diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27990-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 84849 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27990-h/27990-h.htm | 4507 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27990.txt | 4395 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 27990.zip | bin | 0 -> 82431 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
7 files changed, 8918 insertions, 0 deletions
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/27990-h.zip b/27990-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc3fe43 --- /dev/null +++ b/27990-h.zip diff --git a/27990-h/27990-h.htm b/27990-h/27990-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..143423f --- /dev/null +++ b/27990-h/27990-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4507 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Theo, by MRS. FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Theo, by Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Theo + A Sprightly Love Story + +Author: Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett + +Release Date: February 4, 2009 [EBook #27990] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEO *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<h1>THEO.</h1> + +<h3><i>A SPRIGHTLY LOVE STORY.</i></h3> + +<h2>BY MRS. FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT</h2> + +<h4>AUTHOR OF "KATHLEEN," "PRETTY POLLY PEMBERTON," "LINDSAY'S LUCK," "IN +CONNECTION WITH THE DE WILLOUGHBY CLAIM," "THE MAKING OF A MARCHIONESS," +"THE METHODS OF LADY WALDERHURST," ETC.</h4> + + +<h4>NEW YORK<br /> +HURST & COMPANY<br /> +PUBLISHERS</h4> + + +<h4>COPYRIGHT, 1877<br /> +By T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS.</h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>MRS. BURNETT'S NOVELETTES.</h2> + + +<p><i>Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett is one of the most charming among American +writers. There is a crisp and breezy freshness about her delightful +novelettes that is rarely found in contemporaneous fiction, and a close +adherence to nature, as well, that renders them doubly delicious. Of all +Mrs. Burnett's romances and shorter stories those which first attracted +public attention to her wonderful gifts are still her best. She has done +more mature work, but never anything half so pleasing and enjoyable. +These masterpieces of Mrs. Burnett's genius are all love stories of the +brightest, happiest and most entertaining description; lively, cheerful +love stories in which the shadow cast is infinitesimally small compared +with the stretch of sunlight; and the interest is always maintained at +full head without apparent effort and without resorting to the +conventional and hackneyed devices of most novelists, devices that the +experienced reader sees through at once. No more sprightly novel than +"Theo" could be desired, and a sweeter or more beautiful romance than +"Kathleen" does not exist in print, while "Pretty Polly Pemberton" +possesses besides its sprightliness a special interest peculiar to +itself, and "Miss Crespigny" would do honor to the pen of any novelist, +no matter how celebrated. "Lindsay's Luck," "A Quiet Life," "The Tide on +the Moaning Bar" and "Jarl's Daughter" are all worthy members of the +same collection of Mrs. Burnett's earlier, most original, best and +freshest romances. Everybody should read these exceptionally bright, +clever and fascinating novelettes, for they occupy a niche by themselves +in the world's literature and are decidedly the most agreeable, charming +and interesting books that can be found anywhere.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. PREPARING FOR A JOURNEY</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. THE ARRIVAL</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. THE MEETING</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. THEO'S DIARY</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. THE SEPARATION</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. THEO GOES TO PARIS</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. "PARTING IS SWEET SORROW"</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. THEO'S FIRST TROUBLE</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. WHAT COMES OF IT ALL</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>"THEO."</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>PREPARING FOR A JOURNEY.</h3> + + +<p>A heavy curtain of yellow fog rolled and drifted over the waste of +beach, and rolled and drifted over the sea, and beneath the curtain the +tide was coming in at Downport, and two pair of eyes were watching it. +Both pair of eyes watched it from the same place, namely, from the +shabby sitting-room of the shabby residence of David North, Esq., +lawyer, and both watched it without any motive, it seemed, unless that +the dull gray waves and their dull moaning were not out of accord with +the watchers' feelings. One pair of eyes—a youthful, discontented black +pair—watched it steadily, never turning away, as their owner stood in +the deep, old-fashioned window, with both elbows resting upon the broad +sill; but the other pair only glanced up now and then, almost furtively, +from the piece of work Miss Pamela North, spinster, held in her slender, +needle-worn fingers.</p> + +<p>There had been a long silence in the shabby sitting-room for some +time—and there was not often silence there. Three rampant, +strong-lunged boys, and as many talkative school-girls, made the house +of David North, Esq., rather a questionable paradise. But to-day, being +half-holiday, the boys were out on the beach digging miraculous +sand-caves, and getting up miraculous piratical battles and excursions +with the bare-legged urchins so numerous in the fishermen's huts; and +Joanna and Elinor had been absent all day, so the room left to Theo and +her elder sister was quiet for once.</p> + +<p>It was Miss Pamela herself who broke the stillness. "Theo," she said, +with some elder-sister-like asperity, "it appears to me that you might +find something better to do than to stand with your arms folded, as you +have been doing for the last half hour. There is a whole basketful of +the boys' socks that need mending and—"</p> + +<p>"Pam!" interrupted Theo, desperately, turning over her shoulder a face +more like the face of some young Spanish gipsy than that of a poor +English solicitor's daughter. "Pam, I should really like to know if life +is ever worth having, if everybody's life is like ours, or if there are +really such people as we read of in books."</p> + +<p>"You have been reading some ridiculous novel again," said Pamela, +sententiously. "If you would be a little more sensible, and less +romantic, Theodora, it would be a great deal better for all of us. What +have you been reading?"</p> + +<p>The capable gipsy face turned to the window again half-impatiently.</p> + +<p>"I have been reading nothing to-day," was the answer. "I should think +you knew that—on Saturday, with everything to do, and the shopping to +attend to, and mamma scolding every one because the butcher's bill can't +be paid. I was reading Jane Eyre, though, last night. Did you ever read +Jane Eyre, Pamela?"</p> + +<p>"I always have too much to do in attending to my duty," said Pamela, +"without wasting my time in that manner. I should never find time to +read Jane Eyre in twenty years. I wish I could."</p> + +<p>"I wish you could, too," said Theo, meditatively. "I wish there was no +such thing as duty. Duty always appears to me to be the very thing we +don't want to do."</p> + +<p>"Just at present, it is your duty to attend to those socks of Ralph and +Arthur's," put in Pamela, dryly. "Perhaps you had better see to it at +once, as tea will be ready soon, and you will have to cut bread for the +children."</p> + +<p>The girl turned away from the window with a sigh. Her discussions on +subjects of this kind always ended in the same unsatisfactory manner; +and really her young life was far from being a pleasant one. As the next +in age to Pamela, though so many years lay between them, a hundred petty +cares fell on her girlish shoulders, and tried her patience greatly with +their weight, sometimes. And in the hard family struggle for everyday +necessities there was too much of commonplace reality to admit of much +poetry. The wearisome battling with life's needs had left the mother, as +it leaves thousands of women, haggard, careworn, and not too smooth in +disposition. There was no romance about her. She had fairly forgotten +her girlhood, it seemed to lie so far behind; and even the unconquerable +mother-love, that gave rise to her anxieties, had a touch of hardness +about it. And Pamela had caught something of the sharp, harassed spirit +too. But Theo had an odd secret sympathy for Pamela, though her sister +never suspected it. Pamela had a love-story, and in Theo's eyes this one +touch of forlorn romance was the silver lining to many clouds. Ten years +ago, when Pamela had been a pretty girl, she had had a lover—poor +Arthur Brunwalde—Theo always mentally designated him; and only a week +before her wedding-day, death had ended her love-story forever. Poor +Pamela! was Theo's thought: to have loved like Jane Eyre, and Agnes +Wickfield, and Lord Bacon, and to have been so near release from the +bread-and-butter cutting, and squabbling, and then to have lost all. +Poor Pamela, indeed! So the lovely, impulsive, romance-loving younger +sister cherished an odd interest in Pamela's thin, sharp face, and +unsympathizing voice, and in picturing the sad romance of her youth, was +always secretly regardful of the past in her trials of the present.</p> + +<p>As she turned over the socks in the basket, she glanced up now and then +at Pamela's face, which was bent over her work. It had been a pretty +face, but now there were faint lines upon it here and there; the +features once delicate were sharpened, the blue eyes were faded, and the +blonde hair faded also. It was a face whose youth had been its beauty, +and its youth had fled with Pamela North's happiness. Her life had ended +in its prime; nay, not ended, for the completion had never come—it was +to be a work unfinished till its close. Poor Arthur Brunwalde!</p> + +<p>A few more silent stitches, and then the work slipped from Theo's +fingers into her lap, and she lifted her big, inconsistent eyes again.</p> + +<p>"Pam," she said, "were you ever at Lady Throckmorton's?"</p> + +<p>A faint color showed itself on Pamela's faded face.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, sharply, "I was once. What nonsense is running in +your mind now, for goodness sake?"</p> + +<p>Theo flushed up to her forehead, no half flush; she actually glowed all +over, her eyes catching a light where her delicate dark skin caught the +dusky red.</p> + +<p>"Don't be cross, Pam," she said, appealingly. "I can't help it. The +letter she sent to mamma made me think of it. Oh, Pam! if I could only +have accepted the invitation."</p> + +<p>"But you can't," said Pam, concisely. "So you may as well let the matter +rest."</p> + +<p>"I know I can't," Theo returned, her quaint resignation telling its own +story of previous disappointments. "I have nothing to wear, you know, +and, of course, I couldn't go there, of all places in the world, without +something nice."</p> + +<p>There was another silence after this. Theo had gone back to her work +with a sigh, and Miss Pamela was stitching industriously. She was never +idle, and always taciturn, and on this occasion her mind was fully +occupied. She was thinking of Lady Throckmorton's invitation too.</p> + +<p>Her ladyship was a half-sister of their father's, and from the height of +her grandeur magnanimously patronizing now and then. It was during her +one visit to London, under this relative's patronage, that Pamela had +met Arthur Brunwalde, and it was through her that the match had been +made. But when Arthur died, and she found that Pamela was fixed in her +determination to make a sacrifice of her youth on the altar of her dead +love, Lady Throckmorton lost patience. It was absurd, she said; Mr. +North could not afford it, and if Pamela persisted, she would wash her +hands of the whole affair. But Pamela was immovable, and, accordingly, +had never seen her patroness since. It so happened, however, that her +ladyship had suddenly recollected Theo, whose gipsy face had once struck +her fancy, and the result of the sudden recollection was another +invitation. Her letter had arrived that very morning at breakfast time, +and had caused some sensation. A visit to London, under such auspices, +was more than the most sanguine had ever dared to dream of.</p> + +<p>"I wish I was Theo," Joanna had grumbled. "She always gets the lion's +share of everything, because Elin and I are a bit younger than she is."</p> + +<p>And Theo had glowed up to her soft, innocent eyes, and neglected the +bread-and-butter cutting, to awaken a moment later to sudden despair.</p> + +<p>"But—but I have nothing fit to wear, mamma," she said, in anguished +tones.</p> + +<p>"No," answered Mrs. North, two or three new lines showing themselves on +her harassed forehead; "and we can't afford to buy anything. You can't +go, Theo."</p> + +<p>And so the castle which had towered so promisingly in the air a moment +ago, was dashed to the dust with one touch of shabby gentility's +tarnished wand. The glow died out of Theo's face, and she went back to +her bread-and-butter cutting with a soreness of disappointment which +was, nevertheless, not without its own desperate resignation. This was +why she had watched the tide come in with such a forlorn sense of +sympathy with the dull sweep of the gray waves, and their dull, creeping +moan; this was why she had been rash enough to hope for a crumb of +sympathy even from Pamela; and this also was why, in despairing of +gaining it, she bent herself to her unthankful labor again, and patched +and darned until the tide had swept back again under the curtain of fog, +and there was no more light, even for the stern taskmaster, poverty.</p> + +<p>The silence was effectually broken in upon after this. As soon as the +street lamps began to twinkle in the murkiness outside, the boys made +their appearance—Ralph, and Arthur, and Jack, all hungry, and +dishevelled, and of course, all in an uproar. They had dug a cave on the +shore, and played smugglers all the evening; and one fellow had brought +out a real cutlass and a real pistol, that belonged to his father, and +they had played fighting the coast-guard, and they were as hungry as the +dickens now; and was tea ready, and wouldn't Pam let them have some +strawberry-jam?</p> + +<p>Pamela laid her work aside, and went out of the room, and then Ralph, +who was in the habit of patronizing Theo occasionally, came to his +favorite corner and sat down, his rough hands clasped round his knees, +boy-fashion.</p> + +<p>"I say, Theo," he began. "I wonder how much it would cost a fellow to +buy a cutlass—a real one?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Theo answered, indifferently. "I never bought a cutlass, +Ralph."</p> + +<p>"No, of course you never did. What would a girl want with a cutlass? But +couldn't you guess, now—just give a guess. Would it cost a pound?"</p> + +<p>"I daresay it would," Theo managed to reply, with a decent show of +interest. "A good one."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd want a good one," said Ralph, meditatively; "but if it would +cost a pound, I shall never have one. I say, Theo, we never do get what +we want at this house, do we?"</p> + +<p>"Not often," said Theo, a trifle bitterly.</p> + +<p>Ralph looked up at her.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said, sagaciously. "I know what you are thinking of. I +can tell by your eyes. You're thinking about having to stay at home from +Lady Throckmorton's, and it is a shame too. If you are a girl, you could +have enjoyed yourself in your girl's way. I'd rather go to their place +in Lincolnshire, where old Throckmorton does his hunting. The governor +says that a fellow that was a good shot could bag as much game as he +could carry, and it wouldn't take long to shoot either. I can aim first +rate with a bow and arrow. But that isn't what you want, is it? You want +to go to London, and have lots of dresses and things. Girls always do; +but that isn't my style."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Ralph!" Theo broke out, her eyes filling all at once. "I wish you +wouldn't! I can't bear to hear it. Just think of how I might have +enjoyed myself, and then to think that—that I can't go, and that I +shall never live any other life than this!"</p> + +<p>Ralph opened his round Saxon eyes, in a manner slightly expressive of +general dissatisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Why, you're crying!" he said. "Confound crying. You know I don't cry +because I can't go to Lincolnshire. You girls are always crying about +something. Joanna and Elin cry if their shoes are shabby or their gloves +burst out. A fellow never thinks of crying. If he can't get the thing he +wants, he pitches in, and does without, or else makes something out of +wood that looks like it."</p> + +<p>Theo said no more. A summons from the kitchen came to her just then. Pam +was busy with the tea-service, and the boys were hungry—so she must go +and help.</p> + +<p>Pamela glanced up at her sharply as she entered, but she did not speak. +She had borne disappointments often enough, and had lived over them to +become seemingly a trifle callous to their bitterness in others, and, as +I have said, she was prone to silence. But it may be that she was not so +callous after all, for at least Theo fancied that her occasional +speeches were less sharp, and certainly she uttered no reproof to-night. +She was grave enough, however, and even more silent than usual, as she +poured out the tea for the boys. A shadow of thoughtfulness rested on +her thin sharp face, and the faint, growing lines were almost deepened; +but she did not "snap," as the children called it; and Theo was thankful +for the change.</p> + +<p>It was not late when the children went to bed, but it was very late when +Pamela followed them; and when she went up-stairs, she was so +preoccupied as to appear almost absent-minded. She went to her room and +locked the door, after her usual fashion; but that she did not retire +was evident to one pair of listening ears at least. In the adjoining +bedroom, where the girls slept, Theo lay awake, and could hear her every +movement. She was walking to and fro, and the sounds of opening drawers +and turned keys came through the wall every moment. Pamela had +unaccountable secret ways, Joanna always said. Her room was a sanctuary, +which the boldest did not dare to violate lightly. There were closets +and boxes there, whose contents were reserved for her own eyes alone, +and questions regarding them seldom met with any satisfactory answer. +She was turning over these possessions to-night, Theo judged, from the +sounds proceeding from her chamber. To be truthful, Theo had some +curiosity about the matter, though she never asked any questions. The +innate delicacy which prompted her to reverence the forlorn aroma of +long-withered romance about the narrow life had restrained her. But +to-night she was so wide-awake, and Joanna and Elin were so fast asleep, +that every movement forcing itself upon her ear, made her more +wide-awake still. The turning of keys and unlocking of drawers roused +her to a whimsical meditative wonder. Poor Pam! What dead memories and +coffined hopes was she bringing out to the dim light of her solitary +candle? Was it possible that she ever cried over them a little when +there was no one to see her relaxing mood? Poor Pam! Theo sighed again, +and was just deciding to go to sleep, if possible, when she heard a door +open, which was surely Pamela's, and feet crossing the narrow corridor, +which were surely Pamela's own, and then a sharp yet soft tap on the +door, and a voice which could have been no other than Pamela's, under +any possibility.</p> + +<p>"Theo!" it said, "I want you for a short time. Get up."</p> + +<p>Theo was out upon the floor, and had opened the door in an instant, +wider awake than ever.</p> + +<p>"Throw something over you," said Pamela, in the dry tone that always +sounded almost severe. "You will take cold if you don't. Put on a shawl +or something, and come into my room."</p> + +<p>Theodora caught up a shawl, and, stepping across the landing, stood in +the light, the flare of the candle making a queer, lovely picture of +her. The shawl she had wrapped carelessly over her white night-dress was +one of Lady Throckmorton's gracious gifts; and although it had been worn +by every member of the family in succession, and was frayed, and torn, +and forlorn enough in broad daylight, by the uncertain Rembrandt glare +of the chamber-candle, its gorgeous palm-leaf pattern and soft folds +made a by no means unpicturesque or unbecoming drapery, in conjunction +with the girl's grand, soft, un-English eyes, and equally un-English +ebon hair.</p> + +<p>"Shut the door," said Pamela. "I want to speak to you."</p> + +<p>Theo turned to obey, wonderingly, but, as she did so, her eyes fell upon +something which made her fairly start, and this something was nothing +less than the contents of the opened boxes and closets. Some of said +contents were revealed through raised lids; but some of them were lying +upon the bed, and the sight of them made the girl catch her breath. She +had never imagined such wealth—for it seemed quite like wealth to her. +Where had it all come from? There were piles of pretty, lace-trimmed +garments, boxes of handkerchiefs, ribbons, and laces, and actually a +number of dresses, of whose existence she had never dreamed—dresses +quaint enough in fashion, but still rich and elaborate.</p> + +<p>"Why, Pam!" she exclaimed, "whose are they? Why have you never—"</p> + +<p>Pamela stopped her with an abrupt gesture.</p> + +<p>"They are mine," she said. "I have had them for years, ever since +Arthur—Mr. Brunwalde died. They were to have been my bridal trousseau, +and most of them were presents from Lady Throckmorton, who was very kind +to me then. Of course, you know well enough," with dry bitterness, "I +should never have had them otherwise. I thought I would show them to you +to-night, and offer them to you. They may be of use just now."</p> + +<p>She stopped and cleared her throat here, with an odd, strained sound; +and before she went on, she knelt down before one of the open trunks, +and began to turn over its contents.</p> + +<p>"I wish you to go to Lady Throckmorton's," she said, speaking without +looking at the amazed young face at her side. "The life here is a weary +one for a girl to lead, without any change, and the visit may be a good +thing for you in many ways. My visit to Lady Throckmorton's would have +made me a happy woman, if death had not come between me and my +happiness. I know I am not at fault in saying this to you. I mean it in +a manner a girl can scarcely understand—I mean, that I want to save you +from the life you must lead, if you do not go away from here."</p> + +<p>Her hands were trembling, her voice, cold and dry, as it usually was, +trembled too, and the moment she paused, the amazed, picturesque young +figure swooped down upon her as it were, falling upon its knees, +flinging its white-robed arms about her, and burying her in an +unexpected confusion of black hair and oriental shawl, showering upon +her loving, passionate little caresses. For the first time in her life, +Theo was not secretly awed by her.</p> + +<p>"Why, Pam!" she cried, the tears running down her cheeks. "Dear, old, +generous Pamela! Do you care for me so much—enough to make such a +sacrifice! Oh, Pam! I am only a girl as you say; but I think that, +because I am a girl, perhaps I understand a little. Do you think that I +could let you make such a sacrifice? Do you think I could let you give +them to me—the things that were to have belonged to poor, dead Arthur's +wife? Oh, my generous darling! Poor dead Arthur! and the poor young wife +who died with him!"</p> + +<p>For some time Pamela said nothing, but Theo felt the slender, worn form, +that her arms clasped so warmly, tremble within them, and the bosom on +which she had laid her loving, impassioned face throb strangely. But she +spoke at length.</p> + +<p>"I will not say it is not a sacrifice," she said. "I should not speak +truly if I did. I have never told you of these things before, and why I +kept them; because such a life as ours does not make people understand +one another very clearly; but to-night, I remembered that I was a girl +too once, though the time seems so far away; and it occurred to me that +it was in my power to help you to a happier womanhood than mine has +been. I shall not let you refuse the things. I offer them to you, and +expect you to accept them, as they are offered—freely."</p> + +<p>Neither protest nor reasoning was of any avail. The elder sister meant +what she said, with just the settled precision that demonstrated itself +upon even the most trivial occasions; and Theo was fain to submit now, +as she would have done in any smaller matter.</p> + +<p>"When the things are of no further use, you may return them to me," +Pamela said, dryly as ever. "A little managing will make everything as +good as new for you now. The fashion only needs to be changed, and we +have ample material. There is a gray satin on the bed there, that will +make a very pretty dinner-dress. Look at it, Theo."</p> + +<p>Theo rose from her knees with the tears scarcely dry in her eyes. She +had never seen such dresses in Downport before. These things of Pamela's +had only come from London the day of Arthur's death, and had never been +opened for family inspection. Some motherly instinct, even in Mrs. +North's managing economy, had held them sacred, and so they had rested. +And now, in her girl's admiration of the thick, trailing folds of the +soft gray satin, Theodora very naturally half forgot her tears.</p> + +<p>"Pamela!" she said, timidly, "do you think I could make it with a train? +I never did wear a train, you know, and—"</p> + +<p>There was such a quaint appeal in her mellow-lighted eyes, that Pamela +perceptibly softened.</p> + +<p>"You shall have half a dozen trains if you want them," she said; and +then, half-falteringly, added, "Theo, there is something else. Come +here."</p> + +<p>There was a little carven ebony-box upon the dressing-table, and she +went to it and opened it. Upon the white velvet lining lay a pretty set +of jewels—sapphires, rarely pellucid; then clear pendants sparkling +like drops of deep sea-water frozen into coruscant solidity.</p> + +<p>"They were one of Mr. Brunwalde's bridal gifts to me," she said, +scarcely heeding Theo's low cry of admiration. "I should have worn them +upon my wedding-day. You are not so careless as most girls, Theodora, +and so I will trust them to you. Hold up your arm and let me clasp one +of the bracelets on it. You have a pretty arm, Theo."</p> + +<p>It was a pretty arm in truth, and the flashing, rose-tinted pendants set +it off to a great advantage. Theo, herself, scarcely dared to believe +her senses. Her wildest dreams had never pictured anything so beautiful +as these pretty, modest sapphires. Was it possible that she—she was to +wear them? The whole set of earrings, necklace, bracelets, rings, and +everything, with all their crystallized drops and clusters! It was a +sudden opening of the gates of fairyland! To go to London would have +been happiness enough; but to go so like an enchanted princess, in all +her enchanted finery, was more than she could realize. A color as +brilliant as the scarlet in Lady Throckmorton's frayed palm-leaf shawl +flew to her cheeks, she fairly clapped her hands in unconscious ecstasy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Pam!" she cried, with pathetic gratitude. "How good you are—how +good—how good! I can't believe it, I really can't. And I will take such +care of them—such care of everything. You shall see the dresses are not +even crushed, I will be so careful." And then she ended with another +little shower of impulsive caresses.</p> + +<p>But it was late by this time, and with her usual forethought—a +forethought which no enthusiasm could make her forget—Pamela sent her +back to bed. She would be too tired to sew to-morrow, she said, +prudently, and there was plenty of hard work to be done; so, with a +timid farewell-kiss, Theo went to her room, and in opening her door, +awakened Joanna and Elin, who sat up in bed, dimly conscious of a white +figure wrapped in their august relative's shawl, and bearing a candle to +light up scarlet cheeks, and inconsistent eyes, and tangled back hair.</p> + +<p>"I am going to London," the voice pertaining to this startling figure +broke out. "Joanna and Elin, do you hear? I am going to London, to Lady +Throckmorton's."</p> + +<p>Joanna rubbed her eyes sleepily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" she said, not too amiably by any means. "Of course you are. +I knew you would. You are everlastingly going somewhere, Theo, and Elin +and I stay at home, as usual. Lady Throckmorton will never invite us, I +know. Where are your things going to come from?" snappishly.</p> + +<p>"Pamela!" was Theo's deprecating reply. "They are the things that +belonged to her wedding outfit. She never wore them after Mr. Brunwalde +died, you know, Joanna, and she is going to lend them to me."</p> + +<p>"Let us go to sleep, Elin," Joanna grumbled, drowsily. "We know all +about it now. It's just like Pam, with her partiality. She never offered +to lend them to us, and we have wanted them times and times, worse than +ever Theo does now."</p> + +<p>And then Theo went to bed also; but did not sleep, of course; only lay +with eyes wide open to the darkness, as any other girl would have done, +thinking excitedly of Pamela's generous gifts, and of Lady Throckmorton, +and, perhaps, more than once the strange chance which had brought to +light again the wedding-day, that was never more than the sad ghost of a +wedding, and the bridal gifts that had come to the bride from a dead +hand.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE ARRIVAL.</h3> + + +<p>A great deal of hard work was done during the following week. The +remodelling of the outfit was no light labor: but Pamela was steady to +her trust, in her usual practical style. She trimmed, and fitted, and +cut, until the always-roughened surface of her thin forefinger was +rougher than ever. She kept Theo at work at the smaller tasks she chose +to trust to her, and watched her sharply, with no shadow of the softened +mood she had given the candle-lighted bedroom a glimpse of. She was as +severe upon any dereliction from duty as ever, and the hardness of her +general demeanor was not a whit relaxed. Indeed, sometimes Theo found +herself glancing up furtively from her tasks, to look at the thin, sharp +face, and wondering if she had not dreamed that her arms had clasped a +throbbing, shaken form, when they faced together the ghost of long dead +love.</p> + +<p>But the preparations were completed at last, and the trunks packed; and +Lady Throckmorton had written to say that her carriage would meet her +young relative's arrival. So the time came when Theo, in giving her +farewell kisses, clung a little closely about Pamela's neck, and when +the cab-door had been shut, saw her dimly through the smoky glass, and +the mistiness in her eyes; saw her shabby dress, and faded face, and +half-longed to go back; remembered sadly how many years had passed since +she had left the dingy sea-port town to go to London, and meet her fate, +and lose it, and grow old before her time in mourning it; saw her, last +of all, and so was whirled up the street, and out of sight. And in like +manner she was whirled through the thronged streets of London, when she +reached that city at night, only that Lady Throckmorton's velvet-lined +carriage was less disposed to rattle and jerk over the stones, and more +disposed to an aristocratic, easily-swung roll than the musty vehicle of +the Downport cabman.</p> + +<p>There was a queer, excited thrill in her pulses as she leaned back, +watching the gaslights gleaming through the fog, and the people passing +to and fro beneath the gaslights. She was so near her journey's end that +she began to feel nervous. What would Lady Throckmorton look like? How +would she receive her? How would she be dressed? A hundred such simple, +girlish wonders crowded into her mind. She would almost have been glad +to go back—not quite, but almost. She had a lingering, inconsistent +recollection of the contents of her trunks, and the sapphires, which +was, nevertheless, quite natural to a girl so young, and so unused to +even the most trivial luxuries. She had never possessed a rich or +complete costume in her life; and there was a wondrous novelty in the +anticipation of wearing dresses that were not remodelled from Pamela's +or her mother's cast-off garments.</p> + +<p>When the carriage drew up before the door of the solid stone house, in +the solid-looking, silent square, she required all her courage. There +was a glare of gaslight around the iron grating, and a glare of gaslight +from the opening door, and then, after a little confusion of entrance, +she found herself passing up a stair-case, under the guidance of a +servant, and so was ushered into a large, handsome room, and formally +announced.</p> + +<p>An elderly lady was sitting before the fire reading, and on hearing +Theo's name, she rose, and came forward to meet her. Of course, it was +Lady Throckmorton, and, having been a beauty in her long past day, even +at sixty-five Lady Throckmorton was quite an imposing old person. Even +in her momentary embarrassment, Theo could not help noticing her bright, +almond-shaped brown eyes, and the soft, close little curls of fine +snow-white hair, that clustered about her face under her rich, +black-lace cap.</p> + +<p>"Theodora North, is it?" she said, offering her a wrinkled yet strong +white hand. "I am glad to see you, Theodora. I was afraid you would be +too late for Sir Dugald's dinner, and here you are just in time. I hope +you are well, and not tired."</p> + +<p>Theo replied meekly. She was quite well, and not at all tired, which +seemed to satisfy her ladyship, for she nodded her handsome old head +approvingly.</p> + +<p>"Very well, then, my dear," she said. "I will ring for Splaighton to +take you up-stairs, and attend to you. Of course, you will want to +change your dress for dinner, and you have not much time. Sir Dugald +never waits for anybody, and nothing annoys him more than to have dinner +detained."</p> + +<p>Accordingly, greatly in awe of Sir Dugald, whoever he might be, Theodora +was pioneered out of the room again, and up another broad stair-case, +into an apartment as spacious and luxurious as the one below. There her +toilet was performed and there the gray satin was donned in some +trepidation, as the most suitable dress for the occasion.</p> + +<p>She stepped before the full-length mirror to look at herself before +going down, and as she did so, she was conscious that her waiting-woman +was looking at her too in sedate approval. The gray satin was very +becoming. Its elaborate richness and length of train changed the +undeveloped girl, to whom she had given a farewell glance in the small +mirror at Downport, to the stateliest of tall young creatures. Her bare +arms and neck were as soft and firm as a baby's; her <i>riant</i>, un-English +face seemed all aglow of color and mellow eyes. But for the presence of +the maid, she would have uttered a little cry of pleasure, she was so +new to herself.</p> + +<p>It was like a dream, the going down-stairs in the light and brightness, +and listening to the soft sweep of the satin train; but it was +singularly undream-like to be startled as she was by the rushing of a +huge Spanish mastiff, which bounded down the steps behind her, and +bounding upon her dress, nearly knocked her down. The animal came like a +rush of wind, and simultaneously a door opened and shut with a bang; and +the man who came out to follow the dog, called to him in a voice so +rough that it might have been a rush of wind also.</p> + +<p>"Sabre!" he shouted. "Come back, you scoundrel!" and then his heavy feet +sounded upon the carpet. "The deuce!" he said, in an odd, low mutter, +which sounded as though he was speaking half to her, half to himself. +"My lady's protege, is it? The other Pamela! Rather an improvement on +Pamela, too. Not so thin."</p> + +<p>Theo blushed brilliantly—a full-blown rose of a blush, and hesitated, +uncertain what etiquette demanded of her under the circumstances. She +did not know very much about etiquette, but she had an idea that this +was Sir Dugald, whoever Sir Dugald might be. But Sir Dugald set her mind +at rest on nearing her.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, Theodora," he said, unceremoniously. "Of course, it is +Theodora."</p> + +<p>Theo bowed, and blushed more brilliantly still.</p> + +<p>"All the better," said this very singular individual. "Then I haven't +made a mistake," and, reaching, as he spoke, the parlor door at the foot +of the stairs, and finding that the mastiff was stretched upon the mat, +he favored him with an unceremonious, but not unfriendly kick, and then +opened the door, the dog preceding them into the room with slow +stateliness.</p> + +<p>"You are a quick dresser, I am glad to see, Theodora," said Lady +Throckmorton, who awaited them. "Of course, there is no need of +introducing you two to each other. Sir Dugald does not usually wait for +ceremonies."</p> + +<p>Sir Dugald looked down at the lovely face at his side with a ponderous +stare. He might have been admiring it, or he might not; at any rate, he +was favoring it with a pretty close inspection.</p> + +<p>"I believe Sir Dugald has not introduced himself to me," said Theo, in +some confusion. "He knew that I was Theodora North; but I—"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" interposed her ladyship, as collectedly as if she had scarcely +expected anything else, "I see. Sir Dugald Throckmorton. Theodora—your +uncle."</p> + +<p>By way of returning Theo's modest little recognition of the +presentation, Sir Dugald nodded slightly, and, after giving her another +stare, turned to his mastiff, and laid a large muscular hand upon his +head. He was not a very prepossessing individual, Sir Dugald +Throckmorton.</p> + +<p>Lady Throckmorton seemed almost entirely oblivious of her husband's +presence; she solaced herself by ignoring him.</p> + +<p>When they rose from the table together, the authoritative old lady +motioned Theo to a seat upon one of the gay foot-stools near her.</p> + +<p>"Come and sit down by me," she said. "I want to talk to you, Theodora."</p> + +<p>Theo obeyed with some slight trepidation. The rich-colored old brown +eyes were so keen as they ran over her. But she seemed to be satisfied +with her scrutiny.</p> + +<p>"You are a very pretty girl, Theodora," she said. "How old are you?"</p> + +<p>"I am sixteen," answered Theo.</p> + +<p>"Only sixteen," commented my lady. "That means only a baby in Downport, +I suppose. Pamela was twenty when she came to London, and I +remember—Well, never mind. Suppose you tell me something about your +life at home. What have you been doing all these sixteen years?"</p> + +<p>"I had always plenty to do," Theo answered. "I helped Pamela with the +housework and the clothes-mending. We did not keep any servant, so we +were obliged to do everything for ourselves."</p> + +<p>"You were?" said the old lady, with a side-glance at the girl's slight, +dusky hands. "How did you amuse yourself when your work was done?"</p> + +<p>"We had not much time for amusements," Theo replied, demurely, in spite +of her discomfort under the catechism; "but sometimes, on idle days, I +read or walked on the beach with the children, or did Berlin-wool work."</p> + +<p>"What did you read?" proceeded the august catechist. She liked to hear +the girl talk.</p> + +<p>"Love stories," more demurely still, "and poetry, and sometimes history; +but not often history—love stories and poetry oftenest."</p> + +<p>The clever old face was studying her with a novel sort of interest. Upon +the whole, my lady was not sorry she had sent for Theodora North.</p> + +<p>"And, of course, being a Downport baby, you have never had a lover. +Pamela never had a lover before she came to me."</p> + +<p>A lover. How Theodora started and blushed now to be sure!</p> + +<p>"No, madame," she answered, and, in a perfect wonder of confusion, +dropped her eyes, and was silent.</p> + +<p>But the very next instant she raised them again at the sound of the door +opening. Somebody was coming in, and it was evidently somebody who felt +himself at home, and at liberty to come in as he pleased, and when the +fancy took him, for he came unannounced entirely.</p> + +<p>Theo found herself guilty of the impropriety of gazing at him +wonderingly as he came forward, but Lady Throckmorton did not seem at +all surprised.</p> + +<p>"I have been expecting you, Denis," she said. "Good-evening! Here is +Theodora North. You know I told you about her."</p> + +<p>Theo rose from her footstool at once, and stood up tall and straight—a +young sultana, the youngest and most innocent-looking of sultanas, in +unimperial gray satin. The gentleman was looking at her with a pair of +the handsomest eyes she had ever seen in her life.</p> + +<p>Then he made a low, ceremonious bow, which had yet a sort of indolence +in its very ceremony, and then having done this much, he sat down, as if +he was very much at home indeed.</p> + +<p>"I thought I would run in on my way to Broome street," he said. "I am +obliged to go to Miss Gower's, though I am tired out to-night."</p> + +<p>"Obliged!" echoed her ladyship.</p> + +<p>"Well—yes," the gentleman answered, with cool negligence. "Obliged in +one sense. I have not seen Priscilla for a week."