the duel spread with the proverbial rapidity of evil news.
+At the doors of all the public houses, in every open shop, on every
+private stoop, and at the street-corners, people were soon discussing
+the event, with such additions and comments as their imaginations and
+prejudices suggested. One party insisted that lawyer Semple was dead;
+another, that it was the English officer; a third, that both died as
+they were being carried from the ground.
+
+Batavius, who had lingered to the last moment at the house which he was
+building, heard the story from many a lip as he went home. He was
+bitterly indignant at Katherine. He felt, indeed, as if his own
+character for morality of every kind had been smirched by his intended
+connection with her. And his Joanna! How wicked Katherine had been not
+to remember that she had a sister whose spotless name would be tarnished
+by her kinship! He was hot with haste and anger when he reached Van
+Heemskirk's house.
+
+Madam stood with Joanna on the front-stoop, looking anxiously down the
+road. She was aware that Bram had called for his father, and she had
+heard them leave the house together in unexplained haste. At first, the
+incident did not trouble her much. Perhaps one of the valuable Norman
+horses was sick, or there was an unexpected ship in, or an unusually
+large order. Bram was a young man who relied greatly on his father. She
+only worried because supper must be delayed an hour, and that delay
+would also keep back the completion of that exquisite order in which it
+was her habit to leave the house for the sabbath rest.
+
+After some time had elapsed, she went upstairs, and began to lay out the
+clean linen and the kirk clothes. Suddenly she noticed that it was
+nearly dark; and, with a feeling of hurry and anxiety, she remembered
+the delayed meal. Joanna was on the front-stoop watching for Batavius,
+who was also unusually late; and, like many other loving women, she
+could think of nothing good which might have detained him, but her heart
+was full only of evil apprehensions.
+
+"Where is Katherine?" That was the mother's first question, and she
+called her through the house. From the closed best parlour, Katherine
+came, white and weeping.
+
+"What is the matter, then, that you are crying? And why into the dark
+room go you?"
+
+"Full of sorrow I am, mother, and I went to the room to pray to God; but
+I cannot pray."
+
+"'Full of sorrow.' Yes, for that Englishman you are full of sorrow. And
+how can you pray when you are disobeying your good father? God will not
+hear you."
+
+The mother was not pitiless; but she was anxious and troubled, and
+Katherine's grief irritated her at the moment. "Go and tell Dinorah to
+bring in the tea. The work of the house must go on," she muttered. "And
+I think, that it was Saturday night Joris might have remembered."
+
+Then she went back to Joanna, and stood with her, looking through the
+gray mist down the road, and feeling even the croaking of the frogs and
+the hum of the insects to be an unusual provocation. Just as Dinorah
+said, "The tea is served, madam," the large figure of Batavius loomed
+through the gathering grayness; and the women waited for him. He came up
+the steps without his usual greeting; and his face was so injured and
+portentous that Joanna, with a little cry, put her arms around his neck.
+He gently removed them.
+
+"No time is this, Joanna, for embracing. A great disgrace has come to
+the family; and I, who have always stood up for morality, must bear it
+too."
+
+"Disgrace! The word goes not with our name, Batavius; and what mean you,
+then? In one word, speak."
+
+But Batavius loved too well any story that was to be wondered over, to
+give it in a word; though madam's manner snubbed him a little, and he
+said, with less of the air of a wronged man,--
+
+"Well, then, Neil Semple and Captain Hyde have fought a duel. That is
+what comes of giving way to passion. I never fought a duel. No one
+should make me. It is a fixed principle with me."
+
+"But what? And how?"
+
+"With swords they fought. Like two devils they fought, as if to pieces
+they would cut each other."
+
+"Poor Neil! His fault I am sure it was not."
+
+"Joanna! Neil is nearly dead. If he had been in the right, he would not
+be nearly dead. The Lord does not forsake a person who is in the right
+way."
+
+In the hall behind them Katherine stood. The pallor of her face, the
+hopeless droop of her white shoulders and arms, were visible in its
+gloomy shadows. Softly as a spirit she walked as she drew nearer to
+them.
+
+"And the Englishman? Is he hurt?"
+
+"Killed. He has at least twenty wounds. Till morning he will not live.
+It was the councillor himself who separated the men."
+
+"My good Joris, it was like him."
+
+For a moment Katherine's consciousness reeled. The roar of the ocean
+which girds our life round was in her ears, the feeling of chill and
+collapse at her heart. But with a supreme will she took possession of
+herself. "Weak I will not be. All I will know. All I will suffer." And
+with these thoughts she went back to the room, and took her place at the
+table. In a few minutes the rest followed. Batavius did not speak to
+her. It was also something of a cross to him that madam would not talk
+of the event. He did not think that Katherine deserved to have her
+ill-regulated feelings so far considered, and he had almost a sense of
+personal injury in the restraint of the whole household.
+
+He had anticipated madam's amazement and shock. He had felt a just
+satisfaction in the suffering he was bringing to Katherine. He had
+determined to point out to Joanna the difference between herself and her
+sister, and the blessedness of her own lot in loving so respectably and
+prudently as she had done. But nothing had happened as he expected. The
+meal, instead of being pleasantly lengthened over such dreadful
+intelligence, was hurried and silent. Katherine, instead of making
+herself an image of wailing or unconscious remorse, sat like other
+people at the table, and pretended to drink her tea.
+
+It was some comfort that after it Joanna and he could walk in the
+garden, and talk the affair thoroughly over. Katherine watched them
+away, and then she fled to her room. For a few minutes she could let her
+sorrow have way, and it would help her to bear the rest. And oh, how she
+wept! She took from their hiding-place the few letters her lover had
+written her, and she mourned over them as women mourn in such
+extremities. She kissed the words with passionate love; she vowed, amid
+her broken ejaculations of tenderness, to be faithful to him if he
+lived, to be faithful to his memory if he died. She never thought of
+Neil; or, if she did, it was with an anger that frightened her. In the
+full tide of her anguish, Lysbet stood at the door. She heard the
+inarticulate words of woe, and her heart ached for her child. She had
+followed her to give her comfort, to weep with her; but she felt that
+hour that Katherine was no more a child to be soothed with her mother's
+kiss. She had become a woman, and a woman's sorrow had found her.
+
+[Illustration: Oh, how she wept!]
+
+It was near ten o'clock when Joris came home. His face was troubled, his
+clothing disarranged and blood-stained; and Lysbet never remembered to
+have seen him so completely exhausted. "Bram is with Neil," he said; "he
+will not be home."
+
+"And thou?"
+
+"I helped them carry--the other. To the 'King's Arms' we took him. A
+strong man was needed until their work the surgeons had done. I stayed;
+that is all."
+
+"Live will he?"
+
+"His right lung is pierced clean through. A bad wound in the throat he
+has. At death's door is he, from loss of the blood. But then, youth he
+has, and a great spirit, and hope. I wish not for his death, my God
+knows."
+
+"Neil, what of him?"
+
+"Unconscious he was when I left him at his home. I stayed not there. His
+father and his mother were by his side; Bram also. Does Katherine know?"
+
+"She knows."
+
+"How then?"
+
+"O Joris, if in her room thou could have heard her crying! My heart for
+her aches, the sorrowful one!"
+
+"See, then, that this lesson she miss not. It is a hard one, but learn
+it she must. If thy love would pass it by, think this, for her good it
+is. Many bitter things are in it. What unkind words will now be said!
+Also, my share in the matter I must tell in the kirk session; and
+Dominie de Ronde is not one slack in giving the reproof. With our own
+people a disgrace it will be counted. Can I not hear Van Vleek grumble,
+'Well, now, I hope Joris Van Heemskirk has had enough of his fine
+English company;' and Elder Brouwer will say, 'He must marry his
+daughter to an Englishman; and, see, what has come of it;' and that evil
+old woman, Madam Van Corlaer, will shake her head and whisper, 'Yes,
+neighbours, and depend upon it, the girl is of a light mind and bad
+morals, and it is her fault; and I shall take care my nieces to her
+speak no more.' So it will be; Katherine herself will find it so."
+
+"The poor child! Sorry am I she ever went to Madam Semple's to see Mrs.
+Gordon. If thy word I had taken, Joris!"
+
+"If my word the elder also had taken. When first, he told me that his
+house he would offer to the Gordons, I said to him, 'So foolish art
+them! In the end, what does not fit will fight.' If to-night them could
+have seen Mistress Gordon when she heard of her nephew's hurt. Without
+one word of regret, without one word of thanks, and in a great passion,
+she left the house. For Neil she cared not. 'He had been ever an envious
+kill-joy. He had ever hated her dear Dick. He had ever been jealous of
+any one handsomer than himself. He was a black dog in the manger; and
+she hoped, with all her heart, that Dick had done for him.' Beside
+herself with grief and passion she was, or the elder had not borne so
+patiently her words."
+
+"As her own son, she loved him."
+
+"Yea, Lysbet; but _just_ one should be. Weary and sad am I to-night."
+
+The next morning was the sabbath, and many painful questions suggested
+themselves to Joris and Lysbet Van Heemskirk. Joris felt that he must
+not take his seat among the deacons until he had been fully exonerated
+of all blame of blood-guiltiness by the dominie and his elders and
+deacons in full kirk session. Madam could hardly endure the thought of
+the glances that would be thrown at her daughter, and the probable
+slights she would receive. Batavius plainly showed an aversion to being
+seen in Katherine's company. But these things did not seem to Joris a
+sufficient reason for neglecting worship. He thought it best for people
+to face the unpleasant consequences of wrong-doing; and he added, "In
+trouble also, my dear ones, where should we go but into the house of the
+good God?"
+
+Katherine had not spoken during the discussion but, when it was over,
+she said, "_Mijn vader, mijn moeder_, to-day I cannot go! For me have
+some pity. The dominie I will speak to first; and what he says, I will
+do."
+
+"Between me and thy _moeder_ thou shalt be."
+
+"Bear it I cannot. I shall fall down, I shall be ill; and there shall be
+shame and fear, and the service to make stop, and then more wonder and
+more talk, and the dominie angry also! At home I am the best."
+
+"Well, then, so it shall be."
+
+But Joris was stern to Katherine, and his anger added the last
+bitterness to her grief. No one had said a word of reproach to her; but,
+equally, no one had said a word of pity. Even Joanna was shy and cold,
+for Batavius had made her feel that one's own sister may fall below
+moral par and sympathy. "If either of the men die," he had said, "I
+shall always consider Katherine guilty of murder; and nowhere in the
+Holy Scriptures are we told to forgive murder, Joanna. And even while
+the matter is uncertain, is it not right to be careful? Are we not told
+to avoid even the appearance of evil?" So that, with this charge before
+him, Batavius felt that countenancing Katherine in any way was not
+keeping it.
+
+And certainly the poor girl might well fear the disapproval of the
+general public, when her own family made her feel her fault so keenly.
+The kirk that morning would have been the pillory to her. She was
+unspeakably grateful for the solitude of the house, for space and
+silence, in which she could have the relief of unrestrained weeping.
+About the middle of the morning, she heard Bram's footsteps. She divined
+_why_ he had come home, and she shrank from meeting him until he removed
+the clothing he had worn during the night's bloody vigil. Bram had not
+thought of Katherine's staying from kirk; and when she confronted him,
+so tear-stained and woe-begone, his heart was full of pity for her. "My
+poor little Katherine!" he said; and she threw her arms around his neck,
+and sobbed upon his breast as if her heart would break.
+
+[Illustration: "O Bram! is he dead?"]
+
+"_Mijn kleintje_, who has grieved thee?"
+
+"O Bram! is he dead?"
+
+"Who? Neil? I think he will get well once more."
+
+"What care I for Neil? The wicked one! I wish that he might die. Yes,
+that I do."
+
+"Whish!--to say that is wrong."
+
+"Bram! Bram! A little pity give me. It is the other one. Hast thou
+heard?"
+
+"How can he live? Look at that sorrow, dear one, and ask God to forgive
+and help thee."
+
+"No, I will not look at it. I will ask God every moment that he may get
+well. Could I help that I should love him? So kind, so generous, is he!
+Oh, my dear one, my dear one, would I had died for thee!"
+
+Bram was much moved. Within the last twenty-four hours he had begun to
+understand the temptation in which Katherine had been; begun to
+understand that love never asks, 'What is thy name? Of what country art
+thou? Who is thy father?' He felt that so long as he lived he must
+remember Miriam Cohen as she stood talking to him in the shadowy store.
+Beauty like hers was strange and wonderful to the young Dutchman. He
+could not forget her large eyes, soft and brown as gazelle's; the warm
+pallor and brilliant carnation of her complexion; her rosy, tender
+mouth; her abundant black hair, fastened with large golden pins, studded
+with jewels. He could not forget the grace of her figure, straight and
+slim as a young palm-tree, clad in a plain dark garment, and a
+neckerchief of white India silk falling away from her exquisite throat.
+He did not yet know that he was in love; he only felt how sweet it was
+to sit still and dream of the dim place, and the splendidly beautiful
+girl standing among its piled-up furniture and its hanging draperies.
+And this memory of Miriam made him very pitiful to Katherine.
+
+"Every one is angry at me, Bram, even my father; and Batavius will not
+sit on the chair at my side; and Joanna says a great disgrace I have
+made for her. And thou? Wilt thou also scold me? I think I shall die of
+grief."
+
+"Scold thee, thou little one? That I will not. And those that are angry
+with thee may be angry with me also. And if there is any comfort I can
+get thee, tell thy brother Bram. He will count thee first, before all
+others. How could they make thee weep? Cruel are they to do so. And as
+for Batavius, mind him not. Not much I think of Batavius! If he says
+this or that to thee, I will answer him."
+
+"Bram! my Bram! my brother! There is one comfort for me,--if I knew that
+he still lived; if one hope thou could give me!"
+
+"What hope there is, I will go and see. Before they are back from kirk,
+I will be back; and, if there is good news, I will be glad for thee."
+
+Not half an hour was Bram away; and yet, to the miserable girl, how
+grief and fear lengthened out the moments! She tried to prepare herself
+for the worst; she tried to strengthen her soul even for the message of
+death. But very rarely is any grief as bad as our own terror of it. When
+Bram came back, it was with a word of hope on his lips.
+
+"I have seen," he said, "who dost thou think?--the Jew Cohen. He of all
+men, he has sat by Captain Hyde's side all night; and he has dressed the
+wound the English surgeon declared 'beyond mortal skill.' And he said to
+me, 'Three times, in the Persian desert, I have cured wounds still
+worse, and the Holy One hath given me the power of healing; and, if He
+wills, the young man shall recover.' That is what he said, Katherine."
+
+"Forever I will love the Jew. Though he fail, I will love him. So kind
+he is, even to those who have not spoken well, nor done well, to him."
+
+"So kind, also, was the son of David to all of us. Now, then, go wash
+thy face, and take comfort and courage."
+
+"Bram, leave me not."
+
+"There is Neil. We have been companions; and his father and his mother
+are old, and need me."
+
+"Also, I need thee. All the time they will make me to feel how wicked is
+Katherine Van Heemskirk!"
+
+At this moment the family returned from the morning service, and Bram
+rather defiantly drew his sister to his side. Joris was not with them.
+He had stopped at the "King's Arms" to ask if Captain Hyde was still
+alive; for, in spite of everything, the young man's heroic cheerfulness
+in the agony of the preceding night had deeply touched Joris. No one
+spoke to Katherine; even her mother was annoyed and humiliated at the
+social ordeal through which they had just passed, and she thought it
+only reasonable that the erring girl should be made to share the trial.
+Batavius, however, had much curiosity; and his first thought on seeing
+Bram at home was, "Neil is of course dead, and Bram is of no further
+use;" and, in the tone of one personally injured by such a fatality, he
+ejaculated,--
+
+"So it is the end, then. On the sabbath day Neil has gone. If it should
+be the sabbath day in the other world,--which is likely,--it will be the
+worse for Neil."
+
+"What mean you?"
+
+"Is not Neil Semple dead?"
+
+"No. I think, also, that he will live."
+
+"I am glad. It is good for Katherine."
+
+"I see it not."
+
+"Well, then, if he dies, is it not Katherine's fault?"
+
+"Heaven and hell! No! Katherine is not to blame."
+
+"All respectable and moral people will say so."
+
+"Better for them not to say so. If I hear of it, then I will make them
+say it to my face."
+
+"Then? Well?"
+
+"I have my hands and my feet, for them--to punish their tongues."
+
+"And the kirk session?"
+
+"Oh, I care not! What is the kirk session to my little Katherine?
+Batavius, if man or woman you hear speak ill of her, tell them it is not
+Katherine, but Bram Van Heemskirk, that will bring everything back to
+them. What words I say, them I mean."
+
+"Oh, yes! And mind this, Bram, the words I think, them words I will say,
+whether you like them or like them not."
+
+"As the wind you bluster,--on the sabbath day, also. In your ship I sail
+not, Batavius. Good-by, then, Katherine; and if any are unkind to thee,
+tell thy brother. For thou art right, and not wrong."
+
+But, though Bram bravely championed his sister, he could not protect her
+from those wicked innuendoes disseminated for the gratification of the
+virtuous; nor from those malicious regrets of very good people over
+rumours which they declare to "be incredible," and yet which,
+nevertheless, they "unfortunately believe to be too true." The Scotch
+have a national precept which says, "Never speak ill of the dead."
+Would it not be much better to speak no ill of the living? Little could
+it have mattered to Madam Bogardus or Madam Stuyvesant what a lot of
+silly people said of them in Pearl Street or Maiden Lane, a century
+after their death; but poor Katherine Van Heemskirk shivered and
+sickened in the presence of averted eyes and uplifted shoulders, and in
+that chill atmosphere of disapproval which separated her from the
+sympathy and confidence of her old friends and acquaintances.
+
+"It is thy punishment," said her mother, "bear it bravely and patiently.
+In a little while, it will be forgot." But the weeks went on, and the
+wounded men slowly fought death away from their pillows, and Katherine
+did not recover the place in social estimation which she had lost
+through the ungovernable tempers of her lovers. For, alas, there are few
+social pleasures that have so much vital power as that of exploring the
+faults of others, and comparing them with our own virtues!
+
+But nothing ill lasts forever; and in three months Neil Semple was in
+his office again, wan and worn with fever and suffering, and wearing his
+sword arm in a sling, but still decidedly world-like and life-like. It
+was characteristic of Neil that few, even of his intimates, cared to
+talk of the duel to him, to make any observations on his absence, or any
+inquiries about his health. But it was evident that public opinion was
+in a large measure with him. Every young Provincial, who resented the
+domineering spirit of the army, felt Hyde's punishment in the light of a
+personal satisfaction. Beekman also had talked highly of the unbending
+spirit and physical bravery of his principal; and though in the Middle
+Kirk the affair was sure to be the subject of a reproof, and of a
+suspension of its highest privileges, yet it was not difficult to feel
+that sympathy often given to deeds publicly censured, but privately
+admired. Joris remarked this spirit with a little astonishment and
+dissent. He could not find in his heart any excuse for either Neil or
+Hyde; and, when the elder enlarged with some acerbity upon the
+requirements of honour among men, Joris offended him by replying,--
+
+"Well, then, Elder, little I think of that 'honour' which runs not with
+the laws of God and country."
+
+"Let me tell you, Joris, the 'voice of the people is the voice of God,'
+in a measure; and you may see with your ain een that it mair than
+acquits Neil o' wrong-doing. Man, Joris! would you punish a fair
+sword-fight wi' the hangman?"
+
+"A better way there is. In the pillory I would stand these men of
+honour, who of their own feelings think more than of the law of God. A
+very quick end that punishment would put to a custom wicked and absurd."
+
+"Weel, Joris, we'll hae no quarrel anent the question. You are a
+Dutchman, and hae practical ideas o' things in general. Honour is a
+virtue that canna be put in the Decalogue, like idolatry and murder and
+theft."
+
+"Say you the Decalogue? Its yea and nay are enough. Harder than any of
+God's laws are the laws we make for ourselves. Little I think of their
+justice and wisdom. If right was Neil, if wrong was Hyde, honour
+punished both. A very foolish law is honour, I think."
+
+"Here comes Neil, and we'll let the question fa' to the ground. There
+are wiser men than either you or I on baith sides."
+
+Joris nodded gravely, and turned to welcome the young man. More than
+ever he liked him; for, apart from moral and prudential reasons, it was
+easy for the father to forgive an unreasonable love for his Katharine.
+Also, he was now more anxious for a marriage between Neil and his
+daughter. It was indeed the best thing to fully restore her to the
+social esteem of her own people; for by making her his wife, Neil would
+most emphatically exonerate her from all blame in the quarrel. Just this
+far, and no farther, had Neil's three months' suffering aided his
+suit,--he had now the full approval of Joris, backed by the weight of
+this social justification.
+
+But, in spite of these advantages, he was really much farther away from
+Katherine. The three months had been full of mental suffering to her,
+and she blamed Neil entirely for it. She had heard from Bram the story
+of the challenge and the fight; heard how patiently Hyde had parried
+Neil's attack rather than return it, until Neil had so passionately
+refused any satisfaction less than his life; heard, also, how even at
+the point of death, fainting and falling, Hyde had tried to protect her
+ribbon at his breast. She never wearied of talking with Bram on the
+subject; she thought of it all day, dreamed of it all night.
+
+And she knew much more about it than her parents or Joanna supposed.
+Bram had easily fallen into the habit of calling at Cohen's to ask
+after his patient. He would have gone for his sister's comfort alone,
+but it was also a great pleasure to himself. At first he saw Miriam
+often; and, when he did, life became a heavenly thing to Bram Van
+Heemskirk. And though latterly it was always the Jew himself who
+answered his questions, there was at least the hope that Miriam would be
+in the store, and lift her eyes to him, or give him a smile or a few
+words of greeting. Katherine very soon suspected how matters stood with
+her brother, and gratitude led her to talk with him about the lovely
+Jewess. Every day she listened with apparent interest to his
+descriptions of Miriam, as he had seen her at various times; and every
+day she felt more desirous to know the girl whom she was certain Bram
+deeply loved.
+
+But for some weeks after the duel she could not bear to leave the house.
+It was only after both men were known to be recovering, that she
+ventured to kirk; and her experience there was not one which tempted her
+to try the streets and the stores. However, no interest is a living
+interest in a community but politics; and these probably retain their
+power because change is their element. People eventually got weary to
+death of Neil Semple and Captain Hyde and Katherine Van Heemskirk. The
+subject had been discussed in every possible light; and, when it was
+known that neither of the men was going to die, gossipers felt as if
+they had been somewhat defrauded, and the topic lost every touch of
+speculation.
+
+Also, far more important events had now the public attention. During the
+previous March, the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act had passed both
+houses of Parliament; and Virginia and Massachusetts, conscious of their
+dangerous character, had roused the fears of the other Provinces; and a
+convention of their delegates was appointed to meet during October in
+New York. It was this important session which drew Neil Semple, with
+scarcely healed wounds, from his chamber. The streets were noisy with
+hawkers crying the detested Acts, and crowded with groups of
+stern-looking men discussing them. And, with the prospect of soldiers
+quartered in every home, women had a real grievance to talk over; and
+Katherine Van Heemskirk's love-affair became an intrusion and a bore, if
+any one was foolish enough to name it.
+
+[Illustration: The streets were noisy with hawkers]
+
+It was during this time of excitement that Katherine said one morning,
+at breakfast, "Bram wait one minute for me. I am going to do an errand
+or two for my mother.
+
+"It is a bad time, Katherine, you have chosen," said Batavius. "Full of
+men are the streets, excited men too, and of swaggering British
+soldiers, whom it would be a great pleasure to tie up in a halter. The
+British I hate,--bullying curs, everyone of them!"
+
+"Well, I know that you hate the British, Batavius. You say so every
+hour."
+
+"Katherine!"
+
+"That is so, Joanna."
+
+Madam looked annoyed. Joris rose, and said, "Come then, Katherine, thou
+shalt go with me and with Bram both. Batavius need not then fear for
+thee."
+
+His voice was so tender that Katherine felt an unusual happiness and
+exultation; and she was also young enough to be glad to see the familiar
+streets again, and to feel the pulse of their vivid life make her heart
+beat quicker.
+
+At Kip's store, Bram left her. She had felt so free and unremarked, that
+she said, "Wait not for me, Bram. By myself I will go home. Or perhaps I
+might call upon Miriam Cohen. What dost thou think?" And Bram's large,
+handsome face flushed like a girl's with pleasure, as he answered, "That
+I would like, and there thou could rest until the dinner-hour. As I go
+home, I could call for thee."
+
+So, after selecting the goods her mother needed at Kip's, Katherine was
+going up Pearl Street, when she heard herself called in a familiar and
+urgent voice. At the same moment a door was flung open; and Mrs. Gordon,
+running down the few steps, put her hand upon the girl's shoulder.
+
+"Oh, my dear, this is a piece of good fortune past belief! Come into my
+lodgings. Oh, indeed you shall! I will have no excuse. Surely you owe
+Dick and me some reward after the pangs we have suffered for you."
+
+She was leading Katherine into the house as she spoke; and Katherine had
+not the will, and therefore not the power, to oppose her. She placed the
+girl by her side on the sofa; she took her hands, and, with a genuine
+grief and love, told her all that "poor Dick" had suffered and was still
+suffering for her sake.
+
+"It was the most unprovoked challenge, my dear; and Neil Semple behaved
+like a savage, I assure you. When Dick was bleeding from half a dozen
+wounds, a gentleman would have been satisfied, and accepted the
+mediation of the seconds; but Neil, in his blind passion, broke the code
+to pieces. A man who can do nothing but be in a rage is a ridiculous and
+offensive animal. Have you seen him since his recovery? For I hear that
+he has crawled out of his bed again."
+
+"Him I have not seen."
+
+"Gracious powers, miss! Is that all you say, 'Him I have not seen'? Make
+me patient with so insensible a creature! Here am I almost distracted
+with my three months' anxiety and poor Dick, so gone as to be past
+knowledge, breaking his true heart for a sight of you; and you answer me
+as if I had asked, 'Pray, have you seen the newspaper to-day?'"
+
+Then Katherine covered her face, and sobbed with a hopelessness and
+abandon that equally fretted Mrs. Gordon. "I wish I knew one corner of
+this world inaccessible to lovers," she cried. "Of all creatures, they
+are the most ridiculous and unreasonable. Now, what are you crying for,
+child?"
+
+"If I could only see Richard,--only see him for one moment!"
+
+"That is exactly what I am going to propose. He will get better when he
+has seen you. I will call a coach, and we will go at once."
+
+"Alas! Go I dare not. My father and my mother!"
+
+"And Dick,--what of Dick, poor Dick, who is dying for you?" She went to
+the door, and gave the order for a coach. "Your lover, Katherine. Child,
+have you no heart? Shall I tell Dick you would not come with me?"
+
+"Be not so cruel to me. That you have seen me at all, why need you say?"
+
+"Oh! indeed, miss, do not imagine yourself the only person who values
+the truth. Dick always asks me, 'Have you seen her?' 'Tis my humour to
+be truthful, and I am always swayed by my inclination. I shall feel it
+to be my duty to inform him how indifferent you are. Katherine, put on
+your bonnet again. Here also are my veil and cloak. No one will perceive
+that it is you. It is the part of humanity, I assure you. Do so much for
+a poor soul who is at the grave's mouth."
+
+"My father, I promised him"--
+
+"O child! have six penny worth of common feeling about you. The man is
+dying for your sake. If he were your enemy, instead of your true lover,
+you might pity him so much. Do you not wish to see Dick?"
+
+"My life for his life I would give."
+
+"Words, words, my dear. It is not your life he wants. He asks only ten
+minutes of your time. And if you desire to see him, give yourself the
+pleasure. There is nothing more silly than to be too wise to be happy."
+
+While thus alternately urging and persuading Katherine, the coach came,
+the disguise was assumed, and the two drove rapidly to the "King's
+Arms." Hyde was lying upon a couch which had been drawn close to the
+window. But in order to secure as much quiet as possible, he had been
+placed in one of the rooms at the rear of the tavern,--a large, airy
+room, looking into the beautiful garden which stretched away backward as
+far as the river. He had been in extremity. He was yet too weak to
+stand, too weak to endure long the strain of company or books or papers.
+
+He heard his aunt's voice and footfall, and felt, as he always did, a
+vague pleasure in her advent. Whatever of life came into his chamber of
+suffering came through her. She brought him daily such intelligences as
+she thought conducive to his recovery; and it must be acknowledged that
+it was not always her "humour to be truthful." For Hyde had so craved
+news of Katherine, that she believed he would die wanting it; and she
+had therefore fallen, without one conscientious scruple, into the
+reporter's temptation,--inventing the things which ought to have taken
+place, and did not. "For, in faith, Nigel," she said to her husband, in
+excuse, "those who have nothing to tell must tell lies."
+
+[Illustration: Katherine was close to his side]
+
+Her reports had been ingenious and diversified. "She had seen Katherine
+at one of the windows,--the very picture of distraction." "She had been
+told that Katherine was breaking her heart about him;" also, "that Elder
+Semple and Councillor Van Heemskirk had quarrelled because Katharine
+had refused to see Neil, and the elder blamed Van Heemskirk for not
+compelling her obedience." Whenever Hyde had been unusually depressed or
+unusually nervous, Mrs. Gordon had always had some such comforting
+fiction ready. Now, here was the real Katherine. Her very presence, her
+smiles, her tears, her words, would be a consolation so far beyond all
+hope, that the girl by her side seemed a kind of miracle to her.
+
+She was far more than a miracle to Hyde. As the door opened, he slowly
+turned his head. When he saw _who_ was really there, he uttered a low
+cry of joy,--a cry pitiful in its shrill weakness. In a moment Katherine
+was close to his side. This was no time for coyness, and she was too
+tender and true a woman to feel or to affect it. She kissed his hands
+and face, and whispered on his lips the sweetest words of love and
+fidelity. Hyde was in a rapture. His joyful soul made his pale face
+luminous. He lay still, speechless, motionless, watching and listening
+to her.
+
+Mrs. Gordon had removed Katherine's veil and cloak, and considerately
+withdrawn to a mirror at the extremity of the room, where she appeared
+to be altogether occupied with her own ringlets. But, indeed, it was
+with Katherine and Hyde one of those supreme hours when love conquers
+every other feeling. Before the whole world they would have avowed their
+affection, their pity, and their truth.
+
+Hyde could speak little, but there was no need of speech. Had he not
+nearly died for her? Was not his very helplessness a plea beyond the
+power of words? She had only to look at the white shadow of humanity
+holding her hand, and remember the gay, gallant, handsome soldier who
+had wooed her under the water-beeches, to feel that all the love of her
+life was too little to repay his devotion. And so quickly, so quickly,
+went the happy moments! Ere Katherine had half said, "I love thee," Mrs.
+Gordon reminded her that it was near the noon; "and I have an excellent
+plan," she continued; "you can leave my veil and cloak in the coach, and
+I will leave you at the first convenient place near your home. At the
+turn of the road, one sees nobody but your excellent father or brother,
+or perhaps Justice Van Gaasbeek, all of whom we may avoid, if you will
+but consider the time."
+
+"Then we must part, _my Katherine_, for a little. When will you come
+again?"
+
+This was a painful question, because Katherine felt, that, however she
+might excuse herself for the unforeseen stress of pity that all unaware
+had hurried her into this interview, she knew she could not find the
+same apology for one deliberate and prearranged.
+
+"Only once more," Hyde pleaded. "I had, my Katherine, so many things to
+say to you. In my joy, I forgot all. Come but once more. Upon my honour,
+I promise to ask Katherine Van Heemskirk only this once. To-morrow?
+'No.' Two days hence, then?"
+
+"Two days hence I will come again. Then no more."
+
+He smiled at her, and put out his hands; and she knelt again by his
+side, and kissed her "farewell" on his lips. And, as she put on again
+her cloak and veil, he drew a small volume towards him, and with
+trembling hands tore out of it a scrap of paper, and gave it to her.
+
+Under the lilac hedge that night she read it, read it over and
+over,--the bit of paper made almost warm and sentient by Phoedria's
+tender petition to his beloved,--
+
+"When you are in company with that other man, behave as if you were
+absent; but continue to love me by day and by night; want me, dream of
+me, expect me, think of me, wish for me, delight in me, be wholly with
+me; in short, be my very soul, as I am yours."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+          "_Let determined things to destiny
+          Hold unbewailed their way._"
+
+
+If Katherine had lived at this day, she would probably have spent her
+time between her promise and its fulfilment in self-analysis and
+introspective reasoning with her own conscience. But the women of a
+century ago were not tossed about with winds of various opinions, or
+made foolishly subtile by arguments about principles which ought never
+to be associated with dissent. A few strong, plain dictates had been set
+before Katherine as the law of her daily life; and she knew, beyond all
+controversy, when she disobeyed them.
+
+In her own heart, she called the sin she had determined to commit by its
+most unequivocal name. "I shall make happy Richard; but my father I
+shall deceive and disobey, and against my own soul there will be the
+lie." This was the position she admitted, but every woman is Eve in some
+hours of her life. The law of truth and wisdom may be in her ears, but
+the apple of delight hangs within her reach, and, with a full
+understanding of the consequences of disobedience, she takes the
+forbidden pleasure. And if the vocal, positive command of Divinity was
+unheeded by the first woman, mere mortal parents surely ought not to
+wonder that their commands, though dictated by truest love and clearest
+wisdom, are often lightly held, or even impotent against the voice of
+some charmer, pleading personal pleasure against duty, and self-will
+against the law infinitely higher and purer.
+
+In truth, Katherine had grown very weary of the perpetual eulogies which
+Batavius delivered of everything respectable and conservative. A kind of
+stubbornness in evil followed her acceptance of evil. This time, at
+least, she was determined to do wrong, whatever the consequences might
+be. Batavius and his inflexible propriety irritated her: she had a
+rebellious desire to give him little moral shocks; and she deeply
+resented his constant injunctions to "remember that Joanna's and his own
+good name were, in a manner, in her keeping."
+
+Very disagreeable she thought Batavius had grown, and she also jealously
+noted the influence he was exercising over Joanna. There are women who
+prefer secrecy to honesty, and sin to truthfulness; but Katherine was
+not one of them. If it had been possible to see her lover honourably,
+she would have much preferred it. She was totally destitute of that
+contemptible sentimentality which would rather invent difficulties in a
+love-affair than not have them, but she knew well the storm of reproach
+and disapproval which would answer any such request; and her thoughts
+were all bent toward devising some plan which would enable her to leave
+home early on that morning which she had promised her lover.
+
+But all her little arrangements failed; and it was almost at the last
+hour of the evening previous, that circumstances offered her a
+reasonable excuse. It came through Batavius, who returned home later
+than usual, bringing with him a great many patterns of damask and
+figured cloth and stamped leather. At once he announced his intention of
+staying at home the next morning in order to have Joanna's aid in
+selecting the coverings for their new chairs, and counting up their
+cost. He had taken the strips out of his pocket with an air of
+importance and complaisance; and Katherine, glancing from them to her
+mother, thought she perceived a fleeting shadow of a feeling very much
+akin to her own contempt of the man's pronounced self-satisfaction. So
+when supper was over, and the house duties done, she determined to speak
+to her. Joris was at a town meeting, and Lysbet did not interfere with
+the lovers. Katherine found her standing at an open window, looking
+thoughtfully into the autumn garden.
