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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1927.txt b/1927.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2fc2e8 --- /dev/null +++ b/1927.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9936 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext Elinor Wyllys, by Susan Fenimore Cooper +Volume 1 + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +{This e-text was prepared from the first edition of Susan +Fenimore Cooper's "Elinor Wyllys: or, The Young Folk of +Longbridge" (Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1846). "Elinor Wyllys" +was also published in England (London: Richard Bentley, 1845), +but has otherwise not been reprinted. + +{Text and note are by Hugh C. MacDougall (jfcooper@wpe.com). +Notes are enclosed in curly brackets { }; these include +identification of epigraphs and other quotations and allusions, +explanations of obsolete word usage, and translations of foreign +words and expressions. Quotations from Shakespeare are cited to +the Riverside Edition (adopted as standard for the MLA-approved +Cooper Edition of the works of James Fenimore Cooper). Spelling +and punctuation, including the author's idiosyncratic use of +colons and semi-colons, inconsistent use of single quotation +marks for "thoughts," and combinations of dashes with other +punctuation, have not been changed (except for occasional silent +insertion of missing quotation marks). First instances of some +unusual spellings (whether or not in accordance with the author's +usual practise), and obvious typographical errors, are followed +by {sic} to indicate that there has not been a mistake in +transcription. Because of the limitations of the .TXT format, +italicized foreign words (mostly French) are transcribed in +ordinary type, and accents are omitted; words italicized for +emphasis, or to emulate dialect or incorrect pronunciation, are +transcribed as capitals.} + + + + + +ELINOR WYLLYS: OR, THE YOUNG FOLK OF LONGBRIDGE. A TALE. + +BY AMABEL PENFEATHER. + +{Pseudonym of Susan Fenimore Cooper (1813-1894), +daughter of James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851)} + + + + +"Familiar matter of today; +Some natural sorrow, loss or pain, +That has been, and may be again." +WORDSWORTH + +{William Wordsworth (English poet, 1770-1850), "The Solitary +Reaper" lines 22-24} + + + + +IN TWO VOLUMES, +VOL. I. + +EDITED BY J. FENIMORE COOPER + + + + +EDITOR'S PREFACE. + +THERE is so much of mystification resorted to, at the present +time, in the publication of books, that it has become proper that +the editor of Elinor Wyllys should explain what has been his own +connection with this particular work. + +The writer of this book is a valued female friend, who had a +right to ask, and did ask, its editor's advice and assistance, in +presenting it to the public. This advice and assistance have been +cheerfully afforded, though neither has properly extended to the +literary character of the work. As the author has not wished to +appear, the name of the editor has been used in obtaining the +copy-right, and his assistance given in forwarding and returning +proof-sheets. Over a few of the last, the editor has cast an eye; +but, believing the author of the book to be fully competent +herself, to superintend her own work, as it has gone through the +press, this supervision on the part of the editor has been very +slight. + +The editor has great confidence in the principles, taste, and +intelligence of the real author of Elinor Wyllys. She has seen +much of that portion of the world with which a lady becomes +acquainted, and has seen that much under the most favorable +circumstances. As usually happens in such cases, her book will be +found free from exaggerations of every sort; and will be more +likely to be well received by persons of her own class, than by +those who are less familiar with its advantages. Imagination, +feeling, sound principles, and good taste, are all to be found in +this book, though in what degree, the public will necessarily +decide for itself. + +J. FENIMORE COOPER. + +Philadelphia, Oct. 8, 1845. + + + +PREFACE + +IT will be well, perhaps, that the reader bear in mind, while +running over the following pages, that many passing observations, +many trifles, which naturally find their way into any sketch of +social life, refer chiefly to things and notions in favour some +ten years since; a period which is certainly not beyond the +memory of man, but very possibly beyond the clear recollection of +some young lady reader, just within her teens. New opinions, new +ideas, new fashions have appeared among us since then, and made +their way perceptibly. Twenty years' possession constitutes a +legal title, if we may believe the lawyers; but a single season +is often sufficient for a new fancy--fancies of a serious nature +too, sometimes--to take full possession of the public mind, and +assume arbitrary control of the premises for the time being, at +least. + +It will be more honest to confess, at once, before the reader +undertakes the first chapter, that the tale now before him is a +first appearance in print--a first appearance, too, of one who, +even now that the formidable step is taken, feels little disposed +to envy the honours of authorship. Writing may be a very pleasant +pastime; but printing seems to have many disagreeable +consequences attending every stage of the process; and yet, after +all, reading is often the most irksome task of the three. In this +last case, however, the remedy is generally easy; one may throw +aside the volume, and abuse the author. If there are books which +MUST be read, stupid or not, owing to the claim of some great +name on the binding, the present story is not one of the number; +and perhaps the perfect liberty enjoyed by the reader under such +circumstances--to like or dislike independent of critics, to cut +every leaf, or skip a dozen chapters at a time without fear of +reproach--will incline him to an amiable mood. It is to be hoped +so; it will be unfortunate if, among many agreeable summer +excursions both on terra firma and in the regions of fancy, the +hour passed at Longbridge should prove a tedious one: in such a +case the fault will belong entirely to the writer of the +narrative, for there are certainly some very pleasant and very +worthy people among the good folk of Longbridge. + +---------, August, 1845. + + + +ELINOR WYLLYS. + +CHAPTER I, + +"Enter the house, pr'ythee."-- +ROGERS. + +{Samuel Rogers (English poet, 1763-1855), "Italy: Genevra" line +19. Samuel Rogers befriended James Fenimore Cooper and his family +during their visits to England in 1826-33} + +HAD there been a predecessor of Mr. Downing in the country, some +five-and-twenty year since, to criticise Wyllys-Roof, the home of +our friend Elinor, his good taste would no doubt have suggested +many improvements, not only in the house itself, but also in the +grounds which surrounded it. The building had been erected long +before the first Tudor cottage was transported, Loretto-like, +across the Atlantic, and was even anterior to the days of Grecian +porticoes. It was a comfortable, sensible-looking place, however, +such as were planned some eighty or a hundred years since, by men +who had fortune enough to do as they pleased, and education +enough to be quite superior to all pretension. The house was a +low, irregular, wooden building, of ample size for the tastes and +habits of its inmates, with broad piazzas, which not only +increased its dimensions, but added greatly to the comfort and +pleasure of the family by whom it was occupied. + +{"Downing" = Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852), noted American +rural architect and landscape gardener; "Loretto-like" = after +Loreto, in Italy, where, according to tradition, a brick Holy +House was miraculously conveyed through the air by angels in +1294} + +The grounds were of the simplest kind. The lawn which surrounded +the house was merely a better sort of meadow, from which the +stones and briars had been removed with more care than usual, and +which, on account of its position, received the attention of one +additional mowing in the course of the summer. A fine wood, of a +natural growth, approached quite near to the house on the +northern side, partially sheltering it in that direction, while +an avenue of weeping elms led from the gate to the principal +entrance, and a row of locusts, planted at equal distances, lined +the low, rude stone wall which shut out the highway. One piazza +was shaded by noble willows, while another was faced by a row of +cherry trees, flanked by peach and pear. Fruit trees, although so +common and so lavish of their blessings in this climate, are +often gathered about American country-houses, instead of being +confined to gardens devoted to the purpose, as in Europe; a habit +which pleasantly reminds us that civilization has made a recent +conquest over the wilderness in this new world, and that our +forefathers, only a few generations back, preferred the trees of +the orchard to those of the forest, even for ornament. Fruit +trees are indeed beautiful objects when gay with the blossoms of +spring, or rich with the offerings of summer, and, mingled with +others, are always desirable about a dwelling as simple and +unpretending in its character as Wyllys-Roof. Beneath the windows +were roses and other flowering shrubs; and these, with a few +scattered natives of the soil--elm, hickory, sycamore, and tulip +trees--farther from the house, were the only attempts at +embellishment that had been made. The garden, surrounded by a +white paling, was thought an ornamental object, and lay within +full view of the drawing-room windows; and yet it was but a +mixture of the useful and the beautiful, in which the former +largely predominated. As a kitchen-garden it was certainly +excellent; but the narrow flower-borders, which surrounded the +ample beds of melons and strawberries, asparagus and +cauliflowers, would have appeared meanly furnished in the eyes of +a flower-fancier of the present day. There was not a hybrid among +them, nor a single blossom but what bore a plain, honest name; +and although there were lilies and roses, pinks and violets in +abundance, they would probably have been all rooted out by your +exclusive, fashionable gardener of the last summer, for they were +the commonest varieties only. There were but two walks on the +lawn; one of these was gravelled, and led to the garden-gate; the +other was a common foot-path leading to the river, where the +gentlemen of the family kept their boats, and where the cattle, +who often grazed on the lawn, went to drink. The grounds were +bounded on one side by a broad river, on the other by a +sufficiently well-travelled highway. What particular river and +highway these were, through what particular state and county they +ran, we do not think it incumbent on us to reveal. It may easily +be inferred, however, that Wyllys-Roof belonged to one of the +older parts of the country, at no great distance from the +seaboard, for the trees that shaded the house were of a growth +that could not have been reached by any new plantation in a +western settlement. + +{"particular state..." = Longbridge, we learn, has steamboat +connections to New York City, while steamboat connections to +Philadelphia are from nearby Upper Lewiston; in the course of the +story, one of the first railroads in America comes through town; +this suggests, if anywhere, New Jersey. Judicial matters take +place in Philadelphia, which would seem to place Longbridge in +Pennsylvania. It is not clear, however, that the author had any +specific location in mind} + +The interior arrangements of Wyllys-Roof corresponded very +naturally with the appearance of things outside. The ceilings +were low, and the apartments small and numerous; much room had +been thrown into broad, airy passages, while closets and +cupboards abounded. The whole of the lower floor had originally +been wainscoted, but Miss Agnes Wyllys was answerable for several +innovations in the principal rooms. When Mr. Wyllys decided to +make his country-place a permanent residence, his daughter, who +was at the head of his establishment, fancied that the furniture +they had brought from their house in town could not be +advantageously disposed of, without cutting folding-doors between +the drawing-rooms. It was fortunate that a couple of adjoining +rooms admitted of this arrangement, for at that day, two +drawing-rooms of equal size, united by wide folding-doors, were +considered a necessary of life to all American families "on +hospitable thought intent." It seems to have been only very +recently that any other arrangement has been found possible, an +important discovery, which, like many others that have preceded +it, was probably the happy effect of necessity, that mother of +invention. Mr. Wyllys having cut through the partition, was next +persuaded to take down the wainscoting, and put up in its place a +French paper, very pretty in its way, certainly, but we fear that +Miss Agnes had no better reason to give for these changes than +the fact that she was doing as her neighbours had done before +her. Miss Wyllys was, however, little influenced in general by +mere fashion, and on more important matters could think for +herself; this little weakness in favour of the folding-doors may +therefore be forgiven, and justly ascribed to the character of +the age in which she lived and gave tea-parties. + +{"on hospitable thought intent" = John Milton (English poet, +1608-1674), "Paradise Lost", Book V, line 332} + +For several years after they removed permanently to Wyllys-Roof, +the family, strictly speaking, consisted of Mr. Wyllys, his +unmarried daughter, and the usual domestics, only. They were +seldom alone, however; they had generally some friend or relative +with them, and in summer the house was often filled to +overflowing, during the whole season, with parties of friends, or +the different branches of a large family connection; for the +Wyllyses had their full share of that free spirit of hospitality +which seems characteristic of all classes of Americans. After a +time, however, another member was received into the family. This +was the orphan daughter of Mr. Wyllys's eldest son, an engaging +little girl, to whom her grandfather and aunt were called upon to +fill the place of the father and mother she had lost. The little +orphan was too young, at the time, to be aware, either of the +great affliction which had befallen her, or of her happy lot in +being committed to such kind guardians, in merely exchanging one +home for another. + +The arrival of the little Elinor at Wyllys-Roof was the only +important event in the family for some ten or twelve years; the +Wyllyses were not much given to change, and during that period +things about them remained much as they have just been described. +We defer presenting the family more especially to the reader's +notice until our young friend Elinor had reached her seventeenth +birth-day, an event which was duly celebrated. There was to be a +little party on the occasion, Miss Agnes having invited some +half-dozen families of the neighbourhood to pass the evening at +Wyllys-Roof. + +The weather was very warm, as usual at the last of August; and as +the expected guests were late in making their appearance, Mr. +Wyllys had undertaken in the mean time to beat his daughter at a +game of chess. Elinor, mounted on a footstool, was intent on +arranging a sprig of clematis to the best advantage, in the +beautiful dark hair of her cousin Jane Graham, who was standing +for that purpose before a mirror. A good-looking youth, whom we +introduce without farther ceremony as Harry Hazlehurst, was +watching the chess-players with some interest. There were also +two ladies sitting on a sofa, and as both happened at the time to +be inmates of Wyllys-Roof, we may as well mention that the +elderly gentlewoman in a cap was Mrs. Stanley, the widow of a +connection from whom young Hazlehurst had inherited a large +property. Her neighbour, a very pretty woman, neither young nor +old, was Mrs. George Wyllys, their host's daughter-in-law, and, +as her mourning-dress bespoke her, also a widow. This lady was +now on a visit to Wyllys-Roof with her young children, whom, as +she frequently observed, she wished to be as much as possible +under the influence of their father's family. + +Mr. Wyllys's game was interrupted for a moment, just as he was +about to make a very good move; a servant came to let him know +that a drunken man had been found under a fence near the house. +The fellow, according to Thomas's story, could not be roused +enough to give a straight account of himself, nor could he be +made to move. + +"Is it any one you know, Thomas?" asked Mr. Wyllys. + +"No, sir, it's no one from hereabouts. I shouldn't wonder if he +was a sailor, by the looks of his trowsers and jacket. I guess it +is some loafer on his way to Longbridge." + +What could be done with him? was the question. The ladies did not +seem to like the idea of having a drunken man, whom no one knew, +brought into the house at night. + +"I dare say it is the same person I heard asking the way to +Wyllys-Roof this morning, when we stopped at the turnpike-gate," +observed Mrs. Stanley. "He looked at the time as if he had been +drinking." + +Elinor suggested that possibly it might be some old sailor, who +fancied he had a claim upon Mr. Wyllys's kindness--Mr. George +Wyllys having died a commander in the navy. + +Harry volunteered to go out and take a look at him, and the party +in the drawing-room awaited the result of this reconnoitring +{sic}. At the end of five minutes Hazlehurst returned with his +report. + +"As far as I can judge by the help of moonlight and a lantern, it +is no very prepossessing personage. He swore at me roundly for +disturbing him, and I take it the fellow is really a sailor. I +asked him what he wanted at Wyllys-Roof, but we could not make +anything out of him. To keep him from mischief, we locked him up +in one of the out-houses. It is to be hoped in the morning he +will be sober enough to tell his errand." + +The matter thus settled, nothing farther was thought of it at the +time, and in another moment the game of chess was won, and the +flower secured in a becoming position. Mrs. Stanley had been +watching Elinor's movements with a smile. + +"You are an expert hair-dresser; the flowers are much prettier as +you have arranged them," said the lady to her young friend. + +"Is it not a great improvement? They looked heavy as Jane had +arranged them before--I have taken out more than half," replied +Elinor. + +Mrs. George Wyllys looked up from the newspaper she was reading, +and suggested a change. + +"I think the clematis would look better on the other side." + +"Do you really think so, Aunt Harriet? I flattered myself I had +been very successful: it strikes me that it looks very well." + +"What is it that looks so well, ladies?" said Mr. Wyllys, rising +from the chess-table and drawing near the young people. "The +flower? Yes, the flower and the face are both very pretty, my +dear. What is it? a honeysuckle?" + +"No indeed, grandpapa," answered Elinor, "it is a clematis--this +is a honeysuckle, a monthly honeysuckle, which Jane had twisted +with it; but to my fancy the clematis is prettier alone, +especially as it is so precious--the very last one we could +find." + +"Why don't you put the honeysuckle in your own hair, Nelly? it is +a very pretty flower. Being queen of the evening, you should +certainly wear one yourself." + +"Oh, I never wear flowers, grandpapa; I cannot make them look +well in my hair. This bouquet must proclaim my dignity to-night." + +"It is pretty enough, certainly, my child, for any dignity--" + +"Is it not rather large?" said Harry. "Why, Elinor, you have +smothered my humble offering in a whole wilderness of sweets!" + +"Not quite as bad as that," said Elinor, smiling--"I only put +with yours, a few Aunt Agnes and Miss Patsey gave me--look at +Jane's if you wish to see a bouquet of a reasonably fashionable +size." + +"Bouquets are worn very large this summer," said Jane Graham, in +a languid tone, resting her beautiful eyes on the bunch in her +hand. + +"Fashion even in flowers!" exclaimed Mr. Wyllys. + +"So it would seem," replied Elinor, smiling. + +"And, pray," said Harry, taking a rose from a vase near him, "if +a friend were to offer a flower for your belt, since you will not +place one in your hair, would fashion permit it to be worn?" + +"I don't believe it would, Nelly," said her grandfather. + +Elinor looked just a little embarrassed, and a little pleased. + +"Thank you," she said, taking the rose Harry offered; and while +securing it in her sash, she felt that she coloured. But the +flush was scarcely observed on a cheek as dark as hers. + +"Well, Agnes, it is high time your friends came, unless they +expect a rout," said Mr. Wyllys, stepping towards a window to +look out. "Who are we to have?" + +{"rout" = a large evening party} + +"Your new neighbours, sir, the Taylors; your old friends, the +Hubbards, Van Hornes, Bernards--" + +"I hope you will like the Taylors, Agnes; but I don't know much +about them. I am glad you thought of asking them this evening, +for he brought me a letter, you remember, from New York." + +{"letter" = a letter of introduction} + +"As there is a young lady in the family, and a son just grown up, +I thought they might like to dance," replied Miss Agnes. She then +turned to Mrs. Stanley, and asked that lady, who lived in New +York, if she knew anything of these new neighbours of theirs. + +"I never heard of them," replied Mrs. Stanley. "But they may be +very important people, and make a great deal of noise, for all +that; as I only see my old friends, and live so quietly myself, I +don't even know the names of half the people who pass for +fashionable." + +"I never suspected our new neighbours of being fashionable," +replied Mr. Wyllys; "but I hope they will turn out pleasant, +sensible people, for your sake, ladies; and, then, if Taylor is a +chess-player, that will leave nothing farther to be desired." + +"Here comes somebody, at last!" exclaimed Mrs. George Wyllys, +hearing a carriage. "The Van Hornes, I suppose." + +"I beg your pardon," said Hazlehurst, who was standing near the +window, "that is the Taylor equipage; why the 'tastiness' of the +Taylor barouche is visible even by moonlight." + +{"barouche" = four-wheeled carriage with room for four passengers +inside} + +The party in the carriage, consisting of father and mother, son +and daughter, soon alighted, and appeared in the drawing-room. +They were introduced by Mr. Wyllys, and received politely by his +daughter and her niece. + +"I am gratified, sir," said the tall and thin Mr. Taylor, with a +pompous tone, "in having so early an opportunity of making our +ladies mutually acquainted." + +"We shall hope to see your family often, Mr. Taylor," replied his +host. "You must not forget that we are near neighbours; and we +country folk think a great deal of neighbourhood, I assure you." + +"Yes; of course the restraints of society must be much greater in +a city, than in a more sparsely settled section." + +"I hope your new purchase suits you on farther examination. The +farm is certainly a very good one; but the house, I should think, +must want repairs." + +"It does, sir; I calculate to build, however, next year. The +present dwelling is much too small." + +"The house might suit us, I think," observed Mrs. Taylor, who, +with Miss Agnes, had taken a seat, while the young people were +standing, chatting, near them. "If husband would put up a +back-building, we should have room enough." + +Miss Wyllys remarked, that even a small addition, often increased +very much the convenience of a house. + +"Certainly, madam; but I apprehend, if I had added wings and a +back-building to the premises, as I first intended, Mrs. Taylor +would still have found the house not sufficiently spacious. Now +our young ladies and gentlemen are growing up, we must have, more +room for company." + +"Well," added his wife, "I expect to see a good deal of tea and +dinner company, next summer, with the house as it is." + +"The young people will be much obliged to you for your kind +intentions, Mrs. Taylor; ours is not a very gay neighbourhood," +said Miss Wyllys. + +"So I should conclude," remarked Mr. Taylor. + +"I don't know, Agnes," said her father; "if you include +Longbridge in the neighbourhood, I think we may call ourselves a +gay set." + +"True, sir," said Miss Agnes; "but as we seldom go there +ourselves in the evening, it had not struck me in that light. But +very possibly, Mrs. Taylor and her young ladies may be more +enterprising than Elinor and myself." + +"Four miles, madam," interposed Mr. Taylor, "with a good vehicle +and good horses, is no great distance. Longbridge seems to be in +a very flourishing condition, sir;" turning to Mr. Wyllys. + +"Yes, the place is looking up; they are very busy just now. They +are building a good deal, this summer." + +"I observed several tasty mansions, in what may be called the +suburbs; in particular a brick edifice, being erected, I +understand, by Joseph P. Hubbard." + +"The brick house near the bridge? Yes, it will be the largest +about here. Hubbard is building it more to please his daughters +than himself, I fancy." + +"It promises a great display of taste--I observe he has reserved +half his lot, in front of the mansion, for a park." + +"Hem--Yes, there will be just half an acre in it. Does Hubbard +call it a park?" asked Mr. Wyllys, with an amused expression +about his eyes. + +"I applied the term myself," replied the knowing Mr. Taylor. "I +was altogether much pleased with the appearance of your village, +sir. It has a lively business for such a small place--things +really look quite citified there. If I had seen Mr. Hubbard's +mansion, before concluding my bargain for my present location, I +think I should have made him an offer." + +"I am very glad you did not, husband. I was brought up on a farm, +Miss Wyllys, and I am very happy that we have got in the open +country. Besides, Mr. Hubbard's house will be too large for +comfort." + +"Ha, ha!" faintly laughed Mr. Taylor; "you seem to like room out +of doors better than within, Mrs. Taylor." + +At this moment two persons walked quietly into the room, and were +received very kindly by Miss Wyllys and Elinor. One was a woman +of about forty, plainly, but neatly dressed, with a pleasing +face, remarkable for a simple expression of common sense and +goodness. Her manners corresponded perfectly with her appearance; +they were quiet and pleasant. The lad who accompanied her was a +boy of sixteen, small, and slightly made, with good features, and +an uncommonly spirited and intelligent countenance. They might +very naturally have been taken for mother and son; but they were, +in fact, brother and sister. + +"Well, Charlie, my lad," said Mr. Wyllys, placing a hand on the +boy's shoulder, "I hear the important matter is at last under +full consideration." + +"Yes, sir; my friends have all but consented; even sister Patsey +is coming round. It will be all settled next week, I hope." + +"I wish you joy of your success, Charlie," cried Hazlehurst. + +"Not yet, if you please, Mr. Hazlehurst," said Miss Patsey +Hubbard, smiling good-naturedly. "It is only a conditional +consent, Charles, you must remember." Then turning to Mr. Wyllys, +she added--"All our friends seem to agree with you, sir, and Miss +Wyllys: my uncles think Charles ought to show what he has done to +some experienced painters, and have their opinions. We feel very +anxious on the subject." + +"Remember to persevere, young man, if you once begin," said Mr. +Wyllys. + +"No danger but I shall, sir," said the boy rather proudly. + +"I fear, Charles, that half the fault of your obstinacy is thrown +upon my shoulders," said Elinor. "Those Lives of the Painters +were an unfortunate present; they seem quite to have turned your +head; I am afraid Miss Patsey will not soon forgive me." + +{"Lives of the Painters" = probably Giorgio Vasari (Italian +writer, 1511-1574), "Lives of the Most Excellent Architects, +Painters and Sculptors" (1550, rev. 1568), a famous and often +reprinted series of biographies of Italian artists, also +frequently cited as "Lives of the Artists."} + +"I can't thank you enough for them, Miss Elinor--you don't know +what pleasure I have had with them." + + + +CHAPTER II. + +"We'll measure them a measure, and begone." + +{William Shakespeare, "Romeo and Juliet", I.iv.10} + +The arrival of guests again called the ladies away; they were +followed by others, until the drawing-room was half-filled with +the young people of the neighbourhood, and their parents. Mrs. +Stanley was soon talking with Patsey Hubbard, whom she liked +particularly. The tall and thin Mrs. Bernard, and her friend, the +short and fat Mrs. Van Horne, were regretting with Mrs. George +Wyllys, that she should think the air of Longbridge did not agree +with her children; and lamenting that she should not remain at +Wyllys-Roof until November, according to her first intention. +Charlie was deep in a volume of fine engravings. Young Taylor was +standing; in a corner, looking handsome, but awkward, and out of +place. Mr. Taylor, the father, was aiming at making himself +'affable' to everybody he knew; he liked to be called the +'affable' Mr. Taylor. The last of the party to arrive, were Mr. +and Mrs. Clapp; a couple, who were by no means equally liked by +their hosts. The husband was a Longbridge lawyer, whose views and +manners were not much admired at Wyllys-Roof; and he would +probably never have found his way there, had he not married one +of their old friends and favourites, Kate Hubbard, a younger +sister of Miss Patsey's--one who from childhood had always been +welcome among them. William Cassius Clapp had curly hair, bright +black eyes, and pink cheeks--and, consequently, was generally +thought an Adonis: his wife was a diminutive little creature, +quite pretty, and very amiable; a sort of mixture of Miss Patsey +and Charlie, without the more striking qualities of either. Some +of her friends had thought her thrown away upon Clapp; but she +seemed perfectly satisfied after five years' experience, and +evidently believed her husband superior in every way to the +common run of men. Holding it to be gross injustice towards the +individuals whom we bring before the reader, to excite a +prejudice against them in the very first chapter, we shall leave +all the party to speak and act for themselves; merely +endeavouring to fill the part of a 'faithful chronicler,' +ourselves. + +Mr. Taylor had been looking, with a mixed expression of surprise +and curiosity, at the person he had heard addressed as Miss +Patsey Hubbard, when the lady remarked his manner, and, smiling +quietly, she bowed to him. The bow was returned; and Mr. Taylor +crossed the room, to renew an acquaintance with the woman, who, +three-and-twenty years before, had refused to become his wife. +Mr. Pompey Taylor had, however, risen too much in the world, +since then--according to his own estimation, at least--he had +become too rich and too prosperous, not to look back with great +equanimity, on what he now considered as a very trifling +occurrence. While he was addressing Miss Patsey in his most +polished manner, just marked with an extra-touch of 'affability,' +for her especial benefit, he could not but wonder that her +countenance should still wear the same placid, contented air as +of old; it seemed, indeed, as if this expression had only been +confirmed by time and trials. He began to think the accounts he +had occasionally heard, of his old flame, must have been +incorrect; it was scarcely possible she should look so calm, and +even cheerful, if her father, the Presbyterian minister, had +actually left her not only penniless, but burdened with the +support of a bed-ridden step-mother, and a house full of younger +brothers and sisters. We leave him to satisfy his curiosity as +well as he could. + +When was there ever an evening too warm for young people to +dance! Elinor's friends had not been in the room half an hour, +before they discovered that they were just the right number to +make a quadrille agreeable. They were enough to form a double +set; and, while they were dancing, the elder part of the company +were sitting in groups near the windows, to catch the evening +air, and talking over neighbourly matters, or looking on at their +young friends. + +"Don't you think Elinor very graceful?" exclaimed Mrs. Van Horne +to her friend, Mrs. Bernard. "I like to watch her, while she is +dancing; her movements are all so pleasing and easy, never, in +the least, exaggerated--but, it is in her very nature; she has +always been the same, from a little creature." + +"Yes," replied Mrs. Bernard; "but it is a pity her face should be +so ugly; for she has rather a pretty figure--" + +"Do you think her really ugly? She does not strike me, as so very +plain--there is nothing repulsive in her face. I have known girls +called pretty, who had something far nearer coarseness in their +features. It is true, I have been accustomed to see her from the +time she was four years old; and, I know, she is always thought +very plain by strangers." + +"Why, my dear Mrs. Van Horne, she has not one feature that can be +called good; and her eye-brows are so heavy, and her complexion +is so thick and dark, too!" + +"Yes, it is true, she is very dark; and that is a pity; if she +were only fairer, her features would appear to greater +advantage." + +"Just look at her now," said Mrs. Bernard, "as she is standing by +her cousin, Jane Graham, who is dancing with your son. Was there +ever a greater contrast?" + +"But Jane is so remarkably pretty--" + +"Certainly, she is a perfect little beauty; and that is one +reason, perhaps, why Elinor strikes us as so plain; she is so +much with her cousin--" + +"Well," said Mrs. Van Horne, "if you are going to quarrel so +much, with my little friend's face, we had better find something +else to talk about; for she is a very great favourite of mine." + +"And justly--I dare say.--But, I am a great admirer of beauty, +you know; and I cannot keep my eyes off Jane's lovely face." + +The conversation then turned upon the Hubbards. + +"Charlie, it seems, is actually going to be a painter," observed +Mrs. Bernard. "Miss Patsey tells me, he is so bent on it, that +she thinks there is no use in opposing it any longer; though, Mr. +Clapp says, it is a wretched plan." + +"I hope Charles may succeed; he is a fine boy; and I shall be +very sorry, for Patsey's sake, if he turns out badly. She is very +anxious about him, I know." + +"They have been so fortunate, with the rest of the family, that, +I hope, they will be able to keep Charlie straight. I see Miss +Patsey is talking to Mrs. Taylor; they are old friends, perhaps. +Do you know anything about these Taylors?" + +"Nothing but what my husband told me. He is a merchant in New +York, and very rich;--made his money quite lately; and the +business-men think a good deal of him." + +"He seems to have a great deal to say for himself. Have you +called on Mrs. Taylor?" + +"We were there yesterday. She is a quiet, plain woman. The young +man is good-looking, but very shy and awkward. The daughter seems +very lively." + +"Yes, and she is quite pretty, too. She will be a belle, I dare +say." + +"I hope Mrs. Taylor will send her younger children to Patsey's +school." + +"I wish she may; it will be a good thing for Miss Patsey, and +make up her dozen. You know, she will not take more than twelve, +as she keeps the largest room in the house for her mother." + +"How kind and faithful Patsey has been to her step-mother! Just +as she is, though, to everybody else; and she does it all in such +a quiet, consistent way. I am glad to see her here to-night--she +enjoys a little society, once in a while; and yet no one can +persuade her to go out, except Miss Wyllys." + +"She has come in honour of her pupil's birthday, I suppose. You +know, Elinor Wyllys was her first scholar. By-the-bye, do you +know what I heard, the other day? They say, in Longbridge, that +Mr. Hazlehurst is engaged to one of the young ladies here; +though, to which, my informant did not say." + +"There is no truth in it, you may be sure--they are too much like +brother and sister, to think of it. Besides, Mr. Hazlehurst is +going abroad, shortly." + +"I did not know that. Where is he going?" + +"He told my son, yesterday, that he was going to Europe, for two +years, to take care of his brother, Mr. Robert Hazlehurst, who +has never recovered from the fall he had last winter; and the +physicians have ordered him to travel." + +At that moment the ladies were joined by Miss Agnes. + +"I hear, Miss Wyllys," said Mrs. Bernard, "that Mr. Hazlehurst is +going to Europe. He will be very much missed, at Longbridge." + +"Yes, we shall miss him, here, very much," replied Miss Wyllys; +"Harry has been with us more than ever, this summer. But, his +brother is not in a state to travel alone, nor fit to take care +of his wife and children, who go with him; and, although the plan +is a sudden one, and interferes with Harry's law-studies, yet his +friends all think a visit to Europe may be a great advantage to +him." + +The ladies agreed that it was a very good arrangement, and some +inquiries were made as to Mr. Robert Hazlehurst's health; and a +discussion of bruises and falls, nerves and dyspepsia, followed. + +Soon after, the quadrille broke up. + +"Well, Miss Jane," cried Mrs. Bernard, as several young people +drew near, "I hear that your sister, Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst, is +going to Europe; if I were you, I would not be left behind." + +"I should like to go very well," said the beauty, in a languid +tone; "but, I shall be at school, in New York, next winter." + +"Oh, that is a pity! I am sure, you could learn all you want to +know, much better, in Paris. Don't you think she ought to go, Mr. +Hazlehurst?" + +"Certainly, ma'am; everybody should go to Paris, if they have a +chance." + +"Miss Jane would be such a charming addition to your party.--Two +young people together, you would enjoy yourselves more, and make +it pleasanter for your friends." + +Young Hazlehurst made a civil bow to the lady; but he looked as +if he had an opinion of his own on the subject, for comical +expression crossed his face at the moment. Jane had turned in +another direction, and was slowly lisping an answer to a very +animated question of Miss Adeline Taylor's. + +"Yes; I was at Mrs. G-----'s school, last year; and, I am going +there again." + +"Well, I positively think I must go there, too, for my last +winter. Mrs. G-----'s school is all the fashion, now. All the +young ladies she turns out, are very lively. Miss Hubbard, the +great belle, was there, you know, before she came out. Don't you +think it would be an excellent plan, Mr. Hazlehurst, for your +cousin and me to be chums? I declare, I wish you were going, too, +Miss Wyllys." + +"Thank you. I have never been to school, in my life; and it is +rather late, to begin now." + +"Never been to school! What dull times you must have had at home! +You don't know what fine fun we have, at school; it is next to +going into company. I wouldn't stay at home, for the world. Why +didn't you go?" + +"Well, I really don't know why. Perhaps, I should have wished to +go, if I had thought it as pleasant as you seem to do, Miss +Taylor." + +"And pray, if I may ask, what made it so very pleasant?" asked +Harry Hazlehurst. "I should like to be initiated into the +delights of a young ladies' boarding-school. Of course, they must +be very different from the rude enjoyments of collegians." + +"Oh! it would take me a year, to tell you all about it." + +"I shall be most happy to listen all the evening. But, let me +find you a chair, before you commence; you must be tired of +standing," said Harry, with a view to taking a seat himself. + +"Me? Oh, no; I never sit down, at a party; I always stand. You +lose half the fun, by sitting down." And, having secured Harry's +attention, the half-fledged belle turned to another youth, within +hailing distance. "Now, what do you think Mr. Hazlehurst has +given me to do, for the next hour, Mr. Van Horne?" + +"I am sure, I don't know. Is it something very difficult? +Listening to his pretty speeches, perhaps," said the other. + +"Oh dear, no! I don't believe Mr. Hazlehurst can make a tender +speech; I don't believe he has got any heart," said Miss Adeline, +looking an attempt at archness. + +"And, pray, what makes you think so, Miss Taylor? Do you judge +from my savage expression?" + +"Well, perhaps, you have one;" said the young lady, looking up +bewitchingly. "I suspect, though, you take very good care of it," + +"But this is not fair; you are abusing me, instead of giving us +the delights of your school, as you promised." + +"Oh, I had forgotten that. But, I should think, you might guess +what fun we have--a set of wild girls together." + +"How should I know anything about it? Pray, be more explicit." + +"Well, in the first place, we make a point of getting up an +excitement, at least once a week." + +"Like our unruly spirits at college, you break the windows, and +roll cannon-balls, I suppose." + +"How you talk! No, indeed. Our last excitement was about the coat +of our Professor of Mathematics. It was such a quizzical cut, we +told Mrs. A., it was morally impossible for us to attend to the +lesson, and study the problems, as long as the man wore it." + +"It was unpardonable, in a professor of mathematics, to wear a +coat that was not cut according to rule." + +"Now wasn't it? Well, you may be sure, we can always pitch upon +something for an excitement, whenever we're in the humour for it. +And then, we have secrets to tell about our beaux--and we quiz +the new scholars--and we eat candy--and we torment Mrs. A-----; +but, I shan't tell you any more, now; for I must go out on the +piazza, and have a walk--it looks so sweet, out there. You shall +have the rest of the story, if you'll come." + +And away tripped the young lady, followed, of course, by the +gentlemen. + +Mr. Taylor, who had been moving about the room, making himself +popular by a very bland smile, and, what he considered very +courtly manners, still had time to keep one eye upon his son, who +after an awkward fashion, seemed devoting himself to one or two +of the ladies, and the other, upon his daughter. "Adeline will +make herself conspicuous," thought the gratified father. + +"Liny seems to enjoy herself," was the observation of her mother, +who had been sitting quietly at her daughter's elbow, listening +to the conversation just related. + +"Two conquests!" thought the young lady herself. + +"A lively girl!" was the opinion of young Van Horne. + +"Fair game!" said Harry to himself. + +While some of the young people were flirting, others dancing, Mr. +Taylor and Mr. Clapp, whose acquaintance had commenced on board a +steamboat that very morning, were walking together up and down +the hall, which they had pretty much to themselves. They touched +on business, which was pronounced very active; and on politics, +which were declared to be particularly dull, just then: Mr. +Clapp, indeed, thought the people much too quiet--shamefully +blind to their own interests, which always demanded what he +called a state of healthful excitement--meaning an unreasonable +excitement upon any subject whatever. There can be no doubt that +Mr. Clapp honestly believed such a state of agitation far more +conducive than quiet to his own interest; for he was quite a +fluent speaker, and very ambitious of a seat in the State +Assembly. He belonged to that school of republicanism, which so +completely identifies the individual with the mass, that it +cannot conceive of any independent opinions, tastes, or +principles; and, very possibly, he persuaded himself the good of +the nation, as well as his personal advantage, required a fresh +brand to be thrown upon the Longbridge council-fire. Having +exchanged opinions with Mr. Clapp upon politics and the market, +Mr. Taylor proceeded to make some observations and inquiries +about the company; he evidently felt some curiosity regarding his +new neighbours, while his companion seemed well disposed to give +him all the information he desired. + +"Mr. Wyllys is a man of large property, I conclude," said the +merchant. + +Mr. Clapp named the number of thousands usually given to their +host; the amount was much lower than Mr. Taylor had supposed. He +had already discovered that Mr. Wyllys was highly respected by +the Longbridge community in general, and he had taken it for +granted that he must be the richest man in the neighbourhood; but +he now found that this was far from being the case. Mr. Wyllys, +though in easy circumstances, could not command half as much +money as several business men about him. + +"THERE is a good fortune for you," said Mr. Clapp; "the lady on +the sofa; her property does not lie here, though. The real estate +is mostly in Carolina and Philadelphia. Did you see the young +gentleman who has just gone out on the piazza with your +daughter--Mr. Hazlehurst? At the demise of the widow, it all goes +to him; but in the mean time he has only two thousand a year--it +will be full twenty, altogether, if well managed," said Mr. +Clapp, running his fingers through the black locks which his wife +thought so handsome. + +{"fortune" = short for a woman of fortune; an heiress} + +"Mrs. Stanley is the old lady's name, is it not? The young +gentleman is her grandson, I conclude." + +"Not at all; only a nephew by marriage," replied the lawyer, +pulling up his collar. "He may feel much obliged to Mr. Stanley +for feathering his nest so well. But Hazlehurst is a very good +fellow; I always liked him from the time he was a little shaver." + +"The testator had no children of his own to inherit, I suppose," +remarked Mr. Taylor. + +"No sir; the only child of the first wife died just before his +father--the lady in the other room had no family. Mr. Stanley had +not a single near relation in the world; he bequeathed fifty +thousand dollars to an Orphan Asylum, and left his widow a +life-estate in one-half the remainder; which, at her death, goes +in a lump, real estate and personals, to young Hazlehurst, who is +the son of an old friend, and a nephew by marriage." + +{"personals" = personal property} + +"Some four hundred thousand dollars, I think you said; that would +make a fine capital for a young man to open business with!" + +"But show me the young man who, with four hundred thousand to +begin with, will not spend it instead of making more! No, sir; +give me a man with small means and a sharp wit for his stock in +trade, rather than a hundred thousand down; ten to one the first +winds up the better man by a good round sum. I should not wonder +at all to find myself a richer man than Harry Hazlehurst by the +time I am fifty." + +"What splendid operations he might engage in, though!" + +"If he wanted to, he could not touch the money now; it is all in +the widow's hands until he is five-and-twenty, excepting the +allowance of two thousand a year which she gives him, now he is +of age." + +After a little more conversation of the same nature--in which the +Van Hornes and the Bernards came in for their share of the +appraisal, Mr. Clapp concluded by the offer of an introduction. + +"Shall I introduce Mrs. Stanley to you? I am very well +acquainted. I was raised in the same part of the country she came +from. She is a very agreeable lady in conversation." + +Mr. Taylor had not the least objection to make the acquaintance +of any human being enjoying an estate of four hundred thousand +dollars. He assented, and following Mr. Clapp into the +drawing-room, the introduction took place without farther +preface. Mrs. Stanley had been conversing with Miss Patsey and +Elinor; she was rather taken by surprise when Mr. Clapp, +advancing before her, said, with a flourish, "Mr. Taylor, Mrs. +Stanley." Both the gentlemen were received by her with as much +quiet coolness as was consistent with civility to her friend's +guests. She had lately been often annoyed by Mr. Clapp's +officious attentions, and was at a loss to account for them, +until she remembered he might be wishing to obtain a share in the +management of her affairs. + +Having succeeded in bringing about the introduction, Mr. Clapp +turned to Elinor. + +"I hear strange stories in Longbridge about you, Miss Wyllys," +said Mr. Clapp. + +There was as yet no individual in the little world known to +Elinor, more trying to her temper than the husband of her friend, +Kate Hubbard. There was a smirking impertinence in Mr. Clapp's +manner, of which it seemed impossible for him to divest himself, +for it was often most conspicuous when he wished to make himself +most agreeable; and no wonder this was the case, for it was a +quality natural to him. The simple feeling of genuine respect and +deference, so grateful to the heart where sincerely felt, was one +he had never had the happiness to know. On the present occasion +Elinor was not a little provoked with him, and something of the +feeling might have been traced in her expression. We have heard +of brilliant black eyes, that never appeared more beautiful than +when flashing with passion. Those of our friend Elinor were small +and grey; indignation, therefore, may not have been so becoming +to them. + +"Scarcely worth remembering, I fancy," she replied; and then made +some observation about Mrs. Hubbard, to turn the conversation. +The raillery and pleasantry of a man with no more tact, or true +delicacy, than William Cassius Clapp, was more than even Elinor's +sweet temper could have borne. + +Mr. Wyllys had taken a seat near Mrs. Taylor. + +"We have not seen all your young people yet, I believe, Mrs. +Taylor." + +"Oh, no, sir--I have six at home, besides the two here. Thomas +and Adeline are my eldest; the rest are hardly old enough to go +out; to parties--though Pompey is nearly fifteen." + +"You must bring Mr. Pompey, too, next time. Your eldest son tells +me he has just left Yale." + +"He graduated last month. I want him to stay at home now until +winter, and then go into business. But his father has taken a +nation of having him go to Europe for six months. Thomas does not +care so much about it; but husband has a great opinion of a +European journey--he talks some of going himself. Some young men +go a whaling to see the world; but Mr. Taylor thinks Thomas had +better have a chance to go to Paris." + +"He will probably find Paris the pleasantest trip of the two," +said Mr. Wyllys, smiling. "Young Hazlehurst is going abroad, too; +he sails next week, with his brother. What is the name of Harry's +packet, Nelly?" asked her grandfather, taking the young girl's +hand affectionately, as she passed. + +Elinor named the vessel; and, from Mrs. Taylor's answer, it +appeared, the young men were to sail in the same ship. + +"I am glad to hear that your grandson is going to France, sir; it +will be more sociable, for Thomas to have somebody he knows, in +Paris." + +"They will probably meet there. Harry is not my grandson, +however." + +"I beg your pardon; but, I understood, that the pretty young +lady, with the white flower in her hair, and the young gentleman +talking to my daughter Adeline, were your grandchildren." + +"Oh, no; Miss Graham is my great-niece; and, as for Harry, if I +remember right, he is no relation at all; though, we call him +cousin. I have a house full of little grandchildren, here, just +now, from Baltimore; but they are too young to be out of the +nursery, at this hour. Does Miss Taylor sing?" + +"No, sir; Adeline performs on the piano; but she has not any +voice for music; which, I am very sorry for, as I like to hear +young people sing." + +"Perhaps, then, you would like to hear my grand-daughter; she +sings me a song every evening, after tea," said Mr. Wyllys, who, +indeed, seemed to think something was wanting to an evening, in +his own house, unless Elinor gave him a little music, of which he +was passionately fond; though, like most American gentlemen, of +his age, he had no knowledge of the art, and no other guide than +a good ear, and good natural taste. Elinor's voice was a full, +sweet contralto, which had been cultivated under the best masters +in Philadelphia; and, as she never attempted what she could not +perform with ease and grace, her music always gave pleasure. One +or two of the other ladies followed her, at the piano--Mary Van +Horne, and a friend who had come with her; but their performance +was very indifferent. It was rarely that one heard anything +approaching to really good amateur music, in this country, +fifteen years ago, at the date of Elinor's seventeenth birthday. + +A light supper, and a Virginia reel, concluded the evening; when +the party broke up. + +"I hope you are jealous, Elinor," said Harry Hazlehurst, as he +returned into the house, after having attended Miss Adeline +Taylor to the carriage. + +"Jealous!--Of what, pray?" + +"Of the heart and affections of your humble servant, to be +sure.--You must have observed the snare that Miss Taylor laid for +them." + +"Nonsense.--Good night!" and Elinor accompanied her aunt and +cousin up stairs. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +"Her playmate from her youth." +ROGERS. + +{Samuel Rogers (English poet, 1763-1855), "Italy: Genevra" line +55} + +ELINOR had been in her room for some minutes, and was standing in +thought, before an open window, when she turned toward a little +table near her, and, opening a Bible, drew from it a letter. She +raised it to her lips, and, moving toward a light unfolded the +sheet. Tears soon blinded her sight; she was much agitated; then, +becoming calmer, she continued to read. It was a letter of some +length, and every line seemed deeply interesting to the reader. +Once she paused, as if struck by some new thought, and then, +again, she read with some anxiety. She had just finished the last +words, when her door opened, and Miss Agnes entered the room. + +"Be calm, my dear child," said her aunt; "it is indeed a precious +letter, and one which we both value highly; your feelings are +only natural, dearest; but do not indulge them to excess." Miss +Wyllys, by her gentle, caressing manner, succeeded in calming +Elinor, when, urging her not to sit up later, she left her niece +for the night. + +When Miss Agnes was gone, Elinor fell on her knees, with the +letter still in her hand. She remained some time, apparently in +prayer, and then rising calmly, she folded the sheet, and laid it +on the Bible; and, before her head touched her pillow, the letter +was again removed, and placed beneath it. + +We have not the slightest wish to beguile the reader into +believing that Elinor had a mysterious lover, or a clandestine +correspondence; and we shall at once mention, that this letter +was one written years previously, by the mother she had lost; and +her good aunt, according to the direction, had placed it in her +niece's hands, on the morning of her seventeenth birthday. + +When Mr. Wyllys went down to breakfast, the next morning, he +inquired if their drunken visiter {sic--the Cooper family's usual +spelling of the word}, of the previous night, had shown himself +again. + +"I have just been out, sir, to look after him," said Harry, "and +the fellow does not seem to have liked his night's lodgings. He +broke jail, and was off before any of the men were up this +morning; they found the door open, and the staple off--he must +have kicked his way out; which could easily he done, as the lock +was old." + +Elinor suggested that it was, perhaps, some one who was ashamed +of the situation in which he had been found. + +"More probably he was too much accustomed to a lock-up house, to +find it pleasant. But if he really had any business here, we +shall hear of him again, no doubt," said Mr. Wyllys. The affair +thus disposed of, the conversation took another turn. + +Mr. Wyllys, Elinor's grandfather, was decidedly a clever man. He +had held a high position, in his profession, until he withdrew +from it, and had, at one time, honourably distinguished himself +as a politician. He was well educated, and well read; his +library, at Wyllys-Roof, was, indeed, one of the best in the +country. Moreover, Mr. Wyllys was a philosopher, a member of the +Philosophical Society of Philadelphia; and the papers he read, +before that honourable association, were generally much admired +by his audience. It is even probable that Mr. Wyllys believed +himself endowed with a good stock of observation and experience +in human nature; but, in spite of all these advantages, we cannot +help thinking that, although well-versed in natural philosophy, +this excellent gentleman proved himself quite ignorant of boy and +girl nature. Even his daughter, Miss Agnes, feared her father had +been unwise and imprudent on an occasion which she considered of +great importance. + +A great deal might be said in favour of Harry Hazlehurst. Few +young men, of his age, were more promising in character and +abilities. He was clever, and good-tempered; and, with all the +temptations of an easy fortune within his reach, he had always +shown himself firm in principles. There was one trait in his +character, however, which had already more than once brought him +into boyish scrapes, and which threatened, if not corrected, to +be injurious to his career through life. He was naturally +high-spirited; and, having been indulged by his mother, and +seldom controlled by his male guardian, a brother some ten years +older than himself, Harry was rather disposed to be self-willed, +and cherished some false notions regarding independence of +character. His friends hoped, however, that as he grew older, he +would become wiser. Something of this feeling had been mixed up +with the motives which had lately led him to take a decided step +for the future. + +>From a boy, Harry had been more or less the companion and +play-fellow of Elinor Wyllys and Jane Graham, whom he looked upon +as cousins, owing to a near family connexion. He had always felt +very differently, however, towards the two girls. Jane, a little +beauty from her birth, had been an indolent and peevish child, +often annoying Harry by selfish interference with their plans and +amusements. Elinor, on the contrary, had always been a favourite +playmate. She was an intelligent, generous child, of an +uncommonly fine temper and happy disposition. As for her plain +face, the boy seldom remembered it. They were both gay, clever +children, who suited each other remarkably well, in all their +little ways and fancies. Now, within the last year, it had struck +Harry that his brother Robert and his sister-in-law, Mrs. +Hazlehurst, were very desirous of making a match between Jane +Graham and himself. He had overheard some trifling remark on the +subject, and had suffered an afternoon's very stupid teasing and +joking, about Jane, from a talkative old bachelor relation. This +was quite sufficient to rouse the spirit of independence, in a +youth of his years and disposition. When, at length, he heard a +proposition that Jane should accompany them abroad, he went so +far as to look upon it as something very like manoeuvring {sic}. +HE was not a man to be led by others, in the choice of a wife. +Jane might be a beauty--no doubt she was--but he had no such +extravagant admiration for mere beauty. There was Elinor, for +instance; she was a very different girl, though without any +beauty; she was just the kind of person he liked. She was so +warm-hearted and generous in her feelings--without a bit of +nonsense; she was so clever--could catch a thought in a moment, +and always understood and enjoyed a good thing. Then her manners, +too, were charming, so simple and natural; while Jane had no +manners at all. Then, everybody said she was remarkably graceful, +in a perfectly natural way;--how well she rode! Jane was even +afraid to mount. And how pleasantly Elinor sang--and he was so +fond of music. Jane would do very well to sit and look at all day +long; but, for walking, talking, riding, singing--ay, for +thinking and feeling, Elinor would make precisely such a +companion as a man of sense would wish for. By dint of dwelling +on Elinor's good qualities, and on what he fancied the plans of +his brother and sister-in-law, he came to the conclusion that the +only thing to be done, under the circumstances, by a man of any +character--by a man who had an opinion of his own, was to go +immediately to Mr. Wyllys, and request his permission to address +Elinor. + +Harry was a great favourite with his uncle--from a child the +young man had always given this title to Mr. Wyllys--and he had +more than once expressed to his daughter, a wish that Hazlehurst +and Elinor might, some years thence, take a fancy for each other. +In the mean time he seemed to look upon them as children, and +left matters to take care of themselves. Harry's proposal was, +therefore, quite unexpected at the moment, and took him by +surprise; he seemed to think Hazlehurst decidedly too young, at +present--he had not yet acquired his profession. This little +difficulty in the opening of the affair, merely served to rouse +Harry's eloquence; and as his youth was really the only objection +against him, he succeeded, before long, in obtaining Mr. Wyllys's +cheerful consent to his endeavouring, during the next two months, +to interest Elinor in his behalf. + +Miss Agnes, when informed of what had passed, was quite startled; +she thought both parties too young to take so decided a step. But +her father had given his formal consent, and she could not +seriously oppose it; especially when she remembered that she, +also, had more than once indulged the idea that some five or six +years later, Harry would make a very good husband for her adopted +daughter. + +No one in the family was more surprised at Harry's advances than +Elinor herself. They had been so much together, ever since she +could remember, and had always been such good friends, in an +open, brother-and-sisterly way, that even in the last year or +two, when indistinct ideas of love and matrimony had +occasionally, like distant events, cast their shadows before, +Harry had never once presented himself to her fancy in the light +of a suitor. It required a day or two for her to comprehend the +full meaning of Harry's proceedings; she could say neither yes, +nor no. This hesitation, very much increased Hazlehurst's +perseverance; but her aunt, who looked on anxiously, had +stipulated that nothing decided should be required of her, until +Harry left them. + +In the mean time, a day or two had been sufficient for Mr. Wyllys +to become not only reconciled to the idea, but so well pleased +with the appearance of things, that he amused himself with +looking on at Harry in his new character of a lover; and +generally once a day, had some little joke at the expense of +Elinor's embarrassment. But now, the two months had passed; Harry +was to sail the next week for France--and Elinor, the morning +after her birth-day, was to give a decided answer. + +It was no longer very difficult to foresee that this answer would +be favourable. In fact, Harry, who was thoroughly gentlemanly by +nature and habit, had made his attentions just what they ought to +have been under the circumstances; and, with the full approbation +of her own friends, and all Harry's good qualities appearing in +their best light, the two months had proved sufficient to direct +Elinor's childish affection for him into another and a deeper +channel. The letter she had received on the night of her +birth-day, caused a moment's indecision when, the next morning, +after breakfast, as Mrs. Stanley and Mrs. George Wyllys left the +room, her grandfather playfully asked her "what they should do +with Harry?" + +But she scarcely knew in what shape to express the thought that +arose in her mind, and the feeling merely gave an additional +touch of embarrassment to her manner, which was only looked upon +as quite natural at the moment. + +"I shall think myself very badly treated, Elinor," said Harry, +observing her hesitation, "if you turn me off like a common +acquaintance, after we have been the best friends in the world +for nobody knows how long." + +"Well, Nelly," said her grandfather, "what is it, my child? Shall +we tell Harry to go to Paris and cultivate his moustaches, and +forget everything else?" + +"Oh, no;" said Elinor, smiling as she held out her hand to +Hazlehurst, though without looking up: "pray, don't come back a +dandy!" + +The affair was settled. The young people parted with the +understanding that when Hazlehurst returned from Europe, and had +acquired his profession, they were to be married; and Harry went +to Philadelphia, to join his brother, and make the last +arrangements for their voyage. + +Jane, too, left Elinor a few days later; and Miss Wyllys, who had +charge of her--as Mr. and Mrs. Graham lived in Charleston--placed +her at one of the fashionable boarding schools of New York. Miss +Adeline Taylor had, in the mean time, informed her parents that +she had changed her mind as to the school which was to have the +honour of completing her education: she should NOT return to Mrs. +A-----'s, but go to Mrs. G-----'s, which was a more fashionable +establishment. Not that she had anything to complain of at Mrs. +A-----'s; but she thought the young ladies at Mrs. G-----'s +dressed more elegantly, and besides, she felt the impossibility +of remaining separated from Jane Graham, her new bosom friend. +These two young ladies had met twice previously to the evening +they had passed together at Wyllys-Roof; Adeline had upon one +occasion been in the same boat with Jane, going and coming, +between New York and Longbridge, and she had already done all in +her power towards getting up a desperate intimacy. Her mother, as +a matter of course, did not interfere with the young lady's +preference for Mrs. G-----'s school--why should she? It was +Adeline's affair; she belonged to the submissive class of +American parents, who think it an act of cruelty to influence or +control their children, even long before they have arrived at +years of discretion. As for Mr. Taylor, he had discovered that +the daughters of several fashionable families were at Mrs. +G-----'s, and was perfectly satisfied with the change; all he had +to do was, to make out the cheques in one name instead of +another. Adeline managed the whole affair herself; and having at +last been to a young party, for which she had been waiting, and +having satisfied some lingering scruples as to the colours of the +silk dresses which composed the winter uniform of the school, and +which she at first thought frightfully unbecoming to her +particular style of beauty, Miss Taylor one morning presented +herself at Mrs. G-----'s door, and was regularly admitted as one +of the young band in fashionable training under that lady's roof. +Jane, it is true, did not show quite as much rapture at the +meeting as Adeline could have wished; but, then, Miss Taylor had +already discovered that this last bosom-friend was of a calmer +disposition than the dozen who had preceded her. + +Harry had not been a day in Philadelphia, before he announced to +his brother, his engagement with Elinor; for he was much too +frank by nature to have any taste for unnecessary mystery. + +"I have a piece of news for you, Robert," he said, as he entered +the drawing-room before dinner, and found his brother lying on a +sofa. + +"Good news, I hope," replied Mr. Robert Hazlehurst. + +"May I not have my share of it?" asked Mrs. Hazlehurst, whom +Harry had not observed. + +"Certainly; it is a piece of good fortune to your humble servant, +in which I hope you will both be interested." + +"Why, really, Harry," said his sister-in-law, "there is a touch +of importance, with a dash of self-complacency and mystery in +your expression, that look a little lover-like. Have you come to +announce that you are determined to offer yourself to some belle +or other before we sail?" + +"The deed is already done," said Harry, colouring a little; as +much, perhaps, from a mischievous satisfaction in the +disappointment he foresaw, as from any other feeling. + +"No!" said his brother, turning towards him with some anxiety. +"Offered yourself--and accepted, then; or, of course, you would +not mention it." + +"Pray, tell us, Harry, who is to be our new sister," said Mrs. +Hazlehurst, kindly, and with some interest. + +"I have half a mind to tease you," he replied, smiling. + +"I never should guess," said Mrs. Hazlehurst. "I had no idea you +were attached to any one--had you, Robert?" + +"Not I! It must be somebody at Longbridge--he has been there more +than half his time lately. Come, tell us, Harry, like a man; who +is it?" asked Robert Hazlehurst, naturally feeling interested in +his younger brother's choice. + +"No one precisely at Longbridge," said Harry, smiling. + +"Who can it be?--And actually engaged?" added Mrs. Hazlehurst, +who saw that Harry would not explain himself without being +questioned. + +"Engaged, very decidedly, and positively, I am happy to say. Is +there anything so very wonderful in my having declared an +attachment to Elinor; I am sure I have liked her better than any +one else all my life." + +"Engaged to Elinor!" exclaimed Robert Hazlehurst, much relieved. +"I am delighted to hear it. It is a wiser step than one would +always expect from a young gentleman of your years." + +"Engaged to Elinor! I wish you joy with all my heart," repeated +his sister-in-law. "It had not occurred to me to think of any one +so near and dear to us already; you could not have done better, +Harry," she added, with a perfectly frank, open smile. + +To tell the truth, Hazlehurst was not a little surprised, and +rather mortified by this decided approbation--since it proved he +had been unjust, and that he had deceived himself as to what he +had supposed the wishes of his brother, and the plans of his +sister-in-law. He did not, however, for an instant, regret the +step he had taken; his regard for Elinor was too sincere to allow +of any other feeling than that of satisfaction, in remembering +their engagement. But it had now become a matter of indifference +whether Jane were to join the European party or not. + +On the appointed day, the Hazlehursts sailed. They went abroad +with more advantages than many others, for they carried with them +good sense, good principles, and a good education, and were well +prepared to enjoy the wide field of observation that lay before +them. There was every reason to hope, from the encouraging +opinions of his physicians, that Mr. Robert Hazlehurst's health +would be entirely restored by travelling; his wife looked forward +to the excursion with much pleasure, and Harry was delighted with +the plan. They had an old family friend in Paris, an excellent +woman, who was in every way qualified to redeem the promises she +had given, of soon making them feel at home in France. Madame de +Bessieres was the widow of a distinguished emigre, and had passed +a long exile with her husband in America. They had been for years +near neighbours of Mr. Wyllys, and this gentleman had had it in +his power, at different times, to render services of some +importance to his French friends. Madame de Bessieres and her +family were grateful for these acts of kindness: she had known +the young people at Wyllys-Roof, and felt an interest in them +all; for their own sakes, as well as from a sincere respect and +regard for Mr. Wyllys and his daughter, this lady was anxious to +show the Hazlehursts every friendly attention in her power. Under +these agreeable auspices, the party left home, expecting to be +absent for a couple of years. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +"Farewell, my lord! Good wishes, praise, and prayers, +Shall Suffolk ever have of Margaret." +Henry VI. + +{William Shakespeare, "1 Henry VI", V.iii.173-174} + +THE arrival of letters from Harry, often accompanied by something +pretty or useful, as a souvenir for herself, were the principal +events of the next winter, to Elinor. Several months of the cold +weather were passed, as usual, by Mr. Wyllys and his family, in +Philadelphia; and Miss Agnes thought it time that her niece +should make her appearance in society. But Elinor found less +pleasure, than most girls, in the gay world. She was seldom +appreciated, in mixed company; she was too young, at that time, +and too modest, for her intelligence to be generally known or +cared for; while her personal appearance exposed her to be +entirely overlooked and neglected by strangers; it had indeed +occasionally been the cause of mortifications, more deeply felt +by Miss Agnes, than by Elinor herself. People talk so lightly, in +what is called general society; heartless remarks are uttered +with so much careless indifference on all sides, that it was not +surprising some unkind observations should have reached her ear. +It was not until the season that she had been introduced into a +larger circle, that Elinor became better aware of her +disadvantages in this respect. She had been so tenderly loved and +watched over by her grandfather and aunt; she was so generally +liked by those who had been hitherto her companions, that she had +not been aware of all the consequences of her position. She knew +that her appearance was not attractive, while her young friends +were more or less pretty; still, she had thought but little on +the subject, until her introduction into a larger circle led her +to remark the great importance which the world attaches to mere +beauty, in women, at least. But, with this reflection, came also +the gratifying recollection of Harry's regard for her; and it +served indeed to increase very much her attachment to him, by +giving it an additional feeling of gratitude. + +Harry's letters were kind and affectionate, and Elinor thought +them very amusing. It was impossible that an intelligent, +well-educated young man, suddenly transported from the New, to +the Old World, should not find a great deal to say; and Harry +told his adventures very agreeably. His letters to Elinor were +almost as straight-forward and matter-of-fact, as they might have +been if she had already become his wife. His brother's health was +improving; so much so, that they were talking of leaving Mrs. +Hazlehurst, and her children, in Paris, while Harry and the +invalid made a six weeks' excursion to England. Madame de +Bessieres had been all kindness, and they were delighted with the +society they met at her house. "Madame de Bessieres remembers you +perfectly," said Harry, in one of his letters, "and as she is +sure, under Aunt Agnes' care, you must have grown up with all the +good and agreeable qualities that she loved you for when a child, +she agrees with your humble servant, in thinking him a very lucky +fellow, and very prudent, in having secured you before he left +home. She is really a most excellent and charming woman, as kind +as possible to Louisa. Her American friends have every reason to +be satisfied with her recollections of them, especially Mr. +Wyllys and Aunt Agnes, whom she evidently appreciates. Her +nephew, young de Guivres, and I, are very good friends already, +and often take a gallop together in the Bois de Boulogne. It is a +settled thing, Elinor, dear, that I am to bring you to France, +one of these days; that is to say, if you have no objections; +which, of course, you will not have. Tom Taylor is here still, +and his progressive steps in civilization are quite amusing, to a +looker-on; every time I see him, I am struck with some new +change--some fresh growth in elegance. I was going to say, that +he will turn out a regular dandy; but he would have to go to +London for that; he will prove rather a sort of second-rate +petit-maitre a la Parisienne; which is entirely a different +creature. It would do your heart good to see Robert; he eats like +a ploughman, if ploughmen ever devour poulets a la Marengo, or +ortolans a la Provencale. I wish I could give as good an account +of Creighton, who arrived in the last packet; poor fellow, he has +not revived at all, and, I fear, will never be better. His wife +is with him; as pretty and agreeable as ever. I hope Bruno +behaves well, and remembers that it is now his chief duty to +devote himself to your service." + +{"petit-maitre a la Parisienne" = a ridiculously pretentious +dandy, Parisian-style; "poulets a la Marengo" = chicken Marengo, +a recipe supposedly invented by Napoleon's chef after the Battle +of Marengo in 1800; "ortolans a la Provencale" = ortolans (a +variety of bunting) in the style of southern France (Provence) +(French)} + +This was the last letter Elinor received in Philadelphia, for +early in the spring the family returned to the country. She was +never happier than at Wyllys-Roof, and resumed with delight +occupations and amusements, which would have appeared very +insipid to many elegant belles whom she left behind her--since +the mornings were to be passed without visiting or shopping, the +evenings without parties or flirtations. In a quiet country +house, with no other young person in the family, there was of +course, at Wyllys-Roof, very little excitement--that necessary +ingredient of life to many people; and yet, Elinor had never +passed a tedious day there. On the longest summer morning, or +winter evening, she always found enough to occupy her time and +attention. + +To her, Wyllys-Roof was home; and that is a word of a broader and +more varied meaning in the country than in a town. The cares, the +sympathies of a country home, embrace a wide circle, and bring +with them pleasures of their own. People know enough of all their +neighbours, to take part in any interesting event that may befall +them; we are sorry to hear that A., the shoemaker, is going to +move away; we are glad to find that B., the butcher, has made +money enough to build a new house. One has some acquaintance with +everybody, from the clergyman to the loafer; few are the faces +that one does not know. Even the four-footed animals of the +neighbourhood are not strangers: this is the Doctor's +Newfoundland dog; that is some old lady's tortoise-shell cat. One +knows the horses, as well as the little urchins who ride them to +water; the cows, and those who milk them. And then, country-folks +are nature's freeholders; they enjoy a full portion of the earth, +the air, the sky, with the thousand charms an ever-merciful +Creator has lavished on them. Every inanimate object--this hill, +that wood, the brook, the bridge, C.'s farm-house, and D.'s +barn--to the very highway, as far as eye can reach, all form +pleasing parts of a country home. In a city, on the contrary, we +live surrounded by strangers. Home is entirely restricted to our +own fire-side. One knows a neighbour's card, perhaps, but not his +face. There may have been a funeral or a wedding next-door, and +we learn it only from the morning paper. Then, even if a fixture +oneself, how is it possible for human sensibilities to cling very +closely to the row of brick houses opposite, which are +predestined to be burned or pulled down in a few years? Nor can +one be supposed to look with much pleasure at the omnibus horses, +or half-starved pigs that may belong to one's street. No doubt, +that with hearts warm and true, we may have a FIRESIDE in town; +but HOME with its thousand pleasant accessories--HOME, in its +fullest meaning, belongs especially to the country. + +Elinor was a country girl, born and bred. Though banished from +Chesnut {sic} Street, she would have been well satisfied with the +usual occupations of a country life, varied only by quiet walks +with her aunt, rides with her grandfather, chatty meetings with a +few young companions, or long visits from old friends, whose +names and faces had been familiar to her all her life. The first +few weeks after her return to Wyllys-Roof, she had, of course, +more than usual to see and hear. Elinor had been absent from home +but a few months; yet, even in that short space, she found +changes had occurred in the neighbourhood--varied, as usual--some +of a sad, some of a pleasant nature. Miss Agnes and her niece +found one place vacant among those whom they were in the habit of +seeing often; the father of a family who lived within sight of +their own windows, had died suddenly, and left a widow and +children to struggle with the world: but they were neither +friendless nor repining, and submitted with humble resignation to +their severe affliction, prepared to meet with faith and hope the +additional cares and toils allotted to them. One of Elinor's +young friends, too, was lying on a sick-bed at Longbridge--a +beautiful girl of her own age wasted by consumption; but she was +calm and peaceful, though without hope this side the grave. We +shall scarcely forgive ourselves for making even a distant +allusion to one portion of Elinor's pleasures and labours, +although more especially connected with home; since none could +perform their religious duties with less ostentation, with more +single-hearted sincerity--none could more carefully follow the +precept, to "give with simplicity," than Miss Wyllys, and the +niece she had educated. + +{"Chesnut Street" = Chestnut Street, a fashionable street in +Philadelphia} + +Of course, the ladies had immediately resumed their intercourse +with their old friends; and they had many neighbourly visits to +pay. Not your formal, fashionable morning calls, lasting just +three minutes, when you are so unfortunate as to find at home the +individual you are paying off; no, indeed; good, honest visits of +nearly an hour's length, giving time to exchange many kindly +inquiries as to the health of all the members of the family, the +condition of the garden, and promises of the crops; and even +occasionally allowing Mr. Wyllys to take a look at some addition +to the live-stock, in the shape of calves, colts, or pigs. Then, +Mrs. Bernard had just moved into a new house, whose comforts and +conveniences must certainly be shown by herself, and appreciated +by her friends. Then, Elinor had to kiss, and make acquaintance +with several tiny pieces of humanity, in white frocks and lace +caps--little creatures born during the past winter; of course, +the finest babies one could wish to see, and the delight of their +parents' hearts. Then, Alida Van Horne was going to be married; +as Elinor was to be her bridesmaid, a great deal of talking and +consulting took place on the occasion, as matter of course. But, +although her time was fully occupied in many different ways, no +day was too pleasant or too busy for more than one thought to be +given to Harry Hazlehurst. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +"Anch' io son pittore!" +CORREGGIO. + +{"Anch' io son pittore" = "I too, am a painter!" (Italian). +Antonio Allegri da Correggio (Italian painter, 1494-1534), +exclamation on viewing Raphael's "St. Cecilia" at Bologna (1525)} + +THERE was one subject, in which the family at Wyllys-Roof felt +particularly interested just then, and that was, Charlie +Hubbard's picture. This piece was to decide finally the question, +whether Charlie should be an artist, or a merchant's clerk; a +question which he himself considered all important, and which +caused much anxiety to his friends. + +The house in which the Hubbards lived was a grey, wooden cottage, +of the smallest size; curious gossips had, indeed, often wondered +how it had ever been made to contain a large family; but some +houses, like certain purses, possess capabilities of expansion, +quite independent of their apparent size, and connected by +mysterious sympathies with the heads and hearts of their owners. +This cottage belonged to the most ancient and primitive style of +American architecture; what may be called the comfortable, common +sense order--far superior, one might suppose to either Corinthian +or Composite, for a farm-house. The roof was low, and unequally +divided, stretching, on one side, with a long, curving slope, +over the southern front; which was scarce seven feet high: +towards the road the building was a little more elevated, for a +dormer-window gave it the dignity of a story and a half. Not only +the roof, but the walls--we have classical authority for wooden +walls--were covered with rounded shingles, long since grey, and +in spots, moss-grown. Twice the cottage had escaped a more +brilliant exterior; upon one occasion it had been inhabited by an +ambitious family, who talked of a coat of red paint; fortunately, +they moved away, before concluding a bargain with the painter. +Again, when the Hubbards took possession of the 'old grey house,' +a committee of ladies actually drove over from Longbridge, with +the intention of having it whitewashed; but, the experienced old +negro engaged to clean generally, gave it as his opinion, that +the shingles were not worth the compliment. The windows were very +small; more than half the glass was of the old, blue bull's-eye +pattern, no longer to be found at modern glaziers, and each heavy +window-shutter had a half-moon cut in its upper panel, to let in +the daylight. When we add, that there was a low porch before the +door, with a sweet-briar on one side, and a snowball on the +other, the reader will have a correct idea of the house inhabited +by our friends, the Hubbards. + +{"Corinthian or Composite" = two of the classical orders of +architecture, based on the style of column used. The "Composite +order," however, was something of a Cooper family joke, first +used by James Fenimore Cooper in "The Pioneers" (1823) to +describe a pretentious building of no particular style at all. +The Coopers, father and daughter, were contemptuous of buildings +that pretended to be Greek temples} + +The cottage stood within a little door-yard, near the gate which +opened on the lawn of Wyllys-Roof; and, immediately opposite the +place recently purchased by Mr. Taylor. Here the family had lived +for the last twelve years; and, from that time, Miss Patsey had +been obliged to struggle against poverty, with a large family of +younger brothers and sisters, dependent, in a great measure, upon +her prudence and exertions. + +Mr. Hubbard, the father, a respectable Presbyterian minister, had +been, for half his life, in charge of a congregation in +Connecticut, where, by-the-bye, Mr. Pompey Taylor, at that time a +poor clerk, had been an unsuccessful suitor for Patsey's hand. +After a while, the family had removed to Longbridge, where they +had lived very comfortably and usefully, until, at length, the +minister died, leaving his widow and seven children entirely +unprovided for. Happily, they possessed warm friends and kind +relatives. The old grey house, with a garden and a little meadow +adjoining, was purchased for his brother's family by Mr. Joseph +Hubbard, known to the young people as Uncle Josie: he was a +merchant, in easy circumstances, and cheerfully gave the thousand +dollars required. The cottage was furnished by the minister's +congregation. Many useful presents were made, and many small +debts forgiven by kind neighbours. With this humble outfit the +family commenced their new career. Mrs. Hubbard, the second wife, +and mother of the three younger children, had lost the use of one +hand, by an attack of paralysis. She had always been a woman of +very feeble character; and although treated with unvarying +kindness and respect by her step-children, could do little +towards the government or assistance of the family. It was Patsey +who toiled, and managed, and thought for them all. With the aid +of two younger sisters, mere children, at first, and an old black +woman, who came once a week to wash, all the work was done by +herself, including baking, ironing, cooking, cleaning, &c.; and +yet Patsey found time to give up four hours a day to teaching a +class of some dozen children, belonging to several neighbouring +families. This school furnished the only money that passed +through her hands, and contributed the only regular means of +support to the family. They received, however, much kind +assistance, in many different ways; indeed, otherwise, it would +have been scarcely possible to keep a fireside of their own. +There had been, in all, nine children; but the eldest son, a +missionary, died before his father; the second had already gone +to Kentucky, to seek his fortunes as a physician; he had married +young, and, with children of his own to support, it seemed but +little he could do for his step-mother; he sent for a younger +brother, however, engaging to provide for him entirely. Another +son was educated by his rich Longbridge relative, kind Uncle +Josie; another uncle, a poor old bachelor, known to the +neighbourhood as Uncle Dozie, from a constant habit of napping, +did his utmost, in paying the school-bills of his niece +Catherine. In the course of a few years, Uncle Josie's protege +became an assistant in the school where he had been educated; +Kate Hubbard, Uncle Dozie's favourite, married a quick-witted, +but poor, young lawyer, already introduced to the reader, by the +name of Clapp. + +Still, there remained in the family two younger daughters, and +Charlie, besides Miss Patsey and Mrs. Hubbard. By the exertions +and guidance of Patsey, the assistance of friends, and their own +good conduct, the young people, in due time, were all growing up, +endowed with good principles, good educations, and with +respectable prospects opening before them. At the period of our +narrative, the third daughter hoped shortly to become an +under-governess in the school where she had been educated; and +Mary, the youngest of the family, had such a decided taste for +music, that it was thought she would have no difficulty in +supporting herself, by giving lessons, in the course of two or +three years. Of all the family, Charlie was the one that caused +his friends the most anxiety. He was a fine, spirited, +intelligent boy; and Uncle Josie had promised to procure a +situation for him, with his son-in-law, a commission-merchant and +auctioneer, in New York. This plan was very pleasing to Mrs. +Hubbard and Miss Patsey; but, unfortunately, Charlie seemed to +have no taste for making money, and a fondness for pictures and +pencils, that amounted almost to a passion. Here was an +unexpected obstacle; Charlie was the pet and spoiled child of the +family. All the rest of the young people had been quite satisfied +with the different means of support that had offered for each; +and they had followed their respective careers with so much quiet +good sense, that Charlie's remonstrances against the +counting-house, and his strong fancy for an artist's life, was +something quite new, and which Miss Patsey scarcely knew how to +answer. There was nothing in the least poetical or romantic about +Patsey Hubbard, who was all honest kindness and straight-forward +common sense. She had no feeling whatever for the fine arts; +never read a work of imagination; scarcely knew one tune from +another; and had never looked with pleasure at any picture, but +one, a portrait of her own respected father, which still occupied +the place of honour in their little parlour, nearly covering one +side of the wall. This painting, to speak frankly, was anything +but a valuable work of art, or a good likeness of the worthy +minister. The face was flat and unmeaning, entirely devoid of +expression or relief; the body was stiff and hard, like +sheet-iron, having, also, much the color of that material, so far +as it was covered by the black ministerial coat. One arm was +stretched across a table, conspicuous from a carrot-coloured +cloth, and the hand was extended over a pile of folios; but it +looked quite unequal to the task of opening them. The other arm +was disposed of in some manner satisfactory to the artist, no +doubt, but by no means easy for the spectator to discover, since +the brick-coloured drapery which formed the back-ground to the +whole, certainly encroached on the side where nature had placed +it. Such as it was, however, Miss Patsey admired this painting +more than any she had ever seen, and its gilt frame was always +carefully covered with green gauze, no longer necessary to +preserve the gilding, but rather to conceal its blackened lustre; +but Charlie's sister belonged to that class of amateurs who +consider the frame as an integral part of the work of art. It +was, perhaps, the most promising fact regarding any future hopes +of young Hubbard's, as an artist, that this same portrait was far +from satisfying his taste, uncultivated as it was. Charlie was, +for a long time, so much ashamed of his passion for drawing, that +he carefully concealed the little bits of paper on which he made +his sketches, as well as the few old, coarse engravings he had +picked up to copy. But, one day, Miss Patsey accidentally +discovered these treasures between the leaves of a number of the +Longbridge Freeman, carefully stowed away in an old chest of +drawers in the little garret-room where Charlie slept. She found +there a head of Washington; one of Dr. Blair; a view of Boston; +and an old French print called L'Ete, representing a shepherdess +making hay in high-heeled shoes and a hoop; there were copies of +these on bits of paper of all sizes, done with the pen or +lead-pencil; and lastly, a number of odd-looking sketches of +Charlie's own invention. The sight of these labours of art, was +far from giving Miss Patsey pleasure, although it accounted for +the surprising disappearance of her writing-paper, and the +extraordinary clipping, she had remarked, of late, on all notes +and letters that were left lying about, from which every scrap of +white paper was sure to be cut off. She spoke to Charlie on the +subject, and, of course, he had to confess. But he did not +reform; on the contrary, matters soon grew worse, for he began to +neglect his studies. It happened that he passed the whole summer +at home, as the school where his brother had been assistant, and +he himself a pupil, was broken up. At last, Miss Patsey talked to +him so seriously, about wasting time on trifles, that Charlie, +who was a sensible, warm-hearted boy, and well aware of the +exertions his sister had made for him, promised amendment, and +actually burnt all his own sketches, though the precious +engravings were still preserved. This improvement only lasted a +while, however, when he again took to drawing. This time he +resolutely respected Miss Patsey's paper, but that only made +matters worse, for he became more ambitious; he began to sketch +from nature; and, having a special fancy for landscape, he used +to carry his slate and arithmetic into the fields; and, instead +of becoming more expert in compound interest, he would sit for +hours composing pictures, and attempting every possible variety +in the views of the same little mill-pond, within a short +distance of the house. He soon became quite expert in the +management of his slate and pencil, and showed a good deal of +ingenuity in rubbing in and out the white shading on the black +ground, something in the manner of a stump-drawing; but, of +course, these sketches all disappeared before Charlie went to +take his regular lesson in book-keeping, from the neighbour who +had promised to keep him in practice until the winter, when he +was to enter the counting-house. + +{"Dr. Blair" = possibly Robert Blair (Scottish poet, 1699-1747), +author of "The Grave"; or James Blair (1656-1743), founder of the +College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. "L'Ete" = +summertime (French); "stump drawing" = probably from "stump", a +pencil-like drawing implement of rolled paper or of rubber, used +to smooth or rub in dark lines} + +At last, however, Charlie determined to have an explanation with +his mother and sister; he made a clean breast as to the misdoings +on the slate, and boldly coming to the point, suggested the +possibility of his being able to support himself, one day, as an +artist, instead of a commission merchant. Poor Miss Patsey, this +was a sad blow to her! It had been her cherished ambition to see +Charlie an upright, prosperous merchant; and now that his +prospects were brightening, and a situation was provided for him, +that he should be only a painter! She had a very low opinion of +artists, as a class, and she would almost as soon have expected +Charlie to become a play-actor, or a circus-rider. When the boy +found that both Uncle Josie and Uncle Dozie thought his idea a +very foolish one, that Miss Patsey was very much distressed, and +Mrs. Hubbard could not be made to comprehend the difference +between an artist and a house-painter, he again abandoned his own +cherished plans, and resumed his commercial studies. +Unfortunately, one day, Elinor was choosing a book as a present +for her old play-fellow, at a bookstore in Philadelphia, when she +laid her hand on the Lives of the Painters. These volumes finally +upset Charlie's philosophy; he immediately set to work to +convince Miss Patsey and Uncle Josie, by extracts from the +different lives, that it was very possible to be a good and +respectable man, and not only support himself, but make a +fortune, as an artist. Of course, he took care to skip over all +unpleasant points, and bad examples; but when he came to anything +creditable, he made a note of it--and, one day, pursued Miss +Patsey into the cellar, to read to her the fact that Reubens had +been an ambassador. + +{"Reubens" = Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), famous Flemish +painter, who served as a diplomat in Spain from 1626-30} + +Miss Patsey confided her anxieties to Mr. Wyllys, who was already +aware of Charlie's propensities, and, indeed, thought them +promising. He advised Mrs. Hubbard and Patsey, not to oppose the +boy's wishes so strongly, but to give him an opportunity of +trying what he really could do; and as the expense was a very +important consideration with the Hubbards, he made Charlie a +present of a palette and colours, and kindly took him, one day, +to Philadelphia, to see Mr. S-----, who gave him some advice as +to the way in which he should go to work. This assistance Charlie +received, upon condition that he should also, at the same time, +continue his other studies; and in case any two artists that his +friend might consult, should declare, on seeing his work, that he +did not show talent enough to promise reasonable success, he was, +from that time, to devote himself to business. For a while, +Charlie was a great deal happier than a king. He immediately +began a view of his beloved little mill-pond, and then attempted +one of a small sheet of water in the neighbourhood, called +Chewattan Lake. These, after having been touched and re-touched, +he carried, with a portfolio of drawings, to New York, and with a +fluttering heart and trembling hands laid them before two +distinguished artists, Mr. C----- and Mr. I-----, to whom Mr. +Wyllys had given him letters. The decision of these gentlemen was +not discouraging, upon the whole; but they found that he had set +out wrong in the arrangement of his colours, and having corrected +the mistake, they proposed his painting another piece in oils, to +determine whether the faults in the first were the result of +ignorance, or of a false eye for colour; for on this point his +judges disagreed. It must be confessed that Charlie's clouds +might give some idea of such vapours as they may exist in the +moon; but certainly the tints the youth had given them were very +remarkable for an earthly atmosphere. + +It was upon this last picture--another view of Chewattan +Lake--that Charles was engaged, heart and soul, when the Wyllyses +returned home. One afternoon, Mr. Wyllys proposed to Miss Agnes +and Elinor, to walk over and call upon Miss Patsey, and see what +their young friend had done. + +"Here we are, Charlie, my lad; you promised us a look at your +work this week, you know;" said Mr. Wyllys, as he walked into the +neat little door-yard before the Hubbards' house, accompanied by +the ladies. + +Charlie was at work in the vegetable garden adjoining the +door-yard, weeding the radishes. + +"Everything looks in very good order here, Charles," observed +Miss Wyllys. "You have not given up the garden, I see, although +you have so much to do now." + +"Your beds and your flowers look as neat as possible," said +Elinor; "just as usual. You don't seem to have gone far enough in +your career to have learned that, un beau desordre is the effect +of art," she added, smiling. + +{"un beau desordre" = a pleasing lack of order (French)} + +"No, indeed; it is to be hoped I never shall, for that would +throw my mother and sister into despair, at once!" + +Miss Patsey, who had heard the voices of the party, now came from +the little kitchen, where she had been baking, to receive her +friends. + +"Elinor has just remarked that things do not look as if you had +an artist in the house; everything is neat as wax," said Mr. +Wyllys, stepping into the little parlour. + +Miss Patsey was beginning to resign herself to hearing Charlie +called an artist, although the word had still an unpleasant sound +to her ear. + +"Charles is very good," she replied, "about keeping his things in +their place; he does not make much litter." + +After some inquiries about Mrs. Hubbard--who, it seems, was +taking her afternoon nap--Mr. Wyllys asked to see Charlie's work. + +"You must let us look at it, Charles," said Miss Agnes; "we have +been waiting, you know, quite impatiently for the last week." + +"If we must go up to your STUDIO for it, we'll rest awhile +first," said Mr. Wyllys taking a seat. + +"You mortify me, sir," said Charlie, "by using such great words +about my little doings, even in pleasantry. I am half afraid to +show my work; but I will bring it down." + +"I hope we shall find some improvement--that is all we can expect +at present, my boy. We don't look for a Claude yet." + +{"Claude" = Claude Lorrain (1600-1662), French painter famous for +his landscapes, who was an important influence on the American +Hudson River School} + +Charlie blushed, in the excess of his modesty. + +"Pray, bring all your sketches, too," said Elinor. "Mary wrote me +you were drawing all winter; you must have a great deal that we +have not seen." + +"They are certainly not worth looking at; but such as they are, +you shall see them." + +"And don't forget the Arithmetic, too," said Mr. Wyllys, smiling; +"we had better look a little into Compound Interest, of course." + +Charlie looked as if that were rather a sore subject, as he left +the room. + +While he was gone, a carriage stopped at the little gate. It +proved to be the Taylors; and Mr. Taylor, with his wife, and a +couple of children, walked in. After a general salutation had +been exchanged, and two additional chairs had been brought from a +bed-room, to accommodate such an unusual number of visiters, Mr. +Taylor turned to Miss Patsey, and observed, in a jocular way: + +"It is not etiquette, I believe, to call twice in the same day; +but I hope you will excuse us; for on this occasion, Mrs. Taylor +has come to transact a little business." + +"As you seem to be engaged, Miss Hubbard, we will put it off +until another time," said Mrs. Taylor. +" +"Just as you please," replied Miss Patsey. "I am always glad to +see my friends." + +Mr. Taylor, however, liked quick measures, and never postponed +business if he could help it. + +"We came to see you, this afternoon, about our two youngest +children; if you can conveniently take them into your school, it +would suit us very well." + +Charlie, at that moment, returned with his picture in one hand, +and a portfolio in the other. He was rather sorry to find the +Taylors there, for he was far from admiring the gentleman. Mr. +Wyllys was really anxious to see the piece, and asked to look at +it at once. The canvass was placed near a window, in the proper +light, and the covering removed. The Wyllyses were immediately +struck with Charlie's rapid improvement; there was indeed, no +comparison between the young man's first attempts at the art, and +this last piece. His friends all congratulated him on his +success, and Charlie was delighted. + +"This settles the question, I think, Miss Patsey," said Mr. +Wyllys. + +"I suppose so," said Miss Patsey, with a shake of the head, and a +smile. "I think I can see myself that this picture looks more +natural than the first." + +"Quite a tasty painting," said Mr. Taylor, stepping up with a +decided air towards the canvass. "I should conclude, however, +that you would find portRATES a more advantageous business." + +"I like landscapes best, sir," replied the youth; and turning to +Mr. Wyllys, he added: "Mr. S----- advised me to please myself as +to the subjects I worked upon." + +"Certainly," answered Mr. Wyllys; "and you seem to prefer my +mill-pond, Charlie, to the human face divine." + +"But, here are sketches of faces," said Elinor, looking over the +portfolio; "very good, too;--this is excellent--grandpapa, do you +know yourself? and Miss Patsey--very good--Aunt Agnes, too! Why, +Charles, you must have drawn all these from memory." + +The sketches Elinor was looking at, were roughly done in ink or +lead-pencil; but were generally good likenesses. Mr. Wyllys took +up one, that had not yet been observed by the rest of the party; +he smiled, and passed it to his granddaughter. Elinor coloured, +and her heart beat as she looked at it, for it was a sketch of +Harry. Mr. Taylor was standing behind her, and recognised it +immediately. + +"That is Mr. Hazlehurst, if I am not mistaken; and a very good +likeness, Miss Wyllys." + +"I suppose, your son and Harry have met, in Paris, Mr. Taylor," +said Miss Agnes, by way of turning his attention from Elinor. + +"Yes, madam, Thomas mentions having had some intercourse with Mr. +Hazlehurst, and observes, that he sees him, almost every day, in +the TULLYREES; which, Thomas says, is the RENDY-VUSS of the +fashionable world, in Paris." + +"Will your son return home soon?" + +"Why, no; I think not. He went for six months; but he calculates, +now, to stay some time longer. I am told, Mr. Hazlehurst will not +return until next year;--they might make the European TOWER +together. But Thomas seems to like the CAFFIES and the +BULLY-VARDS of Paris, too much to move from that city." + +Elinor was going to take another sketch from the table, when +Charlie quickly passed his hand between Mr. Taylor and herself, +and drew the paper away. + +"I beg your pardon--but it is a wretched thing; I did not know it +was there," said the youth, hastily. + +"Pray, let me look at it," said Elinor, "for, I thought, I +recognised a friend." + +"You must not see it, indeed, Miss Elinor; I dare say, you took +it for anybody but the right person;" said Charlie, a good deal +embarrassed, and hurriedly handing Elinor something else to look +at. + +She was surprised at his nervous manner, but said nothing more. + +"I honestly think, Charlie," said Mr. Wyllys, who had been +examining the landscape, that Mr. C-----, and Mr. I-----, will +tell you to persevere, after this. There is something about the +water, in your picture, that strikes me as unusually good." + +"I am very glad to hear you say so; for there is nothing I like +to paint so much as water. I took great pains with that part of +my piece; but it does not satisfy me yet." + +"Do you intend to make use of water-colours altogether, in your +paintings?" asked Mr. Taylor. + +Charlie looked puzzled, and the merchant repeated his question. + +"I should think, you would find water-colours cheaper; but oils +must be more durable. Which are most generally in use among +painters?" + +Charlie, understanding the point, at last, explained that +water-colours, and oils, were two entirely distinct branches of +the art. + +"Which is your picture, there, done in?" + +"I am learning to paint in oils, sir." + +"And that porTRATE, overhead, which is your father, I presume; is +that in oils, too?" + +"Yes, sir.--There are very few pictures, of that size, in +water-colours, I believe. Here is a miniature, in water-colours, +which Mrs. Van Horne lent me; I am taking a large picture, in +oils, from it." + +Mr. Taylor examined the miniature. "It has puzzled me +considerably," he observed, "to know how painters could change +the size of an object, and be correct, without measuring it off +in feet and inches; but, I suppose, that is what you term +perspective." + +One is sometimes surprised by the excessive ignorance, on all +matters concerning the fine arts, betrayed in this country, by +men of some education; very clever, in their way, and quite equal +to making a speech or a fortune, any day. In Europe, just +notions, on such matters, are much more widely spread. But, after +all, such a state of things is perfectly natural; we have +hitherto had no means of cultivating the general taste, in +America, having few galleries or even single works of art, open +to the public. With the means, it is probable, that as we grow +older, we shall improve, in this respect. That there is talent, +ay, genius, in the country, sufficient to produce noble works of +art, has been already proved. Nor can it be doubted, that there +is latent feeling, and taste enough, among the people, to +appreciate them, if it were called forth by cultivation. It is +only a brutal and sluggish nation, who cannot be made to feel, as +well as think. The cultivation necessary, however, is not that +which consists in forcing the whole body of the people to become +conceited smatterers; but that which provides a full supply of +models for mediocrity to copy, and for talent to rival. It is +evident, that common sense requires us to pursue one of two +courses; either to give true talent, in every field--in +literature, in music, painting, sculpture, architecture--some +share of the honourable encouragement which is its due, or else +honestly to resign all claim to national merit, in these branches +of civilization; leaving the honour to the individual. As neither +the government, nor men singly, can do much toward encouraging +the arts, this would seem to be the very field in which societies +might hope to produce great results. Would it not be a good +innovation, if those who often unite to present some public +testimonial of respect to an individual, should select, instead +of the piece of plate, usual on such occasions, a picture or work +of sculpture? Either, it is to be supposed, if respectable in its +way, would be a more agreeable offering, to a person of +education, than gold or silver in the shape most modern workmen +give them. Under such circumstances, who would not prefer a +picture by Cole or Wier {sic}, a statue like Greenough's Medora, +Power's Eve, or Crawford's Orpheus, to all the silver salvers in +New York? Who would not prefer even a copy from some fine bust or +head of antiquity, from some celebrated cabinet picture, to the +best medal that has yet been struck in this country? + +{"Cole" = Thomas Cole (1801-1848), American painter and founder +of the so-called Hudson River School of landscape painting; +"Wier" = Robert Weir (1803-1889), another American landscape +painter; "Greenough" = Horatio Greenough (1805-1852), American +sculptor, and a close friend of Susan Fenimore Cooper's father; +"Power" = Hiram Powers (1805-1873), another famous American +sculptor; "Crawford" = Thomas Crawford (1813-1857), another +American sculptor, whose statue of Orpheus was purchased by the +Boston Athenaeum; "cabinet picture" = picture exhibited in a +gallery or museum} + +Thoughts like these were passing through Mr. Wyllys's mind, as he +sat looking at Charlie's picture. Mrs. Taylor had, in the mean +time, been making arrangements for her younger children to enter +Miss Patsey's school for the summer. Mr. Taylor having joined the +ladies, something was heard about 'terms,' and the affair +appeared settled. Miss Agnes having mentioned to Mrs. Taylor that +she had intended calling on her, but would now postpone it until +another day, she was so strongly urged to accompany them home, +that she consented to do so, aware that the visit should have +been paid some time before. Accordingly, they all left the +Hubbards together. + +It was not often that Miss Patsey's little parlour was so full, +and so much littered, as it had been that afternoon; it generally +looked crowded, if it contained two or three persons besides the +minister's portrait, and was thought out of order, if the large +rocking-chair, or the clumsy, old-fashioned tea-table did not +stand in the very positions they had occupied for the last twelve +years. + +Very different was the aspect of things at Mr. Taylor's. Not that +the rooms were imposing, in size, but the elegance of the +furniture was so very striking. Of course, there were two +drawing-rooms, with folding-doors and Brussels carpets; while +everything corresponded to a fashionable model. Mrs. Taylor, good +soul, cared very little for these vanities of life. The +window-blinds, in her two drawing-rooms, were never opened, +except for some occasional morning visiter or evening tea-party; +she herself used what she called the 'living room,' where she +could have her younger children about her, and darn as many +stockings as she chose. The drawing-rooms were opened, however, +for the Wyllyses, who were urged to stay to tea. Miss Agnes +declined the invitation, though Mr. Wyllys and herself remained +long enough to look at the plan of a new house, which Mr. Taylor +was to build shortly; it was to be something quite grand, far +surpassing anything of the kind in the neighbourhood, for Mr. +Taylor had made a mint of money during the past winter. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +"What say'st thou? Wilt thou go along?" +Henry VI. + +{William Shakespeare, "3 Henry VI", IV.v.25} + +JANE GRAHAM joined Elinor at Wyllys-Roof, after having made her +parting curtsey to Mrs. G-----. Her parents lived at Charleston; +but as her constitution was delicate, and required a more bracing +air than that of Carolina, Jane had been more than once, for a +twelvemonth at a time, entirely under Miss Wyllys's charge, and +was seldom absent from Longbridge for more than a few months +together. It was now settled that she was to remain with Elinor +until the autumn, when her parents, who were coming north for a +couple of months, were to carry her back to Charleston. Miss +Adeline Taylor, of course, found it impossible to remain longer +at school, when Jane, her bosom-friend, had left it. She, too, +returned to her family in the country, prepared to enliven the +neighbourhood to the best of her ability. The intimacy between +these two young ladies was only riveted more closely by the +necessity of living under different roofs; Adeline, indeed, +protested that she found the separation so distressing, that she +thought it would be an excellent plan, to divide the winter +together, between Charleston and New York; Jane to pass the first +three months with her, and she, in her turn, to accompany her +friend to Charleston, later in the season. But Jane thought her +mother would now wish to have her return home as soon as +possible, as it was already nearly a year since she had seen her +family. This affair, however, was not quite decided; Adeline +declaring that she could not bear to give up the idea, hinting +that there were all-important reasons for their remaining +together during the next winter. + +Elinor often wondered that her cousin should find so much +pleasure in this intimacy with Miss Taylor, whom she was far from +liking herself; and she could not help thinking that Adeline was +more persevering in pursuit of Jane, than was agreeable. The +dislikes of young girls of seventeen are seldom violent, however, +whatever their likings may be. She made the best of it, and the +three girls were often together. + +One evening, when they had been drinking tea at Mrs. Taylor's, +Elinor was much struck with a change in Jane's manner, which she +had already observed several times of late, when they had been in +society together. As they were coming home, and alone together in +the carriage, she spoke to her cousin on the subject. + +"How gay you were to-night, Jane! I never saw you in better +spirits." + +"Was I? Well, I'm very tired now; it is almost too much for me, +Elinor, to be so lively." + +"Was it an effort? Did you not feel well?" inquired Elinor. + +"I felt very well, indeed, before we went; but it tires me so to +be animated." + +"If it fatigues you to go out, my dear Jane, we had better stay +at home next time we are asked; but I thought you wished to go +this evening." + +"So I did. It does not tire me at all to go out; there is nothing +I like so much as going to parties. If one could only do as they +pleased--just sit still, and look on; not laughing and talking +all the time, it would be delightful." + +"That is what I have often done at parties," said Elinor, +smiling; "and not from choice either, but from necessity." + +"Do you really think that a person who is engaged ought not to +talk?" + +"No, indeed;" said Elinor, colouring a little, as she laughed at +the inquiry. "I meant to say, that I had often sat still, without +talking, at parties, because no one took the trouble to come and +speak to me. Not here, at home, where everybody knows me, but at +large parties in town, last winter." + +"Oh, but you never cared about being a belle. Adeline says +everybody knows you are engaged, and it is no matter what you do +or say. But Adeline says, to be a belle, you must laugh and talk +all the time, whether you feel like it or not; and she thinks you +need not be particular what you talk about, only you must be all +the time lively. The young men won't dance with you, or hand you +in to supper, unless you entertain them. Adeline says she is too +high-spirited to sit by, moping; and so am I, too, I'm sure!" + +"But Jane, you are so very pretty, there is no danger of your +being overlooked." + +"No, indeed, you are mistaken," said Jane, with perfect naivete. +"I was at two or three small parties, you know, in New York, +while I was staying with Mrs. Stanley, this spring; well, I +missed more than half the quadrilles, while those fat Miss +Grants, and the Howard girls, were dancing all the evening. +Adeline says it is all because I was not lively. They don't think +anything of you unless you are all the time talking, and +laughing, and moving about; and it does tire me so--I'm almost +sick of it already. I'm sure I shall never be able to be lively +at Charleston, in warm weather. I shan't be a belle, Elinor, I'm +afraid!" said the young beauty, with something like a sigh. + +"Poor Jane!" said Elinor, laughing, though she really felt +provoked with Adeline for giving her cousin such notions; Jane +looked half worn-out with the evening's exertions. "And I +believed, all the time, that you were in such good spirits! +Charlie and I were looking at you with surprise; we thought Mr. +Van Horne, and John Bernard must be telling you something very +amusing, you were laughing and talking so much." + +"No, indeed; it was I, who was trying to amuse the gentlemen." + +But Jane was not destined to try the effect of the Charleston +climate upon the energies of a belle. Her parents arrived in New +York, where she met them. She found letters there from her +sister, Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst, to her mother and herself, +strongly urging the propriety of Jane joining their party, for +the last year of their European visit. Mrs. Hazlehurst thought +travelling would be of great service to her sister, in every +respect; it would, probably, restore her health entirety; in +Paris she would take lessons from the best masters, if she wished +it--besides enjoying the advantages of seeing the Old World; at +the same time that, in her sister's family, she would be as well +taken care of, as if at her father's house, or at Wyllys-Roof. It +was an opportunity which might not occur again, and Mrs. +Hazlehurst wrote so urgently, that her parents consented to the +arrangement, provided Jane, herself, liked the idea. An old +friend of the family, Mrs. Howard, was to sail next month for +France, and would willingly take charge of Mrs. Graham's daughter +during the voyage: everything was settled, it only remained for +Jane, herself, to decide. She was far less anxious, however, to +see the wonders of Europe, than many other young persons would +have been. Elinor congratulated her warmly upon her good fortune, +and dwelt upon the pleasure she would, no doubt, enjoy; still, +Jane appeared rather indifferent to the plan, and it would +probably have been abandoned, had it not been for two +circumstances. Her father thought the voyage and change of air +might have a happy effect on her health, and improve it +permanently; and, at the same time, Miss Adeline Taylor threw the +whole weight of her influence into the scales; she had a long +private interview with Jane, which seemed to decide the matter. +The arrangements were made, and the first of September, Jane, +accompanied by her parents, Miss Agnes, and Elinor, went on board +the Havre packet, and was placed under the care of Mr. and Mrs. +Howard. Though the separation took place under such happy +auspices, there were some tears shed, of course. Elinor felt +quite sad at parting from her young friend, to whom she was +warmly attached; but time and tide soon separated the cousins, +and the last farewell, and waving of handkerchiefs, were +exchanged. + +{"Havre packet" = scheduled passenger ship to Le Havre, the +principal Atlantic port of arrival in France} + +Elinor had placed in Jane's hands a small package, and a letter, +for Harry. The last we do not think ourselves privileged to open; +but the little box we know to have contained a purse of her own +knitting, and a lock of hair, which was sent at the special +request of Harry, as he intended to have it placed in a ring by a +Paris jeweller. Jane's baggage contained, moreover, in addition +to her own paraphernalia, several articles that one would not +expect to find among a young lady's trunks and hat-boxes. She, +carried with her a barrel of buckwheat, a keg of cranberries, and +a couple of jars of ginger-dainties for which, it appeared, some +American friends of the Hazlehursts had sighed, even amid all the +delicacies of Paris. + +In a few weeks, the family at Wyllys-Roof had the pleasure of +hearing of Jane's safe arrival in Paris. The good news came +through Harry, and we shall give his letter, since it was the +last Elinor received from him in some months. + +"Place Vendome, October, 18--. + +"MY DEAREST ELINOR:-- + +"You will be glad to hear that Jane passed the barriers, this +morning, with the Howards. She has just finished a letter to Mrs. +Graham; and, as she dislikes writing so much, has given me leave +to announce her arrival to all at Wyllys-Roof. As Jane enters +Paris on one side, I leave it in the opposite direction, for, the +day after to-morrow, I am off for Constantinople; a movement +which will, no doubt, astonish you, though, I am sure, you will +wish me joy of such pleasant prospects. This letter will probably +be the last you will hear of me, for some time; not but what I +shall write as usual, but these long overland mails, through +countries where they suspect revolution or plague, in every +letter, often fail to do their duty. In fact, I delayed my +journey a week or two, expressly to see Jane, and have a good +supply of Longbridge news before setting out. Everybody tells me, +I must expect to lose more than half my letters, both ways. This +is bad enough, to be sure; but a journey to Greece and +Constantinople, would be too full of delights, without some +serious drawback. I believe Jane is more tired by answering our +questions, and hearing what we have to tell her, than by her +voyage. I cannot help wishing, my dear Elinor, that it were you +who had arrived in Paris, instead of our pretty little cousin. +How I should delight in showing you my favourite view, the quais +and the island, from the Pont Royal--the Louvre, too, and the +Madeleine. As for Jane, she will, doubtless, find her chief +pleasures at Delilles', and the Tuileries--buying finery, and +showing it off: it has often puzzled me to find out which some +ladies most enjoy. + +{"barriers" = gateways leading into Paris, where travellers' +papers were examined} + +"We are to be a party of four of us, on our eastern expedition. +In the first place, Ellsworth, whom you may have seen; a very +clever fellow, and brother-in-law to poor Creighton. By-the-bye, +Mrs. Creighton is still here, and has been living, very quietly, +with her brother, since her husband's death; she is now going to +the Howards, who are her connexions, I believe; so says Louisa, +at least. Ellsworth, you know, poor fellow, lost his wife about a +year ago; he has left his little girl with her mother's friends, +and has come abroad for a year or two. Having been in Europe +before, he was very glad to make one, in our party to the East, +where he has not yet been. I mention him first, for he is the +most agreeable of our set. There is not much to be said on the +chapter of young Brown; and, I must confess, that I don't quite +agree with Col. Stryker, in the very good opinion he evidently +entertains of himself. By-the-bye, American Colonels are as +plenty, now-a-days, as the 'Marquis' used to be, at Versailles, +in the time of the Grand Louis. Some simple European folk, +actually believe that each of these gentry has his +regiment-----in the garrison of 'Nieu Yorck,' I suppose; it would +puzzle them, to find the army, if they were to cross the +Atlantic; I don't remember to have seen one of Uncle Sam's +soldiers for five years before I left home. + +{"Grand Louis" = French King Louis XIV (1638-1715), known as +"Louis the Great"} + +"Many thanks, dearest Elinor, for the contents of your box; you +cannot doubt but they will accompany your preux chevalier on his +pilgrimage. This Eastern movement has been such a sudden one, +that I have still a thousand things to do, which will oblige me +to make my letter shorter than I wish. Ellsworth is waiting for +me, at this moment. We expect to be gone six, or, possibly, eight +months. I shall write again from Marseilles; and, I hope, the +letter from thence will reach you. Pull Bruno's ears for me, and +don't let him forget his master; which will be one way, my dear, +kind, Elinor, of obliging you to remember that individual also. +Best respects to Mr. Wyllys and Aunt Agnes, with much love for +yourself, dearest Elinor, from + +Your affectionate, present and FUTUR, + +H. H. + +P. S.--Many remembrances for Mrs. Stanley, if she is with you; I +wrote to her last month." + +{"preux chevalier" = valiant knight; "FUTUR" = future (French)} + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"What tidings send our scouts? I pr'ythee, speak." +Henry VI. + +{William Shakespeare, "1 Henry VI", V.ii.10} + +ABOUT the middle of the following March, the season, by courtesy +called spring, but when winter sometimes reigns de facto, in the +neighbourhood to which Wyllys-Roof belonged, Mr. Wyllys proposed, +one morning, to drive his granddaughter to Longbridge, with the +double object, of making the most of a late fall of snow, and +procuring the mail an hour earlier than usual. + +The light cutter slipped through a track in which there was quite +as much mud as snow, and, it seemed, as if most people preferred +staying at home, to moving over roads in that half-and-half +condition: they met no one they knew, excepting Dr. Van Horne. + +"I was sure you would be out this morning, Mr. Wyllys," cried the +Doctor, as they met, "your sleigh is always the first and the +last on the road." + +"You generally keep me company, I find, doctor. I am going for +the mail. How far have you been, this morning?" + +"To Longbridge, sir; but, with this sun, the snow will hardly +carry you there and home again; and yet, I dare say, you will +find something worth having, in the mail, for I saw letters in +your box; and there is a French packet in." + +"Indeed! We'll make the best of our way, then, at once;" and, +wishing the doctor good morning, Mr. Wyllys drove off. "We shall +have letters from Paris, I hope, Nelly," said her grandfather. + +"Certainly, I hope so," replied Elinor; "Jane's last letter was +shamefully short. I had half a mind not to answer it; and so I +told her; but my scolding has not had time to reach her yet." + +"Jenny is no great letter-writer; and she is very busy enjoying +her year in Paris, I suppose. But I shall be glad to have a sight +of Harry's handwriting again. Where was it he wrote from last, in +December?" + +"From Beyroot {sic}, sir. He was to be in Paris early in the +spring." + +"Well, I hope we shall hear something from him to-day. Before +long, I suppose, we shall have the young gentleman at +Wyllys-Roof, trying to persuade you that he wants your help in +reading Blackstone. But, don't believe him, Nelly; I shan't give +you up for a year to come." + +{"Blackstone" = Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780), British +jurist whose "Commentaries on the Laws of England" was the +principal text for aspiring young lawyers} + +"There is time enough to think of all that," said Elinor, +blushing a little. + +"Yes, time enough! and we can judge what sort of a lawyer he will +make, by the way in which he handles the subject. As it is a bad +cause, he ought to find a great deal to say on the occasion. +Suppose he manages the matter so well, as to bring your aunt and +myself over to his side, what would you say?" + +"I can only say now, grandpapa, that I cannot bear to think of +the time when I shall have to leave Aunt Agnes and yourself," +replied Elinor, with feeling. "Pray, don't let us talk about it +yet; I shall be very well satisfied with things as they are, for +a long time to come." + +"Well, you may be satisfied to have Harry in Egypt; but I should +like to see him here, once in a while. When is it they are to be +home?" + +"The last of the summer, sir. They sail in August, that Louisa +may see Mrs. Graham before she goes south." + +"You have had a different sort of a winter, my child, from Harry +and Jane." + +"It has been a pleasant winter to me, and to all three, I hope." + +"Yes; Jenny has had all the gaiety--Harry all the adventure--and +you, all the sobriety. But it was your own wish, my dear, that +has kept us in the country, this winter." + +The last six months had, indeed, passed very differently to the +young people. Jane had been dancing away her evenings on the +parquets of Paris; and dividing her mornings between walks to the +Tuileries, drives to the Bois de Boulogne, and visits to the +shops. As for the lessons which had, at one time, entered into +the plan, they had never been even commenced. Jane was too +indolent to take pleasure in anything of the kind; and her +companions, the daughters of Mrs. Howard, led her into so much +gaiety, that she really seemed to have little time for anything +else. Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst thought, indeed, that her sister was +quite too dissipated; still, Jane seemed to enjoy it so much, she +looked so well and happy, and Mrs. Howard was such an obliging +chaperon, that the same course was pursued, week after week; +although Mrs. Hazlehurst, herself, who had an infant a few weeks +old, seldom accompanied her. + +Elinor, in the mean time, was passing the quietest of country +lives at Wyllys-Roof, where the family remained all winter. Even +the letters, which the previous year had given her so much +pleasure, had been wanting during the past season. Jane never +wrote oftener than was absolutely necessary; and only two of +Hurry's letters reached their destination. There was a package +from Europe, however, in the Longbridge Post-Office, on the +morning of the sleigh-drive we have alluded to. It contained a +long letter from Harry, written at Smyrna, announcing that he +hoped to be in Paris some time in March; and one from Mrs. +Hazlehurst, informing her friends of their plans for the +summer--including an excursion to Switzerland--after which they +were to return home late in August. + +The very day Elinor received these letters, Harry returned to +Paris. After pitching his tent among Grecian ruins, and riding on +camels over the sands of Egypt and Syria, he had returned to +France through Turkey and Austria; thinking himself a very lucky +fellow to have seen so much of what the world contains, worth +seeing. + +He found his brother entirely recovered, as well as he had been +before the accident which had injured him. He was called upon to +admire the little niece born during his absence; she was a sweet +little baby, and Mrs. Hazlehurst had named her Elinor, after her +future sister-in-law--a kind attention for which Harry was much +obliged to her, and which, he declared, would make the child a +favourite with him. + +Jane was there, of course, and glad to see Harry, of course. +Hazlehurst had scarcely taken possession of a comfortable +fauteuil in his brother's drawing-room, before the thought +occurred to him, that all the party looked much as usual, +excepting Jane. During the first evening, he became convinced +that she was certainly altered by the air of Paris. How very much +she had improved in appearance and manner! He had never before +thought her so very beautiful as many others had done--but he +must now retract all he had ever said on the subject. He supposed +the good taste with which she was dressed must have some effect; +but it seemed as if her beauty were now in its perfection. When +he last saw her, there was something almost childish in her +appearance and expression, which she had now lost entirely. He +was struck with the air of finish about her whole person, from +the rich glossy lustre on her dark hair, to the pearly tint of +her complexion. She was, indeed, a beautiful creature. What a +sensation such a face must create among the enthusiastic +Parisians! Then, she must have more feeling than he had given her +credit for; she had received him quite kindly, and seemed really +glad to see him again. + +{"fauteuil" = armchair (French)} + +Daily observation, while living under the same roof, only +confirmed Harry in this new opinion of Jane. He began to admire +the languid grace of her movements; and he discovered that it is +very possible to have too much warmth of manner, and that some +women certainly fatigue one by their animation. He must tell the +family at Wyllys-Roof how much Jane had improved. He found he was +not mistaken in supposing that she must produce an impression +wherever she was seen. Whether they were walking in the Tuileries +of a morning, or went into society in the evening, the effect was +always the same; he saw her everywhere followed by very evident +and open admiration. And no wonder; her beauty threw a charm over +all her actions: it was even a pleasure to accompany her in +shopping excursions--which he used to look upon as the greatest +tax that a lady could impose upon his gallantry; but then, few +persons looked so beautiful as Jane, when selecting a muslin, or +trying on a hat. He soon became proud of a place at her side, and +much more vain of her beauty than she was herself. + +"I must let them know at Longbridge," he thought, "what a +sensation Jane is making. She is, indeed, a beauty to be proud +of. I saw nothing like her in Greece. She does credit to the +country." Harry thought it patriotic to admire her, and to lose +no opportunity of enjoying the effect of her beauties among the +gay world of Paris. American patriotism, as we all know, often +takes singular shapes. + +Jane and himself became more intimate, and on more friendly terms +than they had ever yet been. She seemed, indeed, to prefer him, +as a cavaliere servente, to any of her other admirers, American +or European. But that might easily be accounted for, on the score +of connexion. Of course, Harry was grateful for this preference, +and after a while he even began to look upon the excessive +devotion of one or two of her admirers, as impertinence on their +part. + +{"cavaliere servente" = male escort (Italian)} + +About this time--some weeks after his return--Hazlehurst gave +himself very much to the study of aesthetics. The beautiful, the +harmonious, alone attracted him; he could not endure anything +approaching to coarseness. He wandered up and down the galleries +of the Louvre, delighting more in the beautiful faces of the +Italian masters, in the Nymphs and Muses of the old Greeks, than +he had ever done before. He became quite a connoisseur. He had no +taste for the merely pretty; perfect beauty he admired with his +whole soul, but anything short of it was only to be tolerated. He +felt the fact, if he did not reason on the discovery, that beauty +in the very highest degree, carries with it--we do not say the +expression--but the stamp of dignity, and even of intelligence. +Such was the impression produced by Jane's perfectly classical +head and features. It was impossible, as you gazed upon her +smooth polished forehead, and noble dark eyes, to believe her +wanting in character, or intellect. Then, Harry remembered that +talent of the highest order bears a calm aspect; not frothy, +sparkling cleverness, which takes so well with the vulgar; not +wit, exactly; but that result of a well-balanced mind, in which +all the faculties harmonize so well, that they leave no one +particularly prominent. He had been much struck, lately, with +several remarks of Jane's--they showed a depth of observation, a +fund of good sense, which he had not formerly supposed her to +possess; but then, of old, he used to be unpardonably unjust to +Jane. She was certainly improved, too; her friends at Longbridge +would be gratified by the change. + +This course of aesthetics gradually carried Harry so far, that +after a profound study of the subject in general, and of Jane's +features in particular, he became a convert to the opinion of the +German philosopher, who affirms that "The Beautiful is greater +than the Good." There have been disputes, we believe, on the +subject of this axiom, some critics giving it a deep mystical +sense, others, again, attempting to explain it in different ways. +Our friend Hazlehurst, though a pretty good German scholar, +seemed disposed to adopt the idea in its simplest interpretation. + +{"German philosopher" = I have been unable to identify with +certainty the quotation, though the sentiment suggests Friedrich +Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling (1775-1854)} + +Things were in this train, when the family set out for +Switzerland. + + + +CHAPTER VI {sic} + +{should be Chapter VIII} + +"Her dress, and novels, visits, and success." +CRABBE. + +{George Crabbe (English poet, 1754-1832), "Posthumous Tales: XV +Belinda Waters" line II.31} + +LONGBRIDGE was quite a pleasant village, and surrounded by a +pretty country. Like most other American rural towns, it +received, in the warmest months, a large accession to its +population; for it seems to be a matter of course, that everybody +who is able to do so, runs away from brick walls in the months of +July and August, and selects some village in which to rusticate, +and set the fashions, enjoy the dust and the fire-flies, fresh +peaches, and home-made ice-cream.--Longbridge, in addition to the +usual advantages of pure air, and brown fields, in the month of +August, had something of a reputation as a place for bathing; and +its three taverns, and various boarding-houses, were generally +well filled with families from New York and Philadelphia, during +the very warm weather. + +Among others, during the season to which we allude, the Grahams +were there, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Hazlehurst +party from Europe; for letters had been received, informing their +friends that they might be expected at any moment. The Wyllys +carriage was now seen at Longbridge every day, either at the +house where their relatives, the Grahams, had taken lodgings for +the season, or before the door of a neat little cottage, recently +purchased by Mr. Wyllys for the widow of his youngest son, Mrs. +George Wyllys. This lady, to whom the reader has been already +introduced, had been left, with four children, almost entirely +dependent on her father-in-law. Her character was somewhat of a +medley. She was a good-hearted woman, attached to her husband's +family, and always asking advice of her friends, particularly Mr. +Wyllys, and Miss Agnes, for whom she had a sincere respect. She +was pretty, lady-like, rather clever, and a pleasant companion to +persons not particularly interested in her welfare. On +indifferent topics she could converse with as much good sense as +the rest of the world; but her own affairs she mismanaged +terribly. All her other good qualities seemed unsettled by a +certain infusion of caprice, and jealousy of influence; and yet +she really meant well, and fancied herself a very prudent woman. +She thought she was capable of making any sacrifice for those she +loved, and therefore believed herself a model in all the +relations of life. As a mother, she had a system of education, +the theory of which was excellent; but there was little +consistency in its practice. As regards money-matters, she talked +and thought so much about economy, that she took it for granted +that she practised it. After having passed the first years of her +widowhood with her own family in Baltimore, she had lately become +convinced that her income was not sufficient to allow her living +in a large town, without running in debt. Mr. Wyllys was +unfortunately too well aware that his daughter-in-law's +difficulties were not the result of Baltimore prices, but of her +own mismanagement. Franklin advises his friends to "take care of +the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves:" but this +rule is by no means infallible. Perhaps there is no species of +extravagance more common, than that often practised by +well-disposed people, which consists of being "penny-wise, +pound-foolish;" they will save a hundred cents on as many +different occasions, and throw away twenty dollars on one object. +It happens that such persons often succeed in persuading +themselves that they are models of prudence, and self-denial. +Such was Mrs. George Wyllys's plan; and, unfortunately, she not +only brought trouble on herself, but was a constant source of +anxiety to her father-in-law, who endeavoured, in vain, to +counteract the evil; but every succeeding year brought a +repetition of the difficulties of the former. + +{"Franklin" = Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), but the expression +is usually attributed to Lord Chesterfield (1674-1773); "penny +wise, pound foolish" = phrase originated by Robert Burton +(1577-1640)} + +At present, Mrs. Wyllys was bent upon economy in a cottage, with +new furniture, purchased at a high price, at New York auctions; +and it was in vain to oppose her plan, so convinced was she, that +duty alone could have induced her to leave her own family and old +friends in Baltimore. + +"We must make the best of it, Agnes," said Mr. Wyllys, "it will +be pleasant, at least, to have Harriet and her little people near +us--and we may be of use to the children." + +Miss Agnes agreed to the first part of her father's remark, but +was far from feeling sanguine as to their being of any advantage +to the children. It was a part of Mrs. Wyllys's system, to +consult her friends far more frequently than was necessary, upon +the education of her family, at the same time that it also +entered into her plan to follow their advice very seldom indeed. + +As for Elinor, she was very well pleased with her aunt's arrival +in the neighbourhood; of course, she was too young and +inexperienced to know the exact state of matters, and she was +attached to Mrs. Wyllys, and fond of her little cousins. + +One afternoon, Mrs. Wyllys had persuaded Miss Agnes and Elinor to +drink tea with her, and not return home until the evening. The +ladies were sitting together, in Mrs. Wyllys's pleasant little +parlour, engaged with their needles, while the children were +playing under the windows, in the shady door-yard. + +"Shall I put the bow on the right or left side, Elinor?" asked +Mrs. Wyllys, who was re-trimming a hat for one of her little +girls. + +"It looks very well as you have it now, Aunt;" replied her niece. + +"Perhaps it does; there is a stain, however, on the other side, +which must be covered," replied the lady, changing the bow. "This +riband was very cheap, Agnes," she added, showing it to her +sister-in-law. "Only twenty cents a yard. I bought the whole +piece, although I shall not want it until next spring." + +"Quite cheap," said Miss Agnes, looking at the riband; "but I +don't know what you will do with so much of it." + +"Oh, I shall find some use for it; in a large family, nothing +comes amiss." + +A pretty, little girl, about eight years old, ran into the room, +and, skipping up to her mother, whispered, "Here comes a +carriage, mamma, and some ladies." + +"Who is it, Elinor?" asked Mrs. Wyllys, of her niece, who was +sitting near the window. + +"The Hubbards," she replied. + +"What, Patsey Hubbard?" + +"Oh, no; her cousins--very different persons. The Longbridge +Hubbards, whose acquaintance you have not yet made." + +Two ladies, radiant with elegance, entered the room, and were +introduced, by Miss Agnes, to her sister-in-law, as Mrs. Hilson, +and Miss Emmeline Hubbard. They were both young; quite pretty; +very fashionably dressed; very silly in their expressions, and +much alike, in every respect. + +After a few preliminary speeches, Mrs. Hilson remarked, that she +was very glad Mrs. Wyllys had come to join their rustic circle. + +"Thank you," replied the lady; "Longbridge is a favourite place +of mine; but I have not yet seen many traces of rusticity, here." + +"Why, no, Julianna," observed Miss Emmeline, "I don't think our +village is at all a rustic place. We have too many advantages of +communication with the city for that." + +"It is true," said Mrs. Hilson, "Longbridge has always been a +very aristocratic place. You know, Miss Wyllys," turning to Miss +Agnes, "we have our 'West-End,' and our 'exclusives.'" + +{"West End" = from the fashionable West End of London} + +"I was not aware of it; but then I am really a rustic," Miss +Wyllys added, smiling. + +"Yes, it is unfortunate, you should be so far from the village. +Emmeline and I often pity you, Miss Elinor, for being so far from +genteel society." + +"That is scarcely worth while, I assure you, for we have several +pleasant families, within a short distance." + +"But only a very small circle, however. Now we have quite a large +set of aristocratic people, in the village. Some of our +inhabitants are very refined, I assure you, Mrs. Wyllys." + +The lady bowed. + +"You will find your two next neighbours, Mrs. Bibbs and Mrs. +Tibbs, very fascinating ladies," observed Miss Emmeline. "Mrs. +Bibbs is one of our beauties; and Mrs. Tibbs, our most elegant +dresser." + +"Emmeline is going over the Court Calendar, for you, already," +said Mrs. Hilson, laughing fashionably. + +{"Court Calendar" = from the section of British newspapers +devoted to the schedule and appearances of the Royal Family} + +"Are these ladies the wives of judges?" inquired Mrs. Wyllys. + +"Oh, no; Mrs. Tibbs is the lady of our physician, and Mrs. Bibbs +is a 'marchande,'--she is a very fascinating lady, and has a fine +flow of conversation. She was a great belle, at Saratoga, a year +or two since; you may, perhaps, have met her there?" inquired +Mrs. Hilson. + +"Not that I know of; but I have not been at Saratoga for years." + +"Is it possible? I cannot live without three weeks at Saratoga, +and a fortnight at Rockaway, every year. Before I ordered my +wedding-dress, I made Mr. Hilson promise I should have my own way +about that. I said to him, one day, 'Alonzo, before the +settlements are drawn up, I shall require you to pledge yourself +to six weeks, every year, between Saratoga and Rockaway.'" + +{"settlements" = marriage settlements or pre-nuptial agreements; +"Rockaway" = a fashionable sea-side resort on Long Island, near +New York City} + +"You are fond of a gay life, I suppose." + +"Very naturally; having lived in the world of fashion from my +cradle, I do not think I could breathe any other atmosphere. It +must be a great change for you, Mrs. Wyllys, from all the +pleasures of a city-life to a small circle like ours." + +"A change, certainly; but a pleasant one, I hope." + +"It will be a relief to you, to find so much aristocracy among +us. We have a certain clique, that, I think, must satisfy the +most refined taste, and will console you, I hope, for the loss of +genteel society in Baltimore." + +"Thank you. I shall scarcely miss any but my friends. I go out +very little." + +"I regret to hear that.--We must try to persuade you to change +your determination, and mingle more with society. I feel +confident, that our West-End clique must satisfy the most refined +taste. We expect to have a great deal of gaiety, this fall; but, +just at present, we have a scarcity of beaux." + +"What has become of young Mr. Taylor; he was to have been home by +this time. Do you hear anything of him, Miss Wyllys?" inquired +Miss Emmeline. + +"His family expect him soon, I believe." + +"I hope he will arrive before our summer parties are over. Mr. +and Mrs. Hazlehurst, too, and Miss Graham, when shall we have the +pleasure of seeing them?" + +"We expect them every day." + +"I hope," said Mrs. Hilson, "they will arrive while I am here, +which will be longer than usual, this season, for they are +painting our suit {sic} of apartments in the city. When I came, +Alonzo told Emmeline to keep me until October, and she has +promised me a round of entertainments, while I am with her; so +that I feel particularly interested in the arrival of your +friends." + +"Miss Graham will dash a great deal, no doubt, when she comes +back," said Miss Emmeline; "I quite long to see her. Miss Taylor +must be expecting her impatiently. By-the-bye, I understand, Mr. +Taylor's new furniture is now all arrived. His villa, as well as +his city-house, will be very stylish." + +"Mr. Taylor is a very tasty gentleman," observed Mrs. Hilson. "He +seems to be very talented, in every way; formed to figure in +fashionable life, as well as in business. His new house is a +magnificent edifice." + +"Your father tells me, he has quite finished his own house, Mrs. +Hilson; you must be glad to get rid of the workmen," remarked +Miss Wyllys. + +"Yes--they have been long enough about it; but Pa has +old-fashioned notions about having everything substantial, and +well done; he said Emmeline and I might choose the plan, and have +everything as we liked; but he must have his own time to do it +in. However, it is a delightful mansion, now. It has every +convenience of the most fashionable houses in the city; +plate-glass, and folding-doors, and marble chimneys to the +garret. Just such a house as I should like in New York; though, +to tell the truth, I would not keep house for the world." + +"Julianna is so delightfully situated, in her boarding-house, +Mrs. Wyllys, that she has nothing to wish for." + +{"boarding-house" = at this period in American history, many +respectable and reasonably well-off people and even families +lived permanently in boarding-houses, rather than maintain a +houseful of servants} + +"Yes, we have every luxury of fashionable life, united to a very +aristocratic set of boarders; and Mrs. Stone, herself, is an +extremely fascinating lady. Indeed, I have been spoilt; I don't +think I could endure the drudgery of housekeeping, now; though I +once told Alonzo, if he would give me a four-story house, up +town, with a marble front, I would try." + +"You must find the situation of your father's new house +pleasanter than that he has left," observed Miss Agnes. + +"By no means.--That is a serious objection to our new mansion. +Standing surrounded by the park, on three sides, removes us so +far from the street." + +"I should have thought you would find it pleasant to be removed +farther from the noise and dust. What is your cousin Charles +doing? I suppose you see him often, in town." + +"I really do not know what has become of him," said Mrs. Hilson, +languidly; for she always felt rather mortified by any allusion +to her unfashionable relations. "Though Charles is in the city +now, studying painting, yet I never see him. He told Mr. Hilson +that he called sometimes, but I have never seen his card; in a +large boarding-house like ours, with a family of forty or fifty +people, there is often great confusion about visits. But, +Emmeline, we are making a very unfashionable call. I am quite +ashamed, Mrs. Wyllys: but we will relieve you now--I see our +carriage has returned." And after an exchange of curtsies, the +ladies glided out of the room. Miss Emmeline, as she passed, +touched the curly head of one of the children, exclaiming as she +did so, "fascinating cherub!" and then both vanished. + +We have said that these two sisters were very much alike. Mrs. +Hilson, however, was the most distinguished of the two, for she +carried the family follies several degrees farther than Miss +Emmeline. Taken altogether, she was an absurd compound. +Personally, she was thoroughly American, very pretty and delicate +in form and features, and thus far appeared to great advantage; +but she had, also, an affected mincing manner, and drawling +voice. Of course, her dress was as Parisian as possible; +everything she wore was a faithful copy from "Le Courier des +Dames." Her feelings and opinions; Mrs. Hilson was proud to call +English in the extreme, for she had chosen to imbibe a great love +of "aristocracy," and many other things which she did not in the +least understand. She had a set of common-place phrases of this +description in constant use, having borrowed them from an +intimate friend, living in the same boarding-house, a Mrs. +Bagman, an Englishwoman, of a very equivocal position. Then, she +read nothing but English novels; these were her only source of +amusement and instruction in the way of books; and as she +followed the example of Mrs. Bagman, in rejecting every tale that +had not its due share of lords and ladies, she called herself +fastidious in the selection. She was a great talker, and not a +day passed but what cockney sentiments fell from her pretty +little mouth, in drawling tones, from under a fanciful Parisian +coiffure. John Bull would have stared, however, if called upon to +acknowledge her as a daughter; for Yankee vulgarity and English +vulgarity are very different in character--the first having the +most pretension, the last the most coarseness. + +These ladies had scarcely driven from the door, before Mrs. +Wyllys exclaimed: "Is it possible, Agnes, that these Hubbards are +a good specimen of the Longbridge people!" + +"No, indeed; one such family is quite enough for any place." + +"How ridiculous they are! How can you tolerate them?" + +"Now, pray, Aunt Agnes," said Elinor, "do not say one word in +their favour." + +"No; as regards the ladies of the family, one can say little. +They are not perhaps, by nature, as ridiculous as they have made +themselves. Time may do something for them. But their father is a +very worthy, respectable man; you must have seen him at our house +last summer. Don't you remember one day two uncles of Patsey +Hubbard dining with us?" + +"Yes, I do remember them; one Charles Hubbard called Uncle Josey +{sic}, and he seemed quite a sensible man; the other fell asleep +I know, the one they called Uncle Dozie." + +"The napping uncle is the old bachelor; Uncle Josie is the father +of these ladies." + +"He seemed a sensible man; how came he to have such daughters?" + +"They are very like their mother, who died a year or two since." + +"They are very disagreeable, certainly. How often shall we be +required to encounter this desperate elegance? I almost begin to +repent having fixed myself at Longbridge." + +"And between Mrs. Bibbs, and Mrs. Tibbs, too!" said Elinor, +laughing. "However, for your consolation, Aunt, I can assure you +these two ladies are far from being so very 'fascinating' as the +Hubbards. Mrs. Hilson and her sister rise high above the rest of +us in that respect--they are, decidedly, 'our Corinthian +capital.'" + +"You will find the Van Hornes, the Bernards, and several other +families, very pleasant neighbours, on farther acquaintance," +said Miss Agnes. "You have really been unfortunate in this +specimen." + +"And where did these ladies contrive to pick up so much +absurdity?" + +"With a miserable education to begin with, no other reading than +the worst novels, and the chance association of second-rate +boarding-houses, that point, I think, is easily accounted for," +said Miss Agnes. + +The conversation was interrupted by the hurried return of Mr. +Wyllys, who held a newspaper in his hand. + +"They have arrived!" cried Elinor, springing from her chair, as +she saw her grandfather enter the gate. + +"Good news!" said Mr. Wyllys, as he joined the ladies. "The Erie +is in, and our friends with her! They must have arrived in the +night, and to-morrow morning we shall have them here." + +Of course, all the family were gratified by the good news. Elinor +was quite agitated, though her aunt had the pleasure of seeing +her look very happy. + +"Here it is," said Mr. Wyllys, reading from the paper the arrival +of "'the Packet Ship Erie, Capt. Funck, from Havre, consigned to +----- ----- & Co.;' that you won't care about. But here is the +list of passengers: 'Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Johnson, and a dozen +Masters and Misses Johnson, from Natchez;'--strangers, you will +say, but here are acquaintances: 'Mrs. Creighton, Mr. Francis +Ellsworth, and servant, of Phil.; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hazleworth, +and family, of Phil.; Miss Graham, of Phil.; Madame Gigot, of +Paris:' wait a moment, Nelly, all in good time. 'Capt. Flint, of +British Army; Achille Bureau, of Paris; T. Davis, of Charleston; +Dr. Brackett, of St. Louis;' and, though last, not least in our +estimation, W. Hazleworth, of Phil.; with seventy-nine in the +steerage.' Of course, for W. Hazleworth, read H. Hazlehurst; they +never spell a name right. We shall have them all here to-morrow I +hope, Nelly." + +If Elinor said little, she thought and felt a great deal. + +They were still talking over the arrival, when Mrs. Wyllys's +little girl came skipping in, again, and said; "Here comes a +gentleman, mamma." She was followed in an instant, by a young +man, who, in a hurried, eager manner, had kissed the hand of Miss +Agnes, and Elinor's cheek, before either had time to exclaim +"Harry!" + +It was, in fact, Hazlehurst, still in his travelling-cap. They +had arrived in the night, he said, and the rest of the party was +to follow him the next day. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +"How taught shall I return?" +CRABBE. + +{George Crabbe (English poet, 1754-1832), "Posthumous Tales: VI +The Farewell and Return" line I.62} + +OF course, Harry was established at Wyllys-Roof. And, after a few +days passed with her parents at Longbridge, Elinor persuaded Jane +to pay her a short visit. + +It is a pleasant moment for people of mature years, when they can +sit idly by, as affectionate observers, while a gay party of +young people, in whom they are interested, are chatting +familiarly together, with the lively tone and light spirits of +youth, free alike from the restraints of childhood, and the cares +of middle age. Every varied shade of character, unconsciously +betrayed by the young group--the playful remark--the just +observation--the pleasing acquirement--an act of good-nature--a +graceful motion--the bright eye and the careless smile--ay, even +the proof of inexperience and want of worldly wisdom--all is +attractive to the partial friends. They feel such a moment to be +the reward of many a previous hour of care and anxiety; it is +their happy privilege to mark each improvement in person, mind +and heart--the fruit of past labours and prayers--the cheering +promise amid the doubts of the future. Happy they, who can look +upon the young people committed to their charge, with the +consciousness that no important duty towards them has been +neglected; happy the young person, who, with a clear conscience +and an open countenance, can meet the approving smile of a +parent; thrice happy the youth, who, having taken a false step at +the beginning of his career, has had the courage and wisdom to +turn, ere too late; that precious approbation of wise and true +friends, may still be fully his; he has turned from danger, +temptation and shame, into the sure and safe path that leads to +everything most to be valued, even in this world. + +As for our friends at Wyllys-Roof, the joy of re-union, after a +long absence, gave additional zest to the first pleasant meetings +of the young people, in whom Miss Agnes and Mr. Wyllys were so +warmly interested. Elinor was in gay spirits--even Jane was more +animated than usual, in her expressions and manners. As for +Harry, he was decidedly improved; the last two years had done a +great deal for him. He was now a clever, well-educated, agreeable +young man of three-and-twenty, whose judgment and taste were much +improved by travelling. + +"A very good-looking fellow, too, Agnes," remarked Mr. Wyllys. + +It was easy to gather, from the natural, healthful tone of his +conversation, that in more important points, while he had gained +much, he had lost nothing by wider observation of the world. + +As for Jane, Miss Agnes had not expected much from her, and she +was pleased with the changes she observed. Her young kinswoman's +temper seemed to have become more even than formerly, and she was +quite as much pleased to return to her family, as she ought to +have been. It appeared natural, that everybody who saw Jane +should be satisfied with looking at her. Beauty like hers +disarmed their attempts at severity, and disposed them to +indulgence. It seemed scarcely reasonable to expect any striking +quality, or great virtue, with beauty so rare. But if the +Wyllyses had thought her beautiful before she left them, they +were really astonished to find how much it had been possible for +her to gain in appearance. Her face was now perfectly lovely, in +the finest style of beauty. Miss Wyllys was pleased to find her +manners much improved; a change from the society of Adeline +Taylor, and her lively young friends, to that of older and +better-bred people, had been of great advantage. Jane's labours +of liveliness had annoyed Miss Agnes not a little; and more than +once she had ventured a remark on the subject; but her young +relative had been too well advised, by Adeline and her +school-companions, to believe that Miss Wyllys could possibly +know, as well as themselves, what were the fashionable airs and +graces of the day. Since her visit to Paris, however, Jane's +manner, without her being aware of it herself, had become much +more quiet and natural. During the last twelvemonth, she had not +found it necessary to make perpetual exertions to attract, or +retain admirers. She had learned to look upon the attentions of +society as a matter of course. + +The observations of Mr. Wyllys and his daughter were not all +confined to the two young travellers; they watched the graceful +movements of Elinor, and listened with interest to the gay +remarks made in her pleasant voice. She had never been in better +spirits, and was evidently happy. Elinor was really attached to +Jane; and yet, never were two girls less alike, not only in +person, but in mind and disposition. Jane's beauty was a great +charm, in Elinor's eyes. The homeliness of her own features only +increased her admiration for those of her cousin, who had always +filled, with her, the place of a younger sister and pet, although +the difference in their ages was very trifling. If these feelings +were not returned as warmly as they deserved, Elinor had never +seemed to expect that they should be; it was not in Jane's nature +to do so. That Harry's arrival should have made her happy, was, +of course, only natural; she betrayed, at times, a touch of +embarrassment towards him, when Aunt Agnes had smiled too openly, +or Mr. Wyllys had rallied too strongly; but it was graceful, like +every shade in her manner. + +Miss Agnes was well aware that the last two years had not been +lost with Elinor, although passed in quiet every-day life. She +knew, from close observation, that the character of her adopted +child had been gradually approaching nearer to all she wished it +to be. As the two young girls sat chatting together, Miss Wyllys +could not but mark the striking difference in their appearance; +but she also felt that if Jane's loveliness were a charm, even to +her, knowing Elinor thoroughly, she loved her far more deeply for +the want of beauty. But, of course, the world would have decided +differently. + +The morning after Jane's arrival at Wyllys-Roof, the young people +were engaged in one of the gay conversations we have alluded to, +when Mr. Wyllys called off Hazlehurst's attention. + +"Harry, what was that clumsy contrivance about the French horses, +you were describing to Van Horne, last night? I wanted to ask +you, at the time, but you began to talk with Miss Patsey. You +said something about a wooden collar, I think." + +Harry changed his seat, for one nearer Mr. Wyllys, and began a +long explanation of the harness used by the French teamsters. + +"I have several engravings in my trunks, that will show you my +meaning, sir, better than words can do." + +"I should like to see them. But, are these wooden wings to the +collars, as you describe them, used throughout France, or only in +Normandy, and the neighbourhood of Paris?" + +"We saw them wherever we went. All the carters and farmers seem +to use them. They have, besides, a great deal of clumsy, useless +ornament, and they contrive to want twice as much tackle as we +do." + +The gentlemen continued to discuss the subject of horses and +harness, Harry relating, for Mr. Wyllys's amusement, many +observations he had made, on these matters, in the different +countries where he had been. + +Jane had brought down, from her room, an arm-full of pretty +things, evidently Parisian. She had just given Elinor a very +pretty bag, which Miss Agnes was called upon to admire. + +"My dear Aunt," cried Elinor, "do look at this; Jane, I think we +must call it a sac--'bag' sounds too heavy. Look at the +material--the finest cachemere. And then the colour, so rich and +so delicate at the same time." + +"Yes; it is a very pretty shade of ponceau," said Jane. + +{"ponceau" = poppy red (French)} + +"And then the shape! so Parisian! And the ornaments--" + +"It is very pretty," said Miss Wyllys, after due examination. + +"That is the way with everything that comes from Paris," said +Elinor; "it is always so complete; not one part good and others +clumsy--or good in quality, but ugly in form and colour. The +French seem to have an instinct about these things; they throw a +grace about everything." + +"Yes; they have a perfect taste," said Jane. + +"While I was up-stairs, with Louisa, yesterday," said Elinor, "we +talked over Paris all the morning, Aunt Agnes. I was amused with +a great deal she told me. Louisa says, there is a fitness in all +that a French-woman does and says, and even in everything she +wears--that her dress is always consistent--always appropriate to +the occasion." + +"That is true," replied Jane; "their dress is always of a piece." + +"And yet, Louisa insists upon it, that they do not bestow more +time and thought upon the subject, than the women of other +countries--and, certainly, not so much money." + +"Everything is so easy to be had, and so much cheaper, in Paris," +said Jane. + +"But, she remarked, that they are never ashamed to wear a pretty +thing merely because it is cheap; nor to make themselves +comfortable, by wearing thick shoes in the mud, and a coarse, +warm shawl in a fog." + +"We have not much mud or fog to trouble us, in this country;" +said Miss Agnes. + +"No, aunt; but we have hard showers in summer, and cold weather +in winter; in spite of which, you know, our ladies must always be +dressed like fairies." + +"I have often heard Madame de Bessieres praise the good sense of +her countrywomen, on those subjects," observed Miss Wyllys. + +"Louisa maintains that the French-women have a great deal of +common sense; she says, that is the foundation of their good +taste; and, I suppose, after all, good taste is only good sense +refined." + +"I suppose it is, my dear. Louisa seems to have come back even +more of a French-woman than you, Jane," observed Miss Agnes. + +"Oh! I like the French very well, Aunt Agnes." + +"But Louisa is quite eloquent on the subject." + +"She was so very fortunate, Aunt, in having so kind a friend in +Paris, as Madame de Bessieres. Louisa describes the de Bessieres +as living in a delightful set of people--she mentioned half a +dozen persons whom she met habitually there, as not only amiable, +and highly accomplished, and well-bred, but high-principled, too. +She says she used often to wish you could know them, Aunt Agnes." + +"I can readily believe anything good of the intimate friends of +Madame de Bessieres, for I never knew a woman whose character was +more worthy of respect. It was a great loss to us, when she +returned to France. She was very fond of you, Elinor." + +"How kind in a person of Madame de Bessieres' age, to remember +me! I long to see the letter she wrote me; Robert says I shall +have it, certainly, to-morrow, when all their baggage will be at +Longbridge." + +"Madame de Bessieres often spoke of you, Elinor," said Jane. "She +bid me ask if you remembered all the pet names she used to call +you, but I forgot to mention it when I wrote." + +"Just as you forget many other things, naughty girl; I must say +you are anything but a model correspondent, Jenny, dear." + +"Well, I can't help it--I do dislike so to write!" + +"You need not tell me that," said Elinor, laughing. "But I do +remember all Madame de Bessieres' kind names very well. It was +sometimes, mon lapin, mon lapin dore, mon chou, ma mere--they all +sounded pleasantly to me, she spoke them so kindly. But sometimes +to vex me, the other children--Master Harry among others--used to +translate them; and, though rabbit, and golden rabbit, sounded +very well in English, I did not care to be called cabbage." + +{"mon lapin" = my rabbit; "mon chou" = my cabbage, a term of +endearment; "dore" = golden; "ma mere" = my mother (French)} + +"Did you like the young people you met in Paris, Jane?" asked +Miss Wyllys. + +"Oh, yes; the young men don't trouble you to entertain them, and +the girls are very good-natured and pleasant." + +"Louisa seems to think the French girls are charming--so +graceful, and pleasing, and modest; really accomplished, and well +educated, too, she says--all that young women ought to be." + +"Yes, she says that she hopes her little girls will be as well +educated as Madame de Bessieres' grand-daughters," said Jane. + +"Well, I hope my little namesake may answer her mother's +expectations. She is a sweet little puss now, at any rate. Louisa +was quite vexed yesterday, with Mrs. Van Horne, who asked her if +the French girls were not all artful, and hypocritical. She +answered her, that, on the contrary, those she saw the most +frequently, were modest, ingenuous, and thoroughly +well-principled in every way, besides being very accomplished. +She laid great stress on one point, the respect invariably paid +by the young to the old, not only among the women, but the men, +too." + +"Yes," observed Miss Agnes; "I remember to have heard the same +remark from Madame de Bessieres; she observed, that after having +been in many different countries, she could justly claim for her +own, that in no other was so much deference paid to age as in +France." + +"That agrees precisely with Louisa's opinion. She says it is a +striking feature in French society, and appears thoroughly part +of their character--not at all assumed for appearance sake." + +"It is a duty too little remembered in this country. It seems to +be only in our very best families that the subject is properly +attended to," said Miss Agnes. + +"Louisa likes the manners of the men for the same reason; she +says that in society they are always respectful and obliging, +whatever other agreeable or disagreeable qualities they may have. +She remarked, that she had never met with a rude Frenchman in +society; but she had, repeatedly, met with rude Englishmen, in +very good company." + +"What fault, pray, did Louisa find with the Englishmen you met, +Jane?" asked Miss Agnes. + +"There is a certain set, who say and do rude things." + +"I should not have thought that;" said Miss Wyllys. + +"Oh, they have a way of making themselves disagreeable; now, a +Frenchman never tries to be disagreeable." + +"One would think no one would try that," said Elinor. + +"The English do, though, I assure you; at least a certain set. I +don't believe any other people do. I remember one evening, Harry +was very angry with a certain Mr. Ellery, son of Lord Greystone, +who used to come to our house quite often last spring. Do you +remember him, Harry?" she added, as Hazlehurst again approached +the table covered with French knicknacks {sic}, where the girls +were sitting. + +"Whom were you talking about?" he asked. + +"Mr. Ellery;--do you remember his manner?" + +"Ellery?--To be sure I do!--Insufferable coxcomb!" + +"Pray, what was his great offence?" asked Elinor, laughing. + +Harry coloured violently. "Oh, it was his intolerable English +manner. I have known him stretch himself out nearly full length +on a sofa, on which Jane or Louisa was sitting, and stare at +them, with the most sickening expression, for half an hour at a +time." + +"Half an hour, Harry! how can you talk so? Half a minute, you +mean." + +"Well, until he drove you away, at any rate. I was often +surprised that you could endure it as long as you did. But +happily, Louisa cooled him off after a while; though I had a +strong inclination to undertake the job myself." + +"It was much better as it was; it was Louisa's place to do it," +observed Miss Agnes. + +"But I thought you liked the English," said Elinor, with some +surprise. "You were speaking very highly of several of your +English friends, last night." + +"I do like the better sort very much. They are fine, manly +fellows, as ever breathed." + +"What people did you like best?" asked Miss Agnes. + +"A man who does not cherish prejudice, must naturally like the +best qualities and the best individuals of all nations." + +"But have you no preference?" + +"There cannot be a doubt, that society is more agreeable in +France, in Paris, than elsewhere." + +"Are not the French too artificial?" + +"I honestly do not think them more so than the English. English +simplicity often has a very artificial twist; with the French it +is just the reverse; art becomes a second-nature, with them." + +"We hear the French accused of selfishness--" + +"I think you would find both French and English more selfish than +we are. But they have different ways of showing it. The +Englishman is exclusive, and reserved; the Frenchman egotistical. +Reserve may seem dignified; but it often covers a great deal of +cold self-love; while French egotism--not EGOISME--is often +mingled with much naivete and bonhommie {sic}. Both nations, +however, are more selfish than the Italians, or Germans, I should +say." + +"Still, you seem to like the French the best of the two." + +"Well, the French generally treat Americans more civilly than the +English. John Bull is very fond of giving himself airs of +superiority, after a disagreeable fashion of his own. Now a +Frenchman fancies himself so much more civilized than the rest of +the world, that he has a good-natured feeling towards everybody +but John Bull: he thinks he can afford to be amiable and +friendly." + +"If you are speaking of the best people in each country, +however," said Mr. Wyllys; "that is not the surest way of judging +national character. We must take the average." + +"I am aware of that, sir." + +"At any rate, you don't seem to have liked this Mr. Ellery," said +Elinor. + +"Not in the least; I used to think him excessively impertinent," +exclaimed Harry, and as his choler rose, while certain +recollections passed through his mind, he coloured again. To +change the subject, he took up the bag the young ladies had been +admiring. + +"What fanciful name may belong to this piece of finery; for, of +course, it is not a bag?" he asked. + +"Oh, it is too useful, not to have a straight-forward, common +name; you may call it a sac, though, if you like. I could not +think of anything more imaginative; can you, Jane?" + +"I dare say, there is another name; but I have forgotten it; +everything has a name of its own, in Paris." + +"Your table looks like a fancy-shop, Aunt Agnes," continued +Hazlehurst; "gloves, bags, purses, boxes, muslins, portfolios, +and twenty other things, jumbled together." + +"What sort of wood is the work-box that you chose for Miss +Patsey?" asked Elinor. "I am very glad you thought of her." + +"Harry does not seem to have forgotten any of his friends, while +in Paris," said Miss Agnes. + +Hazlehurst looked down. + +"It is some dark wood; not rose-wood, however. It is rather +plain; but a serviceable-looking box," he said. + +"Just the thing for Miss Patsey," observed Elinor. + +"Here, Elinor," said Jane, "is the cape I spoke of;" and she +unfolded a paper, and drew from it a piece of muslin which had +evidently received a very pretty shape, fine embroidery, and +tasteful bows of riband from some Parisian hand. "This is the one +I spoke of.