</p> + +<p>The handsome, strongly-marked old eyebrows went up.</p> + +<p>"For a week," remarked their owner, quite sharply. "A long time to be +absent."</p> + +<p>It was rather unpleasant, Theodora thought, that they should both seem +so thoroughly at liberty to say what they pleased before her, as if she +was a child. Their first words had sufficed to show her that "Miss +Gower's"—wherever Miss Gower's might be, or whatever order of place it +was—was a very objectionable place in Lady Throckmorton's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Well—yes," he said again. "It is rather a long time, to tell the +truth."</p> + +<p>He seemed determined that the matter should rest here, for he changed +the subject at once, having made this reply, thereby proving to Theo +that he was used to having his own way, even with Lady Throckmorton. He +was hard-worked, it seemed, from what he said, and had a great deal of +writing to do. He was inclined to be satirical, too, in a careless +fashion, and knew quite a number of literary people, and said a great +many sharp things about them, as if he was used to them, and stood in no +awe whatever of them and their leonine greatness. But he did not talk to +her, though he looked at her now and then; and whenever he looked at +her, his glance was a half-admiring one, even while it was evident that +he was not thinking much about her. He did not remain with them very +long, scarcely an hour, and yet she was almost sorry to see him go. It +was so pleasant to sit silent and listen to these two worldly ones, as +they talked about their world. But he had promised Priscilla that he +would bring her a Greek grammar she required; and a broken promise was a +sin unpardonable in Priscilla's eyes.</p> + +<p>When he was gone, and they had heard the hall-door close upon him, the +stillness was broken in upon by my lady herself.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear," she said, to Theodora. "What is your opinion of Mr. +Denis Oglethorpe?"</p> + +<p>"He is very handsome," said Theo, in some slight embarrassment. "And I +think I like him very much. Who is Priscilla, aunt?"</p> + +<p>She knew that she had said something amusing by Lady Throckmorton's +laughing quietly.</p> + +<p>"You are very like Pamela, Theodora," she said. "It sounds very like +Pamela—what Pamela used to be—to be interested in Priscilla."</p> + +<p>"I hope it wasn't rude?" fluttered the poor little rose-colored sultana.</p> + +<p>"Not at all," answered Lady Throckmorton. "Only innocent. But I can tell +you all about Priscilla in a dozen words. Priscilla is a modern Sappho. +Priscilla is an elderly young lady, who never was a girl—Priscilla is +my poor Denis Oglethorpe's <i>fiancee</i>."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Theodora.</p> + +<p>Her august relative drew her rich silk skirts a little farther away from +the heat of the fire, and frowned slightly; but not at Theodora—at +Priscilla, in her character of <i>fiancee</i>.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she went on. "And I think you would agree with me in saying poor +Denis Oglethorpe, if you could see Priscilla."</p> + +<p>"Is she ugly?" asked Theo, concisely.</p> + +<p>"No," sharply. "I wish she was; but at twenty-two she is elderly, as I +said just now—and she never was anything else. She was elderly when +they were engaged, five years ago."</p> + +<p>"But why—why didn't they get married five years ago, if they were +engaged?"</p> + +<p>"Because they were too poor," Lady Throckmorton explained; "because +Denis was only a poor young journalist, scribbling night and day, and +scarcely earning his bread and butter."</p> + +<p>"Is he poor now?" ventured Theo again.</p> + +<p>"No," was the answer. "I wish he was, if it would save him from the +Gowers. As it is, I suppose, if nothing happens to prevent it, he will +marry Priscilla before the year is out. Not that it is any business of +mine, but that I am rather fond of him—very fond of him, I might say, +and I was once engaged to his father."</p> + +<p>Theo barely restrained an ejaculation. Here was another romance—and she +was so fond of romances. Pamela's love-story had been a great source of +delight to her; but if Mr. Oglethorpe's father had been anything like +that gentleman himself, what a delightful affair Lady Throckmorton's +love-story must have been! The comfortable figure in the arm-chair at +her side caught a glow of the faint halo that surrounded poor Pam; but +in this case the glow had a more roseate tinge, and was altogether free +from the funereal gray that in Pamela always gave Theo a sense of +sympathizing discomfort.</p> + +<p>The next day she wrote to Pamela:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have not had time yet to decide how I like Lady Throckmorton," +she said. "She is very kind to me, and asks a good many questions. +I think I am a little afraid of her; but perhaps that is because I +do not know her very well. One thing I am sure of, she doesn't like +either Sir Dugald or his dog very much. We had a caller last +night—a gentleman. A Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, who is a very great +favorite of Lady Throckmorton. He is very handsome, indeed. I never +saw any one at all like him before—any one half so handsome and +self-possessed. I liked him very much because he talked so well, +and was so witty. I had on the gray satin when he came, and the +train hung beautifully. I am glad we made it with a train, Pamela. +I think I shall wear the purple cloth to-night, as Lady +Throckmorton said that perhaps he might drop in again, and he knows +so many grand people, that I should like to look nice. There seems +to be a queer sort of friendship between aunt and himself, though +somehow I fancied he did not care much about what she said to him. +He is engaged to be married to a very accomplished young lady, and +has been for several years; but they were both too poor to be +married until now. The young lady's name is Priscilla Gower; and +Lady Throckmorton does not like her, which seems very strange to +me. She is as poor as we are, I should imagine, for she gives +French and Latin lessons, and lives in a shabby house. But I don't +think that is the reason Lady Throckmorton does not like her. I +believe it is because she thinks she is not suited to Mr. +Oglethorpe. I hope she is mistaken, for Mr. Oglethorpe is very nice +indeed, and very clever. He is a journalist, and has written a book +of beautiful poetry. I found the volume this morning, and have been +reading it all day. I think it is lovely; but Lady Throckmorton +says he wrote it when he was very young, and makes fun of it now. I +don't think he ought to, I am sure. I shall buy a copy before I +return, and bring it home to show you. I will write to mamma in a +day or so. With kisses and love, and a hundred thanks again for the +dresses, I remain, my dearest Pamela, your loving and grateful,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Theo</span>."</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE MEETING.</h3> + + +<p>But Denis Oglethorpe did not appear again for several days. Perhaps +business detained him; perhaps he went oftener to see Priscilla. At any +rate, he did not call again until the end of the week.</p> + +<p>Lady Throckmorton was in her private room when he came, and as he made +his entrance with as little ceremony as usual, he ran in upon Theodora. +Now, to tell the truth, he had, until this moment, forgotten all about +that young person's very existence. He saw so many pretty girls in a +day's round, and he was so often too busy to notice half of them—though +he was an admirer of pretty girls—that it was nothing new to see one +and forget her, until chance threw them together again. Of course, he +had noticed Theodora North that first night. How could a man help +noticing her? And the something beautifully over-awed and bashfully +curious in her lovely, uncommon eyes, had half amused him. And yet, +until this moment, he had forgotten her, with the assistance of proofs, +and printers, and Priscilla.</p> + +<p>But when, after running lightly up the stair-case, he opened the +drawing-room door, and saw a tall, lovely figure in a closely-fitting +dress of purple cloth, bending over Sabre, and stroking his huge, tawny +head with her supple little tender hand, he remembered.</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes!" he exclaimed, in an admiring aside. "To be sure; I had +forgotten Theodora."</p> + +<p>But Theodora had not forgotten him. The moment she saw him she stood up +blushing, and with a light in her eyes. It was odd how un-English she +looked, and yet how thoroughly English she was in that delicious, +uncomfortable trick of blushing vividly upon all occasions. She was +quite unconscious of the fact that the purple cloth was so becoming, and +that its sweep of straight, heavy folds made her as stately as some +Rajah's dark-eyed daughter. She did not feel stately at all; she only +felt somewhat confused, and rather glad that Mr. Denis Oglethorpe had +surprised her by coming again. How Mr. Denis Oglethorpe would have +smiled if he had known what an innocent commotion his simple presence +created!</p> + +<p>"Lady Throckmorton is up-stairs reading," she explained. "I will go and +tell her you are here." There were no bells in the house at Downport, +and no servants to answer if any one had rang one, and, very naturally, +Theo forgot she was not at Downport.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me. No," said Mr. Denis Oglethorpe. "I would not disturb her on +any account; and, besides, I know she will be down directly. She never +reads late in the evening. This is a very handsome dog, Miss North."</p> + +<p>"Very handsome, indeed," was Theo's reply. "Come here, Sabre."</p> + +<p>Sabre stalked majestically to her side, and laid his head upon her knee. +Theo stroked him softly, raising her eyes quite seriously to Mr. +Oglethorpe's face.</p> + +<p>"He reminds me of Sir Dugald himself," she said.</p> + +<p>Mr. Denis Oglethorpe smiled faintly. He was not very fond of Sir Dugald, +and the perfect gravity and <i>naivete</i> with which this pretty, +unsophisticated young sultana had made her comment had amounted to a +very excellent joke.</p> + +<p>"Does he?" he returned, as quietly as possible, and then his glance +meeting Theo's, she broke into a little burst of horror-stricken +self-reproach.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed. "I oughtn't to have said that, ought I? I +forgot how rude it would sound; but, indeed, I only meant that Sabre was +so slow and heavy, and—and so indifferent to people, somehow. I don't +think he cares about being liked at all."</p> + +<p>She was so abashed at her blunder, that she looked absolutely imploring, +and Mr. Denis Oglethorpe smiled again. He felt inclined to make friends +with Theodora.</p> + +<p>"There is a little girl staying at Lady Throckmorton's," he had said to +Priscilla. "A relative of hers. A pretty creature, too, Priscilla, for a +bread-and-butter Miss."</p> + +<p>But just at this moment, he thought better of the matter. What tender, +speechful eyes she had! He was aroused to a recognition of their beauty +all at once. What contour there was in the turn of arm and shoulder +under the close-fitting purple cloth! He was artistically thankful that +there was no other trimming of the straight bodice than the line of +buttons that descended from the full white ruff of swansdown at her +throat, to her delicate, trim waist. Her unconscious stateliness of +girlish form, and the conscious shyness of her manner, were the +loveliest inconsistency in the world.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall not tell Sir Dugald," he said to her, good-humoredly. +"Besides, I think the comparison an excellent one. I don't know anything +in London so like Sir Dugald as Sir Dugald's dog."</p> + +<p>Theodora stroked Sabre, apologetically, but could scarcely find courage +to speak. She had stood somewhat in awe of Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, even at +first, and her discomfort was rapidly increasing. He must think her +dreadfully stupid, though he was good-humored enough to make light of +her silly speech. Certainly Priscilla never made such a silly speech in +her life; but then, how could one teach French and Latin, and be +anything but ponderously discreet?</p> + +<p>Mr. Denis Oglethorpe was not thinking of Priscilla's wisdom, however; he +was thinking of Theodora North; he was thinking that he must have been +very blind not to have seen before that his friend's niece was a beauty +of the first water, young as she was. But he had been tired and fagged +out, he remembered, on the first occasion of their meeting—too tired to +think of anything but his appointment at Broome street, and Priscilla's +Greek grammar. And now in recognizing what he had before passed by, he +was quite glad to find the girl so young and inexperienced—so modest, +in a sweet way. It was easy, as well as proper enough, to talk to her +unceremoniously without the trouble of being diffuse and complimentary. +So he made himself agreeable, and Theodora listened until she quite +forgot Sir Dugald, and only remembered Sabre, because his big heavy head +was on her knee, and she was stroking it.</p> + +<p>"And you were never in London before?" he said at length.</p> + +<p>"No, sir," Theo answered. "This is the first time. I was never even out +of Downport before."</p> + +<p>"Then we must take you to see the lions," he said, "if Lady Throckmorton +will let us, Miss Theodora. I wonder if she would let us? If she would, +I have a lady friend who knows them all, from the grisliest, downward, +and I know she would like to help me to exhibit them to you. How should +you like that?"</p> + +<p>"Better than anything in the world," glowing with delighted surprise. +"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," she added, quite apologetically.</p> + +<p>Mr. Denis Oglethorpe smiled.</p> + +<p>"It would be simply delightful," he said. "I should like it better than +anything in the world, too. We will appeal to Lady Throckmorton."</p> + +<p>"When Priscilla was in London—" Theodora was beginning a minute later, +when the handsome face changed suddenly as her companion turned upon her +in evident surprise.</p> + +<p>"Priscilla?" he repeated, after her.</p> + +<p>"How stupid I am!" she ejaculated, distressedly. "I meant to say Pamela. +My eldest sister's name is Pamela, and—and—"</p> + +<p>"And you said Priscilla by mistake," interposed Oglethorpe, with a +sudden accession of gravity. "Priscilla is a little like Pamela."</p> + +<p>It needed nothing more than this simple slip of Theodora North's tongue +to assure him that Lady Throckmorton had been telling her the story of +his engagement to Miss Gower, and, as might be anticipated, he was not +as devoutly grateful to her ladyship as he might have been. He was +careless to a fault in some things, and punctilious to a fault in +others; and he was very punctilious about Priscilla Gower. He was not an +ardent lover, but he was a conscientiously honorable one, and, apart +from his respect for his betrothed, he was very impatient of +interference with his affairs; and my lady was not chary of interfering +when the fancy seized her. It roused his pride to think how liberally he +must have been discussed, and, consequently, when Lady Throckmorton +joined them, he was not in the most amiable of moods. But he managed to +end his conversation with Theo unconstrainedly enough. He even gained +her ladyship's consent to their plan. It was curiously plain how they +both appeared to agree in thinking her a child, and treating her as one. +Not that Theo cared about that. She had been so used to Pamela, that she +would have felt half afraid of being treated with any greater ceremony; +but still she could clearly understand that Mr. Oglethorpe did not speak +to her as he would have spoken to Miss Gower. But free from any touch of +light gallantry as his manner toward the girl was, Denis Oglethorpe did +not forget her this night. On the contrary, he remembered her very +distinctly, and had in his mind a very exact mental representation of +her purple robe, soft white ruff, and all, as he buttoned up his paletot +over his chest in walking homeward. But he thought of her carelessly and +honestly enough, as a beautiful young creature years behind him in +experience, and utterly beyond him in all possibility of any sentimental +fancy.</p> + +<p>The friendship existing between Lady Throckmorton and this young man was +a queer, inconsistent sentiment enough, and yet was a friendship, and a +mature one. The two had encountered each other some years ago, when +Denis had been by no means in his palmiest days. In fact, my lady had +picked him up when he stood in sore need of friends, and Oglethorpe +never forgot a favor. He never forgot to be grateful to Lady +Throckmorton; and so, despite the wide difference between their +respective ages and positions, their mutual liking had ripened into a +familiarity of relationship which made them more like elder sister and +younger brother than anything else. Oglethorpe, junior, was pretty much +what Oglethorpe, senior, had been, and notwithstanding her practical +views, Lady Throckmorton liked him none the worse for it. She petted and +patronized him, questioned and advised him, and if he did not please +her, rated him roundly without the slightest compunction. In fact, she +was a woman of caprices even at sixty-five, and Denis Oglethorpe was one +of her caprices.</p> + +<p>And, in like manner, Theodora North became another of them. Finding her +tractable, she became quite fond of her, in her own way, and was at +least generous to lavishness in her treatment of her.</p> + +<p>"You are very handsome, indeed, Theodora," she said to her a few days +after her arrival. "Of course, you know that—ten times handsomer than +ever poor Pamela could have been. Your figure is perfect, and you have +eyes like a Syrian, instead of a commonplace English woman. I am going +to give you a rose-pink satin dress. Rose-pink is just your shade, and +some day, when we go out together, I will lend you some of my diamonds."</p> + +<p>After this whimsical manner she lavished presents upon her whenever she +had a new fancy. In truth, her generosity was constitutional, and she +had been generous enough toward Pamela, but she had never been so +extravagant as she was with Theodora. Theodora was an actual beauty, of +an uncommon type, in the face of her ignorance of manners and customs. +Pamela had never, at her best, been more than a delicately pretty girl.</p> + +<p>In the meantime, Denis Oglethorpe made friendly calls as usual, and +always meeting Theodora, found her very pleasant to talk to and look at. +He found out her enthusiastic admiration for the poetic effusions of his +youth, and in consideration thereof, good-humoredly presented her with a +copy of the volume, with some very witty verses written on the fly-leaf +in a flourishing hand. It was worth while to amuse Theodora, she was so +pretty and unassuming in her delight at his carelessly-amiable efforts +for her entertainment. She was only a mere child after all at sixteen, +with Downport in the background; so he felt quite honestly at ease in +being attentive to her girlish requirements. Better that he should amuse +her than that she should be left to the mercy of men who would perhaps +have the execrable taste to spoil her pretty childish ways with +flattery.</p> + +<p>"Don't let all these fine people and fine speeches turn your head, +Theodora," he would say, in a tone that might either have been jest or +earnest. "They spoiled me in my infancy, and my unfortunate experience +causes me to warn you."</p> + +<p>But whether he jested or not, Theo was always inclined to listen to him +with some degree of serious belief. She took his advice when it was +proffered, and regarded his wisdom as the wisdom of an oracle. Who +should know better than he what was right? His indifference to the rule +of opinion could only be the result of conscious perfection, and his +careless satires were to her the most brilliant of witticisms. He paid +her his first compliment the night the rose-colored satin-dress came +home.</p> + +<p>They were going to see Faust together with Lady Throckmorton, and she +had finished dressing early, and came down to the drawing-room, and +there Denis found her when he came up-stairs—the thick, lustrous folds +of satin billowing upon the carpet around her feet, something white, and +soft, and heavy wrapped about her.</p> + +<p>He was conscious of a faint shock of delight on first beholding her. He +had just left Priscilla, pale and heavy-eyed, in dun-colored merino, +poring over a Greek dictionary, and the sudden entering the bright room, +and finding himself facing Theodora North in rose-colored satin, was a +little like electricity.</p> + +<p>"Oh! it's Theodora, is it?" he said, slowly, when he recovered himself. +"Thank you, Theodora."</p> + +<p>"What for?" asked Theo, blushing.</p> + +<p>"For the rose-colored satin," he returned, complacently. "It is so very +becoming. You look like a sultana, my dear Theodora."</p> + +<p>Theo looked up at him for a second, and then looked down. Much as she +admired Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, she never quite comprehended him. He had +such an eccentric fashion of being almost curt sometimes. She had seen +him actually give a faint start when he entered, and she had not +understood that, and now he had paid her a compliment, but with so much +of something puzzling hidden in his quiet-sounding voice, that she did +not understand that either—and he saw she did not.</p> + +<p>"I have been making a fine speech to Theodora," he said to Lady +Throckmorton, when she came in. "And she does not comprehend it in the +least."</p> + +<p>It was somewhat singular, Theo thought, that he should be so silent +after this, for he was silent. He even seemed absent-minded, for some +reason or other. He did not talk to her as much as usual, and she was +quite sure he paid very little attention to Faust.</p> + +<p>But during the final act she found that he was not looking at the stage +at all; but was sitting in the shadow of the box-curtain watching +herself. She had been deeply interested in Marguerite a minute before, +and, in her heart-touched pleasure, had leant upon the edge of the box, +her whole face thrilled with excitement. But the steady gaze magnetized +her, and drew her eyes round to the shadowy corner where Denis sat; and +she positively turned with just such a start as he himself had given +when Theodora North, in rose-colored satin, burst upon him, in such +vivid, glowing contrast to Priscilla Gower, in dun merino.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she said, and though the little exclamation was scarcely more than +an indrawn breath, Denis heard it, and came out of his corner to take a +seat at her side, and lean over the box-edge also.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Theodora?" he asked, in a low, clear voice. "Is it +Marguerite?"</p> + +<p>She looked at him in a little fright at herself. She did not know why +she had exclaimed—she scarcely knew how; but when she met his +unembarrassed eyes, she began to think that possibly it might be +Marguerite. Indeed, a second later, she was quite sure it had been +Marguerite.</p> + +<p>"Yes—I think so," she faltered. "Poor Marguerite! If she could only +have saved him?"</p> + +<p>"How?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't—at least I scarcely know; but I think the author ought to have +made her save him, someway. If—if she could have suffered something, or +sacrificed something—"</p> + +<p>"Would she have done it if she could?" commented Denis, languidly. He +had quite recovered himself by this time.</p> + +<p>"I would have done it if I had been Marguerite," Theo half whispered.</p> + +<p>In his surprise he forgot his self-possession. He turned upon her +suddenly, and meeting her sweet, world-ignorant eyes, felt the faint, +pained shock once more, and strangely enough his first thought was a +disconnected one of Priscilla Gower.</p> + +<p>"You?" he said, the next moment. "Yes, I believe you would, Theodora."</p> + +<p>He was sure she would, after that swift glance of his, and—Well, what a +happy man he would be for whom this tender young Marguerite would suffer +or be sacrificed. The idea had really never occurred to him before that +Theodora North was nearly a woman; but it occurred to him now with all +the greater force, because he had been so oblivious to the fact before.</p> + +<p>He sat by her side until the curtain fell; but his silent mood seemed to +have come upon him again. He was very much interested in Marguerite +after this, Theo thought; but it is very much to be doubted whether he +could have given a clear account of what was passing before his eyes +upon the stage. He did not even go into the house with them when they +returned; but as he stood upon the door-step, touching his hat in a +final adieu, he was keenly alive to a consciousness of Theodora North at +the head of the stair-case, with billows of glistening rose-pink satin +lying on the rich carpet about her feet, as she half turned toward him +to bid him good-night.</p> + +<p>Bright as the future was, it left a sense of discomfort, he could not +explain why. He dismissed the carriage, and walked down the street, +feeling fairly depressed in spirits.</p> + +<p>He had, perhaps, never given the girl a thought before, unless when +chance had thrown them together, and even then his thoughts had been +common admiring ones. She had pleased him, and he had tried to amuse her +in a careless, well-meant fashion, though he had never made fine +speeches to her, as nine men out of ten would have done. He had been so +used to Priscilla, that it never occurred to him that a girl so young as +this one could be a woman. And, after all, his blindness had not been +the result of any frivolous lack of thought. A sharp experience had made +him as thoroughly a man of the world as a man may be; but it had not +made him callous or indifferent to the beauties of life. No one would +ever have called him emotional, or prone to enthusiasms of a weak kind, +and yet he was by no means hard of heart. He had quiet fancies of his +own about people and things, and many of these reticent, +rarely-expressed ideas were reverent, chivalrous ones of women. The +opposing force of a whole world could never have shaken his faith in +Priscilla Gower, or touched his respect for her; but though, perhaps, he +had never understood it so, he had never felt very enthusiastically +concerning her. Truly, Priscilla Gower and enthusiasm were not in +accordance with each other. Chance had thrown them together when both +were very young, and propinquity did the rest. Propinquity is the +strongest of agents in a love affair, and in Denis Oglethorpe's love +affair, propinquity had accomplished what nothing else would have been +likely to have done. The desperate young scribbler of twenty years had +been the lodger of the elder Miss Gower, and Priscilla, aged seventeen, +had brought in his frugal dinners to him, and receipted his modest bills +on their weekly payment.</p> + +<p>Priscilla at seventeen, silent, practical, grave and handsome, had, +perhaps, softened unconsciously at the sight of his often pale face—he +worked so hard and so far into the night; when at length they became +friends, Priscilla gravely, and without any hesitation, volunteered to +help him. She could copy well and clearly, and he could come into her +aunt's room—it would save fires. So she helped him calmly and +decorously, bending her almost austerely-handsome young head over his +papers for hours on the long winter nights. It is easy to guess how the +matter terminated. If ever he won success he determined to give it to +Priscilla—and so he told her. He had never wavered in his faith for a +second since, though he had encountered many beautiful and womanly +women. He had worked steadily for her sake, and shielded her from every +care that it lay within his power to lighten. He was not old Miss +Elizabeth Gower's lodger now—he was her niece's husband in perspective. +He was to marry Priscilla Gower in eight months. This was why Theodora +North, in glistening rose-pink satin, sent him home confronting a +suddenly-raised spirit of pain. Twice, in one night, he had found +himself feeling toward Theodora North as he had never felt toward +Priscilla Gower in his life. Twice, in one night, he had turned his eyes +upon this girl of sixteen, and suffered a sudden shock of enthusiasm, or +something like it. He was startled and discomfited. She had no right to +win such admiration from him—he had no right to give it.</p> + +<p>But as his walk in the night-air cooled him, it cooled his ardor of +self-examination somewhat. His discontent was modified by the time he +reached his own door, and took his latch-key out of his pocket. The face +that had looked down upon him beneath the light at the head of the +stair-case, had faded into less striking color—it was only a girl's +face again. He was on better terms with himself, and his weakness seemed +less formidable.</p> + +<p>"I will keep my promise to-morrow," he said, "and Priscilla shall go +with us. Poor Priscilla!—poor girl! Rose-pink satin would scarcely be +in good taste in Broome street."</p> + +<p>The promise he had made was nothing more than a ratification of the old +one. They were to see the lions together, and Priscilla was to guide +them.</p> + +<p>And when the morrow came, he found it, after all, safe enough, and an +easy enough matter, to tuck Theodora's small, gloved hand under his arm, +when they set out on their tour of investigation and discovery. The girl +was pretty enough, too, in her soft, black merino—her "best" dress in +Downport—but she was not dazzling. The little round, black-plumed hat +was becoming also; but in his now more prosaic mood, he could stand +that, too, pretty as it was in an innocent, unconsciously-coquettish +way. Theo was never coquettish herself in the slightest degree. She was +not world-wise enough for that yet. But she was quite exhilarating +to-day; so glad to be out even in the London fog of November; so glad to +be taken lion-hunting; so delighted with the shops and their gay +windows; so ready to let her young tongue run on in a gay stream of +chatter, altogether so bright, and pretty, and joyous, that her escort +was fain to be delighted too.</p> + +<p>"Guess where we are going to first?" said he. (He had not before openly +spoken of Priscilla to her.)</p> + +<p>She glanced up into his face, brightly. She remembered what he had told +her about his lady friend.</p> + +<p>"I don't exactly know the name of the place," she said; "but I think I +know the name of the person we are going to see."</p> + +<p>"Do you?" was his reply. "Then say it to me—let me hear it."</p> + +<p>"Miss Gower," she answered, softly, in a pretty reverence for him. "Miss +Priscilla Gower."</p> + +<p>He nodded, slightly, with a curious mixture of expressions in his face.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said. "Miss Gower, or rather Miss Priscilla Gower, as you say. +Number twenty-three, Broome street; and Broome street is not a +fashionable locality, my dear Theodora."</p> + +<p>"Isn't it?" queried Theo. "Why not?"</p> + +<p>He shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Ask Lady Throckmorton," he said. "But do you know who Miss Priscilla +Gower is, Theodora?"</p> + +<p>Her bright eyes crept up to his, half-timidly; but she said nothing, so +he continued.</p> + +<p>"Miss Priscilla Gower is the young lady to whom I am to be married next +July. Did you know that?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Theo, looking actually pleased, and blushing beautifully +as he looked down at her. "But I am very much obliged to you for telling +me, Mr. Oglethorpe."</p> + +<p>"Why?" he asked. It was very preposterous, that even though his mood was +so prosaic and paternal a one, he was absurdly, vacantly sensible of +feeling some uneasiness at the brightness of her upturned face. For +pity's sake, why was it that he was impelled to such a puerile +weakness—such a vanity, as he sternly called it.</p> + +<p>"Because," returned Theo, "it makes me feel as if—I mean it makes me +happy to think you trust me enough to tell me about what has made you +happy. I hope—oh! I do hope Miss Priscilla Gower will like me."</p> + +<p>He had been looking straight before him while she spoke, but this +brought his eyes to hers again, and to her face—bright, appealing, +upturned—and he found himself absolutely obliged to steady himself with +a jesting speech.</p> + +<p>"My dearest Theodora," he said. "Miss Priscilla Gower could not possibly +help it."</p> + +<p>Comforting as this assurance was to her, it must be confessed she found +herself somewhat over-awed on reaching Broome street, and being taken +into the tiny, dwarfed-looking parlor of number twenty-three; Miss +Elizabeth Gower herself was there, in her company-cap, and +long-cherished company-dress of snuff-colored satin. There were not many +shades of difference in either her snuff-colored gown, or her +snuff-colored skin, or her neat, snuff-colored false-front, Theo +fancied, but she was not at all afraid of her. She was a trifle afraid +of Miss Priscilla. Miss Priscilla was sitting at the table reading when +they entered, and as she rose to greet them, holding her book in one +hand, the thought entered Theo's mind that she could comprehend dimly +why Lady Throckmorton disliked her, and thought her unsuited to Denis +Oglethorpe. There was an absence of anything girl-like in her fine, +ivory-pale face, somehow, though it was a young face and a handsome +face, at whose fine lines and clear contour even a connoisseur could not +have caviled. Its long almond-shaped, agate-gray eyes, black-fringed and +lustrous as they were, still were silent eyes—they did not speak even +to Denis Oglethorpe.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you have come," she said, simply, extending her hand in +acknowledgment of Denis's introduction. The quietness of this greeting +speech was a fair sample of all her manner. It would have been sheerly +impossible to expect anything like effusiveness from Priscilla Gower. +The most sanguine and empty-headed of mortals would never have looked +for it in her. She was constitutionally unenthusiastic, if such a thing +may be.</p> + +<p>But she was gravely curious in this case concerning Theodora North. The +fact that Denis had spoken of her admiringly was sufficient to arouse in +her mind an interest in this young creature, who was at once, and so +inconsistently, beautiful, timid, and regal, without consciousness.</p> + +<p>"Three years more will make her something wonderful, as far as beauty is +concerned," he had said; and, accordingly, she had felt some slight +pleasure in the anticipation of seeing her.</p> + +<p>Yet Theo had some faint misgivings during the day as to whether Miss +Priscilla Gower would like her or not. She was at first even inclined to +fear that she would not, being so very handsome, and grave, and womanly. +But toward the end of their journeying together, she felt more hopeful. +Reticent as she was, Priscilla Gower was a very charming young person. +She talked well, and with much clear, calm sense; she laughed musically +when she laughed at all, and could make very telling, caustic speeches +when occasion required; but still it was singular what a wide difference +the difference of six years made in the two girls. As Lady Throckmorton +had said, it was not a matter of age. At twenty-two Theodora North would +overflow with youth as joyously as she did now at seventeen; at +seventeen Priscilla Gower had assisted her maiden aunt's lodger to copy +his manuscript with as mature a gravity as she would have displayed +to-day.</p> + +<p>"I hope," said Theodora, when, after their sight-seeing was over, she +stood on the pavement before the door in Broome street, her nice little +hand on Denis Oglethorpe's arm, "I hope you will let me come to see you +again, Miss Gower."</p> + +<p>Priscilla, standing upon the door-step, smiled down on her blooming +girl's face, a smile that was a little like moonlight. All Priscilla's +smiles were like moonlight. Theo's had a delicious glow of the sun.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, in her practical manner. "It will please me very much +to see you, Miss Theodora. Come as often as you can spare the time."</p> + +<p>She watched the two as they walked down the street together, Theo's +black feather glossy in the gaslight, as it drooped its long end against +Oglethorpe's coat, and as she watched them, she noticed even this trifle +of the feather, and the trifling fact that though Theo was almost regal +in girlish height, she was not much taller than her companion's +shoulder. It was strange, she thought afterward, that she should have +done so; but even while thinking it strange in the afterward that came +to her, she remembered it all as distinctly as ever, and knew that to +the last day of her life she would never quite forget the quiet of the +narrow, dreary street, the yellow light of the gas-lamps, and the two +figures walking away into the shadow, with their backs toward her, the +girl holding Denis Oglethorpe's arm, and the glossy feather in her black +hat drooping its tip upon his shoulder.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THEO'S DIARY.</h3> + + +<p>Up-stairs, in a sacred corner of the chamber Lady Throckmorton had +apportioned to her, Theodora North kept her diary. Not a solid, +long-winded diary, full of creditable reflections upon the day's events, +but, on the contrary, a harmless little book enough—a pretty little +book, bound in pink and gold, and much ornamented about the corners, and +greatly embellished with filagree clasps. Lady Throckmorton had given it +to her because she admired it, and, in a very natural enthusiasm, she +had made a diary of it. And here are the entries first recorded in its +gilt-edged pages:</p> + +<p><i>December</i> 7.—Mr. Oglethorpe was so kind as to remember his promise +about showing me the lions. Enjoyed myself very much. Miss Priscilla +Gower went with us. She is very dignified, or something; but I think I +like her. I am sure I like her, so I will go to see her again. I wonder +how it is she reminds me of Pamela without being like Pamela at all. +Poor Pam always so sharp in her ways, and I do not think Miss Gower ever +could speak sharply at all. And yet she reminds me of Pam.</p> + +<p><i>December</i> 14.—Went to the theatre again with Lady Throckmorton and Mr. +Oglethorpe. I wonder if the rose-pink satin is not becoming to me? I +thought it was; but before I went up-stairs to dress, Mr. Oglethorpe +said to me, "Don't put on the rose-pink satin, Theodora." I am sorry +that he does not think it is pretty. Wore a thin, white-muslin dress, +and dear, dearest old Pamela's beautiful sapphires. The muslin had a +long train.</p> + +<p><i>December</i> 18.—Mr. Oglethorpe came to-night with a kind of message from +Miss Gower.</p> + +<p>From these innocent extracts, persons of an unlimited experience might +draw serious conclusions; but when she made said entries, kneeling +before her toilet-table, each night, our dear Theodora thought nothing +about them at all. She had nothing else in particular to write about at +present, so, in default of finding a better subject, she jotted down +guileless remembrances of Denis Oglethorpe and the length of her trains.</p> + +<p>But one memorable evening, on going into the sitting-room, with the pink +and gold volume in her hand, she encountered Sir Dugald, who seemed to +be in an extraordinary frame of mind, and withal nothing loth to meet +her.</p> + +<p>"What pretty book have you there, Theodora?" he asked, in his usual +amiably uncivilized manner.</p> + +<p>"It is my diary," Theo answered. "Lady Throckmorton gave it to me. I put +things down in it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh!" was the reply, taking hold of both Sabre's ears, and +chuckling. "Put things down, do you? What sort of things do you put +down, eh, pretty Theodora? Lovers, eh? Literary men, eh?"</p> + +<p>Theo grew pink all over—pink as to cheeks, pink as to slim white +throat, even pink as to small ears. She was almost frightened, and her +fright was of a kind such as she had never experienced before. But it +was not Sir Dugald she was afraid of—she was used to him. It was +something new of which she had never thought until this very instant.</p> + +<p>"Literary men, eh?" Sir Dugald went on. "Do you put down what their +names are, and what they do, and how they make mistakes, and take the +wrong young lady to see Norma, and Faust and Il Trovatore? Il +Trovatore's a nice opera; Theo and Leonora sounds something like +Theodora. It doesn't sound anything like Priscilla, does it? The devil +fly away with Priscilla, I say. Priscilla isn't musical, is it, +Leonora?"</p> + +<p>Once having freed herself from him, which was by no means an easy +matter, Theo flew up-stairs, tremulous, breathless, flushed. She did not +stop to think. She had seen the drawing-room empty and unlighted, save +by a dull fire, on her way down-stairs, so she turned to the +drawing-room. She had been conscious of nothing but Sir Dugald, so she +had not heard the hall-door open; and, not having heard the hall-door +open, had, of course, not heard Denis Oglethorpe come in. So, in running +into the fire-lit room, she broke in upon that gentleman, who was +standing in the shadow, and it must be confessed was rather startled by +her sudden entrance and curiously-excited face.</p> + +<p>He stopped her short, however, collectedly enough.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, Theodora?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>She slipped down upon a footstool, all in a flutter, when she saw him, +she was so shaken; and then, in her sudden abasement and breathless +tremor, gave vent to a piteous little half-sob, though she was terribly +ashamed of it.