+
+"_Mijn moeder_."
+
+"_Mijn kind_."
+
+"Let me go away with Bram in the morning. Batavius I cannot bear. About
+every chair-cover he will call in the whole house. The only
+chair-covers in the world they will be. Listen, how he will talk: 'See
+here, Joanna. A fine piece is this; ten shillings and sixpence the yard,
+and good enough for the governor's house. But I am a man of some
+substance,--_Gode zij dank!_--and people will expect that I, who give
+every Sunday twice to the kirk, should have chairs in accordance.'
+_Moeder_, you know how it will be. To-morrow I cannot bear him. Very
+near quarrelling have we been for a week."
+
+"I know, Katharine, I know. Leave, then, with Bram, and go first to
+Margaret Pitt's, and ask her if the new winter fashions will arrive from
+London this month. I heard also that Mary Blankaart has lost a silk
+purse, and in it five gold jacobus, and some half and quarter johannes.
+Ask kindly for her, and about the money; and so the morning could be
+passed. And look now, Katherine, peace is the best thing; and to his own
+house Batavius will go in a few weeks."
+
+"That will make me glad."
+
+"Whish, _mijn kind!_ Thy bad thoughts should be dumb thoughts."
+
+"_Mijn moeder_, sad and troubled are thy looks. What is thy sorrow?"
+
+"For thee my heart aches often,--mine and thy good father's, too. Dost
+thou not suffer? Can thy mother be blind? Nothing hast thou eaten
+lately. Joanna says thou art restless all the night long. Thou art so
+changed then, that wert ever such a happy little one. Once thou did love
+me, Katrijntje."
+
+"_Ach, mijn moeder_, still I love thee!"
+
+"But that English soldier?"
+
+"Never can I cease to love him. See, now, the love I give him is his
+love. It never was thine. For him I brought it into the world. None of
+thy love have I given to him. _Mijn moeder_, thee I would not rob for
+the whole world; not I!"
+
+"For all that, _kleintje_, hard is the mother's lot. The dear children I
+nursed on my breast, they go here and they go there, with this strange
+one and that strange one. Last night, ere to our sleep we went, thy
+father read to me some words of the loving, motherlike Jacob. They are
+true words. Every good mother has said them, at the grave or at the
+bridal, 'En mij aangaande, als ik van kinderen beroofd ben, zoo ben ik
+beroofd!'"
+
+There was a sad pathos in the homely old words as they dropped slowly
+from Lysbet's lips,--a pathos that fitted perfectly the melancholy air
+of the fading garden, the melancholy light of the fading day, and the
+melancholy regret for a happy home gradually scattering far and wide.
+Many a year afterward Katharine remembered the hour and the words,
+especially in the gray glooms of late October evenings.
+
+The next morning was one of perfect beauty, and Katharine awoke with a
+feeling of joyful expectation. She dressed beautifully her pale brown
+hair; and her intended visit to Mary Blankaart gave her an excuse for
+wearing her India silk,--the pretty dress Richard had seen her first in,
+the dress he had so often admired. Her appearance caused some remarks,
+which Madam Van Heemskirk replied to; and with much of her old gayety
+Katherine walked between her father and brother away from home.
+
+She paid a very short visit to the mantua-maker, and then went to Mrs.
+Gordon's. There was less effusion in that lady's manner than at her last
+interview with Katherine. She had a little spasm of jealousy; she had
+some doubts about Katherine's deserts; she wondered whether her nephew
+really adored the girl with the fervour he affected, or whether he had
+determined, at all sacrifices, to prevent her marriage with Neil Semple.
+Katherine had never before seen her so quiet and so cool; and a feeling
+of shame sprang up in the girl's heart. "Perhaps she was going to do
+something not exactly proper in Mrs. Gordon's eyes, and in advance that
+lady was making her sensible of her contempt."
+
+With this thought, she rose, and with burning cheeks said, "I will go
+home, madam. Now I feel that I am doing wrong. To write to Captain Hyde
+will be the best way."
+
+"Pray don't be foolish, Katherine. I am of a serious turn this morning,
+that is all. How pretty you are! and how vastly becoming your gown! But,
+indeed, I am going to ask you to change it. Yesterday, at the 'King's
+Arms,' I said my sister would arrive this morning with me; and I bespoke
+a little cotillon in Dick's rooms. In that dress you will be too
+familiar, my dear. See here, is not this the prettiest fashion? It is
+lately come over. So airy! so French! so all that!"
+
+It was a light-blue gown and petticoat of rich satin, sprigged with
+silver, and a manteau of dark-blue velvet trimmed with bands of delicate
+fur. The bonnet was not one which the present generation would call
+"lovely;" but, in its satin depths, Katharine's fresh, sweet face
+looked like a rose. She hardly knew herself when the toilet was
+completed; and, during its progress, Mrs. Gordon recovered all her
+animation and interest.
+
+[Illustration: In its satin depths]
+
+Before they were ready, a coach was in waiting; and in a few minutes
+they stood together at Hyde's door. There was a sound of voices within;
+and, when they entered, Katherine saw, with a pang of disappointment, a
+fine, soldierly looking man in full uniform sitting by Richard's side.
+But Richard appeared to be in no way annoyed by his company. He was
+looking much better, and wore a chamber gown of maroon satin, with deep
+laces showing at the wrists and bosom. When Katherine entered, he was
+amazed and charmed with her appearance. "Come near to me, my Katherine,"
+he said; and as Mrs. Gordon drew from her shoulders the mantle, and from
+her head the bonnet, and revealed more perfectly her beautiful person
+and dress, his love and admiration were beyond words.
+
+With an air that plainly said, "This is the maiden for whom I fought and
+have suffered: is she not worthy of my devotion?" he introduced her to
+his friend, Captain Earle. But, even as they spoke, Earle joined Mrs.
+Gordon, at a call from her; and Katherine noticed that a door near which
+they stood was open, and that they went into the room to which it led,
+and that other voices then blended with theirs. But these things were
+as nothing. She was with her lover, alone for a moment with him; and
+Richard had never before seemed to her half so dear or half so
+fascinating.
+
+"My Katharine," he said, "I have one tormenting thought. Night and day
+it consumes me like a fever. I hear that Neil Semple is well. Yesterday
+Captain Earle met him; he was walking with your father. He will be
+visiting at your house very soon. He will see you; he will speak to you.
+You have such obliging manners, he may even clasp this hand, _my hand_.
+Heavens! I am but a man, and I find myself unable to endure the
+thought."
+
+"In my heart, Richard, there is only room for you. Neil Semple I fear
+and dislike."
+
+"They will make you marry him, my darling."
+
+"No; that they can never do."
+
+"But I suffer in the fear. I suffer a thousand deaths. If you were only
+my wife, Katherine!"
+
+She blushed divinely. She was kneeling at his side; and she put her arms
+around his neck, and laid her face against his. "Only your wife I will
+be. That is what I desire also."
+
+"_Now_, Katherine? This minute, darling? Make me sure of the felicity
+you have promised. You have my word of honour, that as Katherine Van
+Heemskirk I will not again ask you to come here. But it is past my
+impatience to exist, and not see you. _Katherine Hyde_ would have the
+right to come."
+
+"Oh, my love, my love!"
+
+"See how I tremble, Katherine. Life scarcely cares to inhabit a body so
+weak. If you refuse me, I will let it go. If you refuse me, I shall know
+that in your heart you expect to marry Neil Semple,--the savage who has
+made me to suffer unspeakable agonies."
+
+"Never will I marry him, Richard,--never, never. My word is true. You
+only I will marry."
+
+"Then _now, now_, Katharine. Here is the ring. Here is the special
+license from the governor; my aunt has made him to understand all. The
+clergyman and the witnesses are waiting. Some good fortune has dressed
+you in bridal beauty. _Now_, Katherine? _Now, now_!"
+
+[Illustration: Katherine knelt by Richard's side]
+
+She rose, and stood white and trembling by his dear side,--speechless,
+also. To her father and her mother her thoughts fled in a kind of
+loving terror. But how could she resist the pleading of one whom she so
+tenderly loved, and to whom, in her maiden simplicity, she imagined
+herself to be so deeply bounden? That very self-abnegation which forms
+so large a portion of a true affection urged her to compliance far more
+than love itself. And when Richard ceased to speak, and only besought
+her with the unanswerable pathos of his evident suffering for her sake,
+she felt the argument to be irresistible.
+
+"Well, my Katherine, will you pity me so far?"
+
+"All you ask, my loved one, I will grant."
+
+"Angel of goodness! _Now_?"
+
+"At your wish, Richard."
+
+He took her hand in a passion of joy and gratitude, and touched a small
+bell. Immediately there was a sudden silence, and then a sudden
+movement, in the adjoining room. The next moment a clergyman in
+canonical dress came toward them. By his side was Colonel Gordon, and
+Mrs. Gordon and Captain Earle followed. If Katherine had then been
+sensible of any misgiving or repentant withdrawal, the influences
+surrounding her were irresistible. But she had no distinct wish to
+resist them. Indeed, Colonel Gordon said afterward to his wife, "he had
+never seen a bride look at once so lovely and so happy." The ceremony
+was full of solemnity, and of that deepest joy which dims the eyes with
+tears, even while it wreathes the lips with smiles. During it, Katherine
+knelt by Richard's side; and every eye was fixed upon him, for he was
+almost fainting with the fatigue of his emotions; and it was with
+fast-receding consciousness that he whispered rapturously at its close,
+"My wife, my wife!"
+
+Throughout the sleep of exhaustion which followed, she sat watching him.
+The company in the next room were quietly making merry "over Dick's
+triumph," but Katherine shook her head at all proposals to join them.
+The band of gold around her finger fascinated her. She was now really
+Richard's wife; and the first sensation of such a mighty change was, in
+her pure soul, one of infinite and reverent love. When Richard awoke, he
+was refreshed and supremely happy. Then Katherine brought him food and
+wine, and ate her own morsel beside him. "Our first meal we must take
+together," she said; and Hyde was already sensible of some exquisite
+change, some new and rarer tenderness and solicitude in all her ways
+toward him.
+
+The noon hour was long past, but she made no mention of it. The wedding
+guests also lingered, talking and laughing softly, and occasionally
+visiting the happy bride and bridegroom in their blissful companionship.
+In those few hours Richard made sure his dominion over his wife's heart;
+and he had so much to tell her, and so many directions to give her,
+that, ere they were aware, the afternoon was well spent. The clergyman
+and the soldiers departed, Mrs. Gordon was a little weary, and Hyde was
+fevered with the very excess of his joy. The moment for parting had
+come; and, when it has, wise are those who delay it not. Hyde fixed his
+eyes upon his wife until Mrs. Gordon had arranged again her bonnet and
+manteau; then, with a smile, he shut in their white portals the
+exquisite picture. He could let her go with a smile now, for he knew
+that Katherine's absence was but a parted presence; knew that her better
+part remained with him, that
+
+                    "Her heart was never away,
+                       But ever with his forever."
+
+The coach was waiting; and, without delay, Katharine returned with Mrs.
+Gordon to her lodgings. Both were silent on the journey. When a great
+event has taken place, only the shallow and unfeeling chatter about it.
+Katherine's heart was full, even to solemnity; and Mrs. Gordon, whose
+affectation of fashionable levity was in a large measure pretence, had a
+kind and sensible nature, and she watched the quiet girl by her side
+with decided approval. "She may not be in the mode, but she is neither
+silly nor heartless," she decided; "and as for loving foolishly my poor,
+delightful Dick, why, any girl may be excused the folly."
+
+Upon leaving the coach at Mrs. Gordon's, Katherine went to an inner room
+to resume her own dress. The India silk lay across a chair; and she took
+off, and folded with her accustomed neatness, the elegant suit she had
+worn. As she did so, she became sensible of a singular liking for it;
+and, when Mrs. Gordon entered the room, she said to her, "Madam, very
+much I desire this suit: it is my wedding-gown. Will you save it for me?
+Some day I may wear it again, when Richard is well."
+
+"Indeed, Katherine, that is a womanly thought; it does you a vast deal
+of credit; and, upon my word, you shall have the gown. I shall be put to
+straits without it, to out-dress Miss Betty Lawson; but never mind, I
+have a few decent gowns beside it."
+
+"Richard, too, he will like it? You think so, madam?"
+
+"My dear, don't begin to quote Richard to me. I shall be impatient if
+you do. I assure you I have never considered him a prodigy." Then,
+kissing her fondly, "Madam Katherine Hyde, my entire service to you.
+Pray be sure I shall give your husband my best concern. And now I think
+you can walk out of the door without much notice; there is a crowd on
+the street, and every one is busy about their own appearance or
+affairs."
+
+"The time, madam? What is the hour?"
+
+"Indeed, I think it is much after four o'clock. Half an hour hence, you
+will have to bring out your excuses. I shall wish for a little devil at
+your elbow to help them out. Indeed, I am vastly troubled for you."
+
+"Her excuses" Katherine had not suffered herself to consider. She could
+not bear to shadow the present with the future. She had, indeed, a happy
+faculty of leaving her emergencies to take care of themselves; and
+perhaps wiser people than Katherine might, with advantage, trust less to
+their own planning and foresight, and more to that inscrutable power
+which we call chance, but which so often arranges favourably the events
+apparently very unfavourable. For, at the best, foresight has but
+probabilities to work with; but chance, whose tools we know not, very
+often contradicts all our bad prophecies, and untangles untoward events
+far beyond our best prudence or wisdom. And Katharine was so happy. She
+was really Richard's wife; and on that solid vantage-ground she felt
+able to beat off trouble, and to defend her own and his rights.
+
+"So much better you look, Katherine," said Madam Van Heemskirk. "Where
+have you been all the day? And did you see Mary Blankaart? And the
+money, is it found yet?"
+
+The family were at the supper-table; and Joris looked kindly at his
+truant daughter, and motioned to the vacant chair at his side. She
+slipped into it, touching her father's cheek as she passed; and then she
+answered, "At Mary Blankaart's I was not at all, mother."
+
+"Where, then?"
+
+"To Margaret Pitt's I went first, and with Mrs. Gordon I have been all
+the day. She is lodging with Mrs. Lanier, on Pearl Street."
+
+"Who sent you there, Katherine?"
+
+"No one, mother. When I passed the house, my name I heard, and Mrs.
+Gordon came out to me; and how could I refuse her? Much had we to talk
+of."
+
+Batavius saw the girl's placid face, and heard her open confession, with
+the greatest amazement. He looked at Joanna, and was just going to
+express his opinion, when Joris rose, pushed his chair a little angrily
+aside, and said, "There is no blame to you, Katherine. Very kind was
+Mrs. Gordon to you, and she is a pleasant woman. For others' faults she
+must not answer. That, also, is what Elder Semple says; for when past
+was her anger, with a heart full of sorrow she went to him and to Madam
+Semple."
+
+"The sorrow that is too late, of what use is it? A very pleasant woman!
+Perhaps she is, but then, also, a very vain, foolish woman. Every person
+of discretion says so; and if I had a daughter"--
+
+"Well, then, Batavius, a daughter thou may have some day. To the man
+with a tender heart, God gives his daughters. Wanting in some good thing
+I had felt myself, if only sons I had been trusted with. A daughter is a
+little white lamb in the household to teach men to be gentle men."
+
+"I was going to say this, if I had a daughter"--
+
+"Well, then, when thou hast, more wisdom will be given thee. Come with
+thy father, _Katrijntje_, and down the garden we will walk, and see if
+there are dahlias yet, and how grow the gold and the white
+chrysanthemums."
+
+But all the time they were in the garden together, Joris never spoke of
+Mrs. Gordon, nor of Katherine's visit to her. About the flowers, and the
+restless swallows, and the bluebirds, who still lingered, silent and
+anxious, he talked; and a little also of Joanna, and her new house, and
+of the great wedding feast that was the desire of Batavius.
+
+"Every one he has ever spoken to, he will ask," said Katherine; "so hard
+he tries to have many friends, and to be well spoken of."
+
+"That is his way, _Katrijntje_; every man has his way."
+
+"And I like not the way of Batavius."
+
+"In business, then, he has a good name, honest and prudent. He will
+make thy sister a good husband."
+
+But, though Joris said nothing to his daughter concerning her visit to
+Mrs. Gordon, he talked long with Lysbet about it. "What will be the end,
+thou may see by the child's face and air," he said; "the shadow and the
+heaviness are gone. Like the old Katherine she is to-night."
+
+"And this afternoon comes here Neil Semple. Scarcely he believed me that
+Katherine was out. Joris, what wilt thou do about the young man?"
+
+"His fair chance he is to have, Lysbet. That to the elder is promised."
+
+"The case now is altered. Neil Semple I like not. Little he thought of
+our child's good name. With his sword he wounded her most. No patience
+have I with the man. And his dark look thou should have seen when I
+said, 'Katherine is not at home.' Plainly his eyes said to me, 'Thou art
+lying.'"
+
+"Well, then, what thought hast thou?"
+
+"This: one lover must push away the other. The young dominie that is now
+with the Rev. Lambertus de Ronde, he is handsome and a great hero. From
+Surinam has he come, a man who for the cross has braved savage men and
+savage beasts and deadly fever. No one but he is now to be talked of in
+the kirk; and I would ask him to the house. Often I have seen the gown
+and bands put the sword and epaulets behind them."
+
+"Well, then, at the wedding of Batavius he will be asked; and if before
+there is a good time, I will say, 'Come into my house, and eat and drink
+with us.'"
+
+So the loving, anxious parents, in their ignorance, planned. Even then,
+accustomed in all their ways to move with caution, they saw no urgent
+need of interference with the regular and appointed events of life. A
+few weeks hence, when Joanna was married, if there was in the meantime
+no special opportunity, the dominie could be offered as an antidote to
+the soldier; and, in the interim, Neil Semple was to honourably have
+such "chance" as his ungovernable temper had left him.
+
+The next afternoon he called again on Katherine. His arm was still
+useless; his pallor and weakness so great as to win, even from Lysbet,
+that womanly pity which is often irrespective of desert. She brought him
+wine, she made him rest upon the sofa, and by her quiet air of sympathy
+bespoke for him a like indulgence from her daughter. Katherine sat by
+her small wheel, unplaiting some flax; and Neil thought her the most
+beautiful creature he had ever seen. He kept angrily asking himself why
+he had not perceived this rare loveliness before; why he had not made
+sure his claim ere rivals had disputed it with him. He did not
+understand that it was love which had called this softer, more exquisite
+beauty into existence. The tender light in the eyes; the flush upon the
+cheek; the lips, conscious of sweet words and sweeter kisses; the heart,
+beating to pure and loving thoughts,--in short, the loveliness of the
+soul, transfiguring the meaner loveliness of flesh and blood, Neil had
+perceived and wondered at; but he had not that kind of love experience
+which divines the cause from the result.
+
+On the contrary, had Hyde been watching Katherine, he would have been
+certain that she was musing on her lover. He would have understood that
+bewitching languor, that dreaming silence, that tender air and light and
+colour which was the physical atmosphere of a soul communing with its
+beloved; a soul touching things present only with its intelligence, but
+reaching out to the absent with intensity of every loving emotion.
+
+For some time the conversation was general. The meeting of the
+delegates, and the hospitalities offered them; the offensive and
+tyrannical Stamp Act; the new organization of patriots who called
+themselves "Sons of Liberty;" and the loss of Miss Mary Blankaart's
+purse,--furnished topics of mild dispute. But no one's interest was in
+their words, and presently Madam Van Heemskirk rose and left the room.
+Her husband had said, "Neil was to have some opportunities;" and the
+words of Joris were a law of love to Lysbet.
+
+Neil was not slow to improve the favour. "Katherine, I wish to speak to
+you. I am weak and ill. Will you come here beside me?"
+
+She rose slowly, and stood beside him; but, when he tried to take her
+hands, she clasped them behind her back.
+
+"So?" he asked; and the blood surged over his white face in a crimson
+tide that made him for a moment or two speechless. "Why not?"
+
+"Blood-stained are your hands. I will not take them."
+
+The answer gave him a little comfort. It was, then, only a moral qualm.
+He had even no objection to such a keen sense of purity in her; and
+sooner or later she would forgive his action, or be made to see it with
+the eyes of the world in which he moved.
+
+"Katherine, I am very sorry I had to guard my honour with my sword; and
+it was your love I was fighting for."
+
+"My honour you cared not for, and with the sword I could not guard it.
+Of me cruel and false words have been said by every one. On the streets
+I was ashamed to go. Even the dominie thought it right to come and give
+me admonition. Batavius never since has liked or trusted me. He says
+Joanna's good name also I have injured. And my love,--is it a thing to
+be fought for? You have guarded your honour, but what of mine?"
+
+"Your honour is my honour. They that speak ill of you, sweet Katherine,
+speak ill of me. Your life is my life. O my precious one, my wife!"
+
+"Such words I will not listen to. Plainly now I tell you, your wife I
+will never be,--never, never, never!"
+
+"I will love you, Katherine, beyond your dream of love. I will die
+rather than see you the wife of another man. For your bow of ribbon,
+only see what I have suffered."
+
+"And, also, what have you made another to suffer?"
+
+"Oh, I wish that I had slain him!"
+
+"Not your fault is it that you did not murder him."
+
+"An affair of honour is not murder, Katherine."
+
+"Honour!--Name not the word. From a dozen wounds your enemy was
+bleeding; to go on fighting a dying man was murder, not honour. Brave
+some call you: in my heart I say, 'Neil Semple was a savage and a
+coward.'"
+
+"Katherine, I will not be angry with you."
+
+"I wish that you should be angry with me."
+
+"Because some day you will be very sorry for these foolish words, my
+dear love."
+
+"Your dear love I am not."
+
+"My dear love, give me a drink of wine, I am faint."
+
+[Illustration: "I am faint"]
+
+His faint whispered words and deathlike countenance moved her to human
+pity. She rose for the wine, and, as she did so, called her mother; but
+Neil had at least the satisfaction of feeling that she had ministered to
+his weakness, and held the wine to his lips. From this time, he visited
+her constantly, unmindful of her frowns, deaf to all her unkind words,
+patient under the most pointed slights and neglect. And as most men rate
+an object according to the difficulty experienced in attaining it,
+Katherine became every day more precious and desirable in Neil's eyes.
+
+In the meantime, without being watched, Katherine felt herself to be
+under a certain amount of restraint. If she proposed a walk into the
+city, Joanna or madam was sure to have the same desire. She was not
+forbidden to visit Mrs. Gordon, but events were so arranged as to make
+the visit almost impossible; and only once, during the month after her
+marriage, had she an interview with her husband. For even Hyde's
+impatience had recognized the absolute necessity of circumspection. The
+landlord's suspicions had been awakened, and not very certainly allayed.
+"There must be no scandal about my house, Captain," he said. "I merit
+something better from you;" and, after this injunction, it was very
+likely that Mrs. Gordon's companions would be closely scrutinized. True,
+the "King's Arms" was the great rendezvous of the military and
+government officials, and the landlord himself subserviently loyal; but,
+also, Joris Van Heemskirk was not a man with whom any good citizen would
+like to quarrel. Personally he was much beloved, and socially he stood
+as representative of a class which held in their hands commercial and
+political power no one cared to oppose or offend.
+
+The marriage license had been obtained from the governor, but
+extraordinary influence had been used to procure it. Katherine was under
+age, and yet subject to her father's authority. In spite of book and
+priest and ring, he could retain his child for at least three years; and
+three years, Hyde--in talking with his aunt--called "an eternity of
+doubt and despair." These facts, Hyde, in his letters, had fully
+explained to Katherine; and she understood clearly how important the
+preservation of her secret was, and how much toward allaying suspicion
+depended upon her own behaviour. Fortunately Joanna's wedding day was
+drawing near, and it absorbed what attention the general public had for
+the Van Heemskirk family. For it was a certain thing, developing into
+feasting and dancing; and it quite put out of consideration suspicions
+which resulted in nothing, when people examined them in the clear
+atmosphere of Katherine's home.
+
+At the feast of St. Nicholas the marriage was to take place. Early in
+November the preparations for it began. No such great event could happen
+without an extraordinary housecleaning; and from garret to cellar the
+housemaid's pail and brush were in demand. Spotless was every inch of
+paint, shining every bit of polished wood and glass; not a thimbleful of
+dust in the whole house. Toward the end of the month, Anna and Cornelia
+arrived, with their troops of rosy boys and girls, and their slow,
+substantial husbands. Batavius felt himself to be a very great man. The
+weight of his affairs made him solemn and preoccupied. He was not one of
+those light, foolish ones, who can become a husband and a householder
+without being sensible of the responsibilities they assume.
+
+In the midst of all this household excitement Katherine found some
+opportunities of seeing Mrs. Gordon; and in the joy of receiving letters
+from, and sending letters to, her husband, she recovered a gayety of
+disposition which effectually repressed all urgent suspicions. Besides,
+as the eventful day drew near, there was so much to attend to. Joanna's
+personal goods, her dresses and household linen, her china, and wedding
+gifts, had to be packed; the house was decorated; and there was a most
+amazing quantity of delicacies to be prepared for the table.
+
+In the middle of the afternoon of the day before the marriage, there was
+the loud rat-tat-tat of the brass knocker, announcing a visitor. But
+visitors had been constant since the arrival of Cornelia and Anna, and
+Katherine did not much trouble herself as to whom it might be. She was
+standing upon a ladder, pinning among the evergreens and scarlet berries
+rosettes and bows of ribbon of the splendid national colour, and singing
+with a delightsome cheeriness,--
+
+                    "But the maid of Holland,
+                       For her own true love,
+                    Ties the splendid orange,
+                       Orange still above!
+                    _O oranje boven!_
+                       Orange still above!"
+
+"Orange still above! Oh, my dear, don't trouble yourself to come down! I
+can pass the time tolerably well, watching you."
+
+It was Mrs. Gordon, and she nodded and laughed in a triumphant way that
+very quickly brought Katherine to her side. "My dear, I kiss you. You
+are the top beauty of my whole acquaintance." Then, in a whisper,
+"_Richard sends his devotion. And put your hand in my muff: there is a
+letter._ And pray give me joy: I have just secured an invitation. I
+asked the councillor and madam point blank for it. Faith, I think I am a
+little of a favourite with them! Every one is talking of the bridegroom,
+and the bridegroom is talking to every one. Surely, my dear, he imagines
+himself to be the only man that will ever again commit matrimony.
+_Oranje boven_, everywhere!" Then, with a little exultant laugh, "_Above
+the Tartan_, at any rate. How is the young Bruce? My dear, if you don't
+make him suffer, I shall never forgive you. Alternate doses of hope and
+despair, that would be my prescription."
+
+[Illustration: "Don't trouble yourself to come down"]
+
+Katherine shook her head.
+
+"Take notice, in particular, that I don't understand nods and shakes and
+sighs and signs. What is your opinion, frankly?"
+
+"On my wedding day, as I left Richard, this he said to me: 'My honour,
+Katherine, is now in your keeping.' By the lifting of one eyelash, I
+will not stain it."
+
+"My dear, you are perfectly charming. You always convince me that I am a
+better woman than I imagine myself. I shall go straight to Dick, and
+tell him how exactly proper you are. Really, you have more perfections
+than any one woman has a right to."
+
+"To-morrow, if I have a letter ready, you will take it?"
+
+"I will run the risk, child. But really, if you could see the way mine
+host of the 'King's Arms' looks at me, you would be sensible of my
+courage. I am persuaded he thinks I carry you under my new wadded cloak.
+Now, adieu. Return to your evergreens and ribbons.
+
+                    "'For your own true love,
+                    Tie the splendid orange,
+                    Orange still above!'"
+
+And so, lightly humming Katharine's favourite song, she left the busy
+house.
+
+Before daylight the next morning, Batavius had every one at his post.
+The ceremony was to be performed in the Middle Kirk, and he took care
+that Joanna kept neither Dominie de Ronde nor himself waiting. He was
+exceedingly gratified to find the building crowded when the wedding
+party arrived. Joanna's dress had cost a guinea a yard, his own
+broadcloth and satin were of the finest quality, and he felt that the
+good citizens who respected him ought to have an opportunity to see how
+deserving he was of their esteem. Joanna, also, was a beautiful bride;
+and the company was entirely composed of men of honour and substance,
+and women of irreproachable characters, dressed with that solid
+magnificence gratifying to a man who, like Batavius, dearly loved
+respectability.
+
+Katherine looked for Mrs. Gordon in vain; she was not in the kirk, and
+she did not arrive until the festival dinner was nearly over. Batavius
+was then considerably under the excitement of his fine position and fine
+fare. He sat by the side of his bride, at the right hand of Joris; and
+Katherine assisted her mother at the other end of the table. Peter
+Block, the first mate of the "Great Christopher," was just beginning to
+sing a song,--a foolish, sentimental ditty for so big and bluff a
+fellow,--in which some girl was thus entreated,--
+
+                "Come, fly with me, my own fair love;
+                  My bark is waiting in the bay,
+                And soon its snowy wings will speed
+                  To happy lands so far away,
+
+                "And there, for us, the rose of love
+                  Shall sweetly bloom and never die.
+                Oh, fly with me! We'll happy be
+                  Beneath fair Java's smiling sky."
+
+"Peter, such nonsense as you sing," said Batavius, with all the
+authority of a skipper to his mate. "How can a woman fly when she has no
+wings? And to say any bark has wings is not the truth. And what kind of
+rose is the rose of love? Twelve kinds of roses I have chosen for my new
+garden, but that kind I never heard of; and I will not believe in any
+rose that never dies. And you also have been to Java; and well you know
+of the fever and blacks, and the sky that is not smiling, but hot as the
+place which is not heaven. No respectable person would want to be a
+married man in Java. I never did."
+
+"Sing your own songs, skipper. By yourself you measure every man. If to
+the kingdom of heaven you did not want to go, astonished and angry you
+would be that any one did not like the place which is not heaven."
+
+"Come, friends and neighbours," said Joris cheerily, "I will sing you a
+song; and every one knows the tune to it, and every one has heard their
+vaders and their moeders sing it,--sometimes, perhaps, on the great
+dikes of Vaderland, and sometimes in their sweet homes that the great
+Hendrick Hudson found out for them. Now, then, all, a song for
+
+                         "'MOEDER HOLLAND.
+
+                "'We have taken our land from the sea,
+                Its fields are all yellow with grain,
+                Its meadows are green on the lea,--
+                  And now shall we give it to Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!
+
+                "'We have planted the faith that is pure,
+                  That faith to the end we'll maintain;
+                For the word and the truth must endure.
+                  Shall we bow to the Pope and to Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!
+
+                "'Our ships are on every sea,
+                  Our honour has never a stain,
+                Our law and our commerce are free:
+                  Are we slaves for the tyrant of Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!
+
+                "'Then, sons of Batavia, the spade,--
+                  The spade and the pike and the main,
+                And the heart and the hand and the blade;
+                  Is there mercy for merciless Spain?
+                      No, no, no, no!'"
+
+By this time the enthusiasm was wonderful. The short, quick denials came
+hotter and louder at every verse; and it was easy to understand how
+these large, slow men, once kindled to white heat, were both
+irresistible and unconquerable. Every eye was turned to Joris, who stood
+in his massive, manly beauty a very conspicuous figure. His face was
+full of feeling and purpose, his large blue eyes limpid and shining;
+and, as the tumult of applause gradually ceased, he said,--
+
+[Illustration: "Listen to me!"]
+
+"My friends and neighbours, no poet am I; but always wrongs burn in the
+heart until plain prose cannot utter them. Listen to me. If we wrung the
+Great Charter and the right of self-taxation from Mary in A.D. 1477; if
+in A.D. 1572 we taught Alva, by force of arms, how dear to us was our
+maxim, 'No taxation without representation,'--
+
+          "Shall we give up our long-cherished right?
+              Make the blood of our fathers in vain?
+          Do we fear any tyrant to fight?
+              Shall we hold out our hands for the chain?
+                  No, no, no, no!"
+
+Even the women had caught fire at this allusion to the injustice of the
+Stamp Act and Quartering Acts, then hanging over the liberties of the
+Province; and Mrs. Gordon looked curiously and not unkindly at the
+latent rebels. "England will have foemen worthy of her steel if she
+turns these good friends into enemies," she reflected; and then,
+following some irresistible impulse, she rose with the company, at the
+request of Joris, to sing unitedly the patriotic invocation,--
+
+                "O Vaderland, can we forget thee,--
+                  Thy courage, thy glory, thy strife?
+                O Moeder Kirk, can we forget thee?
+                  No, never! no, never! through life.
+                      No, no, no, no!"
+
+The emotion was too intense to be prolonged; and Joris instantly pushed
+back his chair, and said, "Now, then, friends, for the dance. Myself I
+think not too old to take out the bride."
+
+Neil Semple, who had looked like a man in a dream during the singing,
+went eagerly to Katherine as soon as Joris spoke of dancing. "He felt
+strong enough," he said, "to tread a measure in the bride dance, and he
+hoped she would so far honour him."
+
+"No, I will not, Neil. I will not take your hands. Often I have told you
+that."
+
+"Just for to-night, forgive me, Katherine."
+
+"I am sorry that all must end so; I cannot dance any more with you;"
+and then she affected to hear her mother calling, and left him standing
+among the jocund crowd, hopeless and distraught with grief. He was not
+able to recover himself, and the noise and laughter distracted and made
+him angry. He had expected so much from this occasion, from its
+influence and associations; and it had been altogether a disappointment.
+Mrs. Gordon's presence troubled him, and he was not free from jealousy
+regarding the young dominie. He had received a call from a church in
+Haarlem; and the Consistory had requested him to become a member of the
+Coetus, and accept it. Joris had interested himself much in his favour;
+Katherine listened with evident pleasure to his conversation. The fire
+of jealousy burns with very little fuel; and Neil went away from
+Joanna's wedding-feast hating very cordially the young and handsome
+Dominie Lambertus Van Linden.
+
+The elder noticed every thing, and he was angry at this new turn in
+affairs. He felt as if Joris had purposely brought the dominie into his
+house to further embarrass Neil; and he said to his wife after their
+return home, "Janet, our son Neil has lost the game for Katherine Van
+Heemskirk. I dinna care a bodle for it now. A man that gets the woman he
+wants vera seldom gets any other gude thing."
+
+"Elder!"
+
+"Ah, weel, there's excepts! I hae mind o' them. But Neil won't be long
+daunted. I looked in on him as I cam' upstairs. He was sitting wi' a law
+treatise, trying to read his trouble awa'. He's a brave soul. He'll hae
+honours and charges in plenty; and there's vera few women that are
+worth a gude office--if you hae to choose atween them."
+
+"You go back on your ain words, Elder. Tak' a sleep to yoursel'. Your
+pillow may gie you wisdom."
+
+And, while this conversation was taking place, they heard the pleasant
+voices of Van Heemskirk's departing guests, as, with snatches of song
+and merry laughter, they convoyed Batavius and his bride to their own
+home. And, when they got there, Batavius lifted up his lantern and
+showed them the motto he had chosen for its lintel; and it passed from
+lip to lip, till it was lifted altogether, and the young couple crossed
+their threshold to his ringing good-will,--
+
+                "Poverty--always a day's sail behind us!"