--Is it not much prettier than any you have seen?" + +Elinor received the cape from her cousin, who was unusually +animated in its praises; it was held up to the light; then laid +on the table; the delicacy of the work was admired; then the +form, and the ribands; and, at last, Elinor threw it over Jane's +shoulders, observing, at the same time, that it was particularly +becoming to her. Harry seemed determined not to look; and, in +order to resist any inclination he may have felt, to do so, he +resolutely took up a Review, and began turning over its pages. +The young ladies' admiration of the cape lasted several minutes, +and, at length, Elinor called upon the rest of the party to +admire how becoming it was. + +"Well, really," exclaimed Harry, looking rather cross, probably +at being disturbed in his reading, "young ladies' love of finery +seems quite inexhaustible; it is sometimes incomprehensible to +the duller perceptions of the male sex." + +"Don't be saucy!" said Elinor. + +"Why, you can't deny the fact, that you and Jane have been doing +nothing else, all the morning, but tumble over this Paris +finery?" + +"I beg your pardon--we have been talking quite sensibly, too; +have we not, Aunt Agnes?" + +"Much as usual, I believe, my dear," replied Miss Wyllys. + +"Pray observe, that the table contains something besides finery; +here are some very good French and Italian books; but, I suppose, +Jane will say, those you selected yourself." + +"I certainly did," said Harry; "and the music, too." + +"Well, I have half a mind not to tell you, that we like the books +and the music quite as well as anything here," said Elinor, +colouring; and then, as if almost fearing that she had betrayed +her feelings, she continued, in a gay tone. "But, why are you so +severe upon us this morning?" + +"Unpalatable truth, I suppose," said Harry, shrugging his +shoulders. + +"Pray, remember, sir, that if finery be thrown away upon the +noble sex, at the present day, it was not always so. Let me refer +you to certain kings, who, not content with studying their own +dresses, have condescended to compose those of their queens, too. +Remember how many great heroes--your Turennes and +Marlboroughs--have appeared in diamonds and satin, velvet and +feathers!" + +{"Turenne" = Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne +(1611-1675), a famous French military commander; "Marlborough" = +John Churchill Marlborough, Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), a +famous British military commander} + +"But that was two hundred years ago." + +"They were heroes, nevertheless; and, I suppose, une fois +caporal, toujours caporal. But, if you prefer something nearer to +our own time, figure to yourself Horace Walpole, and General +Conway, some half-century since, consulting, in their +correspondence, upon the particular shade of satin best suited to +their complexions--whether pea-green, or white, were the most +favourable." + +{"une foi caporal...." = once a corporal, always a corporal +(French); "Walpole" = Horace Walpole (1717-1797), English author; +"Conway" = General Henry Conway (1721-1795), English general and +politician} + +Hazlehurst laughed. + +"There it is, in white and black!" said Elinor. "Just remember +Goldsmith, strutting about Temple Gardens, in his blush-coloured +satin, and fancying everybody in love with him, too!" + +{"Goldsmith" = Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1775), British author; +"Temple Gardens" = in London on the Thames River, next to The +Temple (an ancient English school of law)} + +"Quarter! quarter! Nelly," cried her grandfather, laughing. + +"True, I must confess," said Harry, smiling; "but that was more +than fifty years ago. The world has grown wiser, now." + +"Has it?" + +"Look at our sober coats, to-day--the last Paris fashions, too!" + +"Yes--but what is the reason?" cried Elinor, laughing herself. +"You have just found out that finery, and a showy exterior, are +of no use to you--they do not increase your influence with the +ladies! We do not value a man more for a showy exterior!" + +"I submit," said Harry; but he coloured, and seemed to Miss +Agnes, more embarrassed by Elinor's remark than was necessary. He +threw down his book, however, and crossed the room to take a +place near her. + +"What are you going to do this morning?" he said, quietly. + +A walk was proposed, and soon after the young people, accompanied +by Bruno, set out together. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +"Fashion, leader of a chattering train." +COWPER. + +{William Cowper (English poet, 1731-1800), "Conversation" line +457} + +MISS PATSEY'S mother was more unwell than usual; and after +breakfast the following morning, Elinor prepared a little basket +of particularly fine peaches, which she proposed carrying to Mrs. +Hubbard, herself. Harry offered to accompany her, and Jane was +persuaded to join them; although in general, she disliked every +kind of motion except dancing. + +The travellers had already seen Miss Patsey and her youngest +sister, and they were now so fortunate as to find Charlie at +home. He had come from New York, the evening before, and, of +course, was much pleased to see his young friends; indeed, he +showed so much emotion at the meeting, as to change colour when +he first saw the three cousins enter the little gate. + +"Why, Charlie, you have grown in inches; as well as in dignity, +since we parted," said Hazlehurst, shaking him warmly by the +hand. + +"I shall never arrive at any great elevation either way," replied +the youth, after shaking hands also with Jane. + +"I don't know that; you have grown half a foot since I saw you, +and you have done wonders I hear, as a painter. Mr. Wyllys, and +Elinor, are both great admirers of your pictures." + +"Wonders are comparative, you know; I believe I have accomplished +more, for instance, than my mother anticipated, for she thought I +was going to devote myself to signs and window-blinds." + +{"window-blinds" = window shades were at this time frequently +decorated with hand painted pictures} + +"That is your account of the matter. But don't suppose I have not +learned that Mr. Charles Hubbard is looked upon as one of our +most promising young artists, and that several of his pictures +are thought the best of their kind that have been painted this +side the Atlantic." + +"You are very much improved in flattery by a visit to Paris," +said Charlie, smiling. + +"Only sober truth, as you must well know, Mr. Charles Hubbard. I +hope you have something here for us to look at; I am really very +impatient to see some of your pictures. I wish you could have +enjoyed half the fine works of art that I have seen in the last +two years." + +Hubbard replied that he had strong hopes of going abroad himself +before long, thanks to the liberality of his uncle, and the +promise of several orders from different gentlemen. Harry +congratulated him warmly, though he regretted that Charlie should +think of leaving home just as he himself returned. + +The young 1adies paid their visit to Mrs. Hubbard in her +bed-room, while Harry and Charlie talked over a hundred different +things together; and after engaging Charles to dine at +Wyllys-Roof, they walked home again. + +"Miss Patsey's parlour really looks neater and smaller than +ever," observed Harry. "And I don't think I have seen such an +honest, good-natured, pleasant face as her's, since I left +Longbridge. She seems satisfied now, with the idea of Charlie's +being an artist." + +"She is resigned to it, rather," said Elinor, "now that the +matter is entirely settled." + +"Charlie looks pale," observed Harry; "he has grown though, and +he is no longer so very slight as he used to be." + +"He seems to be well," replied Elinor; "but at times his spirits +are not good. He has been much interested in your +movements--quite anxious about your return." + +"Charlie is a right good fellow," said Harry; "I was in hopes to +see a great deal of him, this winter." At this moment Jane +dropped a glove; of course Harry picked it up, and he continued +silent after doing so. + +"There, you see, is Mr. Taylor's new house," observed Elinor, as +an opening in a grove of young trees allowed a full view of a +house of some size, and very great pretensions. + +Jane looked at the home of her friend Adeline with +interest--Harry exclaimed, "What architecture!" + +"Don't abuse it," said Elinor, "for I assure you 'Mr. Taylor's +splendid mansion'--'Mr. Taylor's magnificent seat' is very much +admired." + +Just as the party reached the piazza of Wyllys-Roof, Mr. Taylor's +barouche drove up to the door, and in an instant Miss Adeline +Taylor had thrown herself, and her fashionable morning-dress, +into Jane's arms. + +"I was so glad to find you were staying here!" she exclaimed. "Pa +and I only arrived from Saratoga last night; I did not expect you +for a month to come." + +"We had a very short passage for the season," said Jane, +returning the embrace quite cordially. + +"We seem to have taken all our friends rather by surprise, Miss +Taylor," said Harry. + +"Well, if I had been in your place, I should have staid in Paris +till the last minute;--though, I dare say, YOU were in a hurry to +get back to Longbridge, Mr. Hazlehurst; no doubt you wanted to +see ME very much. Put I wonder that Jane did not contrive to stay +there." + +Harry looked a little embarrassed, and Jane, too, coloured a +little; though there seemed to be no very good reason that either +should do so. + +"Did you find Saratoga pleasant, this summer, Miss Taylor?" asked +Elinor, drawing a chair near the bench where the two friends were +sitting, hand in hand. + +"Oh, delightful!--Every house full, from the cellar to the +garret. How often I wished for you, Jane! if it was only earlier +in the season I would make pa take us there again, just for the +pleasure of showing off your new French fashions--you would be +the greatest belle of the season." + +"We need not inquire who was the belle," said Elinor; "such +important news reaches even sober, home-staying people like us." + +"Oh, we had half a dozen belles--all lively, pretty girls. There +was a young gentleman, from Savannah, at Congress Hall, who wrote +some verses about us, and called us the 'Chime of Bells;' it was +a sort of imitation of 'Those Evening Bells,' and was published +in the Saratoga papers. But if Jane had been there, I don't think +we should have stood much chance." + +{"Those Evening Bells," popular song by the Irish poet Thomas +Moore (1779-1852), arranged by Sir John Stevenson (1761-1833)} + +"You think the poet would have rung a bob-major, for Jane?" + +"Certainly; with her trunks full of things from Paris, she would +have carried all before her." + +"I don't think Jane has brought a very large share of finery with +her," said Elinor. + +"No, indeed," said Harry; "only five trunks and three boxes, +which I had the honour of getting through the Custom-House." + +"But part of it was for her friends," said Elinor. + +"You would have needed a large supply, I can tell you, Jane," +said Miss Adeline, "if you had wanted to out-dash us; for we +determined this season, some half-dozen of us, to out-do the +young ladies who were there last year." + +"Did you succeed?" said Hazlehurst. + +"To be sure we did. We made a firm resolve not only to change our +dress six times every day, but never to wear the same dress +twice. We drove several families away by that manoeuvre; but you +have no idea what fun it was to us, who entered into the spirit +of the thing. For two days, though, we were in great trepidation. +There were a couple of Baltimore girls there, great dashers, who +would not enter into our agreement; and the spiteful things +actually changed their dress seven times, the two first days." + +"Seven changes!" said Elinor; "how did they manage that?" + +"Why, they came down to breakfast in a white dress; after +breakfast they would drive in another, of course; then they would +show themselves in the drawing-room, after driving, in a pink +muslin, perhaps; at dinner, they wore another; then after dinner, +they would change again; in the evening they wore party-dresses, +of course; and after they went up stairs, they would visit each +other in what they called dress night-wrappers. Now, wasn't it +mean in them?" + +"Very," said Harry, laughing. + +"To be sure it was. Changing six times was no more than was +necessary; all we 'evening bells' did, was never to wear the same +dress twice. Would you believe it, after putting such a bold face +on the matter, the third day they disappeared suddenly! We had a +good crow, I can tell you. There was a poor little innocent +there, at the same time, from Boston, who tried to beat us on +another tack, as Lieut. Johnson said; they called her the +blue-bell. Well, she never changed her dress, morning, noon, or +night--and just to spite us. But, dear me, we only laughed--we +didn't care a fig for her; although she was very pretty, she +couldn't get a man to speak to her, excepting one old fossil +Professor, who wore spectacles, and walked up and down with her +on the piazza all the time." + +{"Lieut. Johnson" = not identified} + +"She was no worthy rival for the Chime of Bells!" said Harry. + +"Certainly not. But I can tell you, that after we had been there +a week, two of the Chime were in great danger, and one of them no +less a person than your humble servant; the other was Anne +Hunter--Jane, you remember Anne Hunter, who was at Mrs. G-----'s +with us? Well, Anne and I were in great trouble, one day. Now, +Mr. Hazlehurst, I hope you can keep a secret." + +"A lady's secret?--Can you doubt me, Miss Taylor?" + +"Well, mind now, you never mention it; but, Anne and I got down +to our last dozen dresses, and we were pledged to stay a week +longer. This was Monday, and on Thursday there was to be a +pic-nic, given expressly to the Chime of Bells. At first, I +thought I was the only one in such a deplorable state; but, +happily, I discovered that Anne, whose room was next to mine, was +no better off. And now, how do you suppose we managed?" + +"Pray, what did you do?" said Elinor, laughing. + +"To tell the truth, I sat down and cried; for I am high-spirited, +and I could not bear the thoughts of such a mortification. But +Anne is an excellent manager, you know, Jane--" + +"Yes, I remember her." + +"Anne had a plan that carried all off triumphantly. She proposed +to me, to persuade the other three 'evening bells,' that to do +honour to the pic-nic, we should be dressed alike, in a sort of +uniform. Well, of course, the others agreed; but then, how to +find the five dresses alike! Of course, we couldn't wear anything +made in Saratoga. The poet had entreated us, in a sonnet, to be +all dressed in white; so we fixed upon white batiste--but, how to +get them, was the question." + +"I am all curiosity--" said Elinor. + +"Oh! it was beautifully done,--Anne proposed we should all write +an advertisement for a trusty escort to New York, and post it up +on the curtains of the ladies' drawing-room. What fun we had, +while we were writing the advertisements! We took an opportunity, +when we and our beaux had the drawing-room to ourselves, to vote +the gentlemen out of it. After a while, they went; but, what do +you suppose the wretches did, Mr. Hazlehurst?" + +"Nothing ungallant, I trust." + +"Yes; to spite us, they crowded to the windows on the piazza, +till we dropped the blinds. Well, for a time, we thought we were +safe; but suddenly Anne Hunter shouted out, and there comfortably +seated in a tree close to the end window, where the blind was +broken, we saw one of the young gentlemen with a note-book in his +hand! We vowed we wouldn't be defeated, so we pinned up our +pocket-handkerchiefs together, and, fortunately, they covered the +peep-hole; and so we shut him out, at last." + +"Your perseverance, under such obstacles, was truly surprising, +Miss Taylor;" said Hazlehurst. + +"Was it not? We soon wrote our advertisements. Mine was very +short: 'Wanted, an agreeable youth, as escort between this and +New York, apply this evening, at five o'clock.' Some were very +long and ridiculous; one was in verse. Well, after we had written +them, we opened the doors and windows, and the young gentlemen +flocked in again. Then we went in procession, and pinned them up +on the curtains. Such a time as we had--talking and giggling--we +were in such a gale, that, at last, some of the married ladies +came out to see what was the matter. But, the best fun of all, +was choosing our escorts; a great many offered, and then we +examined them." + +"I hope they had suitable qualifications for the office." + +"Oh, yes.--I took Mr. Hunter, Anne's brother. Well, sure enough, +we all set out together, the next morning; staid one day in the +city; and, Thursday morning, we re-appeared with the dresses. Of +course, Anne and I had taken the opportunity to get a fresh +supply, besides the white batiste. We had a most delightful +pic-nic. I forgot to say, that Anne's escort, the Marquis +Foletti, was missing; she had to do without him--she gave him up +for lost, or absconded, and we allowed her to choose another +beau--when suddenly, just as we were mourning over the Marquis, +he appeared on the ground, and threw himself on his knees, and +made us laugh more than ever. Anne had chosen him, because he had +the handsomest moustaches at Saratoga; but he could not speak +English very well, and had got on board the wrong boat. What +times we had! Jane, I wish you had been there!" + +"Your faithful esquires were rewarded, no doubt, by the gallantry +of the deed itself, Miss Taylor," said Harry. + +"Of course; but we nevertheless gave them, besides, full +permission to say and do just what they pleased, all that +day--and you can't think how much nonsense we talked. Each +gentleman took the advertisement of the lady he had escorted, and +pinned it over his heart. There were several foreigners there, +and you can't think how they enjoyed it; they had never had such +a frolic with young ladies before, and they thought it +delightful; though, to be sure, they got at last to be rather too +free; and then we had to put a stop to it." + +Elinor looked at Jane, to see if she seemed to sympathize in +Adeline's story; but her cousin's beautiful face was still bright +with the glow of pleasure from meeting her friend; no other +thought or feeling was to be traced there. + +"I don't believe they have any such fun in Paris, Mr. +Hazlehurst." + +"Not exactly.--They have a pleasantry of their own, however, +which is quite agreeable." + +"I don't think I should like it. They say, a young lady dares not +speak to gentlemen, nor walk with them, nor have the least bit of +a flirtation. How stupid it must be!" + +"But the French girls do talk to gentlemen, I assure you," +replied Jane, "only they are not intimate with everybody. The +young men are very attentive, too; they treat young girls with +much more respect, Louisa says, than in America." + +"Who cares for respect! I want to laugh and amuse myself, and +have my own way," exclaimed Adeline. + +"It is growing quite warm here--you will find it pleasanter in +the drawing-room, Miss Taylor;" said Elinor, not caring to listen +any longer to Jane's giddy friend. + +"Well, if you please, I'll run up to Jane s room, and look at the +fashions--I am dying to see some of her capes and collars. +By-the-bye, I had forgotten two very important things. Here is a +note for your aunt, Miss Elinor; some private communication from +Ma; the coachman will take the answer. And then, I came over to +ask you all to drink tea with us, this evening, very sociably; +nobody but your own family and three or four friends!" + +The invitation was accepted, as a matter of course. + +"Good morning, Mr. Hazlehurst; I expect to be shut up with Jane, +for three hours to come; I have really talked myself out of +breath; but that is always the way, with me, as you know, of +old." And the two girls, hand-in-hand, ran lightly up stairs, +where Elinor, making an excuse of Mrs. Taylor's note, left them +to a confidential tete-a-tete. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +"A soldier may be anything, if brave; +So may a merchant if not quite a knave." +COWPER. + +"Trade his delight and hope; and, if alive, +Doubt I have none, that Barnaby will thrive." +CRABBE. + +{William Cowper (English poet, 1731-1800), "Hope" lines 201-210. +George Crabbe (English poet, 1754-1832), "Posthumous Tales: VIII +Barnaby; the Shopman" lines II.3-4} + +WE have really been very remiss in omitting so long to notice the +rapid strides with which Mr. Pompey Taylor had advanced on the +road to fame and fortune, during the two years in which we have +lost sight of him. He might have addressed, to the reader, the +remark that the Emperor Napoleon applied to his secretary, after +the conquest of Prussia and Austria: "J'ai fait des progres +immenses depuis que Bourienne {sic} m'a quitte!" + +{"J'ai fait des..." = I have made immense progress since +Bourienne left me! Louis-Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne +(1769-1834) was a French diplomat who served as Napoleon's +private secretary during his invasion of Egypt} + +It is a rule, in composition, it was so, at least, when people +wrote by rule, to compare the little with the great. If we were +to follow the direction, it would be easy to prove that these two +individuals, the conqueror, Napoleon, and the speculator, Taylor, +were not too widely separated for many points of resemblance to +be traced between them. Ambition was the ruling passion of both; +and both were alike insatiable. Bonaparte added kingdom to +kingdom; Taylor, house to house; the emperor might believe +himself equal to ruling half the world; the merchant felt capable +of owning the other half. The one raised army after army; the +other fitted out vessel after vessel. The energies of both were +inexhaustible, and both aimed at an ever-receding goal; while +each, in his own way, soon reached a height never dreamed of by +the mothers who rocked their cradles. Nor would it be justice to +Mr. Taylor, to suppose, that the love of money, alone, was the +main-spring of his actions; he, too, was spurred on by the love +of glory; dollars and cents were not the end, with him; he looked +upon his thousands, in gold and paper, as Napoleon did upon his +thousands in flesh and blood--they were but the instruments which +were to open the road to fame. The man of commerce, and the man +of war, were alike lavish of their treasures, when the object of +their lives was in view. If one was the boldest of generals, the +other was the most enterprising of merchants; and Fortune +favoured the daring of both. In short, Mr. Taylor was no common, +plodding trader, content with moderate gains and safe +investments, and fixing his hopes on probabilities--he pursued +traffic with the passion of a gambler, united to the close +calculation of a miser; and yet, he spent freely what he had +acquired easily. + +There are merchants, who, by their education, their integrity, +their talents and their liberality, are an honour to the +profession; but Mr. Pompey Taylor was not of the number. We have +all heard the anecdote of the young man addicted to the sin of +swearing, whose conversation, during dinner, was taken down in +short-hand, and, when read afterwards, shocked the individual +himself. Could the thoughts and words of Mr. Taylor, during a +single day, have been as fairly registered, perhaps he himself +would have been astonished to find how very large a portion of +them were given to gain and speculation, in some shape or other. +At social meetings, whether dinners or evening parties, he seldom +talked long on any other subject: he has been known to utter the +word 'stocks,' just as he entered a church, on Sunday; while a +question about certain lots was the first sentence which passed +his lips, as he crossed the threshold on his way out. Eating his +meals under his own roof; walking down Broadway to Wall-Street, +every morning, at nine o'clock, and back again every afternoon at +three; still the echo of Mr. Taylor's thoughts and words was +'dollars,' 'stocks,' and 'lots'--' lots,' 'stocks,' and +'dollars.' He had a value for everything in dollars--his jokes +turned upon stocks--and his dreams were filled with lots. Let it +not be supposed, however, that Mr. Pompey Taylor was born with +the phrenological organ of the love of money more strongly +developed than other human beings. By no means. He was endowed by +nature with faculties and feelings as varied as other men. But, +from the time he could first walk and talk, precept and example +had gradually turned all his faculties in one direction; for, +such had been the opinions and views of his father and elder +brothers; and there was no other impulse in his nature or +education, sufficiently strong to give a different bent to his +energies. Under other circumstances, Pompey Taylor might have +been a quick-witted lawyer, a supple politician, a daring +soldier, or, with a different moral training, he might have been +something far superior to either; but the field of commerce was +the only one that opened to him, at his entrance into life; and +it was too well adapted to the man, such as nature and education +had made him, to be neglected. He found full scope, in such a +sphere, for all his energies of body and mind--he delighted in +its labours and its rewards. + +{"phrenological" = from the pseudo-science of phrenology, which +interpreted character by feeling the bulges on the human head} + +Mr. Taylor had forgotten, if he had ever known the fact, that the +best pleasures of this world even, are those which money cannot +purchase, the severest wants those which it cannot supply. He had +no conception of any consideration equal to that which riches +give. Beauty unadorned was no beauty in his eyes; and he chiefly +valued talent as a means of making good investments and wily +speculations. He looked upon Science as the hand-maiden of +Commerce; Armies and Navies existed only to defend a nation's +wealth, not its liberties, or its honour. The seat of his +patriotism was in his pocket; and the only internal improvement +in which he was interested, was that which opened new facilities +for acquiring money. It is surprising how totally such a mind +becomes unfitted to enjoy and admire any great or noble quality +in the abstract; in spite of a quick wit and keen organs, such +men become the most one-sided beings, perhaps, in the whole human +family. To moral beauty Mr. Taylor seemed quite blind; his mental +vision resembled the physical sight of those individuals whose +eyes, though perfect in every other respect, are incapable of +receiving any impression of an object tinged with blue--the +colour of the heavens. Even the few ideas he had upon religious +subjects partook of the character of loss and gain; the simple +spirit of true piety could never enter into a mind in the state +of his. And yet, Mr. Taylor was looked upon as a happy man. +Fortunate he certainly was, for wealth and luxury had risen +around him almost as readily as if possessed of Aladdin's lamp. +Had he been actually in possession of this gift of the genii, he +could scarcely have found a wish to gratify, as money had already +provided him with all it can supply in this country, and the +pursuit of wealth itself was his delight. Deprived of this, +Othello's occupation were gone. + +{"Othello's occupation were gone" = William Shakespeare, +"Othello", III.iii.358} + +Justice to Mr. Taylor would require that we should follow him to +the counting-house, for it was there that he appeared in the most +brilliant light. His talents were undoubted; his sagacity, his +skill, and his daring were great; and his undertakings were +generally successful. Thus far all appeared very well; but those +who looked closer into the matter would have found that his +integrity was anything but unimpeachable, his love of money far +surpassing his love of truth and justice. This part of his career +must be left, however, to other hands; it is only what he was in +social and domestic life, that the merchant appears among our +Longbridge friends. + +The first few months after he had removed to New York, the utmost +extent of Mr. Taylor's ambitious dreams had been the possession +of a brick house in Broadway, on a lot of ground twenty-three +feet by seventy. According to the favourite rule of New York +architecture, the rule of three, the building was to be three +stories high, and three windows wide. But the end of the first +ninety days in Wall-Street, brought an accession of several +thousands, and the brilliant promise of so many more, that this +plan was enlarged several inches each way. As every succeeding +season brought an increase of wealth and ambition, the projected +dwelling grew at last to be taller and broader by several feet, +until, at length, it had reached the limits which magnificence +usually attains on the island of Manhattan. Had Mr. Taylor built +his house in Philadelphia, or almost any other American town, he +might have laid rather a broader foundation for his habitation; +but New York houses, as a rule, are the narrowest and the tallest +in the land. Some of those three-story dwellings, however, +whatever may be their architectural defects, contain inmates who +are as much to be desired for friends as any others in the world. +But to return to Mr. Taylor's new house; we have said that it was +one of the proud few which could boast its four stories and its +four windows. He was perfectly satisfied with the result when +finished, for his house from the garret to the cellar was a +faithful copy of one opposite to him, which had been built some +months earlier, and was pronounced the house of the season. + +The American people may have been perfectly original in their +constitution, but in most other respects they are particularly +imitative. An observer, at a first glance, wonders that so much +cleverness should be wasted in mere imitation; but it is, after +all, the simple result of the position of the country. An +intelligent people, we are furnished by books with more ideas +than we have models on which to shape them. In an old state of +society, there is always a class who labour after originality, +and are proud to be called eccentric; but a young nation, cut off +from the rest of the civilized world, must necessarily be +imitative in its character until it has arrived at maturity. This +spirit of imitation, to a certain extent an advantage, is, to be +sure, often carried to a laughable extent when it loses sight of +common sense. People seem to forget the fact that propriety must +always be the first step to true elegance. As a proof of it, we +see men who appear to have consulted their neighbours' tastes, +habits, and means, instead of their own, in building the house +they themselves are to inhabit; like Mr. Taylor, without any very +good reason, they imitate their opposite neighbour. Again, it is +surprising to see what time and toil are spent in following every +variation of fashion in dress, by many women who certainly can +ill afford it; we do not mean fashion in its general outlines, +but in its most trifling details. If one could watch the progress +of an idle fancy of this nature, from the moment it springs from +the caprice of some European elegante, with more time and money +than she knows how to throw away, until it becomes a necessity to +an American housemaid, earning a dollar a week--we have no doubt +the period would be found surprisingly short. + +{"elegante" = a fashionable lady (French)} + +The habit of imitation just alluded to, is more striking perhaps +in architecture than in anything else, for in that shape it is +always before our eyes; and no place in the country is more +marked with it than New York. In no town in he world are there as +many dwellings so much alike; and this fact is not the result of +necessity, or of any plan of architectural unity--it is not that +the plan first hit upon proved to be the most rational, or best +suited to the spot and its inhabitants--but it is chiefly the +consequence of a spirit of imitation. + +To return to our story: this new house of Mr. Taylor, this +successful imitation of his opposite neighbour, had been opened +the first of May, the general moving day in New York. It was +fitted up in the richest manner, young Taylor having received +carte blanche from his father to purchase handsome furniture in +Paris. Rosewood and satin, gilt bronzes and Sevres vases, were +all of the best kind--and Mr. Taylor was perfectly satisfied with +the effect of his two drawing-rooms. It was determined they +should be shown off during the following winter, by a succession +of dinners and parties. He had already tried his hand at +entertaining; after having eaten a dozen great dinners with +different commercial notabilities, he had given one himself just +before leaving town. The affair, a man-dinner, of course, had +gone off brilliantly--thanks to his beautiful porcelaine de +Sevres, his candelabras and his epergnes, his English plate and +English glass; all of which showed off to great advantage the +best of the good things abounding in the New York market, cooked +by a Frenchman, and washed down by wines from the most famous +vineyards of France, Germany, and Spain. His entertainment was +pronounced as handsome as any given that winter in town; and Mr. +Taylor determined that it should be only the first of a long +series. + +{"general moving day" = in New York City, at this time, leases +for the rental of houses generally expired on May 1; "porcelaine +de Sevres" = expensive chinaware from the French town of Sevres; +"epergne" = an elaborate bowl used as a table centerpiece +(French)} + +His country-house rivalled his establishment in town. By his +first plan, he had intended that it should equal that of Mr. +Hubbard, at Longbridge; but eighteen months had made a material +change in his affairs, which produced corresponding alterations +in the building. First one large wing was added, then another; +Mr. Hubbard's house had but one Corinthian portico, Mr. Taylor's +had two. He was born in a house which had been painted only on +one front, and he was now of the opinion of the old tar, who +purchased a handsome jacket like his commanding officer, but +ordered the back as well as the front to be made of satin, and +meeting the admiral, pulled up his coat-tails to show that there +was "no sham." Mr. Taylor could not outdo the plate-glass, and +mahogany doors of Mr. Hubbard's house, but he had great +satisfaction in showing him his portico on the south front, and +in proving there was no sham. When the wings were added, they +were completely surrounded on three sides by a colonnade. Mr. +Taylor having happened, just at the moment, to make thirty +thousand dollars by one successful speculation, he sent orders to +the master-builder for a double set of columns; and as a +consequence, the colonnade was so very conspicuous that it became +the pride of the neighbourhood. Mr. Taylor, himself, was so much +struck with the first view, when completed, that he decided to +name the place "Colonnade Manor." There is no accounting for +taste in names, we suppose, any more than in other matters. Like +No. five hundred and ----- Broadway, Colonnade Manor was +furnished with rosewood and satin from Paris. + +Mrs. Taylor, good soul, entered very little into the spirit of +this magnificence. She still sat in her nursery with her younger +children as much as possible, darning all the stockings of the +family; an occupation which Adeline thought very ungenteel, for +she never condescended to use her needle at all. To make Mrs. +Taylor a fine lady had been one of the least successful of Mr. +Taylor's efforts; she was much too honest by nature to assume a +character for which she was so little qualified. There was but +one way in which she could succeed in interesting herself in all +the parade which gratified Mr. Taylor's taste; she found it gave +pleasure to her husband and children, and she endeavoured to make +the best of it. She wore the fine dresses purchased for her by +Adeline, and drove out once in a while in her handsome carriage, +to pay at least a few of the many visits urged by Mr. Taylor. +Among the new acquaintances she had made in the last ten years, +there were few Mrs. Taylor liked as well as Miss Wyllys; and Miss +Agnes, in her turn, respected all that was honest and +straight-forward in the character of her new neighbour; indeed, +the whole family at Wyllys-Roof very much preferred her to the +more pretending husband and daughter. The note, of which Adeline +was the bearer, was an application to Miss Wyllys for advice in +some domestic difficulty. It ran as follows: + +"MY DEAR MISS WYLLYS:-- + +"You have been so kind to me, ever since we moved into your +neighbourhood, that I hope you will excuse me for asking your +assistance, this morning. I have been a good deal plagued in my +kitchen ever since we came into the country this spring. My cook +and chamber-maid, who are sisters, are always finding some excuse +for wanting to go to the city; and last night they got a letter, +or pretended to get one from New York, saying that their father +was very sick; and as I didn't know but it might be true, I +couldn't refuse them, and they have gone for a week--though I +won't be sure it was not for a mere frolic. As it happened, Mr. +Taylor and Adeline came back from Saratoga, last night, and +brought a house-full of company with them; an old friend of mine +whom I had not seen for years, and some new acquaintances of +Adeline's. To make matters worse, my nurse, a faithful, good +girl, who has lived with me for years, was taken sick this +morning; and John, the waiter, had a quarrel with the coachman, +and went off in a huff. You know such things always come +together. So I have now only the coachman and his daughter, a +little girl of twelve, in the house; happily they are both +willing, and can do a little of everything. If you know of +anybody that I can find to take the place of cook, or housemaid, +I shall be truly obliged to you for giving the coachman their +names and directions. + +"Adeline is to have a little party this evening; she met several +of our Longbridge friends on board the boat yesterday, and took +that opportunity of asking them, as she is very anxious to make +the house pleasant to her company. I dare say she has already +invited all your family, and I shall be very sorry if you are not +able to come, for we always miss you more than any others of our +neighbours. + +"Hoping you will excuse the trouble I give you, I remain, dear +Madam, + +"Very respectfully and truly yours, + +"HESTER TAYLOR." + +Miss Wyllys had no sooner read the note, than, full of sympathy +for Mrs. Taylor's difficulties, she held a consultation with her +female factotum, Elinor's nurse, or Mammy as she was called. All +the men, women, and children in the neighbourhood, who might +possibly possess some qualifications for the duties of cook, +chamber-maid, or footman, were run over in Miss Agnes' mind; and +she succeeded at last, by including one superannuated old woman, +and another child of ten, in making out a list of some dozen +names for her neighbour's benefit. The whole morning was spent by +the coachman, scouring the country with the Taylor barouche and +horses--for no time was to be spent in changing harness--in +pursuit of Dianthy This, and Araminty That. Mrs. Taylor, of +course, awaited his return with trembling anxiety; the Saratoga +party had gone off to fish, escorted by Mr. Taylor and a younger +daughter; Adeline having taken that opportunity to go to see +Jane, excusing herself from accompanying the fishing set, on +account of the arrival of this very intimate friend of hers. The +mistress of the house, after having administered a dose of +medicine to the sick nurse, and sent the little girl of twelve to +make the beds and sweep, gave one melancholy look at things in +the kitchen, and then remembered that she could no longer leave +this particular old friend of her's alone in the drawing-room. +While talking over past times, Mrs. Taylor chose a rocking-chair +commanding a view of the approach to the house: just at the +moment when she began to fear the horses had run away, killed the +coachman, and broken the carriage, she saw the barouche driving +up the avenue, but, alas, sans cook! She kept her seat +womanfully, and heard out the end of a long story which the old +friend was relating about a family of relations. But at length +Mrs. Taylor found that the moment for action had come; and giving +her friend the choice of her own knitting-work, or a walk in the +garden with her youngest child, a pretty prattling little boy, +she excused herself for a few moments, under pretext of looking +after the sick nurse. The old friend was quite a talkative +person, and one to whom a listener was very necessary; she +preferred the little boy to the knitting-work, and set out to +look at-the garden. + +Mrs. Taylor instantly disappeared in the direction of the +kitchen. + +"Well, John!" + +"Well, marm, I couldn't pick up nobody, for love or money." + +"Didn't Miss Wyllys know of any one in the neighbourhood?" + +"Yes, marm; I have got a list here; but some of 'em had got +places already; there was two that was sick; one, Araminty +Carpenter, I guess, would have suited Mrs. Taylor very well, for, +I know the young woman's father; but she has gone over to +Longbridge, to work at the Union Hotel, for a week. There was one +name written so I couldn't make it out; and two of 'em I couldn't +find; folks couldn't tell me where they lived. There is a young +thing down at the Mill, who looks handy, but doesn't know +anything of cooking; but, I engaged her to come to-morrow, and +Mrs. Taylor can see if she suits." + +"Why didn't you bring her with you at once, John?" + +"She couldn't come, no ways, till to-morrow; she was washing; +and, if she left the work, there was no one to do it." + +Let it not be supposed that Mrs. Taylor sunk under these +difficulties. The fishing-party returned; and, by means known +only to herself, the coachman, and the little girl of twelve, a +dinner, much as usual, was provided for her guests, who were left +in happy ignorance of the desertion in the kitchen. + +It must be surprising, to those unaccustomed to such things, to +observe with what courage and cheerfulness the mistress of an +American family encounters the peculiar evils of her lot--evils +undreamt of by persons in the same station in any other part of +the world. Her energies seem to rise with the obstacles that call +them out; she is full of expedients--full of activity; and, +unless fairly worn out by exertion for which she has not the +physical strength, always manages to keep up appearances, and +provide for the comfort of her household, until her troubles are +surmounted, for the time being, and she gathers strength, in a +moment of respite, for fresh difficulties, when they present +themselves. Even her husband and sons are seldom aware of her +toils and vexations. Many people are ignorant of the number of +virtues that are included, at such moments, in that of +hospitality; could a plain, unvarnished account, be made out, of +the difficulties surmounted, at some time or other, by most +American matrons, the world would wonder at their fortitude and +perseverance. Not that difficulties like those of our friend, +Mrs. Taylor, are of constant duration, but they occur oftener +than the uninitiated are aware of. Yet even obstacles like these +seem never to interfere with that constant intercourse, from +tea-parties to visits of weeks, which are exchanged between all +American families and their friends. But then no people in the +world are more truly hospitable--none are more social in their +feelings, than the inhabitants of these United States. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +"Come, come; deal justly with me; come, +Come; nay, speak!" +Hamlet. + +"Madam, the guests are come, supper served up, you called, my +young lady asked for, the nurse cursed in the pantry, and +everything in extremity." +Romeo and Juliet. + +{William Shakespeare, "Hamlet", II.ii.275-276; "Romeo and +Juliet", I.iii.100-102} + +OF course, nothing interfered with the party at Colonnade Manor. +Thanks to Mrs. Taylor, the coachman and the little girl of +twelve--quite a womanly, precocious, little thing, +by-the-way--all went off very well. Some curious person, +uninitiated in similar domestic mysteries, may wish to know how +things were managed at such a trying crisis. Well, in the first +place, Mrs. Taylor congratulated herself that her guests had been +asked to 'spend the evening,' and not invited 'to tea.' This was +a piece of good luck, which diminished her cares, and prevented +the deep mortification she must have felt had the tea and coffee +been cold. The coachman, of course, officiated as footman; a duty +to which he was already somewhat accustomed. The little girl of +twelve began the evening as ladies'-maid, appearing in the +dressing-room in that capacity, helping the ladies to take off +their shawls and smooth the folds of their dresses, before they +made their entrance in the drawing-rooms. The company soon +collected--about fifty or sixty persons, altogether--and in party +dress; each having been invited quite sociably, by Miss Adeline. +They were not at all surprised to see each other, however, for +they had often already practised the same agreeable deception, +themselves. The company once assembled, the little girl of twelve +rolled up her sleeves, and took her station in the pantry, where +she replenished the cake-baskets, the lemonade and +sangaree-glasses handed about by her father, the coachman. A +supper table was already spread in the dining-room; it had been +very prettily ornamented with flowers by Adeline, and her +Saratoga friends; and a plentiful supply of fruits, ices, +jellies, syllabubs, creams, and other delicacies for a light +supper, had been prepared, in the course of the morning, by Mrs. +Taylor and her coadjutors, the coachman and the little girl of +twelve. The talkative old friend had been admitted behind the +scenes so far, as to learn that the mistress of the house would +be obliged to make all the good things herself; and she had shown +that, besides telling a long story, she could make very excellent +sponge-cake; for, unfortunately, it was discovered that it would +be necessary to increase the supply of that delicacy. Adeline did +her share; while her Saratoga friends were taking a morning +siesta, with a novel in their hands, she had made the syllabub, +and prepared the fruit. These arrangements having been made, the +little girl of twelve had received orders to station herself near +at hand, where she could be sent of {sic} errands up and down +stairs. The coachman was told to take his place by the +side-table, ready to be called upon, if necessary. Mrs. Taylor +herself--alas! that we should be obliged to reveal the fact, +expected to slip out of the drawing-room at about half-past ten, +and superintend the delicate operation of removing the jellies +from their moulds; this would require ten minutes to do, and she +hoped to make her exit and ingress unnoticed; a matter easily +managed, in summer, when the doors and windows are all open, and +couples arm-in-arm, are loitering about, in and out in all +directions. This task performed, when she had returned to the +public notice, some ten minutes after having seen everything in +its place, the coachman was expected to appear at the +drawing-room door, with composed manner, to announce that supper +was ready--a fact she was prepared to hear with the expression of +sublime indifference, required by etiquette. From that moment, +everything would become easy; for, of course, the gentlemen +would, as usual, take care of the ladies first, and then help +themselves. The gallant way in which these light, standing +suppers are always managed, among us, is, by-the-bye, a pleasant +and sensible arrangement; nothing better could be devised, under +the circumstances. The plan of operations thus sketched, we may +as well say, at once, that everything succeeded to admiration. + +{"sangaree" = a cold drink of flavored, diluted wine; "syllabub" += a drink of milk and wine} + +The evening was pronounced very pleasant; and, as several of our +friends were present, we shall follow them. There was a great +deal of talking and laughing; a reasonable quantity of +flirtation; and, once or twice, some romping in the corner of the +room where Miss Adeline happened to be at the time. Among those +who had excused themselves from accepting the invitation, were +Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst, who disliked the idea of going so +far, and Mr. and Mrs. Graham, the lady being detained at home by +a headach {sic}, the gentleman by a particular dislike to Mr. +Taylor, who, he thought, had behaved in an ungentlemanly manner +about a mortgage, in which they both happened to be interested. +Mr. Graham was a man of a violent temper, and unsocial habits, +generally taking little pains to conceal his feelings; and +accordingly, his manner to Mr. Taylor was anything but +flattering, though their acquaintance, at best, was but trifling. +Mrs. Graham also disliked the whole family; and yet the intimacy +between Jane and Adeline was allowed to continue, as a sort of +matter of course, between school companions. + +Miss Wyllys accompanied her niece to the party--she generally +made it a point to go with Elinor; for, she had old-fashioned +notions on the subject, and thought that the presence of their +elders was an advantage and a protection that well-educated young +girls have a right to expect from their friends. She seldom spoke +on the matter, however, but contented herself with giving, what +she thought, a good example. Both Miss Agnes and Elinor were +rather surprised to find that Jane's partiality for her giddy +friend Adeline, had not been in the least diminished, by her +visit to Europe. Miss Wyllys disapproved of the intimacy; but, as +Jane's mother had no objections, she herself could say nothing. +The two young ladies were a great deal together, in the course of +the evening, as became bosom-friends after a long separation. +Mrs. Taylor's old friend, the talkative lady, was introduced to +several of the elder portion of the company, and was thus happily +provided with listeners. Miss Adeline's fashionable acquaintances +from Saratoga, were also supplied, each with a couple of +attendant beaux, upon whom to try the effect of their charms. +Everything thus happily arranged, Miss Adeline proposed a 'march' +which was managed as usual. Young Van Horne, who had some musical +capabilities, was placed at the piano, and played Washington's +March, when the young people paired off in a line, and began to +walk, moving in time up and down the two drawing-rooms, through +the folding-doors--each gentleman, of course, offering his arm to +a lady; chaque chacun, avec sa chacune. Adeline was not quite +satisfied with her cavalier, Charlie Hubbard; she did not care +much about him, at any time; and, on the present occasion, he +seemed less interested in listening to her own conversation, than +in watching the movements of some one else; who it was, she could +not say. She reproached him with this inattention. + +{"chaque chacun, avec sa chacune" = each one with his own +(French)} + +"I declare, I don't believe you hear half I say. I never saw +anybody like you." + +"Charlie blushed a little, rallied, and devoted himself more +exclusively to the duty of being entertained. After the second or +third turn in the march, Adeline discovered Hazlehurst, who, +instead of being in motion with the rest, was leaning in a +door-way. As she passed him, she snapped her embroidered +handkerchief in that direction, and summoned him to join the +'promenade.' Harry excused himself by saying, he was afraid he +could not find any one to walk with him. + +"How can you talk so! There is Miss Wyllys, I declare; I had not +seen her before."