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," she answered him. "It's—it's nothing at all." But he +knew better than that, and guessing very shrewdly that he was not wholly +unconnected with the matter himself, questioned her as closely as was +consistent with delicacy, and, in the end, after some diplomacy, and a +few more of surprised, piteous, little unwilling half-sobs, gleaned a +great deal of the truth from her.</p> + +<p>"It was only—only something Sir Dugald said about you and Miss Gower, +and—and something about me," she added, desperately.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" he said, looking so composed about it that the very sight of his +composure calmed her, and made her begin to think she had seen a +mountain in a mole-hill. "Sir Dugald? Only Sir Dugald? What did he say, +may I ask, as it—it is about myself and Miss Gower?"</p> + +<p>Of course he might ask, but the difficulty lay in gaining any definite +answer. Theodora blushed, and then actually turned a little pale, +looking wondrously abased in her uncalled-for confusion; but she was not +at all coherent in her explanations, which were really not meant for +explanations at all.</p> + +<p>"Il Trovatore was so beautiful!" she burst out, finally; "and so was +Faust; and I had never been to the opera in all my life before, and, of +course—" blushing and palpitating, but still looking at him without a +shade of falsehood in her innocent, straightforward eyes; "of course, I +couldn't. How could I be so silly, and vain, and presuming, as to think +of—of—of—"</p> + +<p>She stopped here, as might be expected, and, if the room had been light +enough, she might have seen a shadow fall on Oglethorpe's face, as he +prompted her.</p> + +<p>"Of what?"</p> + +<p>Her eyes fell. "Of what Sir Dugald said," she ended, in a troubled +half-whisper.</p> + +<p>There was a slight pause, in which both pairs of eyes looked +down—Theodora's upon the rug of tiger-skin at her feet, Oglethorpe's at +Theodora herself. They were treading upon dangerous ground, he knew, and +yet in the midst of his fierce anger at his weakness, he was conscious +of a regret—a contemptible regret, he told himself—that the eyes she +had raised to his own a moment ago, had been so very clear and +guilelessly honest in their accordance with the declaration her lips had +made.</p> + +<p>"But, my dear Theodora," he at length broke the silence by saying, +carelessly, "why should we trouble ourselves about that elderly Goth, or +Vandal, if you choose—Sir Dugald? Who does trouble themselves about Sir +Dugald, and his amiably ponderous jocoseness? Not Lady Throckmorton, I +am sure; not society in general, you must know; consequently, let us +treat Sir Dugald with silent contempt, in a glorious consciousness of +our own spotless innocence."</p> + +<p>He was half uneasy under his satirical indifference; though he was so +accustomed to conceal his thoughts under indifference and satire, he was +scarcely sure enough of himself at this minute; but, despite this, he +carried out the assumed mood pretty well.</p> + +<p>"We have no need to be afraid of Sir Dugald's Vandalism, if we have no +fear of ourselves, and, considering, as you so very justly observed, +that it is quite impossible for us to be silly, and vain, and presuming +toward each other. I think we must be quite safe. I believe you said it +would be impossible, Theodora?"</p> + +<p>Just one breath's space, and Theodora North looked up at him, as it were +through the influence of an electric flash of recognition. There was a +wild, sweet, troubled color on her cheeks, and her lips were trembling; +her whole face seemed to tremble; her very eyes had a varying tremulous +glow.</p> + +<p>"Quite impossible, wasn't it, Theodora?" he repeated, and though he had +meant it for nothing more than a careless, daring speech, his voice +changed in defiance of him, and altered, or seemed to alter, both words +and their meaning. What, in the name of madness, he would have been rash +enough to say next, in response to the tremor of light and color in the +upturned face, it would be hard to say, for here he was stopped, as it +were, by Fortune herself.</p> + +<p>Fortune came in the form of Lady Throckmorton, fresh from Trollope's +last, and in a communicative mood.</p> + +<p>"Ah! You are here, Denis, and you, too, Theodora? Why are you sitting in +the dark?" And, as she bent over to touch the bell, Theodora rose from +her footstool to make way for her—rose with a little sigh, as if she +had just been awakened from a dream which was neither happy nor sad.</p> + +<p>It was very plainly Lady Throckmorton's business to see, and, seeing, +understand the affairs of her inexperienced young relative; but if Lady +Throckmorton understood that Theodora North was unconsciously +endangering the peace of her girlish heart, Lady Throckmorton was very +silent, or very indifferent about the matter. But she was not moulded +after the manner of the stern female guardians usually celebrated in +love stories. She was not mercenary, and she was by no means +authoritative. She had sent for Theo with the intention of extending to +her the worldly assistance she had extended to Pamela, and, beyond that, +the matter lay in the girl's own hands. Lady Throckmorton had no high +views for her in particular; she wanted to see her enjoy herself as much +as possible until the termination of her visit, in whatever manner it +terminated, whether matrimonially or otherwise. Besides, she was not so +young as she had been in Pamela's time, and, consequently, though she +was reasonably fond of her handsome niece, and more than usually +generous toward her, she was inclined to let her follow her own devices. +For herself, she had her luxurious little retiring-room, with its +luxurious fires and lounges; and after these, or rather with these, came +an abundance of novels, and the perfect, creamy chocolate her French +cook made such a masterpiece of—novels and chocolate standing as +elderly and refined dissipations. And not being troubled with any very +strict ideas of right or wrong, it would, by no means, have annoyed her +ladyship to know that her handsome Theodora had out-generalled her pet +grievance, Priscilla Gower. Why should not Priscilla Gower be +out-generalled, and why should not Denis marry some one who was as much +better suited to him, as Theodora North plainly was?</p> + +<p>"Tut! tut!" she said to Sir Dugald. "Why shouldn't they be married to +each other? It would be better than Priscilla Gower, if Theodora had +nothing but Pam's gray satin for her bridal trousseau."</p> + +<p>So Theo was left to herself, and having no confidant but the pink and +gold journal, gradually began to trust to its page some very troubled +reflections. It had not occurred to her that she could possibly be +guilty in admiring Mr. Denis Oglethorpe so much as she did, and in +feeling so glad when he came, and so sorry when he went away. She had +not thought that it was because he was sitting near her, and talking to +her between the acts; that Il Trovatore and Faust had been so +thrillingly beautiful and tender. And this was quite true, even though +she had not begun to comprehend it as yet.</p> + +<p>She had no right to feel anxious about him; and yet, when, after having +committed himself in the rash manner chronicled, he did not make his +appearance for nearly two weeks, she was troubled in no slight degree. +Indeed, though the thought was scarcely defined, she had some +unsophisticated misgivings as to whether Miss Priscilla Gower might not +have been aroused to a sense of the wrongs done her through the medium +of Il Trovatore, and so have laid an interdict upon his visits; but it +was only Sir Dugald who had suggested this to her fancy.</p> + +<p>But by the end of the two weeks, she grew tired of waiting, and the days +were so very long, that at length, not without some slight compunction, +she made up her mind to go and pay a guileless visit to Miss Priscilla +Gower herself.</p> + +<p>"I am going to see Miss Gower, aunt," she ventured to say one morning, +at the breakfast table.</p> + +<p>Sir Dugald looked up from his huge slice of broiled venison, clumsily +jocose after his customary agreeable manner.</p> + +<p>"What's that, Leonora?" he said. "Going to see the stern vestal, are +you? Priscilla, eh?"</p> + +<p>Lady Throckmorton shrugged her shoulders in an indifferent sarcasm. She +was often both sarcastic and indifferent in her manner toward Sir +Dugald.</p> + +<p>"Theo's in-goings and out-goings are scarcely our business, so long as +she enjoys herself," she said. "Present my regards to the Miss Gowers, +my dear, and say I regret that my health does not permit me to accompany +you."</p> + +<p>A polite fiction by the way, as my lady was looking her best. It was +only upon state occasions, and solely on Denis' account, that she ever +submitted to Broome street, albeit the fat, gray horses, and fat gray +coachman did occasionally recognize the existence of that remote +locality.</p> + +<p>It so happened that, as they drew up before Miss Gower's modest door +this morning, the modest door in question opened, and Denis Oglethorpe +himself came out, and, of course, caught sight of Theodora North, who +had just bent forward to pull the check-string, and so gave him a full +view of her charming <i>reante</i>, un-English face, and, in her pleasure at +seeing him, that young lady forgot both herself and Sir Dugald, and +exclaimed aloud,</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Oglethorpe!" she cried out. "I am so glad—" and then stopped, +in a confusion and trepidation absolutely brilliant.</p> + +<p>He came to the window, and looked in at her.</p> + +<p>"Are you coming to see Priscilla?" he said.</p> + +<p>"Lady Throckmorton said I might," she answered, the warmth in her face +chilled by his unenthusiastic though kindly tone. She did not know what +a struggle it cost him to face her thus carelessly all at once.</p> + +<p>He did not even open the carriage-door himself, but waited for the +footman to do it.</p> + +<p>"Priscilla will be glad to see you," he said, quietly. "I will go into +the house again with you."</p> + +<p>The dwarfed sitting-room looked very much as it had looked on Theo's +first introduction to it; but on this occasion Miss Elizabeth was not +arrayed in the snuff-colored satin; and when they entered, Priscilla was +kneeling down upon the hearth-rug, straightening out an obstreperous +fold in it.</p> + +<p>She rose, collectedly, at once, and as her face turned toward them, Theo +was struck with some fancy of its being a shade paler than it had been +the last time she had seen it. But her manner was not changed in the +least, and she welcomed her visitor with grave cordiality. Poor little +snuff-colored Miss Elizabeth was delighted. She was getting very fond of +company in her old age, and had taken a great fancy to Theodora North.</p> + +<p>"Send the carriage away, and stay with us until evening, Miss Theodora," +she fluttered in wild, old-maidenly excitement. "Do stay, Miss Theodora, +and I will show you how to do the octagon-stitch, as I promised the last +time you were here. You remember how you admired it in that antimacassar +I was making for Priscilla?"</p> + +<p>Miss Elizabeth's chief delight and occupation was the making of +miraculously-gorgeous mysteries for Priscilla; and Theo's modest +eulogies of her last piece of work had won her admiration and regard at +once. Consequently, under stress of Miss Elizabeth, the carriage was +fain to depart, much to the abasement of the fat, gray coachman, who +felt himself much dishonored in finding he was compelled, not only to +pay majestic calls to Broome street, but to acknowledge the humiliating +fact of friendly visits.</p> + +<p>"We must have a fire in the best parlor, my dear," chirped Elizabeth, +ecstatically, when Theo's hat and jacket were being carried out of the +room. "Don't forget to tell Jane, Priscilla, and—" fumbling in her +large side-pocket, "here's the key of the preserve-closet. Quince +preserve, my dear, and white currant-jelly."</p> + +<p>Theodora was reminded of Downport that day, in a hundred ways. The nice +little company-dinner reminded her of it; the solitary little roast fowl +and the preserves and puddings; but the company-dinners at Downport had +always been detracted from by the sharp annoyance in Pam's face, and the +general domestic bustle, and the total inadequacy of gravy and stuffing +to the wants of the boys. She was particularly reminded of it by the +ceremonious repairing to the fire in the front parlor, where everything +was so orderly, and even the family portraits had the appearance of +family portraits roused from a deep reverie to be surprised at an +intrusion.</p> + +<p>"My late lamented parents, my dear," said Miss Elizabeth, rubbing her +spectacles, and admiringly regarding an owl-like, elderly gentleman, in +an aggressive brown wig, and an equally owl-like lady, in a +self-announcing false-front, embarrassingly suggestive of Miss +Elizabeth's own. "My late lamented parents, at the respective ages of +fifty and fifty-seven. My sister, Anastasia; my only brother, my +sister-in-law, his wife; and my dear Priscilla, at seventeen years."</p> + +<p>Theo turned from the others to look at this last with a deeper interest; +remembered that it was when she was seventeen, that Priscilla had first +met Denis Oglethorpe. It was a small picture, half life-size, and set in +an oval frame of black walnut. Priscilla at seventeen had not been very +different from Priscilla at twenty-two. She had a pale, handsome, +ungirlish face—a Minerva face—steady, grave, handsome eyes, and a fine +head, unadorned, save with a classic knot of black brown hair. The +picture was not even younger-looking than Priscilla was now.</p> + +<p>Miss Elizabeth regarded it in affectionate admiration of its beauty.</p> + +<p>"My dear," she said to Theodora, "that is the most beautiful face in +London, to my old eyes. It reminds me of my dear Anastasia in her youth. +I was always glad my brother Benjamin's daughter was not like his wife. +We were not fond of my brother Benjamin's wife. She was a very giddy +young person, and very fond of gayety. She died of lung-fever, +contracted through exposing herself one night at a military ball, in +direct opposition to my brother Benjamin's wishes. She insisted upon +wearing blue-satin slippers, and a low-necked dress."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear!" said Theodora, secretly conscious of a guilty sympathy for +the giddy young person who ran counter to brother Benjamin's wishes, in +the matter of military balls and blue-satin slippers.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my love!" Miss Elizabeth proceeded. "And for that reason I was +always glad to find that Priscilla was not at all like her. Priscilla +and I have been very happy together, in our quiet way; she has been the +best of dear, good girls to me. Indeed, I really don't know what I shall +do when I must lose her, as of course you know I shall be obliged to, +when she marries Mr. Denis Oglethorpe!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, ma'am," answered Theo, and as she spoke, she felt a curious, +startled glow flash over her. This was the first time an actual approach +to the subject had been made in her presence.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear!" said Miss Elizabeth again. "I shall feel the separation +very deeply, but it must be, you know. They have waited so long for each +other, that I should be a very wicked selfish old woman to throw any +obstacle, even so slight a one as my own discomfort, in their way. Don't +you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame," Theo faltered, very unsteadily, indeed.</p> + +<p>But Miss Elizabeth did not notice any hesitation in her manner, and went +on with her confidential chat, eulogizing Priscilla and her betrothed +affectionately. Mr. Denis Oglethorpe would be a rich man some of these +days, and then what a happy life must Priscilla's be—so young, so +beautiful, so beloved. "Not that wealth brings happiness, my dear Miss +Theodora. Riches are very deceitful, you know; but there is a great deal +of solid comfort in a genteel sufficiency."</p> + +<p>To all of which Theo acquiesced, modestly, inwardly wondering if she was +very wrong in wishing that Oglethorpe had not left them quite so early.</p> + +<p>The day passed pleasantly enough, however, in a quiet way. Miss +Elizabeth was very affectionate and communicative, and told her a great +many stories of Anastasia, and the late-lamented Benjamin, as they sat +by the fire together, in the evening, and blundered over the +octagon-stitch. It was an Afghan Miss Elizabeth was making now; and when +at tea-time, Mr. Oglethorpe came, he found Theodora North sitting on the +hearth, flushed with industrious anxiety, and thrown into reflected glow +of brilliant Berlin wool, a beautiful young spider in a gorgeous Afghan +web.</p> + +<p>"I should like," she was saying as he entered, "to buy Pamela and the +girls some nice little presents. What would you advise me to get, Miss +Gower?"</p> + +<p>She was very faithful to the shabby household at Downport. Her letters +were never careless or behind time, and no one was ever neglected in the +multiplicity of messages. She would be the most truthful and faithful of +loving women a few years hence, this handsome Theodora. There was some +reserve in her manner toward Denis this evening. She attended to Miss +Elizabeth's octagon-stitch, and left him to amuse Priscilla. He had not +seemed very much pleased to see her in the morning, and besides, +Priscilla was plainly his business. But when the carriage was announced, +and she returned to the parlor, after an absence of a few minutes, +drawing on her gloves, and buttoning her pretty jacket close up to her +beautiful slender, dusky throat, Denis took his hat and accompanied her +to the carriage. He did not wait for the footman this time; but, after +assisting her to get in, closed the door himself, and leaned against the +open window for a moment.</p> + +<p>"I want you to deliver a message to Lady Throckmorton for me," he said. +"May I trouble you, Theodora?"</p> + +<p>She bent her head with an unpleasantly-quickened heart-beat. It was very +foolish, of course, but she felt as if something painful was going to +happen, and nothing on earth could prevent it.</p> + +<p>"Business has unexpectedly called me away from London—from England," he +explained, in a strange yet quite steady voice. "I am obliged to go to +Belgium at once, and my affairs are in such a condition that I may be +compelled to remain across the channel for some time. Be good enough to +say to Lady Throckmorton that I regret deeply that I could not see her +before going; but—but the news has been sudden, and my time is fully +occupied; but I will write to her from my first stopping-place."</p> + +<p>"I will tell her," said Theodora.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," he replied, courteously, and then, after a short +hesitation, began again, in the tone he used so often—the tone that +might be jest or earnest. "And now, there is something else, a subject +upon which I wish to ask your unbiased opinion, my dear Theodora, before +I say good-bye. When a man finds himself in a danger with which he +cannot combat, and remain human—in danger, where defeat means dishonor, +do you not agree with me, that the safest plan that man can adopt is to +run away?"</p> + +<p>Her quickened heart might almost have been running a life-and-death race +with her leaping pulse, but she answered him almost steadily.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said to him. "You are quite right. He had better go away."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," he returned again. "Then you will give me your hand and +wish me God-speed; and, perhaps—I say perhaps—you will answer me +another question. This morning, when you spoke to me through the +carriage window, you began to say something about being glad. Were you +going to say—" He broke off here, sharply. "No!" he exclaimed. "I will +not ask you."</p> + +<p>"I was going to say that I was glad to see you," Theo interrupted, +gravely. "I was glad to see you. And now, perhaps, you had better tell +the coachman to drive on. I will deliver your message to Lady +Throckmorton; and as I shall not see you again, unless I am here in +July—of course you will come back then—good-bye, Mr. Oglethorpe."</p> + +<p>She gave him her hand through the carriage-window, and, for a moment, he +held it, to all appearance quite calm, as he looked down at the lovely +face the flare of an adjacent gaslight revealed to him against a +background of shadow.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye," he said, and then released it. "Drive on," he called to the +coachman, and in a moment more, he stood alone watching the carriage +turn the corner.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE SEPARATION.</h3> + + +<p>"Mr. Denis Oglethorpe has gone away. He will not come back again until +July, when he is to marry Miss Gower."</p> + +<p>This was the last entry recorded in the little pink-and-gold journal, +and after it came a gap of months.</p> + +<p>It was midnight after the memorable day spent in Broome street that the +record was made, and having made it, Theodora North shut the book with a +startled feeling that she had shut within its pages an unfinished page +of her life.</p> + +<p>It was a strange feeling to have come upon her so suddenly, and there +was a strange kind of desperateness in its startling strength. It was +startling; it had come upon her without a moment's warning, it seemed, +and yet, if she had been conscious of it, there had been warning enough. +Warning enough for an older woman—warning enough for Denis Oglethorpe; +but it had not seemed warning to a girl of scarcely seventeen years. But +she understood it now; she had understood it the moment he told her in +that strained, steady voice that he was going away. She had delivered +his message to Lady Throckmorton, and listened quietly to her wandering +comments, answering them as best she could. She had waited patiently +until Sir Dugald's barbarous eleven o'clock supper was over, and then +she had gone to her room, stirred the fire, and dropped down upon the +hearth-rug to think it over. She thought over it for a long time, her +handsome eyes brooding over the red coals, but after about half an hour +she spoke out aloud to the silence of the room.</p> + +<p>"He loved me," she said. "He loved me—me. Poor Priscilla! Ah, poor +Priscilla! How sorry I am for you."</p> + +<p>She was far more sorry for Priscilla than she was for herself, though it +was Priscilla who had won the lover, and herself who had lost him +forever. She cared for him so much more deeply than she realized as yet, +that she would rather lose him, knowing he loved her, than win him +feeling uncertain. The glow in her eyes died away in tears, but she was +too young to realize despair or anything like it. The truth was that the +curious enchantment of the day had not been altogether sad, and at +seventeen one does not comprehend that fate can be wholly bitter, or +that some turn in fortune is not in store for the future, however +hopeless the present may seem.</p> + +<p>In this mood the entry was made in the little journal, and having made +it, Theodora North cried a little, hoped a little, and wondered +guilelessly how matters could end with perfect justice to Priscilla +Gower.</p> + +<p>The household seemed rather quiet after the change. Mr. Denis Oglethorpe +was a man to be missed under any circumstances—and Theo was not the +only one who missed him. Lady Throckmorton missed him also, but she had +the solace of her novels and her chocolate, which Theo had not. Novels +had been delightful at Downport, when they were read in hourly fear of +the tasks that always interfered to prevent any indulgence; but in those +days, for some reason, they were not as satisfactory as they appeared +once, and so being thrown on her own resources, she succumbed to the +very natural girlish weakness of feeling a sort of fascination for +Broome street. It was hard to resist Broome street, knowing that there +must be news to be heard there, and so she gradually fell into the habit +of paying visits, more to Miss Elizabeth Gower than to her niece. The +elder Miss Gower was always communicative, and always ready to talk +about her favorites, and to Theo, in her half-puzzled, half-sad frame of +mind, this was a curious consolation. The two spent hours together, +sometimes, in the tiny parlor, stumbling over Berlin wool difficulties, +and now and then wandering to and fro, conversationally, from Priscilla +to the octagon-stitch, and from the octagon-stitch to Denis.</p> + +<p>Priscilla was prone to reserve, and rarely joined them in their talks; +and, besides, she was so often busy, that if she had felt the +inclination to do so, she had not time to indulge it. But she was even +more silent than she had seemed at first, Theo thought, and she was sure +her pale, handsome face was paler, though, of course, that was easily to +be accounted for by her lover's absence.</p> + +<p>She was a singular girl this Priscilla Gower. The first time Theo ever +saw her display an interest in anybody, or in anything, was when she +first heard Pamela's love-story mentioned.</p> + +<p>She was sitting at work near them, when Theo chanced to mention Arthur +Brunwalde, and, to her surprise, Priscilla looked up from her desk +immediately.</p> + +<p>"He was your sister's lover, was he not?" she said, with an abrupt +interest in the subject.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Theo; "but he died, you know."</p> + +<p>Priscilla nodded.</p> + +<p>"The week before their wedding-day," she said. "Mr. Oglethorpe told me +so."</p> + +<p>Theo answered in the affirmative again.</p> + +<p>"And poor Pam could not forget him," she added, her usual tender +reverence for poor Pam showing itself in her sorrowing voice. "She was +very pretty then, and Lady Throckmorton was angry because she would not +marry anybody else; but Pamela never cared for anybody else."</p> + +<p>Priscilla got up from her chair, and, coming to the hearth, leaned +against the low mantel, pen in hand. She looked down on Theodora North +with a curious expression in her cold, handsome eyes.</p> + +<p>"Is your sister like you?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Her tone was such a strange one that Theo lifted her face with a faint, +startled look.</p> + +<p>"No," she replied, almost timidly. "Pamela is fairer than I am, and not +so tall. We are not alike at all."</p> + +<p>"I was not thinking of that," said Priscilla. "I was wondering if you +were alike in disposition. I think I was wondering most whether you +would be as faithful as Pamela."</p> + +<p>"That is a strange question," Miss Elizabeth interposed. "Theodora has +not been tried."</p> + +<p>But Priscilla was looking straight at Theo's downcast eyes.</p> + +<p>"But I think Theodora knows," she said, briefly. "Are you like your +sister in that, Theodora? I remember hearing Mr. Oglethorpe say once you +would be."</p> + +<p>Theo dropped her ivory crochet-needle, and bent to pick it up, with a +blurred vision and nervous fingers.</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell," she said. "I am not old enough to know yet."</p> + +<p>"You are seventeen," said Priscilla. "I knew at seventeen."</p> + +<p>Theo recovered the needle, and reset it in her work to give herself +time, and then she looked up and faced her questioner bravely, in a sort +of desperateness.</p> + +<p>"If I knew that I loved any one. If I had ever loved any one as Pamela +loved Mr. Brunwalde, I should be like Pamela," she said. "I should never +love any one else."</p> + +<p>From that time she fancied that Priscilla Gower liked her better than +she had done before; at any rate, she took more notice of her, though +she was never effusive, of course.</p> + +<p>She talked to her oftener, and seemed to listen while she talked, even +though she was busy at the time. She said to her once that she would +like to know Pamela; and, emboldened by this, Theo ventured to bring one +of Pam's letters to read to her; and when she had read it, told the +whole story of her sister's generosity in a little burst of enthusiastic +love and gratitude that fairly melted tender-hearted old Miss Elizabeth +to tears, and caused her to confide afterward to Theo the fact that she +herself had felt the influence of the tender passion, in consequence of +the blandishments of a single gentleman of uncertain age, whose +performances upon the flute had been the means of winning her +affections, but had unhappily resulted in his contracting a fatal cold +while serenading on a damp evening.</p> + +<p>"He used to play 'In a Cottage near a Wood,' my dear, most beautifully," +said Miss Elizabeth, wild with pathos, "though I regret to say that, as +we did not live in a musical neighborhood, the people next door did not +appreciate it; the gentleman of the house even going so far as to say +that he was not sorry when he died, as he did a few weeks after the cold +settled on his dear weak lungs. He was the only lover I ever had, my +dear Theodora, and his name was Elderberry, a very singular name, by the +way, but he was a very talented man."</p> + +<p>When Theo went into the little back bedroom that evening to put on her +hat, Priscilla Gower went with her, and, as she stood before the +dressing-table buttoning her sacque, she was somewhat puzzled by the +expression on her companion's face. Priscilla had taken up her muff, and +was stroking the white fur, her eyes downcast upon her hand as it moved +to and fro, the ring upon its forefinger shining in the gaslight.</p> + +<p>"I had a letter from Mr. Oglethorpe yesterday," Priscilla said, at last. +"He is in Vienna now; he asked if you were well. To-night I shall answer +him. Have you any message to send?"</p> + +<p>"I?" said Theo. It seemed to her so strange a thing for Miss Priscilla +Gower to say, that her pronoun was almost an interjection.</p> + +<p>"I thought, perhaps," said Priscilla, quietly, "that a message from you +would gratify him, if you had one to send."</p> + +<p>Theo took up her gloves and began to draw them on, a sudden feeling of +pain or discomfort striking her. It was a feeling scarcely defined +enough to allow her to decide whether it was real pain or only +discomfort.</p> + +<p>"I do not think I have any message to send," she replied. "Thank you, +Miss Priscilla."</p> + +<p>She took her muff then, and went back to the parlor to kiss Miss +Elizabeth, in a strange frame of mind. She was beginning to feel more +strangely concerning Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, and it was Priscilla Gower +who had stirred her heart. She found Lady Throckmorton waiting at home +for her, to her surprise, in a new mood. She had that evening received a +letter from Denis herself, and it had suggested an idea to her.</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking, Theo," she said, "that we might take a run over +the Channel ourselves. I have not been in Paris for four years, and I +believe the change would do me good. The last time I visited the Spas, +my health improved greatly."</p> + +<p>It was just like her ladyship to become suddenly possessed of a whim, +and to follow its lead on the spur of the moment. She was a woman of +caprices, and her caprices always ruled the day, as this one did, to +Theo's great astonishment. It seemed such a great undertaking to +Theodora, this voyage of a few hours; but Lady Throckmorton regarded it +as the lightest of matters. To her it was only the giving of a few +orders, being uncomfortably sea-sick for a while, and then landing in +Calais, with a waiting-woman who understood her business, and a +man-servant who was accustomed to travelling. So when Theo broke into +exclamations of pleasure and astonishment, she did not understand either +her enthusiasm or her surprise.</p> + +<p>"What," she said, "you like the idea, do you? Well, I think I have made +up my mind about it. We could go next week, and I dare say we could +reach Vienna before Denis Oglethorpe goes away."</p> + +<p>Theo became suddenly silent. She gave vent to no further exclamations. +She would almost have been willing to give up the pleasure of the +journey after that. She was learning that it was best for her not to see +Denis Oglethorpe again, and here it seemed that she must see him in +spite of herself, even though she was conscientious enough to wish to do +what was best, not so much because it was best for herself, as because +it was just to Priscilla Gower. But Lady Throckmorton had come to a +decision, and forthwith made her preparations. She even wrote to Vienna, +and told Denis that they were coming, herself and Theodora North, and he +must wait and meet them if possible.</p> + +<p>It was a great trial to Theodora, this. She was actually girlish and +sensitive enough to fancy that Mr. Denis Oglethorpe might imagine their +intention to follow him was some fault of hers, and she was +uncomfortable and nervous accordingly. She hoped he would have left +Vienna before the letter reached him; she hoped he might go away in +spite of it; she hoped it might never reach him at all. And yet, in +spite of this, she experienced an almost passionately keen sense of +disappointment when, on the day before their departure, Lady +Throckmorton received a letter from him regretting his inability to +comply with her request, and announcing his immediate departure for some +place whose name he did not mention. Business had called him away, and +Lady Throckmorton, of course, knew what such business was, and how +imperative its demands were.</p> + +<p>"He might have waited," Theo said to herself, with an unexpected, +inconsistent feeling of wretchedness. "I would have stayed anywhere to +have seen him only for a minute. He had no need to be so ready to go +away." And then she found herself burning all over, as it were, in her +shame at discovering how bold her thoughts had been.</p> + +<p>Perhaps this was the first time she really awoke to a full consciousness +of where she had drifted. The current had carried her along so far, and +she had not been to blame, because she had not comprehended her danger; +but now it was different. She was awakening, but she was at the edge of +the cataract, and its ominous sounds had alarmed her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>THEO GOES TO PARIS.</h3> + + +<p>The letters that were faithfully written to Downport during the +following month were the cause of no slight excitement in the house of +David North, Esq. The children looked forward to the reception of them +as an event worthy of being chronicled. Theo was an exact correspondent, +and recorded her adventures and progress with as careful a precision as +if it had been a matter of grave import whether she was in Boulogne or +Bordeaux, or had stayed at one hotel or the other. It was not the +pleasantest season of the year to travel, she wrote, but it was, of +course, the gayest in the cities. Lady Throckmorton was very kind and +very generous. She took her out a great deal, and spent a great deal of +money in sight-seeing, which proved conclusively how kind she was, as +her ladyship knew all the places worth looking at, as well as she knew +Charing Cross or St. Paul's. And at the end of a month came a letter +from Paris full of news and description.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We reached Paris three days ago," wrote Theo, "and are going to +remain until Lady Throckmorton makes up her mind to go somewhere +else, or to return to London. She has a great number of friends +here, who have found us out already. She is very fond of Paris, and +I think would rather stay here than anywhere else; so we may not +come away until spring. We went to the opera last night, and saw +Faust again. You remember my telling you about going to see Faust +in London the first time I wore the rose-pink satin. I wore the +same dress last night, and Lady Throckmorton lent me some of her +diamonds, and made Splaighton puff my hair in a new way. Splaighton +is my maid, and I don't know what to do with her sometimes, Pamela. +You know I am used to waiting on myself, and she is so serious and +dignified that I feel half ashamed to let her do things for me. Two +or three gentlemen, who knew Lady Throckmorton, came into our box, +and were introduced to me. One of them (I think Lady Throckmorton +said he was an <i>attache</i>) called on us this morning, and brought +some lovely flowers. I must not forget to tell you about my +beautiful morning robes. One of them is a white merino, trimmed +with black velvet, and I am sure we should think it pretty enough +for a party dress at home. I am glad you liked your little present, +my darling Pam. Give my dearest love to Joanna and Elin, and tell +them I am saving my pocket money to buy them some real Parisian +dresses with. Love and kisses to mamma and the boys from</p> + +<p>"Your <span class="smcap">Theo</span>."</p></div> + +<p>She did not know, this affectionate, handsome Theo, that when she wrote +this innocent, schoolgirl letter, she might have made it a record of +triumphs innumerable, though unconscious. She had never dreamed for a +moment that it was the face at Lady Throckmorton's side that had caused +such a sudden accession to the list of the faithful. But this was the +case, nevertheless, and Lady Throckmorton was by no means unconscious of +it. Of course, it was quite natural that people who had forgotten her in +London should remember her in Paris; but it was even more natural that +persons who did not care for her at all, should be filled with +admiration for Theo in rose-colored satin. And so it was. Such a change +came over the girl's life all at once, that, as it revealed itself to +her, she was tempted to rub her bright eyes in her doubt as to the +reality of it.</p> + +<p>Two weeks after she reached Paris she awoke and found herself famous; +she, Theodora North, to whom, as yet, Downport and shabbiness, and +bread-and-butter cutting, were the only things that appeared real enough +not to vanish at a touch. People of whom she had read six months ago, +regarding their very existence as almost mythical, flattered, applauded, +followed her. They talked of her, they praised her, they made high-flown +speeches to her, at which she blushed, and glowed, and opened her +lovely, half-uncomprehending eyes. She was glad they liked her, grateful +for their attentions, half-confused under them; but it was some time +before she understood the full meaning of their homage. In rose-colored +satin and diamonds she dazzled them; but in simple white muslin, with a +black-velvet ribbon about her perfect throat, and a great white rose in +her dark hair, she was a glowing young goddess, of whom they raved +extravagantly, and who might have made herself a fashion, if she had +been born a few years earlier, and been born in Paris.</p> + +<p>Lady Throckmorton was actually proud of her, and committed extravagances +she might have repented of, if the girl had not been so affectionately +grateful and tractable. Then, as might be expected, there arose out of +the train the indefatigable adorer, who is the fate of every pretty or +popular girl. But in this case he was by no means unpleasant. He was +famous, witty, and fortunate. He was no less a personage than the +<i>attache</i>, of whom she had written to Pamela, and his name was Victor +Maurien. He had been before all the rest, and so had gained some slight +footing, which he was certainly not the man to relinquish. He had gained +ground with Lady Throckmorton too, and in Denis Oglethorpe's absence, +had begun almost to fill his place. He was graceful, faithful in her +ladyship's service; he talked politics with her when she was gravely +inclined, and told her the news when she was in a good humor; he was +indefatigable and dignified at once, which is a rare combination; and he +thought his efforts well rewarded by a seat at Theo's side in their box +in the theatre, or by the privilege of handing her to her carriage, and +gaining a few farewell words as he bade her good-night. He was not like +the rest either. It was not entirely her beauty which had enchanted him, +though, like all Frenchmen, he was a passionate worshipper of the +beautiful. The sweet soul in her eyes had touched his heart. Her +ignorance had done more to strengthen it than anything she could have +done. There was not a spark of coquetry in her whole nature. She +listened to his poetic speeches, wondering but believing—wondering how +they could be true of her, yet trusting him and all the world too +seriously to accuse him of anything but partiality.</p> + +<p>To the last day of his life Victor Maurien will not forget one quiet +evening, when he came to the hotel and found Theodora North by herself, +in their private parlor, reading an English letter by the blaze of a +candelabra. It had arrived that very day from Downport, and something in +it had touched her, for when she rose to greet him, her gipsy eyes were +mistily soft.</p> + +<p>They began to draw near to each other that night. Half-unconsciously she +drifted into confiding to him the yearnings toward the home whose +shadows and sharpnesses absence had softened. It was singular how much +pleasanter everything seemed, now she looked back upon it in the past. +Downport was not an unpleasant place after all. She could remember times +when the sun shone upon the dingy little town and the wide-spread of +beach, and made it almost pretty.