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+          "_Now many memories make solicitous
+          The delicate love lines of her mouth, till, lit
+          With quivering fire, the words take wing from it;
+          As here between our kisses we sit thus
+          Speaking of things remembered, and so sit
+          Speechless while things forgotten call to us_."
+
+
+Joanna's wedding occurred at the beginning of the winter and the winter
+festivities. But, amid all the dining and dancing and skating, there was
+a political anxiety and excitement that leavened strongly every social
+and domestic event. The first Colonial Congress had passed the three
+resolutions which proved to be the key-note of resistance and of
+liberty. Joris had emphatically indorsed its action. The odious Stamp
+Act was to be met by the refusal of American merchants either to import
+English goods, or to sell them upon commission, until it was repealed.
+Homespun became fashionable. During the first three months of the year,
+it was a kind of disgrace to wear silk or satin or broadcloth; and a
+great fair was opened for the sale of articles of home manufacture. The
+Government kept its hand upon the sword. The people were divided into
+two parties, bitterly antagonistic to each other. The "Sons of Liberty"
+were keeping guard over the pole which symbolized their determination;
+the British soldiery were swaggering and boasting and openly insulting
+patriots on the streets; and the "New York Gazette," in flaming
+articles, was stimulating to the utmost the spirit of resistance to
+tyranny.
+
+And these great public interests had in every family their special
+modifications. Joris was among the two hundred New York merchants who
+put their names to the resolutions of the October Congress; Bram was a
+conspicuous member of the "Sons of Liberty;" but Batavius, though
+conscientiously with the people's party, was very sensible of the
+annoyance and expense it put him to. Only a part of his house was
+finished, but the building of the rest was in progress; and many things
+were needed for its elegant completion, which were only to be bought
+from Tory importers, and which had been therefore nearly doubled in
+value. When liberty interfered with the private interests of Batavius,
+he had his doubts as to whether it was liberty. Often Bram's overt
+disloyalty irritated him beyond endurance. For, since he had joined the
+ranks of married men and householders, Batavius felt that unmarried men
+ought to wait for the opinions and leadership of those who had
+responsibilities.
+
+Joanna talked precisely as Batavius talked. All of his enunciations met
+with her "Amen." There are women who are incapable of but one
+affection,--that one which affects them in especial,--and Joanna was of
+this order. "My husband" was perpetually on her tongue. She looked upon
+her position as a wife and housekeeper as unique. Other woman might
+have, during the past six thousand years, held these positions in an
+indifferent kind of way; but only she had ever comprehended and properly
+fulfilled the duties they involved. Madam Van Heemskirk smiled a little
+when Joanna gave her advices about her house and her duties, when she
+disapproved of her father's political attitude, when she looked injured
+by Bram's imprudence.
+
+"Not only is wisdom born with Joanna and Batavius, it will also die with
+them; so they think," said Katharine indignantly, after one of Joanna's
+periodical visitations.
+
+A tear twinkled in madam's eyes; but she answered, "I shall not distress
+myself overmuch. Always I have said, 'Joanna has a little soul. Only
+what is for her own good can she love.'"
+
+"It is Batavius; and a woman must love her husband, mother."
+
+"That is the truth: first and best of all, she must love him, Katherine;
+but not as the dog loves and fawns on his master, or the squaw bends
+down to her brave. A good woman gives not up her own principles and
+thoughts and ways. A good woman will remember the love of her father and
+mother and brother and sister, her old home, her old friends; and
+contempt she will not feel and show for the things of the past, which
+often, for her, were far better than she was worthy of."
+
+"There is one I love, mother, love with all my soul. For him I would
+die. But for thee also I would die. Love thee, mother? I love thee and
+my father better because I love him. My mother, fret thee not, nor think
+that ever Joanna can really forget thee. If a daughter could forget her
+good father and her good mother, then with the women who sit weeping in
+the outer darkness, God would justly give her her portion. Such a
+daughter could not be."
+
+Lysbet sadly shook her head. "When I was a little girl, Katherine, I
+read in a book about the old Romans, how a wicked daughter over the
+bleeding corpse of her father drove her chariot. She wanted his crown
+for her own husband; and over the warm, quivering body of her father she
+drove. When I read that story, Katherine, my eyes I covered with my
+hands. I thought such a wicked woman in the world could not be. Alas,
+_mijn kind!_ often since then I have seen daughters over the bleeding
+hearts of their mothers and fathers drive; and frown and scold and be
+much injured and offended if once, in their pain and sorrow, they cry
+out."
+
+"But this of me remember, mother: if I am not near thee, I shall be
+loving thee, thinking of thee; telling my husband, and perhaps my little
+children about thee,--how good thou art, how pretty, how wise. I will
+order my house as thou hast taught me, and my own dear ones will love me
+better because I love thee. If to my own mother I be not true, can my
+husband be sure I will be true to him, if comes the temptation strong
+enough? Sorry would I be if my heart only one love could hold, and ever
+the last love the strong love."
+
+Still, in spite of this home trouble, and in spite of the national
+anxiety, the winter months went with a delightsome peace and regularity
+in the Van Heemskirk household. Neil Semple ceased to visit Katherine
+after Joanna's wedding. There was no quarrel, and no interruption to the
+kindness that had so long existed between the families; frequently they
+walked from kirk together,--Madam Semple and Madam Van Heemskirk, Joris
+and the elder, Katherine and Neil. But Neil never again offered her his
+hand; and such conversation as they had was constrained and of the most
+conventional character.
+
+Very frequently, also, Dominic Van Linden spent the evening with them.
+Joris delighted in his descriptions of Java and Surinam; and Lysbet and
+Katherine knit their stockings, and listened to the conversation. It was
+evident that the young minister was deeply in love, and equally evident
+that Katharine's parents favoured his suit. But the lover felt, that,
+whenever he attempted to approach her as a lover, Katherine surrounded
+herself with an atmosphere that froze the words of admiration or
+entreaty upon his lips.
+
+Joris, however, spoke for him. "He has told me how truly he loves thee.
+Like an honest man he loves thee, and he will make thee a wife honoured
+of many. No better husband can thou have, Katherine." So spoke her
+father to her one evening in the early spring, as they stood together
+over the budding snowdrops and crocus.
+
+[Illustration: They stood together over the budding snowdrops]
+
+"There is no love in my heart for him, father."
+
+"Neil pleases thee not, nor the dominie. Whom is it thou would have,
+then? Surely not that Englishman now? The whole race I
+hate,--swaggering, boastful tyrants, all of them. I will not give thee
+to any Englishman."
+
+"If I marry not him, then will I stay with thee always."
+
+"Nonsense that is. Thou must marry, like other women. But not him; I
+would never forgive thee; I would never see thy face again."
+
+"Very hard art thou to me. I love Richard; can I love this one and then
+that one? If I were so light-of-love, contempt I should have from all,
+even from thee."
+
+"Now, I have something to say. I have heard that some one,--very like to
+thee,--some one went twice or three times with Mrs. Gordon to see the
+man when he lay ill at the 'King's Arms.' To such talk, my anger and my
+scorn soon put an end; and I will not ask of thee whether it be true, or
+whether it be false. For a young girl I can feel."
+
+"O father, if for me thou could feel!"
+
+"See, now, if I thought this man would be to thee a good husband, I
+would say, 'God made him, and God does not make all his men Dutchmen;'
+and I would forgive him his light, loose life, and his wicked wasting of
+gold and substance, and give thee to him, with thy fortune and with my
+blessing. But I think he will be to thee a careless husband. He will get
+tired of thy beauty; thy goodness he will not value; thy money he will
+soon spend. Three sweethearts had he in New York before thee. Their very
+names, I dare say, he hath forgotten ere this."
+
+"If Richard could make you sure, father, that he would be a good
+husband, would you then be content that we should be married?"
+
+"That he cannot do. Can the night make me sure it is the day? Once very
+much I respected Batavius. I said, 'He is a strict man of business;
+honourable, careful, and always apt to make a good bargain. He does not
+drink nor swear, and he is a firm member of the true Church. He will
+make my Joanna a good husband.' That was what I thought. Now I see that
+he is a very small, envious, greedy man; and like himself he quickly
+made thy sister. This is what I fear: if thou marry that soldier, either
+thou must grow like him, or else he will hate thee, and make thee
+miserable."
+
+"Just eighteen I am. Let us not talk of husbands. Why are you so
+hurried, father, to give me to this strange dominie? Little is known of
+him but what he says. It is easy for him to speak well of Lambertus Van
+Linden."
+
+"The committee from the Great Consistory have examined his testimonials.
+They are very good. And I am not in a hurry to give thee away. What I
+fear is, that thou wilt be a foolish woman, and give thyself away."
+
+Katherine stood with dropped head, looking apparently at the brown
+earth, and the green box borders, and the shoots of white and purple and
+gold. But what she really saw, was the pale, handsome face of her sick
+husband, its pathetic entreaty for her love, its joyful flush, when with
+bridal kisses he whispered, "_Wife, wife, wife!_"
+
+Joris watched her curiously. The expression on her face he could not
+understand. "So happy she looks!" he thought, "and for what reason?"
+Katherine was the first to speak.
+
+"Who has told you anything about Captain Hyde, father?"
+
+"Many have spoken."
+
+"Does he get back his good health again?"
+
+"I hear that. When the warm days come, to England he is going. So says
+Jacob Cohen. What has Mrs. Gordon told thee? for to see her I know thou
+goes."
+
+"Twice only have I been. I heard not of England."
+
+"But that is certain. He will go, and what then? Thee he will quite
+forget, and never more will thou see or hear tell of him."
+
+"That I believe not. In the cold winter one would have said of these
+flowers, 'They come no more.' But the winter goes away, and then here
+they are. Richard has been in the dead valley, _der shaduwe des doods_.
+Sometimes I thought, he will come back to me no more. But now I am sure
+I shall see him again."
+
+Joris turned sadly away. That night he did not speak to her more. But
+he had the persistence which is usually associated with slow natures. He
+could not despair. He felt that he must go steadily on trying to move
+Katherine to what he really believed was her highest interest. And he
+permitted nothing to discourage him for very long. Dominie Van Linden
+was also a prudent man. He had no intention in his wooing to make haste
+and lose speed. As to Katherine's love troubles, he had not been left in
+ignorance of them. A great many people had given him such information as
+would enable him to keep his own heart from the wiles of the siren. He
+had also a wide knowledge of books and life, and in the light of this
+knowledge he thought that he could understand her. But the conclusion
+that he deliberately came to was, that Katherine had cared neither for
+Hyde nor Semple, and that the unpleasant termination of their courtship
+had made her shy of all lover-like attentions. He believed that if he
+advanced cautiously to her he might have the felicity of surprising and
+capturing her virgin affection. And just about so far does any amount of
+wisdom and experience help a man in a love perplexity; because every
+mortal woman is a different woman, and no two can be wooed and won in
+precisely the same way.
+
+Amid all these different elements, political, social, and domestic,
+Nature kept her own even, unvarying course. The gardens grew every day
+fairer, the air more soft and balmy, the sunshine warmer and more
+cherishing. Katherine was not unhappy. As Hyde grew stronger, he spent
+his hours in writing long letters to his wife. He told her every trivial
+event, he commented on all she told him. And her letters revealed to
+him a soul so pure, so true, so loving, that he vowed "he fell in love
+with her afresh every day of his life." Katherine's communications
+reached her husband readily by the ordinary post; Hyde's had to be sent
+through Mrs. Gordon. But it was evident from the first that Katherine
+could not call there for them. Colonel Gordon would soon have objected
+to being made an obvious participant in his nephew's clandestine
+correspondence; and Joris would have decidedly interfered with visits
+sure to cause unpleasant remarks about his daughter. The medium was
+found in the mantua-maker, Miss Pitt. Mrs. Gordon was her most
+profitable customer, and Katherine went there for needles and threads
+and such small wares as are constantly needed in a household. And
+whenever she did so, Miss Pitt was sure to remark, in an after-thought
+kind of way, "Oh, I had nearly forgotten, miss! Here is a small parcel
+that Mrs. Gordon desired me to present to you."
+
+One exquisite morning in May, Katherine stood at an open window looking
+over the garden and the river, and the green hills and meadows across
+the stream. Her heart was full of hope. Richard's recovery was so far
+advanced that he had taken several rides in the middle of the day.
+Always he had passed the Van Heemskirks' house, and always Katherine had
+been waiting to rain down upon his lifted face the influence of her most
+bewitching beauty and her tenderest smiles. She was thinking of the last
+of these events,--of Richard's rapid exhibition of a long, folded paper,
+and the singular and emphatic wave which he gave it towards the river.
+His whole air and attitude had expressed delight and hope; could he
+really mean that she was to meet him again at their old trysting-place?
+
+[Illustration: His whole air and attitude had expressed delight]
+
+As thus she happily mused, some one called her mother from the front
+hall. On fine mornings it was customary to leave the door standing open;
+and the visitor advanced to the foot of the stairs, and called once
+more, "Lysbet Van Heemskirk! Is there naebody in to bid me welcome?"
+Then Katherine knew it was Madam Semple; and she ran to her mother's
+room, and begged her to go down and receive the caller. For in these
+days Katherine dreaded Madam Semple a little. Very naturally, the mother
+blamed her for Neil's suffering and loss of time and prestige; and she
+found it hard to forgive also her positive rejection of his suit. For
+her sake, she herself had been made to suffer mortification and
+disappointment. She had lost her friends in a way which deprived her of
+all the fruits of her kindness. The Gordons thought Neil had
+transgressed all the laws of hospitality. The Semples had a similar
+charge to make. And it provoked Madam Semple that Mrs. Gordon continued
+her friendship with Katherine. Every one else blamed Katherine
+altogether in the matter; Mrs. Gordon had defied the use and wont of
+society on such occasions, and thrown the whole blame on Neil. Somehow,
+in her secret heart, she even blamed Lysbet a little. "Ever since I told
+her there was an earldom in the family, she's been daft to push her
+daughter into it," was her frequent remark to the elder; and he also
+reflected that the proposed alliance of Neil and Katharine had been
+received with coolness by Joris and Lysbet. "It was the soldier or the
+dominie, either o' them before our Neil;" and, though there was no
+apparent diminution of friendship, Semple and his wife frequently had a
+little private grumble at their own fireside.
+
+And toward Neil, Joris had also a secret feeling of resentment. He had
+taken no pains to woo Katherine until some one else wanted her. It was
+universally conceded that he had been the first to draw his sword, and
+thus indulge his own temper at the expense of their child's good name
+and happiness. Taking these faults as rudimentary ones, Lysbet could
+enlarge on them indefinitely; and Joris had undoubtedly been influenced
+by his wife's opinions. So, below the smiles and kind words of a long
+friendship, there was bitterness. If there had not been, Janet Semple
+would hardly have paid that morning visit; for before Lysbet was half
+way down the stairs, Katherine heard her call out,--
+
+"Here's a bonnie come of. But it is what a' folks expected. 'The
+Dauntless' sailed the morn, and Captain Earle wi' a contingent for the
+West Indies station. And who wi' him, guess you, but Captain Hyde, and
+no less? They say he has a furlough in his pocket for a twelvemonth:
+more like it's a clean, total dismissal. The gude ken it ought to be."
+
+So much Katherine heard, then her mother shut to the door of the
+sitting-room. A great fear made her turn faint and sick. Were her
+father's words true? Was this the meaning of the mysterious wave of the
+folded paper toward the ocean? The suspicion once entertained, she
+remembered several little things which strengthened it. Her heart failed
+her; she uttered a low cry of pain, and tottered to a chair, like one
+wounded.
+
+It was then ten o'clock. She thought the noon hour would never come.
+Eagerly she watched for Bram and her father; for any certainty would be
+better than such cruel fear and suspense. And, if Richard had really
+gone, the fact would be known to them. Bram came first. For once she
+felt impatient of his political enthusiasm. How could she care about
+liberty poles and impressed fishermen, with such a real terror at her
+heart? But Bram said nothing; only, as he went out, she caught him
+looking at her with such pitiful eyes. "What did he mean?" She turned
+coward then, and could not voice the question. Joris was tenderly
+explicit. He said to her at once, "'The Dauntless' sailed this morning.
+Oh, my little one, sorry I am for thee!"
+
+"Is _he_ gone?" Very low and slow were the words; and Joris only
+answered, "Yes."
+
+Without any further question or remark, she went away. They were amazed
+at her calmness. And for some minutes after she had locked the door of
+her room, she stood still in the middle of the floor, more like one that
+has forgotten something, and is trying to remember, than a woman who has
+received a blow upon her heart. No tears came to her eyes. She did not
+think of weeping, or reproaching, or lamenting. The only questions she
+asked herself were, "How am I to get life over? Will such suffering kill
+me very soon?"
+
+Joris and Lysbet talked it over together. "Cohen told me," said Joris,
+"that Captain Hyde called to bid him good-by. He said, 'He is a very
+honourable young man, a very grateful young man, and I rejoice that I
+was helpful in saving his life.' Then I asked him in what ship he was to
+sail, and he said 'The Dauntless.' She left her moorings this morning
+between nine and ten. She carries troops to Kingston, Captain Earle in
+command; and I heard that Captain Hyde has a year's furlough."
+
+Lysbet drew her lips tight, and said nothing. The last shadow of her own
+dream had departed also, but it was of her child she thought. At that
+hour she hated Hyde; and, after Joris had gone, she said in low, angry
+tones, over and over, as she folded the freshly ironed linen, "I wish
+that Neil had killed him!" About two o'clock she went to Katherine. The
+girl opened her door at once to her. There was nothing to be said, no
+hope to offer. Joris had seen Hyde embark; he had heard Mrs. Gordon and
+the colonel bid him farewell. Several of his brother officers, also, and
+the privates of his own troop, had been on the dock to see him sail. His
+departure was beyond dispute.
+
+And even while she looked at the woeful young face before her, the
+mother anticipated the smaller, festering sorrows that would spring from
+this great one,--the shame and mortification the mockery of those who
+had envied Katherine; the inquiries, condolences, and advices of
+friends; the complacent self-congratulation of Batavius, who would be
+certain to remind them of every provoking admonition he had given on the
+subject. And who does not know that these little trials of life are its
+hardest trials? The mother did not attempt to say one word of comfort,
+or hope, or excuse. She only took the child in her arms, and wept for
+her. At this hour she would not wound her by even an angry word
+concerning him.
+
+"I loved him so much, _moeder_."
+
+"Thou could not help it. Handsome, and gallant, and gay he was. I never
+shall forget seeing thee dance with him."
+
+"And he did love me. A woman knows when she is loved."
+
+"Yes, I am sure he loved thee."
+
+"He has gone? Really gone?"
+
+"No doubt is there of it. Stay in thy room, and have thy grief out with
+thyself."
+
+"No; I will come to my work. Every day will now be the same. I shall
+look no more for any joy; but my duty I will do."
+
+They went downstairs together. The clean linen, the stockings that
+required mending, lay upon the table. Katherine sat down to the task.
+Resolutely, but almost unconsciously, she put her needle through and
+through. Her suffering was pitiful; this little one, who a few months
+ago would have wept for a cut finger, now silently battling with the
+bitterest agony that can come to a loving woman,--the sense of cruel,
+unexpected, unmerited desertion. At first Lysbet tried to talk to her;
+but she soon saw that the effort to answer was beyond Katherine's
+power, and conversation was abandoned. So for an hour, an hour of
+speechless sorrow, they sat. The tick of the clock, the purr of the cat,
+the snap of a breaking thread, alone relieved the tension of silence in
+which this act of suffering was completed. Its atmosphere was becoming
+intolerable, like that of a nightmare; and Lysbet was feeling that she
+must speak and move, and so dissipate it, when there was a loud knock at
+the front door.
+
+Katherine trembled all over. "To-day I cannot bear it, mother. No one
+can I see. I will go upstairs."
+
+Ere the words were finished, Mrs. Gordon's voice was audible. She came
+into the room laughing, with the smell of fresh violets and the feeling
+of the brisk wind around her. "Dear madam," she cried, "I entreat you
+for a favour. I am going to take the air this afternoon: be so good as
+to let Katherine come with me. For I must tell you that the colonel has
+orders for Boston, and I may see my charming friend no more after
+to-day."
+
+"Katherine, what say you? Will you go?"
+
+"Please, _mijn moeder_."
+
+"Make great haste, then." For Lysbet was pleased with the offer, and
+fearful that Joris might arrive, and refuse to let his daughter accept
+it. She hoped that Katherine would receive some comforting message; and
+she was glad that on this day, of all others, Captain Hyde's aunt should
+be seen with her. It would in some measure stop evil surmises; and it
+left an air of uncertainty about the captain's relationship to
+Katherine, which made the humiliation of his departure less keen.
+
+[Illustration: "I am going to take the air this afternoon"]
+
+"Stay not long," she whispered, "for your father's sake. There is no
+good, more trouble to give him."
+
+"Well, my dear, you look like a ghost. Have you not one smile for a
+woman so completely in your interest? When I promised Dick this morning
+that I would be _sure_ to get word to you, I was at my wits' end to
+discover a way. But, when I am between the horns of a dilemma, I find it
+the best plan to take the bull by the horns. Hence, I have made you a
+visit which seems to have quite nonplussed you and your good mother."
+
+"I thought Richard had gone."
+
+"And you were breaking your heart, that is easy to be seen. He has gone,
+but he will come back to-night at eight o'clock. No matter what
+happens, be at the river-side. Do not fail Dick: he is taking his life
+in his hand to see you."
+
+"I will be there."
+
+"La! what are you crying for, child? Poor girl! What are you crying for?
+Dick, the scamp? He is not worthy of such pure tears; and yet, believe
+me, he loves you to distraction."
+
+"I thought he had gone--gone, without a word."
+
+"Faith, you are not complimentary! I flatter myself that our Dick is a
+gentleman. I do, indeed. And, as he is yet perfectly in his senses, you
+might have trusted him."
+
+"And you, do you go to Boston to-morrow?"
+
+"The colonel does. At present, I have no such intentions. But I had to
+have some extraordinary excuse, and I could invent no other. However,
+you may say anything, if you only say it with an assurance. Madam wished
+me a pleasant journey. I felt a little sorry to deceive so fine a lady."
+
+"When will Richard return?"
+
+"Indeed, I think you will have to answer for his resolves. But he will
+speak for himself; and, in faith, I told him that he had come to a point
+where I would be no longer responsible for his actions. I am thankful to
+own that I have some conscience left."
+
+The ride was not a very pleasant one. Katherine could not help feeling
+that Mrs. Gordon was _distrait_ and inconsistent; and, towards its
+close, she became very silent. Yet she kissed her kindly, and drawing
+her closely for a last word, said, "Do not forget to wear your wadded
+cloak and hood. You may have to take the water; for the councillor is
+very suspicious, let me tell you. Remember what I say,--the wadded cloak
+and hood; and good-by, good-by, my dear."
+
+"Shall I see you soon?"
+
+"When we may meet again, I do not pretend to say; till then, I am
+entirely yours; and so again good-by."
+
+The ride had not occupied an hour; but, when Katherine got home, Lysbet
+was making tea. "A cup will be good for you, _mijn kind_." And she
+smiled tenderly in the face that had been so white in its woeful
+anguish, but on which there was now the gleam of hope. And she perceived
+that Katherine had received some message, she even divined that there
+might be some appointment to keep; and she determined not to be too wise
+and prudent, but to trust Katherine for this evening with her own
+destiny.
+
+That night there was a meeting at the Town Hall, and Joris left the
+house soon after his tea. He was greatly touched by Katharine's effort
+to appear cheerful; and when she followed him to the door, and, ere he
+opened it, put her arms round his neck, and kissed him, murmuring, "My
+father, _mijn vader_!" he could not restrain his tears.
+
+"_Mijn kind, my liefste kind_!" he answered. And then his soul in its
+great emotion turned affectionately to the supreme fatherhood; for he
+whispered to himself, as he walked slowly and solemnly in the pleasant
+evening light: "'_Gelijk sich een vader outfermt over de kinderen_!' Oh,
+so great must be Thy pity! My own heart can tell that now."
+
+For an hour or more Katherine sat in the broad light of the window,
+folding and unfolding the pieces of white linen, sewing a stitch or two
+here, and putting on a button or tape there. Madam passed quietly to and
+fro about her home duties, sometimes stopping to say a few words to her
+daughter. It was a little interval of household calm, full of household
+work; of love assured without need of words, of confidence anchored in
+undoubting souls. When Lysbet was ready to do so, she began to lay into
+the deep drawers of the presses the table-linen which Katherine had so
+neatly and carefully examined. Over a pile of fine damask napkins she
+stood, with a perplexed, annoyed face; and Katherine, detecting it, at
+once understood the cause.
+
+"One is wanting of the dozen, mother. At the last cake-baking, with the
+dish of cake sent to Joanna it went. Back it has not come."
+
+"For it you might go, Katherine. I like not that my sets are broken."
+
+Katherine blushed scarlet. This was the opportunity she wanted. She
+wondered if her mother suspected the want; but Lysbet's face expressed
+only a little worry about the missing damask. Slowly, though her heart
+beat almost at her lips, she folded away her work, and put her needle,
+and thread, and thimble, and scissors, each in its proper place in her
+house-wife. So deliberate were all her actions, that Lysbet's suspicions
+were almost allayed. Yet she thought, "If out she wishes to go, leave I
+have now given her; and, if not, still the walk will do her some good."
+And yet there was in her heart just that element of doubt, which,
+whenever it is present, ought to make us pause and reconsider the words
+we are going to speak or write, and the deed we are going to do.
+
+The nights were yet chilly,--though the first blooms were on the
+trees,--and the wadded cloak and hood were not so far out of season as
+to cause remark. As she came downstairs, the clock struck seven. There
+was yet an hour, and she durst not wait so long at the bottom of the
+garden while it was early in the evening. When her work was done, Lysbet
+frequently walked down it; she had a motherly interest in the budding
+fruit-trees and the growing flowers. And a singular reluctance to leave
+home assailed Katherine. If she had known that it was to be forever, her
+soul could not have more sensibly taken its farewell of all the dear,
+familiar objects of her daily life. About her mother this feeling
+culminated. She found her cap a little out of place; and her fingers
+lingered in the lace, and stroked fondly her hair and pink cheeks, until
+Lysbet felt almost embarrassed by the tender, but unusual show of
+affection.
+
+"Now, then, go, my Katherine. To Joanna give my dear love. Tell her that
+very good were the cheesecakes and the krullers, and that to-morrow I
+will come over and see the new carpet they have bought."
+
+And while she spoke she was retying Katherine's hood, and admiring as
+she did so the fair, sweet face in its quiltings or crimson satin, and
+the small, dimpled chin resting upon the fine bow she tied under it.
+Then she followed her to the door, and watched her down the road until
+she saw her meet Dominie Van Linden, and stand a moment holding his
+hand. "A message I am going for my mother," she said, as she firmly
+refused his escort. "Then with madam, your mother, I will sit until you
+return," he replied cheerfully; and Katherine answered, "That will be a
+great pleasure to her, sir."
+
+A little farther she walked; but suddenly remembering that the dominie's
+visit would keep her mother in the house, and being made restless by the
+gathering of the night shadows, she turned quickly, and taking the very
+road up which Hyde had come the night Neil Semple challenged him, she
+entered the garden by a small gate at its foot, which was intended for
+the gardener's use. The lilacs had not much foliage, but in the dim
+light her dark, slim figure was undistinguishable behind them. Longingly
+and anxiously she looked up and down the water-way. A mist was gathering
+over it; and there were no boats in the channel except two
+pleasure-shallops, already tacking to their proper piers. "The
+Dauntless" had been out of sight for hours. There was not the splash of
+an oar, and no other river sound at that point, but the low, peculiar
+"wish-h-h" of the turning tide.
+
+In the pettiest character there are unfathomable depths; and
+Katherine's, though yet undeveloped, was full of noble aspirations and
+singularly sensitive. As she stood there alone, watching and waiting in
+the dim light, she had a strange consciousness of some mysterious life
+ante-dating this life! and of a long-forgotten voice filling the
+ear-chambers of that spiritual body which was the celestial inhabitant
+of her natural body. "_Richard, Richard_," she murmured; and she never
+doubted but that he heard her.
+
+All her senses were keenly on the alert. Suddenly there was the sound of
+oars, and the measure was that of steady, powerful strokes. She turned
+her face southward, and watched. Like a flash a boat shot out of the
+shadow,--a long, swift boat, that came like a Fate, rapidly and without
+hesitation, to her very feet. Richard quickly left it and with a few
+strokes it was carried back into the dimness of the central channel.
+Then he turned to the lilac-trees.
+
+"Katherine!"
+
+It was but a whisper, but she heard it. He opened his arms, and she flew
+to their shelter like a bird to her mate.
+
+"My love, my wife, my beautiful wife! My true, good heart! Now, at last
+my own; nothing shall part us again, Katherine,--never again. I have
+come for you--come at all risks for you. Only five minutes the boat can
+wait. Are you ready?"
+
+"I know not, Richard. My father--my mother"--
+
+"My husband! Say that also, beloved. Am I not first? If you will not go
+with me, _here_ I shall stay; and, as I am still on duty, death and
+dishonour will be the end. O Katherine, shall I die again for you? Will
+you break my sword in disgrace over my head! Faith, darling, I know that
+you would rather die for me."
+
+"If one word I could send them! They suspect me not. They think you are
+gone. It will kill my father."
+
+[Illustration: "I will go with you, Richard"]
+
+"You shall write to them on the ship. There are a dozen fishing-boats
+near it. We will send the letter by one of them. They will get it early
+in the morning. Sweet Kate, come. Here is the boat. 'The Dauntless' lies
+down the bay, and we have a long pull. My wife, do you need more
+persuasion?"
+
+He released her from his embrace with the words, and stood holding her
+hands, and looking into her face. No woman is insensible to a certain
+kind of authority; and there was fascination as well as power in Hyde's
+words and manner, emphasized by the splendour of his uniform, and the
+air of command that seemed to be a part of it.
+
+"It is for you to decide, Katherine. The boat is here. Even I must obey
+or disobey orders. Will you not go with me, your husband, to love and
+life and honour; or shall I stay with you, for disgrace and death? For
+from you I will not part again."
+
+She had no time to consider how much truth there was in this desperate
+statement. The boat was waiting. Richard was wooing her consent with
+kisses and entreaties. Her own soul urged her, not only by the joy of
+his presence, but by the memory of the anguish she had endured that day
+in the terror of his desertion. From the first moment she had hesitated;
+therefore, from the first moment she had yielded. She clung to her
+husband's arm, she lifted her face to his, she said softly, but clearly,
+"I will go with you, Richard. With you I will go. Where to, I care not
+at all."
+
+They stepped into the boat, and Hyde said, "Oars." Not a word was
+spoken. He held her within his left arm, close to his side, and
+partially covered with his military cloak. It was the boat belonging to
+the commander of "The Dauntless," and the six sailors manning it sent
+the light craft flying like an arrow down the bay. All the past was
+behind her. She had done what was irrevocable. For joy or for sorrow,
+her place was evermore at her husband's side. Richard understood the
+decision she was coming to; knew that every doubt and fear had vanished
+when her hand stole into his hand, when she slightly lifted her face,
+and whispered, "Richard."
+
+They were practically alone upon the misty river; and Richard answered
+the tender call with sweet, impassioned kisses; with low, lover-like,
+encouraging words; with a silence that thrilled with such soft beat and
+subsidence of the spirit's wing, as--
+
+          "When it feels, in cloud-girt wayfaring,
+            The breath of kindred plumes against its feet."
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+
+                "_Good people, how they wrangle!
+                   The manners that they never mend,
+                 The characters they mangle!
+                   They eat and drink, and scheme and plod,
+                 And go to church on Sunday;
+                   And many are afraid of God,
+                 And some of Mrs. Grundy_."
+
+
+During that same hour Joris was in the town council. There had been a
+stormy and prolonged session on the Quartering Act. "To little purpose
+have we compelled the revocation of the Stamp Act," he cried, "if the
+Quartering Act upon us is to be forced. We want not English soldiers
+here. In our homes why should we quarter them?"
+
+All the way home he was asking himself the question; and, when he found
+Dominie Van Linden talking to Lysbet, he gladly discussed it over again
+with him. Lysbet sat beside them, knitting and listening. Until after
+nine o'clock Joris did not notice the absence of his daughter. "She
+went to Joanna's," said Lysbet calmly. No fear had yet entered her
+heart. Perhaps she had a vague suspicion that Katherine might also go to
+Mrs. Gordon's, and she was inclined to avoid any notice of the lateness
+of the hour. If it were even ten o'clock when she returned, Lysbet
+intended to make no remarks. But ten o'clock came, and the dominie went,
+and Joris suddenly became anxious about Katherine.
+
+His first anger fell upon Bram. "He ought to have been at home. Then he
+could have gone for his sister. He is not attentive enough to Katherine;
+and very fond is he of hanging about Miriam Cohen's doorstep."
+
+"What say you, Joris, about Miriam Cohen?"
+
+"I spoke in my temper."
+
+He would not explain his words, and Lysbet would not worry him about
+Katherine. "To Joanna's she went, and Batavius is in Boston. Very well,
+then, she has stayed with her sister."
+
+Still, in her own heart there was a certain uneasiness. Katherine had
+never remained all night before without sending some message, or on a
+previous understanding to that effect. But the absence of Batavius, and
+the late hour at which she went, might account for the omission,
+especially as Lysbet remembered that Joanna's servant had been sick, and
+might be unfit to come. She was determined to excuse Katherine, and she
+refused to acknowledge the dumb doubt and fear that crouched at her own
+heart.
+
+In the morning Joris rose very early and went into the garden. Generally
+this service to nature calmed and cheered him; but he came to breakfast
+from it, silent and cross. And Lysbet was still disinclined to open a
+conversation about Katharine. She had enough to do to combat her own
+feeling on the subject; and she was sensible that Joris, in the absence
+of any definite object for his anger, blamed her for permitting
+Katherine so much liberty.
+
+"Where, then, is Bram?" he asked testily. "When I was a young man, it
+was the garden or the store for me before this hour. Too much you
+indulge the children, Lysbet."
+
+"Bram was late to bed. He was on the watch last night at the pole. You
+know, Councillor, who in that kind of business has encouraged him."
+
+"Every night the watch is not for him."
+
+"Oh, then, but the bad habit is made!"
+
+"Well, well; tell him to Joanna's to go the first thing, and to send
+home Katherine. I like her not in the house of Batavius."
+
+"Joanna is her sister, Joris."
+
+"Joanna is nothing at all in this world but the wife of Batavius. Send
+for Katherine home. I like her best to be with her mother."
+
+As he spoke, Bram came to the table, looking a little heavy and sleepy.
+Joris rose without more words, and in a few moments the door shut
+sharply behind him. "What is the matter with my father?"
+
+"Cross he is." By this time Lysbet was also cross; and she continued,
+"No wonder at it. Katherine has stayed at Joanna's all night, and late
+to breakfast were you. Yet ever since you were a little boy, you have
+heard your father say one thing, 'Late to breakfast, hurried at dinner,
+behind at supper;' and I also have noticed, that, when the comfort of
+the breakfast is spoiled, then all the day its bad influence is felt."