--And Adeline crossed the room to a window where +Elinor was sitting quietly as a looker-on, having just escaped +from a long conversation with the talkative old friend. + +"Now, Miss Wyllys, I am sure you must wish to promenade!" + +"Would you like to walk?" quietly asked Hazlehurst, who had +followed Miss Taylor. + +"No, indeed," said Elinor, smiling and shaking her head +good-naturedly. "I have had one long walk, already, this +afternoon, and much prefer sitting still, just now." + +"You should follow Jane's example; you see, she is promenading, +and, I dare say, she took the walk with you, too," said Adeline. + +"Did you ever know Jane take a long walk, when she could help +it?" asked Elinor, smiling. "I had really rather sit still, Miss +Taylor." + +Adeline, finding that on this occasion she could not succeed in +setting all her friends in motion, which she generally +endeavoured to do, returned to the ranks; leaving Elinor to do as +she chose. Hazlehurst took a seat by her, and made some inquiries +about several of their old acquaintances in the room. + +"Don't you think those two young ladies both very pretty, Mr. +Hazlehurst," said Dr. Van Horne, approaching the spot where Harry +was standing near Elinor, after having given up his chair to one +of the Saratoga belles, when the march was finished. + +"Which do you mean, sir?" asked Harry. + +"Miss Taylor and Miss Graham, who are standing together near the +piano." + +"Yes," replied Hazlehurst, "Miss Taylor is even prettier than I +had supposed she would be." + +"She will not compare, however, with Miss Jane. To my mind, Miss +Graham answers the idea of perfect beauty. In all your travels, +did you meet with a face that you thought more beautiful?" + +"I believe not," said Harry, laconically, and slowly colouring at +the same time. + +"Is it Jane you were speaking of, Doctor?" inquired Elinor, +turning towards him. "Don't you think she has come back twice as +beautiful as she was last year? It is really a pleasure to look +at a face like hers." + +"I am afraid, it will prove rather a dangerous pleasure, Miss +Elinor, to some of the beaux, this winter." + +"No doubt she will be very much admired; but she takes it all +very quietly. I don't believe your great beauties as much +disposed to vanity as other people." + +"Perhaps not;" replied the doctor, drawing near her. "A great +deal depends on education. But what do the travellers tell you +about the sights they have seen, Miss Elinor?" + +"Oh, we have only gone as far as the first chapter of their +travels," she replied. "They have not half said their say yet." + +"Well, I should like to have a talk with you on the subject, Mr. +Hazlehurst. I was in hopes of meeting your brother here, +to-night, but he has not come, I find; I shall have to bore you +with my questions, unless you want to dance this jig, or whatever +it is, they are beginning." + +"Not at all, my dear sir; I shall be glad to answer any questions +of yours." + +"Thank you. Suppose we improve the opportunity, Miss Elinor, and +give him a sharp cross-examination; do you think he would bear +it?" + +"I hope so," said Elinor, smiling quietly, as if she felt very +easy on the subject. + +"Don't trust him too far. I dare say you have not been half +severe enough upon him," said Dr. Van Horne, who had a very high +opinion of Harry. "But to speak seriously, Mr. Hazlehurst, I +don't at all like a notion my son Ben has of going to Europe." + +"What is your objection?" + +"I doubt if it is at all an advantage to send most young men to +Europe. I've seen so many come back conceited, and dissatisfied, +and good-for-nothing, that I can't make up my mind to spoil Ben +by the same process. He tries very hard to persuade me, that +now-a-days, no doctor is fit to be trusted who has not finished +off in Paris; but we managed without it thirty years ago." + +"You must know much more than I do on that subject, doctor," said +Hazlehurst, taking a seat on the other side of Elinor. + +"Of course, I know more about the hospitals. But as I have never +been abroad myself, I don't know what effect a sight of the Old +World has on one. It seems to me it ruins a great many young +fellows." + +"And it improves a great many," said Hazlehurst. + +"I am by no means so sure of that. It improves some, I grant you; +but I think the chances are that it is an injury. We have +happened to see a great deal, lately, of two young chaps, nephews +of mine, who came home last spring. Three years ago they went +abroad, sober, sensible, well-behaved lads enough, and now they +have both come back, worse than good-for-nothing. There was +Rockwell, he used to be a plain, straight-forward, smooth-faced +fellow; and now he has come home bristling with whiskers, and +beard, and moustaches, and a cut across the forehead, that he got +in a duel in Berlin. Worse than all, his brain is so befogged, +and mystified, that he can't see anything straight to save his +life; and yet, forsooth, my gentleman is going to set the nation +to rights with some new system of his own." + +"I know nothing of the German Universities, doctor, from my own +observation; but I should think it might be a dangerous thing to +send a young man there unless he was well supplied with sound +common sense of his own." + +"Well, there is Bill Hartley, again, who staid all the time in +Paris. He has come back a regular grumbler. If you would believe +him, there is not a single thing worth having, from one end of +the Union to the other. He is disgusted with everything, and only +last night said that our climate wants fog! Now, I think it is +much better to go plodding on at home, than to travel for the +sake of bringing back such enlarged views as make yourself and +your friends uncomfortable for the rest of your days." + +"But it is a man's own fault, my dear sir, if he brings back more +bad than good with him. The fact is, you will generally find the +good a man brings home, in proportion to the good he took +abroad." + +"I'm not so sure of that. I used to think Rockwell was quite a +promising young man at one time. But that is not the question. +If, after all, though it does sharpen a man's wits, it only makes +him discontented for the rest of his life, I maintain that such a +state of improvement is not to be desired. If things are really +better and pleasanter in Europe, I don't want to know it. It +would make me dissatisfied, unless I was to be a renegade, and +give up the country I was born in; would you have a man do that?" + +"Never!" said Harry. "I hold that it is a sort of desertion, to +give up the post where Providence has placed us, unless in +extreme cases; and I believe a man can live a more useful and +more honourable life there than elsewhere. But I think travelling +a very great advantage, nevertheless. The very power of +comparison, of which you complain, is a source of great +intellectual pleasure, and must be useful if properly employed, +since it helps us to reach the truth." + +The doctor shook his head. "I want you just to tell me how much +of this grumbling and fault-finding is conceit, and how much is +the natural consequence of travelling? Is everything really +superior in Europe to what we have here?" + +"Everything? No;" said Harry, laughing. But you would seem to +think a man dissatisfied, doctor, if he did not, on the contrary, +proclaim that everything is immeasurably better in this country +than in any other on the globe. Now, confess, is not that your +standard of patriotism?" + +"Ah, you are shifting your ground, young gentleman. But we shall +bring you to the point presently. Now tell us honestly, were you +not disappointed with the looks of things when you came back?" + +"If by disappointed, you mean that many things as I see them now, +strike me as very inferior to objects of the same description in +Europe, I do not scruple to say they do. When I landed, I said to +myself, + +"'The streets are narrow and the buildings mean; +Did I, or fancy, have them broad and clean?'" + +{George Crabbe (English poet, 1754-1832), "Posthumous Tales: Tale +VI--The Farewell and Return", Part II, lines 79-80} + +"I feared so!" and the doctor looked much as a pious Mahometan +might be supposed to do, if he were to see a Frank seize the +Grand Turk by the beard. "I should have thought better of you," +he added. + +{"Frank" = a European Christian; "Grand Turk" = Ottoman Emperor} + +"My dear sir," said Harry, laughing, "how could I help it! I must +defend myself from any desire to be disappointed, I assure you. +On the contrary, I wish very sincerely that everything in my +native country were as good as possible in its way; that the +architecture of the public buildings were of the noblest kind; +the private houses the most pleasant and convenient; the streets +the best paved, and best lighted in the world. But I don't +conceive that the way to bring this about is to maintain le +pistolet a la gorge, that perfection has already been attained in +all these particulars. To speak frankly, it strikes me as the +height of puerility to wish to deceive oneself upon such +subjects. On the contrary, I think it is the duty of every man, +so far as he has the opportunity, to aim at correct notions on +everything within his reach." + +{"le pistolet a la gorge" = the pistol to the throat (French)} + +"Well," remarked the doctor, "you only confirm me in my opinion. +I shall be more unwilling than ever to let Ben go; since even +you, Harry Hazlehurst, who are a good deal better than most young +men, confess the harm travelling has done you." + +"But, my dear sir, I confess no such thing. I'm conscious that +travelling has been a great benefit to me in many ways. I shall +be a happier and better man for what I have seen, all my life, I +trust, since many of my opinions are built on a better foundation +than they were before." + +"If I were you, I would not let him say so, Miss Elinor. His +friends won't like to hear it; and I, for one, am very sorry that +you are not as good an American as I took you for." + +"It is quite a new idea to me, doctor," said Hazlehurst, "that +mental blindness and vanity are necessary parts of the American +character. We, who claim to be so enlightened! I should be sorry +to be convinced that your view is correct. I have always believed +that true patriotism consisted in serving one's country, not in +serving oneself by flattering one's countrymen. I must give my +testimony on these subjects, when called for, as well as on any +other, honestly, and to the best of my ability." + +"Do you know, doctor," said Elinor, "poor Harry has had to fight +several battles on this subject already. Mrs. Bernard attacked +him the other evening, because he said the mountains in +Switzerland were higher than the White Mountains. Now we have +only to look in a geography to see that they are so." + +"But one don't like to hear such things, Miss Elinor." + +"Mrs. Bernard asked him if he had seen anything finer than the +White Mountains; what could he say! It seems to me just as +possible for a man to love his country, and see faults in it, as +it does for him to love his wife and children, without believing +them to be the most perfect specimens of the human family, in +body and mind, that ever existed. You will allow that a man may +be a very good and kind husband and father, without maintaining +everywhere that his wife and daughters surpass all their sex, in +every possible particular?" + +"You will not, surely, deny, doctor," said Hazlehurst, "that it +is reasonable to suppose that Europe possesses some advantages of +an advanced state of civilization, that we have not yet attained +to? We have done much for a young people, but we have the means +of doing much more; and it will be our own fault if we don't +improve." + +"We shall improve, I dare say." + +"Do you expect us to go beyond perfection, then?" + +"I can't see the use of talking about disagreeable subjects." + +"But even the most disagreeable truths have their uses." + +"That may be; and yet I believe you would have been happier if +you had staid at home. While he was away from you, Miss Elinor, I +am afraid he learned some of those disagreeable truths which it +would have been better for him not to have discovered." + +Harry stooped to pick up a glove, and remained silent for a +moment. + +Shortly after, supper was announced; and, although the coachman +was not quite as much at home in the pantry as in the stable, yet +everything was very successfully managed. + +"It is really mortifying to hear a man like Dr. Van Horne, fancy +it patriotic to foster conceited ignorance and childish vanity, +on all national subjects," exclaimed Harry, as he took his seat +in the carriage, after handing the ladies in. "And that is not +the worst of it; for, of course, if respectable, independent men +talk in that tone, there will be no end to the fulsome, +nauseating, vulgar flatteries that will be poured upon us by +those whose interest it is to flatter!" + +"I heard part of your conversation, and, I must confess, the +doctor did not show his usual good sense," observed Miss Agnes. + +"You are really quite indignant against the doctor," said Elinor. + +"Not only against him, but against all who are willing, like him, +to encourage such a miserable perversion of truth. Believe them, +and you make patriotism anything, and everything, but a virtue." + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"Why, how now, count? Wherefore are you so sad?" +SHAKSPEARE. {sic--this is the Cooper family's usual spelling of +the name} + +{William Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing", II.i.289} + +"WELL, Jenny, you are going to leave us to-day, it seems," said +Mr. Wyllys, the next morning, at breakfast. "I am sorry for it; +but, I suppose your mother has a better right to you than we +have." + +"I promised mamma I would not stay after to-day, sir. Aunt Agnes +is to carry me over to Longbridge, before dinner." + +"You must come back again, as often as you can, child. It always +seems to me, that Harry and you belong here, as much as you do +anywhere else. How long do you suppose your mother will stay at +Longbridge?" + +"We are going to New York next week. Father wishes to be in +Charleston early in October." + +"I can't bear to think of your going so soon. If you are once in +Carolina, I suppose, we shan't see you again until next June; +but, mind, you are to pass all next summer with us," said Elinor. + +"That is to say, Nelly, if she has no more important engagement," +added Mr. Wyllys, smiling. + +"Even a very important engagement need not interfere," said Miss +Agnes. "We shall be very happy, Jane, to see any Charleston +friend you may see fit to bring with you." + +"I don't think there is the least danger that any Charleston +friend will come with me;" said Jane, blushing a little. + +"Have you selected a friend from some other place, Jenny?" asked +her uncle. + +"Oh, no, sir!" was the answer; but her colour continued to rise, +and she appeared a little uneasy. As for Harry, he had taken no +part in the conversation, but seemed very busy with his knife and +fork. + +"Pray remember, Jane," said Elinor, "I am to have timely notice +of a wedding, in my capacity of bridesmaid." + +"Who knows, Nelly, but you may call upon Jane first. You have +fixed upon your friend, I take it; eh, Harry?" + +"I hope so;" Hazlehurst replied, in a low voice, and he drank off +a cup of hot coffee with such rapidity, that Miss Wyllys looked +at him with astonishment. + +Elinor made no answer, for she was already at the other end of +the room, talking gaily to her birds. + +As Harry rose from table and walked into the next room, he tried +to feel very glad that Jane was to leave them that day; he sat +down, and took up a paper; but, instead of reading it, silently +followed a train of thought by no means agreeable. + +In the course of the morning, according to the arrangement which +had been made, Harry drove the ladies to Longbridge. He thought +he had never passed a more unpleasant morning in his life. He +felt relieved when Elinor, instead of taking a seat with him, +chose one inside, with her aunt and Jane; though his heart smote +him whenever her sweet, cheerful voice fell upon his ear. He +tried to believe, however, that it was in spite of himself he had +been captivated by June's beauty. Was he not, at that very +moment, carrying her, at full speed, towards her father's, and +doing his best to hope that they should meet but once or twice +again, for months to come? Under such circumstances, was not a +man in love to be pitied? For some weeks, Hazlehurst had not been +able to conceal from himself, that if he occupied the position of +the lover of Elinor, he felt like the lover of Jane. + +As he drove on, in moody silence, the party in the carriage at +length remarked, that he had not joined in their conversation at +all. + +"Harry does not talk so much as he used to;" observed Miss +Wyllys; "don't you think he has grown silent, Jane?" + +"Perhaps he has," she replied; "but it never struck me, before." + +"Do you hear, Harry?" said Elinor; "Aunt Agnes thinks the air of +Paris has made you silent. It ought surely to have had a very +different effect." + +"This detestable road requires all a man's attention to keep out +of the ruts;" he replied. "I wish we had gone the other way." + +"If Aunt Agnes has no objection, we can come back by the river +road," said Elinor. "But your coachmanship is so good, you have +carried us along very smoothly; if the road is bad, we have not +felt it." + +Harry muttered something about holes and ruts, which was not +heard very distinctly. + +"Out of humour, too; very unusual!" thought Miss Agnes. There was +a something unnatural in his manner, which began to give her a +little uneasiness; for she saw no good way of accounting for it. + +The ladies were driven to the door of the Bellevue Hotel, where +the Grahams had rooms. They found several visiters with Mrs. +Graham, among whom, the most conspicuous, and the least +agreeable, were Mrs. Hilson and her sister, both redolent of +Broadway, elegant and fashionable in the extreme; looking, it is +true, very pretty, but talking, as usual, very absurdly. + +Mrs. Graham had scarcely kissed her daughter, before Mrs. Hilson +gave Elinor an important piece of information. + +"I am so delighted, Miss Wyllys, to hear this good news--" + +"My cousins' return, do you mean? Did you not know they had +arrived?" + +"Oh, yes; we heard that, of course, last week; but I allude to +this morning's good news, which I have just heard from this +fascinating little creature;" added the lady, catching one of +Mrs. Graham's younger children, as it slipped past her. + +Elinor looked surprised, when Mrs. Hilson condescended to +explain. + +"Mrs. Graham is to pass the winter in New York, I hear." + +"Indeed!" exclaimed Elinor, turning with joyful eagerness towards +Mrs. Graham. "Are you really going to stay so near us?" + +Mrs. Graham was thus obliged to inform her friends of the change +in her plans; she would, of course, have preferred waiting until +alone with Miss Agnes and Elinor, to do so; but, Mrs. Hilson's +officiousness obliged her to say something immediately. One, of +her children, a little boy, had been suffering with some disease +of the spine, during the last year, and a consultation of +physicians, held the day before, in New York, had decided that a +sea-voyage, or a long journey, was more than the poor little +fellow could bear, in the present state of his health, as he had +been much worse, during the last three months, since the Grahams +had been at Longbridge. It was therefore settled that Mrs. +Graham, Jane, and the younger children, were to remain in New +York, while the boy was under the care of Dr. S-----, in whom his +parents had great confidence. Mr. Graham and his oldest boy were +to pass part of the winter on their plantation, and then return +to his family. + +Miss Wyllys and Elinor, though regretting the cause, were, of +course, much pleased with this arrangement; Jane, too, appeared +perfectly satisfied. + +"I should not be surprised, Miss Graham," continued Mrs. Hilson, +"if some of your New York admirers had bribed Dr. S-----; I'm +sure, we are very much obliged to him for having detained you. I +hope you will be somewhere near us, in the city. Emmeline is to +pass part of the winter with me; and, I dare say, you will be +very intimate. I wish, Mrs. Graham we could persuade you to come +to our boarding-house. Mrs. Stone is really a fascinating lady, +herself; and she always manages to have a charming clique at her +house.--Quite exclusive, I assure you." + +"I hope to find more private lodgings--I have too many little +people for a boarding-house." + +"Not at all. Mrs. Stone could give you an excellent nursery. She +has several lovely little darlings, herself. Her little Algernon +would make a very good beau for your youngest little Miss. What +do you say, my dear," catching the child again; "won't you set +your cap for Algernon?" + +The little girl opened her large, dark eyes without answering. +Mrs. Hilson, and her sister now rose to take leave of Mrs. +Graham, repeating, however, before they went, the invitation they +had already given, to a ball for the next week. It was to be a +house-warming, and a grand affair. The ladies then flitted away +on tip-toe. + +The door had scarcely closed behind them, before Mrs. George +Wyllys, who had been sitting as far from them as possible, began +to exclaim upon the absurdity of the whole Hubbard family. + +"They are really intolerable, Agnes;" she said to her +sister-in-law. "They attack me upon all occasions. They brought +Mrs. Bibbs and Mrs. Tibbs to see me, and joined me in the street, +yesterday: they are almost enough to drive me away from +Longbridge. I can't imagine what makes them so attentive to +me--plain, sober body, as I am--what can they aim at?" + +"They aim at universal fascination, I suppose;" said Elinor, +laughing. + +"And must we really go to this house-warming?" asked Mrs. Wyllys. + +"Elinor and I have already accepted the invitation;" said Miss +Agnes. "My father wished us to go, for he really has a great +respect for Mr. Hubbard." + +"Well, I can't say that the gentlemen strike me as so much +superior to the ladies of the family. 'Uncle Josie' seems to +admire his daughter's nonsense; and 'Uncle Dozie' never opens his +lips." + +"There is not a shade of fascination about them, however," said +Elinor. + +"I grant you that," said Mrs. Wyllys, smiling. "I shall decline +the invitation, though, I think." + +"That you can do very easily;" said Miss Agnes. + +The ladies then followed Mrs. Graham to an adjoining room, to see +the little invalid, and talk over the new arrangement for the +winter. + +It was fortunate for Harry, that they had left the drawing-room +before he entered it; for he no sooner appeared at the door, than +the same little chatter-box, who had betrayed the change in her +mother's plans to Mrs. Hilson, ran up to him to tell the great +news that they were not going back to Charleston, but were to +stay in New York all winter, 'mamma, and Jane, and all of them, +except papa and Edward.' The varying expression of surprise, +pleasure, and distress, that passed over Hazlehurst's face, as he +received the intelligence, would have astonished and perplexed +Miss Agnes, had she seen it. He had depended upon Jane's absence +to lighten the course which he felt it was his duty to pursue; +and now she was to be in New York! Of course, she would be half +her time with Elinor, as usual. And, if he had already found it +so difficult, since they had all been together, to conceal the +true state of his feelings, how should he succeed in persevering +in the same task for months? + +He determined, at least, to leave Longbridge, for a time, and +remain in Philadelphia, until the Grahams were settled in New +York. + +The same evening, as the family at Wyllys-Roof, and himself, were +sitting together, he announced his intention. + +"Can I do anything for you, in Philadelphia, Elinor?" he asked; +"I shall have to go to town, to-morrow, and may be detained a +week or ten days." + +"Are you really going to town?--I did not know you were thinking +of it. I wish I had known it this morning, for I am very much in +want of worsteds for the chair-pattern Jane brought me; but, +unfortunately, I left it at Aunt Wyllys's. Did you say you were +going to-morrow?" + +"Yes, I must be off in the morning." + +"Then I must give up my pattern, for the present." + +"Is there nothing else I can do for you?" + +"Nothing, thank you--unless you bring some new books; which, we +will leave to your taste, to choose." + +"Is not this rather a sudden move, Harry?" said Mr. Wyllys, who +had just finished a game of chess with Miss Agnes. "I haven't +heard you mention it before?" + +"I intended to put it off; sir; but, on thinking the matter over, +I find I had better go at once." + +"I wish you would look about you a little, for lodgings for us; +it is time we secured them. I suppose, you will want us to go to +town early, this winter, Nelly, won't you? It will not do for +Master Harry to be wasting half his time here, after he has once +taken seriously to law; you know he will have two mistresses to +wait upon, this winter." + +"It is to be hoped they will not interfere with each other," said +Miss Agnes, smiling. + +"That is what they generally do, my dear. By-the-bye, Nelly, I +suppose Louisa will have Jane in Philadelphia, with her, part of +the winter." + +"Yes, sir, after Christmas; it is already settled, much to my +joy." + +"So much the better!" said her grandfather. + +"So much the worse!" thought Hazlehurst. + +"Your Paris party will be all together again, Harry?" continued +Mr. Wyllys. + +"Yes, sir;" was Hazlehurst's laconic reply. 'I wish I could +forget it,' thought he. So much had he been annoyed, throughout +the day, that he soon after took up a candle, and, wishing the +family good-night, went to his own room. + +"I am afraid Harry is not well," said Miss Wyllys, after he had +left them. "He seems out of spirits." + +Elinor looked up from her work. + +"Now you speak of it," replied Mr. Wyllys, "I think he does seem +rather out of sorts." + +Nothing more was said on the subject; but some unpleasant +thoughts suggested themselves to Miss Wyllys; for, during the +last day or two, Hazlehurst's manner had repeatedly struck her as +unnatural, and she feared that something weighed upon his mind. +As for Elinor, her nature was as far as possible from being +suspicious; and, least of all, would she have mistrusted Harry; +she merely reproached herself for having laughed once or twice, +during the day, at his expense, when he had been very absent. She +remembered he seemed a little annoyed, at the time, though he +never used to mind such things--'I am afraid he thought it +unkind, if he was not well,' she said to herself, and determined +to make amends, the next morning, by presiding at his early +breakfast, before he set out. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +"What loud uproar, bursts from that door?" +COLERIDGE. + +{Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English poet, 1772-1834), "Rime of the +Ancient Mariner" (VII) line 592} + +WE shall follow the example of the good people of Longbridge, its +party-going inhabitants, at least, and discard, for the moment, +all other topics, in order to give due justice to the expected +ball at the Hubbards. It was understood that this house-warming +was to be the most brilliant affair, of its kind, that had taken +place, in the neighbourhood, within the memory of man. Mrs. +Hilson and Miss Emmeline Hubbard had staked their reputations, +for elegance and fashion, upon the occasion. The list of +invitations was larger than any yet issued at Longbridge, and all +the preparations were on a proportionate scale of grandeur. + +About ten days before the eventful evening, Mrs. Hilson and Miss +Emmeline were closeted with their intimate friends, Mrs. Bibbs +and Mrs. Tibbs, engaged in drawing up a plan of operations for +the occasion. Probably the 'city-lady,' as Mrs. Hilson always +called herself, had invited the two friends as counsellors, more +with a view of astonishing them by a display of her own views of +magnificence, than from any idea that their suggestions would be +of importance. + +Miss Emmeline was seated, pencil in hand, with several sheets of +paper before her, all ready, to take notes of the directions as +they were settled. Mrs. Bibbs and Mrs. Tibbs were placed on a +sofa; and Mrs. Hilson threw herself into a rocking-chair. + +"In the first place, Emmeline," said the 'city-lady,' "we must +have boned turkey: put down boned turkey." + +"I thought you were going to make out the list of invitations +first," said the sister. + +"Just put down the boned turkey, for that is absolutely +necessary; and then we can run over the names." + +Miss Emmeline wrote as she was directed. A long list of names was +then put down; there had already been a private family meeting +upon the subject, at which, after many endeavours of Mrs. Hilson +to unite the two advantages of extreme exclusiveism, and the +largest number of invitations ever heard of at Longbridge, Mr. +Hubbard had decided the matter by insisting that his daughters +should ask every person who had ever been a guest at their house +before, and all those from whom they themselves had accepted +invitations. + +"Don't talk to me of fashionable people, and exclusives and +inclusives--I choose to have all my old neighbours, do you hear, +girls, and any one else you please." + +This was the only point upon which their father insisted; and as +he left the expense of the arrangements entirely to themselves, +the ladies thought it most prudent not to argue the matter. +Instead, therefore, of aiming at having their party very select, +it was now agreed that it should be very general. + +"It will be a regular mob," said Mrs. Hilson, as she finished +reading to her sister scraps of lists of which her lap was full; +"but with so large a visiting circle as ours, it was not to be +avoided, I suppose. Have you put down the boned turkey, Emmeline? +that at least will give to the entertainment an aristocratic +character, at once." + +"Yes, to be sure, here it is," said Emmeline, taking up another +sheet of paper. "We must have boned turkey, of course." + +Now it so happened that neither Mrs. Bibbs nor Mrs. Tibbs, though +such fascinating ladies, had ever seen, tasted, or heard of boned +turkey before. But, of course, they did not confess such shameful +ignorance. Boned turkey had never yet figured at a party at +Longbridge. We say figured at a party, and we speak advisedly, as +all must know who are aware of the all-important position +occupied at an American party by the refreshments, in the opinion +of both host and guests. The brilliancy of the lights, the +excellence of the music, the wit and gallantry of the gentlemen, +the grace and beauty of the ladies--would be of no avail in +giving fame to a party if the refreshments were not as abundant, +and as varied as possible. It is true these good things are +generally excellent in their way, which is probably one reason +why they receive so much attention. The highest distinction to be +attained in these matters is the introduction of some new +delicacy; next to this, is the honour of being one of the first +to follow so brilliant an example; but, of course, those +unfortunate individuals who have neglected to procure the +favourite dainty of the season, after it has once appeared on +fashionable tables, lose all claim to honourable mention, and +sink beneath notice. In this way, each dish has its day; a year +or two since, Charlotte Russe was indispensable at an +entertainment; last winter Bombes were in high request; and at +the period of the Hubbard house-warming, Boned Turkey had +received the place of honour on the New York supper-tables. +People could neither flirt nor dance, they could talk neither +pure nonsense, nor pure speculation, without the Boned Turkey in +perspective. The fashion had indeed spread so far, that it had at +last reached what Mrs. Hilson generally called her clique. + +"Pa thinks we shall have some difficulty in getting boned turkey +at this season; it is rather early; but I am determined to have +it if money can procure it. You know I am very ambitious, Mrs. +Tibbs--I am not easily satisfied." + +Mrs. Tibbs, a pretty little woman with light hair, wearing a +fashionable lilac muslin, assented, of course. + +"Taking for granted then, that we have the boned turkey, what +shall we put down next?" asked Miss Emmeline. "Terrapin-soup, +pickled-oysters, lobsters, chicken-salad, and anything in the way +of game that can be found in the market; do you think that will +do for the substantial dishes, Mrs. Bibbs?" + +Mrs. Bibbs, a pretty little woman with black hair, wearing a +fashionable green muslin, assented, of course. + +"I think that will do, Emmeline," said Mrs. Hilson; "a large +supply of each, you know. By-the-bye we must have four dishes of +boned turkey; nothing so mean as to have a small quantity." + +Then followed a long list of lighter delicacies; gallons of +ice-cream with every possible variety of flavour; flour and eggs, +cream and sugar, prepared in every way known to New York +confectioners. Kisses and Mottoes were insisted upon. Then came +the fruits, beginning with peaches and grapes, and concluding +with bananas and other tropical productions, until at length even +Mrs. Hilson's "ambition" was thus far satisfied. + +{"Kisses and Mottoes" = wrapped candies enclosing short witty +verses or "mottoes"--ancestors of the "fortune cookie"} + +"I think our set-out will have quite an aristocratic appearance, +Emmeline; including, of course, the boned turkey. Then we must +have colored candles, they are so much more tasty--all green and +pink. Alonzo will secure the orchestra, the best in the city; +-----'s band. We must have two dressing-rooms in the third story, +one for the gentlemen, one for the ladies--and a little +fainting-room besides; the small east room will do for that--we +can put in it the easy-chair, with the white batiste cover I +brought over from the city, with a pitcher of iced-water, and +restoratives, all ready. It is always best, Mrs. Bibbs, to have a +pretty little fainting-room prepared beforehand--it makes the +thing more complete." + +The lady in the green muslin agreed entirely with Mrs. Hilson; +she thought it would be unpardonable not to have a fainting-room. + +"The third story will be reserved for the dressing-rooms, the +second entirely devoted to the supper and refreshments, and the +first floor given up to the dancers and promenaders. I declare I +shan't know how to look if we can't procure the boned turkey." + +The lady in the lilac muslin agreed that when everything else was +so genteel, it would be unfortunate indeed to fail in the boned +turkey. + +The disposition of the furniture, the variety of lemonades, &c., +was then settled, as well as other minor matters, when the four +ladies sat down to write the invitations on the very elegant and +fanciful note-paper prepared for the occasion. + +"The first thing I shall do, Emmeline, will be to write a letter +expressly to Alonzo, to insist upon the confectioner's procuring +the boned turkey." + +We shall pass over the labours of the ensuing week, devoted to +the execution of what had been planned. Various were the rumours +floating about Longbridge in the interval; it was asserted by +some persons that a steamboat was to bring to Longbridge all the +fashionable people in New York; that it was to be a sort of +"Mass-Meeting" of the "Aristocracy." By others, all the fiddlers +in New York and Philadelphia were said to be engaged. In fact, +however, nothing was really known about the matter. Mrs. Bibbs +and Mrs. Tibbs had confided all the details to a score of friends +only, and every one of these had, as usual, spread abroad a +different version of the story. We have it, however, on the best +authority, that every day that week a letter in Mrs. Hilson's +handwriting, directed to the most fashionable cook and +confectioner in New York, passed through the Longbridge +post-office, and we happen to know that they were all written +upon the negotiation for the boned turkey, which at that season +it was not easy to procure in perfection. + +The eventful evening arrived at length. The fanciful note-papers +had all reached their destination, the pink and green candles +were lighted, the fainting-room was prepared, the kisses and +mottoes had arrived, and though last, surely not least, four +dishes of boned turkey were already on the supper-table. Mrs. +Bibbs and Mrs. Tibbs had gone the rounds with the two ladies of +the house, and admired everything, after which they returned to +the drawing-room. Mrs. Bibbs in blue, and Mrs. Tibbs in pink, +were placed in full array on a sofa. Mrs. Hilson and Miss +Emmeline stationed themselves in a curtseying position, awaiting +their guests. Mr. and Mrs. Clapp, with Miss Patsey and Charlie, +were the first to arrive. Our friend, Patsey, looked pleasant, +good-natured, and neatly dressed, as usual; the silk she wore was +indeed the handsomest thing of the kind she had ever owned--it +was a present from Uncle Josie, who had insisted upon her coming +to his house-warming. Patsey's toilette, however, though so much +more elegant than usual, looked like plainness and simplicity +itself, compared with the gauzes and flowers, the laces and +ribbons of Mrs. Tibbs and Mrs. Bibbs, who were sitting on the +sofa beside her. Presently, a thin, dark, sober-looking young man +walked in at a side-door; it was Alonzo, Mrs. Hilson's husband. +Honest, warm-hearted Mr. Hubbard soon followed, looking as usual, +in a very good humour, and much pleased with the holiday he had +provided for his daughters, and the satisfaction of seeing all +his old friends in his new house, which he had prepared for +himself. If ever there was a man who spoilt his children, it was +Mr. Joseph Hubbard. Had he had sons, it might possibly have been +different; but his wife had been a very silly, very pretty, very +frivolous woman; the daughters resembled her in every respect, +and Mr. Hubbard seemed to have adopted the opinion that women +were never otherwise than silly and frivolous. He loved his +daughters, laughed at their nonsense, was indulgent to their +folly, and let them do precisely as they pleased; which, as he +had made a fortune, it was in his power to do. As for Uncle +Dozie, the bacheler {sic} brother, who had lived all his life +with Mr. Joseph Hubbard, he was already in the drawing-room, +seated in a corner, with folded arms, taking a nap. It was +singular what a talent for napping this old gentleman possessed; +he had been known to doze over a new book, pronounced by the +papers "thrillingly interesting," and "intensely exciting;" he +has slept during a political speech, reported as one continued +stream of enchaining eloquence, delivered amid thunders of +applause; and now, under the blaze of astral lamps, and pink and +green candles, while the musicians were tuning their fiddles, and +producing all sorts of discordant sounds, he was dozing as +quietly as if in his own rocking-chair. Uncle Dozie seldom talked +when he could help it; the chief business and pleasure of his +life consisted in superintending his brother's vegetable-garden; +he had never been known to take a nap among his beets and +cabbages, which he seemed to admire as much. as he did his +nieces. The vegetables, indeed, engrossed so much of his care and +attention, that three times in the course of his life, he had +lost by carelessness a comfortable little independence which his +brother had made for him. + +{"astral lamp" = a variety of Argand lamp (the brightest oil lamp +of the period) especially designed to cast its light downward} + +The company began to pour in. Mrs. Taylor and the talkative old +friend were among the earliest, and took their seats on the sofa, +near Miss Patsey, Mrs. Bibbs, and Mrs. Tibbs. Adeline, with the +Saratoga fashionables, soon followed; having remained longer in +the dressing-room, in order to wait until each could appear with +a beau to lean on. The Longbridge elite arrived in large numbers; +Uncle Dozie woke up, and Uncle Josie shook hands as his friends +wished him many happy years in his new house. Miss Emmeline and +Mrs. Hilson flitted hither and thither; while the dark and +sober-looking Alonzo occasionally bent his head gently on one +side, to receive some private communications and directions from +his more elegant moiety. No one was received by the ladies of the +house with more fascinating smiles, than a tall, slim Englishman, +with a very bushy head of hair, who had made Mrs. Hilson's +acquaintance at their boarding-house not long since, and being +tired of occupying a third or fourth-rate position in his own +country, was now determined to show off what he thought airs of +the first water, in this. He was just the attendant in whom Mrs. +Hilson gloried. + +"I think the West-End is fully represented here, this evening, +Emmeline," said the fair lady as she tripped past her sister, +followed by Captain Kockney, after the rooms were uncomfortably +full. + +"Some very pretty women 'ere, Mrs. 'Ilson," observed Captain +Kockney; "that's really a lovely creature just come in, and what +a piece of ugliness it is alongside of her." + +"Miss Graham? Yes, she is our great beauty. Shall I introduce +you?" + +"Not now, for pity's sake; wait till that ugly face has moved out +of sight." + +"Do you think Miss Wyllys so very ugly? Perhaps she is; but she +is one of our country neighbours, and I have seen her so +frequently that I am accustomed to her appearance--indeed we are +quite intimate. When one knows her, her conversation is +excessively delightful; though she wants more association with +city-life to appear to advantage." + +"Now, pray don't introduce me there, I beg. I saw too many ugly +women the last season I was at 'ome. Our colonel had three +daughters, 'orrid frights, but of course we had to do the civil +by them. It almost tempted me to sell out; they were parvenues, +too--that made the matter worse, you know." + +{"parvenues" = upstarts (French)} + +"Oh, yes, I hate parvenoos; I am thoroughly aristocratic in my +nature. Indeed, it is a great misfortune for me that I am so, one +is obliged, in this country, to come so often in contact with +plebeians! I am afraid you must suffer from the same cause, while +travelling in the United States." + +"What, from the plebeians? Oh, I made up my mind to that before I +came, you know; I believe I shall enjoy the change for a time. +One doesn't expect anything else from you Yankees; and then I had +a surfeit of aristocracy in London, the last season. We had +half-a-dozen crowned heads there; and first one met them +everywhere in town, you know, and then at every country-house." + +"How delightful it must be to live surrounded by royalty in that +way!" + +"There you're quite out. It's a great bore; one has to mind their +p's and q's at court, you know--I never go to Windsor if I can +help, it." + +"Well, I should never tire of a court--I am thoroughly patrician +in my disposition. I have a good right to such tastes, Captain +Kockney, for I have a great deal of noble blood in my veins." + +"Now, really! what family do you belong to?" + +"The duke of Percy; a noble family of Scotland. Pa's name is +Joseph P. Hubbard. Don't you pity people who have no nobility in +their families?" + +"'Pon my soul, I don't know how a man feels under such +circumstances. It's a queer sensation, I dare say." + +"Dr. Van Horne," continued Mrs. Hilson, to a young man who came +up to make his bow to her, "I have a great mind to ask a favour +of you. Will you undertake to bleed me?" + +"I should be sorry if you required my services in that way, Mrs. +Hilson." + +"Ah, but it would be a real obligation; I want to get rid of all +but my Percy blood. Perhaps you don't know that our family is +distinguished in its descent?" + +"From 'old Mother Hubbard,'" thought young Van Horne; but he +merely bowed. + +"Yes, our ancestors were dukes of Percy, who were beheaded in +Scotland for being faithful to their king. It is very possible we +might claim the title of a Scotch Peer." Mrs. Hilson had read too +many English novels, not to have a supply of such phrases at +command. "If you could only find the right vein, I would insist +upon your taking away all but my patrician blood." + +"Would not the operation leave you too perfect, Mrs. Hilson?" + +"Perhaps it might make me vain. But it could scarcely unfit me +more for living in a republic. How I wish we were governed by a +despot!--don't you?" + +"Not in the least,"--'but I wish you were,' the young man added, +to himself, as he moved away towards Jane and Elinor, who were in +a corner talking to his sisters. "All the fools in this country +are not travelled fools, as I wish my father would remember," he +continued, as he edged his way through the crowd. + +"And he that aye has lived free +May not well know the misery, +The wrath, the strife, the hate, and all, +That's compassed in the name of thrall." + +{I have not identified this verse} + +"You have mustered quite a pretty set of little plebeians 'ere +to-night. Now, that's quite a nice-looking little creature +standing by the door," continued Captain Kockney; "what do you +call her?" + +"Her name is Taylor--Adeline Taylor; they belong to the +aristocracy too; shall I introduce you?" + +"Is she married? If she is, I've no objections; but if she isn't, +I had rather not. It's such a bore, you know, talking to +girls--bread-and-butter misses!" + +"How ungallant you are!" + +"Ungallant! Why? I suppose you know it's a settled thing that +none of US talk to girls in society. Most of them are so +milk-and-water, and the rest are so deep, they're always fancying +a man means something. Why, last spring we cut Lord Adolphus Fitz +Flummery, of OURS, just because he made a fool of himself, +dangling after the girls." + +"But don't gentlemen ever speak to an unmarried lady in England?" + +"The saps do--but not your knowing ones. We make an exception +though, in favour of a regular beauty, such as that little girl +on the other side of the room; that Thomson girl, didn't you call +her?" + +"Miss Graham--you are difficult to please if nothing else will +suit you. But of course it is natural for aristocratic minds to +be fastidious." + +"To be sure it is, that's what makes us English aristocrats so +exclusive. If that little Graham girl comes in our way though, +I've no objection to making her acquaintance. And if you have got +a great fortune here to-night, I'll make an exception for +her--you may introduce me. Is there such a thing as an heiress in +the room?" + +"An heiress? No, I believe not--but Miss Taylor is quite a +fortune." + +"Is she? Well then, you may introduce me there too. We have to do +the civil to the rich girls, you know; because after a while most +of us are driven into matrimony. That's the governor, I take it, +near the door." + +"The governor? Oh, no, our governor does not live at Longbridge." + +"Doesn't he? Well, I thought you introduced him just now as the +governor, and I fancied some one called him 'Ubbard; that's the +governor's name, isn't it?" + +"No, indeed. That's Pa you are speaking of." + +"Just so--that is what I said. You call your paternities PA, do +you?--we always call the old fellows governors, in England." + +"Do you call your father Gov. Kockney? I did not know that +governor was an English title; it sounds very plebeian in my +ears." + +"Now, what DO you mean? ha! ha!--you are delightful. You put me +in mind of a good scene at the drawing-room, last June. Though, +perhaps, you don't know what the drawing-room is?" + +"Oh, yes; I know that it means Court. My tastes are so exclusive, +that I may say I have lived in English High-Life from the time I +married, and became intimate with Mrs. Bagman. I feel quite at +home in such scenes, for I read every novel that comes out with +Lords and Ladies in it. What were you going to tell me about +Court?" + +The story was interrupted by Miss Hubbard, who tripped across the +room to carry her sister off with her. + +"Now you are not going, I hope? Why not stay 'ere; I am sure this +sofa is the most comfortable thing in the room." + +"I must go to receive some friends of mine, come over expressly +from the city." + +"Pray, keep me clear of the cits! But now, if you will go, just +leave me your bouquet as a a consolation. Thank you.--Oh, yes, +I'll take good care of it." + +"I hope you will, for it's a ten dollar bouquet, and I'm very +proud of it. You must not steal a single flower, mind." + +"Mustn't I?--Do you dare me?" and the agreeable Captain began to +pull out several flowers. Mrs. Hilson, however, was hurried away. + +Mr. Taylor, Mr. Hubbard, and Alonzo moved towards the sofa where +she had been sitting. + +"Do you think that Stewart will be chosen President of the +Franklin Insurance?" inquired Mr. Hubbard. + +"I think not, sir--he rather mismanaged the affairs of the +Hoboken Bank. Lippincott will be the President, I take it. He has +magnificent talents for business. You know he has purchased the +thirty lots in 50th street, that were sold at auction, +yesterday." + +"A good purchase, I should say." + +"How's the Hoboken stock now?" inquired Alonzo. A murmuring about +'five per cent.'--'six per cent.'--'par'--'premium,' followed, +and was only interrupted by the approach of young Van Horne and +Elinor. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Wyllys," said Mr. Hubbard, making room +for her. "Oh, yes, Mr. Van Horne, here is a place for you, and +another couple besides. Whom are you looking for?" + +"Charles Hubbard, sir; I want him for a vis-a-vis." + +"Charlie is already placed, I see; but here is a gentleman; +perhaps you would like to dance, sir?"--addressing Captain +Kockney, who was still in possession of the sofa and the flowers. +"I hope my daughter has introduced you to some of the young +ladies." + +"Now, really; if I am to dance, I prefer Mrs. 'Ilson." + +And, accordingly, the Captain, by no means sorry to be forced to +dance, rose with a victim-like look, half strode, half sidled +towards Mrs. Hilson, and putting his elbow in her face by way of +an invitation, led her to the quadrille. The contrast between +these two couples, placed opposite to each other, was striking, +and yet common enough in a mixed ballroom. Captain Kockney was +desperately nonchalant, his partner full of airs and graces; +their conversation was silly, ignorant, and conceited, beyond the +reach of imagination--such things must be heard to be believed. +Young Van Horne was clever, and appeared to less advantage in +dancing than in most things. Elinor the reader knows already; it +was a pleasure to follow her as she moved about with the happy +grace which belonged to her nature. Her partner, half in joke, +half in earnest, was engaging her interest with his father in +behalf of the visit to Europe. Elinor promised to do all in her +power; and they chatted away cheerfully and gaily, for they were +young and light-hearted; and yet, even in a ball-room, they meant +what they said, and knew what they were talking about, for both +were sensible and well educated. Jane and young Bernard were next +to Mrs. Hilson; Adeline and Charlie Hubbard next to Elinor. Miss +Taylor had declared that she would allow no one but herself to +fill the place opposite to Jane, causing by her decision no +little flirtation, and rattling merriment; but, of course, this +was just what the young lady aimed at. These two pretty, +thoughtless creatures, the belle and the beauty, held a middle +position between Mrs. Hilson and Elinor. Frivolous as they were, +there was more latent good about them, than could be found in the +'city lady,' who was one frothy compound of ignorant vanity, and +vulgar affectation. The class she represented was fortunately as +small in its extreme folly, as that to which Elinor belonged, in +its simple excellence. + +Any one, indifferent to dancing or speculation, seeking amusement +as a looker-on, would have been struck, at Uncle Josie's +house-warming, with the generally feminine and pleasing +appearance of the women; there were few faces, indeed, that could +be called positively ugly. Then, again, one remarked, that +puerile as the general tone might be, mixed as the company was, +there were no traces whatever of coarseness, none of that bold +vulgarity which is so revolting. + +There was a certain proportion of elderly men collected on the +occasion--they were seen, with a few exceptions, standing in +knots, talking great speculations and little politics, and +looking rather anxious for supper, and the boned turkey. Of the +mothers and chaperons, who filled the sofas, as representatives +of a half-forgotten custom, some were watching the flirtations, +others looking on and enjoying the gaiety of the young people. +Both fathers and mothers, however, were very decidedly in the +minority, and, according to American principles, they allowed the +majority undisputed sway. The young people, in general, held +little communication with their elders, and amused themselves +after their own fashion; the young ladies' bouquets afforded a +favourite subject for small-talk; they were all carefully +analysed--not botanically, but according to the last edition of +that elegant work, the Language of Flowers, which afforded, of +course, a wide field for the exercise of gallantry and +flirtation. + +{Probably, Frederic Shoberl (1775-1853), "The Language of +Flowers," (numerous editions, some published by the Cooper +family's regular publisher in Philadelphia)--but there were many +similar books on the "poetic meaning" of different flowers} + +Among the dancers, the four young ladies we have pointed out were +acknowledged the most conspicuous. According to Mrs. Tibbs and +Mrs. Bibbs, Jane's was the most beautiful face in the room, +although there were two or three competitors for the title; +Adeline was pronounced the most successful of the rival belles; +Mrs. Hilson the most elegant and airy; Elinor the plainest of the +gay troop. Probably, most of those who thought about the matter, +would have decided as the Longbridge ladies did--although, on the +point of Mrs. Hilson's elegance, many would have protested. There +was one person, at least, who followed Elinor's graceful figure +with partial interest; Miss Agnes found so much that was pleasing +to her, in the fresh, youthful appearance of her adopted +child--in the simple good-taste of her white dress--in the +intelligence and character of her expression--in her engaging +manner, that she forgot to regret her want of beauty; she no +longer wondered, as she had sometimes done, that Harry should so +early have appreciated her niece. Those who knew Elinor +thoroughly, loved her for the excellence of her character; +strangers neglected her for any pretty face at her side; but +every one thrown in her society, must have acknowledged the charm +of her manner. This pleasing manner, however, so frank, yet so +feminine, so simple, yet so graceful, was only the natural result +of her character, and her very want of beauty. She was never +troubled by the fluttering hopes and fears of vanity; she never +seemed to think of effect; when in society, her attention was +always given in the simplest and most amiable way to others. +Forgetful of self, she was a stranger to every forward +affectation, to every awkwardness of mauvaise honte; her good +sense, her gaiety, a sweet disposition, and an active mind were +allowed full play, under no other restraints than those of a good +education; those of principle, and those of youthful, womanly +modesty. Such was Elinor in the eyes of her aunt, but it must not +be supposed that this was the general opinion of Uncle Josie's +guests; by no means; many remarks were made upon Miss Wyllys's +being so decidedly plain; and even her dancing was thought +inferior by some of the company to the more laboured graces of +Mrs. Hilson, or the downright indifference of Adeline: as for +Jane, she unfortunately never danced in time. + +{"mauvaise honte" = bashfulness, false shame (French)} + +At the proper moment supper was announced--the boned turkey +appeared in full glory. "What is that?"--"Boned turkey"--"Shall I +give you boned turkey?" "I'll thank you for a little boned +turkey"--were sounds heard in every direction. It was very +evident the boned turkey was fully appreciated, and gave great +satisfaction--thus putting the finishing touch to the pleasures +of Uncle Josie's house-warming. We must not forget to mention the +mottoes, which were handed about in silver baskets, for, as +usual, they caused many tender and witty speeches. This was a +part of the entertainment in which Adeline delighted; Jane seemed +quite satisfied with it, and Mrs. Hilson was in her element among +these little bits of pink paper and sentiment. + +Before the supper was more than half over, however, the rattling +of spoons and plates, the requests for "boned turkey," and the +flirting over mottoes were suddenly interrupted, and everything +hushed for a moment, by calls for a doctor! "Where is Dr. Van +Horne?" "Have you seen Dr. A?" "There is Dr. B." + +"Alonzo, the fainting-room; remember," said Mrs. Hilson. + +But it proved to be none of the company who required a physician. +A stranger, a sailor, some one said, who had been for the last +week at a low tavern opposite, had been seized with a fit; Dr. +Van Horne was soon found, and hastened to the relief of the sick +man. The interruption was soon forgotten; the mottoes and boned +turkey were again in demand. Dr. Van Horne did not return, +however; his family went home without him; and Mrs. Clapp, on +looking around for her husband, found that he also had +disappeared. + +"I saw Clapp going into the tavern last evening," observed Uncle +Josie. "Perhaps this poor fellow is some client of his; he may +have gone to look after him." + +Mrs. Clapp was obliged to ask Uncle Dozie to accompany her home; +and as he was no somnambulist, with all his napping, he carried +his niece safely to her own door. + +Miss Wyllys was one of those who left the house immediately after +supper. Adeline and Jane ran up stairs before Elinor and +herself--like the Siamese twins, each with an arm encircling the +other's waist. The close intimacy between Jane and Adeline +continued to surprise Elinor. She began to think there must be +something more than common, something of the importance of a +mystery which drew them so often together, causing so many +confidential meetings. Even when the two girls were in society, +she could not but observe that Adeline often made some allusion, +or whispered some remark that seemed both pleasing and +embarrassing to Jane. Miss Taylor was evidently playing +confidante, and occasionally Jane appeared to wish her less open +and persevering in the affair. As for Mrs. Graham, she was too +much occupied with the care of her younger children to pay much +attention to her daughter's intimacies. She rather disliked +Adeline and all her family, and Mr. Graham had a real antipathy +for Mr. Taylor; still Jane was allowed to do as other young girls +about her, select whom she pleased for her associates. Mrs. +Graham was one of those mothers who devote themselves with great +assiduity to the care of their childrens' {sic} bodies, their +food and raiment, pains and aches--leaving all anxiety for their +minds to the school-mistress, and their characters to themselves. +With the eldest daughter this plan had succeeded very well; +Louisa Graham was clever and well-disposed, and had taken of her +own accord what is called a good turn; and Mr. Robert Hazlehurst +had every reason to congratulate himself upon his choice of a +wife. Mrs. Graham seemed to take it as a matter of course that +the same system would succeed equally well with all her family. +But Jane's disposition was very different from her sister +Louisa's; she had no strength of character, and was easily led by +those about her. The greatest fault in her disposition was +thought by her family to be indolence; but Miss Wyllys sometimes +wished that she had less selfishness, and more frankness. + +{"Siamese twins" = Chang and Eng (1811-1874), born joined +together in Thailand (Siam), of Chinese parents, who were +exhibited in America for many years by P.T. Barnum; the condition +was named after them} + +Elinor was not a little startled at something which passed in +Miss Hubbard's dressing-room, between Jane and Miss Taylor, and +which she accidentally overheard, before she was aware the +conversation was confidential. + +"Don't pretend any longer, Jane, that you didn't know it," +whispered Adeline, as they were stooping together over a bundle +of hoods and shawls. Jane made no answer. "Now, confess that you +knew he was serious before you left Paris." + +"I did not think much of it for some time," said Jane. + +"Well, I supposed from your letters that you knew long ago that +he was desperately in love with you. Trust me, we'll settle it +all between us." + +"Oh, hush," said Jane, "there is somebody coming--I know it's +wrong--" + +"Nonsense--wrong indeed! I should like to know where is the great +harm if he does break his engagement?" + +Elinor moved away when she found the conversation was meant to be +private. But she had unintentionally heard enough to make her +anxious for Jane. "Was not Adeline leading her into difficulty?" +She felt uneasy, and thought of nothing else during her drive +home. It would not do to consult Miss Wyllys; but she determined +to speak to Jane herself, the first time she saw her. +Unfortunately, her cousin was going to New York, and nothing +could be done until she returned to pass a fortnight at +Wyllys-Roof before going to town for the winter. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +-------------------------"the reward +Is in the race we run, not in the prize." +ROGERS. + +{Samuel Rogers (English poet, 1763-1855), "Italy: A Character" +lines 39-40} + +MISS PATSEY had never, in her life, been to a regular ball, +before this house-warming of Uncle Josie's; but not even the +novelty of a ball could keep her in bed an hour later than usual. +Charlie and herself had returned home some time after midnight, +with the Wyllyses; but the next morning she rose with the +chickens, and before the October sun, to pursue, as usual, her +daily labours. It was truly surprising how much Patsey Hubbard +found time to do in a single day, and that without being one of +your fussy, utilitarian busy-bodies, whose activity is all +physical, and who look upon half an hour passed in quiet thought, +or innocent recreation, as so much time thrown away. Our friend +Patsey's career, from childhood, had been one of humble industry, +self-forgetfulness, and active charity; her time in the gay hours +of youth, as well as in the calmer years of mature experience, +had been devoted to the welfare and happiness of her parents, her +brothers and sisters. From a long habit of considering the wants +and pleasures of others first, she always seemed to think of +herself last, as a matter of course. She had had many laborious, +anxious hours, many cares; but it is far from being those who +have the most trouble in this world, who complain the loudest; no +one had fewer wants, fewer vanities, fewer idle hours than Miss +Patsey, and, consequently, no one could be more generally +cheerful and contented. There is nothing so conducive to true, +healthful cheerfulness, as the consciousness of time well-spent: +there is no better cure for the dull spirit of French ENNUI, or +the gloom of English BLUES, than regular, useful occupation, +followed by harmless recreation. + +Any one who had followed Patsey Hubbard through the varied duties +of a single day, would have acknowledged that there is no +spectacle in this world more pleasant, than that of a human +being, discharging with untiring fidelity, and singleness of +heart, duties, however humble. The simple piety of her first +morning prayer, the plain good sense of her domestic +arrangements, and thorough performance of all her household +tasks, her respectful, considerate kindness to her step-mother, +and even a shade of undue indulgence of Charlie--all spoke her +character--all was consistent. + +Happy was Patsey's little flock of scholars. Every morning, at +nine o'clock, they assembled; the Taylor children usually +appeared in Leghorn gipsies, and silk aprons; the rest of the +troop in gingham "sun-bonnets," and large aprons of the same +material. There were several little boys just out of petticoats, +and half-a-dozen little girls--enough to fill two benches. The +instruction Patsey gave her little people was of the simplest +kind; reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic, learning a few +simple verses, with sewing and marking for the girls, made up the +amount of it. Most people, in these days of enlightenment, would +have been very much dissatisfied with her plan, for it actually +excluded all the sciences, and all the accomplishments. Patsey +had two reasons for confining herself to the plainest branches of +education only; in the first place, she did not think herself +capable of teaching anything else; and, secondly, she doubted +whether her scholars were capable of learning anything better or +more useful for themselves. Mr. Taylor thought she had very low +views of infant education; and yet, you could not have found +anywhere a set of children, between three and ten, who were more +thoroughly taught what their instructor professed to teach. Happy +would it be for these little creatures, if they never acquired +any worse knowledge than they gained under Patsey's care! She had +an eye to their tempers, their morals, and their manners; she +trained the little girls to be modest and gentle--the little boys +to be respectful and obliging; while she endeavoured to make all +alike honest, open, cheerful, and sincere. Were not these lessons +quite as important to most children, between the ages of three +and ten, as chemistry, astronomy, and natural philosophy? + +{"Leghorn gipsies" = fashionable hats (named after Leghorn, +Italy) with large side flaps; "marking" = embroidering +identifying names or initials on linen} + +The day following Uncle Josie's house-warming, Miss Patsey +released her little flock an hour earlier than usual; they were +allowed to pass the time playing in an adjoining meadow, until +sent for by their parents. There was to be a tea-party at the +"old gray house" that evening--a very unusual event; ten +invitations had been sent out. The fact is, Miss Patsey had +received a basket of noble peaches, the day before, from one of +her neighbours; and Uncle Josie had already, early in the +morning, sent over a wagon-load of good things to replenish his +niece's larder--the remains of the last night's supper; among +other delicacies there was a bit of boned turkey, for Mrs. +Hubbard's especial benefit. Patsey scarcely knew what to do with +so many luxuries. She sent a basket of fruits and jellies to a +couple of sick neighbours, by Charlie; still, there was more than +her mother, Charlie, and herself, could possibly do justice to in +a week. She determined to give a little tea-party; it was +eighteen months since she had had one, and that had been only for +the Wyllyses. Dr. and Mrs. Van Horne, the Taylors, the Wyllyses, +and the Clapps were accordingly invited; and Patsey proceeded to +burn some coffee, and make short-cake. The little parlour was +more carefully swept and dusted than ever, five additional chairs +were brought in, and a fire was made, on account of Mrs. Hubbard. +Then, about four o'clock, the ladies made their toilette; Mrs. +Hubbard was dressed in a smart new calico, with a cap, made by +Elinor, and was then seated in the best rocking-chair. As for +Patsey, herself, she could not think of wearing the elegant new +dress, Uncle Josie's present--that was much too fine; she +preferred what had now become her second-best--a black silk, +which looked somewhat rusty and well-worn. To tell the truth, +this gown had seen good service; it had been not only turned, but +re-turned--having twice gone through the operation of ripping and +sponging; and doubtful as the fact may appear to the reader, yet +we have Miss Patsey's word for it, that a good silk will bear +twice turning, but then it must be a silk of a first-rate +quality, like her own. It had been, indeed, the standing opinion +of the family for the last five years, that this particular dress +was still "as good as new." As for the changes in fashion that +this black silk had outlived, who shall tell them? It was +purchased in the days of short waists and belts, "gig-ohs," and +"pal-reens," as they were called by the country damsel, whose +scissors first shaped the glossy "gro de nap." Waists, long, +longer, longest, succeeded; sleeves, full, fuller, fullest, +followed; belts were discarded, boddices {sic} began to appear; +still Miss Patsey's silk kept up with the changes, or rather, did +not entirely lose sight of them. If you had seen her at a little +tea-party at Wyllys-Roof, wearing this silk, "nearly as good as +new," with a neat and pretty collar of Elinor's work, you would +have been obliged to confess that her dress answered a rule given +by a celebrated philosopher--you would not have remarked it. Had +you chanced to meet her of a Sunday, in Mr. Wyllys's +carriage--the Wyllyses always stopped on their way to St. John's +Church, at Longbridge, to offer a couple of seats to the +Hubbards, who were set down at the door of their father's old +Meeting-house--had you seen her of a Sunday, with a neat straw +hat, and the black silk gown, you would have been obliged to +acknowledge that her dress had the double merit, by no means +common, of according with her circumstances, and the sacred +duties she was going to fulfil; the devotion of her neighbours +would not be disturbed by admiration of her toilette. + +{"burn some coffee" = roast some coffee; "gig-oh" = a puffed +"gigot" or "leg of mutton" sleeve; "pal-reen" = "pelerine", a +cape or mantle; "gro de nap" = "gros de Naples", a weave of silk +with a corded effect (French)} + +At five o'clock, Miss Patsey's company began to assemble; the +Wyllyses were the first to appear; then came Mrs. Taylor, Mrs. +Van Horne, and Mrs. Clapp; Adeline excused herself, she thought +it a bore, Charlie was not worth flirting with. The doctor, Mr. +Taylor, and Mr. Clapp, were expected after tea. And a pleasant, +good-natured evening it proved to be. Miss Patsey's coffee was +excellent; the little black girl, engaged for the occasion, +performed her duties to admiration. Mrs. Taylor thought that she +had scarcely passed such a quiet, pleasant afternoon, since the +halcyon days before her husband was a rich man; she was much +interested in discussing with Miss Patsey, and Miss Wyllys, and +Mrs. Van Horne, various recipes for making bread, hoe-cake, and +other good things. As for Elinor, she told Charlie she had left +her work at home, on purpose that she might have time enough to +look over all his sketches--everything he had to show, old and +new. The drawings, and several oil-paintings were accordingly +produced, and looked over by the young people, and Mr. Wyllys, +who had taken a chair by the table, and joined them. Elinor knew +nothing of drawing, but her general taste was good; she asked +many questions about the details of the art, and was amused and +interested by Charlie's remarks. + +{"left her work at home" = the knitting or similar hand-work +engaged in by ladies while they conversed} + +"Show us everything, Charlie," said Mr. Wyllys. "I befriended +your genius, you know, in the days of the slate and compound +interest; and, of course, I shall think it due to my own +discernment to admire all your works." + +"Of course, you are not afraid of my criticisms," said Elinor; "I +don't know enough to be severe." + +"People who know little, my child, generally make very severe +critics," said Mr. Wyllys. + +"When they know LITTLE, grandpapa; but mine is honest, humble +ignorance. I know nothing at all on the subject." + +"Do you remember, Miss Elinor, that Hogarth said anybody +possessing common sense was a better judge of a picture than a +connoisseur?" + +{"Hogarth" = William Hogarth (1697-1764), English artist and +printmaker.} + +"Did Hogarth say so?--I shall begin to feel qualified to find +fault. That is a very pretty group of children, grandpapa." + +"Very pretty;--some of Miss Patsey's little people. And here is +another, quite natural and graceful, Charlie." + +"I never see my sister's little scholars but I am tempted to +sketch them. Children are such a charming study; but I am never +satisfied with what I do; a picture of children that is not +thoroughly childlike is detestable. Those are mere scratches." + +"What are these faint outlines of figures, with dashes of +colouring here and there?" asked Elinor. + +"Oh, those are mere fancies, made entirely for amusement. They +are rude sketches of my own ideas of celebrated pictures that I +have never seen, of course; only as exercises for idle +moments--one way of practising attitudes of figures, and +composition. I keep them more as a lesson of humility than +anything else, for me to remember my own poor conceits when I see +the originals, if that happy day ever come." + +"I thought you gave yourself up entirely to landscapes, +Charlie--do you think seriously of pursuing both branches?" asked +Mr. Wyllys. + +"No, sir; I give the preference to landscapes; I find, at least, +that field quite wide enough. It seems scarcely possible to unite +both, they are so different in character and detail, and require +such a different course of study." + +"That is the great point with you, my boy; you must not waste too +much time upon the ideal portion of the art; you must remember +that the most beautiful ideas in the world will be lost, if the +execution is not in some measure worthy of them." + +"I am so well aware of that, sir, that I have done nothing but +study the practical part of my trade for the last three months, +and I feel that it has been of service to me." + +"There is water in all your sketches, I believe," said Elinor. +"You must be very partial to it." + +"I am, indeed--it is a most delightful study--I should be afraid +to tell you all the pleasure I have in painting water--you would +laugh at me, if I once set off upon my hobby." + +"Not at all; you have made me an honest admirer of every variety +of lakes and rivers, since I have seen your pictures." + +"When did you first take to water, Charlie?" asked Mr. Wyllys. + +"Oh, long ago, sir, when I was a little bit of a shaver. Have you +never when a child, Miss Elinor, received great pleasure, perhaps +a lasting impression, from some natural object that you still +remember distinctly?" + +"Yes, I know what you mean--I recollect perfectly several things +of the kind. I believe children have more observation, and +feeling for what is beautiful, than is generally supposed." + +"It is very probable that most children have similar sensations. +I am glad that you do not laugh at me; there are few persons to +whom I confess my violent partiality for water; most people would +think it ridiculous." + +"You are right, Charlie; one can talk to the world in action +only; it never believes the truth in any shape, until forced to +acknowledge it. You are pursuing the right course, however; you +have spoken quite clearly in your view from Nahant--your friends +have every reason to urge you to persevere. But does not Mr. +----- tell you to pay more attention to your foliage and +buildings? you rather neglect them for the water." + +"Yes, sir; I am well aware of my defects in that respect, and +next summer I hope to devote a great deal of time to foliage." + +The conversation was here interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Van +Horne and Mr. Taylor, followed shortly after by Mr. Clapp. + +"You are late, William," said pretty little Mrs. Clapp to her +husband. "Did you leave the children all safe? Did the baby cry +for me?" + +"Perfectly safe--all sound asleep," replied Mr. Clapp, passing +his fingers through his curls. But his wife, who knew every +expression of the face she thought so handsome, fancied William +looked pale and uneasy; some business had gone wrong, perhaps. + +"Quite a select circle," observed Mr. Taylor, sitting down by +Miss Wyllys, leaning his chair back, and rolling his thumbs, one +over the other. + +"I have not had a pleasanter evening in a great while," said Mrs. +Taylor. "It puts me in mind, husband, of old fashioned +tea-parties, when we lived altogether in the country. We used to +go at two o'clock, and stay until sunset. I think such sociable +parties are much pleasanter than late, crowded balls." + +"Ha! ha!--that may be your opinion, Mrs. Taylor; a quiet party +does very well where one is intimate, no doubt; but I conclude +that younger ladies, Adeline, and her friends Miss Graham and +Miss Wyllys, would give a different verdict." + +"Miss Taylor seems quite partial to large parties," said Elinor, +quietly, for the remark was addressed to her. + +"Yes, Adeline and her 'chum' both like plenty of balls and beaux, +I reckon." + +"What has become of your patient, doctor?" inquired Miss Patsey. +"The poor man at the tavern--do you think he will get well?" + +"I have no doubt the fellow will outlive half-a-dozen such fits. +I left him last night under guard of two men, to keep him from +hanging himself; and this morning, when I went to look after him, +he was off. He was so much better, that he had been persuaded by +some messmate to ship for a cruize--only a three years' whaling +voyage. Regular Jack-tar fashion--a frolic one day, a fit the +next, and off for the end of the world the third." + +"He has left Longbridge, has he?" said Mr. Wyllys. "I was just +going to inquire after him, for they have a story going about, +that he used very threatening language in speaking of myself and +Hazlehurst. Did you happen to hear him, doctor?" + +"He did use some wild, incoherent expressions, sir, to that +effect, when I was with him; but the threats of a raving man are +not of much consequence." + +"Certainly not. But I have no idea who the man can be; I don't +know a single common seaman by sight or name--at least, the only +one I ever knew is long since dead. It is singular that this +fellow should have known my name even; they say he was a stranger +at Longbridge." + +"Entirely so, I believe." + +"What was his name?" + +"William Thompson, they told me." + +"If he is a sailor, he probably has a dozen aliases," interposed +Mr. Clapp, who had been listening very attentively. + +"By-the-bye, Clapp, they say he included you in his kind wishes." + +"Yes, sir, so I understand." + +"William, you never mentioned it to me!" said his wife. + +"No, my dear; I did not attach any importance to the story," +replied the lawyer, pulling out his handkerchief with one hand, +and running the other through his hair--looking a little nervous +and uneasy, notwithstanding. + +"He did not exactly threaten you, Mr. Clapp, while I was with +him," said the doctor; "he seemed rather to depend upon you as an +ally." + +"Still more singular," said Mr. Clapp, with a glance at Mr. +Wyllys. + +"That was very strange!" exclaimed his wife--"what could the man +mean?" + +"It is by no means easy to explain the meaning of a drunken man, +my dear. It is just possible he may have heard my name as a man +of business. I have had several sailors for clients, and one +quite recently, staying at the same tavern." + +"I dare say, if explained, it would prove to be Much ado about +Nothing," said Mr. Wyllys. "Since the fellow was drunk at the +time, and went off as soon as he grew sober, the danger does not +seem very imminent." + +{"Much ado about Nothing" = an allusion to Shakespeare's play of +that name} + +"Precisely my opinion, sir," said Mr. Clapp. + +"Grandpapa, do you remember the sailor who was found near our +house, one night, about two years ago? It was my birth-day, and +we had a little party--have you forgotten?" + +"True, my child; I have never thought of the fellow since; but +now you speak of him, I remember the fact." + +"Do you not think it is probably the same person?--you know Harry +had him locked up: perhaps he owes you both a grudge for the +treatment he received at Wyllys-Roof, upon that occasion." + +"That accounts for the whole affair, Miss Elinor--you have +cleared up the mystery entirely," said Mr. Clapp, looking much +relieved. He not only appeared grateful to Elinor for the +explanation given, but seemed to extend the obligation to all the +family; for he was particularly attentive to Mr. Wyllys, and Miss +Agnes, during the whole evening--and the next morning, early, +drove out to Wyllys-Roof, expressly to carry some brook-trout, +for Mr. Wyllys's breakfast. The lawyer informed several persons, +who alluded to the story, of this simple explanation, which +seemed to satisfy all who heard it. The whole affair was soon +forgotten, for a time, at least. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +"Weak and irresolute is man; +The purpose of to-day +Woven with pains into his plan, +To-morrow rends away." +COWPER. + +{William Cowper (English poet, 1731-1800), "Human Frailty" lines +1-4} + +AFTER an absence of a week, or ten days, Harry returned to +Wyllys-Roof, not at all sorry to hear that he was too late to see +the Grahams, as they were going to New York the next morning. He +was very attentive to Elinor--pointedly so. Once or twice, she +was going to jest with him upon the subject, and inquire the +cause of this studied gallantry; but observing he was still a +little out of spirits, she contented herself with thanking him +for the books he had brought her. + +The next day proved so mild, so hazy, and Indian-summer-like, +that Hazlehurst proposed to take advantage of it, to give the +ladies a row on the river. They were out for a couple of hours, +landed on the opposite bank, and paid a visit to their friends, +the Bernards, who lived a mile or two below them. The air was +delightful, the country looked beautiful--fresher, perhaps, than +at midsummer; for the heat was no longer parching, and the +September showers had washed away the dust, and brought out the +green grass again. Harry had become interested in the +conversation, and was particularly agreeable; Miss Agnes was +pleased with his remarks, and Elinor thought she had never passed +a pleasanter morning; she was little aware that it was to be +followed by many anxious, painful days. + +They landed, as usual, at the boat-house; and the ladies prepared +to walk slowly across the lawn, while Harry secured the boat and +oars. As they approached the house, they were surprised to see +several of the servants collected on the piazza, listening so +intently to a lad that they did not see the ladies. Old Hetty, a +superannuated negro cook, who had lived all her life in the +family, was wringing her hands and wiping her eyes with her +apron; while Mammy Sarah, Elinor's former nurse, a respectable +white woman, was talking to the boy. + +Elinor quickened her pace, and hastened before her aunt, to +inquire into the cause of this distress. + +"What is it, Mammy?" she asked, on reaching the piazza. "What is +the matter?" + +"Oh, dearie me; Miss Elly, Miss Elly!" exclaimed old Hetty; with +a fresh burst of tears. + +"Tell us--Hetty--Mammy--what has happened?" said Miss Wyllys, as +she approached. + +"Oh, Miss Aggess, Miss Aggess--dreadful news!" said the old negro +woman, burying her face in her apron. + +"My father?" asked Miss Agnes, faintly, and trembling with alarm. + +"No, ma'am," said Mammy Sarah, looking very sad, however; "Mr. +Wyllys is very well, and we were hoping he would come in before +you, so that we could get at the truth." + +"Let us hear what you have to say, at once, Mammy," continued +Miss Agnes, anxiously. + +"Billy, here, has brought bad news from Longbridge." + +"Dreadful news!" interposed old Hetty. "Oh, Miss Aggess! Billy +say Miss Jane--" + +"What is it?--Speak plainly!" cried Miss Wyllys. + +"There's an accident happened to the steamboat," added Mammy. + +"B'iler bust--dearie me--Miss Jane's scall to death!" exclaimed +Hetty. + +A cry of horror burst from Elinor and her aunt, and they turned +towards Mammy Sarah. + +"I hope it isn't quite so bad, ma'am," said Mammy; "but Billy +says the steamboat boiler did really burst after she had got only +half a mile from the wharf." + +A second sufficed for Miss Agnes and Elinor to remember Hetty's +fondness for marvels and disasters, and they hoped ardently that +the present account might be exaggerated. They turned to the boy: +"What had he heard?" "Whom had he seen?" Billy reported that he +had seen the boat himself; that he had heard the cries from her +decks, which the people in the street thought had come from some +horses on board, that must have been scalded; that another boat +had gone out to the Longbridge steamer, and had towed her to a +wharf a few rods from the spot where the accident happened; that +he had seen, himself, a man on horseback, coming for the doctor; +and the people told him five horses had been killed, two men +badly hurt, and Mr. Graham's eldest daughter was scalded so badly +that she was not expected to live. + +Miss Wyllys's anxiety increased on hearing the boy's story; she +ordered the carriage instantly, determined that under any +circumstances, it would be best to go to Longbridge at once, +either to discover the truth, or to assist Mrs. Graham in nursing +Jane, if she were really badly injured. At this moment, Harry +returned from the boat-house. + +"What is the matter?" he exclaimed, springing up the piazza +steps, and looking round upon the sad and anxious faces. + +"We have heard bad news from Longbridge," said Miss Wyllys; but +before she could explain herself, old Hetty burst into tears +again, and turning to Hazlehurst, exclaimed: + +"Oh, Massa Harry!--dreadful news!--Miss Jane scall to death in +steamboat!" + +Miss Wyllys was so much struck with the effect of these words on +Harry, that for an instant she forgot to say "she trusted the +story had been exaggerated." Hazlehurst lost all colour--stood +speechless and motionless for a moment. Elinor was too much +agitated herself to speak. Suddenly, Harry met Miss Agnes' eye; +he turned from her, rushed through the house, and continued +walking rapidly up and down the avenue, apparently forgetful of +everything but his own feelings. Amid all her anxiety for Jane, +Miss Wyllys could not but remark Hazlehurst's manner--he seemed +entirely overcome, by his emotion; and yet he had not asked one +question, nor made one offer to do anything for Elinor, or +herself; and one would have thought it more natural that at such +a moment he should have remained with them, pained and distressed +as they were. Elinor only thought that Hazlehurst's feelings did +credit to his heart; her own was full of grief for the suffering +of her playfellow and companion, whom she had loved almost as a +sister. + +Some twenty minutes were passed in this manner by the aunt and +niece, with feelings better understood than described. They were +waiting for the carriage, and nothing could be done in the mean +time; it seemed an age to Elinor before the coachman could be +found, and the horses harnessed. While her aunt and herself were +in tears, pacing the piazza together, they were surprised by the +appearance, on the Longbridge road, of the old-fashioned chair in +which Mr. Wyllys usually drove about his farm. Miss Agnes +distinctly saw her father driving, with a lady at his side. They +were approaching at a very steady, quiet pace. As they entered +the gate, Miss Agnes and Elinor hastened to meet them; they saw +Harry stopping to speak to Mr. Wyllys, and then Miss Wyllys heard +her father's voice calling to herself. + +{"chair" = a light, one-horse carriage} + +"All safe!" he cried. "It was a misunderstanding; Jane is quite +well; though a poor young woman, bearing the same name, has been +scalded." + +"We were in hopes the news had not reached you yet," said Mrs. +George Wyllys, who accompanied her father-in-law. "We were all +dreadfully alarmed, at first, for the accident was very much +exaggerated." + +Miss Wyllys and Elinor were too thankful for Jane's escape, to +express anything but the relief they felt on hearing of her +safety. + +"No one killed," continued Mr. Wyllys. "They lost a couple of +horses; two of the men were hurt, but not dangerously; and the +new chambermaid, whose name is Jane Graham, had her feet badly +scalded. But there is so little harm done, considering what might +have happened, that we have reason to be very thankful for every +one on board." + +"You may imagine how much alarmed I was," continued Mrs. Wyllys; +"for I happened to be sitting at my own window, which overlooks +the river, you know, and I heard the noise and cries from the +boat, and knew the Grahams were on board." + +Long explanations followed: Mr. Wyllys had had his fright too. He +had heard at the saddler's, that half Mr. Graham's family were +killed. Now, however, it only remained for them to be thankful +that their friends had all escaped, and to hope Jane's namesake +would soon recover. + +"But how long is it since you heard the story? why did you not +send Harry off at once, to get at the truth?" asked Mr. Wyllys. + +"We were going ourselves," replied Miss Agnes. + +"What has become of Harry?--Where is he?" asked her father. + +But Harry had disappeared. + +"He was much distressed at the news," said Elinor. + +"No wonder; it was a horrible idea. But he should have jumped on +horseback, and rode over to Longbridge to find out the truth." + +Elinor looked round once more for Hazlehurst, as they entered the +house; but he was certainly not there. + +"And what are the Grahams going to do?" asked Miss Wyllys. + +"They are off again this afternoon," replied her father, taking a +seat on the sofa. + +Hazlehurst was not seen again all the morning. Dinner came, and +he had not joined the family. + +"He is in his room," said Elinor; "I heard him walking as I +passed his door. I am afraid he is not well." + +The servant who was sent to let him know that dinner was on +table, returned with the answer, that Mr. Hazlehurst had a bad +head-ache, and begged Miss Wyllys would excuse him. + +"That long row in the sun must have given Harry a head-ache, Aunt +Agnes," said Elinor; "I am sorry we went so far." + +"Perhaps so," said Miss Agnes; although she did not seem wholly +to be of Elinor's opinion. + +"Hazlehurst is no such tender chicken, Nelly; you must not spoil +him, child--do you hear?" said her grandfather, smiling in a way +that made Elinor colour. Miss Agnes was silent during dinner; but +as the whole family had scarcely recovered from the alarm of the +morning, the shade of anxiety on her face was not remarked. + +Harry remained in his room. As he had requested not to be +disturbed, he was left alone. Once, however, in the course of the +evening, a knock was heard at his door, and a servant appeared. + +"Miss Elinor sends you a cup of tea, sir, and hopes your head is +better," said Thomas. + +"Miss Elinor is very good--I am much obliged to her," was Harry's +answer, in a low, thick voice; but the cup of tea remained +untasted, while Hazlehurst resumed his walk across the room. +When, shortly after, Elinor's voice was heard singing her +grandfather's favourite air of Robin Adair in lower tones than +usual, Harry again started from the table, where he had laid pen +and paper preparatory to writing, and striking his hand against +his forehead, he exclaimed: + +{"Robin Adair" = Irish folksong, though often identified with +Scotland, with words ca. 1750 by Lady Caroline Keppel; it is the +only specific tune Elinor is ever heard to sing} + +"Ungrateful wretch, that I am!" + +The next morning Elinor was up early, and taking the garden +basket, she went out to gather all the late flowers she could +find, to fill a jar for the drawing-room--singing gaily, as she +went from bush to bush, and gathering here a sprig of +honeysuckle, there violets or a late rose, blooming out of +season, and a few other straggling blossoms. After loitering +about the garden for half an hour, she returned to the house. She +was surprised to see the coachman, at that early hour, driving up +the avenue in the little wagon used for errands about the +country. + +"Where have you been, Williams?" she asked, as he drove past her +towards the stable. + +"To carry Mr. Hazlehurst over to Upper Lewiston, in time for the +six o'clock boat, Miss." + +Elinor could scarcely believe what she had heard. At the same +moment, Mr. Wyllys stepped out on the piazza. + +"What is this, Elinor?" he asked. "They tell me Harry is off; did +you see him this morning?" + +Elinor was obliged to say she had not. + +"What can it mean! did he get any letters by last night's mail?" + +"Not that I know of," said Elinor, much surprised, and a little +alarmed. + +They found Miss Agnes in the drawing-room; she, it seemed, +already knew of Hazlehurst's departure. She said little on the +subject, but looked anxious and absent. Elinor scarcely knew what +to think; she was afraid to trust herself to make any inquiries, +preferring to wait until alone with her aunt after breakfast. The +meal passed over in silence. Mr. Wyllys looked uneasy; Elinor was +at a loss to know what to think; neither of the ladies paid much +attention to the morning meal that day. + +Miss Agnes rose from table, and went to her own room; Elinor, +neglecting her usual task as housekeeper, hastened to follow her +aunt, her mind filled with indistinct fears and anxieties. Miss +Agnes was walking about her room, looking pained and distressed. +Several letters were lying on a table near her; two were +unopened; one she had been reading. + +"Letters!--my dear Aunt, from whom? Tell me, I conjure you, what +you know! Has anything happened to Louisa--to Jane? Did Harry +leave no message for me?" cried Elinor, hurrying towards her +aunt, whose face she watched for an answer to each question, as +she asked it. Miss Wyllys made an effort to compose herself, and +held out her hand to Elinor. + +"My dearest Aunt!--pray tell me what distresses you--Ha! Harry's +handwriting!" she exclaimed, as her eye fell on the open letter +by Miss Wyllys--"I know that letter is from Harry; do not conceal +anything; is it for me?" + +"This letter is to me, my child," replied her aunt, taking up the +one she had been reading; wishing to give Elinor all the +preparation in her power, for a blow which she knew must fall +heavily, since it was so entirely unexpected. + +"But there are two other letters," cried Elinor, "one of them is +for me, I am sure. Let me see it at once, Aunt; you cannot deny +that it is for me--and if it contain bad news, you know that I +can command myself when necessary." + +Miss Agnes's hand trembled as she took the letters. + +"My child! My beloved Elinor!" she said. + +"Dearest Aunt, you torture me! Tell me, I beseech you, what we +have to fear!" + +"You shall know all," Miss Agnes replied, seating herself; and +endeavouring to be calm. "You will be much distressed, my child; +but I know that you will be now, what you always have been, +reasonable, and true to yourself--to your grandfather--to me," +added Miss Wyllys, in a voice almost inarticulate. + +A thousand indistinct ideas passed through Elinor's mind with the +rapidity of lightning, while her aunt was speaking; illness of +some absent friend suggested itself--yet who could it be? Not +Harry, surely, for he had gone over to Upper Lewiston that +morning--yet her fears instinctively centred upon Hazlehurst. + +"It is something relating to Harry, I am sure," she said. "Is he +ill?--is he in trouble?" she asked in a faint voice, while a +prayer for resignation sprang from her heart, with the words. + +"You are right," replied Miss Wyllys, in a faltering voice; and +seating herself by her niece, she continued, "He is well. If he +is in trouble, it is from his own choice. Have you no suspicions, +my dearest child, of what has happened?" + +"Suspicions!"--exclaimed Elinor, in astonishment, "what is there +for me to suspect? My dearest Aunt, I am more and more +perplexed--explain it all yourself--who is it you are concerned +for?" + +"My only concern is for you, dearest; my only regret, that +trouble should have been brought on you by those dear to you--by +your grandfather, by myself, by your cousins." + +"By you!--by my cousins--what cousins?" + +"Harry--Jane--Have you remarked nothing?" + +"Harry! what can he have done?" + +"You must forget him," said Miss Wyllys; and as Elinor looked +eagerly in her aunt's eyes, she read there all that Miss Agnes +had not courage to tell in words. + +Half starting from her seat, she exclaimed, "Harry!--and Jane +too!" and as a deadly paleness came over her face, she fell back, +unconscious, on the sofa. Her faintness lasted but a moment; too +short a time, indeed, to allow the impression of what she had +heard to pass from her mind. She burst into tears. "Oh, Aunt +Agnes!--Is it really true?--Can Harry have changed? can he have +been so unkind to me?--And Jane, too!" she exclaimed at +intervals. + +Her aunt answered only by her caresses, silently pressing her +lips upon Elinor's forehead. + +Elinor threw her arms about Miss Agnes's neck, weeping bitterly. + +"But is it really true? Is there not some mistake? Is it possible +he felt so little for me? Oh, dearest Aunt!--and Jane, too!" + +Miss Wyllys said that she knew nothing of Jane's feelings; but +that the manner of both Jane and Harry had struck her several +times as singular; though now but too easily accounted for. +During the last ten days, she had begun to fear something wrong. + +"Never, for one second, had I a doubt of either!" cried Elinor. +She now dreaded to receive the letter, she had before asked for +so eagerly. + +A package had been given by Harry to the chambermaid, that +morning, requesting her to place it in Miss Agnes's hands as soon +as she left her room. It contained three letters. That to Miss +Agnes herself, was full and explicit. He now wrote, he said, +because he felt concealment to be no longer possible, after the +manner in which he had betrayed himself on hearing of the +steamboat accident. He felt convinced that his emotion had been +observed by Miss Wyllys, and he almost hoped the suspicions of +Elinor had been aroused. He hoped it, for he felt that longer +concealment would be unworthy of Elinor, and of himself, since he +had not been able to control his feelings. He acknowledged that a +frank confession was now due to her. + +"I know," he said, "that you will reproach me severely for my +want of faith, and I feel that I deserve far more than you will +say. But do not think that I erred from deliberate forgetfulness +of all that I owed to Elinor. I was for a long time unconscious +of the state of my own feelings; and when at length I could no +longer deceive myself, the discovery of my weakness was deeply +painful and mortifying. You know what has been my situation since +last spring--you know to what I have been exposed. Greater +caution might no doubt have been used, had I not been misled by +blindness, or self-confidence, or vanity, call it what you +please. No one can reproach me as severely as I reproach myself. +But although my feelings had escaped my own control before I knew +it, yet I determined from the first that my actions should at +least be worthy of Elinor. I instantly became more guarded. No +human being, I believe, until to-day, suspected my folly. Do not +reproach Jane. The fault is entirely with me; Jane has been +blameless throughout." + +He concluded by hoping that his letter would not for a moment be +considered by Miss Wyllys or Elinor, as an attempt to break his +engagement, which he was still anxious to fulfil. But he thought +that, now the explanation had been made, a separation for some +time would be preferable for all parties. He proposed to travel +for six months, and at the end of that time be hoped to have +conquered his own weakness, and to be forgiven by Elinor. + +Bitter tears were shed by Elinor, in reading this letter. + +The note to herself was short. He had not the courage to repeat +to her directly, what he had said to Miss Wyllys. + +"I feel unworthy of you, Elinor, and I cannot endure longer to +deceive so generous a temper as yours. You must have remarked my +emotion this morning--Miss Wyllys now knows all; I refer you to +her. I shall never cease to reproach myself for my unpardonable +ingratitude. But painful as it is to confess it, it would have +been intolerable to play the hypocrite any longer, by continuing +to receive proofs of kindness which I no longer deserve. It is my +hope, that in time you will forgive me; though I shall never +forgive myself. + +"H. H." + +There are said to be young ladies with hearts so tender, as to be +capable of two or three different love affairs, and an unlimited +number of flirtations, in the course of a twelvemonth; but +Elinor's disposition was of a very different stamp. Her feelings +were all true and strong; her attachment for Harry little +resembled that mixture of caprice and vanity to which some young +people give the name of love. With something of fancy, and a +share of the weakness, no doubt, it was yet an affection to which +every better quality of her nature had contributed its share. +Hazlehurst's determination never to forgive himself for the +sorrow he had caused her, was a just one. His fickleness had +deeply wounded a heart, warm, true, and generous, as ever beat in +a woman's bosom. + +Bitterly did Elinor weep, that first day of grief, humiliation, +and disappointment. She did not hesitate, however, for a moment, +as to the course to be pursued, and even felt indignant that +Harry should have believed her capable of holding him to his +engagement, with the feelings he had avowed. She answered his +note as soon as she could command herself sufficiently to write. + +"I do not blame you--your conduct was but natural; one more +experienced, or more prudent than myself, would probably have +foreseen it. Had you left me in ignorance of the truth until too +late, I should then have been miserable indeed. My aunt will take +the first opportunity of letting our mutual friends know the +position in which it is best we should continue for the future. +May you be happy with Jane. + +"ELINOR WYLLYS." + +Elinor, at this moment, felt keenly the disadvantages of +homeliness, which she had hitherto borne so cheerfully, and had +never yet considered an evil. Beauty now appeared to her as a +blessed gift indeed. + +"Had I not been so unfortunately plain," thought Elinor, "surely +Harry could not have forgotten me so soon. Oh," she exclaimed, +"had I but a small portion of that beauty which so many girls +waste upon the world, upon mere vanity; which they are so ready +to carry about to public places--through the very streets, to +catch the eye of every passing stranger, how highly should I +prize it, only for the sake of pleasing those I love! What a +happy thought it must be to those blessed with beauty, that the +eyes of their nearest and dearest friends never rest upon them +but with pleasure! How willingly would I consent to remain plain +to ugliness, plain as I am, in the eyes of the world, for the +precious power of pleasing those I love!" + +Mr. Wyllys and Miss Agnes, of course, approved the step Elinor +had taken. They were both deeply pained by Harry's conduct; they +both regretted having allowed the engagement to take place so +early, and at the moment of Harry's absence. Miss Wyllys, indeed, +blamed herself severely for not having used all her influence to +prevent it. With her father, on the contrary, indignation against +Harry was the strongest feeling. + +"Heartless young coxcomb!" he exclaimed; "to dare to trifle with +Elinor. I had a good opinion of him; I thought he had too much +sense, and too much feeling, not to appreciate Elinor, though her +face may not be as pretty as some others. Agnes, he must never be +asked to Wyllys-Roof again. I can never forget his treatment of +my grandchild." + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +"May this be so?" +SHAKSPEARE. + +{William Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing", III.ii.117} + +WHILE the family at Wyllys-Roof were in this distress, Miss Agnes +had received the parting visit of the Taylors. The porticos of +Colonnade Manor rose before closed windows; the house was +abandoned for the winter; while Mr. Taylor and Miss Adeline were +engaged in putting the finishing touch to the elegance of No. +five hundred and -----, Broadway, preparatory to the display of +the winter. + +Mr. Taylor was getting at home in New York. The atmosphere of a +large town, thoroughly commercial, was just fitted to his nature. +He had certainly every reason to be satisfied with the rapidity +with which he had mounted towards the top of the Wall-Street +ladder. He was already cheek-by-jowl with certain heavy men of +the place; he walked down Broadway of a morning with "Mr. A. of +the Ocean," and up again of an afternoon with "Mr. B. of the +Hoboken;" he knew something of most of the great men of the +commercial world; and as for the rest of the community, he cared +little enough for them or their interests. His house was as +handsome and as finely furnished as he could wish, his children +were as expensively dressed, as expensively schooled, as any in +the land. He had become accustomed to the first burst of luxury, +and began already to look upon a hundred things as necessaries, +of the uses of which he had been ignorant five years before. He +thought New York a commercial paradise; not only the place to +make a fortune, but the very spot to spend it in. He wondered at +Mr. Hubbard; who could be satisfied to retire from business so +early, and was content to live at Longbridge, the village where +he was born. Mr. Taylor looked upon himself as already a great +man, but he intended to be a greater man still, by a million, or +more. + +About a week after the Taylors arrived in town, they gave a +party--quite a small affair, very sociable, some eighty or ninety +people only. The following morning, Mrs. Taylor, fatigued with +the toils and cares of gaiety, went to her own room to refresh +herself by darning more stockings than usual; while Mr. Taylor, +who had laboured hard the evening before by endeavouring to be +very 'affable' to some twenty new acquaintances, sought the +relief of his counting-house. As he walked down Broadway, his +thoughts were divided between two subjects. He had purchased some +lots the previous week, which proved so indifferent a bargain, +that he was anxious to persuade a particular friend to take them +off his hands. He had also just received letter from his son, +lately Tom Taylor, now T. Tallman Taylor, Esquire. The young man +had made very heavy demands upon his father's banker lately. Mr. +Taylor was perfectly satisfied that his son should spend his +money freely, and had given him a very liberal allowance, that he +might be enabled to cut a figure among his countrymen in Paris. +But his progress in acquiring habits of extravagance had become +of late rather more rapid than was desirable. As he was to +return, however, in the course of a few weeks, his father hoped +that he would be able to play the dandy in New York at less cost +than in Paris. + +Mr. Taylor's meditations were interrupted by Mrs. Hilson, who +stopped to speak to him as he passed; she wished to inquire if +Miss Adeline were at home, as she was anxious to see her, having +a piece of news to communicate. Having given a satisfactory +answer, the merchant pursued his course towards the regions of +commerce, at one extremity of Broadway, and the city-lady went +her way towards the regions of fashion in the opposite direction. + +Mrs. Hilson had already returned to her suite of apartments, and +her intimate friend, Mrs. Bagman. At the boarding-house she +patronised; and every morning between the hours of twelve and +three, she might be seen at the window of the drawing-room, if it +rained, or flitting up and down Broadway if the sun shone, +generally attended by Captain Kockney, the long {sic} Englishman, +whom she took great pleasure in showing off to the public. On the +present occasion she was alone however, and fortunate enough to +find Miss Adeline and the French furniture visible, for it was +the first time she had been in the new house. The rose-coloured +damask, and the pea-green satin of the two drawing-rooms was much +admired, and many compliments were lavished upon the gilt clocks, +the Sevres vases, &c., when Mrs. Hilson remembered she had a +piece of news to share with Miss Taylor. + +"And such news--so unexpected to us all; you will be so +surprised! The engagement between Miss Wyllys and Mr. Hazlehurst +is actually broken off!" + +Adeline was not so much astonished as Mrs. Hilson supposed she +would be. + +"I am very quick at seeing such things," she said. "I was sure it +would come to that; though Miss Wyllys did not seem to suspect +anything herself. But no wonder--an engagement of two years is +too long for anybody. I am sure that in two years I should get +tired of the handsomest beau in New York." + +The ladies had each their surmises as to which of the parties had +taken the first step, and what was probably the cause; but +although Miss Taylor had a pretty correct idea of the state of +things, she did not express her opinion on the subject very +decidedly. Mrs. Hilson soon made her curtsey, expressing the hope +that they should see each other very often during the winter; a +hope which Miss Adeline was determined not to gratify, for Mrs. +Hilson's standing was not sufficiently fashionable to satisfy +her. The visitor had no sooner left the room, than she ran up +stairs to put on her last Paris hat, and her handsomest cashmere, +and then hurried off to Barclay-Street to enjoy a confidential +meeting with Jane. + +The young ladies were closeted together for an hour. We have no +authority for revealing what passed, and can only observe that +Jane returned to the drawing-room with a heightened colour, and +there was a certain expression of mystery still lingering about +Miss Adeline's face. + +"Have you any commands for Boston, Mrs. Graham?" the young lady +inquired in her usual flippant manner. "I think I shall go there +next week, to pay a short visit to a friend of mine; I wish I +could hear of an escort." + +Mrs. Graham thanked her civilly, but declined the offer of her +services. + +"Have you really made up your mind to go to Boston?" asked Jane. + +"Why, not positively. It depends, as I said before, upon my +finding an escort. I have six pressing invitations from different +quarters, most of them acquaintances that I made last summer at +Saratoga; and I have been hesitating between Albany, Boston, or +Baltimore. I am determined to go somewhere to spend the next +three weeks, till the gaiety begins in earnest, and Tallman comes +back." + +"Is your brother expected so soon?" asked Mrs. Graham. + +"Yes, he must have sailed now. We heard from him last night; he +will be here next month, I hope, just in time for the first great +parties. What would you advise me to do, Jane, to get rid of the +time until then?" + +"I had much rather you would stay at home; if you go, I shall +miss you very much." + +"But then we shall have the pleasure of corresponding--I like the +excitement of receiving a good long letter, full of nonsense, +above all things." + +"You must not forget to let me know which way you are really +going," said Jane. "I will write, though I can't promise you a +long letter; I never wrote a long letter in my life." + +"Well, you must write, at any rate, I shall see you half-a-dozen +times between this and Monday. I rather think I shall decide upon +Boston. Miss Lawrence says there are some delightful young +gentlemen there, and has promised to give me a ball. If I go, I +shall try hard to bring Miss Lawrence back with me. Mind, Jane, +you don't make too many conquests while I am gone. You must +reserve yourself for the one I have recommended to you. Oh, +by-the-bye, Mrs. Graham, I forgot to tell you the news; I am +astonished you have not heard it already." + +"Pray, what is it?" asked Mrs. Graham. + +"It seems the engagement between Miss Wyllys and Mr. Hazlehurst +has been broken off." + +"You are mistaken, surely! We have heard nothing of it, and it is +highly improbable. If there be such a story, let me beg you will +not mention it again, Miss Taylor!" + +"Oh, there is no mistake, I'm quite sure. I have heard it three +times already this morning, from Longbridge people; first Mrs. +Hilson told me, and then I met John Bibbs, and Edward Tibbs, who +said the same thing. Mrs. George Wyllys, it seems, contradicted +the engagement openly; Miss Hubbard heard her, and wrote it to +her sister." + +"How grieved I should be if this story were to prove true; you +surely never remarked anything, Jane?" + +"Elinor seemed to me just as usual; but Adeline thinks there has +been some change," said Jane, a little embarrassed. + +"Oh, yes, give me credit for being quick-sighted; I suspected +something the first time I saw them together after Mr. Hazlehurst +came back." + +"It is what none of their other friends appear to have done, Miss +Taylor," said Mrs. Graham, a little severely. + +"I dare say not; but I am very quick at seeing such things. If +Jane has any mysteries, she had better not pretend to keep them +from me. But it is no wonder that the engagement was broken +off--I don't believe in long engagements. We must not let Jane +drag matters on at that rate when her turn comes;" and then +kissing her friend tenderly, and making a curtsey to Mrs. Graham, +without remarking the disapproving expression of that lady's +face, the lively Adeline left the mother and daughter alone. + +"I dislike that Miss Taylor, excessively, Jane," observed her +mother, "she is very disagreeable to me; I wish you would find +some better companion while we are in New York. There are the +Howards, and de Vaux's--very amiable, pleasant girls, and for a +great many reasons far better associates for you." + +"But I don't know them so well. Adeline is a great belle, mamma, +as much so as any girl in town." + +"She is not at all to my taste, I confess. Your father, too, +dislikes the Taylors very much. The way in which she spoke of +this story about Elinor's engagement was really unfeeling. Not +that I believe it; but breaking off an engagement without good +reason, is no such trifle in my opinion, as it seems to be in +that of Miss Taylor." + +Jane looked quite agitated; she blushed so much that her mother +would probably have remarked it, had she not been, at the moment, +stooping over her little invalid boy, who was lying on the sofa +near her. + +"Miss Taylor has no claim whatever upon you, that I can see," +continued Mrs. Graham. "It is true she was kind to you when you +were ill with the whooping-cough at school; but so were your +other companions--and I am sure she has not been half so +considerate and good to you as Elinor, and yet you seem to prefer +Miss Adeline now." + +Poor Jane looked down, and coloured still more. + +"Adeline would do anything for me, mother," she said, in a low +voice; "You don't know how much she is attached to me; I can't +help liking her," and Jane began to shed a few tears. + +"Foolish child!" said her mother, beginning to relent, as she +usually did on such occasions, "I don't wish you to be uncivil to +her; but I should like you to be more with Kate Howard, and Anne +de Vaux;" and the conversation ended, as several others of the +same description had done, by leaving things precisely as they +were before. Mrs. Graham, indeed, looked upon herself as having +showed much decision on the occasion, and acted as a watchful +mother, by having made these objections, fruitless as they proved +to be. + +The report that the engagement between Elinor and Harry had been +broken off, was soon known to be correct. It caused some surprise +to all who knew them, and much regret to their friends. Mrs. +Stanley, who felt a warm interest in both Harry and Elinor, was +grieved and disappointed. The Grahams, and Mrs. Robert +Hazlehurst, felt very unpleasantly when the cause of the rupture +came to be suspected. Mrs. Graham was, however, relieved by +finding that there was no understanding between Harry and her +daughter--thus far at least all was right; no explanation had +taken place between them, and Jane even assured her mother that +when in Paris, she had had no idea that Hazlehurst was attached +to her. Still there were many blushes whenever the subject was +alluded to, there were confidential meetings with Adeline, and +other symptoms which left little doubt to her friends that Jane's +feelings were interested. Mrs. Graham was obliged to console +herself with the idea, that the mischief had, at least, been +unintentional on the part of her daughter. + +Harry, himself, was much mortified by the reception of Elinor's +note, which, by showing the full consequence of his conduct, made +it appear more culpable in his own eyes than he had yet been +willing to believe it. He even wrote a second time, begging +Elinor to re-consider her decision. Full as his fancy was of +Jane, yet his regard, one might say his affection, for Elinor, +was too well-founded, and of too long standing, for him to endure +quietly the idea of having trifled with her. She remained firm, +however; her second answer was as decided as the first. Harry's +self-reproach was sincere, at least, and he had never before felt +so much dissatisfied with himself. + +He was less eager than one might suppose, to profit by his +newly-acquired liberty. He was in no hurry to offer Jane the +attentions which had so lately been Elinor's due. It is true that +his position was rather awkward; it is not every faithless swain +who is obliged to play the lover to two different individuals, +within so short a period, before the same witnesses. At length, +after doing penance for a while, by encouraging humiliating +reflections, some fear of a rival carried Hazlehurst on to New +York, in his new character of Jane's admirer. The first meeting +was rather awkward, and Harry was obliged to call up all his +good-breeding and cleverness, to make it pass off without leaving +an unpleasant impression. "Ce n'est que le premier pas qui +coute," however, as everybody knows. The sight of Jane's lovely +face, with a brighter colour than usual, and a few half-timid and +embarrassed glances from her beautiful dark eyes, had a +surprising effect in soothing Harry's conscience, and convincing +his reason that after all he had not acted so unwisely. He soon +showed himself very much in earnest in seeking Jane's favour; +though he persuaded himself that he must always do justice to +Elinor's excellence. "She is just the woman for a friend," he +observed to himself, "and friends I trust we shall be, when the +past is forgotten. But Jane, with her transcendant {sic} beauty, +her gentle helplessness, is the very creature that fancy would +paint for a wife!" + +{"Ce n'est que le premier...." = it's only the first step that +hurts (French)} + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +"Be patient, gentle Nell, forget this grief." +Henry VI. + +{William Shakespeare, "2 Henry VI", II.iv.26} + +THE Wyllyses remained later than they had intended in the +country. Elinor, indeed, proposed to her aunt that they should +pass the winter at Wyllys-Roof, but Miss Agnes and her +grandfather were unwilling to do so. The variety of a life in +town would be preferable for her sake to the quiet monotony of a +country winter. They knew she had too much sense to wish to play +the victim; but it was only natural to believe, that in a +solitary country life, painful recollections would force +themselves upon her oftener than among her friends in town, where +she would he obliged to think less of herself, and more of +others. + +It had been a great relief to her to find, that Jane had not +acted as unworthily as Miss Agnes had at first feared; in spite +of what she herself had overheard at Miss Hubbard's party, Elinor +threw off all suspicion of her cousin, as soon as she learned +that Jane denied any previous knowledge of the change in Harry's +feelings. Hazlehurst, himself, had said in his letter that she +was blameless. + +"Then," she exclaimed, "I shall at least be able to love Jane as +before!" She immediately sat down, and wrote her cousin a short, +but affectionate letter, containing only a slight allusion to +what had passed. Jane's answer, of course, avoided wounding her +feelings, and their intercourse was resumed. + +"The time will come, I trust," she thought, "when Harry, too, +will be a friend again." But she felt the hour had not yet +arrived. She could not so soon forget the past. It was no easy +task, suddenly to change the whole current of feeling which had +filled her mind during the last two years. In spite of her +earnest resolutions, during the first few weeks, thoughts and +feelings of the past would recur too often. For some time Elinor +was very unhappy; she felt that the strongest and deepest +affections of her heart had been neglected, rejected, +undervalued, by one whose opinion she had learned to prize too +highly. She wept and blushed to think how much she had become +attached to Harry, since she had looked upon him as her affianced +husband. She could not but feel herself free from all reproach +towards him; it was he who, unsought by her, had wished to draw a +closer tie between them. He had succeeded but too well, and then +he had forgotten her. The temptation which had proved too strong +for him, would not have deserved the name, had the case been +reversed, had she been exposed to it. And yet she did not +reproach him; men think so much of beauty, and she was so very +plain! It was but natural at such a moment, that she should be +oppressed by an over-wrought humility. She accused herself of +vanity, for having at one time believed it possible Harry could +love one like herself. But how happy was Jane! + +Her efforts to struggle against low spirits were the greater, for +the sake of her aunt and her grandfather. She made it a duty to +neglect no regular task, and much of her time was occupied as +usual; but the feelings which she carried about to her +employment, were very different from what they had been +heretofore. It was her first taste of sorrow; well might her aunt +deeply reproach Hazlehurst for his versatile conduct towards her +beloved child. Elinor flattered herself that Miss Agnes knew not +half of what she felt. In general she succeeded in being quite +calm, and attentive to others; she was always sweet-tempered, and +unrepining. But she could not read, herself, the expression of +her own countenance, so tenderly watched by her aunt. She was not +aware that the musical tones of her voice were no longer +cheerful; that instead of the gay, easy conversation in which she +used to bear her part, she was now at times absent, often silent; +she whose graceful wit and youthful spirits had been until lately +the joy of her family. Mr. Wyllys's indignation against +Hazlehurst would have been boundless, if he could have seen him +at such moments, as was often now the case, sitting by the side +of Jane, admiring the length of her eye-lashes, the pearly +smoothness of her complexion, and the bright colour of her lips, +as she uttered some very common-place remark. Such had now become +Hazlehurst's daily pleasure, his daily habit. + +["versatile" = inconstant, fickle} + +Miss Agnes purposely left to her niece, this year, all the +arrangements for their removal to town; and Elinor was obliged to +be very busy. It happened too, quite opportunely, perhaps, that +just at that time Mrs. George Wyllys was coming over oftener than +usual, to consult her father-in-law and Miss Agnes. Against Mr. +Wyllys's advice, she had to withdraw her eldest boy from the +school where he had been first placed, and now a new choice was +to be made. Mr. Wyllys recommended a small establishment in their +own neighbourhood, recently opened by Miss Patsey's brother; he +thought it equally good with the one she had in view, and with +the additional advantage of more moderate terms, and a smaller +number of boys. But Mrs. Wyllys had a great deal to say on the +opposite side of the question; the low price was an objection in +her eyes. + +"There, my dear sir, you must allow me to differ from you. I have +always intended to devote a large portion of my means to the +education of my children; economy in such a case, I cannot look +upon as economy at all." + +"Certainly, Harriet, you are perfectly right to secure to your +children every advantage in your power. But this is not a case in +point. Thomas Hubbard, you know, was a principal in the very +school which you have in view, and only withdrew last spring on +account of ill health. He still continues the same system, and +has the same masters, with the advantage of only four boys +besides Evert, to occupy his attention." + +This was too plain to be contradicted. "But in my opinion, sir, a +large school is very much to be preferred for a boy. I have +thought a great deal on the subject, since Evert has been of an +age to leave me." + +"But what are your reasons for preferring a large school to a +small one?" + +"I think it a better preparation for their entrance into life. +And then they have the advantage of choosing their intimates from +a larger number of boys; Evert's disposition will make it +particularly desirable for him. I am sure, if he were shut up +with two or three boys only, he would find it so dull that he +would be disgusted." + +"Well, my dear, I view the matter in a different light," replied +Mr. Wyllys, who would never allow himself to be silenced, or +forced to advise anything against his conscience; though many men +would have been worried into it by such a woman. Unfortunately, +Mrs. Wyllys was the only guardian of her children, and Mr. Wyllys +was often obliged to see his daughter-in-law act in a manner that +he thought ill-judged; but though very good-natured, he could +never be talked into being a party to such plans. "It is +precisely on account of Evert's high spirits that I should like a +small school for him. He would be less likely to get himself and +others into scrapes; he would be more under his master's eye." + +"I think, sir, from the conversation I had with Mr. Stone, he is +just the man to obtain an influence over Evert." + +"You would like Hubbard still better, if you knew him." + +"I doubt it very much, sir; I am sick of the very name of +Hubbard. Those Longbridge Hubbards are enough to spoil a +paradise." + +"Well, Harriet," said Mr. Wyllys, "you seem to have made up your +mind; so have I; now what is to be done?" + +"Of course, sir, your opinion has great weight with me; you know +I am always guided by you." + +"Then the matter is settled, and Evert goes to Hubbard's." + +Mr. Wyllys thought he had succeeded, on this occasion, in gaining +his point, by taking his daughter-in-law at her word; but the +very next morning she drove over to Wyllys-Roof, with a new view +of the subject; and it was not until after half-a-dozen more +conversations, that the matter was finally settled, by Mr. Wyllys +refusing to give any more advice; when his daughter-in-law, of +her own accord, determined to send her boy to Mr. Hubbard's +school. It must be confessed that some women, endowed too with +certain good qualities, are very trying, and possess a most +vexatious vein of caprice. In the mean time the child was taken +sick; he was ill for several weeks, and Elinor assisted in +nursing him. + +Independently of these consultations, and cares about her little +cousin, there were other claims upon Elinor's attention at this +time, and those the least romantic in the world. Within the last +few weeks, all the men of Longbridge seemed to have their heads +full of a new rail-road, one of the first that were made in this +country. All the property Elinor had inherited from her father +was in this village, and so placed as to have its value very much +increased by this intended piece of internal improvement. Mr. +Hubbard was one of those most interested in the project, which +was of some importance to Mr. Wyllys, also. The gentlemen had +many meetings on the subject, and Elinor was obliged to hear a +great deal that was going on; which houses were to be pulled +down, which streets widened, what engineer was to be employed, +where the rails were to come from, at what time they hoped to get +the act through the Assembly. Mr. Taylor, of course, was not the +man to allow anything approaching to speculation, to take place +in his neighbourhood without having something to do with it +himself. He came over to Longbridge expressly to help matters on; +and as Colonnade Manor was shut up, Mr. Wyllys, always hospitably +inclined, asked him to his own house for a day or two. With such +a spirit under their roof, little else was heard of besides +stocks and lots, wharves and stores. Elinor's property was known +to be much interested in the affair, and Mr. Hubbard and Mr. +Taylor thought it necessary to congratulate her. Mr. Taylor, +indeed, would have been much shocked had he known how very little +she cared about the matter. + +{"a new rail-road" = The Camden and (Perth) Amboy line crossed +New Jersey in 1833, and the Philadelphia and Columbia (Penn.) +line opened in 1834} + +"We shall have to consult you, Miss Elinor, in our proceedings," +said Mr. Hubbard, as they were sitting at the dinner-table; +perhaps you don't know it, but you will be one of our +stockholders, and much interested in our success, I assure you." + +"My grandfather tried last night to give me some notions on the +subject, Mr. Hubbard; but I am afraid he was not very +successful." + +"Oh, I don't know that," said Mr. Wyllys; "I shall make quite a +business woman of you, yet, Nelly." In fact, her grandfather had +taken the moment to assure Elinor that it was high time she +should have some just ideas on such subjects, and insisted on her +listening to all his explanations, and doing her best to +comprehend them. Elinor tried to be a docile pupil, and really +acquired some useful information, which may appear singular to +romantic young ladies, who set up for broken-hearted; as her only +object, however, was to gratify her grandfather, we hope she will +be forgiven for anything so much out of character in a heroine. + +"It is a beautiful speculation, Miss Wyllys," observed Mr. +Taylor. "I suppose you know enough about these things, to be glad +to hear that in a year or two, you will probably realize two +hundred per cent. on your lots in Water-Street, where the depot +is to be built." + +"It all sounds very grandly, certainly," said Elinor, smiling. + +"We shall make a fortune for you, Miss Elinor," added Mr. +Hubbard. "You will be the great lady of Longbridge." + +"I dare say, Nelly, you will find some way of spending the money; +young ladies know very well how to get rid of it, let it come +ever so fast." + +"Yes, sir, my daughters are very expert at that; Emmeline thinks +nothing of giving fifty dollars for a flimsy pocket-handkerchief, +and as much for a flighty-looking hat. But I've no objections; +I'll tell you in confidence, that is what we make our money for, +Miss Elinor--for our children to spend," added Mr. Hubbard, +smiling good-naturedly. "I dare say you will find a right use for +some of yours. It will be in good hands, and I hope you may long +enjoy it," said he, making a bow to Elinor, as he drank off a +glass of Madeira. + +{"fifty dollars for a flimsy pocket-handkerchief" = this remark +by Mr. Hubbard reflects James Fenimore Cooper's little-known +novelette, "The Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief" (1843), +as do many aspects of the greedy and ostentatious Taylor family +whom Emmeline Hubbard seeks to emulate} + +Mr. Taylor, though he joined in the toast with some "affable" +remark, as usual, could not help regretting that so much money, +and consequently the power of making so much more, should not be +in the hands of one who could turn it to better account than Miss +Elinor Wyllys. He had a very poor opinion of Mr. Wyllys's +money-making abilities, and thought him very "unenterprising." +That gentleman, on the contrary, when brought in closer contact +with Mr. Taylor, began to have a clearer insight into his +character, and while he found him uncommonly clever, discovered +that several of his propositions betrayed anything but high +principles. He began to believe that Mr. Graham's dislike was not +ill-founded. + +Mr. Hubbard, in the mean time, who had known Elinor from a child, +was thinking how he could say something agreeable about love and +beaux, supposed always to be pleasant subjects to young ladies. +He felt some doubts about hinting at Hazlehurst, for he thought +he had heard the engagement was broken off. Happily for Elinor, +the party rose from table before anything had suggested itself. + +At length Mrs. Wyllys's boy recovered, and was sent off to +school; and this rail-road matter was also satisfactorily +settled. As there was nothing more to detain the family in the +country, the Wyllyses went to Philadelphia, and took possession +of their lodgings for the winter. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +"Had you not lately an intent, speak truly, +To go to Paris?" +SHAKSPEARE. + +{William Shakespeare, "All's Well That Ends Well", I.iii.218-219} + +MISS TAYLOR paid her visit to Miss Lawrence. One morning at +breakfast she informed her parents that she intended to make an +excursion to Boston. "Whom was she going to see?" asked her +father. "Miss Lawrence, a young lady who had passed three days at +the Springs, at the hotel where they stayed, and with whom she +had become very intimate." "How long was she going to be absent?" +inquired her mother. "She thought of remaining a fortnight; +perhaps three weeks, if she found it very pleasant. Mr. Powell, +the young gentleman who was to be her escort, had been introduced +to her the evening previous at a ball, and she thought him +sufficiently fashionable in his appearance, to have the honour of +taking charge of herself and her baggage." Her father observed +that he would bring a supply of money for her, when he came home +to dinner; her mother offered to look over her stockings. +Everything thus settled, the next morning Mr. Taylor and Miss +Adeline drove to the East-River wharf, where the Boston boat lay: +here they met with a slight difficulty; the gentleman engaged as +an escort could not be found; something had interfered with his +journey. Nothing was easier than to pick up another, however. Mr. +Taylor looked about him, saw a face he knew slightly, and +remembered the name that belonged to it. + +"Good morning, sir; are you going to Boston, Mr. Hopkins?" + +Mr. Hopkins bowed, and declared that he was going to Boston. + +"I have a daughter on board, sir; and the young gentleman who was +to be her escort is not here; will you be so good as to look +after her?" + +Mr. Hopkins would be very happy to take charge of Miss Taylor. +But Adeline was almost in despair when she saw him. How could one +of the most dashing belles in New York, consent to sit, in view +of all the passengers, side-by-side with such a fat, rusty, +snuffy, little old gentleman, who more green spectacles, and had +a red silk handkerchief spread on his knee? Suppose he should ask +her to walk, how could she pace up and down the promenade-deck +arm-in-arm with such a figure? She, Adeline Taylor, whose +travelling dress was faultless, and who had expected to have a +charming flirtation with Albert Powell! What could she do? The +fates, and the warning bell, decided the question; it was too +late to look out for some better-looking escort. Mr. Taylor had +hardly time to shake hands with his daughter, and jump on the +wharf, ere the whizzing of the steam had ceased, and the plashing +of the wheels was heard. Adeline sank on a bench beside the rusty +old gentleman for a moment, but soon fled to the ladies' cabin +for refuge. + +During the whole jaunt, the fat, snuffy Mr. Hopkins was kind and +good-natured to Adeline, whenever she would allow him. He thought +she must be lonely, and she had been obliged to confess that she +knew no one on board; so the old gentleman held it incumbent on +him to be sociable. He took some pea-nuts out of his pocket, and +offered her a handful; he gave her a couple of newspapers to +read; asked her questions about her family, brothers and sisters, +and seemed to look upon her as a school-girl. He was not the +least impressed with her elegance and finery, and quite unaware +of her belle-ship; he even once called her "my dear." Then, the +red silk handkerchief was always either on his knee, or in his +hand! It would he difficult to say whether Adeline would have +survived the mortification of such an escort, had it not been for +two circumstances, which changed the current of her thoughts. +There were several elegantly dressed young ladies on board, and +she soon succeeded in getting up an intimacy with two of them; +they exchanged cards and invitations to each other's houses, and +through the same means Adeline was introduced to a couple of +beaux. Between breakfast and dinner, these new bosom-friends and +herself were inseparable, but, unfortunately, they were only +going half-way. The grief of separation was, however, somewhat +assuaged with Miss Taylor by sea-sickness, which, as every one +knows, is very destructive to sentiment and sensibility. As long +as they were tossing about near Point Judith, the snuffy old +gentleman, who was not in the least sea-sick himself, was very +faithful in his inquiries after Adeline, and proposed several +remedies to her, through the stewardess. At length they reached +Boston. As they drove to the door of Miss Lawrence's father, Mr. +Hopkins asked "how long she intended to remain in Boston?" "About +a fortnight," Adeline replied. + +{"Point Judith" = prominent cape on the coast of Rhode Island, +south of Narragansett} + +"I shall be going back to New York about the same time, my dear, +and if you have not got some one more to your taste, I'll take +care of you on your way home, with pleasure," said the fat old +gentleman, sprinkling a handful of snuff on Miss Taylor's grey +silk, and brandishing the red handkerchief at the same time. + +Adeline's thanks were very faintly uttered; but gratitude is not +a fashionable virtue. It was fortunately so dark that the rusty +old gentleman could scarcely be seen as he took leave of the +elegant Miss Taylor at Mr. Lawrence's door, and thus the young +lady's mortification was over. + +At the end of the three weeks, Adeline returned home, bringing +glowing accounts of the delights of Boston, and talking a great +deal about several "delightful young gentlemen," and occasionally +mentioning a certain Theodore St. Leger. She had heard that the +Boston people were all BLUE; but it must be a calumny to say so, +for she had had a very lively time--plenty of fun and flirtation. +Miss Lawrence returned with her, and of course a party was given +in her honour; there were some eighty persons present, all free +from the shackles of matrimony, apparently to give the Boston +young lady an opportunity of meeting a representation of her +peers, the marriageable portion only of the New York community. +The evening was pronounced delightful by Miss Lawrence; but all +the guests were not of the same opinion. + +{"BLUE" = literary or learned, from "blue-stocking"} + +"What an absurd custom it is, to have these young people +parties," said Harry Hazlehurst, who was on one of his frequent +visits to New York at the time, and was sitting in Mrs. Graham's +drawing-room, with that lady, Jane, and Mrs. Stanley. + +"I agree with you; it is a bad plan," observed Mrs. Stanley. + +"The first of the kind that I went to, after we came home, made +me feel ashamed of myself; though Dr. Van Horne, I suppose, would +accuse me of high-treason for saying so." + +"But most young people seem to enjoy them," said Mrs. Graham. + +"It is paying us but a poor compliment to say so. One would think +the young people were afraid to laugh and talk before their +fathers and mothers. I really felt the other night as if we were +a party of children turned into the nursery to play, and eat +sugar-plums together, and make as much noise as we pleased, +without disturbing our elders. It is a custom that appears to me +as unnatural as it is puerile. I hope you don't like it," he +added, turning to Jane. + +"I care very little about it." + +"I am glad, at least, you do not defend it." + +"There are a few families you know, Harry, who never give those +kind of parties," observed Mrs. Stanley. + +Hazlehurst's conscience felt a twinge, for he knew she was +thinking of Elinor, whom Miss Wyllys had never allowed to give +these UNMARRIED parties; though she went to other houses, when +asked. + +"Miss Taylor had collected a tribe of Europeans of all sorts, +last night; half-a-dozen Englishmen, and a vulgar Frenchman," +observed Harry, by way of changing the conversation. "I was +surprised when my friend Townsend told me he was invited; he did +not know the Taylors, and only arrived a week since." + +"Adeline invited him on purpose; Miss Lawrence is very fond of +foreigners, and you know Mr. Taylor calls on all the strangers +who arrive," said Jane. + +Harry's lip curled a little. + +"How disagreeable that Captain Kockney is," continued Jane. + +"More than disagreeable," replied Harry. "I should not have used +so soft a word. I was not a little amused, by-the-bye, to see how +the fellow cooled off when Townsend and Ellery came in. Your low +set of English have such a thorough awe of those a few degrees +above them." + +"That Mr. Kockney is so very forward and vulgar," said Mrs. +Graham, "that I wonder anybody can endure him. I was disgusted +with his manner on board the steamboat from Longbridge, the other +day." + +"He is beneath notice," said Harry. + +"I am not sure, either, that I like your friend, Mr. Ellery, +Harry." + +"Ellery is no friend of mine; but, pray, don't name him in the +same breath with that Kockney." + +"Oh, no, Mr. Ellery is a gentleman, evidently; but I don't like +his manners, there is something affected about him." + +"Certainly, he knows how to play the coxcomb, and condescends to +do so quite too often. But I hope you like Townsend; he is really +a fine fellow." + +"Mr. Townsend has very different manners." + +"Yes, he has the best English manner; quite natural, and not +afraid to be civil. It is only the best of the English who are +quite free from nonsense. Ellery aims at effect, half the time; +Townsend has too much sense to do so." + +"Well, I really wonder," said Jane, "how Mrs. Hilson can endure +that Captain Kockney." + +"The silly little soul knows no better." + +"To be sure, she is quite as ridiculous as he is." + +"She is really very silly," said Mrs. Stanley. "It is a pity that +good, worthy Mr. Hubbard should have daughters so little like +himself, and so much like their mother." + +"She is very pretty, though, and dresses very well," said Jane. +"Would you believe it, mamma, the other day, when she called at +Adeline's she wore a collar precisely like the prettiest of those +I brought from Paris." + +"Does she visit a great deal at Mrs. Taylor's?" inquired her +mother. + +"Oh, no; Adeline can't endure her. But she cannot get rid of her +entirely, because they meet in the country. Adeline would like to +drop the acquaintance altogether, but she says Mrs. Hilson won't +let her, because Mrs. Taylor's is the only fashionable house +where she visits." + +"These Taylors have really done wonders in the last few years," +said Mrs. Stanley, smiling. + +"They have been quite as persevering, I dare say, as Mrs. Hilson +can be. They are a very vulgar, pushing family," observed Mrs. +Graham. + +Jane coloured, and Harry feared she would shed a tear or two. She +was quite agitated. "Dear Jane," he thought," what an +affectionate heart she has!" By way of consoling her, probably, +and at the same time obtaining a better view of her downcast +face, he took a seat beside her. He even refrained from making an +observation which he had in petto, upon the volatile character +and manners of Miss Taylor, reserving it for the future; +determining that when they were man and wife, Jane should have +the full benefit of his opinion of her friend. + +{"in petto" = in mind} + +Let it not be supposed that Harry was too sure of success, in +thus looking forward to his marriage with Jane as no very +improbable event. Since he had appeared in the family as her +suitor, her manner had been encouraging. There were blushes and +moments of embarrassment which looked very favourably; and had he +been obliged to proclaim all his hopes, he would have confessed +that the same flattering signs had been observed by him in Paris, +and had contributed not a little to increase the warmth of his +own feelings. There was now a rival in the field, and one by no +means to be despised; but, although young de Vaux was +good-looking, agreeable, and very much in love, Jane did not seem +disposed to smile upon him. To do her justice, she was no +coquette; she was too indolent by nature, to labour very hard to +secure several conquests at the same time. Miss Graham was very +much admired, however, and was generally proclaimed the beauty of +the season; while Harry soon began to feel the vanity of the +favoured man. + +But if she were a beauty, Adeline was a belle; a pretty, and a +rich belle, moreover, and Miss Taylor's train of admirers was +much larger than that of Miss Graham. So numerous indeed were her +followers, that she was seldom seen alone. If she visited, it was +with an attendant beau; if she were walking in Broadway, she had +generally one on each side of her; and at a party she was always +talking to half-a-dozen young men at a time. Miss Adeline was, +undeniably, a very popular belle. But all this homage was +sometimes attended with difficulties: one morning she wrote an +urgent note to her friend Jane, requesting that she would come to +see her, for she was unwell herself, and wanted advice in a +momentous affair. + +The sympathising Jane had no sooner appeared, than Adeline +exclaimed, {sic} + +"I am so perplexed, that I really don't know what to do! You must +decide for me." + +"How can I help you? What is the matter?" inquired Jane. + +"Why you know to-night is Mrs. Thompson's great ball, and I am +going, of course; though I have a very bad cold." + +"Yes, you are really quite hoarse." + +"No wonder! I have been so pestered by serenades for the last +fortnight, that I have not had one good night's rest. I had to +get up and show myself at the window, until I caught one cold +after another." + +"Perhaps you had better not go to-night." + +"You may be sure I shan't stay at home unless I have to keep my +bed; I am already engaged for five dances. But just look at the +centre-table." + +Jane turned her eyes towards the table, which was covered with +flowers. + +"How beautiful they are!" she exclaimed, going to look at them. +"One, two, four, six bouquets!--Where did they all come from?" + +"Don't ask me; I am sick of the very sight of flowers!" + +"This, with the variegated camellias, is beautiful!" + +"Yes, it's pretty enough; but what shall I do with it?" + +"Why, take it to the party this evening, of course." + +"No, indeed; it came from Mr. Howard, and I can't endure him." + +"Which have you chosen, then?" + +"That is the very question; I don't know how to settle it." + +"Take this one with the passion-flower." + +"No, that I shan't; for it was sent just to spite me. Mr. Grant +sent it--and I told him last night that I hated passion flowers, +and everything else that is sentimental. What shall I do?--It is +so provoking!" + +"Suppose you put them all in water, and go without any." + +"My dear Jane, how you talk! That's what I never did in my life. +Go to a ball without a bouquet!--I can't think of such a thing!" + +"We can untie them, and make up one ourselves, taking the +prettiest flowers from each." + +"That won't do, either; for it's only the gardeners that can do +up these things decently. I wouldn't, for the world, carry one +that looked as if I had made it up myself." + +"Well," said Jane, in despair, "I really don't know what else to +advise." + +"I do believe the young gentlemen have leagued together to +provoke me! And this is not all, there are three more in water +up-stairs." + +"You might take the first that came; perhaps that would be the +best plan." + +"Would you have me take this ridiculous-looking thing, with only +one camellia in it! No, indeed;" and for a moment the two young +ladies sat down by the centre-table, looking despondingly at each +other and at the flowers. + +"If I could only take the one I like best, it would be the +easiest thing in the world; but, you know, all the other +gentlemen would be offended then." + +"Which do you like best?" asked Jane. + +"Why this one, with the white camellias; it came from Theodore +St. Leger; he told me he would send one with white flowers only." +Adeline's colour rose a little as she spoke, and as that was not +a common occurrence with her, it looked suspicious. + +"Did Mr. St. Leger dance with you last night?" + +"Why, no, child, he never dances; I didn't see him dance, all the +time we were in Boston." + +"I thought you liked him," said Jane, with innocent surprise. + +"I like him well enough, after a fashion; as well as one can like +a man who never dances, and don't talk much. He is very stupid, +sometimes, and dresses very badly too." + +"Is he handsome?" asked Jane. + +"No, he is as ugly as he can be; I really think he looks just a +little like that old Mr. Hopkins, his uncle." + +"What in the world makes you like him then?" + +"I am sure I don't know. But don't fancy I really care about the +man. He is going back to Boston next week, and I don't suppose I +shall ever see him again; but I thought I would take his bouquet, +to-night, because he was so polite to me; and he will be there. +Oh, my dear Jane, talking of Boston, I have hit upon an idea!" + +"Well, what is it?" + +"I saw a girl at a party there--by-the-bye, it was Theodore St. +Leger's sister--who had her dress trimmed with natural flowers; +that's just the thing for me!" cried Adeline, clapping her hands. +The difficulty thus happily removed, the young ladies ran up +stairs, to determine more fully upon trimming a certain white +crape with the eight bouquets, divided for the purpose. The white +one, the offering of Mr. St. Leger, was reserved for the place of +honour, in Adeline's hand. + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +"Thy young and innocent heart, +How is it beating? Has it no regrets? +Discoverest thou no weakness lurking there?" +ROGERS. + +{Samuel Rogers (English poet, 1763-1855), "Italy: The Nun" lines +71-73} + +SISTERS' children, though bearing different names, and classed by +the world in different families, are generally much more alike +than those of brothers; they are apt to have more habits, tastes, +and feelings in common. And the reason is evident; it is usually +the mother who controls the internal family policy, who gives the +colouring to what may be called the family atmosphere. The father +may pass a statute once in a while, but the common-law which +regulates the every-day proceedings of the little community flows +from the mother; and we all know that the character is moulded +rather by daily practice in trifles, than by a few isolated +actions of greater importance in themselves. The aims and views +which people carry with them through life, generally spring up +from seeds received in the nursery, or at the family fire-side. +Even with men this is the case. The father may inculcate this or +that political creed into his son, he may direct his choice to +this or that profession; but the manner in which the youth +carries out his political principles, the way in which he fills +his profession, will depend on the impulses and motives +cultivated in childhood, and early youth; for it is then that the +character receives its bias. The mother's influence and example +are often to be traced in those minute shades of taste and +opinion, which are the foundation of our partialities, or our +dislikes; and, of course, the daughters of a family, from being +more constantly subject to this influence, imbibe a larger share +of it. It is immaterial whether the mother be aware of the +importance of her duties, of the weight of this responsibility, +or not; for good or for evil, the effect will still be felt, +though varying, of course, in different circumstances. + +Elinor had not seen her cousin, Mary Van Alstyne, her mother's +niece, for several years, and she now met her in Philadelphia +with great pleasure. Miss Van Alstyne was some five or six years +older than herself; this difference in years had, indeed, been +the chief reason why they had never yet been very intimate. But +the same distance which separates girls of twelve and eighteen, +is, of course, less thought of at twenty and six-and-twenty, when +both are fairly launched into the world. Mary Van Alstyne and +Elinor found much to like in each other on a closer acquaintance; +and Miss Wyllys observing that the two cousins suited each other +so well, drew them together as much as possible, in order that +Elinor might have some one to fill the empty places of her former +companions, Jane and Harry. + +Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst was a near neighbour of the Wyllyses in +Philadelphia; but Elinor had too much dread of meeting Harry, to +go there often; and it was only when she knew that he was in New +York, that she went to his brother's. The change in their +position was too recent to allow of her seeing him with +composure; their family connexion, and the intimate terms upon +which they had hitherto lived, only made their present +estrangement much more awkward than usual. Elinor tried to think +it fortunate that he should now be so often in New York. + +The first time he was in Philadelphia after the Wyllyses were +settled there for the winter, Elinor escaped seeing him. As she +came in one morning from a ride with her grandfather, she found +his card on the table. It told the whole story of what had +passed; for she could not remember his having ever left a card at +their house before; he had been as much at home there as herself, +until the last six weeks. The sight of it caused her a very +painful feeling, and did away all the good effect of the pleasant +ride she had just taken on the banks of the Schuylkill. As she +walked slowly up-stairs to change her habit, her eyes filled with +tears; and had she been endowed with the proper degree of romance +for a regular heroine, she would probably have passed the morning +in hysterical sobs. But as she had quite as much good sense, as +fancy and feeling, she was by no means romantic; she had never +fainted but once in her life; and although it must be confessed +she had wept during the last few weeks, yet it was always in +spite of herself, at moments when the tears were forced from her +by some sudden recollection of the past, or some distressing +glimpse of the future. On the present occasion, instead of +encouraging solitary grief, she returned to the drawing-room, and +read aloud to her aunt, who was busy with her needle. + +But Harry's second visit to Philadelphia was not to pass without +their meeting. Mr. Wyllys, Miss Agnes, and Elinor were spending +the evening at the house of a friend, when, to the surprise and +regret of all parties, Hazlehurst walked in with one of the young +men of the family, with whom he was intimate. It was the first +time they had met since the alarm on the piazza at Wyllys-Roof. +Poor Elinor, at the first glance, when the door opened, turned +deadly pale, as she always did when agitated. Harry, as he +crossed the room to make his bow to the lady of the house, felt +excessively uncomfortable; when he turned, not a little +embarrassed, towards the rest of the party, he received a slight +and cool movement of recognition from Mr. Wyllys, who was +standing at a corner of the fire-place. Miss Agnes made an effort +to say good evening, in her usual tone; and Harry replied that he +was very glad to find they were to be in Philadelphia for the +winter, words which were as far from the truth as possible. +Elinor would have given much to look and speak as calmly as her +aunt; but she could only bow in silence, for at the moment she +dared not trust her voice. The lady of the house, who knew very +well how to account for a meeting which seemed very ceremonious +between near connexions, who had always been so intimate, did her +best to make matters go off well; and her son, who was also in +the secret, rattled away to Elinor to the best of his ability. +But there was a very perceptible touch of cool disapprobation in +Mr. Wyllys's manner, and a something that was not quite natural, +in the tones of Miss Agnes's voice. Harry felt as if he were +doing penance, and he felt, moreover, as if he richly deserved +it. But the worst was to come. There was another lady present, a +New Yorker, who had lately seen Hazlehurst very often with the +Grahams, in his character of Jane's admirer, and she innocently +asked him when he was going to return to New York. "In a day or +two," he replied. "You will not leave the post vacant very long, +I dare say," observed the lady. Harry's answer was not very +distinctly heard, and he coloured as much as it is in the power +of man to do. The lady happily observed how much he was annoyed, +and changed the conversation. Hazlehurst was not in a mood to pay +a long visit: he soon rose to take leave. Elinor, in the mean +time, made a great effort for self-command. She knew that she was +the injured party, and yet she felt superior to all the +littleness of resentment--she acquitted Harry and Jane of all +intentional trifling with her feelings. The gentle, quiet dignity +of her manner gradually expressed what was passing in her mind. +As Harry passed near her, and bowed, collecting all her +self-possession, she wished him good-evening, with a calm, sweet +voice. + +It was now Hazlehurst's turn to be much the most embarrassed of +the two; he bowed, and muttered something about calling, in a +voice much less clear than her's had been; then fairly giving up +the matter in despair, he quitted the ground with another bow. On +leaving the house, he walked rapidly down Walnut-Street, very +much dissatisfied with himself, and out of humour with his +friend, for having brought him into such an awkward scene. + +The next day, when Elinor thought over what had passed, she felt +relieved that the first meeting, which she had so much dreaded, +was over; although she knew it must he a long time before she +could see Jane and Harry with perfect composure; she knew there +must be other unpleasant moments in store for her. There was no +danger but that Elinor would do all in her power to subdue her +feelings for Harry, and yet she sometimes reproached herself with +having done too little; her interest in him was still too strong. +She shrunk sensitively from longer encouraging any weakness for +him; it had now become a want of delicacy to do so, it would soon +be almost sinful. She knew that if she did not succeed in the +endeavour it would be her own fault only; for her whole education +had taught her that there was no passion, of whatever nature, too +strong to be conquered by reason and religion, when their aid was +honestly sought. + +Miss Agnes, on the contrary, who knew how unexpectedly, and how +deeply, Elinor's feelings had been wounded, was fearful that her +adopted child was making too great an effort for self-control; +with a girl of her principles and disposition there was danger of +this. Elinor, since the first day or two, had sensitively avoided +every approach to the subject when conversing with her aunt. Miss +Agnes knew that time alone could teach her the lesson of +forgetfulness, and she now dreaded some reaction; although +admiring Elinor's courage and resolution, she wished her +occasionally to give a more natural vent to her feelings. It +struck her that the time for one open conversation on the subject +had come, and the result proved that her opinion was correct. +Elinor threw off a constraint that was not natural to her +character, and which had been kept up from an exaggerated sense +of duty. She now spoke with perfect frankness, nothing was +concealed; grief, regrets, struggles, all were confided to her +aunt, whose sympathy was grateful to her, while the advice given +with kindness and good sense, was of real service. + +Many young people who knew Miss Wyllys, would have smiled at the +idea of her being a good counsellor on such an occasion, for her +own life, though useful and happy, had been quite uneventful. The +death of her mother, and the marriage of her brothers and sister, +had left her, when still a young and pretty woman, the only +companion and solace of her father. These duties were soon +increased by the charge of her orphan niece, and her time and +attention had since then seemed engrossed by these cares and +pleasures. Miss Wyllys was actually never known to have had a +regular suitor. Whether she might not have had her share of +declared admirers had she chosen to be encouraging, we cannot +say; it is a subject upon which we have no authorities. + +Of course Miss Agnes could not be expected to know anything about +love, beyond what she had learned from books, or from +observation. She was, nevertheless, a much better adviser than +many a younger and more experienced friend. Where the head and +the heart are both in the right place, instinct soon teaches us +how to sympathize with our fellows in all troubles that really +belong to our nature. + +It appeared to Elinor as if, in future, there would be an +additional tie between her aunt and herself; for she looked +forward to leading a single life, hoping to pass her days like +Miss Agnes, in that sphere of contented usefulness which seemed +allotted to her. + +When Elinor had returned to her own room, after the conversation +to which we have alluded, she went to a writing-desk, and drew +from it a letter. It was the same she had received on her +seventeenth birth-day. It was from her mother. During the +lingering illness which caused her death, Mrs. Wyllys, deeply +anxious for the welfare of her orphan daughter, had written +several of these letters, adapted to her child's capacity at +different ages, and placed them in the hands of Miss Agnes, with +the request they might be given to Elinor at the dates marked on +the envelope of each. They had proved a precious legacy for the +young girl, and a guide to Miss Agnes in her education; for the +aunt had never forgotten that she was the mother's representative +only; Elinor having always been taught to give the first place to +her parent's memory. It seemed, indeed, as if her mother's spirit +had never ceased to linger near her, exerting its silent +influence. The letter to which Elinor attached so high a value is +given below. + +"Wyllys-Roof, August 13th, 18--. + +"MY OWN BELOVED CHILD, + +"You will not receive this letter until you have reached the age +of womanhood, years after your mother has been laid in her grave. + +"To separate from you, my darling child, has cost your mother a +bitter pang. There is no severer trial of faith to a Christian +woman, than to leave her little ones behind her, in a world +exposed to evil and sorrow; and yet, although so near death +myself, it is my wish that you may live, dearest, to taste all +that is good in life. Few mothers are blessed in death, as I am, +with the power of leaving their orphans to such kind and +judicious guardians as your grandfather and aunt; should they be +spared, you will scarcely feel the loss of your parents. Oh, how +fervent is my prayer that they may live to guard, to cherish you! +And when the task they have so piously assumed is fully +completed, may they long enjoy the fruits of their cares! + +"It is with singular feelings that I write to you as a woman, my +child, and appeal to thoughts and sentiments, of which you are at +this moment so utterly unconscious; sitting, as you now are, at +my feet, amid your playthings, too busy with a doll, to notice +the tears that fall upon these last lines I shall ever have it in +my power to address to you. But the hope that this letter may, +one day, long after I have left you, be a tie between us, my +Elinor, is grateful to your mother's heart, and urges me to +continue my task. I have a double object in writing these +letters; I wish to be remembered by you, dear, and I wish to +serve you. + +"During the last few months, since my health has failed, and +since you, my child, have been the chief object of interest to me +in this world, I have often endeavoured to pass over in my mind, +the next dozen years, that I might fancy my child, what I trust +she will then be, qualified in every essential point to act for +herself, in the position to which she belongs. I trust that when +this, my last letter, is placed in your hands, you will already +have learned to feel and acknowledge the important truths that I +have endeavoured to impress on you, in those you have previously +received. You are already convinced, I trust, that without a +religious foundation, any superstructure whatever must be +comparatively worthless. I should he miserable, indeed, at this +moment, if I could not hope that sincere, single-hearted piety +will be the chief influence of your life; without it, you could +never know true happiness, or even peace. Rest assured, my child, +that while it sweetens every blessing, it soothes under every +evil. Many have given the same testimony when they stood, like +your mother, within the shadow of death. I have every reason, my +beloved daughter, to hope that under the guidance of an humble, +sincere Christian, like your aunt, you also will arrive at the +same blessed conviction; I know that so long as she lives, her +example, her prayers, her vigilance will never be wanting. I have +every reason to believe that you will be led to seek that which +is never earnestly sought in vain. + +"I must be brief, dear child, lest my strength should fail. From +the many thoughts that crowd upon me, I can only select a few, +which my own experience has taught me to value as important. In +the first place, let me warn you never to forget the difference +between Christian education, and all others. Remember that +Christian education has for its foundation the heart-felt +conviction of the weakness of human nature; for a being bearing +the name of a Christian to lose sight of this truth, is the +grossest of all inconsistencies. The great and the learned among +those who are merely philosophers, preach, as though to know what +is good, and to practise it, were equally easy to mankind. But +the Christian alone knows that he must look beyond himself for +guidance, and for support. He knows only too well, that there are +times when the practice of some plain and evident duty, costs his +feeble nature a severe struggle--in no instance will he dare +trust his own strength alone. He knows that even in those cases +where duly is also a pleasure, he must still be watchful and +humble, lest he fall. One would think this truth so obvious, from +daily observation, as to be undeniable; but it is now the fashion +to laud human nature, to paint flattering pictures only. Humility +is thought debasing; but Truth alone is honourable, and Humility +is Truth. You will find the actions of those who acknowledge this +truth, more honourable to the human race, than the deeds of those +who deny it. The true dignity of human nature consists, not in +shutting our eyes to the evil, but in restraining it; which, with +our Maker's help, we may all do, for the blessing of our Creator +is still within our reach, still vouchsafed to the humble +Christian. If such be your views, my daughter, you will be +prepared to find difficulties in acquiring and practising those +virtues which it is the duty of life to cultivate; you will be +prepared to meet those difficulties with the sincere humility of +a Christian, and with Christian exertion. + +"My child, love the Truth, and the Truth only. + +"Cultivate daily a pious, thankful, humble disposition. + +"Love those near you heartily; live for them as well as for +yourself. + +"Eschew all envy, and petty jealousies, and rivalries; there is +perhaps no other evil that so often poisons our daily blessings. + +"Cultivate your judgment. Never forget the difference between +things of importance and trifles; yet remember that trifles have +also their value. Never lose sight of the difference between form +and spirit; yet remember that in this material world, the two +should seldom be put asunder. The true substance will naturally +have its shadow also. + +"Cultivate a sweet, frank, cheerful temper, for your own sake, +and for the sake of those you love. + +"Cultivate your abilities in every way that comes naturally +within your reach; it is seldom worth while for a woman to do +more than this. In all you learn, aim at giving pleasure to +others, aim at being useful to them, as well as at improving your +own faculties. + +"Enjoy thankfully all the blessings of life; and they are +innumerable. + +"There is one subject, of some importance to you individually, my +child, which I have not yet alluded to in either of my letters; I +have purposely deferred it until you will be better fitted to +understand me. You will have one personal evil to contend +against, my dear Elinor; your face will be plain, your features +will be homely, darling. It is a weakness, my child, and yet I +regret you should suffer from this disadvantage; rest assured, +that in every little mortification to which you may be exposed, +your mother, had she lived, would have felt with you. I trust +that this will be the first time your attention will be seriously +fixed upon the subject, and that as a child you will scarcely +have thought upon it. Let us then, dear, look upon the matter +together for a moment, calmly and steadily; we will not blind +ourselves to the advantages of beauty, neither will we exaggerate +the evils of a want of it. You will soon discover, from your own +observation, that beauty in women, as in children, is delightful +in itself; it throws a charm over the words and actions of the +favoured person. In a worldly sense it is also a woman's power; +where other qualifications are equal, you may often observe that +beauty alone confers a striking superiority. In some respects its +advantages are even greater than are usually allowed, in others +again they are far less. Were we to judge by the space it fills +in general observation, and in conversation, we should believe it +the one all-important qualification in women, that nothing else +can be compared with it. But to adopt this opinion would be +grossly to exaggerate its importance. Nor can we believe, on the +other hand, what some prudent writers for the young have +affirmed, that the superiority of beauty is only momentary; that +the eyes tire of a beautiful face which they see daily, that in +all cases it vanishes with early youth. No, my child, I do not +wish you to believe this, for I cannot believe it myself. For +years, the beauty of my sister Elizabeth has been a daily source +of pleasure to me, and I doubt not to others also. My aunt, Mrs. +Graham, though past fifty, is still a handsome woman, and her +appearance must be pleasing to every one who meets her; while, on +the contrary, people still amuse themselves at the expense of +Miss Townley, whose face is strikingly plain. Hundreds of +examples might be cited to prove that the charm of beauty does +not generally vanish so soon, that one does not tire of it so +easily. And then if a woman lose her beauty entirely, still the +reputation of having once possessed it, gives her a sort of +advantage in the eyes of the world. If mere notoriety be an +advantage, and in the opinion of the worldly it is so, the +superiority of beauty over ugliness lasts longer than life; many +women are remembered, who had nothing but beauty to recommend +them to the notice of posterity. But observe, my child, that if +these advantages are evident, they are chiefly of a worldly +nature. A beautiful woman may receive general admiration, and +that homage which gratifies vanity, but she must depend on other +qualities if she wish to be respected, if she wish to be loved +through life. I hope, my child, you will always be superior to +that miserable vanity which thirsts for common admiration, which +is flattered by every offering, however low, however trivial. I +trust that the mere applause of the world will have no influence +upon your heart or your understanding. Remember what it is that +we call the world--it is a ground governed by a compromise +between the weaknesses of the good among us, and the virtues of +the bad; the largest portion of vanity and folly--sometimes even +vice--mingled with the least portion of purity and wisdom that a +community bearing a Christian name will tolerate. You, I trust, +will learn to seek a higher standard. + +"If borne in a right spirit, my dear Elinor, the very want of +beauty, or of any other earthly good, may be the means of giving +you the benefit of far higher blessings. If it make you more free +from vanity, from selfishness, it will make you far happier, even +in daily life. It may dispose you to enjoy more thankfully those +blessings actually in your possession, and to make a better use +of them. + +"Under this and every other disadvantage, my child, remember two +things: to give the evil its just importance only, and to make a +right use of it. + +"I trust that your temper will be such, that you will not for a +moment feel any inclination to repine that others should enjoy a +blessing denied to you, my love. Refrain even from wishing for +that which Providence has withheld; if you have a right faith, +you will be cheerful and contented; if you are really humble, you +will be truly thankful. + +"Do all in your power, my Elinor, towards making your home, +wherever it may be, a happy one; it is our natural shelter from +the world. If in public you meet with indifference and neglect, +you can surely preserve the respect of those who know you; and +the affection of your friends may always be gained by those +quiet, simple virtues, within the reach of every one. + +"In one way, my dearest child, the want of beauty may affect your +whole career in life--it will very probably be the cause of your +remaining single. If I thought you would be united to a husband +worthy of your respect and affection, I should wish you to marry; +for such has been my own lot in life--I have been happy as a wife +and a mother. But I am well aware that this wish may be a +weakness; the blessings of Providence are not reserved for this +or that particular sphere. The duties and sorrows of married life +are often the heaviest that our nature knows. Other cares and +other pleasures may be reserved for you, my child. In every +civilized Christian community there have always been numbers of +single women; and where they have been properly educated, as a +class they have been respectable--never more so than at the +present day. They often discharge many of the most amiable and +praiseworthy duties of life. Understand me, my child; I do not +wish to urge your remaining single; that is a point which every +woman must decide for herself, when arrived at years of +discretion; but I would have you view a single life with +sufficient favour to follow it cheerfully, rather than to +sacrifice yourself by becoming the wife of a man whom you cannot +sincerely respect. Enter life prepared to follow, with unwavering +faith in Providence, and with thankfulness, whichever course may +be allotted to you. If you remain single, remember that your +peace is more in your own hands than if married--much more will +depend solely on the views and dispositions you encourage. As +appearance has generally so much influence over men, and marriage +is therefore a less probable event to you than to others, my +love, let your mother caution you to watch your feelings with +double care; be slow to believe any man attached to you, unless +you have the strongest proof of it. + +"Whatever be your position, never lose sight, even on trifling +occasions, of common sense, and good-feeling. Remember, in any +case, to guard carefully against the peculiar temptations of your +lot, to bear patiently its evils, and to enjoy thankfully its +peculiar blessings. + +"There are many things that I should still wish to say to you, my +beloved daughter; and yet I know that the cautions I give may be +unnecessary, while other evils, which I have never feared, may +befall you. My inability to guide you as I wish, my darling +child, directs us both to a higher source of wisdom and love. Let +us both, at all times, implicitly place our trust where it can +never fail, though blessings be not bestowed in the way we fond +creatures would choose." + +[Here followed a sentence, in words too solemn to be transferred +to pages as light as these.] + +"Love your aunt, your second mother, truly and gratefully. She +has already bestowed on you many proofs of kindness, and she has +always been a faithful friend to your father, and to your mother. +Love the memory of your parents, my child; think of us +sometimes--think of your father--think of your mother. Honour +their memory by a recollection of their instructions, by a +well-spent life. Since your birth, my child, I have scarcely had +a hope or a fear, unconnected with you; if I were to ask to live, +it would be only for your sake, my darling daughter. + +"Your mother's tenderest blessing rests upon you, my beloved +Elinor, through life! + +"MARY RADCLIFFE WYLLYS" + +This letter had been often read and studied by Elinor, with the +gratitude and respect it deserved, as a legacy from her mother; +but lately she had been disposed to enter more fully into the +feelings by which it had been dictated. Every word which applied +to her present situation, sunk deeply into her heart. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +"Merrily, merrily dance the bells; +Swiftly glides the sleigh!" +Newspaper Verses. + +{source not located} + +EARLY in December, a new glazed card was to be seen on most of +the fashionable tables in New York. It was of the particular tint +most in favour that season, whether bluish or pinkish we dare not +affirm, for fear of committing a serious anachronism, which might +at once destroy, with many persons, all claim to a knowledge of +the arcana of fashionable life. Having no authorities at hand to +consult, the point must be left to the greater research of the +critical reader. This card bore the name of T. TALLMAN TAYLOR; +but whether in Roman or Italic characters we dare not say, for +the same reason which has just been frankly confessed. It was, +however, a highly fashionable bit of pasteboard, as became the +representative of a personage who returned to New York, claiming +the honours of fashion himself. This was no less a person than +the Son of Mr. Pompey Taylor. But the T. Tallman Taylor, whose +whole appearance was pronounced unexceptionable by the New York +belles, from the points of his boots to the cut of his +moustaches, was a very different individual from the +good-looking, but awkward, ungainly youth, introduced to the +reader two or three years since, at Wyllys-Roof. He had, in the +mean time, learned how to stand, how to sit, how to walk, how to +talk in a drawing-room. He had learned what to do with his cane +and his hat, how to manage his pocket-handkerchief and his +gloves; branches of knowledge which an American who sets about +acquiring them, usually learns quite rapidly. He was also very +much improved in riding and dancing, and was said to fence well. +These, with the addition of a much better French accent, were the +principal changes perceptible to the ladies, who pronounced them +all for the better. Among the young men he was soon found to be +an excellent judge of Chateau Margaux and Rudesheimer; some also +thought him knowing in horse-flesh, while others doubted his +qualifications in that respect. His father, moreover, soon +discovered that he had become an adept in the art of spending +money; among his intimates, cards, and the billiard-table, with +other practices of that description, were hinted at, as the way +in which he got rid of his dollars. But as these were subjects +not mentioned in general society, it was as yet the initiated +only, who were aware of young Taylor's Paris habits of this kind. + +{"Chateau Margaux and Rudesheimer" = two famous wines} + +His father had, of late years, learned to set too high a value +upon the world, and everything worldly, not to be much gratified +by the change that had taken place in his son. As for Adeline, +she gloried in his six-feet and his black moustaches, his Paris +waistcoat and London boots; while his honest-hearted mother would +have loved him just as much under any other metamorphosis he had +chosen to assume. Such as he was, young Taylor soon became quite +a favourite beau with the New Yorkers, and was invited to most +houses. He proved himself quite a ladies' man; no lazy, grumbling +dandy, but a smiling, assiduous beau. He had not been in New York +a month, before he was known to have sent a number of bouquets to +different belles, and was supposed to have given more than one +serenade to his sister's friend, Miss Hunter. + +The last day of December, all New York was set in motion by a +fall of snow, sufficient to allow of pretty good sleighing for +four-and-twenty hours. Like such occasions in general, it became +a sort of holiday. And really, the novelty, the general movement, +the bustle and gaiety, the eagerness to enjoy the pleasure while +it lasts, always render such scenes very enlivening. Every +vehicle with runners, and every animal bearing the name of a +horse, are put in requisition for the day. The dashing sleighs +crowded with gaily dressed people, the smiling faces and flying +feathers of the ladies, the rich cloths and furs, the bright +colours of the equipages, and the inspiriting music of the merry +bells, give to Broadway, at such times, quite a carnival look. +The clear, bracing air disposes people to be cheerful; even the +horses feel the spirit of the moment; they prance their heads +proudly, and shake the bells about their necks, as if delighted +with the ease and rapidity of their motion; sympathizing +foot-passengers stop to give their friends a nod, and follow +their rapid course with good-natured smiles. Young people and +children are collected for a frolic, and family parties hurry off +to drink coffee and mulled wine, to eat plum-cake and waffles at +the neighbouring country-houses. It is altogether a gay, cheerful +sight, enjoyed with all the more zest from its uncertainty. + +Hazlehurst was delighted, as he went to his window, the morning +in question, to find the roofs and pavements covered with snow. +For several years he had had no sleighing, and he promised +himself a very pleasant day. Mrs. Stanley was going to remain +quietly at home. He sent to a livery-stable to secure a good +horse and a pretty cutter for himself and immediately after +breakfast hurried off to Mrs. Graham's lodgings, with the hope of +obtaining Jane as a companion. "And who knows," thought he, "what +may happen before evening." + +He had just reached Mrs. Graham's door, when a very dashing +sleigh, drawn by four fine horses, drew up from the opposite +direction. Young Taylor was in the coachman's seat; Miss Hunter, +Adeline, and a quiet-looking young man, whom we shall introduce +as Theodore St. Leger, were in the sleigh. Miss Adeline threw off +her over-cloak, and as she gave her hand to Mr. St. Leger, to +jump from the sleigh, called out to Harry in her usual shrill +voice, {sic} + +"Good morning, Mr. Hazlehurst, you are exact at the rendez-vous, +for of course you got my note. But you ought to have brought a +lady with you; you mustn't run away with Jane; she is to be of +our party in the sleigh, do you hear?" continued the young lady, +trying hard to look pretty and positive, at the same time. "I +hope you didn't mean to ask her to go with you." + +"Yes, I did," replied Harry, rather stoutly. "Miss Graham told me +the other day, she quite longed for sleighing, and made something +very like a promise to go with me if we had any snow." + +"Oh, but not to-day; I must have her in the sleigh with me! Now, +Jane, dear," continued the young lady, tripping into the +drawing-room followed by her brother and Harry, "put on your hat +at once, that's a good girl; we wouldn't miss having you for the +world." + +Harry had often been provoked with Adeline's constant +appropriation of Jane to herself, when they were together; and he +determined, if he could prevent it, she should not succeed this +time. + +"Miss Taylor is very decided," he said, "but so am I. And I think +you must remember you were pledged to me for the first sleighing, +if we were so fortunate as to have any." + +"It's no such thing, I'm sure;--is it, Jane?" + +"Pray, remember we are two to one, Miss Graham," said young +Taylor, on the other side, in an insinuating voice. + +"But we can all go together," said Jane, blushing, and scarcely +knowing what to do. + +"If Mrs. Graham were here," added Harry, "I think she would +certainly trust you with me. I have a very good horse, one that I +have driven all along, and he is perfectly safe." + +"So are ours, all four of them," said Adeline; "and I'm sure +there must be more safety with four safe horses, than with one!" + +"Perfectly safe, Miss Graham, I assure you," added young Taylor. +"Of course I should not press you unless I felt sure you would +run no risk." + +"Pshaw!" said Adeline. "Why should we stand here, talking about +the risk and danger, like so many old grey-beards. Put on your +hat, dear, that's a darling, without any more palaver. Anne +Hunter and Mr. St. Leger are waiting for us at the door; you know +we are going to Bloomingdale, to lunch, at Mrs. Hunter's. We +shall have a charming time; and Mr. Hazlehurst is going with us +too. Of course you got my note," she added, turning to Harry. + +{"Bloomingdale" = a fashionable and still rural area of Manhattan +Island, though a part of New York City} + +"No, I did not; but I should have been obliged to decline your +invitation, Miss Taylor," said Hazlehurst, bowing a little +stiffly. "I have made arrangements for going on Long Island." + +"Oh, that's a pity; I am really sorry, for I wanted you to be of +our party; only I couldn't have you run away with my friend Jane. +Silence gives consent, Jane. You didn't answer my note, this +morning." + +"Perhaps I had better not go at all," said Jane, not a little +perplexed. "Mamma is not at home, and will not know what has +become of me." + +"Nonsense, child; Mrs. Graham will know you are in very good +hands. You have been out with me a hundred times before, and you +surely don't think there is any more danger because Tallman is of +the party." + +"I hope not," added young Taylor, in an insinuating manner; "I'm +a first-rate whip, Miss Graham." + +"Now, just tell the truth; didn't you mean to go with me, before +Mr. Hazlehurst came in?" said Adeline--"no fibbing, mind." + +"I only received your note ten minutes since," replied Jane; "but +I did think of going with you." + +"I should like to know why you hesitate, then. First come, first +served. Now, the best thing you can do, Mr. Hazlehurst, is to +change your mind, and ask one of the Miss Howards, and join our +party, too. I really wish you would!" + +"You are very good," said Harry, coldly; "but I must beg you to +excuse me." + +Jane allowed herself to be shawled and cloaked by young Taylor, +and the affair was settled. But Harry thought she did not seem +quite satisfied with herself, for she changed colour several +times, and he even remarked that her fingers trembled as she tied +the strings of her hat. This rather softened his feelings towards +her; but he still felt extremely provoked with the meddling +Adeline, and her officious brother. As he did not wish to play +the worsted man, however, he tried to put a good face on the +matter, and accompanied the party down-stairs, helped the ladies +into the sleigh, wished them a pleasant drive, and went off +himself, at a rapid pace, towards the Long-Island ferry. + +He was exceedingly out of humour with Adeline, and reproached +Jane not a little for allowing herself to be so often guided by +her trifling friend. The occurrence of the morning, hastened his +determination to bring matters to a conclusion. That very evening +should decide the point. He must have been more than modest to +have doubted the result; Jane's manner he had long thought just +what he could wish from one so little demonstrative as herself. +Hubert de Vaux, it is true, had been very assiduous of late, but +Jane had never given him any sign of preference, sufficient to +excite Harry's jealousy. Mr. Graham was expected every day from +Charleston, to pass the remainder of the winter with his family; +as he had already given one daughter to the elder Hazlehurst, and +no serious objection could be raised against Harry, his prospects +were very promising. Before long, the gentle, lovely Jane would +be his own; his would be the enviable lot, of carrying off the +beautiful prize. + +Hazlehurst had time to make these reflections, and disperse his +ill-humour, before he reached the wharf at Brooklyn. Here he met +Charlie Hubbard, whom he had not seen for some time, not, indeed, +since his rupture with the Wyllyses. Charlie's greeting was not +quite as warm as usual; he did not seem as much pleased at this +unexpected meeting, and the offer of a seat in Harry's cutter, as +one might have supposed. Hazlehurst was so cordial, however, and +urged the young painter so much to take a turn with him on the +Island, that, after a little hesitation, Hubbard accepted. + +"Come, Charlie; I am sure you haven't any very good reason for +not making the most of the snow, like the rest of us." + +"Perhaps not," said Charlie; and he took his seat with Harry. + +Hubbard gave a good account of himself and his family. He had +received several orders; and his pet picture of the moment was +going on finely. His youngest sister was in town, taking music +lessons, to fit her for her future occupation; and he had just +sent Miss Patsey a pair of globes for her school, as a New Year's +gift; the most expensive present, by-the-bye, Charlie had ever +made in his life. + +"I feel quite rich," said the young man, "since I pocketed a +hundred a-piece for my two views of Nahant. To be sure, I never +expect to make a fortune; if I can earn enough to support my +mother and sister, and paint only such pictures as I please, that +is all I want of the good things of this world." + +"It's all very well to say so now, Charlie, that you have +received your two hundred; but wait till you are the great Mr. +Hubbard, and expect two thousand for your last view of +Coney-Island." + +"That day will never come, to me, or to any other man, perhaps, +in this country," replied young Hubbard. "I go to work with my +eyes open, as you well know. My uncles have talked the matter +over with me a hundred times, if they have once; they have showed +me what I could do if I took to making money, and what I could +not do if I took to painting. They have offered to help me on; +Mr. Taylor would take me into his counting-house, to-morrow; and +Hilson offers to make me an auctioneer. But I have chosen my +profession, and I shall abide by it. I have no wish for wealth. I +should never be tempted to sell my soul for money--no, nor my +good name, or my independence: for I do not feel willing to +barter even my time and tastes for riches. I can honestly say, +money has no charms for me. A comfortable subsistence, in a very +moderate way, is all I should ask for." + +"I know it, Hubbard, and I honour your decision," said +Hazlehurst, warmly. "It is impossible, however, but that genius +like yours should make its way; and I hope you may meet with all +the success you deserve, even though it bring you more money than +you wish for: one of these days when there is a Mrs. Hubbard, you +may want more than you require now." + +A shade of feeling passed over the young artist's fine face, as +Harry carelessly uttered these words; it seemed to spring from +some painful thought. It was unobserved by Hazlehurst, however, +who was not looking at his companion at the moment. Charlie was +soon roused by Harry's inquiries as to his plans for travelling +in Europe. The young men then spent a pleasant hour in discussing +different works of the great masters, which Hubbard, as yet, knew +only from engravings and books. Surrounded by snow and ice, they +talked over the atmospheres of Italy and Greece. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +"Happy New-Year!" + +THE streets had been cleared of the snow for New-Year's day, by a +thaw, and a hard shower in the night. The sun rose bright and +clear; and, as usual, early in the morning, that is to say +morning in its fashionable sense, the greater part of the male +population of the town were in motion, hurrying in all directions +towards the houses of their female friends and relatives. It +appeared as if the women had suddenly deserted the city, and the +men were running about, half-distracted, in pursuit of them. +After the markets and churches were closed, few indeed were the +females to be seen in the streets; while, on the contrary, troops +of men of all ages, were hurrying over the side-walks of +Broadway, usually enlivened by the gay dresses and bright faces +of the ladies. There were young men running a race against time, +carrying lists in their hands with an impossible number of visits +to be paid during the day; there were boys taking their first +steps in this yearly course of gallantry; there were elderly men +walking more leisurely from one favoured house to another. All, +but a few grumblers here and there, looked smiling and +good-humoured. As the black-coated troop hastened hither and +thither, they jostled one another, now nodding, now shaking +hands; here, old friends passing without seeing each other; +there, a couple of strangers salute one another in the warmest +manner. The doors of the houses seemed to open of themselves; men +were going in, men were coming out. The negroes looked more +lustrous and light-hearted than ever; the Paddies, cleaner and +more bothered; the regular Knickerbockers, to the manner born, +were, of course, in their element. + +{"visits" = for men to make short calls at as many homes as +possible on New Year's Day was an old New York City custom; +"Paddies" = Irish; "Knickerbockers" = traditional term for native +New Yorkers} + +We have heard nice calculations as to the precise number of +calls, that an able-bodied, well-trained New-Year's visiter can +accomplish between midnight and midnight; allowing, of course, a +couple of hours for the toilette, and a moment to snatch a +mouthful at breakfast and dinner: it is affirmed, however, that +as great generals have passed days of battle without food, so +your chivalrous Knickerbocker should be willing to forego, on +such an occasion, even a sight of the roast turkey and +cranberries. Allowing the individual, however, something to +sustain nature, that he may be the better enabled to perform his +duties, it is supposed that a beau, in good visiting condition, +should pay his court in not more than three hundred, nor less +than fifty drawing-rooms. But, then, to do this, a man must have +method; he must draw up his plan of action before-hand; he must +portion out his districts, as they lie on each side of that +longest of streets, Broadway; he must not only study the map of +the city closely, but he must possess an accurate knowledge of +the localities; he must remember that some houses have stoops of +twelve steps, that some drawing-rooms are not on the first floor. +He must NOT allow himself to be enticed into any flirtation +whatever, beyond a glance or a smile; he must NOT indulge the +hope of calling twice upon the sweet creature he most admires; he +must NOT be tempted to sink, even for a moment, upon the most +comfortable of ottomans or divans; he must NOT return home to +re-adjust his locks, to change either boots, gloves, or +handkerchief. We have heard it asserted, that owing to some +unfortunate weakness of this kind, many a promising youth, +unaccustomed, probably, to the hardships of such visiting, has +been distanced in the gallant race of the day, by more methodical +men--by men who were actually encumbered with over-shoes and +greatcoats! + +It is amusing to watch the hurried steps of some experienced +visiter without doors; the decision of his movements, the +correctness of his calculation in passing out of one house into +another; and one is sure to know a raw recruit, by his anxious, +perplexed manner and expression. + +The scene within doors is quite as amusing as it is without. +Everything wears a holiday look; it is evidently no common +morning reception; the ladies' dresses look gayer and fresher, +their smiles brighter than usual; the house, the furniture, and +the inmates, all wear their most agreeable aspect. The salver of +refreshments speaks at once the occasion; for there, in the midst +of richer cakes, stands the basket of homely "New-Years' +cookies," bequeathed to their descendants by the worthy vrows of +New-Amsterdam. The visiters appear, first singly, then in +parties. Here comes a favourite partner of the young ladies, +there a mere bowing acquaintance of the master of the house. This +is an old family friend, that a neighbour who has never been in +the house before; here is a near relative, there a passing +stranger. The grey-haired old gentleman who has the arm-chair +wheeled out for him, announces his fiftieth visiting anniversary; +the buckish youth, his grandson, has already made his bow, and +off again; so {sic} finish his gallant duties. Now we have a five +minutes visit from a declared lover; and who follows him? One who +advances slowly and steadily, with a half-inquiring look; the +lady of the house sees him, gives a glance of surprise, is +gratified, accepts the offered hand immediately. That is a +reconciliation; old friendship broken off, now renewed, a +misunderstanding forgotten--that is one of the pleasantest visits +of the day. All come, bow, look, and speak their friendly +good-wishes, and are off again to make room for others. + +{"New Years' cookies" = the Dutch in New York had special recipes +for cakes and "cookies" for each major holiday, such as New +Year's Day; vrows" = wives, in old Dutch New York} + +Long may this pleasant, cheerful, good-natured, lively custom be +perpetuated among us! As long as the side-walks of Manhattan and +the canals of Amsterdam last, so long may Santa Claus bring his +Christmas gifts to the little folk; and so long may the gallant +Knickerbockers pay to their female friends the homage of a +PERSONAL visit at New-Year's. Cards on every other day in the +year, if necessary; but, on New Year's, carry your good wishes in +person. Should not, indeed, a custom so pleasant spread +throughout the whole country, like crackers, waffles, Dutch +blood, and many other good things brought originally from +Holland? + +On the particular New-Year's day at which we have arrived in our +narrative, an individual of the reader's acquaintance, instead of +joining the busy throng of visiters, was seen turning his steps +through a bye-street, towards the Battery. He walked slowly +through Greenwich-Street, apparently busy with thoughts of his +own, and entering the Battery-Gate he continued for some time +pacing the paved walk near the water. + +"There is a fellow who seems to have nothing to do to-day," said +a young man to his companion, as they were hurrying across the +Battery from one end of State-Street to the other. "I should like +to hire him as proxy, to show himself in a score or two of houses +in my place. I should hand him over half my list at once, if I +thought the ladies would submit to the exchange; he looks like a +presentable chap, too." + +"Why, it is actually Harry Hazlehurst! What can he be doing, +moping about in that fashion?" + +"Hazlehurst, is it? Oh, ho!--you have heard the hubbub they have +had at the Graham's, I suppose?" + +"Not I--What is it?" + +"There was quite a scene there, yesterday; my sister had the news +from Adeline Taylor, a great friend of her's; so it comes very +straight." + +"I thought all was going on there as smoothly as possible. I +expected an invitation to the wedding before long." + +"To be sure; so did everybody. But it seems the beauty has ideas +of her own. In the first place she refused Hazlehurst, rather to +the astonishment of himself and all his friends, I believe." + +"Refused Hazlehurst!--You don't say so!" + +"And that is only half the story. She took the same opportunity, +while weeping and trembling, to confide to her mamma that her +heart had been for some time, how long I cannot tell you +precisely, the property of Tall. Taylor." + +"What, Tallman Taylor? That is news, indeed--I never should have +dreamt of such a thing." + +"Miss Adeline Taylor is the authority. It seems the affair has +been going on, no one knows how long, and Miss Taylor has had the +management of it. These girls are sly minxes; they are not to be +trusted, half of them." + +"And what says Taylor to all this?" + +"What does he say? Why he is in a sort of ecstasy of despair, I +suppose; for the Grahams won't hear of the match. It was no news +to him; they have been engaged, I tell you, for months," + +At that moment the two young men entered the door of a house in +State-Street. Although their story was, upon the whole, correct; +yet, we happen to be still better informed on the subject, and +shall proceed to account, in our own way, for Hazlehurst's +solitary walk. + +When Miss Adeline and her party had returned from sleighing, +Harry went to Mrs. Graham's, and finding Jane alone, he +immediately seized the moment to explain himself, beginning by a +lover-like remonstrance upon her having joined the Taylors, +instead of going with him as she had already promised to do. Jane +was excessively embarrassed. As Harry proceeded, she became more +and more agitated. Her manner was so confused, that it was some +time before Hazlehurst could understand that she wished to refuse +him. Had she not actually wept, and looked frightened and +distressed, he might have given a very different interpretation +to her embarrassment. At length, in answer to a decided question +of his, she confessed her attachment to another person; and, +never was lover more surprised by such an acknowledgement. +Pained, and mortified, and astonished as Harry was, the name of +"Hubert de Vaux!" passed his lips before he was aware he had +spoken. + +"Oh, no; no;" said Jane. "I never cared at all for Mr. de Vaux." + +Harry's astonishment increased. He could scarcely believe that he +had heard her correctly. To whom could she possibly be attached? + +"Oh, I wish I had some one here to advise me! Adeline may say +what she pleases, I cannot conceal it any longer." + +Harry listened in amazement. + +"Is it possible," he said, at length, "that there is some +difficulty, some embarrassment, that prevents your acting as you +would wish? My dear Jane, confide in me. You cannot doubt that I +love you, that I have long loved you;" and Harry then ran over a +variation of his first declaration. But Jane's trouble seemed +only to increase. + +"Oh, stop, Harry; don't talk in that way," she said; "I ought to +have told you before. I wished to tell you when you first came on +to New York, but Adeline said we should risk everything by it." + +"What can you possibly risk? What is it you wish to tell me?" + +"I was very sorry when you broke with Elinor--I never can have +any other feeling for you than I have always had: I have been for +some time, almost-----engaged--to--to--Mr. Taylor--" + +"You-----engaged to Mr. Taylor!" + +"No-----not engaged-----only I have not refused him--We know +father and mother dislike Mr. Taylor's family so much--" + +It was but natural that Harry should feel indignant at having +been deceived by the under-current of plotting that had been +going on; that he should feel mortified, ashamed of himself, and +disappointed, at the same time; vexed with Jane, and almost +furious against the meddling, officious Adeline, and her +presuming brother. From a long acquaintance with Jane's +character, it flashed upon his mind in a moment, that she must +have been misguided, and gradually led on by others. But the +mischief was done; it was evident that at present, at least, she +cared no more for him than she had always done; while, on the +contrary, young Taylor had insinuated himself into her +affections. He could not endure to think, that while Jane was +indifferent to himself, his successful rival should be one whom +he so much disliked. Yet, such was the fact. It was infatuation +on the part of Jane, no doubt; and yet how often these deceptions +have all the bad effects of realities! He had been silent for +some minutes, while the tears were streaming freely from Jane's +beautiful eyes. + +"Oh, if I had not been so afraid that father would never give his +consent, I should not have waited so long. If I only knew what to +do now?" + +Harry came to a magnanimous resolution. "I forgive you, Jane," he +said, "the pain you have caused, since I cannot but think that it +is not the fruit of your own suggestions. You could not +deliberately have trifled with me in this way; I owe it, no +doubt, to the goodness of Miss Taylor," he added, bitterly. Jane +made no answer, but continued to weep. Harry felt some compassion +for her, in spite of her unjustifiable conduct towards himself. +In the course of half an hour, she had fallen very much in his +estimation; but he determined to return good for evil, by urging +her to take the only step now in her power--the only one proper +under the circumstances. He begged her, as she valued her future +peace, to reveal everything to her mother; and to be guided in +future by Mrs. Graham. But Jane seemed terrified at the idea. + +"Oh," said she, "father will be so angry! And we expect him every +day: Mother, too, I know, will think I have behaved very badly to +you." + +It is probable she might not have had the courage to follow his +advice, had not Mrs. Graham accidentally entered the room at the +moment. Her attention was immediately attracted to the unusual +expression of Harry's face, and the tearful, woe-begone look of +her daughter, which she could in no way account for. Harry, +merely answering her inquiries by a bow, arose and left the room, +leaving the mother and daughter together. + +Poor Mrs. Graham was little aware of what awaited her. She could +not be called a woman of very high principles, but she had more +feeling, and, of course, more experience than Jane. When she +discovered the true state of things, she was very much shocked. +She had never had the least idea of what had been going on around +her; far from it, indeed, she had never for a moment doubted +that, before long, her daughter would become the wife of young +Hazlehurst. + +Little by little she gathered the whole truth from the weeping +Jane. It appeared that the two or three meetings which had taken +place between Jane and young Taylor, just before he sailed, had +been sufficient for him to fancy himself in love with her. He +made a confidante of his sister Adeline, who, as one of the older +class in her boarding-school, considered all love-affairs as +belonging to her prerogative. Her friend, Miss Hunter, was a +regular graduate of the Court of Love, according to the code--not +of Toulouse--but of a certain class of school-girls in New-York. +This young lady had gone through the proper training from her +cradle, having been teased and plagued about beaux and lovers, +before she could walk alone. She had had several love-affairs of +her own before she was fifteen. "All for love," was her motto; +and it was a love which included general flirtation as the spice +of unmarried life, and matrimony with any individual whatever, +possessing a three-story house in Broadway, as the one great +object of existence. Adeline had, of course, profited by such +companionship; and, at the time her brother confessed himself in +love with Miss Graham, after having met once on board a +steamboat, and once at an evening party, she was fully equal to +take the management of the whole affair into her own hands. It is +true, young Taylor had entered into a boyish engagement at +college; but that was thought no obstacle whatever. She delighted +in passing her brother's compliments over to Jane; in reporting +to him her friend's blushes and smiles. With this state of +things, young Taylor sailed for Europe; but Adeline gloried too +much in her capacity of confidante, to allow the matter to drop: +not a letter was written but contained some allusion to the +important subject. In the course of the year she had talked Jane +into quite a favourable state of feeling towards her brother; he +would probably himself have forgotten the affair, had not Miss +Graham arrived in Paris at the moment she did. + +They saw each other, of course, and the feelings which Adeline +had been encouraging during the last year, and which otherwise +would have amounted to nothing at all, now took a serious turn. +Young Taylor was very handsome, and astonishingly improved in +appearance and manners. Jane, herself, was in the height of her +beauty, and the young man had soon fallen really in love with +her. Unfortunately, just at the moment that he became attentive +to her, Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst, who was confined to the house +that winter, had confided Jane to the care of Mrs. Howard, the +lady who had brought her from America. Young Taylor soon found +out that he was rather disliked by Mr. and Mrs. Hazlehurst, and +preferred securing Jane's favour, if possible, without attracting +the attention of her friends. Adeline, on her part, had +discovered that her own family were no favourites with Mr. and +Mrs. Graham; of course she recommended the proper degree of +mystery, under the name of prudence. Young Taylor left Paris for +England, about the time that Harry returned from his eastern +journey; but before parting from Jane, he explained himself; and +if he had not been accepted, he had certainly not been refused. +Thus matters stood when the whole party returned home. Mr. Graham +was known to be a violent, passionate man, and as he had taken no +pains to conceal his dislike to Tallman Taylor's father, the +young people had every reason to believe that he would refuse his +consent. The idea of a clandestine marriage had once occurred to +Adeline, but never with any serious intention of proposing it. +Had she done so, she would not have been listened to. Jane had +not lived so much with Miss Wyllys and Elinor, without deriving +some good from such association; besides, she did not think the +step necessary. She believed that Mr. Graham would give his +consent after a while; and young Taylor was obliged to submit for +the present. As for his college engagement, he had paid it no +more attention than if it had never taken place; it had been long +since forgotten, on his part. + +Little by little, Mrs. Graham gathered most of these facts from +her daughter, whose weeping eyes and pale face would have +delighted Adeline, as being just what was proper in a heroine of +romance, on such an important occasion. But Adeline could not +enjoy the sight of all the misery which was the fruit of her two +years' labours, for Mrs. Graham insisted that Jane should see +none of the family until her father had arrived; and knew the +state of things. + +Harry Hazlehurst, although not quite as well informed as the +reader, knew essentially how matters stood. He knew at least, +that Jane and young Taylor were all but pledged to each other; he +knew what had been Adeline's conduct--what had been his own +treatment; and as he walked slowly from one end of the Battery to +the other, his reflections were anything but flattering to +himself, or to any of the parties concerned. He blamed Mrs. +Graham for her want of maternal caution and foresight; he blamed +his brother, and sister-in-law, for their blindness in Paris; +Jane, for her weakness, and want of sincerity to himself; +Adeline, for such unjustifiable management and manoeuvring; and +young Taylor, for what he called his "presumption and puppyism." +And to think that he, Harry Hazlehurst, who prided himself upon +being clear-sighted, had been so completely deceived by others, +and what was worse, by himself! He was obliged to remember how +sure he had felt himself of Jane; it was humiliating to think +what a silly part he had been playing. Then came a twinge or two, +from the consciousness that he had deserved it all, from his +conduct to Elinor. He tried to persuade himself that regret that +Jane should fall into hands he fancied so unworthy of her--that +she should be sacrificed to a mere second-rate sort of dandy, +like young Taylor, was his strongest feeling at the time. But he +was mistaken: there was a good deal of the lover in his +recollection of Jane's transcendant {sic} beauty. He hoped that +she would yet be saved from the worst--from becoming the wife of +Tallman Taylor. He felt convinced that Mr. Graham would refuse +his consent to the marriage. + +The next day, Harry returned to Philadelphia. The astonishment of +all those interested in himself and Jane, at this rupture, was +very great. If Mrs. Stanley had been grieved at Harry's +difficulties, Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst was made quite unhappy by +her sister's conduct. She reproached herself severely for her +blindness; for not having taken as much care of Jane as she ought +to have done under the circumstances. Like all her family, she +disliked young Taylor; who, in fact, had nothing to recommend him +but his handsome face, and his father's money. Miss Wyllys, too, +was much pained by the conduct of one who had been so often under +her care--one, in whose welfare she was so warmly interested. She +received the news in a note from Mrs. Hazlehurst, who preferred +giving it in that form; and as Miss Wyllys was alone with Elinor, +she immediately handed the billet to her niece. + +It must be confessed that Elinor's heart gave one bound at this +unexpected news. She was more moved by it than any one; more +astonished that Jane should have refused Harry; that she should +have preferred to him that silly Tallman Taylor; more shocked at +the double-dealing that had been going on; and more pained that +Jane, who had been to her as a sister, should have been so easily +misled. Another thought intruded, too--Harry would be free again! +But the idea had hardly suggested itself, before she repelled it. +She soon felt convinced that Mr. Graham would break off the +engagement between his daughter and Mr. Taylor, and that after a +while her cousin's eyes would he opened to Harry's merits, which +were numberless in her eyes. Miss Agnes strongly encouraged this +opinion; and Elinor fully determined that her aunt's counsels, +her mother's letter, and her own experience, should not be thrown +away; she would watch more carefully than ever against every +fancy that would be likely to endanger anew the tranquillity she +had in some measure regained. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +"The bridegroom's doors are opened wide, +And I am next of kin; +The guests are met, the feast is set, +May'st hear the merry din." +COLERIDGE. + +{Samuel Taylor Coleridge (English poet, 1772-1834), "Rime of the +Ancient Mariner" (I) lines 5-8} + +THE events of the next two months surprised Jane's friends in +Philadelphia, almost as much as her rejection of Harry had done. +Mrs. Hazlehurst, of course, knew what was going on in her +father's house, and from time to time informed Miss Wyllys and +Elinor of what passed. Elinor had written to Jane, but it was a +long time before she received an answer; her cousin appeared +engrossed by her own affairs; as this was common with Jane at all +times, it was but natural that she should be so, at a moment +which was of so much importance to herself. Mr. Graham arrived at +the time appointed; and, of course, he was very much displeased +by the news which awaited him. He would not hear of Jane's +marrying young Taylor, whose advances he received as coldly as +possible, and even forbade his daughter's seeing any of the +Taylor family. Jane was very much distressed, and very much +frightened. As for Miss Taylor, her indignation was so great, +that she determined to pay no respect to Mr. Graham's hostility; +she wrote to Jane a long letter, much in her usual style, giving +very pathetic accounts of Tallman's despair. This letter Jane had +not the moral courage to show to either of her parents; she soon +received another, with a note from young Taylor himself. As she +was reading them one morning, her father unexpectedly entered the +room, and was thrown into a great passion by the discovery. His +temper was violent, and he was subject to fits of passion which +terrified his children; although, in other respects, by no means +an unkind parent. Upon this occasion, Jane was frightened into +hysterics, and afterwards, owing to the agitation which had been +preying on her mind for some months, she was thrown into a low +nervous fever. During the four or five weeks that she was ill, +every morning Miss Taylor called to inquire after her friend, +although she was not admitted. By this conduct, Mrs. Graham's +heart, which was of no stern material, was much softened. At +length she went to the drawing-room to see Miss Taylor, for a +moment. Adeline improved the time so well, that she placed +herself and her brother better with Mrs. Graham than they had +ever yet been. Jane's illness increased; her parents became +seriously alarmed, and Mr. Graham expressed something like regret +that he had been so hasty. His wife often remembered his words +during her daughter's tedious convalescence, which was +interrupted by a relapse. In short, matters began to look less +discouraging for young Taylor's suit. There could be no doubt, at +least, that he was very much in love with Jane: Hazlehurst was +quite mistaken in supposing that the perfection of her profile, +the beautiful shape of her head, the delicacy of her complexion, +or other numberless beauties, could only be appreciated by one +whose taste was as refined as his own: they had produced quite as +deep an effect on young Taylor. During Jane's illness, he had +shown the proper degree of distress and anxiety, all of which was +reported in the most pathetic manner to Mrs. Graham, and +whispered to Jane by Adeline, who, having once been received +again into the house, kept her footing there and managed an +occasional interview with her friend. In short, as we all know, +tyrannical parents are very rare in America; the fault in family +discipline lies in the opposite direction. + +His daughter's pale face, his wife's weakness, and Adeline's good +management, and improvement of every concession, at length worked +a change in Mr. Graham. At the proper moment, Tallman Taylor +renewed his offer in the warmest and most flattering terms; +supported by his father, and his father's hundreds of thousands, +he this time received a more favourable answer. Mr. Graham was +one of those men, who have no very high opinion of women; he did +not wish to make his daughter miserable for life; and he thought +she had too little character to conquer the fancy that had filled +her mind, and made her ill. Then, young Taylor was rich, and she +could throw away money on those knick-knacks and frippery, to +which, according to Mr. Graham, women attach such exorbitant +value. If she did not marry him, she would fancy herself a +victim, and miserable; if she did marry him, she would fancy +herself happy: that seemed to him the amount of the matter, and +with these views he at length gave a reluctant consent. Mrs. +Graham had already given hers; Tallman Taylor was certainly not +the son-in-law she would have chosen; but she was farther from +being dissatisfied, than many of her friends thought she would be +under the circumstances. Neither the story of his college +engagement, nor the unpleasant rumours respecting his Paris +career, had reached Mr. or Mrs. Graham; the first was known only +to Adeline and Jane, the last to a few male intimates. The news, +very naturally, caused a good deal of sensation among Jane's +friends in Philadelphia; it was really distressing to Mrs. Robert +Hazlehurst, who looked upon her sister as thrown away, and +reproached herself more than ever for having allowed Jane to go +out so often in Paris with their thoughtless friends, the +Howards. She could not endure to think of young Taylor, as +actually her brother-in-law, the husband of her beautiful sister. +She had not supposed that the matter would be settled in this +way; she had believed her father's opposition too strong to be +overcome. + +As for Harry, he, of course, soon heard the news from his +brother. How much of love and of mortification were still +lingering in his mind, we cannot precisely affirm. His feelings +for Jane had certainly altered very much since the discovery of +the double-dealing that had been going on; but weak as she had +proved herself, she was still much too lovely, much too +well-bred, at least, to be bestowed upon one whom he disliked as +much as Tallman Taylor. There seemed to be something of the dog +in the manger, connected with his regret for Jane's fate, since +he had already decided that if she were ever free again, he would +not repeat his offer; she had shown herself to have so little +character, that he would not allow himself to be again influenced +by her beauty, surpassing as it was. In fact, Harry had +determined to give up all idea of love and matrimony, for the +present, at least. He went into society less than of old, and +gave himself up very much to his profession, or other literary +pursuits in which he had become engaged. He had been admitted to +the bar, and had entered into a partnership with his travelling +companion, Mr. Ellsworth; much of his time was now passed at his +brother's house, or at that of his friend. He liked his +sister-in-law, and he found Ellsworth's sister, Mrs. Creighton, +who was at the head of her brother's establishment, a very +agreeable woman; she was very pretty, too, and very clever. The +Wyllyses were already in the country, when the news of Jane's +engagement reached them; the winter had broken up early, and, as +usual, at the first signs of spring they had returned to +Wyllys-Roof. Of course, they regretted Jane's partiality for +Tallman Taylor; to Elinor it appeared almost as unaccountable as +her insensibility to Harry's merits. Mrs. George Wyllys was loud +in her declamations against it; next to the Hubbards, she looked +upon the Taylors as the most disagreeable family of her +acquaintance. She had a great deal to say about the dull, prosy +mother, the insufferable father, the dandy son, and the rattling, +bellish daughter. Miss Patsey, also, had her moments of wonder; +but she wondered in silence; she did not appear to have any +higher opinion of the son, than she had formerly entertained of +the father. With these exceptions, the community of Longbridge in +general, who had known Jane from her childhood, approved highly +of the connexion; both parties were young, handsome, and they +would be rich, all which looked very well at a distance. + +Three months of courtship passed over; Jane recovered entirely, +and was as blooming and lovely as ever; young Taylor was all +devotion. The satisfaction of his family at this connexion with +the Grahams was very great; it gratified Mr. Taylor's wishes in +every way. It is true, Miss Graham would not have much fortune +herself, but Tallman had enough to begin life handsomely. He +hoped the marriage would take place soon, as he wished his son, +whom he had made his partner, to take more interest in the +business than he had yet done. In every respect but money, Jane +was just what he would have wished for a daughter-in-law; she was +fashionable, she was beautiful, and the position of her family +gratified his vanity. As for the plain, good-hearted Mrs. Taylor, +she already loved Jane as a daughter; and to her it appeared the +most natural thing in the world, that Tallman should marry his +sister's friend. Adeline, herself, was of course enchanted. + +The wedding took place in June. Thanks to Miss Taylor's influence +with the bride, it proved quite a brilliant affair. The ceremony +was performed in the evening, and immediately afterwards the +newly-married couple received the compliments and congratulations +of their friends. Jane was attended, on the occasion, by six of +her young companions; and as many young men, with white favours +in their button-holes, were very busy all the evening, playing +masters of ceremonies, escorting all the ladies as they arrived, +from the door to the spot where the bride was stationed. Jane +looked surpassingly beautiful; it was the general remark, that +she had never appeared more lovely: the ladies pronounced her +dress perfect, and the gentlemen admired her face quite as much. +All agreed that a handsomer couple had not been seen for some +time. It was, indeed, a pretty sight--the beautiful bride, the +centre of a circle of her young friends, all, like herself, in +white, and in full dress; pretty creatures themselves, wearing +pretty ornaments of flowers and lace, pearls and embroidery. We +say they were pretty; there was one exception, however, for +Elinor was there, and many remarks were made on her appearance. + +"What a pity that Miss Wyllys should be so plain," observed Mrs. +Creighton, whose husband had been a connexion of the Grahams. "It +is the first time I have seen her for several years, and really I +had forgotten how very plain she is." + +"Plain, why she is downright ugly!" exclaimed the youth to whom +she was talking. "It is a sin to be as ugly as that. No wonder +Hazlehurst was frightened out of the engagement; I am only +surprised he ever got into the scrape!" + +"But Miss Wyllys is very clever and agreeable, I understand." + +"Is she?"--was the careless reply. "I see Hazlehurst is here this +evening." + +"Yes, he came on with his sister-in-law, Mrs. Robert Hazlehurst, +and myself." + +"Well, he has a fine opportunity of comparing his two lady-loves +together. Upon my word, I never saw a greater contrast. I wish +Miss Wyllys had not accepted the invitation, though; she is +enough to frighten one away from the whole set--and the rest are +very pretty girls, the whole of them." + +"Can you point out Mr. Taylor?--Not the groom; I have seen him, +of course; but his father." + +"Don't you know the boss? It is that tall, stiff-looking man, +talking to Mrs. Stanley. You see he is trying to look very +amiable." + +"Yes--that is he, is it? Much the sort of man I should have +supposed him. And now, which is Mrs. Taylor?" + +"Mrs. Taylor--let me see; there she is, in grey satin and +diamonds. I never saw her but once before in my life. She is a +very quiet sort of a body, and keeps out of sight most of the +time." + +"Very different from her daughter then, for Miss Taylor always +put herself en evidence, I believe. If one don't see her, they +are sure to hear her." + +"To be sure, Miss Taylor is all life and spirits. She is the most +lively, animated girl I ever knew. By-the-bye, I think it an odd +fancy in Hazlehurst to show himself here to-night; for there was +a great fuss last winter, at the blowup--all the town was talking +about it." + +"He is a very near connexion, you know; I suppose his absence +would have been more remarked than his being here. Besides, if he +was in love once, he has had time to get over it, in the last six +months. He does not look much as if he wore the willow still." + +{"wore the willow" = grieved for the loss of a loved one} + +"Hazlehurst is very clever, I am told; I don't know him much, +myself." + +"Oh, yes--very clever. But I am not a fair judge, perhaps; he is +my brother's friend, and I may be prejudiced in his favour. How +very warm it is! can't we find a seat near a window?" + +The gentleman offered his arm with alacrity, and the speakers +moved away. + +The seats they had left were taken by Mrs. de Vaux and Colonel +Stryker: the lady, a middle-aged woman, fashionably dressed; the +gentleman, rather more than middle-aged in his appearance, and +decidedly less so in his dress and manners. + +"Young Taylor is a handsome fellow, and looks the bride-groom +very well!" exclaimed Mr. Stryker. "How these Taylors have pushed +upwards; I never heard of them before I went to Europe this last +time, five or six years ago." + +"That is just about the moment they first burst upon the horizon. +Mr. Taylor seems determined to make up for lost time. He is very +disagreeable to us ladies; but the gentlemen like him on account +of his cleverness; they say he is a genius in all business +matters." + +"To judge by his expression, the man seems ambitious of 'les +succes de salon,' also. Where did he import his manners from, I +wonder?--they have a sort of bright, new look, as if he had not +yet worn the gloss off." + +{"les succes de salon" = drawing-room victories (French)} + +"Don't laugh at him;--he gives excellent dinners." + +"Does he? Can't you introduce me, immediately? 'Ici l'ont fait +noces et festins.' I seem to smell the turtle-soup, already." + +{"Ici l'ont...." = wedding feasts and banquets given here +(French)} + +"I doubt whether you taste it, nevertheless, until next autumn. +Everybody is going out of town; they say that is the only +drawback to the satisfaction of the Taylors at this wedding." + +"What is the drawback, pray?" + +"They cannot have as many grand parties as they are entitled to, +on account of the season." + +"That must be distressing, indeed, to the brides-maids. +By-the-bye, I see Miss Wyllys is one of them. She is going to +turn out a fortune, I hear;--do you know her?" + +"From a child. Last year no one dreamed of her being a fortune; +but within the last few months, Mr. de Vaux tells me, she has +inherited a very handsome property from one of her mother's +family; and, in addition to it, some new rail-road, or something +of that kind, has raised the value of what she owned before." + +"What is the amount, do you know?" + +"Upwards of two hundred thousand, Mr. de Vaux thinks." + +"Miss Wyllys is certainly no beauty; but, do you know, I think +there is something decidedly distinguished in her appearance and +manner! I was only introduced the other day; I did not happen to +know the Wyllyses." + +"I have known them all my life, and like them all very much. I +rather wonder, though, at Miss Elinor's being here as +bride's-maid. But it is a reconciliation, I suppose. Perhaps she +and young Hazlehurst will make up again, and we may be invited to +another wedding, before long." + +"Perhaps so. How long does it take a young lady to resent an +infidelity? A calendar month, I suppose; or, in extreme cases, a +year and a day. By-the-bye, the pretty widow, Mrs. Creighton, has +thrown off her weeds, I see." + +"Yes, she has come out again, armed for conquest, I suppose. What +a flirt she is! And as artful as she is pretty, Mr. Stryker. But +perhaps you are one of her admirers," continued the lady, +laughing. + +"Of course, it is impossible not to admire her; but I am afraid +of her," said Mr. Stryker, shrugging his shoulders. "I am +horribly afraid of all pretty widows." + +"Mr. Hazlehurst does not seem afraid of her." + +"Not a bit--he is there half his time; but then he is young and +venturesome. We old campaigners are more wary." + +"He is an old friend of her brother's, I believe; is Mr. +Ellsworth here?" + +"Yes, there he is, talking to Miss Wyllys. Perhaps he may +interfere with your prediction about her and my friend +Hazlehurst." + +"Possibly; but a-propos of weddings; why don't you marry, +yourself, Mr. Stryker? You have been a delightful beau now, for +how many years?" asked the lady, mischievously. + +"Oh, these five lustres, I suppose; for I began early," replied +Mr. Stryker, who had too much worldly wisdom, not to make a merit +of frankness, where he could not help it. + +{"lustre" = a period of five years} + +"Six, you mean," said Mrs. de Vaux, laughing. + +"No, five, honestly counted. I don't know exactly how old I may +be; but the other day I heard a fellow say, 'Stryker can't be +more than five-and-forty;' and I dare say be was right." + +"Well, allowing you are only five-and-forty, don't you mean to +marry, one of these days?" + +"Certainly." + +"Don't you think it time to look about you?" + +"High time; but who will have me?" continued Mr. Stryker, with +great complacency of manner. + +"Oh, half the young ladies in the room, I dare say; excepting, of +course, those who have refused you already," said Mrs. de Vaux, +mischievously; for it was suspected that Mr. Stryker had met with +several rebuffs. This lady and gentleman in spite of their +smiling countenances and friendly manners, owed each other a +grudge, of old standing. Who does not know that where the spirit +of littleness and vanity is all-powerful, these petty trials and +triumphs are too often the chief spring of action; as was the +case with Mr. Stryker and Mrs. de Vaux. Happy they, who have good +principle and good feeling enough, to cast off folly on so small +a scale! + +"Tell me what is your taste, and I will look out for you," +continued Mrs. de Vaux. + +"How kind you are!--you don't include Miss de Vaux, of course; +for she can't endure me. Like all modest men, I require only nine +hundred and ninety-nine perfections in my wife. But then I insist +chiefly on two essentials: she must have money, and she must not +have brothers and sisters; I have an invincible antipathy to +collaterals, whether of blood or connexion." + +"Miss Wyllys is the very person for you. Quite a fortune now, +they say; and an orphan, without brother or sister; all you +require. Then, you like her appearance, you say; though she is +plain, she is clever, too, and amiable." + +"Of course; all young ladies are amiable, are they not?" + +"I only know of one objection--she is too good for you." + +"Goodness is not to be despised in a wife. I shall require it +from the future Mrs. Stryker; though not very particular about +the rest of the world. I am much obliged to you, Mrs. de Vaux, +for the suggestion; I'll think of it," said Mr. Stryker, +deliberately crossing one leg over the other, to make himself +comfortable. + +"You, who know everybody, Mr. Stryker," said the lady, "pray, +tell me, who is that bright-faced young man, or rather, boy, +standing near Mr. Wyllys and Mrs. Stanley?" + +"You wish to mortify me--I never saw the lad before." + +"I can answer your question, Mrs. de Vaux," observed Harry, who +had just approached, and made his bow; "that is my friend, +Charlie Hubbard, the artist. Don't you remember the fine view of +Lake Ontario, that was so much admired at the Exhibition, this +spring?" + +"Certainly. Is that the young man?--He looks like a genius." + +"Rather as a genius should look; your great lions are often very +tame-looking animals," observed Mr. Stryker. + +"Hubbard's face only does him justice, however; he is full of +talent," said Harry. + +"I Some of his pictures are certainly very fine," observed Mrs. +de Vaux. + +"I never saw water like his," continued Hazlehurst; "such +variety, and always true to nature. He almost persuades one to +believe all he says about water: he maintains that it has more +variety of expression than any other inanimate object, and has, +withal, an independent character of its own; he says it is second +only to the human countenance." + +"He seems quite an enthusiast," said Mrs. de Vaux. + +"Won't he take it all out in talk?" asked Mr. Stryker, drily. + +"Look at his view of Hell-Gate on a cloudy evening, and say so if +you can!" exclaimed Harry, warmly. + +{"Hell-Gate" = a narrow channel in New York City's East River} + +"Well, after all, he says no more for water, than has been said +by the poets of all nature, from the time of the first pastoral; +they tell us that the sun will make a bare old mountain smile, +and the wind will throw the finest forest into a fuss." + +"I defy you to prove any fuss upon Charlie's works!" + +"Perhaps not--Where is his study? I should like to see what he +has done. Is his pencil always amphibious?" + +"Yes; I believe he has never yet painted a landscape, without its +portion of water. If you wish to see his study, you must go soon; +he sails for Italy next month." + +"If his partiality for water is really honest, it may help him on +in his profession. Has he a good execution?--that is +all-important." + +"Decidedly good; and he improves every day. Execution is really +all-important to Hubbard; for there can be no doubt that he +possesses all an artist's conception." + +"I suspect though, his notion about expressive water is not +original. It appears to me, some German or other calls water, +'the eyes of a landscape.'" + +"Very possibly; but Charlie Hubbard is not the man to steal other +people's ideas, and pass them off for his own." + +"You make a point of always believing the worst of everybody, Mr. +Stryker," said Mrs. de Vaux. + +"I wish I could help it." said the gentleman, raising his +eyebrows. + +"Suppose, Mr. Hazlehurst, you take him to Mr. Hubbard's studio, +and force him to admire that fine picture of Lake Ontario. I +should like to see it again, myself; and Mr. de Vaux has been +talking of carrying us all to Mr. Hubbard's, some time." + +Harry professed himself quite at Mrs. de Vaux's service. Mrs. +Stanley, he said, was going to see his friend's pictures the very +next day. A party was soon arranged, the hour fixed, and +everything settled, before supper was announced. As Mrs. de Vaux +and Mr. Stryker moved towards the door, they were followed by +Mrs. Creighton and Harry. + +"Who was the young man you were talking with at supper, +Josephine?" asked Mr. Ellsworth, as he stepped into the carriage +after Mrs. Creighton and Harry, in driving away from the wedding. + +"Which do you mean?" + +"A mere boy--one of the groomsmen, by the white favours in his +button-hole." + +"Oh, that was the groom's brother, Mr. Pompey Taylor, the +younger, a very simple, and rather an awkward young gentleman. I +had the honour of making the acquaintance of all the family, in +the course of the evening. I was quite amused with Mr. Taylor, +the father; he really seems to have as great a relish for the +vanities of life, as any young girl of fifteen." + +"Because they are quite as new to him," said Hazlehurst. + +"That is difficult to believe of a clever, calculating man of +fifty," observed Mr. Ellsworth. + +"All clever men of fifty are not quite free from nonsense, take +my word for it," said the lady. + +"I appeal to Mr. Hazlehurst, who knows Mr. Taylor; as for myself, +I am convinced by the man's manner this evening." + +"You are certainly correct in your opinion, Mrs. Creighton. Mr. +Taylor is, no doubt, a clever man; and yet he takes delight in +every piece of finery about his house. He is more possessed with +the spirit of sheer ostentation, than any man I ever met with." + +"Ah, you want to save the credit of your sex, by setting him down +as an exception!--that is not fair, Mr. Hazlehurst." + +It was a pity that the pretty smile which the lady bestowed on +her brother's friend was entirely thrown away; but the lamp-light +happened to be little more than darkness visible. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Elinor Wyllys, by Susan Fenimore Cooper +Volume 1 + diff --git a/1927.zip b/1927.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0156688 --- /dev/null +++ b/1927.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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