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I did not love them all enough," she said. "Lady +Throckmorton does not intend that I shall go there to remain again; but +if I were to go, I feel as if I could help them more—Pamela, you know, +and mamma. I want to send Joanna and Elin something, to show them that I +don't forget them at all. I think I should like to send them some pretty +dresses. Joanna is fair and she always wanted a pale-blue silk. Do you +think a pale-blue silk would be very expensive, M. Maurien?"</p> + +<p>She started, and colored a little the next moment, recognizing the +oddity of her speech, and her little laugh was very sweet to hear.</p> + +<p>"I forgot," she said. "How should you know, to be sure. Political men +don't care about pale-blue silk, do they?" And she laughed again, such a +fresh, enjoyable little laugh, that he was ready to fall down and +worship her in his impulsive French fashion. Until Lady Throckmorton +came, she amused him with talking of England and the English people, +until the <i>naivete</i> of her manner had an indescribable fascination for +him. He could have listened to her forever. She told him about Downport +and its small lines, unconsciously showing him more of her past life +than she fancied. Then, of course, she at last came to Broome street and +Miss Elizabeth, and Miss Priscilla, and—Mr. Denis Oglethorpe.</p> + +<p>"He is very talented, indeed," she said. "He has written, oh! a great +deal. He once wrote a book of poems. I have the volume in one of my +trunks."</p> + +<p>He looked at her quietly but keenly when she said this, and he did not +need more than a second glance to understand more than she understood +herself. He read where Mr. Denis Oglethorpe stood, by the queer, sudden +inner light in her eyes, and the unconscious fluctuation of rich color +in her bright glowing face. He was struck with a secret pang in a +second. There would be so frail a thread of hope for the man who was +only second with a girl like this one.</p> + +<p>"I know the gentleman you speak of," he said, aloud. "We all know him. +He is a popular man. I saw him only a few weeks ago."</p> + +<p>Her eyes flashed up to his—the whole of her face flashed with electric +light.</p> + +<p>"Did you?" she said. "Where was he? I didn't know—" and there she +stopped.</p> + +<p>"He was here," was the answer. "In Paris—in this very hotel, the day +before you came here. He had overworked himself, I think. He was looking +paler than usual, and somewhat worn-out. It was fatigue, I suppose."</p> + +<p>Her eyes fell, and the light died away. She was thinking to herself that +he might have waited twenty-four hours longer—only a day—such a short +time. Just at that moment she felt passionately that she could not bear +to let him go back to England and Priscilla Gower without a farewell +word.</p> + +<p>In all the whirl of excitement that filled her life, through all the +days that were full of it, and the nights that were fairly dazzling to +her unaccustomed eyes, she never forgot Denis Oglethorpe. She remembered +him always in the midst of it all, and now her remembrance was of a +different kind; there was more pain in it, more unrest, more longing and +strength. She had ripened wonderfully since that last night in Broome +street.</p> + +<p>Among the circle of Lady Throckmorton's friends, and even beyond its +pale, she was a goddess this winter. Her dark <i>viante</i> face, with its +innocence and freshness of beauty, carried all before it, and this her +first season was a continuation of girlish triumphs. The chief +characteristic of her loveliness was that it inspired people with a sort +of enthusiasm. When she entered a room a low murmur of pleasure followed +her. There was not a man who had exchanged a word with her who would not +have been ready to perform absurdities as well as impossibilities for +her sweet young sake.</p> + +<p>"How kind people are to me!" she would say to Lady Throckmorton. "I can +hardly believe it, sometimes. Oh, how Joanna and Elin would like Paris!"</p> + +<p>They had been two months in Paris, and in the meantime had heard nothing +from Denis Oglethorpe. He had not written to Lady Throckmorton since the +letter dated from Vienna, so they supposed he had lost sight of them and +thought writing useless. There were times when Theo tried to make up her +mind that she had seen him for the last time before his marriage, but +there were times again when, on going out, her last glance at her mirror +had a thrill of expectation in it that was almost a pang.</p> + +<p>She was sitting in their box in the theatre one night, half listening to +Maurien, half to the singers, and wondering dreamily what was going on +in Broome street at the moment, when she suddenly became conscious of a +slight stir among the people in the seats on the other side of the +house. She turned her face quickly, as if she had been magnetized. +Making his way toward their box was a man whom at first she saw mistily, +in a moment more quite clearly. Her heart began to beat faster than it +had ever beaten in her young life, her hand closed upon her +bouquet-holder with a nervous strength; she turned her face to the stage +in the curious, excited, happy, and yet fearing tremor that took +possession of her in a second. By some caprice or chance they had come +to see Faust again, and the Marguerite who had been their attraction, +was at this very moment standing upon the stage, repeating softly her +simple, pathetic little love-spell,</p> + +<p>"<i>Er lieber mich, er lieber mich nicht.</i>"</p> + +<p>Theo found herself saying it after Marguerite to the beating of her +heart. "<i>Er lieber mich, er lieber mich nicht. Er lieber mich</i>,—" and +there she stopped, breathlessly, for the box door opened, and Denis +Oglethorpe entered.</p> + +<p>She had altered so much since they had last met that she scarcely dared +to look at him, even after the confusion of greetings and formalities +was over, and he had answered Lady Throckmorton's questions, and +explained to her the cause of his protracted wandering—for, though she +did not meet his eyes, she knew that he was altered, too. He looked worn +and fatigued, she thought, and there was a new unrest in his expression.</p> + +<p>It was fully a quarter of an hour before he left Lady Throckmorton and +came to her side; but when he did so, something in his face or air, +perhaps, made Victor Maurien give way to his greater need in an impulse +of generosity.</p> + +<p>There was a moment's silence between them after he sat down, during +which, in her excited shyness, Theo only looked at Marguerite with a +fluttering of rich, warm color on her cheeks. It was he who ended the +pause himself.</p> + +<p>"Are you glad to see me, Theodora?" he said, in a low, unsteady voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, tremulously. "I am glad."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," he returned. "And yet it was chance that brought me here. I +was not even sure you were in Paris until I saw you from the other side +of the house a few moments ago. I wonder, my dear Theodora," slipping +into the old careless, whimsical manner, "I wonder if I am doomed to be +a rascal?"</p> + +<p>It might be that her excitement made her nervous; at any rate there was +a choking throb in her throat, as she answered him.</p> + +<p>"If you please," she whispered, "don't."</p> + +<p>His face softened, as if he was sorry for her girlish distress. He was +struck with a fancy that if he were cruel enough to persist, he could +make her cry. And then the relapse in the old manner, had only been a +relapse after all, and had even puzzled himself a little. So he was +quiet for a while.</p> + +<p>"And so it is Faust again," he said, breaking the silence. "Do you +remember what you said to me the first time you saw Faust, Theodora—the +night the rose-colored satin came home? Do you remember telling me that +you could die for love's sake? I wonder if you have changed your mind, +among all the fine people you have seen, and all the fine speeches you +have heard. I met one of Lady Throckmorton's acquaintances in Bordeaux, +a few days ago, and he told me a wonderful story of a young lady who was +then turning the wise heads of half the political Parisians—a sort of +enchanted princess, with a train of adorers ready to kiss the hem of her +garment."</p> + +<p>He was endeavoring to be natural, and was failing wretchedly. His voice +was actually sad, and she had never heard it sad in all their +intercourse before. She had never thought it could be sad, and the sound +was something like a revelation of the man. It made her afraid of +herself—afraid for herself. And yet above all this arose a thrill of +happiness which was almost wild. He was near her again! he had not gone +away, he would not go away yet. Yet! there was a girl's foolish, loving +comfort in the word! It seemed so impossible that she could lose him +forever, that for the brief moment she forgot Priscilla Gower and +justice altogether. In three months the whole world had altered its face +to her vision. She had altered herself; her life had altered she knew, +but she did not know that she had been happier in her ignorance of her +own heart than she could be now in her knowledge of it.</p> + +<p>Her little court were not very successful to-night. Denis Oglethorpe +kept his place at her side with a persistence which baffled the boldest +of her admirers, and she was too happy to remember the rest of the +world. It was not very polite, perhaps, and certainly it was not very +wise to forget everything but that she herself was not forgotten; but +she forgot everything else—this pretty Theo, this handsome and +impolitic Theo. She did not care for her court, though she was +sweet-temperedly grateful to her courtiers for their homage. She did +care for Denis Oglethorpe. Ah, poor Priscilla! He went home with them to +their hotel. He stayed, too, to eat of the <i>petite souper</i> Lady +Throckmorton had ordered. Her ladyship had a great deal to say to him, +and a great number of questions to ask, so he sat with them for an hour +or so accounting for himself and replying to numberless queries, all the +time very conscious of Theo, who sat by the fire in a mist of white +drapery and soft, thick, white wraps, the light from the wax tapers +flickering in Pamela's twinkling sapphires, and burning in the great +crimson-hearted rose fastened in the puffs of her hair.</p> + +<p>But Lady Throckmorton remembered at last that she had to give some +orders to her maid, and so for a moment they were left together.</p> + +<p>Then he went to the white figure at the fire and stood before it, losing +something of both color and calmness. He was going to be guilty of a +weakness, and knowing it, could not control himself. He was not so great +a hero as she had fancied him, after all. But it would have been very +heroic to have withstood a temptation so strong and so near.</p> + +<p>"Theo," he said. "The man who ran away from the danger he dared not face +is a greater coward than he fancied. The chances have been against him, +too. I suppose to-night he must turn his back to it again, but—"</p> + +<p>She stopped him all at once with a little cry. She had been so happy an +hour ago, that she could not fail to be weak now. Her face dropped upon +the hands on her lap, and were hidden there. The crimson-hearted rose +slipped from her hair and fell to her feet.</p> + +<p>"No, no!" she cried. "Don't go. It is only for a little while; don't go +yet!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>"PARTING IS SWEET SORROW."</h3> + + +<p>He did not go away. He could not yet. He stayed in Paris, day after day, +even week after week, lingering through a man's very human weakness. He +could no longer resist the knowledge of the fact that he had lost the +best part of the battle; he had lost it in being compelled to +acknowledge the presence of danger by flight; he had lost it completely +after this by being forced to admit to himself that there was not much +more to lose, that in spite of his determination, Theodora North had +filled his whole life and nature as Priscilla Gower had never filled it, +and could never fill it, were she his wife for a thousand years. He had +made a mistake, and discovered having made it too late—that was all; +but he blamed himself for having made it; blamed himself for being +blind; blamed himself more than all for having discovered his blindness +and his blunder. Thinking thus, he resolved to go away. Yes, he would go +away! He would marry Priscilla at once, and have it over. He would put +an impassable barrier between himself and Theo.</p> + +<p>But, though he reproached himself, and anathematized himself, and +resolved to go away, he did not leave Paris. He stayed in the face of +his remorseful wretchedness. It was a terrible moral condition to be in, +but he absolutely gave up, for the time, to the force of circumstances, +and floated recklessly with the current.</p> + +<p>If he had loved Theodora North when he left her for Priscilla's sake, he +loved her ten thousand fold, when he forbore to leave her for her own. +He loved her passionately, blindly, jealously. He envied every man who +won a smile from her, even while his weakness angered him. She had +changed greatly during their brief separation, but the change grew +deeper after they had once again encountered each other. She was more +conscious of herself, more fearful, less innocently frank. She did not +reveal herself to him as she had once done. There is a stage of love in +which frankness is at once unnatural and impossible, and she had reached +this stage. Even her letters to Priscilla were not frank after his +reappearance.</p> + +<p>Since the night of their interview after their return from the theatre, +he had not referred openly to his reasons for remaining. He had held +himself to the letter of his bond so far, at least, though he was often +sorely tempted. He visited Lady Throckmorton and Theo as he had visited +them in London, and was their attendant cavalier upon most occasions, +but beyond that he rarely transgressed. It was by no means a pleasant +position for a man in love to occupy. The whole world was between him +and his love, it seemed. The most infatuated of Theodora North's adorers +did not fear him, handsome and popular as he was, dangerous rival as he +might have appeared. Lady Throckmorton's world knew the history of their +favorite, having learned it as society invariably learns such things. +Most of them knew that his fate had been decided for years; all of them +knew that his stay in Paris could not be a long one. A man whose +marriage is to be celebrated in June has not many months to lose between +February and May.</p> + +<p>But this did not add to the comfort of Denis Oglethorpe. The rest of +Theo's admirers had a right to speak—he must be silent. The shallowest +of them might ask a hearing—he dared not for his dishonored honor's +sake. So even while nearest to her he stood afar off, as it were a +witness to the innocent triumph of a girlish popularity that galled him +intolerably. He puzzled her often in these days, and out of her +bewilderment grew a vague unhappiness.</p> + +<p>And yet, in spite of this, her life grew perilously sweet at times. Only +a few months ago she had dreamed of such bliss as Jane Eyre's and +Zulick's, wonderingly; but there were brief moments now and then when +she believed in it faithfully. She was very unselfish in her girlish +passion. She thought of nothing but the wondrous happiness love could +bring to her. She would have given up all her new luxuries and triumphs +for Denis Oglethorpe's sake. She would have gone back to Downport with +him, to the old life; to the mending, and bread-and-butter cutting, and +shabby dresses; she would have taken it all up again cheerfully, without +thinking for one moment that she had made a sacrifice. Downport would +have been a paradise with him. She was wonderfully devoid of calculation +or worldly wisdom, if she had only been conscious of it. An absurdly +loving, simple, impolitic young person was this Theodora of ours; but I, +for one, must confess to feeling some weak sympathy for her very +ignorance.</p> + +<p>Among the many of the girl's admirers whom Denis Oglethorpe envied +jealously, perhaps the one most jealously envied, was Victor Maurien. A +jealous man might have feared him with reason under any circumstances, +and Denis chafed at his good-fortune miserably. The man who had the +honorable right to success could not fail to torture him.</p> + +<p>"It would be an excellent match for Theo," was Lady Throckmorton's +complacent comment on the subject of the <i>attache's</i> visit, and the +comment was made to Denis himself. "M. Maurien is the very man to take +good care of her; and besides that, he is, of course, desirable. Girls +like Theo ought to marry young. Marriage is their <i>forte</i>; they are too +dependent to be left to themselves. Theo is not like Pamela or your +Priscilla Gower, for instance; queenly as Theo looks, she is the veriest +strengthless baby on earth. It is a source of wonder to me where she got +the regal air."</p> + +<p>But, perhaps, Lady Throckmorton did not understand her lovely young +relative fully. She did not take into consideration a certain mental +ripening process which had gone on slowly but surely during the last few +months. The time came when Theodora North began to comprehend her +powers, and feel the change in herself sadly. Then it was that she +ceased to be frank with Denis Oglethorpe, and began to feel a not +fully-defined humiliation and remorse.</p> + +<p>Coming in unexpectedly once, Denis found her sitting all alone, with +open book in her lap, and eyes brooding over the fire. He knew the +volume well enough at sight; it was the half-forgotten, long-condemned +collection of his youthful poems; and when she saw him, she shut it up, +and laid her folded hands upon it, as if she did not wish him to +recognize it.</p> + +<p>He was in one of his most unhappy moods, for some reason or other, and +so unreasonable was his frame of mind, that the movement, simple as it +was, galled him bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Will you tell me why you did that?" he asked, abruptly.</p> + +<p>Her eyes fell upon the carpet at her feet, but she sat with her hands +still clasped upon the half-concealed book, without answering him.</p> + +<p>"You would not have done it three months ago," he said, almost +wrathfully, "and the thing is not more worthless now than it was then, +though it was worthless enough. Give it to me, and let me fling it into +the fire."</p> + +<p>She looked up at him all at once, and her eyes were full to the brim. +Lady Throckmorton was right in one respect. She was strengthless enough +sometimes. She was worse than strengthless against Denis Oglethorpe.</p> + +<p>"Don't be angry with me," she said, almost humbly. "I don't think you +could be angry with me if you knew how unhappy I am to-day." And the +tears that had brimmed upward fell upon the folded hands themselves.</p> + +<p>"Why to-day?" he asked, softening with far more reason than he had been +galled. "What has to-day brought, Theodora?"</p> + +<p>She answered him with a soft little gasp, of a remorseful sob. "It has +brought M. Maurien," she confessed.</p> + +<p>"And sent him away again?" he added, in a low, unsteady voice.</p> + +<p>She nodded; her simple, pathetic sorrowfulness showing itself even in +the poor little gesture.</p> + +<p>"He has been very fond of me for a long time," she said, tremulously. +"He says that he loves me. He came to ask me to be his wife. I am very +sorry for him."</p> + +<p>"Why?" he asked again, unsteadily.</p> + +<p>"I was obliged to make him unhappy," she answered. "I do not love him."</p> + +<p>"Why?" he repeated yet again; but his voice had sunk into a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Because," she said, trembling all over now—"because I cannot."</p> + +<p>He could not utter another word. There was such danger for him, and his +perilled honor, in her simple tremor and sadness, that he was forced to +be silent.</p> + +<p>It was not safe to follow M. Maurien at least. But, as might be +anticipated, their conversation flagged in no slight degree. The hearts +of both were so full of one subject that it would have been hard to +force them to another. Theo, upon her low <i>sultane</i>, sat mute with +drooped eyes, becoming more silent every moment. Oglethorpe, in +regarding her beautiful downcast face, forgot himself also. It was +almost half an hour before he remembered he had not made the visit +without an object. He had something to say to her—something he had once +said to her before. He was going away again, and had come to tell her +so. But he recollected himself at last.</p> + +<p>"I must not forget that I had a purpose in coming here to-night," he +said.</p> + +<p>"A purpose?" she repeated, after him.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered. "I found last night, on returning to my hotel, that +there was a letter awaiting me from London—from my employers, in fact. +I must leave Paris to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"And will you not come back again?" she added, breathlessly almost. The +news was so sudden that it made her breathless. This was the last +time—the very last!</p> + +<p>They might never see each other again in this world, and if they did +ever chance to meet, Priscilla Gower would be his wife. And yet he was +standing there now, only a few feet from her, so near that her +outstretched hand would touch him. The full depth of misery in the +thought flashed upon her all at once, and drove the blood back to her +heart.</p> + +<p>"Why?" she gasped out unconsciously, through the very strength of her +pangs. "You are going away forever."</p> + +<p>She scarcely knew that she had uttered the words until she saw how +deathly pale he grew. The beads of moisture started out upon his +forehead, and his nervous hand went up to brush them away.</p> + +<p>"Not forever, I trust," he said, huskily. "Only until—until—"</p> + +<p>"Until July," she ended for him; "until you are married to Miss +Priscilla Gower."</p> + +<p>She held up one little, trembling, dusky hand, and actually began to +tell the intervening months off her fingers. She was trying so hard to +calm herself that she did not think what she was doing. She only knew +she must do or say something.</p> + +<p>"How many months will it be?" she said. "It is February now; March, +April, May, June, July. Five months—not quite five, perhaps. We may not +be here then. Lady Throckmorton intends to visit the Spas during the +summer."</p> + +<p>From the depths of her heart she was praying that some chance might take +them away from Paris before he returned. It would be his bridal +tour—Priscilla's bridal tour. Ah, if some wildly happy dream had only +chanced to make it her bridal tour, and she could have gone with him as +Priscilla would, from place to place; near him all the time, loving and +trusting him always, depending on him, obedient to his lightest wishes. +Miss Priscilla was far too self-restrained to ever be as foolishly, +thrillingly tender and fond, and happy as she, Theodora North, would +have been. She could have given a little sob of despair and pain as she +thought of it.</p> + +<p>As it was, the hopeless, foolish tears rose up to her large eyes, and +made them liquid and soft; and when they rose, Denis Oglethorpe saw +them. Such beautiful eyes as they were; such ignorant, believing, +fawn-like eyes. The eyes alone would have unmanned him—under the tears +he broke down utterly, and so was left without a shadow of control.</p> + +<p>He crossed the hearth with a stride and stood close to her, his whole +face ablaze with the fierceness of his remorseful self-reproach and the +power of his love.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Theo," he said. "Let me confess to you; let me tell you +the truth for once. I am a coward and a villain. I was a villain to ask +a woman I did not truly love to be my wife. I am a coward to shrink from +the result of my vanity and madness. She is better than I am—this woman +who has promised herself to me; she is stronger, truer, purer; she has +loved me, she has been faithful to me; and God knows I honor and revere +her. I am not worthy to kiss the ground her feet have trodden upon. I +was vain fool enough to think I could make her happy by giving to her +all she did not ask for—my life, my work, my strength—not remembering +that Heaven had given her the sacred right to more. She has held to our +bond for years, and now see how it has ended! I stand here before you +to-night, loving you, adoring you, worshipping you, and knowing myself a +dishonored man, a weak, proved coward, whose truth is lost forever.</p> + +<p>"I do not ask you for a word. I do not say a word further. I will not +perjure myself more deeply. I only say this as a farewell confession. It +will be farewell; we shall never see each other again on earth perhaps; +and if we do, an impassable gulf will lie between us. I shall go back to +England and hasten the marriage if I can; and then, if a whole life's +strenuous exertions and constant care and tenderness will wipe out the +dishonor my weakness has betrayed me into, it shall be wiped out. I do +not say one word of love to you, because I dare not. I only say, forgive +me, forget me, and good-by."</p> + +<p>She had listened to him with a terrified light growing in her eyes; but +when he finished she got up from her seat, shivering from head to foot.</p> + +<p>"Good-by," she said, and let him take her cold, lithe, trembling hands. +But the moment he touched them, his suppressed excitement and her own +half-comprehended pain seemed to frighten her, and she began to try to +draw them from his grasp.</p> + +<p>"Go away, please," she said, with a wild little sob. "I can't bear it. I +don't want to be wicked, and perhaps I have been wicked, too. Miss Gower +is better than I am—more worth loving. Oh, try to love her, +and—and—only go away now, and let me be alone."</p> + +<p>She ended in an actual little moan. She was shivering and sobbing, hard +as she tried to govern herself. And yet, though this man loved her, and +would have given half his life to snatch her to his arms and rain kisses +of comfort upon her, he let the cold little hand drop, and in a moment +more had left her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>THEO'S FIRST TROUBLE.</h3> + + +<p>He had been gone three days, and, in their lapse, Theo felt as if three +lustrums had passed. Their parting had been so unexpected a one, that +she could not get used to it, or believe it was anything else but a +painful dream. After all, it seemed that Fortune was crueller than she +had imagined possible. He was gone, and to Priscilla Gower; and she had +never been able to believe that some alteration, of which she had no +very definite conception, would occur, and end her innocent little ghost +of a love-story, as all love-stories should be ended. It had never been +more than the ghost of a story. Until that last night he had never +uttered a word of love to her; he had never even made the fine speeches +to her which she might have expected, and, doubtless, would have +expected, if she had been anybody else but Theodora North. She had not +expected them, though, and, consequently, was not disappointed when she +did not receive them. But she found herself feeling terribly lonely +after Denis Oglethorpe left Paris. The first day she felt more stunned +than anything else. The second her sensibilities began to revive keenly, +and she was full of sad, desperate wonder concerning him—concerning how +he would feel when he stood face to face with Priscilla Gower; how he +would look, what he would say to her. The third day was only the second +intensified, and filled with a something that was almost like a terror +now and then.</p> + +<p>It was upon this third day that Lady Throckmorton was unexpectedly +called away. A long-lost friend of her young days had suddenly made her +appearance at Rouen, and having, by chance, heard of her ladyship's +presence in Paris, had written to her a letter of invitation, which the +ties of their girlhood rendered almost a command. So to Rouen her +ladyship went, for once leaving Theo behind. Madam St. Etunne was an +invalid, and the visit could not be a very interesting one to a young +girl. This was one reason why she was left—the other was the more +important one, that she did not wish to go, and made her wishes known. +She was not sorry for the chance of being left to herself for a few +days—it would be only a few days at most.</p> + +<p>"Besides," said Lady Throckmorton, looking at her a trifle curiously, +"you do not look well yourself. Theo, you look feverish, or nervous, or +something of the kind. How was it I did not notice it before? You must +have caught cold. Yes, I believe I must leave you here."</p> + +<p>Consequently, Theo was left. She was quiet enough, too, when her +ladyship had taken her departure. It was generally supposed that Miss +North had accompanied her chaperon, and so she had very few callers. She +spent the greater part of her time in the apartment in which Denis +Oglethorpe had bidden her farewell, and, as may be easily imagined, it +did not add to her lightness of spirit to sit in her old seat and ponder +over the past in the silence of the deserted room. She arose from her +ottoman one night, and walked to one of the great mirrors that extended +from floor to ceiling. She saw herself in it as she advanced—a +regal-like young figure, with a head set like a queen's, speechful dark +eyes, and glowing lips; a face that was half child's, half woman's, and +yet wholly perfect in its fresh young life and beauty. Seeing this +reflection, she stopped and looked at it, in a swift recognition of a +new thought.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Pam!" she cried out, piteously. "Oh, my poor, darling, faded Pam. +You were pretty once, too, very dear, pretty and young. And you were +happier than I can be, for Arthur only died. Nobody came between your +love and you—nobody ever could. He died, but he was yours, Pam, and you +were his."</p> + +<p>She cried piteously and passionately when she went back to her seat, +rested her arm upon a lounging-chair near her, and hid her face upon it, +crying as only a girl can, with an innocent grief that had a pathos of +its own. She was so lovely and remorseful. It seemed to her that some +fault must have been hers, and she blamed herself that even now she +could not wish that she had never met the man whose love for her was a +dishonor to himself. Where was he now? He had told Lady Throckmorton +that business would call him to several smaller towns on his way, so he +might not be very far from Paris yet. She was thinking of this when at +last she fell asleep, sitting by the fire, still resting her hand upon +the chair by her side. It was by no means unnatural, though by no means +poetic, that her girl's pain should end so.</p> + +<p>But when the time-piece on the mantle chimed twelve with its silver +tongue, she found herself suddenly and unaccountably wide awake. She sat +up and looked about her. It was not the clock's chime that had awakened +her she thought. It must have been, something more, she was so very wide +awake indeed, and her senses were so clear. One minute later she found +out what it was. There was some slight confusion down-stairs; a door was +opened and closed, and she heard the sound of voices in the +entrance-hall. She turned her head, and listening attentively, +discovered that some one was coming up to the room in which she sat. The +door opened, and upon the threshold stood a servant bearing in his hand +a salver, and upon the salver a queer, official-looking document, such +as she did not remember ever having seen before.</p> + +<p>"A telegram," he said, rapidly in French, "for milady. They had thought +it better to acquaint Mad'moiselle."</p> + +<p>She took it from him, and opened it slowly and mechanically. She read it +mechanically also—read it twice before she comprehended its full +meaning, so great was the shock it gave her. Then she started from her +seat with a cry that made the servant start also.</p> + +<p>"Send Splaighton to me," she said, "this minute, without a moment's +delay."</p> + +<p>For the telegram she had just read told her that in a wayside inn, at +St. Quentin, Denis Oglethorpe lay dying, or so near it that the medical +man had thought it his duty to send for the only friend who was on the +right side of Calais, and that friend, whose name he had discovered by +chance, was Lady Throckmorton.</p> + +<p>It was, of course, a terribly unwise thing that Theodora North decided +upon doing an hour later. Only such a girl as she was, or as her life +had necessarily made her, would have hit upon a plan so loving, so wild +and indiscreet. But it did not occur to her, even for a second, that +there was any other thing to do. She must go to him herself in Lady +Throckmorton's stead; she must take Splaighton with her, and go try to +take care of him until Lady Throckmorton came, or could send for +Priscilla Gower and Miss Elizabeth.</p> + +<p>"Ma'mselle," began the stricken Splaighton, when, as she stood before +the erect young figure and desperate young face, this desperate plan was +hurriedly revealed to her. "Ma'mselle, you forget the imprudence—"</p> + +<p>But Theo stopped her, quite ignorant of the fact, that by doing so, she +forfeited her reputation in Splaighton's eyes forever.</p> + +<p>"He is going to die!" she said, with a wild little sob in her voice. +"And he is all alone-and—and he was to have been married, Splaighton, in +July—only a few months from now. Oh, poor Priscilla Gower! Oh, poor +girl! We must save him. I must go now and try to save him for her. Oh, +if I could just have Pamela with me."</p> + +<p>The woman saw at once that remonstrance would be worse than useless. +Theo was slowly revealing to her that this despairing, terrified young +creature would not understand her resistance in the slightest degree. +She would not comprehend what it meant; so, while Splaighton packed up a +few necessary articles, Theo superintended her, following her from place +to place, with a longing impatience that showed itself in every word and +gesture. She did not dare to do more, poor child. She had never overcome +her secret awe of her waiting-woman. In her inexperienced respect for +her, she even apologized pathetically and appealingly for the liberty +she was taking in calling upon her.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to trouble you," she said, humbly, and feeling terribly +homesick as she said it; "but I could not go alone, you know—and I must +go. There is a lace collar in that little box that you may have, +Splaighton. It is a pretty collar, and I will give you the satin bow +that is fastened to it."</p> + +<p>Scarcely two hours later they were on their way to St. Quentin. It never +occurred to Theo, in the midst of her fright and unhappiness, that she +was now doing a very unwise and dangerous thing. She only thought of one +thing, that Denis was going to die. She loved him too much to think of +herself at all, and, besides, she did not, poor innocent, know anything +about such things.</p> + +<p>It was a wonderful trial of the little old French doctor's calmness of +mind, when, on his next visit to his patient, he found himself +confronted by a tall, young creature, with a pale, desperate face, and +lovely tear-fraught eyes, instead of by the majestic, elderly person, +the perusal of Lady Throckmorton's last letter to Denis had led him to +expect. It was in the little inn parlor that he first encountered +Theodora North, when she arrived, and on seeing her he gazed over his +spectacles, first at herself, and then at the respectable Splaighton, in +a maze of bewilderment, at seemingly having made so strange a blunder.</p> + +<p>"Lady Throckmorton?" he said, at last, in English, or in a broken +attempt at it. "Oh! <i>Oui</i>—I understand. The sister of monsieur? Ah, +milady?"</p> + +<p>Theo broke in upon him in a passionate impulse of fear and grief.</p> + +<p>"No," she said. "I am not Lady Throckmorton. I am only her niece, +Theodora North. My aunt was away when your telegram arrived, and—and I +knew some one must come—so I came myself. Splaighton and I can take +care of Mr. Oglethorpe. Oh, monsieur, is it true that he is dying?—will +he never get well? How could it happen? He was so strong only a few days +since. He must not die. It cannot be true that he will die—he has so +many friends who love him."</p> + +<p>Monsieur, the doctor, softened perceptibly under this; she was so young +and innocent-looking, this girlish little English mademoiselle. Monsieur +up-stairs must be a lucky man to have won her tender young heart so +utterly. Strange and equivocal a thing as the pretty child (she seemed a +child to him) was doing, he never for an instant doubted the ignorant +faith and love that shone in the depths of her beautiful agonized eyes. +He bowed to her as deferentially as to a sultana, when he made his +answer.</p> + +<p>"It had been an accident," he commenced. "The stage had overturned on +its way, and monsieur being in it, had been thrown out by its falling +into a gully. His collar-bone had been broken, and several of his ribs +fractured; but the worst of his injuries had been a gash on his head—a +sharp stone had done it. Mademoiselle would understand wherein the +danger lay. He was unconscious at present."</p> + +<p>This he told her on their way to the chamber up-stairs; but even the +gravity of his manner did not prepare her for the sight the opening of +the door revealed to her. Handsome Denis Oglethorpe lay upon the narrow +little bed with the face of a dying man, which is far worse than that of +a dead man. There were spots of blood on his pillow and upon his +garments; he was bandaged from head to foot, it seemed, with ghastly +red, wet bandages; his eyes were glazed, and his jaw half dropped.</p> + +<p>A low, wild cry broke from the pale lips of the figure in the door-way, +and the next instant Theodora North had flown to the bedside and dropped +upon her knees by it, hiding her deathly-stricken young face upon her +lover's lifeless hand, forgetting Splaighton, forgetting the doctor, +forgetting even Priscilla Gower, forgetting all but that she, in this +moment, knew that she could not give him up, even to the undivided quiet +of death.</p> + +<p>"He will die! He will die!" she cried out. "And I never told him. Oh, my +love! love! Oh, my dearest, dear!"</p> + +<p>The little, old doctor drew back, half way, through a suddenly stranger +impulse of sympathy. He was uneasily conscious of the fact, that the +staid, elderly person at his side was startled and outraged +simultaneously by this passionate burst of grief on the part of her +young mistress. He had seen so many of these unprepossessing English +waiting-women that he understood the state of her feelings as by +instinct. He turned to her with all the blandness possible under the +circumstances, and gave her an order which would call for her presence +down-stairs.</p> + +<p>When she departed, as she did in a state bordering on petrification, he +came forward to the bedside. He did not speak, however; merely looking +down at his patient in a silence whose delicacy was worthy of honor, +even in a shrivelled little snuff-taking, French, village doctor. The +pretty young mademoiselle would be calmer before many minutes had +elapsed—his experience had taught him. And so she was. At least, her +first shock of terror wore away, and she was calm enough to speak to +him. She lifted her face from the motionless hand, and looked up at him +in a wild appeal for help, that was more than touching.</p> + +<p>"Don't say he will die!" she prayed. "Oh, monsieur, only save him, and +he will bless you forever. I will nurse him so well. Only give me +something to do, and see how faithful I shall prove. I shall never +forget anything, and I shall never be tired—if—if he can only live, +monsieur," the terrified catching of her breath making every little +pause almost a sob.</p> + +<p>"My child," he answered her, with a grave touch of something quite like +affection in his air. "My child, I shall save him, if he is to be saved, +and you shall help me."</p> + +<p>How faithfully she held to the very letter of her promises, only this +little, shrivelled village doctor could say. How tender, and watchful, +and loving she was, in her care of her charge, only he could bear +witness. She was never tired—never forgetful. She held to her place in +the poor little bedroom, day and night, with an intensity of zeal that +was actually astonishing. Priscilla Gower and Pamela North might have +been more calm—certainly would have been more self-possessed, but they +could not have been more faithful. She obeyed every order given to her +like a child. She sat by the bedside, hour after hour, day and night, +watching every change of symptom, noting every slight alteration of +color, or pulse.</p> + +<p>The friendship between herself and monsieur, the doctor, so strengthened +that the confidence between them was unlimited. She was only disobedient +in one thing. She would not leave her place either for food or rest. She +ate her poor little dinners near her patient, and, if the truth had been +known, scarcely slept at all for the first two or three days.</p> + +<p>"I could not sleep, you know," she said to the doctor, her great +pathetic eyes filling with tears. "Please let me stay until Lady +Throckmorton comes, at least."</p> + +<p>So she stayed, and watched, and waited, quite alone, for nearly a week. +But it seemed a much longer time to her. The poor, handsome face changed +so often in even those few days, and her passions of despair and hope +were so often changed with it. She never thought of Priscilla Gower. Her +love and fear were too strong to allow of her giving a thought to +anything on earth but Denis Oglethorpe. Perhaps her only consolation had +something of guilt in it; but it was so poor and desperate a comfort, +this wretched one of hearing him speak to and of her in his fever and +delirium.