+
+In the meantime Joris reached his store in that mood which apprehends
+trouble, and finds out annoyances that under other circumstances would
+not have any attention. The store was in its normal condition, but he
+was angry at the want of order in it. The mail was no later than usual,
+but he complained of its delay. He was threatening a general reform in
+everything and everybody, when a man came to the door, and looked up at
+the name above it.
+
+"Joris Van Heemskirk is the name, sir;" and Joris went forward, and
+asked a little curtly, "What, then, can I do for you?"
+
+"I am Martin Hudde the fisherman."
+
+"Well, then?"
+
+"If you are Joris Van Heemskirk, I have a letter for you. I got it from
+'The Dauntless' last night, when I was fishing in the bay."
+
+Without a word Joris took the letter, turned into his office, and shut
+the door; and Hudde muttered as he left, "I am glad that I got a crown
+with it, for here I have not got a 'thank you.'"
+
+It was Katherine's writing; and Joris held the folded paper in his hand,
+and looked stupidly at it. The truth was forcing itself into his mind,
+and the slow-coming conviction was a real physical agony to him. He put
+his hand on the desk to steady himself; and Nature, in great drops of
+sweat, made an effort to relieve the oppression and stupor which
+followed the blow. In a few minutes he opened and laid it before him.
+Through a mist he made out these words:
+
+
+MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER: I have gone with my husband. I married Richard
+when he was ill, and to-night he came for me. When I left home, I knew
+not I was to go. Only five minutes I had. In God's name, this is the
+truth. Always, at the end of the world, I shall love you. Forgive me,
+forgive me, _mijn fader, mijn moeder_.
+                                             Your child,
+                                                      KATHERINE HYDE.
+
+
+He tore the letter into fragments; but the next moment he picked them
+up, folded them in a piece of paper, and put them in his pocket. Then he
+went to Mrs. Gordon's. She had anticipated the visit, and was, in a
+measure, prepared for it. With a smile and outstretched hands, she rose
+from her chocolate to meet him. "You see, I am a terrible sluggard,
+Councillor," she laughed; "but the colonel left early for Boston this
+morning, and I cried myself into another sleep. And will you have a cup
+of chocolate? I am sure you are too polite to refuse me."
+
+"Madam, I came not on courtesy, but for my daughter. Where is my
+Katherine?"
+
+"Truth, sir, I believe her to be where every woman wishes,--with her
+husband. I am sure I wish the colonel was with me."
+
+"Her husband! Who, then?"
+
+"Indeed, Councillor, that is a question easily answered,--my nephew,
+Captain Hyde, at your service. You perceive, sir, we are now
+connections; and I assure you I have the highest sense imaginable of the
+honour."
+
+"When were they married?"
+
+"In faith, I have forgotten the precise date. It was in last October; I
+know it was, because I had just received my winter manteau,--my blue
+velvet one, with the fur bands.'
+
+"Who married them?"
+
+[Illustration: "Madam, I come not on courtesy"]
+
+"Oh, indeed! It was the governor's chaplain,--the Rev. Mr. Somers, a
+relative of my Lord Somers, a most estimable and respectable person, I
+assure you. Colonel Gordon, and Captain Earle, and myself, were the
+witnesses. The governor gave the license; and, in consideration of
+Dick's health, the ceremony was performed in his room. All was perfectly
+correct and regular, I"--
+
+"It is not the truth. Pardon, madam; full of trouble am I. And it was
+all irregular, and very wicked, and very cruel. If regular and right it
+had been, then in secret it had not taken place."
+
+"Admit, Councillor, that then it had not taken place at all; or, at
+least, Richard would have had to wait until Katherine was of age."
+
+"So; and that would have been right. Until then, if love had lasted, I
+would have said, 'Their love is stronger than my dislike;' and I would
+have been content."
+
+"Ah, sir, there was more to the question than that! My nephew's chances
+for life were very indifferent, and he desired to shield Katherine's
+name with his own"--
+
+"_Christus!_ What say you, madam? Had Katherine no father?"
+
+"Oh, be not so warm, Councillor! A husband's name is a far bigger shield
+than a father's. I assure you that the world forgives a married woman
+what it would not forgive an angel. And I must tell you, also, that
+Dick's very life depended on the contentment which he felt in his
+success. It is the part of humanity to consider that."
+
+"Twice over deceived I have been then"--
+
+"In short, sir, there was no help for it. Dick received a most
+unexpected favour of a year's furlough two days ago. It was important
+for his wounded lung that he should go at once to a warm climate. 'The
+Dauntless' was on the point of sailing for the West Indies. To have
+bestowed our confidence on you, would have delayed or detained our
+patient, or sent him away without his wife. It was my fault that
+Katherine had only five minutes given her. Oh, sir, I know my own sex!
+And, if you will take time to reflect, I am sure that you will be
+reasonable."
+
+"Without his wife! His wife! Without my consent? No, she is not his
+wife."
+
+"Sir, you must excuse me if I do not honour your intelligence or your
+courtesy. I have said '_she is his wife_.' It is past a doubt that they
+are married."
+
+"I know not, I know not--O my Katherine, my Katherine!"
+
+"I pray you, sit down, Councillor. You look faint and ill; and in faith
+I am very sorry that, to make two people happy, others must be made so
+wretched." She rose and filled a glass with wine, and offered it to
+Joris, who was the very image of mental suffering,--all the fine colour
+gone out of his face, and his large blue eyes swimming in unshed tears.
+
+"Drink, sir. Upon my word, you are vastly foolish to grieve so. I
+protest to you that Katherine is happy; and grieving will not restore
+your loss."
+
+"For that reason I grieve, madam. Nothing can give me back my child."
+
+"Come, sir, every one has his calamity; and, upon my word, you are very
+fortunate to have one no greater than the marriage of your daughter to
+an agreeable man, of honourable profession and noble family."
+
+"Five minutes only! How could the child think? To take her away thus was
+cruel. Many things a woman needs when she journeys."
+
+"Oh, indeed, Katharine was well considered! I myself packed a trunk for
+her with every conceivable necessity, as well as gowns and manteaus of
+the finest material and the most elegant fashion. If Dick had been
+permitted, he would have robbed the Province for her. I assure you that
+I had to lock my trunks to preserve a change of gowns for myself. When
+the colonel returns, he will satisfy you that Katherine has done
+tolerably well in her marriage with our nephew. And, indeed, I must beg
+you to excuse me further. I have been in a hurry of affairs and emotions
+for two days; and I am troubled with the vapours this morning, and feel
+myself very indifferently."
+
+Then Joris understood that he had been politely dismissed. But there was
+no unkindness in the act. He glanced at the effusive little lady, and
+saw that she was on the point of crying, and very likely in the first
+pangs of a nervous headache; and, without further words, he left her.
+
+The interview had given Joris very little comfort. At first, his great
+terror had been that Katherine had fled without any religious sanction;
+but no sooner was this fear dissipated, than he became conscious, in all
+its force, of his own personal loss and sense of grievance. From Mrs.
+Gordon's lodgings he went to those of Dominie Van Linden. He felt sure
+of his personal sympathy; and he knew that the dominie would be the best
+person to investigate the circumstances of the marriage, and
+authenticate their propriety.
+
+Then Joris went home. On his road he met Bram, full of the first terror
+of his sister's disappearance. He told him all that was necessary, and
+sent him back to the store. "And see you keep a modest face, and make no
+great matter of it," he said. "Be not troubled nor elated. It belongs to
+you to be very prudent; for your sister's good name is in your care, and
+this is a sorrow outsiders may not meddle with. Also, at once go back to
+Joanna's, and tell her the same thing. I will not have Katherine made a
+wonder to gaping women."
+
+Lysbet was still a little on the defensive; but, when she saw Joris
+coming home, her heart turned sick with fear. She was beating eggs for
+her cake-making, and she went on with the occupation; merely looking up
+to say, "Thee, Joris; dinner will not be ready for two hours! Art thou
+sick?"
+
+"Katherine--she has gone!"
+
+"Gone? And where, then?"
+
+"With that Englishman; in 'The Dauntless' they have gone."
+
+"Believe it not. 'The Dauntless' left yesterday morning: Katherine at
+seven o'clock last night was with me."
+
+"Ah, he must have returned for her! Well he knew that if he did not
+steal her away, I had taken her from him. Yes, and I feared him. When I
+heard that 'The Dauntless' was to take him to the West Indies, I watched
+the ship. After I kissed Katherine yesterday morning, I went straight to
+the pier, and waited until she was on her way." Then he told her all
+Mrs. Gordon had said, and showed her the fragments of Katherine's
+letter. The mother kissed them, and put them in her bosom; and, as she
+did so, she said softly, "it was a great strait, Joris."
+
+"Well, well, we also must pass through it. The Dominie Van Linden has
+gone to examine the records; and then, if she his lawful wife be, in the
+newspapers I must advertise the marriage. Much talk and many questions I
+shall have to bear."
+
+"'If,' 'if she his lawful wife be!' Say not 'if' in my hearing; say not
+'if' of my Katherine."
+
+"When a girl runs away from her home"--
+
+"With her husband she went; keep that in mind when people speak to
+thee."
+
+"What kind of a husband will he be to her?"
+
+"Well, then, I think not bad of him. Nearer home there are worse men.
+Now, if sensible thou be, thou wilt make the best of what is beyond thy
+power. Every bird its own nest builds in its own way. Nay, but blind
+birds are we all, and God builds for us. This marriage of God's ordering
+may be, though not of thy ordering; and against it I would no longer
+fight. I think my Katherine is happy; and happy with her I will be,
+though the child in her joy I see not."
+
+"So much talk as there will be. In the store and the streets, a man must
+listen. And some with me will condole, and some with congratulations
+will come; and both to me will be vinegar and gall."
+
+"To all--friends and unfriends--say this: 'Every one chooses for
+themselves. Captain Hyde loved my daughter, and for her love nearly he
+died; and my daughter loved him; and what has been from the creation,
+will be.' Say also, 'Worse might have come; for he hath a good heart,
+and in the army he is much loved, and of a very high family is he.'
+Joris, let me see thee pluck up thy courage like a man. Better may come
+of this than has come of things better looking. Much we thought of
+Batavius"--
+
+"On that subject wilt thou be quiet?"
+
+"And, if at poor little Katherine thou be angry, speak out thy mind to
+me; to others, say nothing but well of the dear one. Now, then, I will
+get thee thy dinner; for in sorrow a good meal is a good medicine."
+
+[Illustration: "O mother, my sister Katherine!"]
+
+While they were eating this early dinner, Joanna came in, sad and
+tearful; and with loud lamentings she threw herself upon her mother's
+shoulder. "What, then, is the matter with thee?" asked Lysbet, with
+great composure.
+
+"O mother, my Katherine! my sister Katherine!"
+
+"I thought perhaps thou had bad news of Batavius. Thy sister Katherine
+hath married a very fine gentleman, and she is happy. For thou must
+remember that all the good men do not come from Dordrecht."
+
+"I am glad that so you take it. I thought in very great sorrow you would
+be."
+
+"See that you do not say such words to any one, Joanna. Very angry will
+I be if I hear them. Batavius, also; he must be quiet on this matter."
+
+"Oh, then, Batavius has many things of greater moment to think about! Of
+Katherine he never approved; and the talk there will be he will not like
+it. Before from Boston he comes back, I shall be glad to have it over."
+
+"None of his affair it is," said Joris. "Of my own house and my own
+daughter, I can take the care. And if he like the talk, or if he like
+not the talk, there it will be. Who will stop talking because Batavius
+comes home?"
+
+When Joris spoke in this tone on any subject, no one wished to continue
+it: and it was not until her father had left the house, that Joanna
+asked her mother particularly about Katherine's marriage. "Was she sure
+of it? Had they proofs? Would it be legal? More than a dozen people
+stopped me as I came over here," she said, "and asked me about
+everything."
+
+"I know not how more than a dozen people knew of anything, Joanna. But
+many ill-natured words will be spoken, doubtless. Even Janet Semple came
+here yesterday, thinking over Katherine to exult a little. But Katherine
+is a great deal beyond her to-day. And perhaps a countess she may yet
+be. That is what her husband said to thy father."
+
+"I knew not that he spoke to my father about Katherine."
+
+"Thou knows not all things. Before thou wert married to Batavius, before
+Neil Semple nearly murdered him, he asked of thy father her hand. Thou
+wast born on thy wedding day, I think. All things that happened before
+it have from thy memory passed away."
+
+"Well, I am a good wife, I know that. That also is what Batavius says.
+Just before I got to the gate, I met Madam Semple and Gertrude Van
+Gaasbeeck; they had been shopping together."
+
+"Did they speak of Katherine?"
+
+"Indeed they did."
+
+"Or did you speak first, Joanna? It is an evil bird that pulls to pieces
+its own nest."
+
+"O mother, scolded I cannot be for Katherine's folly! My Batavius always
+said, 'The favourite is Katherine.' Always he thought that of me too
+much was expected. And Madam Semple said--and always she liked
+Katherine--that very badly had she behaved for a whole year, and that
+the end was what everybody had looked for. It is on me very hard,--I who
+have always been modest, and taken care of my good name. Nobody in the
+whole city will have one kind word to say for Katherine. You will see
+that it is so, mother."
+
+"You will see something very different, Joanna. Many will praise
+Katherine, for she to herself has done well. And, when back she comes,
+at the governor's she will visit, and with all the great ladies; and not
+one among them will be so lovely as Katherine Hyde."
+
+And, if Joanna had been in Madam Semple's parlour a few hours later, she
+would have had a most decided illustration of Lysbet's faith in the
+popular verdict. Madam was sitting at her tea-table talking to the
+elder, who had brought home with him the full supplement to Joanna's
+story. Both were really sorry for their old friends, although there is
+something in the best kind of human nature that indorses the punishment
+of those things in which old friends differ from us.
+
+Neil had heard nothing. He had been shut up in his office all day over
+an important suit; and, when he took the street again, he was weary, and
+far from being inclined to join any acquaintances in conversation. In
+fact, the absorbing topic was one which no one cared to introduce in
+Neil's presence; and he himself was too full of professional matters to
+notice that he attracted more than usual attention from the young men
+standing around the store-doors, and the officers lounging in front of
+the 'King's Arms' tavern.
+
+He was irritable, too, with exhaustion, though he was doing his best to
+keep himself in control and when madam his mother said pointedly, "I'm
+fearing, Neil, that the bad news has made you ill; you arena at a' like
+yoursel'," he asked without much interest, "What bad news?"
+
+"The news anent Katherine Van Heemskirk."
+
+He had supposed it was some political disappointment, and at Katherine's
+name his pale face grew suddenly crimson.
+
+"What of her?" he asked.
+
+"Didna you hear? She ran awa' last night wi' Captain Hyde; stole awa'
+wi' him on 'The Dauntless.'"
+
+"She would have the right to go with him, I have no doubt," said Neil
+with guarded calmness.
+
+"Do you really think she was his wife?"
+
+"If she went with him, _I am sure she was_." He dropped the words with
+an emphatic precision, and looked with gloomy eyes out of the window;
+gloomy, but steadfast, as if he were trying to face a future in which
+there was no hope. His mother did not observe him. She went on prattling
+as she filled the elder's cup, "If there had been any wedding worth the
+name o' the thing, we would hae been bidden to it. I dinna believe she
+is married."
+
+"Are you sure that she sailed with Captain Hyde in 'The Dauntless,' or
+is it a pack of women's tales?"
+
+"The news cam' wi' your fayther the elder," answered madam, much
+offended. "You can mak' your inquiries there if you think he's mair
+reliable than I am."
+
+Neil looked at his father, and the elder said quietly, "I wouldna be
+positive anent any woman; the bad are whiles good, and the good are
+whiles bad. But there is nae doubt that Katherine has gone with Hyde;
+and I heard that the military at the 'King's Arms' have been drinking
+bumpers to Captain Hyde and his bride; and I know that Mrs. Gordon has
+said they were married lang syne, when Hyde couldna raise himsel' or put
+a foot to the ground. But Joanna told your mother _she_ had neither seen
+nor heard tell o' book, ring, or minister; and, as I say, for mysel'
+I'll no venture a positive opinion, but I _think_ the lassie is married
+to the man she's off an' awa' wi'."
+
+"But if she isna?" persisted madam.
+
+In a moment Neil let slip the rein in which he had been holding himself,
+and in a slow, intense voice answered, "I shall make it my business to
+find out. If Katherine is married, God bless her! If she is not, I will
+follow Hyde though it were around the world until I cleave his coward's
+heart in two." His passion grew stronger with its utterance. He pushed
+away his chair, and put down his cup so indifferently that it missed the
+table and fell with a crash to the floor.
+
+[Illustration: "Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny!"]
+
+"Oh, my cheeny, my cheeny! Oh, my bonnie cups that I hae used for forty
+years, and no' a piece broken afore!"
+
+"Ah, weel, Janet," said the elder, "you shouldna badger an angry man
+when he's drinking from your best cups."
+
+"I canna mend nor match it in the whole Province, Elder. Oh, my bonnie
+cup."
+
+"I was thinking, Janet, o' Katherine's good name. If it is gane, it is
+neither to mend nor to match in the whole wide world. I'll awa' and see
+Joris and Lysbet. And put every cross thought where you'll never find
+them again, Janet; an tak' your good-will in your hands, and come wi'
+me. Lysbet will want to see you."
+
+"Not her, indeed! I can tell you, Elder, that Lysbet was vera cool and
+queer wi' me yesterday."
+
+"Come, Janet, dinna keep your good-nature in remnants. Let's hae enough
+to make a cloak big enough to cover a' bygone faults."
+
+"I think, then, I ought to stay wi' Neil."
+
+"Neil doesna want anybody near him. Leave him alane. Neil's a' right.
+Forty years syne I would hae broke my mother's cheeny, and drawn steel
+as quick as Neil did, if I heard a word against bonnie Janet Gordon."
+And the old man made his wife a bow; and madam blushed with pleasure,
+and went upstairs to put on her bonnet and India shawl.
+
+"Woman, woman," meditated the smiling elder; "she is never too angry to
+be won wi' a mouthful o' sweet words, special if you add a bow or a kiss
+to them. My certie! when a husband can get his ain way at sic a sma'
+price, it's just wonderfu' he doesna buy it in perpetuity."
+
+Joris was somewhat comforted by his old friend's sympathy; for the
+elder, in the hour of trial, knew how to be magnanimous. But the
+father's wound lay deeper than human love could reach. He was suffering
+from what all suffer who are wounded in their affections; for alas,
+alas, how poorly do we love even those whom we love most! We are not
+only bruised by the limitations of their love for us, but also by the
+limitations of our own love for them. And those who know what it is to
+be strong enough to wrestle, and yet not strong enough to overcome, will
+understand how the grief, the anger, the jealousy, the resentment, from
+which he suffered, amazed Joris; he had not realized before the depth
+and strength of his feelings.
+
+He tried to put the memory of Katherine away, but he could not
+accomplish a miracle. The girl's face was ever before him. He felt her
+caressing fingers linked in his own; and, as he walked in his house and
+his garden, her small feet pattered beside him. For as there are in
+creation invisible bonds that do not break like mortal bonds, so also
+there are correspondences subsisting between souls, despite the
+separation of distance.
+
+"I would forget Katherine if I could," he said to Dominie Van Linden;
+and the good man, bravely putting aside his private grief, took the
+hands of Joris in his own, and bending toward him, answered, "That would
+be a great pity. Why forget? Trust, rather, that out of sorrow God will
+bring to you joy."
+
+"Not natural is that, Dominie. How can it be? I do not understand how it
+can be."
+
+"You do not understand! Well, then, _och mijn jongen_, what matters
+comprehension, if you have faith? Trust, now, that it is well with the
+child."
+
+But Joris believed it was ill with her; and he blamed not only himself,
+but every one in connection with Katherine, for results which he was
+certain might have been foreseen and prevented. Did he not foresee them?
+Had he not spoken plainly enough to Hyde and to Lysbet and to the child
+herself? He should have seen her to Albany, to her sister Cornelia. For
+he believed now that Lysbet had not cordially disapproved of Hyde; and
+as for Joanna, she had been far too much occupied with Batavius and her
+own marriage to care for any other thing. And one of his great fears was
+that Katherine also would forget her father and mother and home, and
+become a willing alien from her own people.
+
+He was so wrapped up in his grief, that he did not notice that Bram was
+suffering also. Bram got the brunt of the world's wonderings and
+inquiries. People who did not like to ask Joris questions, felt no such
+delicacy with Bram. And Bram not only tenderly loved his sister: he
+hated with the unreasoning passion of youth the entire English soldiery.
+He made no exception now. They were the visible marks of a subjection
+which he was sworn, heart and soul, to oppose. It humiliated him among
+his fellows, that his sister should have fled with one of them. It gave
+those who envied and disliked him an opportunity of inflicting covert
+and cruel wounds. Joris could, in some degree, control himself; he could
+speak of the marriage with regret, but without passion; he had even
+alluded, in some cases, to Hyde's family and expectations. The majority
+believed that he was secretly a little proud of the alliance. But Bram
+was aflame with indignation; first, if the marriage were at all doubted;
+second, if it were supposed to be a satisfactory one to any member of
+the Van Heemskirk family.
+
+As to the doubters, they were completely silenced when the next issue of
+the "New York Gazette" appeared; for among its most conspicuous
+advertisements was the following:
+
+Married, Oct. 19, 1765, by the Rev. Mr. Somers, chaplain to his
+Excellency the Governor, Richard Drake Hyde, of Hyde Manor, Norfolk, son
+of the late Richard Drake Hyde, and brother of William Drake Hyde, Earl
+of Dorset and Hyde, to Katherine, the youngest daughter of Joris and
+Lysbet Van Heemskirk, of the city and province of New York.
+
+                    _Witnesses_: NIGEL GORDON, H.M. Nineteenth
+                                        Light Cavalry.
+                                     GEORGE EARLE, H.M. Nineteenth
+                                        Light Cavalry.
+                                     ADELAIDE GORDON, wife of Nigel
+                                        Gordon.
+
+This announcement took every one a little by surprise. A few were really
+gratified; the majority perceived that it silenced gossip of a very
+enthralling kind. No one could now deplore or insinuate, or express
+sorrow or astonishment. And, as rejoicing with one's friends and
+neighbours soon becomes a very monotonous thing, Katherine Van
+Heemskirk's fine marriage was tacitly dropped. Only for that one day on
+which it was publicly declared, was it an absorbing topic. The whole
+issue of the "Gazette" was quickly bought; and then people, having seen
+the fact with their own eyes, felt a sudden satiety of the whole affair.
+
+On some few it had a more particular influence. Hyde's brother officers
+held high festival to their comrade's success. To every bumper they read
+the notice aloud, as a toast, and gave a kind of national triumph to
+what was a purely personal affair. Joris read it with dim eyes, and then
+lit his long Gouda pipe and sat smoking with an air of inexpressible
+loneliness. Lysbet read it, and then put the paper carefully away among
+the silks and satins in her bottom drawer. Joanna read it, and then
+immediately bought a dozen copies and sent them to the relatives of
+Batavius, in Dordrecht, Holland.
+
+Neil Sample read and re-read it. It seemed to have a fascination for
+him; and for more than an hour he sat musing, with his eyes fixed upon
+the fateful words. Then he rose and went to the hearth. There were a few
+sticks of wood burning upon it, but they had fallen apart. He put them
+together, and, tearing out the notice, he laid it upon them. It meant
+much more to Neil than the destruction of a scrap of paper, and he stood
+watching it, long after it had become a film of grayish ash.
+
+Bram would not read it at all. He was too full of shame and trouble at
+the event; and the moments went as if they moved on lead. But the
+unhappy day wore away to its evening; and after tea he gathered a great
+nosegay of narcissus, and went to Isaac Cohen's. He did not "hang about
+the steps," as Joris in his temper had said. Miriam was not one of those
+girls who sit in the door to be gazed at by every passing man. He went
+into the store, and she seemed to know his footstep. He had no need to
+speak: she came at once from the mystery behind the crowded place into
+the clearer light. Plain and dark were her garments, and Bram would have
+been unable to describe her dress; but it was as fitting to her as are
+the green leaves of the rose-tree to the rose.
+
+Their acquaintance had evidently advanced since that anxious evening
+when she had urged upon Bram the intelligence of the duel between Hyde
+and Neil Semple; for Bram gave her the flowers without embarrassment,
+and she buried her sweet face in their sweet petals, and then lifted it
+with a smile at once grateful and confidential. Then they began to talk
+of Katherine.
+
+[Illustration: Plain and dark were her garments]
+
+"She was so beautiful and so kind," said Miriam; "just a week since
+she passed here, with some violets in her hand; and, when she saw me,
+she ran up the steps, and said, 'I have brought them for you;' and she
+clasped my fingers, and looked so pleasantly in my face. If I had a
+sister, Bram, I think she would smile at me in the same way."
+
+"Very grateful to you was Katharine. All you did about the duel, I told
+her. She knows her husband had not been alive to-day, but for you. O
+Miriam, if you had not spoken!"
+
+"I should have had the stain of blood on my conscience. I did right to
+speak. My grandfather said to me, 'You did quite right, my dear.'"
+
+Then Bram told her all the little things that had grieved him, and they
+talked as dear companions might talk; only, beneath all the common words
+of daily life, there was some subtile sweetness that made their voices
+low and their glances shy and tremulous.
+
+It was not more than an hour ere Cohen came home. He looked quickly at
+the young people, and then stood by Bram, and began to talk courteously
+of passing events. Miriam leaned, listening, against a magnificent
+"apostle's cabinet" in black oak--one of those famous ones made in
+Nuremburg in the fifteenth century, with locks and hinges of
+hammered-steel work, and finely chased handles of the same material.
+Against its carved and pillared background her dark drapery fell in
+almost unnoticed grace; but her fair face and small hands, with the mass
+of white narcissus in them, had a singular and alluring beauty. She
+affected Bram as something sweetly supernatural might have done. It was
+an effort for him to answer Cohen; he felt as if it would be impossible
+for him to go away.
+
+But the clock struck the hour, and the shop boy began to put up the
+shutters; and the old man walked to the door, taking Bram with him. Then
+Miriam, smiling her farewell, passed like a shadow into the darker
+shadows beyond; and Bram went home, wondering to find that she had cast
+out of his heart hatred, malice, fretful worry, and all
+uncharitableness. How could he blend them with thoughts of her? and how
+could he forget the slim, dark-robed figure, or the lovely face against
+the old black _kas_, crowned with its twelve sombre figures, or the
+white slender hands holding the white fragrant flowers?
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+          "_Each man's homestead is his golden milestone,
+          Is the central point from which he measures
+                      Every distance
+          Through the gateways of the world around him._"
+
+
+There are certain months in every life which seem to be full of fate,
+good or evil, for that life; and May was Katherine Hyde's luck month. It
+was on a May afternoon that Hyde had asked her love; it was on a May
+night she fled with him through the gray shadows of the misty river.
+Since then a year had gone by, and it was May once more,--an English
+May, full of the magic of the month; clear skies, and young foliage, and
+birds' songs, the cool, woody smell of wall-flowers, and the ethereal
+perfume of lilies.
+
+In Hyde Manor House, there was that stir of preparation which indicates
+a departure. The house was before time; it had the air of early rising;
+the atmosphere of yesterday had not been dismissed, but lingered
+around, and gave the idea of haste and change, and departure from
+regular custom. It was, indeed, an hour before the usual breakfast-time;
+but Hyde and Katharine were taking a hasty meal together. Hyde was in
+full uniform, his sword at his side, his cavalry cap and cloak on a
+chair near him; and up and down the gravelled walk before the main
+entrance a groom was leading his horse.
+
+"I must see what is the matter with Mephisto," said Hyde. "How he is
+snorting and pawing! And if Park loses control of him, I shall be
+greatly inconvenienced for both horse and time."
+
+The remark was partially the excuse of a man who feels that he must go,
+and who tries to say the hard words in less ominous form. They both rose
+together,--Katherine bravely smiling away tears, and looking exceedingly
+lovely in her blue morning-gown trimmed with frillings of thread lace;
+and Hyde, gallant and tender, but still with the air of a man not averse
+to go back to life's real duty. He took Katherine in his arms, kissed
+away her tears, made her many a loving promise, and then, lifting his
+cap and cloak, left the room. The servants were lingering around to get
+his last word, and to wish him "God-speed;" and for a few minutes he
+stood talking to his groom and soothing Mephisto. Evidently he had quite
+recovered his health and strength; for he sprang very easily into the
+saddle, and, gathering the reins in his hand, kept the restive animal in
+perfect control.
+
+A moment he stood thus, the very ideal of a fearless, chivalrous,
+handsome soldier; the next, his face softened to almost womanly
+tenderness, for he saw Katherine coming hastily through the dim hall and
+into the clear sunshine, and in her arms was his little son. She came
+fearlessly to his side, and lifted the sleeping child to him. He stooped
+and kissed it, and then kissed again the beautiful mother; and calling
+happily backward, "Good-by, my love; God keep you, love; good-by!" he
+gave Mephisto his own wild will, and was soon lost to sight among the
+trees of the park.
+
+[Illustration: Katherine stood with her child in her arms]
+
+Katherine stood with her child in her arms, listening to the ever faint
+and fainter beat of Mephisto's hoofs. Her husband had gone back to duty,
+his furlough had expired, and their long, and leisurely honeymoon was
+over. But she was neither fearful nor unhappy. Hyde's friends had
+procured his exchange into a court regiment. He was only going to
+London, and he was still her lover. She looked forward with clear eyes
+as she said gratefully over to herself, "So happy am I! So good is my
+husband! So dear is my child! So fair and sweet is my home!"
+
+And though to many minds Hyde Manor might seem neither fair nor sweet,
+Katherine really liked it. Perhaps she had some inherited taste for low
+lands, with their shimmer of water and patches of green; or perhaps the
+gentle beauty of the landscape specially fitted her temperament. But, at
+any rate, the wide brown stretches, dotted with lonely windmills and low
+farmhouses, pleased her. So also did the marshes, fringed with yellow
+and purple flags; and the great ditches, white with water-lilies; and
+the high belts of natural turf; and the summer sunshine, which over this
+level land had a white brilliancy to which other sunshine seemed shadow.
+Hyde had never before found the country endurable, except during the
+season when the marshes were full of birds; or when, at the Christmas
+holidays, the ice was firm as marble and smooth as glass, and the wind
+blowing fair from behind. Then he had liked well a race with the famous
+fen-skaters.
+
+The Manor House was neither handsome nor picturesque, though its
+dark-red bricks made telling contrasts among the ivy and the few large
+trees surrounding it. It contained a great number of rooms, but none
+were of large proportions. The ceilings were low, and often crossed with
+heavy oak beams; while the floors, though of polished oak, were very
+uneven. Hyde had refurnished a few of the rooms; and the showy paperings
+and chintzes, the fine satin and gilding, looked oddly at variance with
+the black oak wainscots, the Elizabethan fireplaces, and the other
+internal decorations.
+
+Katherine, however, had no sense of any incongruity. She was charmed
+with her home, from its big garrets to the great wine-bins in its
+underground cellars; and while Hyde wandered about the fens with his
+fishing-rod or gun, or went into the little town of Hyde to meet over a
+market dinner the neighbouring squires, she was busy arranging every
+room with that scrupulous nicety and cleanliness which had been not only
+an important part of her education, but was also a fundamental trait of
+her character. Indeed, no Dutch wife ever had the _netheid_, or passion
+for order and cleanliness, in greater perfection than Katherine. She
+might almost have come from Wormeldingen, "where the homes are washed
+and waxed, and the streets brushed and dusted till not a straw lies
+about, and the trees have a combed and brushed appearance, and do not
+dare to grow a leaf out of its place." So, then, the putting in order of
+this large house, with all its miscellaneous, uncared-for furniture,
+gave her a genuine pleasure.
+
+Always pretty and sweet as a flower, always beautifully dressed, she yet
+directed, personally, her little force of servants, until room after
+room became a thing of beauty. It was her employment during those days
+on which Hyde was fishing or shooting; and it was not until the whole
+house was in exquisite condition that Katherine took him through his
+renovated dwelling. He was delighted, and not too selfish and
+indifferent to express his wonder and pleasure.
+
+"Faith, Kate," he said, "you have made me a home out of an old
+lumber-house! I thought of taking you to London with me; but, upon my
+word, we had better stay at Hyde and beautify the place. I can run down
+whenever it is possible to get a few days off."
+
+This idea gained gradually on both, and articles of luxury and adornment
+were occasionally added to the better rooms. The garden next fell under
+Katharine's care. "In sweet neglect," it no longer flaunted its
+beauties. Roses and stocks and tiger-lilies learned what boundaries of
+box meant; and if flowers have any sense of territorial rights,
+Katherine's must have found they were respected. Encroaching vines were
+securely confined within their proper limits, and grass that wandered
+into the gravel paths sought for itself a merciless destruction.
+
+[Illustration: The garden next fell under Katherine's care]
+
+All such reforms, if they are not offensive, are stimulating and
+progressive. The stables, kennels, and park, as well as the land
+belonging to the manor, became of sudden interest to Hyde. He surprised
+his lawyer by asking after it, and by giving orders that in future the
+hay cut in the meadows should be cut for the Hyde stables. Every small
+wrong which he investigated and redressed increased his sense of
+responsibility; and the birth of his son made him begin to plan for the
+future in a way which brought not only great pleasure to Katherine, but
+also a comfortable self-satisfaction to his own heart.
+
+Yet, even with all these favourable conditions, Katherine would not have
+been happy had the estrangement between herself and her parents
+continued a bitter or a silent one. She did not suppose they would
+answer the letter she had sent by the fisherman Hudde; she was prepared
+to ask, and to wait, for pardon and for a re-gift of that precious love
+which she had apparently slighted for a newer and as yet untested one.
+So, immediately after her arrival at Jamaica, Katherine wrote to her
+mother; and, without waiting for replies, she continued her letters
+regularly from Hyde. They were in a spirit of the sweetest and frankest
+confidence. She made her familiar with all her household plans and
+wifely cares; as room by room in the old manor was finished, she
+described it. She asked her advice with all the faith of a child and the
+love of a daughter; and she sent through her those sweet messages of
+affection to her father which she feared a little to offer without her
+mother's mediation.
+
+But when she had a son, and when Hyde agreed that the boy should be
+named _George_, she wrote a letter to him. Joris found it one April
+morning on his desk, and it happened to come in a happy hour. He had
+been working in his garden, and every plant and flower had brought his
+Katherine pleasantly back to his memory. All the walks were haunted by
+her image. The fresh breeze of the river was full of her voice and her
+clear laughter. The returning birds, chattering in the trees above him,
+seemed to ask, "Where, then, is the little one gone?"
+
+Her letter, full of love, starred all through with pet words, and wisely
+reminding him more of their own past happiness than enlarging on her
+present joy, made his heart melt. He could do no business that day. He
+felt that he must go home and tell Lysbet: only the mother could fully
+understand and share his joy. He found her cleaning the "Guilderland
+cup"--the very cup Mrs. Gordon had found Katherine cleaning when she
+brought the first love message, and took back that fateful token, her
+bow of orange ribbon. At that moment Lysbet's thoughts were entirely
+with Katherine. She was wondering whether Joris and herself might not
+some day cross the ocean to see their child. When she heard her
+husband's step at that early hour, she put down the cup in fear, and
+stood watching the door for his approach. The first glimpse of his face
+told her that he was no messenger of sorrow. He gave her the letter with
+a smile, and then walked up and down while she read it.
+
+"Well, Joris, a beautiful letter this is. And thou has a grandson of thy
+own name--a little Joris. Oh, how I long to see him! I hope that he will
+grow like thee--so big and handsome as thou art, and also with thy good
+heart. Oh, the little Joris! Would God he was here!"
+
+The face of Joris was happy, and his eyes shining; but he had not yet
+much to say. He walked about for an hour, and listened to Lysbet, who,
+as she polished her silver, retold him all that Katherine had said of
+her husband's love, and of his goodness to her. With great attention he
+listened to her description of the renovated house and garden, and of
+Hyde's purposes with regard to the estate. Then he sat down and smoked
+his pipe, and after dinner he returned to his pipe and his meditation.
+Lysbet wondered what he was considering, and hoped that it might be a
+letter of full forgiveness for her beloved Katherine.
+
+At last he rose and went into the garden; and she watched him wander
+from bed to bed, and stand looking down at the green shoots of the early
+flowers, and the lovely inverted urns of the brave snowdrops. To the
+river and back again several times he walked; but about three o'clock he
+came into the house with a firm, quick step, and, not finding Lysbet in
+the sitting-room, called her cheerily. She was in their room upstairs,
+and he went to her.
+
+"Lysbet, thinking I have been--thinking of Katherine's marriage. Better
+than I expected, it has turned out."
+
+"I think that Katherine has made a good marriage--the best marriage of
+all the children."
+
+[Illustration: "Thou has a grandson of thy own name"]
+
+"Dost thou believe that her husband is so kind and so prudent as she
+says?"
+
+"No doubt of it I have."
+
+"See, then: I will send to Katherine her portion. Cohen will give me the
+order on Secor's Bank in Threadneedle Street. It is for her and her
+children. Can I trust them with it?"
+
+"Katherine is no waster, and full of nobleness is her husband. Write
+thou to him, and put it in his charge for Katherine and her children.
+And tell him in his honour thou trust entirely; and I think that he will
+do in all things right. Nothing has he asked of thee."
+
+"To the devil he sent my dirty guilders, made in dirty trade. I have not
+forgot."
+
+"Joris, the Devil speaks for a man in a passion. Keep no such words in
+thy memory."
+
+"Lysbet?"
+
+"What then, Joris?"
+
+"The drinking-cup of silver, which my father gave us at our
+marriage,--the great silver one that has on it the view of Middleburg
+and the arms of the city. It was given to my great-grandfather when he
+was mayor of Middleburg. His name, also, was Joris. To my grandson shall
+I send it?"
+
+"Oh, my Joris, much pleasure would thou give Katherine and me also! Let
+the little fellow have it. Earl of Dorset and Hyde he may be yet."
+
+Joris blushed vividly, but he answered, "Mayor of New York he may be
+yet. That will please me best."
+
+"Five grandsons hast thou, but this is the first Joris. Anna has two
+sons, but for his dead brothers Rysbaack named them. Cornelia has two
+sons; but for thee they called neither, because Van Dorn's father is
+called Joris, and with him they are great unfriends. And when Joanna's
+son was born, they called him Peter, because Batavius hath a rich uncle
+called Peter, who may pay for the name. So, then, Katherine's son is the
+first of thy grandchildren that has thy name. The dear little Joris! He
+has blue eyes too; eyes like thine, she says. Yes, I would to him give
+the Middleburg cup. William Newman, the jeweller, will pack it safely,
+and by the next ship thou can send it to the bankers thou spoke of. I
+will tell Katherine so. But thou, too, write her a letter; for little
+she will think of her fortune or of the cup, if thy love thou send not
+with them."
+
+And Joris had done all that he purposed, and done it without one
+grudging thought or doubting word. The cup went, full of good-will. The
+money was given as Katherine's right, and was hampered with no
+restrictions but the wishes of Joris, left to the honour of Hyde. And
+Hyde was not indifferent to such noble trust. He fully determined to
+deserve it. As for Katherine, she desired no greater pleasure than to
+emphasize her reliance in her husband by leaving the money absolutely at
+his discretion. In fact, she felt a far greater interest in the
+Middleburg cup. It had always been an object of her admiration and
+desire. She believed her son would be proud to point it out and say, "It
+came from my mother's ancestor, who was mayor of Middleburg when that
+famous city ruled in the East India trade, and compelled all vessels
+with spice and wines and oils to come to the crane of Middleburg, there
+to be verified and gauged." She longed to receive this gift. She had
+resolved to put it between the baby fingers of little Joris as soon as
+it arrived. "A grand christening-cup it will be," she exclaimed, with
+childlike enthusiasm and Hyde kissed her, and promised to send it at
+once by a trusty messenger.
+
+[Illustration: Plate old and new]
+
+He was a little amused by her enthusiasm. The Hydes had much plate, old
+and new, and they were proud of its beauty and excellence, and well
+aware of its worth; but they were not able to judge of the value of
+flagons and cups and servers gathered slowly through many generations,
+every one representing some human drama of love or suffering, or some
+deed of national significance. Nearly all of Joris Van Heemskirk's
+silver was "storied:" it was the materialization of honour and
+patriotism, of self-denial or charity; and the silversmith's and
+engraver's work was the least part of the Van Heemskirk pride in it.
+
+As Joris sat smoking that night, he thought over his proposal; and then
+for the first time it struck him that the Middleburg cup might have a
+peculiar significance and value to Bram. It cost him an effort to put
+his vague suspicions into words, because by doing so he seemed to give
+shape and substance to shadows; but when Lysbet sat down with a little
+sigh of content beside him, and said, "A happy night is this to us,
+Joris," he answered, "God is good; always better to us than we trust Him
+for. I want to say now what I have been considering the last hour,--some
+other cup we will send to the little Joris, for I think Bram will like
+to have the Middleburg cup best of all."
+
+"Always Bram has been promised the Guilderland cup and the server that
+goes with it."
+
+"That is the truth; but I will tell you something, Lysbet. The
+Middelburg cup was given by the Jews of Middleburg to my ancestor
+because great favours and protection he gave them when he was mayor of
+the city. Bram is very often with Miriam Cohen, and"--
+
+Then Joris stopped, and Lysbet waited anxiously for him to finish the
+sentence; but he only puffed, puffed, and looked thoughtfully at the
+bowl of his pipe.
+
+"What mean you, Joris?"
+
+"I think that he loves her."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"That he would like to marry her."
+
+"Many things that are impossible, man would like to do: that is most
+impossible of all."
+
+"You think so?"
+
+"I am sure of it."
+
+"Not impossible was it for Katherine to marry one not of her own race."
+
+"In my mind it is not race so much as faith. Far more than race, faith
+claims."
+
+"Hyde is a Lutheran."
+
+"A Lutheran may also be a Christian, I hope, Joris."
+
+"I judge no man, Lysbet. I have known Jews that were better Christians
+than some baptized in the name of Christ and John Calvin,--Jews who,
+like the great Jew, loved God, and did to their fellow-creatures as they
+wished to be done by. And if you had ever seen Miriam Cohen, you would
+not make a wonder that Bram loves her."
+
+"Is she so fair?"
+
+"A beautiful face and gracious ways she has. Like her the beloved Rachel
+must have been, I think. Why do you not stand with Bram as you stood
+with Katherine?"
+
+"Little use it would be, Joris. To give consent in this matter would be
+a sacrifice refused. Be sure that Cohen will not listen to Bram; no, nor
+to you, nor to me, nor to Miriam. If it come to a question of race, more
+proud is the Jew of his race then even the Englishman or the Dutchman.
+If it come to a question of faith, if all the other faiths in the world
+die out, the Jew will hold to his own. Say to Bram, 'I am willing;' and
+Cohen will say to him, 'Never, never will I consent.' If you keep the
+'Jew's cup' for Bram and Miriam, always you will keep it; yes, and they
+that live after you, too."
+
+Why it is that certain trains of thought and feeling move to their end
+at the same hour, though that end affect a variety of persons, no one
+has yet explained. But there are undoubtedly currents of sympathy of
+whose nature and movements we are profoundly ignorant. Thus how often we
+think of an event just before some decisive action relating to it is
+made known to us! How often do we recall some friend just as we are
+about to see or hear from him! How often do we remember something that
+ought to be done, just at the last moment its successful accomplishment
+was possible to us!
+
+And at the very hour Joris and Lysbet were discussing the position of
+their son with regard to Miriam Cohen, the question was being definitely
+settled at another point. For Joris was not the only person who had
+observed Bram's devotion to the beautiful Jewess. Cohen had watched him
+with close and cautious jealousy for many months; but he was far too
+wise to stimulate love by opposition, and he did not believe in half
+measures. When he defined Miriam's duty to her, he meant it to be in
+such shape as precluded argument or uncertainty; and for this purpose
+delay was necessary. Much correspondence with England had to take place,
+and the mails were then irregular. But it happened that, after some
+months of negotiation, a final and satisfactory letter had come to him
+by the same post as brought Katherine's letter to Joris Van Heemskirk.
+
+He read its contents with a sad satisfaction, and then locked it away
+until the evening hours secured him from business interruption. Then he
+went to his grandchild. He found her sitting quietly among the cushions
+of a low couch. It seemed as if Miriam's thoughts were generally
+sufficient for her pleasure, for she was rarely busy. She had always
+time to sit and talk, or to sit and be silent. And Cohen liked best to
+see her thus,--beautiful and calm, with small hands dropped or folded,
+and eyes half shut, and mouth closed, but ready to smile and dimple if
+he decided to speak to her.
+
+She looked so pretty and happy and careless that for some time he did
+not like to break the spell of her restful beauty. Nor did he until his
+pipe was quite finished, and he had looked carefully over the notes in
+his "day-book." Then he said in slow, even tones, "My child, listen to
+me. This summer my young kinsman Judah Belasco will come here. He comes
+to marry you. You will be a happy wife, my dear. He has moneys, and he
+has the power to make moneys; and he is a good young man. I have been
+cautious concerning that, my dear."
+
+There was a long pause. He did not hurry her, but sat patiently waiting,
+with his eyes fixed upon the book in his hand.
+
+"I do not want to marry, grandfather. I am so young. I do not know Judah
+Belasco."
+
+"You shall have time, my dear. It is part of the agreement that he shall
+now live in New York. He is a rich young man, my dear. He is of the
+_sephardim_, as you are too, my dear. You must marry in your own caste;
+for we are of unmixed blood, faithful children of the tribe of Judah.
+All of our brethren here are _Ashkenasem_: therefore, I have had no rest
+until I got a husband fit for you, my dear. This was my duty, though I
+brought him from the end of the earth. It has cost me moneys, but I gave
+cheerfully. The thing is finished now, when you are ready. But you shall
+not be hurried, my dear."
+
+"Father, I have been a good daughter. Do not make me leave you."
+
+"You have been good, and you will be good always. What is the command?"
+
+"Honor thy father and thy mother."
+
+"And the promise?"
+
+"Then long shall be thy days on the earth."
+
+"And the vow you made, Miriam?"
+
+"That I would never disobey or deceive you."
+
+"Who have you vowed to?"
+
+"The God of Israel."
+
+"Will you lie unto Him?"
+
+"I would give my life first."
+
+"Now is the time to fulfil your vow. Put from your heart or fancy any
+other young man. Have you not thought of our neighbour, Bram Van
+Heemskirk?"
+
+"He is good; he is handsome. I fear he loves me."
+
+"You know not anything. If you choose a husband, or even a shoe, by
+their appearance, both may pinch you, my dear. Judah is of good stock.
+Of a good tree you may expect good fruit."
+
+"Bram Van Heemskirk is also the son of a good father. Many times you
+have said it."
+
+"Yes, I have said it. But Bram is not of our people. And if our law
+forbid us to sow different seeds at the same time in the same ground, or
+to graft one kind of fruit-tree on the stock of another, shall we dare
+to mingle ourselves with people alien in race and faith, and speech and
+customs? My dear, will you take your own way, or will you obey the word
+of the Lord?"
+
+"My way cannot stand before His way."
+
+"It is a hard thing for you, my dear. Your way is sweet to you. Offer it
+as a sacrifice; bind the sacrifice, even with cords, to the altar, if
+it be necessary. I mean, say to Bram Van Heemskirk words that you cannot
+unsay. Then there will be only one sorrow. It is hope and fear, and fear
+and hope, that make the heart sick. Be kind, and slay hope at once, my
+dear."
+
+"If Judah had been my own choice, father"--
+
+"_Choice?_ My dear, when did you get wisdom? Do not parents choose for
+their children their food, dress, friends, and teachers? What folly to
+do these things, and then leave them in the most serious question of
+life to their own wisdom, or want of wisdom! Choice! Remember Van
+Heemskirk's daughter, and the sin and suffering her own choice caused."
+
+[Illustration: "Make me not to remember the past"]
+
+"I think it was not her fault if two men quarrelled and fought about
+her."
+
+"She was not wholly innocent. Miriam, make me not to remember the past.
+My eyes are old now; they should not weep any more. I have drunk my cup
+of sorrow to the lees. O Miriam, Miriam, do not fill it again!"
+
+"God forbid! My father, I will keep the promise that I made you. I will
+do all that you wish."
+
+Cohen bowed his head solemnly, and remained for some minutes afterward
+motionless. His eyes were closed, his face was as still as a painted
+face. Whether he was praying or remembering, Miriam knew not. But
+solitude is the first cry of the wounded heart, and she went away into
+it. She was like a child that had been smitten, and whom there was none
+to comfort. But she never thought of disputing her grandfather's word,
+or of opposing his will. Often before he had been obliged to give her
+some bitter cup, or some disappointment; but her good had always been
+the end in view. She had perfect faith in his love and wisdom. But she
+suffered very much; though she bore it with that uncomplaining patience
+which is so characteristic of the child heart--a patience pathetic in
+its resignation, and sublime in its obedience.
+
+And it was during this hour of trial to Miriam that Joris was talking to
+Lysbet of her. It did him good to put his fears into words, for Lysbet's
+assurances were comfortable; and as it had been a day full of feeling,
+he was weary and went earlier to his room than usual. On the contrary,
+Lysbet was very wakeful. She carried her sewing to the candle, and sat
+down for an hour's work. The house was oppressively still; and she could
+not help remembering the days when it had been so different,--when Anna
+and Cornelia had been marriageable women, and Joanna and Katherine
+growing girls. All of them had now gone away from her. Only Bram was
+left, and she thought of him with great anxiety. Such a marriage as his
+father had hinted at filled her with alarm. She could neither conquer
+her prejudices nor put away her fears; and she tormented herself with
+imagining, in the event of such a misfortune, all the disagreeable and
+disapproving things the members of the Middle Kirk would have to say.
+
+In the midst of her reflections, Bram returned. She had not expected him
+so early, but the sound of his feet was pleasant. He came in slowly;
+and, after some pottering, irritating delays, he pushed his father's
+chair back from the light, and with a heavy sigh sat down in it.
+
+"Why sigh you so heavy, Bram? Every sigh still lower sinks the heart."
+
+"A light heart I shall never have again, mother."
+
+"You talk some foolishness. A young man like you! A quarrel with your
+sweetheart, is it? Well, it will be over as quick as a rainy day. Then
+the sunshine again."
+
+"For me there is no hope like that. So quiet and shy was my love."
+
+"Oh, indeed! Of all the coquettes, the quiet, shy ones are the worst."
+
+"No coquette is Miriam Cohen. My love life is at the end, mother."
+
+"When began it, Bram?"
+
+"It was at the time of the duel. I loved her from the first moment. O
+mother, mother!"
+
+"Does she not love you, Bram?"
+
+"I think so: many sweet hours we have had together. My heart was full of
+hope."
+
+"Her faith, Bram, should have kept you prudent."
+
+"'In what church do you pray?' Love asks not such a question, and as for
+her race, I thought a daughter of Israel is the beloved of all the
+daughters of God. A blessing to my house she will bring."
+
+"That is not what the world says, Bram. No, my son. It is thus, and like
+it: that God is angry with His people, and for that He has scattered
+them through all the nations of the earth."
+
+"Such folly is that! To colonize, to 'take possession' of the whole
+earth, is what the men of Israel have always intended. Long before the
+Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Jews were scattered throughout every
+known country. I will say that to the dominie. It is the truth, and he
+cannot deny it."
+
+"But surely God is angry with them."
+
+"I see it not. If once He was angry, long ago He has forgiven His
+people. 'To the third and fourth generation' only is His anger. His own
+limit that is. Who have such blessings? The gold and the wine and the
+fruit of all lands are theirs. Their increase comes when all others'
+fail. God is not angry with them. The light of His smile is on the face
+of Miriam. He teaches her father how to traffic and to prosper. Do not
+the Holy Scriptures say that the blessing, not the anger, of the Lord
+maketh rich?"
+
+"Well, then, my son, all this is little to the purpose, if she will not
+have thee for her husband. But be not easy to lose thy heart. Try once
+more."
+
+"Useless it would be. Miriam is not one of those who say 'no' and then
+'yes.'"
+
+"Nearly two years you have known her. That was long to keep you in hope
+and doubt. I think she is a coquette."
+
+"You know her not, mother. Very few words of love have I dared to say.
+We have been friends. I was happy to stand in the store and talk to
+Cohen, and watch her. A glance from her eyes, a pleasant word, was
+enough. I feared to lose all by asking too much."
+
+"Then, why did you ask her to-night? It would have been better had your
+father spoken first to Mr. Cohen."
+
+"I did not ask Miriam to-night. She spared me all she could. She was in
+the store as I passed, and I went in. This is what she said to me,
+'Bram, dear Bram, I fear that you begin to love me, because I think of
+you very often. And my grandfather has just told me that I am promised
+to Judah Belasco, of London. In the summer he will come here, and I
+shall marry him.' I wish, mother, you could have seen her leaning
+against the black _kas_; for between it and her black dress, her face
+was white as death, and beautiful and pitiful as an angel's."
+
+"What said you then?"
+
+"Oh, I scarce know! But I told her how dearly I loved her, and I asked
+her to be my wife."
+
+[Illustration: With a great sob Bram laid his head against her breast]
+
+"And she said what to thee?"
+
+"'My father I must obey. Though he told me to slay myself, I must obey
+him. By the God of Israel, I have promised it often.'"
+
+"Was that all, Bram?"
+
+"I asked her again and again. I said, 'Only in this one thing, Miriam,
+and all our lives after it we will give to him.' But she answered,
+'Obedience is better than sacrifice, Bram. That is what our law teaches.
+Though I could give my father the wealth and the power of King Solomon,
+it would be worth less than my obedience.' And for all my pleading, at
+the last it was the same, 'I cannot do wrong; for many right deeds will
+not undo one wrong one.' So she gave me her hands, and I kissed
+them,--my first and last kiss,--and I bade her farewell; for my hope is
+over--I know that."
+
+"She is a good girl. I wish that you had won her, Bram." And Lysbet put
+down her work and went to her son's side; and with a great sob Bram laid
+his head against her breast.
+
+"As one whom his mother comforteth!" Oh, tender and wonderful
+consolation! It is the mother that turns the bitter waters of life into
+wine. Bram talked his sorrow over to his mother's love and pity and
+sympathy; and when she parted with him, long after the midnight, she
+said cheerfully, "Thou hast a brave soul, _mijn zoon, mijn Bram_; and
+this trouble is not all for thy loss and grief. A sweet memory will this
+beautiful Miriam be as long as thou livest; and to have loved well a
+good woman will make thee always a better man for it."
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+          "_The town's a golden, but a fatal, circle,
+          Upon whose magic skirts a thousand devils,
+          In crystal forms, sit tempting Innocence,
+          And beckoning Virtue from its centre._"
+
+
+The trusting, generous letter which Joris had written to his son-in-law
+arrived a few days before Hyde's departure for London. With every decent
+show of pleasure and gratitude, he said, "It is an unexpected piece of
+good fortune, Katherine, and the interest of five thousand pounds will
+keep Hyde Manor up in a fine style. As for the principal, we will leave
+it at Secor's until it can be invested in land. What say you?"
+
+Katherine was quite satisfied; for, though naturally careful of all put
+under her own hands, she was at heart very far from being either selfish
+or mercenary. In fact, the silver cup was at that hour of more real
+interest to her. It would be a part of her old home in her new home. It
+was connected with her life memories, and it made a portion of her
+future hopes and dreams. There was also something more tangible about it
+than about the bit of paper certifying to five thousand pounds in her
+name at Secor's Bank.
+
+But Hyde knew well the importance of Katherine's fortune. It enabled him
+to face his relatives and friends on a very much better footing than he
+had anticipated. He was quite aware, too, that the simple fact was all
+that society needed. He expected to hear in a few days that the five
+thousand pounds had become fifty thousand pounds; for he knew that
+rumour, when on the boast, would magnify any kind of gossip, favourable
+or unfavourable. So he was no longer averse to meeting his former
+companions: even to them, a rich wife would excuse matrimony. And,
+besides, Hyde was one of those men who regard money in the bank as a
+kind of good conscience: he really felt morally five thousand pounds the
+better. Full of hope and happiness, he would have gone at a pace to suit
+his mood; but English roads at that date were left very much to nature
+and to weather, and the Norfolk clay in springtime was so deep and heavy
+that it was not until the third day after leaving that he was able to
+report for duty.
+
+His first social visit was paid to his maternal grandmother, the dowager
+Lady Capel. She was not a nice old woman; in fact, she was a very
+spiteful, ill-hearted, ill-tempered old woman, and Hyde had always had a
+certain fear of her. When he landed in London with his wife, Lady Capel
+had fortunately been at Bath; and he had then escaped the duty of
+presenting Katherine to her. But she was now at her mansion in Berkeley
+Square, and her claims upon his attention could not be postponed; and,
+as she had neither eyes nor ears in the evenings for any thing but loo
+or whist, Hyde knew that a conciliatory visit would have to be made in
+the early part of the day.
+
+He found her in the most careless dishabille, wigless and unpainted, and
+rolled up comfortably in an old wadded morning-gown that had seen years
+of snuffy service. But she had out-lived her vanity. Hyde had chosen the
+very hour in which she had nothing whatever to amuse her, and he was a
+very welcome interruption. And, upon the whole, she liked her grandson.
+She had paid his gambling-debts twice, she had taken the greatest
+interest in his various duels, and sided passionately with him in one
+abortive love-affair.
+
+"Dick is no milksop," she would say approvingly, when told of any of his
+escapades; "faith, he has my spirit exactly! I have a great deal more
+temper than any one would believe me capable of"--which was not the
+truth, for there were few people who really knew her ladyship who ever
+felt inclined to doubt her capabilities in that direction.
+
+So she heard the rattle of Hyde's sword, and the clatter of his feet on
+the polished stairs, with a good deal of satisfaction. "I have him here,
+and I shall do my best to keep him here," she thought. "Why should a
+proper young fellow like Dick bury himself alive in the fens for a
+Dutchwoman? In short, she has had enough, and too much, of him. His
+grandmother has a prior claim, I hope, and then Arabella Suffolk will
+help me. I foresee mischief and amusement.--Well, Dick, you rascal, so
+you have had to leave America! I expected it. Oh, sir, I have heard all
+about you from Adelaide! You are not to be trusted, either among men or
+women. And pray where is the wife you made such a fracas about? Is she
+in London with you?"
+
+"No, madam: she preferred to remain at Hyde, and I have no happiness
+beyond her desire."
+
+"Here's flame! Here's constancy! And you have been married a whole year!
+I am struck with admiration."
+
+"A whole year--a year of divine happiness, I assure you."
+
+"Lord, sir! You will be the laughing-stock of the town if you talk in
+such fashion. They will have you in the play-houses. Pray let us forget
+our domestic joys a little. I hear, however, that your divinity is
+rich."
+
+"She is not poor; though if"--
+
+"Though if she had been a beggar-girl you would have married her, rags
+and all. Swear to that, Dick, especially when she brings you fifty
+thousand pounds. I'm very much obliged to her; you can hardly, for
+shame, put your fingers in my poor purse now, sir. And you can make a
+good figure in the world; and as your cousin Arabella Suffolk is staying
+with me, you will be the properest gallant for her when Sir Thomas is at
+the House."
+
+"I am at yours and cousin Arabella's service, grandmother."
+
+"Exactly so, Captain; only no more quarrelling and fighting. Learn your
+catechism, or Dr. Watts, or somebody. Remember that we have now a bishop
+in the family. And I am getting old, and want to be at peace with the
+whole world, if you will let me."
+
+Hyde laughed merrily. "Why, grandmother, such advice from you! I don't
+trust it. There never was a more perfect hater than yourself."
+
+"I know, Dick. I used to say, 'Lord, this person is so bad, and that
+person is so bad, I hate them!' But at last I found out that every one
+was bad: so I hate nobody. One cannot take a sword and run the whole
+town through. I have seen some very religious people lately; and you
+will find me very serious, and much improved. Come and go as you please,
+Dick: Arabella and you can be perfectly happy, I dare say, without
+minding me."
+
+"What is the town doing now?"
+
+"Oh, balls and dances and weddings and other follies! Thank the moon,
+men and women never get weary of these things!"
+
+"Then you have not ceased to enjoy them, I hope."
+
+"I still take my share. Old fools will hobble after young ones. I ride a
+little, and visit a little, and have small societies quite to my taste.
+And I have my four kings and aces; that is saying everything. I want you
+to go to all the diversions, Dick; and pray tell me what they say of me
+behind my back. I like to know how much I annoy people."
+
+"I shall not listen to anything unflattering, I assure you."
+
+"La, Dick, you can't fight a rout of women and men about your
+grandmother! I don't want you to fight, not even if they talk about
+Arabella and you. It is none of their business; and as for Sir Thomas
+Suffolk, he hears nothing outside the House, and he thinks every Whig in
+England is watching him--a pompous old fool!"
+
+"Oh, indeed! I had an idea that he was a very merry fellow."
+
+"Merry, forsooth! He was never known to laugh. There is a report that he
+once condescended to smile, but it was at chess. As for fighting, he
+wouldn't fight a dog that bit him. He is too patriotic to deprive his
+country of his own abilities. No, Dick; I really do not see any quarrel
+ahead, unless you make it."
+
+"I shall think of my Kate when I am passionate, and so keep the peace."
+
+"'I shall think of my Kate.' Grant me patience with all young husbands.
+They ought to remain in seclusion until the wedding-fever is over. By
+the Lord Harry! If Jack Capel had spoken of me in such fashion, I would
+have given him the best of reasons for running some pretty fellow
+through the heart. Hush! Here comes Arabella, and I am anxious you
+should make a figure in her eyes."
+
+Arabella came in very quietly, but she seemed to take possession of the
+room as she entered it. She had a bright, piquant face, a tall, graceful
+form, and that air of high fashion which is perhaps quite as
+captivating.
+
+She was "delighted to meet cousin Dick. Oh, indeed, you have been the
+town talk!" she said, with an air of attention very flattering. "Such a
+passionate encounter was never heard of. The clubs were engaged with it
+for a week. I was told that Lord Paget and Sir Henry Dutton came near
+fighting it over themselves. Was it really about a bow of orange ribbon?
+And did you wear it over your heart? And did the Scotchman cut it off
+with his sword? And did you run him through the next moment? There were
+the most extraordinary accounts of the affair, and of the little girl
+with the unpronounceable Dutch name who"--
+
+"Who is now my wife, Lady Suffolk."
+
+"Certainly, we heard of that also. How romantic! The secret marriage,
+the midnight elopement, and the man-of-war waiting down the river with a
+broadside ready for any boat that attempted to stop you."
+
+"Oh, my lady, that is the completest nonsense!"
+
+"Say 'cousin Arabella,' if you please. Has not grandmother told you that
+I, not the Dutch girl, ought to have been your wife? It was all arranged
+years ago, sir. You have disappointed grandmother; as for me, I have
+consoled myself with Sir Thomas."
+
+"Yes, indeed," said Lady Capel; "though Dick was entirely out of the
+secret of the match, my son Will and I had agreed upon it. I don't know
+what Will thinks of a younger son like Dick choosing for himself."
+
+Then Arabella made Hyde a pretty, mocking courtesy, and he could not
+help looking with some interest at the woman who might have been his
+wife. The best of men, and the best of husbands, are liable to speculate
+a little under such circumstances, and in fancy to put themselves into a
+position they have probably no wish in reality to fill. She noticed his
+air of consideration; and, with a toss of her handsome head, she spread
+out all her finery. "You see," she said, "I am dressed so as to make a
+tearing show." She wore a white poudesoy gown, embroidered with gold,
+and the prettiest high-heeled satin slippers, and a head-dress of
+wonderful workmanship. "For I have been at a concert of music, cousin
+Dick, and heard two overtures of Mr. Handel's and a sonata by Corella,
+done by the very best hands."
+
+[Illustration: She spread out all her finery]
+
+"And, pray, whom did you see there, my dear? and what were they talking
+about?"
+
+"Of all people, grandmother, I saw Lady Susan Rye and the rest of her
+sort; and they talked of nothing else but the coming mask at Ranelagh's.
+Cousin, I bespeak you for my service. I am going as a gypsy, for it will
+give me the opportunity of telling the truth. In my own character, I
+rarely do it: nothing is so impolite. But I have a prodigious regard for
+truth; and at a mask I give myself the pleasure of saying all the
+disagreeable things that I owe to my acquaintances."
+
+Katherine was almost ignored; and Hyde did not feel any desire to bring
+even her name into such a mocking, jeering, perfectly heartless
+conversation. He was content to laugh, and let the hour go past in such
+flim-flams of criticism and persiflage. He remembered when he had been
+one of the units in such a life, and he wondered if it were possible
+that he could ever drift back into it. For even as he sat there, with
+the memory of his wife and child in his heart, he felt the light charm
+of Lady Arabella's claim upon him, and all the fascination of that gay,
+thoughtless animal life which appeals so strongly to the selfish
+instincts and appetites of youth.
+
+He had a plate of roast hare and a goblet of wine, and the ladies had
+chocolate and rout cakes; and he ate and drank, and laughed, and enjoyed
+their bright, ill-natured pleasantry, as men enjoy such piquant morsels.
+Thus a couple of hours passed; and then it became evident, from the
+pawing and snorting outside, that Mephisto's patience was quite
+exhausted. Hyde went to the window, and looked into the square. His
+orderly was vainly endeavoring to soothe the restless animal; and he
+said, "Mephisto will take no excuse, cousin, and I find myself obliged
+to leave you." But he went away in an excitement of hope and gay
+anticipations; and, with a sharp rebuke to the unruly animal, he vaulted
+into the saddle with soldierly grace and rapidity. A momentary glance
+upward showed him Lady Capel and Lady Suffolk at the window, watching
+him; the withered old woman in her soiled wrappings, the youthful beauty
+in all the bravery of her white and gold poudesoy. In spite of
+Mephisto's opposition, he made them a salute; and then, in a clamour of
+clattering hoofs, he dashed through the square.
+
+"That is the man you ought to have married Arabella," said Lady Capel,
+as she watched the young face at her side, which had suddenly become
+pensive and dreamy: "you would have been a couple for the world to look
+at."
+
+"Oh, indeed, you are mistaken, grandmother! Sir Thomas is an admirable
+husband--blind and deaf to all I do, as a good husband ought to be. And
+as for Dick, look at him--bowing and smiling, and ready to do me any
+service, while the girl he nearly died for is quite forgotten."
+
+"Upon my word, you wrong Dick. His love for that woman is beyond
+everything. I wish it wasn't. What right had she to come into our
+family, and spoil plans and projects made before she was born. I should
+clearly love to play her her own card back. And I must say, Arabella,
+that you seem to care very little about your own wrongs."
+
+"Oh, I am by no means certified that the woman has wronged me! I don't
+think I should have loved Dick, in any case."
+
+"_Ha!_" Lady Capel looked in her granddaughter's musing face, and then,
+with a chuckle, hobbled to the bell and rang for her maid. "You are very
+prudent, child, but I am not one that any woman can deceive. I know all
+the tricks of the sex. Oh, heavens! what a grand thing to be two and
+twenty, with a kind husband to manage, and lovers bowing and begging at
+your shoe-ties! Well, well, I had my day; and, thank the fools, I did
+some mischief in it! Yes, there were eight duels fought for me; and
+while Somers and Scrope were wetting their swords in the quarrel, I was
+dancing with Jack Capel. Jack told me that night he would make me marry
+him; and when I slapped his cheek with my fan, he took my hands in a
+rage, and swore I should do it that hour. And, faith, he mastered me!
+Your grandfather Capel had a dreadful temper, Arabella."
+
+"I have heard that Cousin Dick Hyde has a temper too."
+
+"Dick is vain; and you can make a vain man stand on his head, or go down
+on his knees, if you only vow that he performs the antics better than
+any other human creature. The town will fling itself at Dick Hyde's
+feet, and Dick will fling himself at yours. Mind what I say; my
+prophecies always come true, Arabella, for I never expect sinners to be
+saints, my dear."
+
+And during the next six months Lady Capel found plenty of opportunities
+for complimenting herself upon her own penetration. Society made an idol
+of Capt. Hyde; and if he was not at Lady Arabella's feet, he was
+certainly very constantly at her side. As to his marriage, it was a
+topic of constant doubt and dispute. The clubs betted on the subject. In
+the ball-rooms and the concert-rooms, the ladies positively denied it;
+and Lady Arabella's smile and shrug were of all opinions the most
+unsatisfactory and bewildering. Some, indeed, admitted the marriage, but
+averred, with a meaning emphasis, that madam was on the proper side of
+the Atlantic. Others were certain that Hyde had brought his wife to
+England, but felt himself obliged, on account of her great beauty, to
+keep her away from the conquering heroes of London society. It was a
+significant index to Hyde's real character, that not one of his
+associates ever dared to be familiar enough to ask him for the truth on
+a question so delicately personal.
+
+"Hyde is exactly the man to invite me to meet him in Marylebone Fields
+for the answer," said a young officer, who had been urged to make
+inquiries because he was on familiar terms with his comrade. "If it
+comes to a matter of catechism, gentlemen, I'll bet ten to one that none
+of you ask him two consecutive questions regarding the American lady."
+
+And perhaps many husbands may be able to understand a fact which to the
+general world seems beyond satisfactory explanation. Hyde loved his
+wife, loved her tenderly and constantly; he felt himself to be a better
+man whenever he thought of her and his little son, and he thought of
+them very frequently; and yet his eyes, his actions, the tones of his
+voice, daily led his cousin, Lady Suffolk, to imagine herself the
+empress of his heart and life. Nor was it to her alone that he permitted
+this affectation of love. He found beauty, wherever he met it,
+provocative of the same apparent devotion. There were a dozen men in his
+own circle who hated him with all the sincerity that jealousy gives to
+dislike and envy; there were a score of women who believed themselves to
+have private tokens of Hyde's special admiration for them.
+
+Unfortunately, his military duties were only on very rare occasions any
+restraint to him. His days were mainly spent in dangling after Lady
+Suffolk and other fair dames. It was auctions at Christie's, and morning
+concerts, and afternoon rides and plays, and dinners and balls and
+masks at Ranelagh's. It was sails down the river to Richmond, and trips
+to Sadler's Wells, and one perpetual round of flirting and folly, of
+dressing and dancing and dining and gaming.