</p> + +<p>"My poor, handsome Theo," he would say. "Why, my beauty, there are tears +in your eyes. What a scoundrel I am, if I have brought them there. What! +the rose-colored satin again, my darling! Don't wear the rose-colored +satin, Theo. It hurts my eyes. For God's sake, Priscilla, forgive me!"</p> + +<p>And yet, even while they added to her terror, these poor ravings were +some vague comfort, since they told her that he loved her. More than +once her friend the doctor entered the room, and found her kneeling by +the bedside, holding the unresponsive hand, with a white face and wide, +tearless eyes; and seeing her thus, he read clearly that his pretty, +inexperienced <i>protege</i> had more at stake than he had even at first +fancied.</p> + +<p>It was about six days after Theodora North had arrived at St. Quentin, +when, sitting at her post one morning, she heard the lumbering stage +stop before the inn door. She rose and went to the window, half +mechanically, half anxiously. She had been expecting Lady Throckmorton, +for so long a time, that it seemed almost impossible that it could be +she. But strangers had evidently alighted. There was a bustle of +servants below, and one of them was carrying a leathern trunk into the +house immediately under her window. It was a leathern trunk, rather +shabby than otherwise, and on its side was an old label, which, being +turned toward her, she could read plainly. She read it, and gave a faint +start. It bore, in dingy black letters, the word "Downport."</p> + +<p>She had hardly time to turn round, before there was a summons at the +door, and without waiting to be answered, Splaighton entered, looking at +once decorous and injured.</p> + +<p>"There are two ladies in the parlor, mademoiselle," she said (she always +called Theo mademoiselle in these days), "two English ladies, who did +not give their names. They asked for Miss North."</p> + +<p>Theo looked at the woman, and turned pale. She did not know how or why +her mother and Pamela should come down to this place, but she felt sure +it was they who were awaiting her; and for the first time since she had +received the telegram, a shock of something like misgiving rushed upon +her. Suppose, after all, she had not done right. Suppose she had done +wrong, and they had heard of it, and came to reproach her, or worse +still (poor child, it seemed worse still to her), to take her away—to +make her leave her love to strangers. She began to tremble, and as she +went out of the room, she looked back on the face upon the pillow, with +a despairing fear that the look might be her last.</p> + +<p>She hardly knew how she got down the narrow stair-case. She only knew +that she went slowly, in a curious sort of hysterical excitement.</p> + +<p>Then she was standing upon the mat at the parlor-door; then she had +opened the door itself, and stood upon the threshold, looking in upon +two figures just revealed to her in the shadow. One figure—yes, it was +Pamela's; the other not her mother's. No, the figure of Priscilla Gower.</p> + +<p>"Pamela!" she cried out. "Oh, Pam, don't blame me!"</p> + +<p>She never knew how the sight of her standing before them, like a poor +little ghost, with her white, appealing eyes, touched one of these two +women to the heart.</p> + +<p>There was something pathetic in her very figure—something indescribably +so in her half-humble, half-fearing voice.</p> + +<p>Pamela rose up from the horse-hair sofa, and went to her.</p> + +<p>Each of the three faces was pale enough; but Pamela had the trouble of +these two, as well as her own anxiousness in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Theo," she said to her, "what have you done? Don't you understand what +a mad act you have been guilty of?"</p> + +<p>But her voice was not as sharp as usual, and it even softened before she +finished speaking. She made Theo sit down, and gave her a glass of water +to steady her nervousness. She could not be angry even at such +indiscretion as this—in the face of the tremulous hands and pleading +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Where was Lady Throckmorton?" she said. "What was she doing, to let you +come alone?"</p> + +<p>"She was away," put in Theo, faintly. "And the telegram said he was +dying, Pam, and—I didn't come alone quite. I brought Splaighton with +me."</p> + +<p>"You had no right to come at all," said Pam, trying to speak with +asperity, and failing miserably. "Mr. Oglethorpe is nothing to you. They +should have sent for Miss Gower at once."</p> + +<p>But the fact was the little doctor had searched in vain for the exact +address of the lady whose letters he found in his patient's portmanteau, +when examining his papers to find some clue to the whereabouts of his +friends, and it was by the merest chance that he had discovered it in +the end from Theo's own lips, and so had secretly written to Broome +street, in his great respect and admiration for this pretty young nurse, +who was at once so youthful and indescribably innocent. In her trouble +and anxious excitement, Theo had not once thought of doing so herself, +until during the last two days, and now there was no necessity for the +action.</p> + +<p>"And Mr. Oglethorpe," interposed Miss Gower.</p> + +<p>"He is up-stairs," Theo answered. "The doctor thinks that perhaps he may +be saved by careful nursing. I did what I could," and she stopped with a +curious click in her throat.</p> + +<p>The simple sight of Priscilla Gower, with her calm, handsome face, and +calm, handsome presence, set her so far away from him and she had seemed +so near to him during the few last days—she felt so poor and weak +through the contrast. And Pamela was right. She was nothing to him—he +was nothing to her. This was his wife who had come to him now, and +she—what was she?</p> + +<p>She led them up-stairs to the sick-room, silently, and there left them. +It had actually never occurred to her to ask herself how it was that the +two were together. She was thinking only about Denis. She went to her +own little bedroom at the top of the house—such a poor, little bare +place as it was, as poor and bare as only a bedroom in a miserable +little French road-side inn can be—only the low, white bed in it, a +chair or two, and a barren toilet-table standing near the deep window. +This deep, square window was the only part of the room holding any +attraction for Theo. From it she could look out along the road, where +the lumbering stages made their daily appearance, and could see miles of +fields behind the hedges, and watch the peasant women in their wooden +sabots journeying on to the market towns. She flung herself down on the +bare floor, in the recess formed by the window, and folded her arms upon +its broad ledge. She looked out for a minute at the road, and the +fields, and the hedges, and then gave vent to a single, sudden desperate +sob. Nobody knew her pain—nobody would ever know it. Perhaps everything +would end, and pass, and die away forever, and it would be her own pain +to the end of her life. Even Denis himself would not know it. He had +never asked her to tell him that she loved him, and if he died, he would +die without having heard a word of love from her lips. What would they +do with her now—Priscilla and Pamela? Make her go back to Paris, and +leave him to them; and if he got well they might never meet again, and, +perhaps, he would never learn who had watched by his bedside, when no +one else on earth was near to try to save him.</p> + +<p>She dropped her face upon her folded arms, sobbing in a great, +uncontrollable burst of rebellion against her fate.</p> + +<p>"No one cares for us, my darling, my angel, my love!" she cried. "They +would take me from you, if they could; but they shall not, my own. If it +was wrong, how can I help it? And, oh! what does it matter, if all the +world should be lost to me, if only you could be left? If I could only +see your dear face once every day, and hear your voice, even if it was +ever so far away, and you were not speaking to me at all."</p> + +<p>She was so wearied with her watching and excitement, that her grief wore +itself away into silence and exhausted quiet. She did not raise her +head, but let it rest upon her arms as she knelt, and before many +minutes had passed, her eyes closed with utter weariness.</p> + +<p>She awoke with a start, half an hour later. Some one was standing near +her. It had been twilight when she fell asleep, and now the room was so +gray, that she could barely distinguish who it was. A soft, thick shawl +had been dropped over her, evidently by the person in question. When +Theo's eyes became accustomed to the shadows, she recognized the erect, +slender figure and handsome head. It was Priscilla Gower, and Priscilla +Gower was leaning against the window, and looking down at her fixedly.</p> + +<p>"You were cold when I found you," were her first words, "and so I threw +my shawl around you. You ought not to have gone to sleep there."</p> + +<p>"I fell asleep before I knew that I was tired," said Theo. "Thank you, +Miss Gower."</p> + +<p>There was a pause of a moment, before she summoned courage to speak +again.</p> + +<p>"I have not had time yet," she hesitated, at last, "to ask you how Miss +Elizabeth is. I hope she is well?"</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to say she is not," Priscilla replied. "If she had been +well, she would have accompanied me here. She has been very weak of +late. It was on that account that I applied to your sister when the +doctor's letter told me I was needed."</p> + +<p>"I have been expecting Lady Throckmorton for so long, that I am afraid +something has gone wrong," said Theo.</p> + +<p>To this remark, Priscilla made no reply. She was never prone to be +communicative regarding Lady Throckmorton. But she had come here to say +something to Theodora North, and at last she said it.</p> + +<p>"You have been here—how long?" she asked, suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Nearly a week," said Theo.</p> + +<p>"Is Mr. Oglethorpe better, or worse, than when you saw him first?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know exactly," answered the low, humble voice. "Sometimes +better—though I do not think he is ever much worse."</p> + +<p>Another pause, and then:</p> + +<p>"You were very brave to come so far alone."</p> + +<p>The beautiful, dark, inconsistently, un-English face was uplifted all at +once, but the next moment it dropped with a sob of actual anguish.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Miss Gower!" the girl cried. "Don't blame me; please don't blame +me. There was no one else, and the telegram said he was dying."</p> + +<p>"Hush," said Priscilla Gower, with an inexplicable softness in her tone. +"I don't blame you; I should have done the same thing in your place."</p> + +<p>"But you—" began Theo, faintly.</p> + +<p>Priscilla stopped her before she had time to finish her sentence; +stopped her with a cold, clear, steady voice.</p> + +<p>"No," she said. "You are making a mistake."</p> + +<p>What this brief speech meant, she did not explain; but she evidently had +understood what Theodora was going to say, and had not wished to hear +it.</p> + +<p>But brief speech as it was, its brevity held a swift pang of new fear +for Theo. She could not quite comprehend its exact meaning, but it +struck a fresh dread to her heart. Could it be that she knew the truth, +and was going to punish him? Could she be cruel enough to think of +reproaching him at such an hour as this, when he lay at death's door? +Some frantic idea of falling at her stern feet and pleading for him +rushed into her mind. But the next moment, glancing up at the erect, +motionless figure, she became dimly conscious of something that quieted +her, she scarcely knew how.</p> + +<p>The dim room was so quiet, too; there was so deep a stillness upon the +whole place, it seemed that she gained a touch of courage for the +instant. Priscilla was not looking at her now; her statuesque face was +turned toward the wide expanse of landscape, fast dying out, as it were, +in the twilight grayness. Theo's eyes rested on her for a few minutes in +a remorseful pity for, and a mute yearning toward this woman whom she +had so bitterly, yet so unconsciously wronged. She would not wrong her +more deeply still; the wrong should end just as she had thought it had +ended, when Denis dropped her hand and left her standing alone before +the fire that last night in Paris. This resolve rose up in her mind with +a power so overwhelming, that it carried before it all the past of +rebellion, and pain, and love. She would go away before he knew that she +had been with him at all. She would herself be the means of bringing to +pass the end she had only so short a time ago rebelled against so +passionately. He should think it was his promised wife who had been with +him from the first. She would make Priscilla promise that it should be +so. Having resolved this, her new courage—courage, though it was so +full of desperate, heart-sick pain, helped her to ask a question bearing +upon her thoughts. She touched the motionless figure with her hand.</p> + +<p>"Did Pamela come here to bring me away?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Priscilla Gower turned, half starting, as though from a reverie.</p> + +<p>"What did you say?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Did Pamela come to take me away from here?" Theo repeated.</p> + +<p>"No," she said. "Do not be afraid of that."</p> + +<p>Theo looked out of the window, straight over her folded arms. The answer +had not been given unkindly, but she could not look at Priscilla Gower, +in saying what she had to say.</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid," she said. "I think it would be best; I must go back +to Paris or to—to Downport, before Mr. Oglethorpe knows I have been +here at all. You can take care of him now—and there is no need that he +should know I ever came to St. Quentin. I dare say I was very unwise in +coming as I did; but, I am afraid I would do the same thing again under +the same circumstances. If you will be so kind as to let him think +that—that it was you who came——"</p> + +<p>Priscilla Gower interrupted her here, in the same manner, and with the +same words, as she had interrupted her before.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" she said. "You are making a mistake, again——"</p> + +<p>She did not finish what she was saying. A hurried footstep upon the +stairs stopped her; and as both turned toward the door, it was opened, +and Pamela stood upon the threshold and faced them, looking at each in +the breathless pause that followed.</p> + +<p>"There has been a change," she said. "A change for the worse. I have +sent for the doctor. You had better come down-stairs at once, Theodora, +you have been here long enough to understand him better than we can."</p> + +<p>And down together they went; and the first thing that met their eyes as +they entered the sick-room, was Oglethorpe, sitting up in bed, with wild +eyes, haggard and fever-mad, struggling with his attendants, who were +trying to hold him down, and raving aloud in the old strain Theo had +heard so often.</p> + +<p>"Why, Theo, my beauty, there are tears in your eyes. Good-by! Yes! +Forgive me! Forget me, and good-by! For God's sake, Priscilla, forgive +me!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>WHAT COMES OF IT ALL.</h3> + + +<p>The hardest professional trouble the shrivelled little French doctor +had, perhaps, ever encountered, was the sight of the white, woe-stricken +young face, turned up to his when Theodora North followed him out of the +chamber upon the landing that night, and caught his arm in both her +clinging hands.</p> + +<p>"He will die now, doctor," she said, in an agonized whisper. "He will +die now; I saw it in your face when you let his hand drop."</p> + +<p>It would have been a hard-hearted individual who would have told the +exact truth in the face of these beautiful, agonized eyes—and the +little doctor was anything but hard of heart.</p> + +<p>He patted the clinging hands quite affectionately, feeling in secret +great apprehension, yet hiding his feelings admirably.</p> + +<p>"My little mademoiselle," he said (the tall young creature at his side +was almost regal, head and shoulders above him in height). "My dear +little Mademoiselle Theodora, this will not do. If you give way, I shall +give way too. You must help me—we must help each other, as we have been +doing. It is you only who can save him—it is you he calls for. You must +hope with me until some day when he awakes to know us, and then I shall +show you to him, and say, 'here is the beautiful young mademoiselle who +saved you.' And then we shall see, Miss Theodora—then we shall see what +a charm those words will work."</p> + +<p>But she did not seem to be comforted, as he expected she would be.</p> + +<p>"No," she said. "The time will never come when you can say that to him. +If he is ever well enough to know me, I must go away, and no one must +tell him I have been here."</p> + +<p>Monsieur, the doctor, looked at her over his spectacles, sharply.</p> + +<p>The pale face at once touched and suggested to him the outline of a +little romance—and he had all a Frenchman's sympathy for +romance—monsieur, the doctor. It was <i>une grande passion</i>, was it, and +this tractable, beautiful young creature was going to make a sacrifice +of all her hope of love, upon the altar of stern honor. But he made no +comment, only patted her hand again.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," he said. "We shall see, mademoiselle, we shall see. Only +let us hope."</p> + +<p>The days and nights of watching, in companionship with Priscilla Gower, +were a heavy trial to Theo. Not that any unusual coldness in the +handsome face was added to her troubles as an extra burden. Both +Priscilla and Pamela were very mindful of her comfort—so very mindful +that their undemonstrative care for her cut her to the heart, sometimes. +Yet, somehow, she felt herself as a stranger, without the right to watch +with them. It was so terrible a thing to stand near the woman she had +innocently injured, and listen with her to the impassioned adjurations +of the lover who had been false, in spite of himself. It seemed his mind +was always upon the one theme, and in his delirium his ravings wandered +from Priscilla to Theo, and from Theo to Priscilla, in a misery that was +not without its pathos. Sometimes it was that last night in Paris—and +he went over his farewell, word for word; sometimes it was his wedding +day—and he was frantically appealing to Priscilla for forgiveness, and +remorsefully anathematizing himself.</p> + +<p>They were both together in the room, one evening, when he was raving +thus, when he suddenly paused for an instant and began to count slowly +upon his fingers,</p> + +<p>"January, February, March, April, May, June, July. My pretty Theo, what +a mistake it was—only seven months, and then to have lost you. Good +God, my darling!" and his voice became a low, agonized cry. "Good God, +my darling! and I cannot give you up!"</p> + +<p>Theo glanced up at Priscilla Gower, mute with misery for a moment. The +erect, black-robed figure stood between herself and the fire, +motionless, but the fixed face was so white that it forced a low cry +from her. She could not bear it a second longer. She slipped upon her +knees on the hearth rug, and caught the hem of the black dress in her +hands, in a tumult of despair and remorse.</p> + +<p>"He does not know what he is saying," she cried, breathlessly. "Oh, +forgive him, forgive him! I will go away now, if you think I ought. He +knows that you are better than I am. I will go away, and you will make +him happy. Oh! I know you will make him happier than I ever could have +done, even if he had really loved me as—as he only thought he did."</p> + +<p>A moment before, Priscilla had been gazing into the fire in a deep +reverie. But the passionate voice stirred her. She looked down into the +girl's imploring eyes, without a shadow of resentment.</p> + +<p>"Get up," she said, a trifle huskily. "You have done no wrong to me. Get +up, Theodora, and look at me."</p> + +<p>Unsteadily as she spoke, there was so strange a power in her voice that +Theo obeyed her. Wonderingly, sadly and humbly she rose to her feet, and +stood before Priscilla as before a judge.</p> + +<p>"Will you believe what I say to you?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Theo, sorrowfully.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, I say this to you. You have not sacrificed me, you have +saved me!"</p> + +<p>It was perhaps characteristic of her that she did not say anything more. +The subject dropped here, and she did not renew it.</p> + +<p>It was a hard battle which Denis Oglethorpe fought during the next +fortnight, in that small chamber of the wayside inn at St. Quentin; and +it was a stern antagonist he waged war against—that grim old enemy, +Death.</p> + +<p>But, with the help of the little doctor, the <i>vis medicatrix natural</i>, +and his three nurses, he gained the victory at length, and conquered, +only by a hair's breadth. The fierce fire of the brain wearing itself +out, left him as weak as a child, and for days after he returned to +consciousness, he had scarcely power to move a limb or utter a word.</p> + +<p>When first he opened his eyes upon life again, no one was in the room +but Priscilla Gower; and so it was upon Priscilla Gower that his first +conscious glance fell.</p> + +<p>He looked at her for a minute, before he found strength to speak. But at +last his faltering voice came back to him.</p> + +<p>"Priscilla," he whispered weakly. "Is it you? Poor girl!"</p> + +<p>She bent over him with a calm face, but she did not attempt to caress +him.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said. "Don't try your strength too much yet, Denis. It is I."</p> + +<p>His heavy wearied eyes searched hers for an instant.</p> + +<p>"And no one else?" he whispered again. "Is no one else here, Priscilla?"</p> + +<p>"There is no one else in the room with me," she answered, quietly. "The +rest are up-stairs. You must not talk, Denis. Try to be quiet."</p> + +<p>There was hardly any need for the caution, for his eyes were closing +again, even then, through sheer exhaustion.</p> + +<p>Theo was in her room lying down and trying to rest. But half an hour +later, when Pamela came up to her bedside, the dark eyes flew wide open +in an instant.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Pam?" she asked. "Is he worse again?"</p> + +<p>Pam sat down on the bedside, and looked at her with a sort of pity for +the almost haggard young face drooping against the white pillow.</p> + +<p>"No," she said. "He is better. The doctor said he would be, and he is. +Theo, he has spoken to Priscilla Gower, and knows her."</p> + +<p>Theo sat up in bed, white and still—all white, it seemed, but her large +hollow eyes.</p> + +<p>"Pamela," she said. "I must go home."</p> + +<p>"Where?" said Pam.</p> + +<p>The white face turned toward her pitifully.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," the girl answered, her voice fluttering almost as weakly +as Denis' had done. "I don't know—somewhere, though. To Paris again—or +to Downport," with a faint shudder. And then, all at once she flung up +her arms wildly, and dropped upon them, face downward.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Pam," she cried out, "take me back to Downport, and let me die. I +have no right here, and I had better go away. Oh, why did I ever come? +Why did I ever come?"</p> + +<p>She was sobbing in a hysterical, strained way, that was fairly terrible. +Pamela bent over her, and touched her disordered hair with a singularly +light touch. The tears welled up into her faded eyes. Just at the moment +she could think of nothing but the day, so far away now, when her own +heart had been torn up by the roots by one fierce grasp of the hand of +relentless fate—the day when Arthur had died.</p> + +<p>"Hush, Theo," she said to her, "don't cry, child."</p> + +<p>But the feverish, excited sobs only came the faster, and more wildly.</p> + +<p>"Why did I ever come?" Theo gasped. "It would have been better to have +lived and died in Downport—far better, I can tell you now, Pam, now +that it is all over. I loved him, and he loved me, too; he loved me +always from the first, though we both tried so hard, so hard; yes, we +did, Pamela, to help it. And now it is all ended, and I must never see +him again. I must live and die, grow old—old, and never see him again."</p> + +<p>There was no comfort for her. Her burst of grief and despair wore itself +away into a strained quiet, and she lay at length in silence, Pamela at +her side. But she was suffering fearfully in her intense girlish way.</p> + +<p>She did not say much more to Pamela, but she had made up her mind, +before many hours had passed, to return to Paris. She even got up in the +middle of the night, in her feverish hurry to make her slight +preparations for the journey. She could go to Paris and wait till Lady +Throckmorton came back, if she had not got back already, and then she +could do as she was told as to the rest. She would either stay there or +go to Downport with Pamela.</p> + +<p>Fortune, however, interposed. A carriage made its appearance, in the +morning, with a new arrival—an arrival no less than Lady Throckmorton +herself, bearing down upon them in actual excitement.</p> + +<p>An untoward accident had called her friend from home, and taken her to +Caen, and there, at her earnest request, her ladyship had accompanied +her. The blunder of an awkward servant had prevented her receiving the +letters from St. Quentin, and it was only on her return to Paris that +she had learned the truth.</p> + +<p>Intense as was her bewilderment at her protege's indiscretion, she felt +a touch of admiration, at the simple, faithful daring of the girl's +course.</p> + +<p>"It is sufficiently out of the way for Priscilla Gower to be here, and +she is his promised wife; and Pamela is nearly thirty-two years old and +looks forty; but you, Theodora—you to run away from Paris, with no one +but a maid; to run away to nurse a man like Denis Oglethorpe. It +actually takes away my breath. My dear, innocent little simpleton, what +were you thinking about?"</p> + +<p>It would be futile to attempt to describe her state of mind when she +discovered that Denis had not learned of Theo's presence in the house.</p> + +<p>But, being quick-sighted, and keen of sense, she began to comprehend at +last, and it was Priscilla Gower who assisted her to a clearer state of +mind.</p> + +<p>Two days later, when, after a visit to his patient, the little doctor +was preparing to take his departure, Priscilla Gower addressed him +suddenly, as it seemed, without the slightest regard to her ladyship's +presence.</p> + +<p>"You think your patient improves rapidly," she said.</p> + +<p>"Very rapidly," was the answer. "Men like him always do, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>She bent her head in acquiescence.</p> + +<p>"I have a reason for asking this," she said. "Do you think he is strong +enough to bear a shock?"</p> + +<p>"Of what description, mademoiselle? Of grief, or—or of joy?"</p> + +<p>"Of joy, monsieur," she answered, distinctly.</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle," said the doctor, "joy rarely kills."</p> + +<p>She bent her erect head again.</p> + +<p>She had not regarded the fact of her old enemy's presence ever so +slightly while she spoke, but when the doctor was gone she addressed +her.</p> + +<p>"I have been thinking of returning to London at once, if possible," she +said. "Miss Gower's ill-health renders any further absence a neglect. If +I go, would it be possible for you to remain here, with Miss North?"</p> + +<p>"Pamela?" suggested Lady Throckmorton.</p> + +<p>"Theodora," was the calm reply.</p> + +<p>An odd silence of a moment, and then the eyes of the two women met each +other, in one long, steady look; Lady Throckmorton's profoundly +searching, wonderingly questioning; Priscilla Gower's steadfast, calm, +almost defiant.</p> + +<p>Then Lady Throckmorton spoke.</p> + +<p>"I will stay," she said, "and she shall stay with me."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," with another slight bend of the handsome head. "I am going +now to speak to Mr. Oglethorpe. When I open the door will you send Miss +North, Theodora, to me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered her ladyship.</p> + +<p>So Priscilla Gower crossed the narrow landing, and went into the +sick-room, and her ladyship summoned Theodora North, and bade her wait, +not telling her why. What passed behind the closed doors only three +people can tell, and those three people are Denis Oglethorpe, his wife, +and the woman who, in spite of her coldness, was truer to him than he +dared be to himself. There was no sound of raised or agitated voices, +all was calm and seemingly silent. Fifteen minutes passed—half an hour; +nearly an hour, and then Priscilla Gower stepped out upon the landing, +and Lady Throckmorton spoke to Theo.</p> + +<p>"Go to her," was her command. "She wants you."</p> + +<p>The poor child arose mechanically and went out. She did not understand +why she was wanted—she scarcely cared. She merely went because she was +told. But when she looked up at Priscilla Gower, she caught her breath +and drew back. But Priscilla held out her hand to her.</p> + +<p>"Come," she commanded. And before Theo had time to utter a word, she was +drawn into the chamber, and the door closed.</p> + +<p>Denis was lying upon a pile of pillows, and pale as he was, she saw, in +one instant, that something had happened, and that he was not unhappy, +whatever his fate was to be.</p> + +<p>"I have been telling Mr. Oglethorpe," Priscilla said to her, "all that +you have done, Theodora. I have been telling him how you forgot the +world, and came to him when he was at the world's mercy. I have told +him, too, that five years ago he made a great mistake which I shared +with him. It was a great mistake, and it had better be wiped out and +done away with, and we have agreed what it shall be. So I have brought +you here—"</p> + +<p>All the blood in Theodora North's heart surged into her face, in a great +rush of anguish and bewilderment.</p> + +<p>"No! no!" she cried out. "No! no! only forgive him, and let me go. Only +forgive him, and let him begin again. He must love you—he does love +you. It was my fault—not his. Oh—"</p> + +<p>Priscilla stopped her, smiling, in a half-sad way.</p> + +<p>"Hush!" she said, quietly. "You don't understand me. The fault was only +the fault of the old blunder. Don't try to throw your happiness away, +Theodora. You were not made to miss it. I have not been blind all these +months. How could I be? I only wanted to wait and make sure that this +was not a blunder, too. I have known it from the first. Theo, I have +done now—the old tangle is unravelled. Go to him, Theo, he wants you."</p> + +<p>The next instant the door closed upon Priscilla, as she went out, and +Theodora North understood clearly what she had before never dared to +dream of.</p> + +<p>There was one brief, breathless pause, and then Denis Oglethorpe held +out his arms.</p> + +<p>"My darling," he said. "Mine, my own."</p> + +<p>She slipped down by his side, beautiful, tremulous, with glowing cheeks +and tear-wet eyes. She remembered Priscilla Gower then.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my love!" she cried. "She is better than I am, braver and more +noble; but she can never love you better, or be more faithful and true +than I will be. Only try me; only try me, my darling."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Three months subsequently, when Pamela and Priscilla had settled down +again to the routine of their old lives, there was a quiet wedding +celebrated at Paris—a quiet wedding, though it was under Lady +Throckmorton's patronage.</p> + +<p>In their tender remembrance of Priscilla Gower, it was made a quiet +wedding—so quiet, indeed, that the people who made the young English +beauty's romance a topic of conversation and nine days' wonder, scarcely +knew it had ended.</p> + +<p>And in Broome street, Priscilla Gower read the announcement in the +paper, with only the ghost of a faint pang.</p> + +<p>"I suppose I am naturally a cold woman," she wrote to Pamela North, with +whom she sustained a faithful correspondence. "I will acknowledge, at +least, to a certain lack of enthusiasm. I can be faithful, but I cannot +be impassioned. It is impossible for me to suffer as your pretty Theo +could, as it is equally impossible for me to love as she did. I have +lost something, of course, but I have not lost all."</p> + +<p>Between these two women there arose a friendship which was never +dissolved. Perhaps the one thing they had in common, drew them toward +each other; at any rate, they were faithful; and even when, three years +later, Priscilla Gower married a man who loved her, and having married +him, was a calmly happy woman, they were faithful to each other still.</p> + +<h4>THE END.</h4> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Advertisements</h2> + + +<h3>Reasons why you should obtain a Catalogue of our Publications</h3> + +<h4><i>A postal to us will place it in your hands</i></h4> + +<p>1. You will possess a comprehensive and classified list of all the best +standard books published, at prices less than offered by others.</p> + +<p>2. You will find listed in our catalogue books on every topic: Poetry, +Fiction, Romance, Travel, Adventure, Humor, Science, History, Religion, +Biography, Drama, etc., besides Dictionaries and Manuals, Bibles, +Recitation and Hand Books, Sets, Octavos, Presentation Books and +Juvenile and Nursery Literature in immense variety.</p> + +<p>3. You will be able to purchase books at prices within your reach; as +low as 10 cents for paper covered books, to $5.00 for books bound in +cloth or leather, adaptable for gift and presentation purposes, to suit +the tastes of the most critical.</p> + +<p>4. You will save considerable money by taking advantage of our <span class="smcap">Special +Discounts</span>, which we offer to those whose purchases are large enough to +warrant us in making a reduction.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>The Famous Alger Books</h3> + +<h4>By Horatio Alger, Jr. The Boy's Writer</h4> + +<p>A series of books known to all boys; books that are good and wholesome, +with enough "ginger" in them to suit the tastes of the younger +generation. The Alger books are not filled with "blood and thunder" +stories of a doubtful character, but are healthy and elevating, and +parents should see to it that their children become acquainted with the +writings of this celebrated writer of boys' books. We publish the titles +named below:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Adrift in New York.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Andy Gordon.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Andy Grant's Pluck.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bob Burton.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bound to Rise.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Brave and Bold.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cash Boy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Chester Rand.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Do and Dare.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Driven from Home.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Erie Train Boy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Facing the World.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hector's Inheritance.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Helping Himself.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Herbert Carter's Legacy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In a New World.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jack's Ward.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Jed, the Poor House Boy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Julius, the Street Boy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Luke Walton.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Making His Way.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Only an Irish Boy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Paul the Peddler.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Phil the Fiddler.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ralph Raymond's Heir.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Risen from the Ranks.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sam's Chance.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shifting for Himself.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sink or Swim.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Slow and Sure.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Store Boy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strive and Succeed.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strong and Steady.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tin Box.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tony, the Tramp.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tom the Bootblack.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Try and Trust.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Young Acrobat.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Young Outlaw.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Young Salesman.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>A BOOK OF THE HOUR</h4> + +<h3>The Simple Life</h3> + +<h4>By CHARLES WAGNER</h4> + +<h4>Translated from the French by H. L. WILLIAMS</h4> + +<p>The sale of this book has been magnetic and its effect far-reaching. It +has the endorsement of public men, literary critics and the press +generally.</p> + +<p><i>This is the book that President Roosevelt preaches to his countrymen.</i></p> + +<p>The price is made low enough to be within the reach of all. Don't fail +to purchase a copy yourself and recommend it to your friends.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>Helen's Babies</h3> + +<h4>By John Habberton</h4> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Interesting!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Entertaining!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Amusing!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A Book with a famous reputation. It is safe to say that no book, +illustrating the doings of children, has ever been published that has +reached the popularity enjoyed by "<span class="smcap">Helen's Babies</span>." Brilliantly written, +Habberton records in this volume some of the cutest, wittiest and most +amusing of childish sayings, whims and pranks, all at the expense of a +bachelor uncle. The book is elaborately illustrated, which greatly +assists the reader in appreciating page by page, Habberton's +masterpiece.</p> + +<p>We guarantee that you will not suffer from "the blues" after reading +this book.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>Mirthful Books Worth Reading!</h4> + +<h3>Peck's Books of Humor</h3> + +<p>No author has achieved a greater national reputation for books of +genuine humor and mirth than <span class="smcap">George W. Peck</span>, author of "Peck's Bad Boy +and His Pa."</p> + +<p>We are fortunate to be able to offer, within everyone's reach, three of +his latest books. The titles are</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Peck's Uncle Ike,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Peck's Sunbeams,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Peck's Red-Headed Boy.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>By failing to procure any one of these books you lose an opportunity to +"laugh and grow fat." When you get one you will order the others.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>Elegant Gift Books</h4> + +<h3>Hurst's Presentation Series</h3> + +<p>A beautiful series of Young People's Books to suit the tastes of the +most fastidious. The publishers consider themselves fortunate in being +able to offer such a marvelous line of choice subjects, made up into +attractive presentation volumes. Large type, fine heavy paper, numerous +pictures in black, inserted with six lithographic reproductions in ten +colors by eminent artists, bound in extra English cloth, with three ink +and gold effects.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Andersen's Fairy Tales.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Arabian Nights.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Black Beauty.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Child's History of England.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Grimm's Fairy Tales.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Gulliver's Travels.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Helen's Babies.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mother Goose, Complete.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Palmer Cox's Fairy Book.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Peck's Uncle Ike and the Red-Headed Boy.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pilgrim's Progress.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Robinson Crusoe.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Swiss Family Robinson.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tales from Scott for Young People.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tom Brown's School Days.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Uncle Tom's Cabin.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Books sure to be a delight to every boy and girl who becomes the proud +possessor of any or all of them.