+
+[Illustration: All kinds of frivolity and amusement]
+
+And it must be remembered that the English women of that day were such
+as England may well hope never to see again. They had little education:
+many very great ladies could hardly read and spell properly. Their sole
+accomplishments were dressing and embroidery; the ability to make a few
+delicate dishes for the table, and scents and pomade for the toilet. In
+the higher classes they married for money or position, and gave
+themselves up to intrigue. They drank deeply; they played high; they
+very seldom went to church, for Sunday was the fashionable day for all
+kinds of frivolity and amusement. And as the men of any generation are
+just what the women make them, England never had sons so profligate, so
+profane and drunken. The clubs, especially Brooke's, were the nightly
+scenes of indescribable orgies. Gambling alone was their serious
+occupation; duels were of constant occurrence.
+
+Such a life could not be lived except at frightful and generally ruinous
+expense. Hyde was soon embarrassed. His pay was small and uncertain and
+the allowance which his brother William added to it, in order that the
+heir-apparent to the earldom might live in becoming style, had not been
+calculated on the squandering basis of Hyde's expenditures. Toward
+Christmas bills began to pour in, creditors became importunate, and, for
+the first time in his life, creditors really troubled him. Lady Capel
+was not likely to pay his debts any more. The earl, in settling Hyde's
+American obligations, had warned him against incurring others, and had
+frankly told him he would permit him to go to jail rather than pay such
+wicked and foolish bills for him again. The income from Hyde Manor had
+never been more than was required for the expenses of the place; and the
+interest on Katherine's money had gone, though he could not tell how. He
+was destitute of ready cash, and he foresaw that he would have to borrow
+some from Lady Capel or some other accommodating friend.
+
+He returned to barracks one Sunday afternoon, and was moodily thinking
+over these things, when his orderly brought him a letter which had
+arrived during his absence. It was from Katherine. His face flushed with
+delight as he read it, so sweet and tender and pure was the neat
+epistle. He compared it mentally with some of the shameless scented
+billet-doux he was in the habit of receiving; and he felt as if his
+hands were unworthy to touch the white wings of his Katherine's most
+womanly, wifely message. "She wants to see me. Oh, the dear one! Not
+more than I want to see her. Fool, villain, that I am! I will go to her.
+Katherine! Kate! My dear little Kate!" So he ejaculated as he paced his
+narrow quarters, and tried to arrange his plans for a Christmas visit
+to his wife and child.
+
+First he went to his colonel's lodging, and easily obtained two weeks'
+absence; then he dressed carefully, and went to his club for dinner. He
+had determined to ask Lady Capel for a hundred pounds; and he thought it
+would be the best plan to make his request when she was surrounded by
+company, and under the pleasurable excitement of a winning rubber. And
+if the circumstances proved adverse, then he could try his fortune in
+the hours of her morning retirement.
+
+The mansion in Berkeley Square was brilliantly lighted when he
+approached it. Chairs and coaches were waiting in lines of three deep;
+coachmen and footmen quarrelling, shouting, talking; link-boys running
+here and there in search of lost articles or missing servants. But the
+hubbub did not at that time make his blood run quicker, or give any
+light of expectation to his countenance; for his heart and thoughts were
+near a hundred miles away.
+
+Sunday night was Lady Capel's great card-night, and the rooms were full
+of tables surrounded by powdered and painted beauties intent upon the
+game and the gold. The odour of musk was everywhere, and the sound of
+the tapping of gold snuff-boxes, and the fluttering of fans, and the
+sharp, technical calls of the gamesters, and the hollow laughter of
+hollow hearts. There was a hired singing-girl with a lute at one end of
+the room, babbling of Cupid and Daphne, and green meadow and larks. But
+she was poorly dressed and indifferent looking; and she sang with a
+sad, mechanical air, as if her thoughts were far off. Hyde would have
+passed her without a glance; but, as he approached, she broke her
+love-ditty in two, and began to sing, with a meaning look at him,--
+
+                "They say there is a happy land,
+                  Where husbands never prove untrue;
+                Where lovely maids may give their hearts,
+                  And never need the gift to rue;
+                Where men can make and keep a vow,
+                  And wives are never in despair.
+                I'm very fond of seeing sights--
+                  Pray tell me, how can I get there?"
+
+The question seemed so directly addressed to Hyde that he hesitated a
+moment, and looked at the girl, who then with a mocking smile
+continued,--
+
+                "They say there really is a land,
+                  Where husbands never are untrue,
+                Where wives are always beautiful,
+                  And the old love is always new.
+                I've asked the wise to tell me how
+                  A loving woman could get there;
+                And this is what they say to me,--
+                'If you that happy land would see,
+                  There's only one way to get there:
+                _Go straight along the crooked lane,
+                  And all around the square_.'"
+
+The scornful little song followed him, and conveyed a certain meaning to
+his mind. The girl must have taken her cue from the gossip of those who
+passed her to and fro. He burned with indignation, not for himself, but
+for his sweet, pure Katherine. He was determined that the world should
+in the future know that he held her peerless among women. In this
+half-aggressive mood he approached Lady Capel. She had been unfortunate
+all the evening, and was not amiable. As he stood behind her chair, Lord
+Leffham asked,--
+
+"What think you, Hyde, of a party at picquet?"
+
+"Oh, indeed, my lord, you are too much for me!"
+
+"I will give you three points." Then, calling a footman, "Here, fellow,
+get cards."
+
+Lady Capel flung her own down. "No, no, Leffham. Spare my grandson:
+there are bigger fish here. Dick, I am angry at you. I have a mind to
+banish you for a month."
+
+"I am going to Norfolk for two weeks, madam."
+
+[Illustration: "Dick, I am angry at you"]
+
+"That will do. It is a worse punishment than I should have given you.
+Norfolk! There is only one word between it and the plantations. At this
+time of the year, it is a clay pudding full of villages. Give me your
+arm, Dick; I shall play no more until my luck turns again. Losing cards
+are dull company indeed."
+
+"I am very sorry that you have been losing. I came to ask for the loan
+of a hundred pounds, grandmother."
+
+"No, sir, I will not lend you a hundred pounds; nor am I in the humour
+to do anything else you desire."
+
+"I make my apology for the request. I ought to have asked Katherine."
+
+"No, sir, you ought not to have asked Katherine. You ought to take what
+you want. Jack Capel took every shilling of my fortune and neither said
+'by your leave' nor 'thank you.' Did the Dutchman tie the bag too
+close?"
+
+"Councillor Van Heemskirk left it open, in my honour. When I am
+scoundrel enough to touch it, I shall not come and see you at all,
+grandmother."
+
+"Upon my word, a very pretty compliment! Well, sir, I'll pay you a
+hundred pounds for it. When do you start?"
+
+"To-morrow morning."
+
+"Make it afternoon, and take care of me as far as your aunt Julia's. The
+duke is of the royal bed-chamber this month, and I am going to see my
+daughter while he is away. It will make him supremely wretched at court
+to know that I am in his house. So I am going there, and I shall take
+care he knows it."
+
+"I have heard a great deal of his new house."
+
+"A play-house kind of affair, Dick, I assure you,--all in the French
+style; gods and goddesses above your head, and very badly dressed nymphs
+all around, and his pedigree on every window, and his coat of arms on
+the very stairs. I have the greatest satisfaction in treading upon them,
+I assure you."
+
+"Why do you take the trouble to go? It can give you no pleasure."
+
+"Imagine the true state of things, Dick. The duke is at court--say he is
+holding the royal gold wash-basin; but in the very sunshine of King
+George's smile, he is thinking, 'That snuffy old woman is lounging in my
+white and gilt satin chairs, and handling all my Chinese curiosities,
+and asking if every hideous Hindoo idol is a fresh likeness of me.' I am
+always willing to take some trouble to give pleasure to the people I
+like; I will gladly go to any amount of trouble to annoy the people I
+hate as cordially as I hate my good, rich, noble son-in-law, the great
+Duke of Exmouth."
+
+"Will you play again?"
+
+"No; I lost seventy pounds to-night."
+
+"I protest, grandmother, that such high stakes go not with amusement.
+People come here, not for civility, but for the chance of money."
+
+"Very well, sir. Money! It is the only excuse for card-playing. All the
+rest is sinning without temptation. But, Dick, put on the black coat to
+preach in,--why do they wear black to preach in?--and I am not in a
+humour for a sermon. Come to-morrow at one o'clock; we shall reach
+Julia's before dinner. And I dare say you want money to-night. Here are
+the keys of my desk. In the right-hand drawer are some _rouleaus_ of
+fifty pounds each. Take two."
+
+[Illustration: She was softly singing to the drowsy child]
+
+The weather, as Lady Capel said, was "so very Decemberish" that the
+roads were passably good, being frozen dry and hard; and on the evening
+of the third day Hyde came in sight of his home. His heart warmed to the
+lonely place; and the few lights in its windows beckoned him far more
+pleasantly than the brilliant illuminations of Vauxhall or Almacks, or
+even the cold splendours of royal receptions. He had given Katherine no
+warning of his visit--partly because he had a superstitious feeling
+about talking of expected joys (he had noticed that when he did so they
+vanished beyond his grasp); partly because love, like destiny, loves
+surprises; and he wanted to see with his own eyes, and hear with his own
+ears, the glad tokens of her happy wonder.
+
+So he rode his horse upon the turf, and, seeing a light in the stable,
+carried him there at once. It was just about the hour of the evening
+meal, and the house was brighter than it would have been a little later.
+The kitchen fire threw great lustres across the brick-paved yard; and
+the blinds in Katherine's parlour were undrawn, and its fire and
+candle-light shone on the freshly laid tea-table, and the dark walls
+gleaming with bunches of holly and mistletoe. But she was not there. He
+only glanced inside the room, and then, with a smile on his face, went
+swiftly upstairs. He had noticed the light in the upper windows, and he
+knew where he would find his wife. Before he reached the nursery, he
+heard Katherine's voice. The door was a little open, and he could see
+every part of the charming domestic scene within the room. A middle-aged
+woman was quietly putting to rights the sweet disorder incident to the
+undressing of the baby. Katherine had played with it until they were
+both a little flushed and weary; and she was softly singing to the
+drowsy child at her breast.
+
+It was a very singular chiming melody, and the low, sweet, tripping
+syllables were in a language quite unknown to him. But he thought that
+he had never heard music half so sweet and tender; and he listened to
+it, and watched the drowsy, swaying movements of the mother, with a
+strange delight,--
+
+                    "Trip a trop a tronjes,
+                     De varkens in de boonjes,
+                     De keojes in de klaver,
+                     De paardeen in de haver,
+                     De eenjes in de waterplass,
+                     So groot mijn kleine Joris wass."
+
+Over and over, softer and slower, went the melody. It was evident that
+the boy was asleep, and that Katherine was going to lay him in his
+cradle. He watched her do it; watched her gently tuck in the cover, and
+stand a moment to look down at the child. Then with a face full of love
+she turned away, smiling, and quite unconsciously came toward him on
+tiptoes. With his face beaming, with his arms opened, he entered; but
+with such a sympathetic understanding of the sweet need of silence and
+restraint that there was no alarm, no outcry, no fuss or amazement. Only
+a whispered "Katherine," and the swift rapture of meeting hearts and
+lips.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+              "_Death asks for no man's leave,
+          But lifts the latch, and enters, and sits down_."
+
+
+The great events of most lives occur in epochs. A certain period is
+marked by a succession of important changes, but that ride of fortune,
+be it good or ill, culminates, recedes, goes quite out, and leaves life
+on a level beach of commonplaces. Then, sooner or later, the current of
+affairs turns again; sometimes with a calm, irresistible flow, sometimes
+in a tidal wave of sudden and overwhelming strength. After Hyde's and
+Katherine's marriage, there was a long era noticeable only for such
+vicissitudes as were incident to their fortune and position. But in May,
+A.D. 1774, the first murmur of the returning tide of destiny was heard.
+Not but what there had been for long some vague and general expectation
+of momentous events which would touch many individual lives; but this
+May night, a singular prescience of change made Hyde restless and
+impatient.
+
+It was a dull, drizzling evening; and there was an air of depression in
+the city, to which he was unusually sensitive. For the trouble between
+England and her American Colonies was rapidly culminating; and party
+feeling ran high, not only among civilians, but throughout the royal
+regiments. Recently, also, a petition had been laid before the king from
+the Americans then resident in London, praying him not to send troops to
+coerce his subjects in America; and, when Hyde entered his club, some
+members were engaged in an angry altercation on this subject.
+
+"The petition was flung upon the table, as it ought to have been," said
+Lord Paget.
+
+"You are right," replied Mr. Hervey; "they ought to petition no longer.
+They ought now to resist. Mr. Dunning said in the House last night that
+the tone of the Government to the Colonies was, 'Resist, and we will cut
+your throats: acquiesce, and we will tax you.'"
+
+"A kind of 'stand and deliver' government," remarked Hyde, whistling
+softly.
+
+Lord Paget turned upon him with hardly concealed anger. "Captain, you,
+sir, wear the king's livery."
+
+"I give the king my service: my thoughts are my own. And, faith, Lord
+Paget, it is my humour to utter them when and how I please!"
+
+"Patience, gentlemen," returned Mr. Hervey. "I think, my lord, we may
+follow our leaders. The Duke of Richmond spoke warmly for Boston last
+night. 'The Bostonians are punished without a hearing,' he said; 'and if
+they resist punishment, I wish them success.' Are they not Englishmen,
+and many of them born on English soil? When have Englishmen submitted to
+oppression? Neither king, lords, nor commons can take away the rights of
+the people. It is past a doubt, too, that his Majesty, at the levee last
+night, laughed when he said he would just as lief fight the Bostonians
+as the French. I heard this speech was received with a dead silence, and
+that great offence was given by it."
+
+"I think the king was right," said Paget passionately. "Rebellious
+subjects are worse than open enemies like the French."
+
+"My lord, you must excuse me if I do not agree with your opinions. Was
+the king right to give a government to the Canadians at this precise
+time? What can his Protestant North-American subjects think, but that he
+designs the hundred thousand Catholics of Canada against their
+liberties? It is intolerable; and the king was mobbed this afternoon in
+the park, on the matter. As for the bishops who voted the Canada bill,
+they ought to be unfrocked."
+
+"Mr. Hervey, I beg to remind you that my uncle, who is of the see of St.
+Cuthbert, voted for it."
+
+"Oh, it is notorious that all the English bishops, excepting only Dr.
+Shipley, voted for war with America! I hear that they anticipate an
+hierarchy there when the country is conquered. And the fight has begun
+at home, for Parliament is dissolved on the subject."
+
+"It died in the Roman-Catholic faith," laughed Hyde, "and left us a
+rebellion for a legacy."
+
+"Captain Hyde, you are a traitor."
+
+"Lord Paget, I deny it. My loyalty does not compel me to swear by all
+the follies and crimes of the Government. My sword is my country's; but
+I would not for twenty kings draw it against my own countrymen,"--then,
+with a meaning glance at Lord Paget and an emphatic touch of his
+weapon,--"except in my own private quarrel. And if this be treason, let
+the king look to it. He will find such treason in every regiment in
+England. They say he is going to hire Hessians: he will need them for
+his American business, for he has no prerogative to force Englishmen to
+murder Englishmen."
+
+"I would advise you to be more prudent, Captain Hyde, if it is in your
+power."
+
+"I would advise you to mind your own affairs, Lord Paget."
+
+"It is said that you married an American."
+
+"If you are perfectly in your senses, my lord, leave my affairs alone."
+
+"For my part, I never believed it; and now that Lady Suffolk is a widow,
+with revenues, possibly you may"--
+
+"Ah, you are jealous, I perceive!" and Hyde laughed scornfully, and
+turned on his heel as if to go upstairs.
+
+Lord Paget followed, and laid his hand upon Hyde's arm.
+
+"Hands off, my lord. Hands off all that belongs to me. And I advise you
+also to cease your impertinent attentions to my cousin, Lady Suffolk."
+
+"Gentlemen," said Mr. Hervey, "this is no time for private quarrels;
+and, Captain, here is a fellow with a note for you. It is my Lady
+Capel's footman, and he says he comes in urgent speed."
+
+Hyde glanced at the message. "It is a last command, Mr. Harvey; and I
+must beg you to say what is proper for my honour to Lord Paget. Lady
+Capel is at the death-point, and to her requests I am first bounden."
+
+It was raining hard when he left the club, a most dreary night in the
+city. The coach rattled through the muddy streets, and brought, as it
+went along, many a bored, heavy countenance to the steaming windows, to
+watch and to wonder at its pace. Lady Capel had been death-stricken
+while at whist, and she had not been removed from the parlour in which
+she had been playing her last game. She was stretched upon a sofa in the
+midst of the deserted tables, yet covered with scattered cards and
+half-emptied tea-cups. Only Lady Suffolk and a physician were with her;
+though the corridor was full of terrified, curious servants, gloating
+not unkindly over such a bit of sensation in their prosaic lives.
+
+At this hour it was evident that, above everything in the world, the old
+lady had loved the wild extravagant grandson, whose debts she had paid
+over and over, and whom she had for years alternately petted and
+scolded.
+
+"O Dick," she whispered, "I've got to die! We all have. I've had a good
+time, Dick."
+
+"Shall I go for cousin Harold? I can bring him in an hour."
+
+"No, no. I want no priests; no better than we are, Dick. Harold is a
+proud sinner; Lord, what a proud sinner he is!" Then, with a glint of
+her usual temper, "He'd snub the twelve apostles if he met them without
+mitres. No priests, Dick. It is you I want. I have left you eight
+thousand pounds--all I could save, Dick. Everything goes back to William
+now; but the eight thousand pounds is yours. Arabella is witness to it.
+Dick, Dick, you will think of me sometimes?"
+
+And Hyde kissed her fondly. Ugly, heartless, sinful, she might be to
+others; but to him she had been a double mother. "I'll never forget
+you," he answered; "never, grandmother."
+
+"I know what the town will say: 'Well, well, old Lady Capel has gone to
+her deserts at last.' Don't mind them, Dick. Let them talk. They will
+have to go too; it's the old round--meat and mirth, and then to
+bed--a--long--sleep."
+
+"Grandmother?"
+
+"I hear you, Dick. Good-night."
+
+"Is there anything you want done? Think, dear grandmother."
+
+"Don't let Exmouth come to my funeral. I don't want him--grinning
+over--my coffin."
+
+"Any other thing?"
+
+"Put me beside Jack Capel. I wonder--if I shall--see Jack." A shadow,
+gray and swift, passed over her face. Her eyes flashed one piteous look
+into Hyde's eyes, and then closed forever.
+
+And while in the rainy, dreary London twilight Lady Capel was dying,
+Katherine was in the garden at Hyde Manor, watching the planting of
+seeds that were in a few weeks to be living things of beauty and
+sweetness. It had ceased raining at noon in Norfolk, and the gravel
+walks were perfectly dry, and the air full of the fragrance of
+innumerable violets. All the level land was wearing buttercups. Full of
+secrets, of fluttering wings, and building nests were the trees. In the
+apple-blooms the bees were humming, delirious with delight. From the
+beehives came the peculiar and exquisite odour of virgin wax. Somewhere
+near, also, the gurgle of running water spread an air of freshness all
+around.
+
+[Illustration: She was stretched upon a sofa]
+
+And Katherine, with a little basket full of flower-seeds, was going with
+the gardener from bed to bed, watching him plant them. No one who had
+seen her in the childlike loveliness of her early girlhood could have
+imagined the splendour of her matured beauty. She had grown "divinely
+tall," and the exercise of undisputed authority had added a gracious
+stateliness of manner. Her complexion was wonderful, her large blue eyes
+shining with tender lights, her face full of sympathetic revelations.
+Above all, she had that nameless charm which comes from a freedom from
+all anxious thought for the morrow; that charm of which the sweet secret
+is generally lost after the twentieth summer. Her basket of seeds was
+clasped to her side within the hollow of her left arm, and with her
+right hand she lifted a long petticoat of quilted blue satin. Above this
+garment she wore a gown of wood-coloured taffeta, sprigged with
+rose-buds, and a stomacher of fine lace to match the deep rufflings on
+her elbow-sleeves.
+
+Little Joris was with his mother, running hither and thither, as his
+eager spirits led him: now pausing to watch her drop from her white
+fingers the precious seed into its prepared bed, anon darting after some
+fancied joy among the pyramidal yews, and dusky treillages, and cradle
+walks of holly and privet. For, as Sir Thomas Swaffham said, "Hyde
+garden looked just as if brought from Holland;" and especially so in the
+spring, when it was ablaze with gorgeous tulips and hyacinths.
+
+She had heard much of Lady Capel, and she had a certain tenderness for
+the old woman who loved her husband so truly; but no thought of her
+entered into Katherine's mind that calm evening hour. Neither had she
+any presentiment of sorrow. Her soul was happy and untroubled, and she
+lingered in the sweet place until the tender touch of gray twilight was
+over fen and field. Then her maid, with a manner full of pleasant
+excitement, came to her, and said,--
+
+"Here be a London pedler, madam; and he do have all the latest fashions,
+and the news of the king and the Americans."
+
+Now, for many reasons, the advent of a London pedler was a great and
+pleasant event at the Manor House. Katherine had that delightful and
+excusable womanly foible, a love of fine clothing; and shops for its
+sale were very rare, even in towns of considerable size. It was from
+packmen and hawkers that fine ladies bought their laces and ribbons and
+gloves; their precious toilet and hair pins, their paints and powders,
+and India scarfs and fans, and even jewellery. These hawkers were also
+the great news-bearers to the lonely halls and granges and farmhouses;
+and they were everywhere sure of a welcome, and of such entertainment as
+they required. Generally each pedler had his recognized route and
+regular customers; but occasionally a strange dealer called, and such,
+having unfamiliar wares, was doubly welcome. "Is it Parkins, Lettice?"
+asked Katherine, as she turned with interest toward the house.
+
+"No, ma'am, it isn't Parkins; and I do think as the man never showed a
+face in Hyde before; but he do say that he has a miracle of fine
+things."
+
+In a few minutes he was exhibiting them to Katherine, and she was too
+much interested in the wares to notice their merchant particularly.
+
+Indeed, he had one of those faces which reveal nothing; a face flat,
+hard, secret as a wall, wrinkled as an old banner. He was a hale,
+thick-set man, dressed in breeches of corduroy, and a sleeved waistcoat
+down to his knees of the same material. His fur cap was on the carpet
+beside his pack; and he had a fluent tongue in praise of his wares, as
+he hung his silks over Lettice's outstretched arm, or arranged the
+scarfs across her shoulders.
+
+There was a slow but mutually satisfactory exchange of goods and money;
+and then the pedler began to repack his treasures, and Lettice to carry
+away the pretty trifles and the piece of satin her mistress had bought.
+Then, also, he found time to talk, to take out the last newspapers, and
+to describe the popular dissatisfaction at the stupid tyranny of the
+Government toward the Colonies. For either from information, or by some
+process rapid as instinct, he understood to which side Katherine's
+sympathies went.
+
+"Here be the 'Flying Postman,' madam, with the great speech of Mr. Burke
+in it about the port of Boston; but it won't do a mossel o' good, madam,
+though he do tell 'em to keep their hands out o' the Americans'
+pockets."
+
+"The port of Boston?"
+
+"See you, madam, they are a-going to shut the port o' Boston, and make
+Salem the place of entry; that's to punish the Bostonians; and Mr.
+Burke, he says, 'The House has been told that Salem is only seventeen
+miles from Boston but justice is not an idea of geography, and the
+Americans are condemned without being heard. Yet the universal custom,
+on any alteration of charters, is to hear the parties at the bar of the
+House. Now, the question is, Are the Americans to be heard, or not,
+before the charter is broken for our convenience?... The Boston bill is
+a diabolical bill.'"
+
+He read aloud this bit of Mr. Burke's fiery eloquence, in a high,
+droning voice, and would, according to his custom, have continued the
+entertainment; but Katherine, preferring to use her own intelligence,
+borrowed the paper and was about to leave the room with it, when he
+suddenly remembered a scarf of great beauty which he had not shown.
+
+"I bought it for my Lady Suffolk," he said; "but Lord Suffolk died
+sudden, and black my lady had to wear. It's forrin, madam; and here it
+is--the very colour of affradiles. But mayhap, as it is candle-teening,
+you'd like to wait till the day comes again."
+
+A singular look of speculation came into Katherine's face. She examined
+the scarf without delay; and, as she fingered the delicate silk, she led
+the man on to talk of Lady Suffolk, though, indeed, he scarcely needed
+the stimulus of questioning. Without regard as to whether Katherine was
+taking any interest or not in his information, he detailed with hurried
+avidity the town talk that had clung to her reputation for so many
+years; and he so fully described the handsome cavalry officer that was
+her devoted attendant that Katherine had no difficulty in recognizing
+her husband, even without the clews which her own knowledge of the
+parties gave her.
+
+She stood in the gray light by the window, fingering the delicate
+satin, and listening. The pedler glanced from his goods to her face, and
+talked rapidly, interloping bits of news about the court and the
+fashions; but going always back to Lady Suffolk and her lover, and what
+was likely to take place now that Lord Suffolk was out of the way.
+"Though there's them that do say the captain has a comely wife hid up in
+the country."
+
+Suddenly she turned and faced the stooping man: "Your scarf take: I will
+not have it. No, and I will not have anything that I have bought from
+you. All of the goods you shall receive back; and my money, give it to
+me. You are no honest hawker: you are a bad man, who have come here for
+a bad woman. You know that of my husband you have been talking--I mean
+_lying_. You know that this is his house, and that his true wife am I.
+Not one more word shall you speak.--Lettice, bring here all the goods I
+bought from this man; poisoned may be the unguents and scents and
+gloves. Of such things I have heard."
+
+She had spoken with an angry rapidity that for the moment confounded the
+stranger; but at this point he lifted himself with an insolent air, and
+said, "The goods be bought and paid for, madam; and, in faith, I will
+not buy them back again."
+
+"In faith, then, I will send for Sir Thomas Swaffham. A magistrate is
+he, and Captain Hyde's friend. Not one penny of my money shall you have;
+for, indeed, your goods I will not wear."
+
+She pointed then to the various articles which Lettice had brought
+back; and, with the shrug of a man who accepts the inevitable, he
+replaced them in his pack, and then ostentatiously counted back the
+money Katherine had given him. She examined every coin, and returned a
+crown. "My piece this is not. It may be false. I will have the one I
+gave to you.--Lettice, bring here water in a bowl; let the silver and
+gold lay in it until morning."
+
+[Illustration: She stood in the gray light by the window]
+
+And, turning to the pedler, "Your cap take from the floor, and go."
+
+"Of a truth, madam, you be not so cruel as to turn me on the fens, and
+it a dark night. There be bogs all about; and how the road do lay for
+the next house, I know not."
+
+"The road to my house was easy to find; well, then, you can find the
+road back to whoever it was sent you here. With my servants you shall
+not sit; under my roof you shall not stay."
+
+"I have no mind to go."
+
+"See you the mastiff at my feet? I advise you stir him not up, for
+death is in his jaw. To the gate, and with good haste! In one half-hour
+the kennels I will have opened. If then within my boundaries you are, it
+is at your life's peril."
+
+She spoke without passion and without hurry or alarm; but there was no
+mistaking the purpose in her white, resolute face and fearless attitude.
+And the pedler took in the situation very quickly; for the dog was
+already watching him with eyes of fiery suspicion, and an occasional
+deep growl was either a note of warning to his mistress, or of defiance
+to the intruder. With an evil glance at the beautiful, disdainful woman
+standing over him, the pedler rose and left the house; Katherine and the
+dog so closely following that the man, stooping under his heavy burden,
+heard her light footsteps and the mastiff's heavy breathing close at his
+heels, until he passed the large gates and found himself on the dark
+fen, with just half an hour to get clear of a precinct he had made so
+dangerous to himself.
+
+For, when he remembered Katherine's face, he muttered, "There isn't a
+mossel o' doubt but what she'll hev the brutes turned loose. Dash it!
+women do beat all. But I do hev one bit o' comfort--high-to-instep as
+she is, she's heving a bad time of it now by herself. I do think that,
+for sure." And the reflection gave him some gratification, as he
+cautiously felt his steps forward with his strong staff.
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+          "_Let me not to the marriage of true minds
+            Admit impediments: love is not love
+          Which alters when it alteration finds._"
+
+
+In some respects, the pedler's anticipations were correct. Katherine had
+"a bad time by herself" that night; for evil has this woful
+prerogative,--it can wound the good and the innocent, it can make
+wretched without provocation and without desert. But, whatever her
+suffering, it was altogether her own. She made no complaint, and she
+offered no explanation of her singular conduct. Her household, however,
+had learned to trust her; and the men and women servants sitting around
+the kitchen-fire that night, talked over the circumstance, and found its
+very mystery a greater charm than any possible certainty, however
+terrible, could have given them.
+
+"She be a stout-hearted one," said the ostler admiringly. "Tony and I
+a-watched her and the dog a-driving him through the gates. With his
+bundle on his back, he was a-shuffling along, a-nigh on his all-fours;
+and the madam at his heels, with her head up in the air, and her eyes
+a-shining like candles."
+
+"It would be about the captain he spoke."
+
+The remark was ventured by Lettice in a low voice, and the company
+looked at each other and nodded confidentially. For the captain was a
+person of great and mysterious importance in the house. All that was
+done was in obedience to some order received from him. Katherine quoted
+him continually, granted every favour in his name, made him the
+authority for every change necessary. His visits were times of holiday,
+when discipline was relaxed, and the methodical economy of life at the
+manor house changed into festival. And Hyde had precisely that dashing
+manner, that mixture of frankness and authority, which dependents
+admire. The one place in the whole world where nobody would have
+believed wrong of Hyde was in Hyde's own home.
+
+And yet Katherine, in the secrecy of her chamber, felt her heart quake.
+She had refused to think of the circumstance until after she had made a
+pretence of eating her supper, and had seen little Joris asleep, and
+dismissed Lettice, with all her accustomed deliberation and order. But,
+oh, how gratefully she turned the key of her room! How glad she felt to
+be alone with the fear and the sorrow that had come to her! For she
+wanted to face it honestly; and as she stood with eyes cast down, and
+hands clasped behind her back, the calm, resolute spirit of her fathers
+gathered in her heart, and gave an air of sorrowful purpose to her face
+and attitude. At that hour she was singularly like Joris Van Heemskirk;
+and any one familiar with the councillor would have known Katherine to
+be his daughter.
+
+Most women are restless when they are in anxiety. Katherine felt motion
+to be a mental disturbance. She sat down, and remained still as a carven
+image, thinking over what had been told her. There had been a time when
+her husband's constant talk of Lady Suffolk had pained her, and when she
+had been a little jealous of the apparent familiarity which existed in
+their relations with each other; but Hyde had laughed at her fears, and
+she had taken a pride in putting _his word_ above all her suspicions.
+She had seen him receive letters which she knew to be from Lady Suffolk.
+She had seen him read and destroy them without remark. She was aware
+that many a love-billet from fine ladies followed him to Hyde. But it
+was in accord with the integrity of her own nature to believe in her
+husband's faithfulness. She had made one inquiry on the subject, and his
+assurance at that time she accepted as a final settlement of all doubts.
+And if she had needed further evidence, she had found it in his
+affectionate and constant regard for her, and in his love for his child
+and his home.
+
+It was also a part of Katherine's just and upright disposition to make
+allowances for the life by which her husband was surrounded. She
+understood that he must often be placed in circumstances of great
+temptation and suspicion. Hyde had told her that there were necessarily
+events in his daily experience of which it was better for her to be
+ignorant. "They belong to it, as my uniform does," he said; "they are a
+part of its appearance; but they never touch my feelings, and they never
+do you a moment's wrong, Katherine." This explanation it had been the
+duty both of love and of wisdom to accept; and she had done so with a
+faith which asked for no conviction beyond it.
+
+And now she was told that for years he had been the lover of another
+woman; that her own existence was doubted or denied; that if it were
+admitted, it was with a supposition which affected both her own good
+name and the rights of her child. In those days, America was at the ends
+of the earth. A war with it was imminent. The Colonies might be
+conquered. She knew nothing of international rights, nor what changes
+such a condition might render possible. Hyde was the probable
+representative of an ancient noble English family, and its influence was
+great: if he really wished to annul their marriage, perhaps it was in
+his power to do so. She knew well how greedy rank was of rank and
+riches, and she could understand that there might be powerful family
+reasons for an alliance which would add Lady Suffolk's wealth to the
+Hyde earldom.
+
+[Illustration: She knelt speechless and motionless]
+
+She was no craven, and she faced the position in all its cruel bearings.
+She asked herself if, even for the sake of her little Joris, she would
+remain a wife on sufferance, or by the tie of rights which she would
+have to legally enforce; and then she lifted the candle, and passed
+softly into his room to look at him. Though physically like the large,
+fair, handsome Van Heemskirks, little Joris had certain tricks of
+expression, certain movements and attitudes, which were the very
+reflection of his father's,--the same smile, the same droop of the hair
+on the forehead, the same careless toss of the arm upward in sleep. It
+was the father in the son that answered her at that hour. She slipped
+down upon her knees by the sleeping boy, and out of the terror and
+sorrow of her soul spoke to the Fatherhood in heaven. Nay, but she knelt
+speechless and motionless, and waited until He spoke to her; spoke to
+her by the sweet, trustful little lips whose lightest touch was dear to
+her. For the boy suddenly awoke; he flung his arms around her neck, he
+laid his face close to hers, and said,--
+
+"Oh, mother, beautiful mother, I thought my father was here!"
+
+"You have been dreaming, darling Joris."
+
+"Yes; I am sorry I have been dreaming. I thought my father was here--my
+good father, that loves us so much."
+
+Then, with a happy face, Katherine rose and gave the child cool water,
+and turned his hot pillow, and with kisses sent him smiling into
+dreamland again. In those few tender moments all her fears slipped away
+from her heart. "I will not believe what a bad man says against my
+husband--against my dear one who is not here to defend himself. Lies,
+lies! I will make the denial for him."
+
+And she kept within the comfort of this spirit, even though Hyde's usual
+letter was three days behind its usual time. Certainly they were hard
+days. She kept busy; but she could not swallow a mouthful of food, and
+the sickness and despair that crouched at the threshold of her life made
+her lightest duties so heavy that it required a constant effort and a
+constant watchfulness to fulfil them. And yet she kept saying to
+herself, "All is right. I shall hear in a day or two. There is some
+change in the service. There is no change in Richard--none."
+
+On the fourth day her trust had its reward. She found then that the
+delay had been caused by the necessary charge and care of ceremonies
+which Lady Capel's death forced upon her husband. She had almost a
+sentiment of gratitude to her, although she was yet ignorant of her
+bequest of eight thousand pounds. For Hyde had resolved to wait until
+the reading of the will made it certain, and then to resign his
+commission, and carry the double good news to Katherine himself.
+Henceforward, they were to be together. He would buy more land, and
+improve his estate, and live happily, away from the turmoil of the town,
+and the disagreeable duties of active service in a detestable quarrel.
+So this purpose, though unexpressed, gave a joyous ring to his letter;
+it was lover-like in its fondness and hopefulness, and Katherine thought
+of Lady Suffolk and her emissary with a contemptuous indifference.