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h3>The Works of Mary J. Holmes</h3> + +<p>This popular novel writer has written a large number of successful books +that have been widely circulated and are constantly in demand. We issue +twenty of them as below:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Aikenside,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bad Hugh,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Cousin Maude,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Darkness and Daylight,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Dora Deane,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Edith Lyle's Secret,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">English Orphans,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ethelyn's Mistake,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Family Pride,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Homestead on the Hillside,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Leighton Homestead,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lena Rivers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Maggie Miller,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Marian Grey,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mildred,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Millbank,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Miss McDonald<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rector of St. Marks,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rose Mather,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tempest and Sunshine.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<h4>Celebrated Religious Books</h4> + +<h3><i>Stepping Heavenward</i></h3> + +<h4>By <span class="smcap">Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss</span>.</h4> + +<p>A religious book with a world-wide reputation, that has no equal +anywhere. Formerly published at a price many times higher than now +asked, this book is offered, postpaid, in cloth at 30 cents, and in +paper, 15 cents.</p> + + +<h3><i>In His Steps; Or, What Would Jesus Do?</i></h3> + +<h4>By <span class="smcap">Rev. Charles M. Sheldon</span>.</h4> + +<p>A remarkable book with a remarkable sale. Over 2,000,000 copies of this +famous work have been sold, and yet the sale does not diminish.</p> + +<p>Other books by the same author are</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"><i>The Crucifixion of Philip Strong</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Robert Hardy's Seven Days</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Theo, by Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEO *** + +***** This file should be named 27990-h.htm or 27990-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/9/9/27990/ + +Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/27990.txt b/27990.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9110f71 --- /dev/null +++ b/27990.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4395 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Theo, by Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Theo + A Sprightly Love Story + +Author: Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett + +Release Date: February 4, 2009 [EBook #27990] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEO *** + + + + +Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THEO. + + _A SPRIGHTLY LOVE STORY._ + + BY MRS. FRANCES HODGSON BURNETT + +AUTHOR OF "KATHLEEN," "PRETTY POLLY PEMBERTON," "LINDSAY'S LUCK," "IN +CONNECTION WITH THE DE WILLOUGHBY CLAIM," "THE MAKING OF A MARCHIONESS," +"THE METHODS OF LADY WALDERHURST," ETC. + + +NEW YORK +HURST & COMPANY +PUBLISHERS + +COPYRIGHT, 1877 +By T. B. PETERSON & BROTHERS. + + + + +MRS. BURNETT'S NOVELETTES. + + +_Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett is one of the most charming among American +writers. There is a crisp and breezy freshness about her delightful +novelettes that is rarely found in contemporaneous fiction, and a close +adherence to nature, as well, that renders them doubly delicious. Of all +Mrs. Burnett's romances and shorter stories those which first attracted +public attention to her wonderful gifts are still her best. She has done +more mature work, but never anything half so pleasing and enjoyable. +These masterpieces of Mrs. Burnett's genius are all love stories of the +brightest, happiest and most entertaining description; lively, cheerful +love stories in which the shadow cast is infinitesimally small compared +with the stretch of sunlight; and the interest is always maintained at +full head without apparent effort and without resorting to the +conventional and hackneyed devices of most novelists, devices that the +experienced reader sees through at once. No more sprightly novel than +"Theo" could be desired, and a sweeter or more beautiful romance than +"Kathleen" does not exist in print, while "Pretty Polly Pemberton" +possesses besides its sprightliness a special interest peculiar to +itself, and "Miss Crespigny" would do honor to the pen of any novelist, +no matter how celebrated. "Lindsay's Luck," "A Quiet Life," "The Tide on +the Moaning Bar" and "Jarl's Daughter" are all worthy members of the +same collection of Mrs. Burnett's earlier, most original, best and +freshest romances. Everybody should read these exceptionally bright, +clever and fascinating novelettes, for they occupy a niche by themselves +in the world's literature and are decidedly the most agreeable, charming +and interesting books that can be found anywhere._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + +I. PREPARING FOR A JOURNEY + +II. THE ARRIVAL + +III. THE MEETING + +IV. THEO'S DIARY + +V. THE SEPARATION + +VI. THEO GOES TO PARIS + +VII. "PARTING IS SWEET SORROW" + +VIII. THEO'S FIRST TROUBLE + +IX. WHAT COMES OF IT ALL + + + + +"THEO." + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +PREPARING FOR A JOURNEY. + + +A heavy curtain of yellow fog rolled and drifted over the waste of +beach, and rolled and drifted over the sea, and beneath the curtain the +tide was coming in at Downport, and two pair of eyes were watching it. +Both pair of eyes watched it from the same place, namely, from the +shabby sitting-room of the shabby residence of David North, Esq., +lawyer, and both watched it without any motive, it seemed, unless that +the dull gray waves and their dull moaning were not out of accord with +the watchers' feelings. One pair of eyes--a youthful, discontented black +pair--watched it steadily, never turning away, as their owner stood in +the deep, old-fashioned window, with both elbows resting upon the broad +sill; but the other pair only glanced up now and then, almost furtively, +from the piece of work Miss Pamela North, spinster, held in her slender, +needle-worn fingers. + +There had been a long silence in the shabby sitting-room for some +time--and there was not often silence there. Three rampant, +strong-lunged boys, and as many talkative school-girls, made the house +of David North, Esq., rather a questionable paradise. But to-day, being +half-holiday, the boys were out on the beach digging miraculous +sand-caves, and getting up miraculous piratical battles and excursions +with the bare-legged urchins so numerous in the fishermen's huts; and +Joanna and Elinor had been absent all day, so the room left to Theo and +her elder sister was quiet for once. + +It was Miss Pamela herself who broke the stillness. "Theo," she said, +with some elder-sister-like asperity, "it appears to me that you might +find something better to do than to stand with your arms folded, as you +have been doing for the last half hour. There is a whole basketful of +the boys' socks that need mending and--" + +"Pam!" interrupted Theo, desperately, turning over her shoulder a face +more like the face of some young Spanish gipsy than that of a poor +English solicitor's daughter. "Pam, I should really like to know if life +is ever worth having, if everybody's life is like ours, or if there are +really such people as we read of in books." + +"You have been reading some ridiculous novel again," said Pamela, +sententiously. "If you would be a little more sensible, and less +romantic, Theodora, it would be a great deal better for all of us. What +have you been reading?" + +The capable gipsy face turned to the window again half-impatiently. + +"I have been reading nothing to-day," was the answer. "I should think +you knew that--on Saturday, with everything to do, and the shopping to +attend to, and mamma scolding every one because the butcher's bill can't +be paid. I was reading Jane Eyre, though, last night. Did you ever read +Jane Eyre, Pamela?" + +"I always have too much to do in attending to my duty," said Pamela, +"without wasting my time in that manner. I should never find time to +read Jane Eyre in twenty years. I wish I could." + +"I wish you could, too," said Theo, meditatively. "I wish there was no +such thing as duty. Duty always appears to me to be the very thing we +don't want to do." + +"Just at present, it is your duty to attend to those socks of Ralph and +Arthur's," put in Pamela, dryly. "Perhaps you had better see to it at +once, as tea will be ready soon, and you will have to cut bread for the +children." + +The girl turned away from the window with a sigh. Her discussions on +subjects of this kind always ended in the same unsatisfactory manner; +and really her young life was far from being a pleasant one. As the next +in age to Pamela, though so many years lay between them, a hundred petty +cares fell on her girlish shoulders, and tried her patience greatly with +their weight, sometimes. And in the hard family struggle for everyday +necessities there was too much of commonplace reality to admit of much +poetry. The wearisome battling with life's needs had left the mother, as +it leaves thousands of women, haggard, careworn, and not too smooth in +disposition. There was no romance about her. She had fairly forgotten +her girlhood, it seemed to lie so far behind; and even the unconquerable +mother-love, that gave rise to her anxieties, had a touch of hardness +about it. And Pamela had caught something of the sharp, harassed spirit +too. But Theo had an odd secret sympathy for Pamela, though her sister +never suspected it. Pamela had a love-story, and in Theo's eyes this one +touch of forlorn romance was the silver lining to many clouds. Ten years +ago, when Pamela had been a pretty girl, she had had a lover--poor +Arthur Brunwalde--Theo always mentally designated him; and only a week +before her wedding-day, death had ended her love-story forever. Poor +Pamela! was Theo's thought: to have loved like Jane Eyre, and Agnes +Wickfield, and Lord Bacon, and to have been so near release from the +bread-and-butter cutting, and squabbling, and then to have lost all. +Poor Pamela, indeed! So the lovely, impulsive, romance-loving younger +sister cherished an odd interest in Pamela's thin, sharp face, and +unsympathizing voice, and in picturing the sad romance of her youth, was +always secretly regardful of the past in her trials of the present. + +As she turned over the socks in the basket, she glanced up now and then +at Pamela's face, which was bent over her work. It had been a pretty +face, but now there were faint lines upon it here and there; the +features once delicate were sharpened, the blue eyes were faded, and the +blonde hair faded also. It was a face whose youth had been its beauty, +and its youth had fled with Pamela North's happiness. Her life had ended +in its prime; nay, not ended, for the completion had never come--it was +to be a work unfinished till its close. Poor Arthur Brunwalde! + +A few more silent stitches, and then the work slipped from Theo's +fingers into her lap, and she lifted her big, inconsistent eyes again. + +"Pam," she said, "were you ever at Lady Throckmorton's?" + +A faint color showed itself on Pamela's faded face. + +"Yes," she answered, sharply, "I was once. What nonsense is running in +your mind now, for goodness sake?" + +Theo flushed up to her forehead, no half flush; she actually glowed all +over, her eyes catching a light where her delicate dark skin caught the +dusky red. + +"Don't be cross, Pam," she said, appealingly. "I can't help it. The +letter she sent to mamma made me think of it. Oh, Pam! if I could only +have accepted the invitation." + +"But you can't," said Pam, concisely. "So you may as well let the matter +rest." + +"I know I can't," Theo returned, her quaint resignation telling its own +story of previous disappointments. "I have nothing to wear, you know, +and, of course, I couldn't go there, of all places in the world, without +something nice." + +There was another silence after this. Theo had gone back to her work +with a sigh, and Miss Pamela was stitching industriously. She was never +idle, and always taciturn, and on this occasion her mind was fully +occupied. She was thinking of Lady Throckmorton's invitation too. + +Her ladyship was a half-sister of their father's, and from the height of +her grandeur magnanimously patronizing now and then. It was during her +one visit to London, under this relative's patronage, that Pamela had +met Arthur Brunwalde, and it was through her that the match had been +made. But when Arthur died, and she found that Pamela was fixed in her +determination to make a sacrifice of her youth on the altar of her dead +love, Lady Throckmorton lost patience. It was absurd, she said; Mr. +North could not afford it, and if Pamela persisted, she would wash her +hands of the whole affair. But Pamela was immovable, and, accordingly, +had never seen her patroness since. It so happened, however, that her +ladyship had suddenly recollected Theo, whose gipsy face had once struck +her fancy, and the result of the sudden recollection was another +invitation. Her letter had arrived that very morning at breakfast time, +and had caused some sensation. A visit to London, under such auspices, +was more than the most sanguine had ever dared to dream of. + +"I wish I was Theo," Joanna had grumbled. "She always gets the lion's +share of everything, because Elin and I are a bit younger than she is." + +And Theo had glowed up to her soft, innocent eyes, and neglected the +bread-and-butter cutting, to awaken a moment later to sudden despair. + +"But--but I have nothing fit to wear, mamma," she said, in anguished +tones. + +"No," answered Mrs. North, two or three new lines showing themselves on +her harassed forehead; "and we can't afford to buy anything. You can't +go, Theo." + +And so the castle which had towered so promisingly in the air a moment +ago, was dashed to the dust with one touch of shabby gentility's +tarnished wand. The glow died out of Theo's face, and she went back to +her bread-and-butter cutting with a soreness of disappointment which +was, nevertheless, not without its own desperate resignation. This was +why she had watched the tide come in with such a forlorn sense of +sympathy with the dull sweep of the gray waves, and their dull, creeping +moan; this was why she had been rash enough to hope for a crumb of +sympathy even from Pamela; and this also was why, in despairing of +gaining it, she bent herself to her unthankful labor again, and patched +and darned until the tide had swept back again under the curtain of fog, +and there was no more light, even for the stern taskmaster, poverty. + +The silence was effectually broken in upon after this. As soon as the +street lamps began to twinkle in the murkiness outside, the boys made +their appearance--Ralph, and Arthur, and Jack, all hungry, and +dishevelled, and of course, all in an uproar. They had dug a cave on the +shore, and played smugglers all the evening; and one fellow had brought +out a real cutlass and a real pistol, that belonged to his father, and +they had played fighting the coast-guard, and they were as hungry as the +dickens now; and was tea ready, and wouldn't Pam let them have some +strawberry-jam? + +Pamela laid her work aside, and went out of the room, and then Ralph, +who was in the habit of patronizing Theo occasionally, came to his +favorite corner and sat down, his rough hands clasped round his knees, +boy-fashion. + +"I say, Theo," he began. "I wonder how much it would cost a fellow to +buy a cutlass--a real one?" + +"I don't know," Theo answered, indifferently. "I never bought a cutlass, +Ralph." + +"No, of course you never did. What would a girl want with a cutlass? But +couldn't you guess, now--just give a guess. Would it cost a pound?" + +"I daresay it would," Theo managed to reply, with a decent show of +interest. "A good one." + +"Well, I'd want a good one," said Ralph, meditatively; "but if it would +cost a pound, I shall never have one. I say, Theo, we never do get what +we want at this house, do we?" + +"Not often," said Theo, a trifle bitterly. + +Ralph looked up at her. + +"Look here," he said, sagaciously. "I know what you are thinking of. I +can tell by your eyes. You're thinking about having to stay at home from +Lady Throckmorton's, and it is a shame too. If you are a girl, you could +have enjoyed yourself in your girl's way. I'd rather go to their place +in Lincolnshire, where old Throckmorton does his hunting. The governor +says that a fellow that was a good shot could bag as much game as he +could carry, and it wouldn't take long to shoot either. I can aim first +rate with a bow and arrow. But that isn't what you want, is it? You want +to go to London, and have lots of dresses and things. Girls always do; +but that isn't my style." + +"Ah, Ralph!" Theo broke out, her eyes filling all at once. "I wish you +wouldn't! I can't bear to hear it. Just think of how I might have +enjoyed myself, and then to think that--that I can't go, and that I +shall never live any other life than this!" + +Ralph opened his round Saxon eyes, in a manner slightly expressive of +general dissatisfaction. + +"Why, you're crying!" he said. "Confound crying. You know I don't cry +because I can't go to Lincolnshire. You girls are always crying about +something. Joanna and Elin cry if their shoes are shabby or their gloves +burst out. A fellow never thinks of crying. If he can't get the thing he +wants, he pitches in, and does without, or else makes something out of +wood that looks like it." + +Theo said no more. A summons from the kitchen came to her just then. Pam +was busy with the tea-service, and the boys were hungry--so she must go +and help. + +Pamela glanced up at her sharply as she entered, but she did not speak. +She had borne disappointments often enough, and had lived over them to +become seemingly a trifle callous to their bitterness in others, and, as +I have said, she was prone to silence. But it may be that she was not so +callous after all, for at least Theo fancied that her occasional +speeches were less sharp, and certainly she uttered no reproof to-night. +She was grave enough, however, and even more silent than usual, as she +poured out the tea for the boys. A shadow of thoughtfulness rested on +her thin sharp face, and the faint, growing lines were almost deepened; +but she did not "snap," as the children called it; and Theo was thankful +for the change. + +It was not late when the children went to bed, but it was very late when +Pamela followed them; and when she went up-stairs, she was so +preoccupied as to appear almost absent-minded. She went to her room and +locked the door, after her usual fashion; but that she did not retire +was evident to one pair of listening ears at least. In the adjoining +bedroom, where the girls slept, Theo lay awake, and could hear her every +movement. She was walking to and fro, and the sounds of opening drawers +and turned keys came through the wall every moment. Pamela had +unaccountable secret ways, Joanna always said. Her room was a sanctuary, +which the boldest did not dare to violate lightly. There were closets +and boxes there, whose contents were reserved for her own eyes alone, +and questions regarding them seldom met with any satisfactory answer. +She was turning over these possessions to-night, Theo judged, from the +sounds proceeding from her chamber. To be truthful, Theo had some +curiosity about the matter, though she never asked any questions. The +innate delicacy which prompted her to reverence the forlorn aroma of +long-withered romance about the narrow life had restrained her. But +to-night she was so wide-awake, and Joanna and Elin were so fast asleep, +that every movement forcing itself upon her ear, made her more +wide-awake still. The turning of keys and unlocking of drawers roused +her to a whimsical meditative wonder. Poor Pam! What dead memories and +coffined hopes was she bringing out to the dim light of her solitary +candle? Was it possible that she ever cried over them a little when +there was no one to see her relaxing mood? Poor Pam! Theo sighed again, +and was just deciding to go to sleep, if possible, when she heard a door +open, which was surely Pamela's, and feet crossing the narrow corridor, +which were surely Pamela's own, and then a sharp yet soft tap on the +door, and a voice which could have been no other than Pamela's, under +any possibility. + +"Theo!" it said, "I want you for a short time. Get up." + +Theo was out upon the floor, and had opened the door in an instant, +wider awake than ever. + +"Throw something over you," said Pamela, in the dry tone that always +sounded almost severe. "You will take cold if you don't. Put on a shawl +or something, and come into my room." + +Theodora caught up a shawl, and, stepping across the landing, stood in +the light, the flare of the candle making a queer, lovely picture of +her. The shawl she had wrapped carelessly over her white night-dress was +one of Lady Throckmorton's gracious gifts; and although it had been worn +by every member of the family in succession, and was frayed, and torn, +and forlorn enough in broad daylight, by the uncertain Rembrandt glare +of the chamber-candle, its gorgeous palm-leaf pattern and soft folds +made a by no means unpicturesque or unbecoming drapery, in conjunction +with the girl's grand, soft, un-English eyes, and equally un-English +ebon hair. + +"Shut the door," said Pamela. "I want to speak to you." + +Theo turned to obey, wonderingly, but, as she did so, her eyes fell upon +something which made her fairly start, and this something was nothing +less than the contents of the opened boxes and closets. Some of said +contents were revealed through raised lids; but some of them were lying +upon the bed, and the sight of them made the girl catch her breath. She +had never imagined such wealth--for it seemed quite like wealth to her. +Where had it all come from? There were piles of pretty, lace-trimmed +garments, boxes of handkerchiefs, ribbons, and laces, and actually a +number of dresses, of whose existence she had never dreamed--dresses +quaint enough in fashion, but still rich and elaborate. + +"Why, Pam!" she exclaimed, "whose are they? Why have you never--" + +Pamela stopped her with an abrupt gesture. + +"They are mine," she said. "I have had them for years, ever since +Arthur--Mr. Brunwalde died. They were to have been my bridal trousseau, +and most of them were presents from Lady Throckmorton, who was very kind +to me then. Of course, you know well enough," with dry bitterness, "I +should never have had them otherwise. I thought I would show them to you +to-night, and offer them to you. They may be of use just now." + +She stopped and cleared her throat here, with an odd, strained sound; +and before she went on, she knelt down before one of the open trunks, +and began to turn over its contents. + +"I wish you to go to Lady Throckmorton's," she said, speaking without +looking at the amazed young face at her side. "The life here is a weary +one for a girl to lead, without any change, and the visit may be a good +thing for you in many ways. My visit to Lady Throckmorton's would have +made me a happy woman, if death had not come between me and my +happiness. I know I am not at fault in saying this to you. I mean it in +a manner a girl can scarcely understand--I mean, that I want to save you +from the life you must lead, if you do not go away from here." + +Her hands were trembling, her voice, cold and dry, as it usually was, +trembled too, and the moment she paused, the amazed, picturesque young +figure swooped down upon her as it were, falling upon its knees, +flinging its white-robed arms about her, and burying her in an +unexpected confusion of black hair and oriental shawl, showering upon +her loving, passionate little caresses. For the first time in her life, +Theo was not secretly awed by her. + +"Why, Pam!" she cried, the tears running down her cheeks. "Dear, old, +generous Pamela! Do you care for me so much--enough to make such a +sacrifice! Oh, Pam! I am only a girl as you say; but I think that, +because I am a girl, perhaps I understand a little. Do you think that I +could let you make such a sacrifice? Do you think I could let you give +them to me--the things that were to have belonged to poor, dead Arthur's +wife? Oh, my generous darling! Poor dead Arthur! and the poor young wife +who died with him!" + +For some time Pamela said nothing, but Theo felt the slender, worn form, +that her arms clasped so warmly, tremble within them, and the bosom on +which she had laid her loving, impassioned face throb strangely. But she +spoke at length. + +"I will not say it is not a sacrifice," she said. "I should not speak +truly if I did. I have never told you of these things before, and why I +kept them; because such a life as ours does not make people understand +one another very clearly; but to-night, I remembered that I was a girl +too once, though the time seems so far away; and it occurred to me that +it was in my power to help you to a happier womanhood than mine has +been. I shall not let you refuse the things. I offer them to you, and +expect you to accept them, as they are offered--freely." + +Neither protest nor reasoning was of any avail. The elder sister meant +what she said, with just the settled precision that demonstrated itself +upon even the most trivial occasions; and Theo was fain to submit now, +as she would have done in any smaller matter. + +"When the things are of no further use, you may return them to me," +Pamela said, dryly as ever. "A little managing will make everything as +good as new for you now. The fashion only needs to be changed, and we +have ample material. There is a gray satin on the bed there, that will +make a very pretty dinner-dress. Look at it, Theo." + +Theo rose from her knees with the tears scarcely dry in her eyes. She +had never seen such dresses in Downport before. These things of Pamela's +had only come from London the day of Arthur's death, and had never been +opened for family inspection. Some motherly instinct, even in Mrs. +North's managing economy, had held them sacred, and so they had rested. +And now, in her girl's admiration of the thick, trailing folds of the +soft gray satin, Theodora very naturally half forgot her tears. + +"Pamela!" she said, timidly, "do you think I could make it with a train? +I never did wear a train, you know, and--" + +There was such a quaint appeal in her mellow-lighted eyes, that Pamela +perceptibly softened. + +"You shall have half a dozen trains if you want them," she said; and +then, half-falteringly, added, "Theo, there is something else. Come +here." + +There was a little carven ebony-box upon the dressing-table, and she +went to it and opened it. Upon the white velvet lining lay a pretty set +of jewels--sapphires, rarely pellucid; then clear pendants sparkling +like drops of deep sea-water frozen into coruscant solidity. + +"They were one of Mr. Brunwalde's bridal gifts to me," she said, +scarcely heeding Theo's low cry of admiration. "I should have worn them +upon my wedding-day. You are not so careless as most girls, Theodora, +and so I will trust them to you. Hold up your arm and let me clasp one +of the bracelets on it. You have a pretty arm, Theo." + +It was a pretty arm in truth, and the flashing, rose-tinted pendants set +it off to a great advantage. Theo, herself, scarcely dared to believe +her senses. Her wildest dreams had never pictured anything so beautiful +as these pretty, modest sapphires. Was it possible that she--she was to +wear them? The whole set of earrings, necklace, bracelets, rings, and +everything, with all their crystallized drops and clusters! It was a +sudden opening of the gates of fairyland! To go to London would have +been happiness enough; but to go so like an enchanted princess, in all +her enchanted finery, was more than she could realize. A color as +brilliant as the scarlet in Lady Throckmorton's frayed palm-leaf shawl +flew to her cheeks, she fairly clapped her hands in unconscious ecstasy. + +"Oh, Pam!" she cried, with pathetic gratitude. "How good you are--how +good--how good! I can't believe it, I really can't. And I will take such +care of them--such care of everything. You shall see the dresses are not +even crushed, I will be so careful." And then she ended with another +little shower of impulsive caresses. + +But it was late by this time, and with her usual forethought--a +forethought which no enthusiasm could make her forget--Pamela sent her +back to bed. She would be too tired to sew to-morrow, she said, +prudently, and there was plenty of hard work to be done; so, with a +timid farewell-kiss, Theo went to her room, and in opening her door, +awakened Joanna and Elin, who sat up in bed, dimly conscious of a white +figure wrapped in their august relative's shawl, and bearing a candle to +light up scarlet cheeks, and inconsistent eyes, and tangled back hair. + +"I am going to London," the voice pertaining to this startling figure +broke out. "Joanna and Elin, do you hear? I am going to London, to Lady +Throckmorton's." + +Joanna rubbed her eyes sleepily. + +"Oh, yes!" she said, not too amiably by any means. "Of course you are. +I knew you would. You are everlastingly going somewhere, Theo, and Elin +and I stay at home, as usual. Lady Throckmorton will never invite us, I +know. Where are your things going to come from?" snappishly. + +"Pamela!" was Theo's deprecating reply. "They are the things that +belonged to her wedding outfit. She never wore them after Mr. Brunwalde +died, you know, Joanna, and she is going to lend them to me." + +"Let us go to sleep, Elin," Joanna grumbled, drowsily. "We know all +about it now. It's just like Pam, with her partiality. She never offered +to lend them to us, and we have wanted them times and times, worse than +ever Theo does now." + +And then Theo went to bed also; but did not sleep, of course; only lay +with eyes wide open to the darkness, as any other girl would have done, +thinking excitedly of Pamela's generous gifts, and of Lady Throckmorton, +and, perhaps, more than once the strange chance which had brought to +light again the wedding-day, that was never more than the sad ghost of a +wedding, and the bridal gifts that had come to the bride from a dead +hand. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ARRIVAL. + + +A great deal of hard work was done during the following week. The +remodelling of the outfit was no light labor: but Pamela was steady to +her trust, in her usual practical style. She trimmed, and fitted, and +cut, until the always-roughened surface of her thin forefinger was +rougher than ever. She kept Theo at work at the smaller tasks she chose +to trust to her, and watched her sharply, with no shadow of the softened +mood she had given the candle-lighted bedroom a glimpse of. She was as +severe upon any dereliction from duty as ever, and the hardness of her +general demeanor was not a whit relaxed. Indeed, sometimes Theo found +herself glancing up furtively from her tasks, to look at the thin, sharp +face, and wondering if she had not dreamed that her arms had clasped a +throbbing, shaken form, when they faced together the ghost of long dead +love. + +But the preparations were completed at last, and the trunks packed; and +Lady Throckmorton had written to say that her carriage would meet her +young relative's arrival. So the time came when Theo, in giving her +farewell kisses, clung a little closely about Pamela's neck, and when +the cab-door had been shut, saw her dimly through the smoky glass, and +the mistiness in her eyes; saw her shabby dress, and faded face, and +half-longed to go back; remembered sadly how many years had passed since +she had left the dingy sea-port town to go to London, and meet her fate, +and lose it, and grow old before her time in mourning it; saw her, last +of all, and so was whirled up the street, and out of sight. And in like +manner she was whirled through the thronged streets of London, when she +reached that city at night, only that Lady Throckmorton's velvet-lined +carriage was less disposed to rattle and jerk over the stones, and more +disposed to an aristocratic, easily-swung roll than the musty vehicle of +the Downport cabman. + +There was a queer, excited thrill in her pulses as she leaned back, +watching the gaslights gleaming through the fog, and the people passing +to and fro beneath the gaslights. She was so near her journey's end that +she began to feel nervous. What would Lady Throckmorton look like? How +would she receive her? How would she be dressed? A hundred such simple, +girlish wonders crowded into her mind. She would almost have been glad +to go back--not quite, but almost. She had a lingering, inconsistent +recollection of the contents of her trunks, and the sapphires, which +was, nevertheless, quite natural to a girl so young, and so unused to +even the most trivial luxuries. She had never possessed a rich or +complete costume in her life; and there was a wondrous novelty in the +anticipation of wearing dresses that were not remodelled from Pamela's +or her mother's cast-off garments. + +When the carriage drew up before the door of the solid stone house, in +the solid-looking, silent square, she required all her courage. There +was a glare of gaslight around the iron grating, and a glare of gaslight +from the opening door, and then, after a little confusion of entrance, +she found herself passing up a stair-case, under the guidance of a +servant, and so was ushered into a large, handsome room, and formally +announced. + +An elderly lady was sitting before the fire reading, and on hearing +Theo's name, she rose, and came forward to meet her. Of course, it was +Lady Throckmorton, and, having been a beauty in her long past day, even +at sixty-five Lady Throckmorton was quite an imposing old person. Even +in her momentary embarrassment, Theo could not help noticing her bright, +almond-shaped brown eyes, and the soft, close little curls of fine +snow-white hair, that clustered about her face under her rich, +black-lace cap. + +"Theodora North, is it?" she said, offering her a wrinkled yet strong +white hand. "I am glad to see you, Theodora. I was afraid you would be +too late for Sir Dugald's dinner, and here you are just in time. I hope +you are well, and not tired." + +Theo replied meekly. She was quite well, and not at all tired, which +seemed to satisfy her ladyship, for she nodded her handsome old head +approvingly. + +"Very well, then, my dear," she said. "I will ring for Splaighton to +take you up-stairs, and attend to you. Of course, you will want to +change your dress for dinner, and you have not much time. Sir Dugald +never waits for anybody, and nothing annoys him more than to have dinner +detained." + +Accordingly, greatly in awe of Sir Dugald, whoever he might be, Theodora +was pioneered out of the room again, and up another broad stair-case, +into an apartment as spacious and luxurious as the one below. There her +toilet was performed and there the gray satin was donned in some +trepidation, as the most suitable dress for the occasion. + +She stepped before the full-length mirror to look at herself before +going down, and as she did so, she was conscious that her waiting-woman +was looking at her too in sedate approval. The gray satin was very +becoming. Its elaborate richness and length of train changed the +undeveloped girl, to whom she had given a farewell glance in the small +mirror at Downport, to the stateliest of tall young creatures. Her bare +arms and neck were as soft and firm as a baby's; her _riant_, un-English +face seemed all aglow of color and mellow eyes. But for the presence of +the maid, she would have uttered a little cry of pleasure, she was so +new to herself. + +It was like a dream, the going down-stairs in the light and brightness, +and listening to the soft sweep of the satin train; but it was +singularly undream-like to be startled as she was by the rushing of a +huge Spanish mastiff, which bounded down the steps behind her, and +bounding upon her dress, nearly knocked her down. The animal came like a +rush of wind, and simultaneously a door opened and shut with a bang; and +the man who came out to follow the dog, called to him in a voice so +rough that it might have been a rush of wind also. + +"Sabre!" he shouted. "Come back, you scoundrel!" and then his heavy feet +sounded upon the carpet. "The deuce!" he said, in an odd, low mutter, +which sounded as though he was speaking half to her, half to himself. +"My lady's protege, is it? The other Pamela! Rather an improvement on +Pamela, too. Not so thin." + +Theo blushed brilliantly--a full-blown rose of a blush, and hesitated, +uncertain what etiquette demanded of her under the circumstances. She +did not know very much about etiquette, but she had an idea that this +was Sir Dugald, whoever Sir Dugald might be. But Sir Dugald set her mind +at rest on nearing her. + +"Good-evening, Theodora," he said, unceremoniously. "Of course, it is +Theodora." + +Theo bowed, and blushed more brilliantly still. + +"All the better," said this very singular individual. "Then I haven't +made a mistake," and, reaching, as he spoke, the parlor door at the foot +of the stairs, and finding that the mastiff was stretched upon the mat, +he favored him with an unceremonious, but not unfriendly kick, and then +opened the door, the dog preceding them into the room with slow +stateliness. + +"You are a quick dresser, I am glad to see, Theodora," said Lady +Throckmorton, who awaited them. "Of course, there is no need of +introducing you two to each other. Sir Dugald does not usually wait for +ceremonies." + +Sir Dugald looked down at the lovely face at his side with a ponderous +stare. He might have been admiring it, or he might not; at any rate, he +was favoring it with a pretty close inspection. + +"I believe Sir Dugald has not introduced himself to me," said Theo, in +some confusion. "He knew that I was Theodora North; but I--" + +"Oh!" interposed her ladyship, as collectedly as if she had scarcely +expected anything else, "I see. Sir Dugald Throckmorton. Theodora--your +uncle." + +By way of returning Theo's modest little recognition of the +presentation, Sir Dugald nodded slightly, and, after giving her another +stare, turned to his mastiff, and laid a large muscular hand upon his +head. He was not a very prepossessing individual, Sir Dugald +Throckmorton. + +Lady Throckmorton seemed almost entirely oblivious of her husband's +presence; she solaced herself by ignoring him. + +When they rose from the table together, the authoritative old lady +motioned Theo to a seat upon one of the gay foot-stools near her. + +"Come and sit down by me," she said. "I want to talk to you, Theodora." + +Theo obeyed with some slight trepidation. The rich-colored old brown +eyes were so keen as they ran over her. But she seemed to be satisfied +with her scrutiny. + +"You are a very pretty girl, Theodora," she said. "How old are you?" + +"I am sixteen," answered Theo. + +"Only sixteen," commented my lady. "That means only a baby in Downport, +I suppose. Pamela was twenty when she came to London, and I +remember--Well, never mind. Suppose you tell me something about your +life at home. What have you been doing all these sixteen years?" + +"I had always plenty to do," Theo answered. "I helped Pamela with the +housework and the clothes-mending. We did not keep any servant, so we +were obliged to do everything for ourselves." + +"You were?" said the old lady, with a side-glance at the girl's slight, +dusky hands. "How did you amuse yourself when your work was done?" + +"We had not much time for amusements," Theo replied, demurely, in spite +of her discomfort under the catechism; "but sometimes, on idle days, I +read or walked on the beach with the children, or did Berlin-wool work." + +"What did you read?" proceeded the august catechist. She liked to hear +the girl talk. + +"Love stories," more demurely still, "and poetry, and sometimes history; +but not often history--love stories and poetry oftenest." + +The clever old face was studying her with a novel sort of interest. Upon +the whole, my lady was not sorry she had sent for Theodora North. + +"And, of course, being a Downport baby, you have never had a lover. +Pamela never had a lover before she came to me." + +A lover. How Theodora started and blushed now to be sure! + +"No, madame," she answered, and, in a perfect wonder of confusion, +dropped her eyes, and was silent. + +But the very next instant she raised them again at the sound of the door +opening. Somebody was coming in, and it was evidently somebody who felt +himself at home, and at liberty to come in as he pleased, and when the +fancy took him, for he came unannounced entirely. + +Theo found herself guilty of the impropriety of gazing at him +wonderingly as he came forward, but Lady Throckmorton did not seem at +all surprised. + +"I have been expecting you, Denis," she said. "Good-evening! Here is +Theodora North. You know I told you about her." + +Theo rose from her footstool at once, and stood up tall and straight--a +young sultana, the youngest and most innocent-looking of sultanas, in +unimperial gray satin. The gentleman was looking at her with a pair of +the handsomest eyes she had ever seen in her life. + +Then he made a low, ceremonious bow, which had yet a sort of indolence +in its very ceremony, and then having done this much, he sat down, as if +he was very much at home indeed. + +"I thought I would run in on my way to Broome street," he said. "I am +obliged to go to Miss Gower's, though I am tired out to-night." + +"Obliged!" echoed her ladyship. + +"Well--yes," the gentleman answered, with cool negligence. "Obliged in +one sense. I have not seen Priscilla for a week." + +The handsome, strongly-marked old eyebrows went up. + +"For a week," remarked their owner, quite sharply. "A long time to be +absent." + +It was rather unpleasant, Theodora thought, that they should both seem +so thoroughly at liberty to say what they pleased before her, as if she +was a child. Their first words had sufficed to show her that "Miss +Gower's"--wherever Miss Gower's might be, or whatever order of place it +was--was a very objectionable place in Lady Throckmorton's eyes. + +"Well--yes," he said again. "It is rather a long time, to tell the +truth." + +He seemed determined that the matter should rest here, for he changed +the subject at once, having made this reply, thereby proving to Theo +that he was used to having his own way, even with Lady Throckmorton. He +was hard-worked, it seemed, from what he said, and had a great deal of +writing to do. He was inclined to be satirical, too, in a careless +fashion, and knew quite a number of literary people, and said a great +many sharp things about them, as if he was used to them, and stood in no +awe whatever of them and their leonine greatness. But he did not talk to +her, though he looked at her now and then; and whenever he looked at +her, his glance was a half-admiring one, even while it was evident that +he was not thinking much about her. He did not remain with them very +long, scarcely an hour, and yet she was almost sorry to see him go. It +was so pleasant to sit silent and listen to these two worldly ones, as +they talked about their world. But he had promised Priscilla that he +would bring her a Greek grammar she required; and a broken promise was a +sin unpardonable in Priscilla's eyes. + +When he was gone, and they had heard the hall-door close upon him, the +stillness was broken in upon by my lady herself. + +"Well, my dear," she said, to Theodora. "What is your opinion of Mr. +Denis Oglethorpe?" + +"He is very handsome," said Theo, in some slight embarrassment. "And I +think I like him very much. Who is Priscilla, aunt?" + +She knew that she had said something amusing by Lady Throckmorton's +laughing quietly. + +"You are very like Pamela, Theodora," she said. "It sounds very like +Pamela--what Pamela used to be--to be interested in Priscilla." + +"I hope it wasn't rude?" fluttered the poor little rose-colored sultana. + +"Not at all," answered Lady Throckmorton. "Only innocent. But I can tell +you all about Priscilla in a dozen words. Priscilla is a modern Sappho. +Priscilla is an elderly young lady, who never was a girl--Priscilla is +my poor Denis Oglethorpe's _fiancee_." + +"Oh!" said Theodora. + +Her august relative drew her rich silk skirts a little farther away from +the heat of the fire, and frowned slightly; but not at Theodora--at +Priscilla, in her character of _fiancee_. + +"Yes," she went on. "And I think you would agree with me in saying poor +Denis Oglethorpe, if you could see Priscilla." + +"Is she ugly?" asked Theo, concisely. + +"No," sharply. "I wish she was; but at twenty-two she is elderly, as I +said just now--and she never was anything else. She was elderly when +they were engaged, five years ago." + +"But why--why didn't they get married five years ago, if they were +engaged?" + +"Because they were too poor," Lady Throckmorton explained; "because +Denis was only a poor young journalist, scribbling night and day, and +scarcely earning his bread and butter." + +"Is he poor now?" ventured Theo again. + +"No," was the answer. "I wish he was, if it would save him from the +Gowers. As it is, I suppose, if nothing happens to prevent it, he will +marry Priscilla before the year is out. Not that it is any business of +mine, but that I am rather fond of him--very fond of him, I might say, +and I was once engaged to his father." + +Theo barely restrained an ejaculation. Here was another romance--and she +was so fond of romances. Pamela's love-story had been a great source of +delight to her; but if Mr. Oglethorpe's father had been anything like +that gentleman himself, what a delightful affair Lady Throckmorton's +love-story must have been! The comfortable figure in the arm-chair at +her side caught a glow of the faint halo that surrounded poor Pam; but +in this case the glow had a more roseate tinge, and was altogether free +from the funereal gray that in Pamela always gave Theo a sense of +sympathizing discomfort. + +The next day she wrote to Pamela: + + "I have not had time yet to decide how I like Lady Throckmorton," + she said. "She is very kind to me, and asks a good many questions. + I think I am a little afraid of her; but perhaps that is because I + do not know her very well. One thing I am sure of, she doesn't like + either Sir Dugald or his dog very much. We had a caller last + night--a gentleman. A Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, who is a very great + favorite of Lady Throckmorton. He is very handsome, indeed. I never + saw any one at all like him before--any one half so handsome and + self-possessed. I liked him very much because he talked so well, + and was so witty. I had on the gray satin when he came, and the + train hung beautifully. I am glad we made it with a train, Pamela. + I think I shall wear the purple cloth to-night, as Lady + Throckmorton said that perhaps he might drop in again, and he knows + so many grand people, that I should like to look nice. There seems + to be a queer sort of friendship between aunt and himself, though + somehow I fancied he did not care much about what she said to him. + He is engaged to be married to a very accomplished young lady, and + has been for several years; but they were both too poor to be + married until now. The young lady's name is Priscilla Gower; and + Lady Throckmorton does not like her, which seems very strange to + me. She is as poor as we are, I should imagine, for she gives + French and Latin lessons, and lives in a shabby house. But I don't + think that is the reason Lady Throckmorton does not like her. I + believe it is because she thinks she is not suited to Mr. + Oglethorpe. I hope she is mistaken, for Mr. Oglethorpe is very nice + indeed, and very clever. He is a journalist, and has written a book + of beautiful poetry. I found the volume this morning, and have been + reading it all day. I think it is lovely; but Lady Throckmorton + says he wrote it when he was very young, and makes fun of it now. I + don't think he ought to, I am sure. I shall buy a copy before I + return, and bring it home to show you. I will write to mamma in a + day or so. With kisses and love, and a hundred thanks again for the + dresses, I remain, my dearest Pamela, your loving and grateful, + + "THEO." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE MEETING. + + +But Denis Oglethorpe did not appear again for several days. Perhaps +business detained him; perhaps he went oftener to see Priscilla. At any +rate, he did not call again until the end of the week. + +Lady Throckmorton was in her private room when he came, and as he made +his entrance with as little ceremony as usual, he ran in upon Theodora. +Now, to tell the truth, he had, until this moment, forgotten all about +that young person's very existence. He saw so many pretty girls in a +day's round, and he was so often too busy to notice half of them--though +he was an admirer of pretty girls--that it was nothing new to see one +and forget her, until chance threw them together again. Of course, he +had noticed Theodora North that first night. How could a man help +noticing her? And the something beautifully over-awed and bashfully +curious in her lovely, uncommon eyes, had half amused him. And yet, +until this moment, he had forgotten her, with the assistance of proofs, +and printers, and Priscilla. + +But when, after running lightly up the stair-case, he opened the +drawing-room door, and saw a tall, lovely figure in a closely-fitting +dress of purple cloth, bending over Sabre, and stroking his huge, tawny +head with her supple little tender hand, he remembered. + +"Ah, yes!" he exclaimed, in an admiring aside. "To be sure; I had +forgotten Theodora." + +But Theodora had not forgotten him. The moment she saw him she stood up +blushing, and with a light in her eyes. It was odd how un-English she +looked, and yet how thoroughly English she was in that delicious, +uncomfortable trick of blushing vividly upon all occasions. She was +quite unconscious of the fact that the purple cloth was so becoming, and +that its sweep of straight, heavy folds made her as stately as some +Rajah's dark-eyed daughter. She did not feel stately at all; she only +felt somewhat confused, and rather glad that Mr. Denis Oglethorpe had +surprised her by coming again. How Mr. Denis Oglethorpe would have +smiled if he had known what an innocent commotion his simple presence +created! + +"Lady Throckmorton is up-stairs reading," she explained. "I will go and +tell her you are here." There were no bells in the house at Downport, +and no servants to answer if any one had rang one, and, very naturally, +Theo forgot she was not at Downport. + +"Excuse me. No," said Mr. Denis Oglethorpe. "I would not disturb her on +any account; and, besides, I know she will be down directly. She never +reads late in the evening. This is a very handsome dog, Miss North." + +"Very handsome, indeed," was Theo's reply. "Come here, Sabre." + +Sabre stalked majestically to her side, and laid his head upon her knee. +Theo stroked him softly, raising her eyes quite seriously to Mr. +Oglethorpe's face. + +"He reminds me of Sir Dugald himself," she said. + +Mr. Denis Oglethorpe smiled faintly. He was not very fond of Sir Dugald, +and the perfect gravity and _naivete_ with which this pretty, +unsophisticated young sultana had made her comment had amounted to a +very excellent joke. + +"Does he?" he returned, as quietly as possible, and then his glance +meeting Theo's, she broke into a little burst of horror-stricken +self-reproach. + +"Oh, dear!" she exclaimed. "I oughtn't to have said that, ought I? I +forgot how rude it would sound; but, indeed, I only meant that Sabre was +so slow and heavy, and--and so indifferent to people, somehow. I don't +think he cares about being liked at all." + +She was so abashed at her blunder, that she looked absolutely imploring, +and Mr. Denis Oglethorpe smiled again. He felt inclined to make friends +with Theodora. + +"There is a little girl staying at Lady Throckmorton's," he had said to +Priscilla. "A relative of hers. A pretty creature, too, Priscilla, for a +bread-and-butter Miss." + +But just at this moment, he thought better of the matter. What tender, +speechful eyes she had! He was aroused to a recognition of their beauty +all at once. What contour there was in the turn of arm and shoulder +under the close-fitting purple cloth! He was artistically thankful that +there was no other trimming of the straight bodice than the line of +buttons that descended from the full white ruff of swansdown at her +throat, to her delicate, trim waist. Her unconscious stateliness of +girlish form, and the conscious shyness of her manner, were the +loveliest inconsistency in the world. + +"Oh, I shall not tell Sir Dugald," he said to her, good-humoredly. +"Besides, I think the comparison an excellent one. I don't know anything +in London so like Sir Dugald as Sir Dugald's dog." + +Theodora stroked Sabre, apologetically, but could scarcely find courage +to speak. She had stood somewhat in awe of Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, even at +first, and her discomfort was rapidly increasing. He must think her +dreadfully stupid, though he was good-humored enough to make light of +her silly speech. Certainly Priscilla never made such a silly speech in +her life; but then, how could one teach French and Latin, and be +anything but ponderously discreet? + +Mr. Denis Oglethorpe was not thinking of Priscilla's wisdom, however; he +was thinking of Theodora North; he was thinking that he must have been +very blind not to have seen before that his friend's niece was a beauty +of the first water, young as she was. But he had been tired and fagged +out, he remembered, on the first occasion of their meeting--too tired to +think of anything but his appointment at Broome street, and Priscilla's +Greek grammar. And now in recognizing what he had before passed by, he +was quite glad to find the girl so young and inexperienced--so modest, +in a sweet way. It was easy, as well as proper enough, to talk to her +unceremoniously without the trouble of being diffuse and complimentary. +So he made himself agreeable, and Theodora listened until she quite +forgot Sir Dugald, and only remembered Sabre, because his big heavy head +was on her knee, and she was stroking it. + +"And you were never in London before?" he said at length. + +"No, sir," Theo answered. "This is the first time. I was never even out +of Downport before." + +"Then we must take you to see the lions," he said, "if Lady Throckmorton +will let us, Miss Theodora. I wonder if she would let us? If she would, +I have a lady friend who knows them all, from the grisliest, downward, +and I know she would like to help me to exhibit them to you. How should +you like that?" + +"Better than anything in the world," glowing with delighted surprise. +"If it wouldn't be too much trouble," she added, quite apologetically. + +Mr. Denis Oglethorpe smiled. + +"It would be simply delightful," he said. "I should like it better than +anything in the world, too. We will appeal to Lady Throckmorton." + +"When Priscilla was in London--" Theodora was beginning a minute later, +when the handsome face changed suddenly as her companion turned upon her +in evident surprise. + +"Priscilla?" he repeated, after her. + +"How stupid I am!" she ejaculated, distressedly. "I meant to say Pamela. +My eldest sister's name is Pamela, and--and--" + +"And you said Priscilla by mistake," interposed Oglethorpe, with a +sudden accession of gravity. "Priscilla is a little like Pamela." + +It needed nothing more than this simple slip of Theodora North's tongue +to assure him that Lady Throckmorton had been telling her the story of +his engagement to Miss Gower, and, as might be anticipated, he was not +as devoutly grateful to her ladyship as he might have been. He was +careless to a fault in some things, and punctilious to a fault in +others; and he was very punctilious about Priscilla Gower. He was not an +ardent lover, but he was a conscientiously honorable one, and, apart +from his respect for his betrothed, he was very impatient of +interference with his affairs; and my lady was not chary of interfering +when the fancy seized her. It roused his pride to think how liberally he +must have been discussed, and, consequently, when Lady Throckmorton +joined them, he was not in the most amiable of moods. But he managed to +end his conversation with Theo unconstrainedly enough. He even gained +her ladyship's consent to their plan. It was curiously plain how they +both appeared to agree in thinking her a child, and treating her as one. +Not that Theo cared about that. She had been so used to Pamela, that she +would have felt half afraid of being treated with any greater ceremony; +but still she could clearly understand that Mr. Oglethorpe did not speak +to her as he would have spoken to Miss Gower. But free from any touch of +light gallantry as his manner toward the girl was, Denis Oglethorpe did +not forget her this night. On the contrary, he remembered her very +distinctly, and had in his mind a very exact mental representation of +her purple robe, soft white ruff, and all, as he buttoned up his paletot +over his chest in walking homeward. But he thought of her carelessly and +honestly enough, as a beautiful young creature years behind him in +experience, and utterly beyond him in all possibility of any sentimental +fancy. + +The friendship existing between Lady Throckmorton and this young man was +a queer, inconsistent sentiment enough, and yet was a friendship, and a +mature one. The two had encountered each other some years ago, when +Denis had been by no means in his palmiest days. In fact, my lady had +picked him up when he stood in sore need of friends, and Oglethorpe +never forgot a favor. He never forgot to be grateful to Lady +Throckmorton; and so, despite the wide difference between their +respective ages and positions, their mutual liking had ripened into a +familiarity of relationship which made them more like elder sister and +younger brother than anything else. Oglethorpe, junior, was pretty much +what Oglethorpe, senior, had been, and notwithstanding her practical +views, Lady Throckmorton liked him none the worse for it. She petted and +patronized him, questioned and advised him, and if he did not please +her, rated him roundly without the slightest compunction. In fact, she +was a woman of caprices even at sixty-five, and Denis Oglethorpe was one +of her caprices. + +And, in like manner, Theodora North became another of them. Finding her +tractable, she became quite fond of her, in her own way, and was at +least generous to lavishness in her treatment of her. + +"You are very handsome, indeed, Theodora," she said to her a few days +after her arrival. "Of course, you know that--ten times handsomer than +ever poor Pamela could have been. Your figure is perfect, and you have +eyes like a Syrian, instead of a commonplace English woman. I am going +to give you a rose-pink satin dress. Rose-pink is just your shade, and +some day, when we go out together, I will lend you some of my diamonds." + +After this whimsical manner she lavished presents upon her whenever she +had a new fancy. In truth, her generosity was constitutional, and she +had been generous enough toward Pamela, but she had never been so +extravagant as she was with Theodora. Theodora was an actual beauty, of +an uncommon type, in the face of her ignorance of manners and customs. +Pamela had never, at her best, been more than a delicately pretty girl. + +In the meantime, Denis Oglethorpe made friendly calls as usual, and +always meeting Theodora, found her very pleasant to talk to and look at. +He found out her enthusiastic admiration for the poetic effusions of his +youth, and in consideration thereof, good-humoredly presented her with a +copy of the volume, with some very witty verses written on the fly-leaf +in a flourishing hand. It was worth while to amuse Theodora, she was so +pretty and unassuming in her delight at his carelessly-amiable efforts +for her entertainment. She was only a mere child after all at sixteen, +with Downport in the background; so he felt quite honestly at ease in +being attentive to her girlish requirements. Better that he should amuse +her than that she should be left to the mercy of men who would perhaps +have the execrable taste to spoil her pretty childish ways with +flattery. + +"Don't let all these fine people and fine speeches turn your head, +Theodora," he would say, in a tone that might either have been jest or +earnest. "They spoiled me in my infancy, and my unfortunate experience +causes me to warn you." + +But whether he jested or not, Theo was always inclined to listen to him +with some degree of serious belief. She took his advice when it was +proffered, and regarded his wisdom as the wisdom of an oracle. Who +should know better than he what was right? His indifference to the rule +of opinion could only be the result of conscious perfection, and his +careless satires were to her the most brilliant of witticisms. He paid +her his first compliment the night the rose-colored satin-dress came +home. + +They were going to see Faust together with Lady Throckmorton, and she +had finished dressing early, and came down to the drawing-room, and +there Denis found her when he came up-stairs--the thick, lustrous folds +of satin billowing upon the carpet around her feet, something white, and +soft, and heavy wrapped about her. + +He was conscious of a faint shock of delight on first beholding her. He +had just left Priscilla, pale and heavy-eyed, in dun-colored merino, +poring over a Greek dictionary, and the sudden entering the bright room, +and finding himself facing Theodora North in rose-colored satin, was a +little like electricity. + +"Oh! it's Theodora, is it?" he said, slowly, when he recovered himself. +"Thank you, Theodora." + +"What for?" asked Theo, blushing. + +"For the rose-colored satin," he returned, complacently. "It is so very +becoming. You look like a sultana, my dear Theodora." + +Theo looked up at him for a second, and then looked down. Much as she +admired Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, she never quite comprehended him. He had +such an eccentric fashion of being almost curt sometimes. She had seen +him actually give a faint start when he entered, and she had not +understood that, and now he had paid her a compliment, but with so much +of something puzzling hidden in his quiet-sounding voice, that she did +not understand that either--and he saw she did not. + +"I have been making a fine speech to Theodora," he said to Lady +Throckmorton, when she came in. "And she does not comprehend it in the +least." + +It was somewhat singular, Theo thought, that he should be so silent +after this, for he was silent. He even seemed absent-minded, for some +reason or other. He did not talk to her as much as usual, and she was +quite sure he paid very little attention to Faust. + +But during the final act she found that he was not looking at the stage +at all; but was sitting in the shadow of the box-curtain watching +herself. She had been deeply interested in Marguerite a minute before, +and, in her heart-touched pleasure, had leant upon the edge of the box, +her whole face thrilled with excitement. But the steady gaze magnetized +her, and drew her eyes round to the shadowy corner where Denis sat; and +she positively turned with just such a start as he himself had given +when Theodora North, in rose-colored satin, burst upon him, in such +vivid, glowing contrast to Priscilla Gower, in dun merino. + +"Oh!" she said, and though the little exclamation was scarcely more than +an indrawn breath, Denis heard it, and came out of his corner to take a +seat at her side, and lean over the box-edge also. + +"What is it, Theodora?" he asked, in a low, clear voice. "Is it +Marguerite?" + +She looked at him in a little fright at herself. She did not know why +she had exclaimed--she scarcely knew how; but when she met his +unembarrassed eyes, she began to think that possibly it might be +Marguerite. Indeed, a second later, she was quite sure it had been +Marguerite. + +"Yes--I think so," she faltered. "Poor Marguerite! If she could only +have saved him?" + +"How?" he asked. + +"I don't--at least I scarcely know; but I think the author ought to have +made her save him, someway. If--if she could have suffered something, or +sacrificed something--" + +"Would she have done it if she could?" commented Denis, languidly. He +had quite recovered himself by this time. + +"I would have done it if I had been Marguerite," Theo half whispered. + +In his surprise he forgot his self-possession. He turned upon her +suddenly, and meeting her sweet, world-ignorant eyes, felt the faint, +pained shock once more, and strangely enough his first thought was a +disconnected one of Priscilla Gower. + +"You?" he said, the next moment. "Yes, I believe you would, Theodora." + +He was sure she would, after that swift glance of his, and--Well, what a +happy man he would be for whom this tender young Marguerite would suffer +or be sacrificed. The idea had really never occurred to him before that +Theodora North was nearly a woman; but it occurred to him now with all +the greater force, because he had been so oblivious to the fact before. + +He sat by her side until the curtain fell; but his silent mood seemed to +have come upon him again. He was very much interested in Marguerite +after this, Theo thought; but it is very much to be doubted whether he +could have given a clear account of what was passing before his eyes +upon the stage. He did not even go into the house with them when they +returned; but as he stood upon the door-step, touching his hat in a +final adieu, he was keenly alive to a consciousness of Theodora North at +the head of the stair-case, with billows of glistening rose-pink satin +lying on the rich carpet about her feet, as she half turned toward him +to bid him good-night. + +Bright as the future was, it left a sense of discomfort, he could not +explain why. He dismissed the carriage, and walked down the street, +feeling fairly depressed in spirits. + +He had, perhaps, never given the girl a thought before, unless when +chance had thrown them together, and even then his thoughts had been +common admiring ones. She had pleased him, and he had tried to amuse her +in a careless, well-meant fashion, though he had never made fine +speeches to her, as nine men out of ten would have done. He had been so +used to Priscilla, that it never occurred to him that a girl so young as +this one could be a woman. And, after all, his blindness had not been +the result of any frivolous lack of thought. A sharp experience had made +him as thoroughly a man of the world as a man may be; but it had not +made him callous or indifferent to the beauties of life. No one would +ever have called him emotional, or prone to enthusiasms of a weak kind, +and yet he was by no means hard of heart. He had quiet fancies of his +own about people and things, and many of these reticent, +rarely-expressed ideas were reverent, chivalrous ones of women. The +opposing force of a whole world could never have shaken his faith in +Priscilla Gower, or touched his respect for her; but though, perhaps, he +had never understood it so, he had never felt very enthusiastically +concerning her. Truly, Priscilla Gower and enthusiasm were not in +accordance with each other. Chance had thrown them together when both +were very young, and propinquity did the rest. Propinquity is the +strongest of agents in a love affair, and in Denis Oglethorpe's love +affair, propinquity had accomplished what nothing else would have been +likely to have done. The desperate young scribbler of twenty years had +been the lodger of the elder Miss Gower, and Priscilla, aged seventeen, +had brought in his frugal dinners to him, and receipted his modest bills +on their weekly payment. + +Priscilla at seventeen, silent, practical, grave and handsome, had, +perhaps, softened unconsciously at the sight of his often pale face--he +worked so hard and so far into the night; when at length they became +friends, Priscilla gravely, and without any hesitation, volunteered to +help him. She could copy well and clearly, and he could come into her +aunt's room--it would save fires. So she helped him calmly and +decorously, bending her almost austerely-handsome young head over his +papers for hours on the long winter nights. It is easy to guess how the +matter terminated. If ever he won success he determined to give it to +Priscilla--and so he told her. He had never wavered in his faith for a +second since, though he had encountered many beautiful and womanly +women. He had worked steadily for her sake, and shielded her from every +care that it lay within his power to lighten. He was not old Miss +Elizabeth Gower's lodger now--he was her niece's husband in perspective. +He was to marry Priscilla Gower in eight months. This was why Theodora +North, in glistening rose-pink satin, sent him home confronting a +suddenly-raised spirit of pain. Twice, in one night, he had found +himself feeling toward Theodora North as he had never felt toward +Priscilla Gower in his life. Twice, in one night, he had turned his eyes +upon this girl of sixteen, and suffered a sudden shock of enthusiasm, or +something like it. He was startled and discomfited. She had no right to +win such admiration from him--he had no right to give it. + +But as his walk in the night-air cooled him, it cooled his ardor of +self-examination somewhat. His discontent was modified by the time he +reached his own door, and took his latch-key out of his pocket. The face +that had looked down upon him beneath the light at the head of the +stair-case, had faded into less striking color--it was only a girl's +face again. He was on better terms with himself, and his weakness seemed +less formidable. + +"I will keep my promise to-morrow," he said, "and Priscilla shall go +with us. Poor Priscilla!--poor girl! Rose-pink satin would scarcely be +in good taste in Broome street." + +The promise he had made was nothing more than a ratification of the old +one. They were to see the lions together, and Priscilla was to guide +them. + +And when the morrow came, he found it, after all, safe enough, and an +easy enough matter, to tuck Theodora's small, gloved hand under his arm, +when they set out on their tour of investigation and discovery. The girl +was pretty enough, too, in her soft, black merino--her "best" dress in +Downport--but she was not dazzling. The little round, black-plumed hat +was becoming also; but in his now more prosaic mood, he could stand +that, too, pretty as it was in an innocent, unconsciously-coquettish +way. Theo was never coquettish herself in the slightest degree. She was +not world-wise enough for that yet. But she was quite exhilarating +to-day; so glad to be out even in the London fog of November; so glad to +be taken lion-hunting; so delighted with the shops and their gay +windows; so ready to let her young tongue run on in a gay stream of +chatter, altogether so bright, and pretty, and joyous, that her escort +was fain to be delighted too. + +"Guess where we are going to first?" said he. (He had not before openly +spoken of Priscilla to her.) + +She glanced up into his face, brightly. She remembered what he had told +her about his lady friend. + +"I don't exactly know the name of the place," she said; "but I think I +know the name of the person we are going to see." + +"Do you?" was his reply. "Then say it to me--let me hear it." + +"Miss Gower," she answered, softly, in a pretty reverence for him. "Miss +Priscilla Gower." + +He nodded, slightly, with a curious mixture of expressions in his face. + +"Yes," he said. "Miss Gower, or rather Miss Priscilla Gower, as you say. +Number twenty-three, Broome street; and Broome street is not a +fashionable locality, my dear Theodora." + +"Isn't it?" queried Theo. "Why not?" + +He shrugged his shoulders. + +"Ask Lady Throckmorton," he said. "But do you know who Miss Priscilla +Gower is, Theodora?" + +Her bright eyes crept up to his, half-timidly; but she said nothing, so +he continued. + +"Miss Priscilla Gower is the young lady to whom I am to be married next +July. Did you know that?" + +"Yes," answered Theo, looking actually pleased, and blushing beautifully +as he looked down at her. "But I am very much obliged to you for telling +me, Mr. Oglethorpe." + +"Why?" he asked. It was very preposterous, that even though his mood was +so prosaic and paternal a one, he was absurdly, vacantly sensible of +feeling some uneasiness at the brightness of her upturned face. For +pity's sake, why was it that he was impelled to such a puerile +weakness--such a vanity, as he sternly called it. + +"Because," returned Theo, "it makes me feel as if--I mean it makes me +happy to think you trust me enough to tell me about what has made you +happy. I hope--oh! I do hope Miss Priscilla Gower will like me." + +He had been looking straight before him while she spoke, but this +brought his eyes to hers again, and to her face--bright, appealing, +upturned--and he found himself absolutely obliged to steady himself with +a jesting speech. + +"My dearest Theodora," he said. "Miss Priscilla Gower could not possibly +help it." + +Comforting as this assurance was to her, it must be confessed she found +herself somewhat over-awed on reaching Broome street, and being taken +into the tiny, dwarfed-looking parlor of number twenty-three; Miss +Elizabeth Gower herself was there, in her company-cap, and +long-cherished company-dress of snuff-colored satin. There were not many +shades of difference in either her snuff-colored gown, or her +snuff-colored skin, or her neat, snuff-colored false-front, Theo +fancied, but she was not at all afraid of her. She was a trifle afraid +of Miss Priscilla. Miss Priscilla was sitting at the table reading when +they entered, and as she rose to greet them, holding her book in one +hand, the thought entered Theo's mind that she could comprehend dimly +why Lady Throckmorton disliked her, and thought her unsuited to Denis +Oglethorpe. There was an absence of anything girl-like in her fine, +ivory-pale face, somehow, though it was a young face and a handsome +face, at whose fine lines and clear contour even a connoisseur could not +have caviled. Its long almond-shaped, agate-gray eyes, black-fringed and +lustrous as they were, still were silent eyes--they did not speak even +to Denis Oglethorpe. + +"I am glad you have come," she said, simply, extending her hand in +acknowledgment of Denis's introduction. The quietness of this greeting +speech was a fair sample of all her manner. It would have been sheerly +impossible to expect anything like effusiveness from Priscilla Gower. +The most sanguine and empty-headed of mortals would never have looked +for it in her. She was constitutionally unenthusiastic, if such a thing +may be. + +But she was gravely curious in this case concerning Theodora North. The +fact that Denis had spoken of her admiringly was sufficient to arouse in +her mind an interest in this young creature, who was at once, and so +inconsistently, beautiful, timid, and regal, without consciousness. + +"Three years more will make her something wonderful, as far as beauty is +concerned," he had said; and, accordingly, she had felt some slight +pleasure in the anticipation of seeing her. + +Yet Theo had some faint misgivings during the day as to whether Miss +Priscilla Gower would like her or not. She was at first even inclined to +fear that she would not, being so very handsome, and grave, and womanly. +But toward the end of their journeying together, she felt more hopeful. +Reticent as she was, Priscilla Gower was a very charming young person. +She talked well, and with much clear, calm sense; she laughed musically +when she laughed at all, and could make very telling, caustic speeches +when occasion required; but still it was singular what a wide difference +the difference of six years made in the two girls. As Lady Throckmorton +had said, it was not a matter of age. At twenty-two Theodora North would +overflow with youth as joyously as she did now at seventeen; at +seventeen Priscilla Gower had assisted her maiden aunt's lodger to copy +his manuscript with as mature a gravity as she would have displayed +to-day. + +"I hope," said Theodora, when, after their sight-seeing was over, she +stood on the pavement before the door in Broome street, her nice little +hand on Denis Oglethorpe's arm, "I hope you will let me come to see you +again, Miss Gower." + +Priscilla, standing upon the door-step, smiled down on her blooming +girl's face, a smile that was a little like moonlight. All Priscilla's +smiles were like moonlight. Theo's had a delicious glow of the sun. + +"Yes," she said, in her practical manner. "It will please me very much +to see you, Miss Theodora. Come as often as you can spare the time." + +She watched the two as they walked down the street together, Theo's +black feather glossy in the gaslight, as it drooped its long end against +Oglethorpe's coat, and as she watched them, she noticed even this trifle +of the feather, and the trifling fact that though Theo was almost regal +in girlish height, she was not much taller than her companion's +shoulder. It was strange, she thought afterward, that she should have +done so; but even while thinking it strange in the afterward that came +to her, she remembered it all as distinctly as ever, and knew that to +the last day of her life she would never quite forget the quiet of the +narrow, dreary street, the yellow light of the gas-lamps, and the two +figures walking away into the shadow, with their backs toward her, the +girl holding Denis Oglethorpe's arm, and the glossy feather in her black +hat drooping its tip upon his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THEO'S DIARY. + + +Up-stairs, in a sacred corner of the chamber Lady Throckmorton had +apportioned to her, Theodora North kept her diary. Not a solid, +long-winded diary, full of creditable reflections upon the day's events, +but, on the contrary, a harmless little book enough--a pretty little +book, bound in pink and gold, and much ornamented about the corners, and +greatly embellished with filagree clasps. Lady Throckmorton had given it +to her because she admired it, and, in a very natural enthusiasm, she +had made a diary of it. And here are the entries first recorded in its +gilt-edged pages: + +_December_ 7.--Mr. Oglethorpe was so kind as to remember his promise +about showing me the lions. Enjoyed myself very much. Miss Priscilla +Gower went with us. She is very dignified, or something; but I think I +like her. I am sure I like her, so I will go to see her again. I wonder +how it is she reminds me of Pamela without being like Pamela at all. +Poor Pam always so sharp in her ways, and I do not think Miss Gower ever +could speak sharply at all. And yet she reminds me of Pam. + +_December_ 14.--Went to the theatre again with Lady Throckmorton and Mr. +Oglethorpe. I wonder if the rose-pink satin is not becoming to me? I +thought it was; but before I went up-stairs to dress, Mr. Oglethorpe +said to me, "Don't put on the rose-pink satin, Theodora." I am sorry +that he does not think it is pretty. Wore a thin, white-muslin dress, +and dear, dearest old Pamela's beautiful sapphires. The muslin had a +long train. + +_December_ 18.