+
+"My dear one she intended that I should make miserable with reproaches,
+and from his own home drive him to her home for some consolations;" and
+Katherine smiled as she reflected how hopeless such a plan of separation
+would be.
+
+Never, perhaps, are we so happy as when we have just escaped some feared
+calamity. That letter lifted the last fear from Katherine's heart, and
+it gave her also the expectation of an early visit. "I am very impatient
+to see you, my Kate," he wrote; "and as early as possible after the
+funeral, you may expect me." The words rang like music in her heart. She
+read them aloud to little Joris, and then the whole household warmed to
+the intelligence. For there was always much pleasant preparation for
+Hyde's visits,--clean rooms to make still cleaner, silver to polish,
+dainties to cook; every weed to take from the garden, every unnecessary
+straw from the yards. For the master's eye, everything must be
+beautiful. To the master's comfort, every hand was delighted to
+minister.
+
+So these last days of May were wonderfully happy ones to Katherine. The
+house was in its summer draperies--all its windows open to the garden,
+which had now not only the freshness of spring, but the richer promise
+of summer. Katherine was always dressed with extraordinary care and
+taste. Little Joris was always lingering about the gates which commanded
+the longest stretch of observation. A joyful "looking forward" was upon
+every face.
+
+Alas, these are the unguarded hours which sorrow surprises! But no
+thought of trouble, and no fear of it, had Katherine, as she stood
+before her mirror one afternoon. She was watching Lettice arrange the
+double folds of her gray taffeta gown, so as to display a trifle the
+high scarlet heels of her morocco slippers, with their scarlet rosettes
+and small diamond buckles.
+
+"Too cold a colour is gray for me, Lettice: give me those scarlet
+ribbons for a breast knot;" and as Lettice stood with her head a little
+on one side, watching her mistress arrange the bright bows at her
+stomacher, there came a knock at the chamber door.
+
+"Here be a strange gentleman, madam, to see you; from London, he do
+say."
+
+A startled look came into Katherine's face; she dropped the ribbon from
+her hand, and turned to the servant, who stood twisting a corner of her
+apron at the front-door.
+
+"Well, then, Jane, like what is the stranger?"
+
+"He be in soldier's dress, madam"--
+
+"What?"
+
+She asked no further question, but went downstairs; and, as the tapping
+of her heels was heard upon them, Jane lifted her apron to her eyes and
+whimpered, "I think there be trouble; I do that, Letty."
+
+"About the master?"
+
+[Illustration: Jane lifted her apron to her eyes]
+
+"It be like it. And the man rides a gray horse too. Drat the man, to
+come with news on a gray horse! It be that unlucky, as no one in their
+seven senses would do it."
+
+"For sure it be! When I was a young wench at school"--and then, as she
+folded up the loose ribbons, Letty told a gruesome story of a farmer
+robbed and murdered; but as she came to the part the gray horse played
+in the tale, Katherine slowly walked into the room, with a letter in her
+hand. She was white, even to her lips; and with a mournful shake of her
+head, she motioned to the girls to leave her alone. She put the paper
+out of her hand, and stood regarding it. Fully ten minutes elapsed ere
+she gathered strength sufficient to break its well-known seal, and take
+in the full meaning of words so full of agony to her.
+
+"It is midnight, beloved Katherine, and in six hours I may be dead. Lord
+Paget spoke of my cousin to me in such terms as leaves but one way out
+of the affront. I pray you, if you can, to pardon me. The world will
+condemn me, my own actions will condemn me; and yet I vow that you, and
+you only, have ever had my love. You I shall adore with my last breath.
+Kate, my Kate, forgive me. If this comes to you by strange hands, I
+shall be dead or dying. My will and papers of importance are in the
+drawer marked "B" in my escritoire. Kiss my son for me, and take my last
+hope and thought."
+
+These words she read, then wrung her hands, and moaned like a creature
+that had been wounded to death. Oh, the shame! Oh, the wrong and sorrow!
+How could she bear it? What should she do? Captain Lennox, who had
+brought the letter, was waiting for her decision. If she would go to her
+husband, then he could rest and return to London at his leisure. If not,
+Hyde wanted his will, to add a codicil regarding the eight thousand
+pounds left him by Lady Capel. For he had been wounded in his side; and
+a dangerous inflammation having set in, he had been warned of a possible
+fatal result.
+
+Katherine was not a rapid thinker. She had little, either, of that
+instinct which serves some women instead of all other prudences. Her
+actions generally arose from motives clear to her own mind, and of whose
+wisdom or kindness she had a conviction. But in this hour so many
+things appealed to her that she felt helpless and uncertain. The one
+thought that dominated all others was that her husband had fought and
+fallen for Lady Suffolk. He had risked her happiness and welfare, he had
+forgotten her and his child, for this woman. It was the sequel to the
+impertinence of the pedler's visit. She believed at that moment that the
+man had told her the truth. All these years she had been a slighted and
+deceived woman.
+
+This idea once admitted, jealousy of the crudest and most unreasonable
+kind assailed her. Incidents, words, looks, long forgotten rushed back
+upon her memory, and fed the flame. Very likely, if she left her child
+and went to London, she might find Lady Suffolk in attendance on her
+husband, or at least be compelled for his life's sake to submit to her
+visits. She pondered this supposition until it brought forth one still
+more shameful. Perhaps the whole story was a scheme to get her up to
+London. Perhaps she might disappear there. What, then, would be done to
+her child? If Richard Hyde was so infatuated with Lady Suffolk, what
+might he not do to win her and her large fortune? Even the news of Lady
+Capel's death was now food for her suspicions. Was she dead, or was the
+assertion only a part of the conspiracy? If she had been dead, Sir
+Thomas Swaffham would have heard of the death; yet she had seen him that
+morning, and he had made no mention of the circumstance.
+
+"To London I will not go," she decided. "There is some wicked plan for
+me. The will and the papers are wanted, that they may be altered to
+suit it. I will stay here with my child. Even sorrow great as mine is
+best borne in one's own home."
+
+She went to the escritoire to get the papers. When she opened the
+senseless chamber of wood, she found herself in the presence of many a
+torturing, tender memory. In one compartment there were a number of
+trout-flies. She remembered the day her husband had made them--a long,
+rainy, happy day during his last visit. Every time she passed him, he
+drew her face down to kiss it. And she could hear little Joris talking
+about the work, and his father's gay laughter at the child's remarks. In
+an open slide, there was a rude picture of a horse. It was the boy's
+first attempt to draw Mephisto, and it had been carefully put away. The
+place was full of such appeals. Katherine rarely wept; but, standing
+before these mementos, her eyes filled, and with a sob she clasped her
+hands across them, as if the sight of such tokens from a happy past was
+intolerable.
+
+Drawer B was a large compartment full of papers and of Hyde's personal
+treasures. Among them was a ring that his father had given him, his
+mother's last letter, a lock of his son's hair, her own first
+letter--the shy, anxious note that she wrote to Mrs. Gordon. She looked
+sadly at these things, and thought how valueless all had become to him
+at that hour. Then she began to arrange the papers according to their
+size, and a small sealed parcel slipped from among them. She lifted it,
+and saw a rhyme in her husband's writing on the outside,--
+
+"Oh, my love, my love! This thy gift I hold
+More than fame or treasure, more than life or gold."
+
+It had evidently been sealed within a few months, for it was in a kind
+of bluish-tinted paper which Hyde bought in Lynn one day during the past
+winter. She turned it over and over in her hand, and the temptation to
+see the love-token inside became greater every moment. This was a thing
+her husband had never designed any human eye but his own to see.
+Whatever revelation there was in it, much or little, would be true.
+Tortured by doubt and despair, she felt that impulse to rely on chance
+for a decision which all have experienced in matters of grave moment,
+apparently beyond natural elucidation.
+
+"If in this parcel there is some love-pledge from Lady Suffolk, then I
+go not; nothing shall make me go. If in it there is no word of her, no
+message to her or from her; if her name is not there, nor the letters of
+her name,--then I will go to my own. A new love, one not a year old, I
+can put aside. I will forgive every one but my Lady Suffolk."
+
+So Katherine decided as she broke the seal with firmness and rapidity.
+The first paper within the cover made her tremble. It was a half sheet
+which she had taken one day from Bram's hand, and it had Bram's name
+across it. On it she had written the first few lines which she had had
+the right to sign "Katherine Hyde." It was, indeed, her first "wife"
+letter; and within it was the precious love-token, her own
+love-token,--_the bow of orange ribbon_.
+
+She gave a sharp cry as it fell upon the desk; and then she lifted and
+kissed it, and held it to her breast, as she rocked herself to and fro
+in a passionate transport of triumphant love. Again and again she fed
+her eyes upon it. She recalled the night she wore it first, and the
+touch of her mother's fingers as she fastened it at her throat. She
+recalled her father's happy smile of proud admiration for her; the
+afternoon, next, when she had stood with Joanna at the foot of the
+garden and seen her lover wearing it on his breast. She remembered what
+she had heard about the challenge, and the desperate fight, and the
+intention of Semple's servant to remove the token from her senseless
+lover's breast, and her father's noble interference. The bit of fateful
+ribbon had had a strange history, yet she had forgotten it. It was her
+husband who had carefully sealed it away among the things most precious
+to his heart and house. It still kept much of its original splendid
+colour, but it was stained down all its length with blood. Nothing that
+Hyde could have done, no words that he could have said, would have been
+so potent to move her.
+
+"I will give it to him again. With my own hands I will give it to him
+once more. O Richard, my lover, my husband! Now I will hasten to see
+thee."
+
+[Illustration: "O Richard, my lover, my husband!"]
+
+With relays at every post-house, she reached London the next night, and,
+weary and terrified, drove at once to the small hostelry where Hyde lay.
+There was a soldier sitting outside his chamber-door, but the wounded
+man was quite alone when Katherine entered. She took in at a glance the
+bare, comfortless room, scarcely lit by the sputtering rush-candle, and
+the rude bed, and the burning cheeks of the fevered man upon it.
+
+"Katherine!" he cried; and his voice was as weak and as tearful as that
+of a troubled child.
+
+"Here come I, my dear one."
+
+"I do not deserve it. I have been so wicked, and you my pure good wife."
+
+"See, then, I have had no temptations, but thou hast lived in the midst
+of great ones. Then, how natural and how easy was it for thee to do
+wrong!"
+
+"Oh, how you love me, Katherine!"
+
+"God knows."
+
+"And for this wrong you will not forsake me?"
+
+She took from her bosom the St. Nicholas ribbon. "I give it to thee
+again. At the first time I loved thee; now, my husband, ten thousand
+times more I love thee. As I went through the papers, I found it. So
+much it said to me of thy true love! So sweetly for thee it pleaded! All
+that it asks for thee, I give. All that thou hast done wrong to me, it
+forgives."
+
+And between their clasped hands it lay,--the bit of orange ribbon that
+had handselled all their happiness.
+
+"It is the promise of everything I can give thee, my loved one,"
+whispered Katherine.
+
+"It is the luck of Richard Hyde. Dearest wife, thou hast given me my
+life back again."
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XV.
+
+          "_Wise men ne'er sit and wail their woes,
+          But presently prevent the ways to wail._"
+
+
+It was a hot August afternoon; and the garden at Hyde Manor was full of
+scent in all its shady places,--hot lavender, seductive carnation, the
+secretive intoxication of the large white lilies, and mingling with them
+the warm smell of ripe fruits from the raspberry hedges, and the
+apricots and plums turning gold and purple upon the southern walls.
+
+Hyde sat at an open window, breathing the balmy air, and basking in the
+light and heat, which really came to him with "healing on their wings."
+He was pale and wasted from his long sickness; but there was speculation
+and purpose in his face, and he had evidently cast away the mental
+apathy of the invalid. As he sat thus, a servant entered and said a few
+words which made him turn with a glad, expectant manner to the open
+door; and, as he did so, a man of near sixty years of age passed through
+it--a handsome, lordly-looking man, who had that striking personal
+resemblance to Hyde which affectionate brothers often have to one
+another.
+
+"Faith, William, you are welcome home! I am most glad to see you."
+
+"Sit still, Dick. You sad rascal, you've been playing with cold steel
+again, I hear! Can't you let it alone, at your age?"
+
+"Why, then, it was my business, as you know, sir. My dear William, how
+delighted I am to see you!"
+
+"'Tis twelve years since we met, Dick. You have been in America; I have
+been everywhere. I confess, too, I am amazed to hear of your marriage.
+And Hyde Manor is a miracle. I expected to find it mouldy and mossy--a
+haunt for frogs and fever. On the contrary, it is a place of perfect
+beauty."
+
+"And it was all my Katherine's doing."
+
+"I hear that she is Dutch; and, beyond a doubt, her people have a genius
+that develops in low lands."
+
+"She is my angel. I am unworthy of her goodness and beauty."
+
+"Why, then, Dick, I never saw you before in such a proper mood; and I
+may as well tell you, while you are in it, that I have also found a
+treasure past belief of the same kind. In fact, Dick, I am married, and
+have two sons."
+
+There was a moment's profound silence, and an inexplicable shadow passed
+rapidly over Hyde's face; but it was fleeting as a thought, and, ere
+the pause became strained and painful, he turned to his brother and
+said, "I am glad, William. With all my heart, I am glad."
+
+"Indeed, Dick, when Emily Capel died, I was sincere in my purpose never
+to marry; and I looked upon you always as the future earl, until one
+night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered."
+
+"I can understand that, William."
+
+"I was married very quietly, and have been in Italy ever since. Only
+four days have elapsed since I returned to England. My first inquiries
+were about you."
+
+"I pray you, do not believe all that my enemies will say of me."
+
+"Among other things, I was told that you had left the army."
+
+"That is exactly true. When I heard that Lord Percy's regiment was
+designed for America, and against the Americans, I put it out of the
+king's power to send me on such a business."
+
+"Indeed, I think the Americans have been ill-used; and I find the town
+in a great commotion upon the matter. The night I landed, there had come
+bad news from New York. The people of that city had burned effigies of
+Lord North and Governor Hutchinson, and the new troops were no sooner
+landed than five hundred of them deserted in a body. At White's it was
+said that the king fell into a fit of crying when the intelligence was
+brought him."
+
+Hyde's white face was crimson with excitement, and his eyes glowed like
+stars as he listened.
+
+[Illustration: "One night in Rome, in a moment, the thing was altered,"]
+
+"That was like New York; and, faith, if I had been there, I would have
+helped them!"
+
+"Why not go there? I owe you much for the hope of which my happiness has
+robbed you. I will take Hyde Manor at its highest price; I will add to
+it fifty thousand pounds indemnity for the loss of the succession. You
+may buy land enough for a duchy there, and found in the New World a new
+line of the old family. If there is war, you have your opportunity. If
+the colonists win their way, your family and means will make you a
+person of great consideration. Here, you can only be a member of the
+family; in America, you can be the head of your own line. Dick, my dear
+brother, out of real love and honour I speak these words."
+
+"Indeed, William, I am very sensible of your kindness, and I will
+consider well your proposition for you must know that it is a matter of
+some consequence to me now. I think, indeed, that my Katherine will be
+in a transport of delight to return to her native land. I hear her
+coming, and we will talk with her; and, anon, you shall confess,
+William, that you have seen the sweetest woman that ever the sun shone
+upon."
+
+Almost with the words she entered, clothed in a white India muslin, with
+carnations at her breast. Her high-heeled shoes, her large hoop, and the
+height to which her pale gold hair was raised, gave to the beautiful
+woman an air of majesty that amazed the earl. He bowed low, and then
+kissed her cheeks, and led her to a chair, which he placed between Hyde
+and himself.
+
+Of course the discussion of the American project was merely opened at
+that time. English people, even at this day, move only after slow and
+prudent deliberation; and then emigration was almost an irrevocable
+action. Katherine was predisposed to it, but yet she dearly loved the
+home she had made so beautiful. During Hyde's convalescence, also, other
+plans had been made and talked over until they had become very hopeful
+and pleasant; and they could not be cast aside without some reluctance.
+In fact, the purpose grew slowly, but surely, all through the following
+winter; being mainly fed by Katherine's loving desire to be near to her
+parents, and by Hyde's unconfessed desire to take part in the struggle
+which he foresaw, and which had his warmest sympathy. Every American
+letter strengthened these feelings; but the question was finally
+settled--as many an important event in every life is settled--by a
+person totally unknown to both Katherine and Hyde.
+
+It was on a cold, stormy afternoon in February, when the fens were white
+with snow. Hyde sat by the big wood-fire, re-reading a letter from Joris
+Van Heemskirk, which also enclosed a copy of Josiah Quincy's speech on
+the Boston Port Bill. Katherine had a piece of worsted work in her
+hands. Little Joris was curled up in a big chair with his book, seeing
+nothing of the present, only conscious of the gray, bleak waves of the
+English Channel, and the passionate Blake bearing down upon Tromp and De
+Ruyter.
+
+"What a battle that would be!" he said, jumping to his feet. "Father, I
+wish that I had lived a hundred years ago."
+
+"What are you talking about, George?"
+
+"Listen, then: 'Eighty sail put to sea under Blake. Tromp and De Ruyter,
+with seventy-six sail, were seen, upon the 18th of February, escorting
+three hundred merchant-ships up the channel. Three days of desperate
+fighting ensued, and Tromp acquired prodigious honour by this battle;
+for, though defeated, he saved nearly the whole of his immense convoy.'
+I wish I had been with Tromp, father."
+
+"But an English boy should wish to have been with Blake."
+
+"Tromp had the fewer vessels. One should always help the weaker side,
+father. And, besides, you know I am half Dutch."
+
+Katherine looked proudly at the boy, but Hyde had a long fit of musing.
+"Yes," he answered at length, "a brave man always helps those who need
+it most. Your father's letter, Katherine, stirs me wonderfully. Those
+Americans show the old Saxon love of liberty. Hear how one of them
+speaks for his people: 'Blandishments will not fascinate us, nor will
+threats of a halter intimidate. For, under God, we are determined that
+wheresoever, whensoever, or howsoever we shall be called to make our
+exit, we will die free men.' Such men ought to be free, Katherine, and
+they will be free."
+
+It was at this moment that Lettice came in with a bundle of newspapers:
+"They be brought by Sir Thomas Swaffham's man, sir, with Sir Thomas's
+compliments; there being news he thinks you would like to read, sir."
+
+Katherine turned promptly. "Spiced ale and bread and meat give to the
+man, Lettice; and to Sir Thomas and Lady Swaffham remind him to take
+our respectful thanks."
+
+Hyde opened the papers with eager curiosity. Little Joris was again with
+Tromp and Blake in the channel; and Katherine, remembering some
+household duty, left the father and son to their private enthusiasms.
+She was restless and anxious, for she had one of those temperaments that
+love a settled and orderly life. It would soon be spring, and there were
+a thousand things about the house and garden which would need her
+attention if they were to remain at Hyde. If not, her anxieties in other
+directions would be equally numerous and necessary. She stood at the
+window looking into the white garden close. Something about it recalled
+her father's garden; and she fell into such a train of tender memories
+that when Hyde called quickly, "Kate, Kate!" she found that there were
+tears in her eyes, and that it was with an effort and a sigh her soul
+returned to its present surroundings.
+
+[Illustration: "I must draw my sword again"]
+
+Hyde was walking about the room in great excitement,--his tall, nervous
+figure unconsciously throwing itself into soldierly attitudes; his dark,
+handsome face lit by an interior fire of sympathetic feeling.
+
+"I must draw my sword again, Katherine," he said, as his hand
+impulsively went to his left side,--"I must draw my sword again. I
+thought I had done with it forever; but, by St. George, I'll draw it in
+this quarrel!"
+
+"The American quarrel, Richard?"
+
+"No other could so move me. We have the intelligence now of their
+congress. They have not submitted; they have not drawn back, not an
+inch; they have not quarrelled among themselves. They have unanimously
+voted for non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption. They
+have drawn up a declaration of their rights. They have appealed to the
+sympathies of the people of Canada, and they have resolved to support by
+arms all their brethren unlawfully attacked. Hurrah, Katherine! Every
+good man and true wishes them well."
+
+"But it is treason, dear one."
+
+"_Soh!_ It was treason when the barons forced the Great Charter from
+King John. It was treason when Hampden fought against 'ship-money,' and
+Cromwell against Star Chambers, and the Dutchman William laid his firm
+hand on the British Constitution. All revolutions are treason until they
+are accomplished. We have long hesitated, we will waver no more. The
+conduct of Sir Jeffrey Amherst has decided me."
+
+"I know it not."
+
+"On the 6th of this month the king offered him a peerage if he would
+take command of the troops for America; and he answered, 'Your majesty
+must know that I cannot bring myself to fight the Americans, who are not
+only of my own race, but to whose former kindness I am also much
+obliged.' By the last mail, also, accounts have come of vast desertions
+of the soldiers of Boston; and three officers of Lord Percy's regiment
+are among the number. Katherine, our boy has told me this afternoon that
+he is half Dutch. Why should we stay in England, then, for his sake? We
+will do as Earl William advises us,--go to America and found a new
+house, of which I and he will be the heads. Are you willing?"
+
+"Only to be with you, only to please you, Richard. I have no other
+happiness."
+
+"Then it is settled; and I thank Sir Jeffrey Amherst, for his words have
+made me feel ashamed of my indecision. And look you, dear Kate, there
+shall be no more delays. The earl buys Hyde as it stands; we have
+nothing except our personal effects to pack: can you be ready in a
+week?"
+
+"You are too impatient, Richard. In a week it is impossible.
+
+"Then in two weeks. In short, my dear, I have taken an utter aversion to
+being longer in King George's land."
+
+"Poor king! Lady Swaffham says he means well; he misunderstands, he
+makes mistakes."
+
+"And political mistakes are crimes, Katherine. Write to-night to your
+father. Tell him that we are coming in two weeks to cast our lot with
+America. Upon my honour, I am impatient to be away."
+
+When Joris Van Heemskirk received this letter, he was very much excited
+by its contents. Putting aside his joy at the return of his beloved
+daughter, he perceived that the hour expected for years had really
+struck. The true sympathy that had been so long in his heart, he must
+now boldly express; and this meant in all probability a rupture with
+most of his old associates and friends--Elder Semple in the kirk, and
+the Matthews and Crugers and Baches in the council.
+
+He was sitting in the calm evening, with unloosened buckles, in a cloud
+of fragrant tobacco, talking of these things. "It is full time, come
+what will," said Lysbet. "Heard thou what Batavius said last night?"
+
+"Little I listen to Batavius."
+
+"But this was a wise word. 'The colonists are leaving the old ship,' he
+said; 'and the first in the new boat will have the choice of oars.'"
+
+"That was like Batavius, but I will take higher counsel than his."
+
+Then he rose, put on his hat, and walked down his garden; and, as he
+slowly paced between the beds of budding flowers, he thought of many
+things,--the traditions of the past struggles for freedom, and the
+irritating wrongs that had imbittered his own experience for ten years.
+There was plenty of life yet in the spirit his fathers had bequeathed to
+him; and, as this and that memory of wrong smote it, the soul-fire
+kindled, glowed, burned with passionate flame. "Free, God gave us this
+fair land, and we will keep it free. There has been in it no crowns and
+sceptres, no bloody Philips, no priestly courts of cruelty; and, in
+God's name, we will have none!"
+
+He was standing on the river-bank; and the meadows over it were green
+and fair to see, and the fresh wind blew into his soul a thought of its
+own untrammelled liberty. He looked up and down the river, and lifted
+his face to the clear sky, and said aloud, "Beautiful land! To be thy
+children we should not deserve, if one inch of thy soil we yielded to a
+tyrant. Truly a vaderland to me and to mine thou hast been. Truly do I
+love thee." And then, his soul being moved to its highest mark, he
+answered it tenderly, in the strong-syllabled mother-tongue that it knew
+so well,--
+
+"Indien ik u vergeet, o Vaderland! zoo vergete mijne regter-hand zich
+zelve!"
+
+Such communion he held with himself until the night came on, and the dew
+began to fall; and Lysbet said to herself, "I will walk down the garden:
+perhaps there is something I can say to him." As she rose, Joris
+entered, and they met in the centre of the room. He put his large hands
+upon her shoulders, and, looking solemnly in her face, said, "My Lysbet,
+I will go with the people; I will give myself willingly to the cause of
+freedom. A long battle is it. Two hundred years ago, a Joris Van
+Heemskirk was fighting in it. Not less of man than he was, am I, I
+hope."
+
+There was a mist of tears over his eyes--a mist that was no dishonour;
+it only showed that the cost had been fully counted, and his allegiance
+given with a clear estimate of the value and sweetness of all that he
+might have to give with it. Lysbet was a little awed by the solemnity of
+his manner. She had not before understood the grandeur of such a
+complete surrender of self as her husband had just consummated. But
+never had she been so proud of him. Everything commonplace had slipped
+away: he looked taller, younger, handsomer.
+
+[Illustration: "We have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever"]
+
+She dropped her knitting to her feet, she put her arms around his
+neck, and, laying her head upon his breast, said softly, "My good Joris!
+I will love thee forever."
+
+In a few minutes Elder Semple came in. He looked exceedingly worried;
+and, although Joris and he avoided politics by a kind of tacit
+agreement, he could not keep to kirk and commercial matters, but
+constantly returned to one subject,--a vessel lying at Murray's Wharf,
+which had sold her cargo of molasses and rum to the "Committee of
+Safety."
+
+"And we'll be haeing the custom-house about the city's ears, if there's
+'safety' in that,--the born idiots," he said.
+
+Joris was in that grandly purposeful mood that takes no heed of fretful
+worries. He let the elder drift from one grievance to another; and he
+was just in the middle of a sentence containing his opinion of Sears and
+Willet, when Bram's entrance arrested it. There was something in the
+young man's face and attitude which made every one turn to him. He
+walked straight to the side of Joris,--
+
+"Father, we have closed his Majesty's custom-house forever."
+
+"_We!_ Who, then, Bram?"
+
+"The Committee of Safety and the Sons of Liberty."
+
+Semple rose to his feet, trembling with passion. "Let me tell you, then,
+Bram, you are a parcel o' rogues and rebels; and, if I were his Majesty,
+I'd gibbet the last ane o' you."
+
+"Patience, Elder. Sit down, I'll speak"--
+
+"No, Councillor, I'll no sit down until I ken what kind o' men I'm
+sitting wi'. Oot wi' your maist secret thoughts. Wha are you for?"
+
+"For the people and for freedom am I," said Joris, calmly rising to his
+feet. "Too long have we borne injustice. My fathers would have spoken by
+the sword before this. Free kirk, free state, free commerce, are the
+breath of our nostrils. Not a king on earth our privileges and rights
+shall touch; no, not with his finger-tips. Bram, my son, I am your
+comrade in this quarrel." He spoke with fervent, but not rapid speech,
+and with a firm, round voice, full of magical sympathies.
+
+"I'll hear nae mair o' such folly.--Gie me my bonnet and plaid, madam,
+and I'll be going.--The King o' England needna ask his Dutch subjects
+for leave to wear his crown, I'm thinking."
+
+"Subjects!" said Bram, flashing up. "Subjection! Well, then, Elder,
+Dutchmen don't understand the word. Spain found that out."
+
+"Hoots! dinna look sae far back, Bram. It's a far cry, to Alva and
+Philip. Hae you naething fresher? Gude-night, a'. I hope the morn will
+bring you a measure o' common sense." He was at the door as he spoke;
+but, ere he passed it, he lifted his bonnet above his head and said,
+"God save the king! God save his gracious Majesty, George of England!"
+
+Joris turned to his son. To shut up the king's customs was an overt
+action of treason. Bram, then, had fully committed himself; and,
+following out his own thoughts, he asked abruptly, "What will come of
+it, Bram?"
+
+"War will come, and liberty--a great commonwealth, a great country."
+
+"It was about the sloop at Murray's Wharf?"
+
+"Yes. To the Committee of Safety her cargo she sold; but Collector
+Cruger would not that it should leave the vessel, although offered was
+the full duty."
+
+"For use against the king were the goods; then Cruger, as a servant of
+King George, did right."
+
+"Oh, but if a tyrant a man serves, we cannot suffer wrong that a good
+servant he may be! King George through him refused the duty: no more
+duties will we offer him. We have boarded up the doors and windows of
+the custom-house. Collector Cruger has a long holiday."
+
+He did not speak lightly, and his air was that of a man who accepts a
+grave responsibility. "I met Sears and about thirty men with him on Wall
+Street. I went with them, thinking well on what I was going to do. I am
+ready by the deed to stand."
+
+"And I with thee. Good-night, Bram, To-morrow there will be more to
+say."
+
+Then Bram drew his chair to the hearth, and his mother began to question
+him; and her fine face grew finer as she listened to the details of the
+exploit. Bram looked at her proudly. "I wish only that a fort full of
+soldiers and cannon it had been," he said. "It does not seem such a fine
+thing to take a few barrels of rum and molasses."
+
+"Every common thing is a fine thing when it is for justice. And a fine
+thing I think it was for these men to lay down every one his work and
+his tool, and quietly and orderly go do the work that was to be done for
+honour and for freedom. If there had been flying colours and beating
+drums, and much blood spilt, no grander thing would it have been, I
+think."
+
+And, as Bram filled and lighted his pipe, he hummed softly the rallying
+song of the day,--
+
+                 "In story we're told
+                  How our fathers of old
+       Braved the rage of the winds and the waves;
+                  And crossed the deep o'er,
+                  For this far-away shore,
+All because they would never be slaves--brave boys!
+    All because they would never be slaves.
+
+                 "The birthright we hold
+                  Shall never be sold,
+       But sacred maintained to our graves;
+                  And before we comply
+                  We will gallantly die,
+For we will not, we will not be slaves--brave boys!
+  For we will not, we will not be slaves."
+
+In the meantime Semple, fuming and ejaculating, was making his way
+slowly home. It was a dark night, and the road full of treacherous soft
+places, fatal to that spotless condition of hose and shoes which was one
+of his weak points. However, before he had gone very far, he was
+overtaken by his son Neil, now a very staid and stately gentleman,
+holding under the government a high legal position in the investigation
+of the disputed New-Hampshire grants.
+
+He listened respectfully to his father's animadversions on the folly of
+the Van Heemskirks; but he was thinking mainly of the first news told
+him,--the early return of Katherine. He was conscious that he still
+loved Katherine, and that he still hated Hyde. As they approached the
+house, the elder saw the gleam of a candle through the drawn blind; and
+he asked querulously, "What's your mother doing wi' a candle at this
+hour, I wonder?"
+
+"She'll be sewing or reading, father."
+
+"Hoots! she should aye mak' the wark and the hour suit. There's spinning
+and knitting for the night-time. Wi' soldiers quartered to the right
+hand and the left hand, and a civil war staring us in the face, it's
+neither tallow nor wax we'll hae to spare."
+
+He was climbing the pipe-clayed steps as he spoke, and in a few minutes
+was standing face to face with the offender. Madam Semple was reading
+and, as her husband opened the parlour door, she lifted her eyes from
+her book, and let them calmly rest upon him.
+
+[Illustration: "I am reading the Word"]
+
+"Fire-light and candle-light, baith, Janet! A fair illumination, and nae
+ither thing but bad news for it."
+
+"It is for reading the Word, Elder."
+
+"For the night season, meditation, Janet, meditation;" and he lifted the
+extinguisher, and put out the candle. "Meditate on what you hae read.
+The Word will bide a deal o' thinking about. You'll hae heard the ill
+news?"
+
+"I heard naething ill."
+
+"Didna Neil tell you?"
+
+"Anent what?"
+
+"The closing o' the king's customs."
+
+"Ay, Neil told me."
+
+"Weel?"
+
+"Weel, since you ask me, I say it was gude news."
+
+"Noo, Janet, we'll hae to come to an understanding. If I hae swithered
+in my loyalty before, I'll do sae nae mair. From this hour, me and my
+house will serve King George. I'll hae nae treason done in it, nor said;
+no, nor even thocht o'."
+
+"You'll be a vera Samson o' strength, and a vera Solomon o' wisdom, if
+you keep the hands and the tongues and the thochts o' this house.
+Whiles, you canna vera weel keep the door o' your ain mouth, gudeman.
+What's come o'er you, at a'?"
+
+"I'm surely master in my ain house, Janet."
+
+"'Deed, you are far from being that, Alexander Semple. Doesna King
+George quarter his men in it? And havena you to feed and shelter them,
+and to thole their ill tempers and their ill ways, morning, noon, and
+night? You master in your ain house! You're just a naebody in it!"
+
+"Dinna get on your high horse, madam. Things are coming to the upshot:
+there's nae doot o' it."
+
+"They've been lang aboot it--too lang."
+
+"Do you really mean that you are going to set yoursel' among the
+rebels?"
+
+"Going? Na, na; I have aye been amang them. And ten years syne, when the
+Stamp Act was the question, you were heart and soul wi' the people. The
+quarrel to-day is the same quarrel wi' a new name. Tak' the side o'
+honour and manhood and justice, and dinna mak' me ashamed o' you,
+Alexander. The Semples have aye been for freedom,--Kirk and State,--and
+I never heard tell o' them losing a chance to gie them proud English a
+set-down before. What for should you gie the lie to a' your forbears
+said and did? King George hasna put his hand in his pocket for you; he
+has done naething but tax your incomings and your outgoings. Ask Van
+Heemskirk: he's a prudent man, and you'll never go far wrong if you walk
+wi' him."
+
+"Ask Van Heemskirk, indeed! Not I. The rebellious spirit o' the ten
+tribes is through all the land; but I'll stand by King George, if I'm
+the only man to do it."
+
+"George may be king o' the Semples. I'm a Gordon. He's no king o' mine.
+The Gordons were a' for the Stuarts."
+
+"Jacobite and traitor, baith! Janet, Janet, how can you turn against me
+on every hand?"
+
+"I'll no turn against you, Elder; and I'll gie you no cause for
+complaint, if you dinna set King George on my hearthstone, and bring him
+to my table, and fling him at me early and late." She was going to light
+the candle again; and, with it in her hand, she continued: "That's
+enough anent George rex at night-time, for he isna a pleasant thought
+for a sleeping one. How is Van Heemskirk going? And Bram?"
+
+"Bram was wi' them that unloaded the schooner and closed the
+custom-house--the born idiots!"
+
+"I expected that o' Bram."
+
+"As for his father, he's the blackest rebel you could find or hear tell
+o' in the twelve Provinces."
+
+"He's a good man; Joris is a good man, true and sure. The cause he
+lifts, he'll never leave. Joris and Bram--excellent! They two are a
+multitude."
+
+"Humff!" It was all he could say. There was something in his wife's face
+that made it look unfamiliar to him. He felt himself to be like the
+prophet of Pethor--a man whose eyes are opened. But Elder Semple was not
+one of the foolish ones who waste words. "A wilfu' woman will hae her
+way," he thought; "and if Janet has turned rebel to the king, it's mair
+than likely she'll throw off my ain lawfu' authority likewise. But we'll
+see, we'll see," he muttered, glancing with angry determination at the
+little woman, who, for her part, seemed to have put quite away all
+thoughts of king and Congress.
+
+She stood with the tinder-box and the flint and brimstone matches in her
+hands. "I wonder if the tinder is burnt enough, Alexander," she said;
+and with the words she sharply struck the flint. A spark fell instantly
+and set fire to it, and she lit her match and watched it blaze with a
+singular look of triumph on her face. Somehow the trifling affair
+irritated the elder. "What are you doing at a'? You're acting like a
+silly bairn, makin' a blaze for naething. There's a fire on the hearth:
+whatna for, then, are you wasting tinder and a match?"
+
+"Maybe it wasna for naething, Elder. Maybe I was asking for a sign, and
+got the ane I wanted. There's nae sin in that, I hope. You ken Gideon
+did it when he had to stand up for the oppressed, and slay the tyrant."
+
+"Tut, woman, you arena Gideon, nor yet o' Gideon's kind; and, forbye,
+there's nae angel speaking wi' you."
+
+"You're right there, Elder. But, for a' that, I'm glad that the spark
+fired the tinder, and that the tinder lit the match, and that the match
+burnt sae bright and sae bravely. It has made a glow in my heart, and
+I'll sleep well wi' the pleasure o' it."
+
+Next morning the argument was not renewed. Neil was sombre and silent.
+His father was uncertain as to his views, and he did not want to force
+or hurry a decision. Besides, it would evidently be more prudent to
+speak with the young man when he could not be influenced by his mother's
+wilful, scornful tongue. Perhaps Neil shared this prudent feeling; for
+he deprecated conversation, and, on the plea of business, left the
+breakfast-table before the meal was finished.
+
+The elder, however, had some indemnification for his cautious silence.
+He permitted himself, at family prayers, a very marked reading of St.
+Paul's injunction, "Fear God and honour the king;" and ere he left the
+house he said to his wife, "Janet, I hope you hae come to your senses.
+You'll allow that you didna treat me wi' a proper respect yestreen?"
+
+She was standing face to face with him, her hands uplifted, fastening
+the broad silver clasp of his cloak. For a moment she hesitated, the
+next she raised herself on tiptoes, and kissed him. He pursed up his
+mouth a little sternly, and then stroked her white hair. "You heard
+what St. Paul says, Janet; isna that a settlement o' the question?"
+
+"I'm no blaming St. Paul, Alexander. If ever St. Paul approves o'
+submitting to tyranny, it's thae translators' fault. He wouldna tak'
+injustice himsel', not even from a Roman magistrate. I wish St. Paul was
+alive the day: I'm vera sure if he were, he'd write an epistle to the
+English wad put the king's dues just as free men would be willing to pay
+them. Now, don't be angry, Alexander. If you go awa' angry at me, you'll
+hae a bad day; you ken that, gudeman."
+
+It was a subtile plea; for no man, however wise or good or brave, likes
+to bespeak ill-fortune when it can be averted by a sacrifice so easy and
+so pleasant. But, in spite of Janet's kiss, he was unhappy; and when he
+reached the store, the clerks and porters were all standing together
+talking. He knew quite well what topic they were discussing with such
+eager movements and excited speech. But they dispersed to their work at
+the sight of his sour, stern face, and he did not intend to open a fresh
+dispute by any question.
+
+Apprentices and clerks then showed a great deal of deference to their
+masters, and Elder Semple demanded the full measure due to him.
+Something, however, in the carriage, in the faces, in the very, tones of
+his servants' voices, offended him; and he soon discovered that various
+small duties had been neglected.
+
+"Listen to me, lads," he said angrily; "I'll have nae politics mixed up
+wi' my exports and my imports. Neither king nor Congress has anything
+to do wi' my business. If there is among you ane o' them fools that ca'
+themselves the 'Sons o' Liberty,' I'll pay him whatever I owe him now,
+and he can gang to Madam Liberty for his future wage."
+
+[Illustration: He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk.]
+
+He was standing on the step of his high counting-desk as he spoke, and
+he peered over the little wooden railing at the men scattered about with
+pens or hammers or goods in their hands. There was a moment's silence;
+then a middle-aged man quietly laid down the tools with which he was
+closing a box, and walked up to the desk. The next moment, every one in
+the place had followed him. Semple was amazed and angry, but he made no
+sign of either emotion. He counted to the most accurate fraction every
+one's due, and let them go without one word of remonstrance.
+
+But as soon as he was alone, he felt the full bitterness of their
+desertion, and he could not keep the tears out of his eyes as he looked
+at their empty places. "Wha could hae thocht it?" he exclaimed. "Allan
+has been wi' me twenty-seven years, and Scott twenty, and Grey nearly
+seventeen. And the lads I have aye been kindly to. Maist o' them have
+wives and bairns, too; it's just a sin o' them. It's no to be believed.
+It's fair witchcraft. And the pride o' them! My certie, they all looked
+as if their hands were itching for a sword or a pair o' pistols!"
+
+At this juncture Neil entered the store. "Here's a bonnie pass, Neil;
+every man has left the store. I may as weel put up the shutters."
+
+"There are other men to be hired."
+
+"They were maistly a' auld standbys, auld married men that ought to have
+had mair sense."
+
+"The married men are the trouble-makers; the women have hatched and
+nursed this rebellion. If they would only spin their webs, and mind
+their knitting!"
+
+"But they willna, Neil; and they never would. If there's a pot o'
+rebellion brewing between the twa poles, women will be dabbling in it.
+They have aye been against lawfu' authority. The restraints o' paradise
+was tyranny to them. And they get worse and worse: it isna ane apple
+would do them the noo; they'd strip the tree, my lad, to its vera
+topmost branch."
+
+"There's mother."
+
+"Ay, there's your mother, she's a gude example. She's a Gordon; and
+thae Gordon women cried the '_slogan_' till their men's heads were a' on
+Carlisle gate or Temple Bar, and their lands a' under King George's
+thumb. But is she any wiser for the lesson? Not her. Women are born
+rebels; the 'powers that be' are always tyrants to them, Neil."
+
+"You ought to know, father. I have small and sad experience with them."
+
+"Sae, I hope you'll stand by my side. We twa can keep the house
+thegither. If we are a' right, the Government will whistle by a woman's
+talk."
+
+"Did you not say Katherine was coming back?"
+
+"I did that. See there, again. Hyde has dropped his uniform, and sold a'
+that he has, and is coming to fight in a quarrel that's nane o' his.
+Heard you ever such foolishness? But it is Katherine's doing; there's
+little doot o' that."
+
+"He's turned rebel, then?"
+
+"Ay has he. That's what women do. Politics and rebellion is the same
+thing to them."
+
+"Well, father, I shall not turn rebel."
+
+"O Neil, you take a load off my heart by thae words!"
+
+"I have nothing against the king, and I could not be Hyde's comrade."
+
+[Illustration: Chapter heading]
+
+
+
+
+XVI.
+
+          "_How glorious stand the valiant, sword in hand,
+           In front of battle for their native land!_"
+
+
+It was into this thundery atmosphere of coming conflict, of hopes and
+doubts, of sundering ties and fearful looking forward, that Richard and
+Katherine Hyde came, from the idyllic peace and beauty of their Norfolk
+house. But there was something in it that fitted Hyde's real
+disposition. He was a natural soldier, and he had arrived at the period
+of life when the mere show and pomp of the profession had lost all
+satisfying charm. He had found a quarrel worthy of his sword, one that
+had not only his deliberate approval, but his passionate sympathy. In
+fact, his first blow for American independence had been struck in the
+duel with Lord Paget; for that quarrel, though nominally concerning Lady
+Suffolk, was grounded upon a dislike engendered by their antagonism
+regarding the government of the Colonies.
+
+It was an exquisite April morning when they sailed up New York bay once
+more. Joris had been watching for the "Western Light;" and when she came
+to anchor at Murray's Wharf, his was the foremost figure on it. He had
+grown a little stouter, but was still a splendid-looking man; he had
+grown a little older, but his tenderness for his daughter was still
+young and fresh and strong as ever. He took her in his arms, murmuring,
+"_Mijn Katrijntje, mijn Katrijntje! Ach, mijn kind, mijn kind!_"
+
+Hyde had felt that there might be some embarrassment in his own case,
+perhaps some explanation or acknowledgment to make; but Joris waved
+aside any speech like it. He gave Hyde both hands; he called him "_mijn
+zoon_;" he stooped, and put the little lad's arms around his neck. In
+many a kind and delicate way he made them feel that all of the past was
+forgotten but its sweetness.
+
+And surely that hour Lysbet had the reward of her faithful affection.
+She had always admired Hyde; and she was proud and happy to have him in
+her home, and to have him call her mother. The little Joris took
+possession of her heart in a moment. Her Katherine was again at her
+side. She had felt the clasp of her hands; she had heard her whisper
+"_mijn moeder_" upon her lips.
+
+They landed upon a Saturday, upon one of those delightsome days that
+April frequently gives to New York. There was a fresh wind, full of the
+smell of the earth and the sea; an intensely blue sky, with flying
+battalions of white fleecy clouds across it; a glorious sunshine above
+everything. And people live, and live happily, even in the shadow of
+war. The stores were full of buyers and sellers. The doors and windows
+of the houses were open to the spring freshness. Lysbet had heard of
+their arrival, and was watching for them. Her hair was a little whiter,
+her figure a little stouter; but her face was fair and rosy, and sweet
+as ever.
+
+[Illustration: Lysbet and Catherine were unpacking]
+
+In a few hours things had fallen naturally and easily into place. Joris
+and Bram and Hyde sat talking of the formation of a regiment. Little
+Joris leaned on his grandfather's shoulder listening. Lysbet and
+Katherine were busy unpacking trunks full of fineries and pretty things;
+occasionally stopping to give instructions to Dinorah, who was preparing
+an extra tea, as Batavius and Joanna were coming to spend the evening.
+"And to the elder and Janet Semple I have sent a message, also," said
+Lysbet; "for I see not why anger should be nursed, or old friendships
+broken, for politics."
+
+Katherine had asked at once, with eager love, for Joanna; she had
+expected that she would be waiting to welcome her. Lysbet smiled faintly
+at the supposition. "She has a large family, then, and Batavius, and her
+house. Seldom comes she here now."
+
+But about four o'clock, as Katherine and Hyde were dressing, Joanna and
+Batavius and all their family arrived. In a moment, their presence
+seemed to diffuse itself through the house. There was a sense of
+confusion and unrest, and the loud crying of a hungry baby determined to
+be attended to. And Joanna was fulfilling this duty, when Katherine
+hastened to meet her. Wifehood and motherhood had greatly altered the
+slim, fair girl of ten years before. She had grown stout, and was untidy
+in her dress, and a worried, anxious expression was continually on her
+countenance. Batavius kept an eye on the children; there were five of
+them beside the baby,--fat, rosy, round-faced miniatures of himself, all
+having a fair share of his peculiar selfish traits, which each expressed
+after its individual fashion.
+
+Hyde met his brother-in-law with a gentlemanly cordiality; and Batavius,
+who had told Joanna "he intended to put down a bit that insolent
+Englishman," was quite taken off his guard, and, ere he was aware of his
+submission, was smoking amicably with him, as they discussed the
+proposed military organization. Very soon Hyde asked Batavius, "If he
+were willing to join it?"
+
+"When such a family a man has," he answered, waving his hand
+complacently toward the six children, "he must have some prudence and
+consideration. I had been well content with one child; but we must have
+our number, there is no remedy. And I am a householder, and I pay my
+way, and do my business. It is a fixed principle with me not to meddle
+with the business of other people."
+
+"But, sir, this is your business, and your children's business also."
+
+"I think, then, that it is King George's business."
+
+"It is liberty"--
+
+"Well, then, I have my liberty. I have liberty to buy and to sell, to go
+to my own kirk, to sail the 'Great Christopher' when and where I will.
+My house, my wife, my little children, nobody has touched."
+
+"Pray, sir, what of your rights? your honour?"
+
+"Oh, indeed, then, for ideas I quarrel not! Facts, they are different.
+Every man has his own creed, and every man his own liberty, so say
+I.--Come here, Alida," and he waved his hand imperiously to a little
+woman of four years old, who was sulking at the window, "what's the
+matter now? You have been crying again. I see that you have a
+discontented temper. There is a spot on your petticoat also, and your
+cap is awry. I fear that you will never become a neat, respectable
+girl--you that ought to set a good pattern to your little sister
+Femmetia."
+
+Evidently he wished to turn the current of the conversation; but as soon
+as the child had been sent to her mother, Joris resumed it.
+
+"If you go not yourself to the fight, Batavius, plenty of young men are
+there, longing to go, who have no arms and no clothes: send in your
+place one of them."
+
+"It is my fixed principle not to meddle in the affairs of other people,
+and my principles are sacred to me."
+
+"Batavius, you said not long ago that the colonists were leaving the old
+ship, and that the first in the new boat would have the choice of oars."
+
+"Bram, that is the truth. I said not that I would choose any of the
+oars."
+
+"A fair harbour we shall make, and the rewards will be great, Batavius."
+
+"It is not good to cry 'herrings,' till in the net you have them. And to
+talk of rowing, the colonists must row against wind and tide; the
+English will row with set sail. That is easy rowing. Into this question
+I have looked well, for always I think about everything."
+
+"Have you read the speeches of Adams and Hancock and Quincy? Have you
+heard what Colonel Washington said in the Assembly?"
+
+"Oh, these men are discontented! Something which they have not got, they
+want. They are troublesome and conceited. They expect the century will
+be called after them. Now I, who punctually fulfil my obligations as a
+father and a citizen, I am contented, I never make complaints, I never
+want more liberty. You may read in the Holy Scriptures that no good
+comes of rebellion. Did not Absalom sit in the gate, and say to the
+discontented, 'See thy matters are good and right; but there is no man
+deputed of the king to hear thee;' and, moreover, 'Oh, that I were made
+a judge in the land, that every man which hath any suit or cause might
+come unto me, and I would do him justice'? And did not Sheba blow a
+trumpet, and say, 'We have no part in David, neither have we
+inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel'?
+Well, then, what came of such follies? You may read in the Word of God
+that they ended in ruin."
+
+[Illustration: He marshalled the six children in front of him]
+
+Hyde looked with curiosity at the complacent orator. Bram rose, and,
+with a long-drawn whistle, left the room. Joris said sternly, "Enough
+you have spoken, Batavius. None are so blind as those who will not see."
+
+"Well, then, father, I can see what is in the way of mine own business;
+and it is a fixed principle with me not to meddle with the business of
+other people. And look here, Joanna, the night is coming, and the dew
+with it, and Alida had sore throat yesterday: we had better go. Fast in
+sleep the children ought to be at this hour." And he bustled about them,
+tying on caps and capes; and finally, having marshalled the six children
+and their two nurses in front of him he trotted off with Joanna upon his
+arm, fully persuaded that he had done himself great credit, and acted
+with uncommon wisdom. "But it belongs to me to do that, Joanna," he
+said; "among all the merchants, I am known for my great prudence."
+
+"I think that my father and Bram will get into trouble in this matter."
+
+"You took the word out of my mouth, Joanna; and I will have nothing to
+do with such follies, for they are waxing hand over hand like the great
+winds at sea, till the hurricane comes, and then the ruin."
+
+The next morning was the Sabbath, and it broke in a perfect splendour of
+sunshine. The New World was so new and fresh, and Katherine thought she
+had never before seen the garden so lovely. Joris was abroad in it very
+early. He looked at the gay crocus and the pale snowdrop and the budding
+pansies with a singular affection. He was going, perchance, on a long
+warfare. Would he ever return to greet them in the coming springs? If he
+did return, would they be there to greet him? As he stood pensively
+thoughtful, Katherine called him. He raised his eyes, and watched her
+approach as he had been used when she was a child, a school-girl, a
+lovely maiden. But never had she been so beautiful as now. She was
+dressed for church in a gown of rich brown brocade over a petticoat of
+paler satin, with costly ornaments of gold and rubies. As she joined her
+father, Hyde joined Lysbet in the parlour; and the two stood at the
+window watching her. She had clasped her hands upon his shoulder, and
+leaned her beautiful head against them. "A most perfect picture," said
+Hyde, and then he kissed Lysbet; and from that moment they were mother
+and son.
+
+They walked to church together; and Hyde thought how beautiful the
+pleasant city was that sabbath morning, with its pretty houses shaded by
+trees just turning green, its clear air full of the grave dilating
+harmony of the church-bells, its quiet streets thronged with men and
+women--both sexes dressed with a magnificence modern Broadway beaux and
+belles have nothing to compare with. What staid, dignified men in
+three-cornered hats and embroidered velvet coats and long plush vests!
+What buckles and wigs and lace ruffles and gold snuff-boxes! What
+beautiful women in brocades and taffetas, in hoops and high heels and
+gauze hats! Here and there a black-robed dominie; here and there a
+splendidly dressed British officer, in scarlet and white, and gold
+epaulettes and silver embroideries! New York has always been a highly
+picturesque city, but never more so than in the restless days of A.D.
+1775.
+
+Katherine and Hyde and Bram were together; Joris and Lysbet were slowly
+following them. They were none of them speaking much, nor thinking much,
+but all were very happy and full of content! Suddenly the peaceful
+atmosphere was troubled by the startling clamour of a trumpet. It was a
+note so distinct from the music of the bells, so full of terror and
+warning, that every one stood still. A second blast was accompanied by
+the rapid beat of a horse's hoofs; and the rider came down Broadway like
+one on a message of life and death, and made no pause until he had very
+nearly reached Maiden Lane.
+
+At that point a tall, muscular man seized the horse by the bridle, and
+asked, "What news?"
+
+"Great news! great news! There has been a battle, a massacre at
+Lexington, a running fight from Concord to Boston! Stay me not!" But, as
+he shook the bridle free, he threw a handbill, containing the official
+account of the affair at Lexington to the inquirer.
+
+Who then thought of church, though the church-bells were ringing? The
+crowd gathered around the man with the handbill, and in ominous silence
+listened to the tidings of the massacre at Lexington, the destruction of
+stores at Concord, the quick gathering of the militia from the hills and
+dales around Reading and Roxbury, the retreat of the British under their
+harassing fire, until, worn out and disorganized, they had found a
+refuge in Boston. "And this is the postscript at the last moment," added
+the reader: "'Men are pouring in from all the country sides; Putnam left
+his plough in the furrow, and rode night and day to the ground; Heath,
+also, is with him.'"
+
+Joris was white and stern in his emotion; Bram stood by the reader, with
+a face as bright as a bridegroom's; Hyde's lips were drawn tight, and
+his eyes were flashing with the true military flame. "Father," he said,
+"take mother and Katherine to church; Bram and I will stay here, for I
+can see that there is something to be done."
+
+"God help us! Yes, I will go to Him first;" and, taking his wife and
+daughter, he passed with them out of the crowd.
+
+Hyde turned to the reader, who stood with bent brows, and the paper in
+his hand. "Well, sir, what is to be done?" he asked.
+
+"There are five hundred stand of arms in the City Hall; there are men
+enough here to take them. Let us go."
+
+A loud cry of assent answered him.
+
+"My name is Richard Hyde, late of his Majesty's Windsor Guards; but I am
+with you, heart and soul."
+
+"I am Marinus Willet."
+
+"Then, Mr. Willet, where first?"
+
+[Illustration: The City Hall]
+
+"To the mayor's residence. He has the keys of the room in which the arms
+are kept."
+
+The news spread, no one knew how; but men poured out from the churches
+and the houses on their route, and Willet's force was soon nearly a
+thousand strong. The tumult, the tread, the _animus_ of the gathering,
+was felt in that part of the city even where it could not be heard.
+Joris could hardly endure the suspense, and the service did him very
+little good. About two o'clock, as he was walking restlessly about the
+house, Bram and Hyde returned together.
+
+"Well?" he asked.
+
+"There were five hundred stand of arms in the City Hall, and I swear
+that we have taken them all. A man called Willet led us; a hero, quick
+of thought, prompt and daring,--a true soldier."
+
+"I know him well; a good man."
+
+"The keys the mayor refused to us," said Bram.
+
+"Oh, sir, he lied to us! Vowed he did not have them, and sent us to the
+armourer in Crown Street. The armourer vowed that he had given them to
+the mayor."
+
+"What then?"
+
+[Illustration: He swung a great axe]
+
+"Oh, indeed, all fortune fitted us! We went _en masse_ down Broadway
+into Wall Street, and so to the City Hall. Here some one, with too nice
+a sense of the sabbath, objected to breaking open the doors because of
+the day. But with very proper spirit Willet replied, 'If we wait until
+to-morrow, the king's men will not wait. The arms will be removed. And
+as for a key, here is one that will open any lock.' As he said the
+words, he swung a great axe around his head; and so, with a few blows,
+he made us an entrance. Indeed, I think that he is a grand fellow."
+
+"And you got the arms?"
+
+"Faith, we got all we went for! The arms were divided among the people.
+There was a drum and a fife also found with them, and some one made us
+very excellent music to step to. As we returned up Broadway, the
+congregation were just coming out of Trinity. Upon my word, I think we
+frightened them a little."
+
+"Where were the English soldiers?"
+
+"Indeed, they were shut up in barracks. Some of their officers were in
+church, others waiting for orders from the governor or mayor. 'Tis to be
+found out where the governor might be; the mayor was frightened beyond
+everything, and not capable of giving an order. Had my uncle Gordon been
+still in command here, he had not been so patient."
+
+"And for you that would have been a hard case."
+
+"Upon my word, I would not have fought my old comrades. I am glad, then,
+that they are in Quebec. Our swords will scarce reach so far."
+
+"And where went you with the arms?"
+
+"To a room in John Street. There they were stacked, the names of the men
+enrolled, and a guard placed over them. Bram is on the night patrol, by
+his own request. As for me, I have the honour of assisting New York in
+her first act of rebellion! and, if the military superstition be a true
+one, 'A Sunday fight is a lucky fight.'--And now, mother, we will have
+some dinner: 'The soldier loves his mess.'"
+
+Every one was watching him with admiration. Never in his uniform had he
+appeared so like a soldier as he did at that hour in his citizen coat
+and breeches of wine-coloured velvet, his black silk stockings and
+gold-buckled shoes. His spirits were infectious: Bram had already come
+into thorough sympathy with him, and grown almost gay in his company;
+Joris felt his heart beat to the joy and hope in his young comrades.
+All alike had recognized that the fight was inevitable, and that it
+would be well done if it were soon done.
+
+But events cannot be driven by wishes: many things had to be settled
+before a movement forward could be made. Joris had his store to let, and
+the stock and good-will to dispose of. Horses and accoutrements must be
+bought, uniforms made; and every day this charge increased: for, as soon
+as Van Heemskirk's intention to go to the front was known, a large
+number of young men from the best Dutch families were eager to enlist
+under him.
+
+Hyde's time was spent as a recruiting-officer. His old quarters, the
+"King's Arms," were of course closed to him; but there was a famous
+tavern on Water Street, shaded by a great horse-chestnut tree, and there
+the patriots were always welcome. There, also, the news of all political
+events was in some mysterious way sure to be first received. In company
+with Willet, Sears, and McDougall, Hyde might be seen under the
+chestnut-tree every day, enlisting men, or organizing the "Liberty
+Regiment" then raising.
+
+From the first, his valorous temper, his singleness of purpose, his
+military skill in handling troops, and his fine appearance and manners,
+had given him influence and authority. He soon, also, gained a wonderful
+power over Bram; and even the temperate wisdom and fine patience of
+Joris gradually kindled, until the man was at white heat all through.
+Every day's events fanned the temper of the city, although it was soon
+evident that the first fighting would be done in the vicinity of
+Boston.
+
+For, three weeks after that memorable April Sunday, Congress, in session
+at Philadelphia, had recognized the men in camp there as a Continental
+army, the nucleus of the troops that were to be raised for the defence
+of the country, and had commissioned Colonel Washington as
+commander-in-chief to direct their operations. Then every heart was in a
+state of the greatest expectation and excitement. No one remembered at
+that hour that the little army was without organization or discipline,
+most of its officers incompetent to command, its troops altogether
+unused to obey, and in the field without enlistment. Their few pieces of
+cannon were old and of various sizes, and scarce any one understood
+their service. There was no siege-train and no ordnance stores. There
+was no military chest, and nothing worthy the name of a _commissariat_.
+Yet every one was sure that some bold stroke would be struck, and the
+war speedily terminated in victory and independence.
+
+So New York was in the buoyant spirits of a young man rejoicing to run a
+race. The armourers, the saddlers, and the smiths were busy day and
+night; weapons were in every hand, the look of apprehended triumph on
+every face. In June the Van Heemskirk troops were ready to leave for
+Boston--nearly six hundred young men, full of pure purpose and brave
+thoughts, and with all their illusions and enthusiasms undimmed.
+
+The day before their departure, they escorted Van Heemskirk to his
+house. Lysbet and Katherine saw them coming, and fell weeping on each
+other's necks--tears that were both joyful and sorrowful, the expression
+of mingled love and patriotism and grief. It would have been hard to
+find a nobler-looking leader than Joris. Age had but added dignity to
+his fine bulk. His large, fair face was serene and confident. And the
+bright young lads who followed him looked like his sons, for most of
+them strongly resembled him in person; and any one might have been sure,
+even if the roll had not shown it, that they were Van Brunts and Van
+Ripers and Van Rensselaers, Roosevelts, Westervelts, and Terhunes.
+
+They had a very handsome uniform, and there had been no uncertainty or
+dispute about it. Blue, with orange trimmings, carried the question
+without one dissenting voice. Blue had been for centuries the colour of
+opposition to tyranny. The Scotch Covenanters chose it because the Lord
+ordered the children of Israel to wear a ribbon of blue that they might
+"look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do
+them; and seek not after their own heart and their own eyes, and be holy
+unto their God." (Num. xv. 38.) Into their cities of refuge in Holland,
+the Covenanters carried their sacred colour; and the Dutch Calvinists
+soon blended the blue of their faith with the orange of their
+patriotism. Very early in the American struggle, blue became the typical
+colour of freedom; and when Van Heemskirk's men chose the blue and
+orange for their uniform, they selected the colours which had already
+been famous on many a battle-field of freedom.
+
+Katherine and Lysbet had made the flag of the new regiment--an orange
+flag, with a cluster of twelve blue stars above the word _liberty_. It
+was Lysbet's hands that gave it to them. They stood in a body around the
+open door of the Van Heemskirk house; and the pretty old lady kissed it,
+and handed it with wet eyes to the colour-sergeant. Katherine stood by
+Lysbet's side. They were both dressed as for a festival, and their faces
+were full of tender love and lofty enthusiasm. To Joris and his men they
+represented the womanhood dear to each individual heart. Lysbet's white
+hair and white cap and pale-tinted face was "the mother's face;" and
+Katherine, in her brilliant beauty, her smiles and tears, her shining
+silks and glancing jewels, was the lovely substitute for many a precious
+sister and many a darling lady-love. But few words were said. Lysbet and
+Katherine could but stand and gaze as heads were bared, and the orange
+folds flung to the wind, and the inspiring word _liberty_ saluted with
+bright, upturned faces and a ringing shout of welcome.
+
+Such a lovely day it was--a perfect June day; doors and windows were
+wide open; a fresh wind blowing, a hundred blended scents from the
+garden were in the air; and there was a sunshine that warmed everything
+to the core. If there were tears in the hearts of the women, they put
+them back with smiles and hopeful words, and praises of the gallant men
+who were to fight a noble fight under the banner their fingers had
+fashioned.
+
+[Illustration: Lysbet's hands gave it to them]
+
+It was to be the last evening at home for Joris and Bram and Hyde, and
+Everything was done to make it a happy memory. The table was laid with the
+best silver and china; all the dainties that the three men liked best were
+prepared for them. The room was gay with flowers and blue and orange
+ribbons, and bows of the same colours fluttered at Lysbet's breast and
+on Katherine's shoulder. And as they went up and down the house, they
+were both singing,--singing to keep love from weeping, and hope and
+courage from failing; Lysbet's thin, sweet voice seeming like the shadow
+of Katherine's clear, ringing tones,--
+
+                "Oh, for the blue and the orange,
+                   Oh, for the orange and the blue!
+                 Orange for men that are free men,
+                   Blue for men that are true.
+                 Over the red of the tyrant,
+                   Bloody and cruel in hue,
+                 Fling out the banner of orange,
+                   With pennant and border of blue.
+                 Orange for men that are free men,
+                   Blue for men that are true."
+
+So they were singing when Joris and his sons came home.
+
+There had been some expectation of Joanna and Batavius, but at the last
+moment an excuse was sent. "The child is sick, writes Batavius; but I
+think, then, it is Batavius that is afraid, and not the child who is
+sick," said Joris.
+
+"To this side and to that side and to neither side, he will go; and he
+will miss all the good, and get all the bad of every side," said Bram
+contemptuously.
+
+"I think not so, Bram. Batavius can sail with the wind. All but his
+honour and his manhood he will save."
+
+"That is exactly true," continued Hyde. "He will grow rich upon the
+spoils of both parties. Upon my word, I expect to hear him say, 'Admire
+my prudence. While you have been fighting for an idea, I have been
+making myself some money. It is a principle of mine to attend only to my
+own affairs.'"
+
+After supper Bram went to bid a friend good-by; and as Joris and Lysbet
+sat in the quiet parlour, Elder Semple and his wife walked in. The elder
+was sad and still. He took the hands of Joris in his own, and looked him
+steadily in the face. "Man Joris," he said, "what's sending you on sic a
+daft-like errand?"
+
+Joris smiled, and grasped tighter his friend's hand. "So glad am I to
+see you at the last, Elder. As in you came, I was thinking about you.
+Let us part good friends and brothers. If I come not back"--
+
+"Tut, tut! You're sure and certain to come back; and sae I'll save the
+quarrel I hae wi' you until then. We'll hae mair opportunities; and I'll
+hae mair arguments against you, wi' every week that passes. Joris,
+you'll no hae a single word to say for yoursel' then. Sae, I'll bide my
+time. I came to speak anent things, in case o' the warst, to tell you
+that if any one wants to touch your wife or your bairns, a brick in your
+house, or a flower in your garden-plat, I'll stand by all that's yours,
+to the last shilling I hae, and nane shall harm them. Neil and I will
+baith do all men may do. Scotsmen hae lang memories for either friend or
+foe. O Joris, man, if you had only had an ounce o' common wisdom!"
+
+"I have a friend, then! I have you, Alexander. Never this hour shall I
+regret. If all else I lose, I have saved _mijn jongen_."
+
+The old men bent to each other; there were tears in their eyes. Without
+speaking, they were aware of kindness and faithfulness and gratitude
+beyond the power of words. They smoked a pipe together, and sometimes
+changed glances and smiles, as they looked at, or listened to, Lysbet
+and Janet Semple, who had renewed their long kindness in the sympathy of
+their patriotic hopes and fears.
+
+Hyde and Katherine were walking in the garden, lingering in the sweet
+June twilight by the lilac hedge and the river-bank. All Hyde's business
+was arranged: he was going into the fight without any anxiety beyond
+such as was natural to the circumstances. While he was away, his wife
+and son were to remain with Lysbet. He could desire no better home for
+them; their lives would be so quiet and orderly that he could almost
+tell what they would be doing at every hour. And while he was in the din
+and danger of siege and battle, he felt that it would be restful to
+think of Katherine in the still, fair rooms and the sweet garden of her
+first home.
+
+If he never came back, ample provision had been made for his wife and
+son's welfare; but--and he suddenly turned to Katherine, as if she had
+been conscious of his thoughts--"The war will not last very long, dear
+heart; and when liberty is won, and the foundation for a great
+commonwealth laid, why then we will buy a large estate somewhere upon
+the banks of this beautiful river. It will be delightful, in the midst
+of trees and parks, to build a grander Hyde Manor House. Most
+completely we will furnish it, in all respects; and the gardens you
+shall make at your own will and discretion. A hundred years after this,
+your descendants shall wander among the treillages and cut hedges
+and boxed walks, and say, 'What a sweet taste our dear
+great-great-grandmother had!'"
+
+And Katharine laughed at his merry talk and forecasting, and praised his
+uniform, and told him how soldierly and handsome he looked in it. And
+she touched his sword, and asked, "Is it the old sword, my Richard?"
+
+"The old sword, Kate, my sweet. With it I won my wife. Oh, indeed, yes!
+You know it was pity for my sufferings made you marry me that blessed
+October day, when I could not stand up beside you. It has a fight twice
+worthy of its keen edge now." He drew it partially from its sheath, and
+mused a moment. Then he slowly untwisted the ribbon and tassel of
+bullion at the hilt, and gave it into her hand. "I have a better
+hilt-ribbon than that," he said; "and when we go into the house, I will
+re-trim my sword."
+
+She thought little of the remark at the time, though she carefully put
+the tarnished tassel away among her dearest treasures; but it acquired a
+new meaning in the morning. The troops were to leave very early; and
+soon after dawn, she heard the clatter of galloping horses and the calls
+of the men as they reined up at their commander's door. Bram, as his
+father's lieutenant, was with them. The horses of Joris and Hyde were
+waiting.
+
+They rose from the breakfast-table and looked at their wives. Lysbet
+gave a little sob, and laid her head a moment upon her husband's breast.
+Katherine lifted her white face and whispered, with kisses, "Beloved
+one, go. Night and day I will pray for you, and long for you. My love,
+my dear one!"
+
+There was hurry and tumult, and the stress of leave-taking was lightened
+by it. Katherine held her husband's hand till they stood at the open
+door. Then he looked into her face, and down at his sword, with a
+meaning smile. And her eyes dilated, and a vivid blush spread over her
+cheeks and throat, and she drew him back a moment, and passionately
+kissed him again; and all her grief was lost in love and triumph. For,
+wound tightly around his sword-hilt, she saw--though it was brown and
+faded--her first, fateful love-token,--_The Bow of Orange Ribbon_.
+
+[Illustration: Tail-piece]
+
+
+
+POSTSCRIPT.
+
+[QUOTATION FROM A LETTER DATED JULY 5, A.D. 1885.]
+
+
+"Yesterday I went with my aunt to spend 'the Fourth' at the Hydes. They
+have the most delightful place,--a great stone house in a wilderness of
+foliage and beauty, and yet within convenient distance of the railroad
+and the river-boats. Why don't we build such houses now? You could make
+a ball-room out of the hall, and hold a grand reception on the
+staircase. Kate Hyde said the house is more than a hundred years old,
+and that the fifth generation is living in it. I am sure there are
+pictures enough of the family to account for three hundred years; but
+the two handsomest, after all, are those of the builders. They were very
+great people at the court of Washington, I believe. I suppose it is
+natural for those who have ancestors to brag about them, and to show off
+the old buckles and fans and court-dresses they have hoarded up, not to
+speak of the queer bits of plate and china; and, I must say, the Hydes
+have a really delightful lot of such bric-a-brac. But the strangest
+thing is the 'household talisman.' It is not like the luck of Eden Hall:
+it is neither crystal cup, nor silver vase, nor magic bracelet, nor an
+old slipper. But they have a tradition that the house will prosper as
+long as it lasts, and so this precious palladium is carefully kept in a
+locked box of carved sandal-wood; for it is only a bit of faded satin
+that was a love-token,--a St. Nicholas _Bow of Orange Ribbon_."
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Bow of Orange Ribbon, by Amelia E. Barr
+
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author	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 04:50:29 -0700
committer	Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org>	2025-10-15 04:50:29 -0700
commit	20ffd6d7612b75a039d6e52fd04283b85ab4e791 (patch)
tree	1a73c38c25e737349d9ccf95ec076bd6e47c01d3