--Mr. Oglethorpe came to-night with a kind of message from +Miss Gower. + +From these innocent extracts, persons of an unlimited experience might +draw serious conclusions; but when she made said entries, kneeling +before her toilet-table, each night, our dear Theodora thought nothing +about them at all. She had nothing else in particular to write about at +present, so, in default of finding a better subject, she jotted down +guileless remembrances of Denis Oglethorpe and the length of her trains. + +But one memorable evening, on going into the sitting-room, with the pink +and gold volume in her hand, she encountered Sir Dugald, who seemed to +be in an extraordinary frame of mind, and withal nothing loth to meet +her. + +"What pretty book have you there, Theodora?" he asked, in his usual +amiably uncivilized manner. + +"It is my diary," Theo answered. "Lady Throckmorton gave it to me. I put +things down in it." + +"Oh, oh!" was the reply, taking hold of both Sabre's ears, and +chuckling. "Put things down, do you? What sort of things do you put +down, eh, pretty Theodora? Lovers, eh? Literary men, eh?" + +Theo grew pink all over--pink as to cheeks, pink as to slim white +throat, even pink as to small ears. She was almost frightened, and her +fright was of a kind such as she had never experienced before. But it +was not Sir Dugald she was afraid of--she was used to him. It was +something new of which she had never thought until this very instant. + +"Literary men, eh?" Sir Dugald went on. "Do you put down what their +names are, and what they do, and how they make mistakes, and take the +wrong young lady to see Norma, and Faust and Il Trovatore? Il +Trovatore's a nice opera; Theo and Leonora sounds something like +Theodora. It doesn't sound anything like Priscilla, does it? The devil +fly away with Priscilla, I say. Priscilla isn't musical, is it, +Leonora?" + +Once having freed herself from him, which was by no means an easy +matter, Theo flew up-stairs, tremulous, breathless, flushed. She did not +stop to think. She had seen the drawing-room empty and unlighted, save +by a dull fire, on her way down-stairs, so she turned to the +drawing-room. She had been conscious of nothing but Sir Dugald, so she +had not heard the hall-door open; and, not having heard the hall-door +open, had, of course, not heard Denis Oglethorpe come in. So, in running +into the fire-lit room, she broke in upon that gentleman, who was +standing in the shadow, and it must be confessed was rather startled by +her sudden entrance and curiously-excited face. + +He stopped her short, however, collectedly enough. + +"What is the matter, Theodora?" he demanded. + +She slipped down upon a footstool, all in a flutter, when she saw him, +she was so shaken; and then, in her sudden abasement and breathless +tremor, gave vent to a piteous little half-sob, though she was terribly +ashamed of it. + +"I--I don't know," she answered him. "It's--it's nothing at all." But he +knew better than that, and guessing very shrewdly that he was not wholly +unconnected with the matter himself, questioned her as closely as was +consistent with delicacy, and, in the end, after some diplomacy, and a +few more of surprised, piteous, little unwilling half-sobs, gleaned a +great deal of the truth from her. + +"It was only--only something Sir Dugald said about you and Miss Gower, +and--and something about me," she added, desperately. + +"Oh!" he said, looking so composed about it that the very sight of his +composure calmed her, and made her begin to think she had seen a +mountain in a mole-hill. "Sir Dugald? Only Sir Dugald? What did he say, +may I ask, as it--it is about myself and Miss Gower?" + +Of course he might ask, but the difficulty lay in gaining any definite +answer. Theodora blushed, and then actually turned a little pale, +looking wondrously abased in her uncalled-for confusion; but she was not +at all coherent in her explanations, which were really not meant for +explanations at all. + +"Il Trovatore was so beautiful!" she burst out, finally; "and so was +Faust; and I had never been to the opera in all my life before, and, of +course--" blushing and palpitating, but still looking at him without a +shade of falsehood in her innocent, straightforward eyes; "of course, I +couldn't. How could I be so silly, and vain, and presuming, as to think +of--of--of--" + +She stopped here, as might be expected, and, if the room had been light +enough, she might have seen a shadow fall on Oglethorpe's face, as he +prompted her. + +"Of what?" + +Her eyes fell. "Of what Sir Dugald said," she ended, in a troubled +half-whisper. + +There was a slight pause, in which both pairs of eyes looked +down--Theodora's upon the rug of tiger-skin at her feet, Oglethorpe's at +Theodora herself. They were treading upon dangerous ground, he knew, and +yet in the midst of his fierce anger at his weakness, he was conscious +of a regret--a contemptible regret, he told himself--that the eyes she +had raised to his own a moment ago, had been so very clear and +guilelessly honest in their accordance with the declaration her lips had +made. + +"But, my dear Theodora," he at length broke the silence by saying, +carelessly, "why should we trouble ourselves about that elderly Goth, or +Vandal, if you choose--Sir Dugald? Who does trouble themselves about Sir +Dugald, and his amiably ponderous jocoseness? Not Lady Throckmorton, I +am sure; not society in general, you must know; consequently, let us +treat Sir Dugald with silent contempt, in a glorious consciousness of +our own spotless innocence." + +He was half uneasy under his satirical indifference; though he was so +accustomed to conceal his thoughts under indifference and satire, he was +scarcely sure enough of himself at this minute; but, despite this, he +carried out the assumed mood pretty well. + +"We have no need to be afraid of Sir Dugald's Vandalism, if we have no +fear of ourselves, and, considering, as you so very justly observed, +that it is quite impossible for us to be silly, and vain, and presuming +toward each other. I think we must be quite safe. I believe you said it +would be impossible, Theodora?" + +Just one breath's space, and Theodora North looked up at him, as it were +through the influence of an electric flash of recognition. There was a +wild, sweet, troubled color on her cheeks, and her lips were trembling; +her whole face seemed to tremble; her very eyes had a varying tremulous +glow. + +"Quite impossible, wasn't it, Theodora?" he repeated, and though he had +meant it for nothing more than a careless, daring speech, his voice +changed in defiance of him, and altered, or seemed to alter, both words +and their meaning. What, in the name of madness, he would have been rash +enough to say next, in response to the tremor of light and color in the +upturned face, it would be hard to say, for here he was stopped, as it +were, by Fortune herself. + +Fortune came in the form of Lady Throckmorton, fresh from Trollope's +last, and in a communicative mood. + +"Ah! You are here, Denis, and you, too, Theodora? Why are you sitting in +the dark?" And, as she bent over to touch the bell, Theodora rose from +her footstool to make way for her--rose with a little sigh, as if she +had just been awakened from a dream which was neither happy nor sad. + +It was very plainly Lady Throckmorton's business to see, and, seeing, +understand the affairs of her inexperienced young relative; but if Lady +Throckmorton understood that Theodora North was unconsciously +endangering the peace of her girlish heart, Lady Throckmorton was very +silent, or very indifferent about the matter. But she was not moulded +after the manner of the stern female guardians usually celebrated in +love stories. She was not mercenary, and she was by no means +authoritative. She had sent for Theo with the intention of extending to +her the worldly assistance she had extended to Pamela, and, beyond that, +the matter lay in the girl's own hands. Lady Throckmorton had no high +views for her in particular; she wanted to see her enjoy herself as much +as possible until the termination of her visit, in whatever manner it +terminated, whether matrimonially or otherwise. Besides, she was not so +young as she had been in Pamela's time, and, consequently, though she +was reasonably fond of her handsome niece, and more than usually +generous toward her, she was inclined to let her follow her own devices. +For herself, she had her luxurious little retiring-room, with its +luxurious fires and lounges; and after these, or rather with these, came +an abundance of novels, and the perfect, creamy chocolate her French +cook made such a masterpiece of--novels and chocolate standing as +elderly and refined dissipations. And not being troubled with any very +strict ideas of right or wrong, it would, by no means, have annoyed her +ladyship to know that her handsome Theodora had out-generalled her pet +grievance, Priscilla Gower. Why should not Priscilla Gower be +out-generalled, and why should not Denis marry some one who was as much +better suited to him, as Theodora North plainly was? + +"Tut! tut!" she said to Sir Dugald. "Why shouldn't they be married to +each other? It would be better than Priscilla Gower, if Theodora had +nothing but Pam's gray satin for her bridal trousseau." + +So Theo was left to herself, and having no confidant but the pink and +gold journal, gradually began to trust to its page some very troubled +reflections. It had not occurred to her that she could possibly be +guilty in admiring Mr. Denis Oglethorpe so much as she did, and in +feeling so glad when he came, and so sorry when he went away. She had +not thought that it was because he was sitting near her, and talking to +her between the acts; that Il Trovatore and Faust had been so +thrillingly beautiful and tender. And this was quite true, even though +she had not begun to comprehend it as yet. + +She had no right to feel anxious about him; and yet, when, after having +committed himself in the rash manner chronicled, he did not make his +appearance for nearly two weeks, she was troubled in no slight degree. +Indeed, though the thought was scarcely defined, she had some +unsophisticated misgivings as to whether Miss Priscilla Gower might not +have been aroused to a sense of the wrongs done her through the medium +of Il Trovatore, and so have laid an interdict upon his visits; but it +was only Sir Dugald who had suggested this to her fancy. + +But by the end of the two weeks, she grew tired of waiting, and the days +were so very long, that at length, not without some slight compunction, +she made up her mind to go and pay a guileless visit to Miss Priscilla +Gower herself. + +"I am going to see Miss Gower, aunt," she ventured to say one morning, +at the breakfast table. + +Sir Dugald looked up from his huge slice of broiled venison, clumsily +jocose after his customary agreeable manner. + +"What's that, Leonora?" he said. "Going to see the stern vestal, are +you? Priscilla, eh?" + +Lady Throckmorton shrugged her shoulders in an indifferent sarcasm. She +was often both sarcastic and indifferent in her manner toward Sir +Dugald. + +"Theo's in-goings and out-goings are scarcely our business, so long as +she enjoys herself," she said. "Present my regards to the Miss Gowers, +my dear, and say I regret that my health does not permit me to accompany +you." + +A polite fiction by the way, as my lady was looking her best. It was +only upon state occasions, and solely on Denis' account, that she ever +submitted to Broome street, albeit the fat, gray horses, and fat gray +coachman did occasionally recognize the existence of that remote +locality. + +It so happened that, as they drew up before Miss Gower's modest door +this morning, the modest door in question opened, and Denis Oglethorpe +himself came out, and, of course, caught sight of Theodora North, who +had just bent forward to pull the check-string, and so gave him a full +view of her charming _reante_, un-English face, and, in her pleasure at +seeing him, that young lady forgot both herself and Sir Dugald, and +exclaimed aloud, + +"Oh, Mr. Oglethorpe!" she cried out. "I am so glad--" and then stopped, +in a confusion and trepidation absolutely brilliant. + +He came to the window, and looked in at her. + +"Are you coming to see Priscilla?" he said. + +"Lady Throckmorton said I might," she answered, the warmth in her face +chilled by his unenthusiastic though kindly tone. She did not know what +a struggle it cost him to face her thus carelessly all at once. + +He did not even open the carriage-door himself, but waited for the +footman to do it. + +"Priscilla will be glad to see you," he said, quietly. "I will go into +the house again with you." + +The dwarfed sitting-room looked very much as it had looked on Theo's +first introduction to it; but on this occasion Miss Elizabeth was not +arrayed in the snuff-colored satin; and when they entered, Priscilla was +kneeling down upon the hearth-rug, straightening out an obstreperous +fold in it. + +She rose, collectedly, at once, and as her face turned toward them, Theo +was struck with some fancy of its being a shade paler than it had been +the last time she had seen it. But her manner was not changed in the +least, and she welcomed her visitor with grave cordiality. Poor little +snuff-colored Miss Elizabeth was delighted. She was getting very fond of +company in her old age, and had taken a great fancy to Theodora North. + +"Send the carriage away, and stay with us until evening, Miss Theodora," +she fluttered in wild, old-maidenly excitement. "Do stay, Miss Theodora, +and I will show you how to do the octagon-stitch, as I promised the last +time you were here. You remember how you admired it in that antimacassar +I was making for Priscilla?" + +Miss Elizabeth's chief delight and occupation was the making of +miraculously-gorgeous mysteries for Priscilla; and Theo's modest +eulogies of her last piece of work had won her admiration and regard at +once. Consequently, under stress of Miss Elizabeth, the carriage was +fain to depart, much to the abasement of the fat, gray coachman, who +felt himself much dishonored in finding he was compelled, not only to +pay majestic calls to Broome street, but to acknowledge the humiliating +fact of friendly visits. + +"We must have a fire in the best parlor, my dear," chirped Elizabeth, +ecstatically, when Theo's hat and jacket were being carried out of the +room. "Don't forget to tell Jane, Priscilla, and--" fumbling in her +large side-pocket, "here's the key of the preserve-closet. Quince +preserve, my dear, and white currant-jelly." + +Theodora was reminded of Downport that day, in a hundred ways. The nice +little company-dinner reminded her of it; the solitary little roast fowl +and the preserves and puddings; but the company-dinners at Downport had +always been detracted from by the sharp annoyance in Pam's face, and the +general domestic bustle, and the total inadequacy of gravy and stuffing +to the wants of the boys. She was particularly reminded of it by the +ceremonious repairing to the fire in the front parlor, where everything +was so orderly, and even the family portraits had the appearance of +family portraits roused from a deep reverie to be surprised at an +intrusion. + +"My late lamented parents, my dear," said Miss Elizabeth, rubbing her +spectacles, and admiringly regarding an owl-like, elderly gentleman, in +an aggressive brown wig, and an equally owl-like lady, in a +self-announcing false-front, embarrassingly suggestive of Miss +Elizabeth's own. "My late lamented parents, at the respective ages of +fifty and fifty-seven. My sister, Anastasia; my only brother, my +sister-in-law, his wife; and my dear Priscilla, at seventeen years." + +Theo turned from the others to look at this last with a deeper interest; +remembered that it was when she was seventeen, that Priscilla had first +met Denis Oglethorpe. It was a small picture, half life-size, and set in +an oval frame of black walnut. Priscilla at seventeen had not been very +different from Priscilla at twenty-two. She had a pale, handsome, +ungirlish face--a Minerva face--steady, grave, handsome eyes, and a fine +head, unadorned, save with a classic knot of black brown hair. The +picture was not even younger-looking than Priscilla was now. + +Miss Elizabeth regarded it in affectionate admiration of its beauty. + +"My dear," she said to Theodora, "that is the most beautiful face in +London, to my old eyes. It reminds me of my dear Anastasia in her youth. +I was always glad my brother Benjamin's daughter was not like his wife. +We were not fond of my brother Benjamin's wife. She was a very giddy +young person, and very fond of gayety. She died of lung-fever, +contracted through exposing herself one night at a military ball, in +direct opposition to my brother Benjamin's wishes. She insisted upon +wearing blue-satin slippers, and a low-necked dress." + +"Oh, dear!" said Theodora, secretly conscious of a guilty sympathy for +the giddy young person who ran counter to brother Benjamin's wishes, in +the matter of military balls and blue-satin slippers. + +"Yes, my love!" Miss Elizabeth proceeded. "And for that reason I was +always glad to find that Priscilla was not at all like her. Priscilla +and I have been very happy together, in our quiet way; she has been the +best of dear, good girls to me. Indeed, I really don't know what I shall +do when I must lose her, as of course you know I shall be obliged to, +when she marries Mr. Denis Oglethorpe!" + +"Yes, ma'am," answered Theo, and as she spoke, she felt a curious, +startled glow flash over her. This was the first time an actual approach +to the subject had been made in her presence. + +"Yes, my dear!" said Miss Elizabeth again. "I shall feel the separation +very deeply, but it must be, you know. They have waited so long for each +other, that I should be a very wicked selfish old woman to throw any +obstacle, even so slight a one as my own discomfort, in their way. Don't +you think so?" + +"Yes, madame," Theo faltered, very unsteadily, indeed. + +But Miss Elizabeth did not notice any hesitation in her manner, and went +on with her confidential chat, eulogizing Priscilla and her betrothed +affectionately. Mr. Denis Oglethorpe would be a rich man some of these +days, and then what a happy life must Priscilla's be--so young, so +beautiful, so beloved. "Not that wealth brings happiness, my dear Miss +Theodora. Riches are very deceitful, you know; but there is a great deal +of solid comfort in a genteel sufficiency." + +To all of which Theo acquiesced, modestly, inwardly wondering if she was +very wrong in wishing that Oglethorpe had not left them quite so early. + +The day passed pleasantly enough, however, in a quiet way. Miss +Elizabeth was very affectionate and communicative, and told her a great +many stories of Anastasia, and the late-lamented Benjamin, as they sat +by the fire together, in the evening, and blundered over the +octagon-stitch. It was an Afghan Miss Elizabeth was making now; and when +at tea-time, Mr. Oglethorpe came, he found Theodora North sitting on the +hearth, flushed with industrious anxiety, and thrown into reflected glow +of brilliant Berlin wool, a beautiful young spider in a gorgeous Afghan +web. + +"I should like," she was saying as he entered, "to buy Pamela and the +girls some nice little presents. What would you advise me to get, Miss +Gower?" + +She was very faithful to the shabby household at Downport. Her letters +were never careless or behind time, and no one was ever neglected in the +multiplicity of messages. She would be the most truthful and faithful of +loving women a few years hence, this handsome Theodora. There was some +reserve in her manner toward Denis this evening. She attended to Miss +Elizabeth's octagon-stitch, and left him to amuse Priscilla. He had not +seemed very much pleased to see her in the morning, and besides, +Priscilla was plainly his business. But when the carriage was announced, +and she returned to the parlor, after an absence of a few minutes, +drawing on her gloves, and buttoning her pretty jacket close up to her +beautiful slender, dusky throat, Denis took his hat and accompanied her +to the carriage. He did not wait for the footman this time; but, after +assisting her to get in, closed the door himself, and leaned against the +open window for a moment. + +"I want you to deliver a message to Lady Throckmorton for me," he said. +"May I trouble you, Theodora?" + +She bent her head with an unpleasantly-quickened heart-beat. It was very +foolish, of course, but she felt as if something painful was going to +happen, and nothing on earth could prevent it. + +"Business has unexpectedly called me away from London--from England," he +explained, in a strange yet quite steady voice. "I am obliged to go to +Belgium at once, and my affairs are in such a condition that I may be +compelled to remain across the channel for some time. Be good enough to +say to Lady Throckmorton that I regret deeply that I could not see her +before going; but--but the news has been sudden, and my time is fully +occupied; but I will write to her from my first stopping-place." + +"I will tell her," said Theodora. + +"Thank you," he replied, courteously, and then, after a short +hesitation, began again, in the tone he used so often--the tone that +might be jest or earnest. "And now, there is something else, a subject +upon which I wish to ask your unbiased opinion, my dear Theodora, before +I say good-bye. When a man finds himself in a danger with which he +cannot combat, and remain human--in danger, where defeat means dishonor, +do you not agree with me, that the safest plan that man can adopt is to +run away?" + +Her quickened heart might almost have been running a life-and-death race +with her leaping pulse, but she answered him almost steadily. + +"Yes," she said to him. "You are quite right. He had better go away." + +"Thank you," he returned again. "Then you will give me your hand and +wish me God-speed; and, perhaps--I say perhaps--you will answer me +another question. This morning, when you spoke to me through the +carriage window, you began to say something about being glad. Were you +going to say--" He broke off here, sharply. "No!" he exclaimed. "I will +not ask you." + +"I was going to say that I was glad to see you," Theo interrupted, +gravely. "I was glad to see you. And now, perhaps, you had better tell +the coachman to drive on. I will deliver your message to Lady +Throckmorton; and as I shall not see you again, unless I am here in +July--of course you will come back then--good-bye, Mr. Oglethorpe." + +She gave him her hand through the carriage-window, and, for a moment, he +held it, to all appearance quite calm, as he looked down at the lovely +face the flare of an adjacent gaslight revealed to him against a +background of shadow. + +"Good-bye," he said, and then released it. "Drive on," he called to the +coachman, and in a moment more, he stood alone watching the carriage +turn the corner. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE SEPARATION. + + +"Mr. Denis Oglethorpe has gone away. He will not come back again until +July, when he is to marry Miss Gower." + +This was the last entry recorded in the little pink-and-gold journal, +and after it came a gap of months. + +It was midnight after the memorable day spent in Broome street that the +record was made, and having made it, Theodora North shut the book with a +startled feeling that she had shut within its pages an unfinished page +of her life. + +It was a strange feeling to have come upon her so suddenly, and there +was a strange kind of desperateness in its startling strength. It was +startling; it had come upon her without a moment's warning, it seemed, +and yet, if she had been conscious of it, there had been warning enough. +Warning enough for an older woman--warning enough for Denis Oglethorpe; +but it had not seemed warning to a girl of scarcely seventeen years. But +she understood it now; she had understood it the moment he told her in +that strained, steady voice that he was going away. She had delivered +his message to Lady Throckmorton, and listened quietly to her wandering +comments, answering them as best she could. She had waited patiently +until Sir Dugald's barbarous eleven o'clock supper was over, and then +she had gone to her room, stirred the fire, and dropped down upon the +hearth-rug to think it over. She thought over it for a long time, her +handsome eyes brooding over the red coals, but after about half an hour +she spoke out aloud to the silence of the room. + +"He loved me," she said. "He loved me--me. Poor Priscilla! Ah, poor +Priscilla! How sorry I am for you." + +She was far more sorry for Priscilla than she was for herself, though it +was Priscilla who had won the lover, and herself who had lost him +forever. She cared for him so much more deeply than she realized as yet, +that she would rather lose him, knowing he loved her, than win him +feeling uncertain. The glow in her eyes died away in tears, but she was +too young to realize despair or anything like it. The truth was that the +curious enchantment of the day had not been altogether sad, and at +seventeen one does not comprehend that fate can be wholly bitter, or +that some turn in fortune is not in store for the future, however +hopeless the present may seem. + +In this mood the entry was made in the little journal, and having made +it, Theodora North cried a little, hoped a little, and wondered +guilelessly how matters could end with perfect justice to Priscilla +Gower. + +The household seemed rather quiet after the change. Mr. Denis Oglethorpe +was a man to be missed under any circumstances--and Theo was not the +only one who missed him. Lady Throckmorton missed him also, but she had +the solace of her novels and her chocolate, which Theo had not. Novels +had been delightful at Downport, when they were read in hourly fear of +the tasks that always interfered to prevent any indulgence; but in those +days, for some reason, they were not as satisfactory as they appeared +once, and so being thrown on her own resources, she succumbed to the +very natural girlish weakness of feeling a sort of fascination for +Broome street. It was hard to resist Broome street, knowing that there +must be news to be heard there, and so she gradually fell into the habit +of paying visits, more to Miss Elizabeth Gower than to her niece. The +elder Miss Gower was always communicative, and always ready to talk +about her favorites, and to Theo, in her half-puzzled, half-sad frame of +mind, this was a curious consolation. The two spent hours together, +sometimes, in the tiny parlor, stumbling over Berlin wool difficulties, +and now and then wandering to and fro, conversationally, from Priscilla +to the octagon-stitch, and from the octagon-stitch to Denis. + +Priscilla was prone to reserve, and rarely joined them in their talks; +and, besides, she was so often busy, that if she had felt the +inclination to do so, she had not time to indulge it. But she was even +more silent than she had seemed at first, Theo thought, and she was sure +her pale, handsome face was paler, though, of course, that was easily to +be accounted for by her lover's absence. + +She was a singular girl this Priscilla Gower. The first time Theo ever +saw her display an interest in anybody, or in anything, was when she +first heard Pamela's love-story mentioned. + +She was sitting at work near them, when Theo chanced to mention Arthur +Brunwalde, and, to her surprise, Priscilla looked up from her desk +immediately. + +"He was your sister's lover, was he not?" she said, with an abrupt +interest in the subject. + +"Yes," answered Theo; "but he died, you know." + +Priscilla nodded. + +"The week before their wedding-day," she said. "Mr. Oglethorpe told me +so." + +Theo answered in the affirmative again. + +"And poor Pam could not forget him," she added, her usual tender +reverence for poor Pam showing itself in her sorrowing voice. "She was +very pretty then, and Lady Throckmorton was angry because she would not +marry anybody else; but Pamela never cared for anybody else." + +Priscilla got up from her chair, and, coming to the hearth, leaned +against the low mantel, pen in hand. She looked down on Theodora North +with a curious expression in her cold, handsome eyes. + +"Is your sister like you?" she asked. + +Her tone was such a strange one that Theo lifted her face with a faint, +startled look. + +"No," she replied, almost timidly. "Pamela is fairer than I am, and not +so tall. We are not alike at all." + +"I was not thinking of that," said Priscilla. "I was wondering if you +were alike in disposition. I think I was wondering most whether you +would be as faithful as Pamela." + +"That is a strange question," Miss Elizabeth interposed. "Theodora has +not been tried." + +But Priscilla was looking straight at Theo's downcast eyes. + +"But I think Theodora knows," she said, briefly. "Are you like your +sister in that, Theodora? I remember hearing Mr. Oglethorpe say once you +would be." + +Theo dropped her ivory crochet-needle, and bent to pick it up, with a +blurred vision and nervous fingers. + +"I cannot tell," she said. "I am not old enough to know yet." + +"You are seventeen," said Priscilla. "I knew at seventeen." + +Theo recovered the needle, and reset it in her work to give herself +time, and then she looked up and faced her questioner bravely, in a sort +of desperateness. + +"If I knew that I loved any one. If I had ever loved any one as Pamela +loved Mr. Brunwalde, I should be like Pamela," she said. "I should never +love any one else." + +From that time she fancied that Priscilla Gower liked her better than +she had done before; at any rate, she took more notice of her, though +she was never effusive, of course. + +She talked to her oftener, and seemed to listen while she talked, even +though she was busy at the time. She said to her once that she would +like to know Pamela; and, emboldened by this, Theo ventured to bring one +of Pam's letters to read to her; and when she had read it, told the +whole story of her sister's generosity in a little burst of enthusiastic +love and gratitude that fairly melted tender-hearted old Miss Elizabeth +to tears, and caused her to confide afterward to Theo the fact that she +herself had felt the influence of the tender passion, in consequence of +the blandishments of a single gentleman of uncertain age, whose +performances upon the flute had been the means of winning her +affections, but had unhappily resulted in his contracting a fatal cold +while serenading on a damp evening. + +"He used to play 'In a Cottage near a Wood,' my dear, most beautifully," +said Miss Elizabeth, wild with pathos, "though I regret to say that, as +we did not live in a musical neighborhood, the people next door did not +appreciate it; the gentleman of the house even going so far as to say +that he was not sorry when he died, as he did a few weeks after the cold +settled on his dear weak lungs. He was the only lover I ever had, my +dear Theodora, and his name was Elderberry, a very singular name, by the +way, but he was a very talented man." + +When Theo went into the little back bedroom that evening to put on her +hat, Priscilla Gower went with her, and, as she stood before the +dressing-table buttoning her sacque, she was somewhat puzzled by the +expression on her companion's face. Priscilla had taken up her muff, and +was stroking the white fur, her eyes downcast upon her hand as it moved +to and fro, the ring upon its forefinger shining in the gaslight. + +"I had a letter from Mr. Oglethorpe yesterday," Priscilla said, at last. +"He is in Vienna now; he asked if you were well. To-night I shall answer +him. Have you any message to send?" + +"I?" said Theo. It seemed to her so strange a thing for Miss Priscilla +Gower to say, that her pronoun was almost an interjection. + +"I thought, perhaps," said Priscilla, quietly, "that a message from you +would gratify him, if you had one to send." + +Theo took up her gloves and began to draw them on, a sudden feeling of +pain or discomfort striking her. It was a feeling scarcely defined +enough to allow her to decide whether it was real pain or only +discomfort. + +"I do not think I have any message to send," she replied. "Thank you, +Miss Priscilla." + +She took her muff then, and went back to the parlor to kiss Miss +Elizabeth, in a strange frame of mind. She was beginning to feel more +strangely concerning Mr. Denis Oglethorpe, and it was Priscilla Gower +who had stirred her heart. She found Lady Throckmorton waiting at home +for her, to her surprise, in a new mood. She had that evening received a +letter from Denis herself, and it had suggested an idea to her. + +"I have been thinking, Theo," she said, "that we might take a run over +the Channel ourselves. I have not been in Paris for four years, and I +believe the change would do me good. The last time I visited the Spas, +my health improved greatly." + +It was just like her ladyship to become suddenly possessed of a whim, +and to follow its lead on the spur of the moment. She was a woman of +caprices, and her caprices always ruled the day, as this one did, to +Theo's great astonishment. It seemed such a great undertaking to +Theodora, this voyage of a few hours; but Lady Throckmorton regarded it +as the lightest of matters. To her it was only the giving of a few +orders, being uncomfortably sea-sick for a while, and then landing in +Calais, with a waiting-woman who understood her business, and a +man-servant who was accustomed to travelling. So when Theo broke into +exclamations of pleasure and astonishment, she did not understand either +her enthusiasm or her surprise. + +"What," she said, "you like the idea, do you? Well, I think I have made +up my mind about it. We could go next week, and I dare say we could +reach Vienna before Denis Oglethorpe goes away." + +Theo became suddenly silent. She gave vent to no further exclamations. +She would almost have been willing to give up the pleasure of the +journey after that. She was learning that it was best for her not to see +Denis Oglethorpe again, and here it seemed that she must see him in +spite of herself, even though she was conscientious enough to wish to do +what was best, not so much because it was best for herself, as because +it was just to Priscilla Gower. But Lady Throckmorton had come to a +decision, and forthwith made her preparations. She even wrote to Vienna, +and told Denis that they were coming, herself and Theodora North, and he +must wait and meet them if possible. + +It was a great trial to Theodora, this. She was actually girlish and +sensitive enough to fancy that Mr. Denis Oglethorpe might imagine their +intention to follow him was some fault of hers, and she was +uncomfortable and nervous accordingly. She hoped he would have left +Vienna before the letter reached him; she hoped he might go away in +spite of it; she hoped it might never reach him at all. And yet, in +spite of this, she experienced an almost passionately keen sense of +disappointment when, on the day before their departure, Lady +Throckmorton received a letter from him regretting his inability to +comply with her request, and announcing his immediate departure for some +place whose name he did not mention. Business had called him away, and +Lady Throckmorton, of course, knew what such business was, and how +imperative its demands were. + +"He might have waited," Theo said to herself, with an unexpected, +inconsistent feeling of wretchedness. "I would have stayed anywhere to +have seen him only for a minute. He had no need to be so ready to go +away." And then she found herself burning all over, as it were, in her +shame at discovering how bold her thoughts had been. + +Perhaps this was the first time she really awoke to a full consciousness +of where she had drifted. The current had carried her along so far, and +she had not been to blame, because she had not comprehended her danger; +but now it was different. She was awakening, but she was at the edge of +the cataract, and its ominous sounds had alarmed her. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THEO GOES TO PARIS. + + +The letters that were faithfully written to Downport during the +following month were the cause of no slight excitement in the house of +David North, Esq. The children looked forward to the reception of them +as an event worthy of being chronicled. Theo was an exact correspondent, +and recorded her adventures and progress with as careful a precision as +if it had been a matter of grave import whether she was in Boulogne or +Bordeaux, or had stayed at one hotel or the other. It was not the +pleasantest season of the year to travel, she wrote, but it was, of +course, the gayest in the cities. Lady Throckmorton was very kind and +very generous. She took her out a great deal, and spent a great deal of +money in sight-seeing, which proved conclusively how kind she was, as +her ladyship knew all the places worth looking at, as well as she knew +Charing Cross or St. Paul's. And at the end of a month came a letter +from Paris full of news and description. + + "We reached Paris three days ago," wrote Theo, "and are going to + remain until Lady Throckmorton makes up her mind to go somewhere + else, or to return to London. She has a great number of friends + here, who have found us out already. She is very fond of Paris, and + I think would rather stay here than anywhere else; so we may not + come away until spring. We went to the opera last night, and saw + Faust again. You remember my telling you about going to see Faust + in London the first time I wore the rose-pink satin. I wore the + same dress last night, and Lady Throckmorton lent me some of her + diamonds, and made Splaighton puff my hair in a new way. Splaighton + is my maid, and I don't know what to do with her sometimes, Pamela. + You know I am used to waiting on myself, and she is so serious and + dignified that I feel half ashamed to let her do things for me. Two + or three gentlemen, who knew Lady Throckmorton, came into our box, + and were introduced to me. One of them (I think Lady Throckmorton + said he was an _attache_) called on us this morning, and brought + some lovely flowers. I must not forget to tell you about my + beautiful morning robes. One of them is a white merino, trimmed + with black velvet, and I am sure we should think it pretty enough + for a party dress at home. I am glad you liked your little present, + my darling Pam. Give my dearest love to Joanna and Elin, and tell + them I am saving my pocket money to buy them some real Parisian + dresses with. Love and kisses to mamma and the boys from + + "Your THEO." + +She did not know, this affectionate, handsome Theo, that when she wrote +this innocent, schoolgirl letter, she might have made it a record of +triumphs innumerable, though unconscious. She had never dreamed for a +moment that it was the face at Lady Throckmorton's side that had caused +such a sudden accession to the list of the faithful. But this was the +case, nevertheless, and Lady Throckmorton was by no means unconscious of +it. Of course, it was quite natural that people who had forgotten her in +London should remember her in Paris; but it was even more natural that +persons who did not care for her at all, should be filled with +admiration for Theo in rose-colored satin. And so it was. Such a change +came over the girl's life all at once, that, as it revealed itself to +her, she was tempted to rub her bright eyes in her doubt as to the +reality of it. + +Two weeks after she reached Paris she awoke and found herself famous; +she, Theodora North, to whom, as yet, Downport and shabbiness, and +bread-and-butter cutting, were the only things that appeared real enough +not to vanish at a touch. People of whom she had read six months ago, +regarding their very existence as almost mythical, flattered, applauded, +followed her. They talked of her, they praised her, they made high-flown +speeches to her, at which she blushed, and glowed, and opened her +lovely, half-uncomprehending eyes. She was glad they liked her, grateful +for their attentions, half-confused under them; but it was some time +before she understood the full meaning of their homage. In rose-colored +satin and diamonds she dazzled them; but in simple white muslin, with a +black-velvet ribbon about her perfect throat, and a great white rose in +her dark hair, she was a glowing young goddess, of whom they raved +extravagantly, and who might have made herself a fashion, if she had +been born a few years earlier, and been born in Paris. + +Lady Throckmorton was actually proud of her, and committed extravagances +she might have repented of, if the girl had not been so affectionately +grateful and tractable. Then, as might be expected, there arose out of +the train the indefatigable adorer, who is the fate of every pretty or +popular girl. But in this case he was by no means unpleasant. He was +famous, witty, and fortunate. He was no less a personage than the +_attache_, of whom she had written to Pamela, and his name was Victor +Maurien. He had been before all the rest, and so had gained some slight +footing, which he was certainly not the man to relinquish. He had gained +ground with Lady Throckmorton too, and in Denis Oglethorpe's absence, +had begun almost to fill his place. He was graceful, faithful in her +ladyship's service; he talked politics with her when she was gravely +inclined, and told her the news when she was in a good humor; he was +indefatigable and dignified at once, which is a rare combination; and he +thought his efforts well rewarded by a seat at Theo's side in their box +in the theatre, or by the privilege of handing her to her carriage, and +gaining a few farewell words as he bade her good-night. He was not like +the rest either. It was not entirely her beauty which had enchanted him, +though, like all Frenchmen, he was a passionate worshipper of the +beautiful. The sweet soul in her eyes had touched his heart. Her +ignorance had done more to strengthen it than anything she could have +done. There was not a spark of coquetry in her whole nature. She +listened to his poetic speeches, wondering but believing--wondering how +they could be true of her, yet trusting him and all the world too +seriously to accuse him of anything but partiality. + +To the last day of his life Victor Maurien will not forget one quiet +evening, when he came to the hotel and found Theodora North by herself, +in their private parlor, reading an English letter by the blaze of a +candelabra. It had arrived that very day from Downport, and something in +it had touched her, for when she rose to greet him, her gipsy eyes were +mistily soft. + +They began to draw near to each other that night. Half-unconsciously she +drifted into confiding to him the yearnings toward the home whose +shadows and sharpnesses absence had softened. It was singular how much +pleasanter everything seemed, now she looked back upon it in the past. +Downport was not an unpleasant place after all. She could remember times +when the sun shone upon the dingy little town and the wide-spread of +beach, and made it almost pretty. + +"I am afraid I did not love them all enough," she said. "Lady +Throckmorton does not intend that I shall go there to remain again; but +if I were to go, I feel as if I could help them more--Pamela, you know, +and mamma. I want to send Joanna and Elin something, to show them that I +don't forget them at all. I think I should like to send them some pretty +dresses. Joanna is fair and she always wanted a pale-blue silk. Do you +think a pale-blue silk would be very expensive, M. Maurien?" + +She started, and colored a little the next moment, recognizing the +oddity of her speech, and her little laugh was very sweet to hear. + +"I forgot," she said. "How should you know, to be sure. Political men +don't care about pale-blue silk, do they?" And she laughed again, such a +fresh, enjoyable little laugh, that he was ready to fall down and +worship her in his impulsive French fashion. Until Lady Throckmorton +came, she amused him with talking of England and the English people, +until the _naivete_ of her manner had an indescribable fascination for +him. He could have listened to her forever. She told him about Downport +and its small lines, unconsciously showing him more of her past life +than she fancied. Then, of course, she at last came to Broome street and +Miss Elizabeth, and Miss Priscilla, and--Mr. Denis Oglethorpe. + +"He is very talented, indeed," she said. "He has written, oh! a great +deal. He once wrote a book of poems. I have the volume in one of my +trunks." + +He looked at her quietly but keenly when she said this, and he did not +need more than a second glance to understand more than she understood +herself. He read where Mr. Denis Oglethorpe stood, by the queer, sudden +inner light in her eyes, and the unconscious fluctuation of rich color +in her bright glowing face. He was struck with a secret pang in a +second. There would be so frail a thread of hope for the man who was +only second with a girl like this one. + +"I know the gentleman you speak of," he said, aloud. "We all know him. +He is a popular man. I saw him only a few weeks ago." + +Her eyes flashed up to his--the whole of her face flashed with electric +light. + +"Did you?" she said. "Where was he? I didn't know--" and there she +stopped. + +"He was here," was the answer. "In Paris--in this very hotel, the day +before you came here. He had overworked himself, I think. He was looking +paler than usual, and somewhat worn-out. It was fatigue, I suppose." + +Her eyes fell, and the light died away. She was thinking to herself that +he might have waited twenty-four hours longer--only a day--such a short +time. Just at that moment she felt passionately that she could not bear +to let him go back to England and Priscilla Gower without a farewell +word. + +In all the whirl of excitement that filled her life, through all the +days that were full of it, and the nights that were fairly dazzling to +her unaccustomed eyes, she never forgot Denis Oglethorpe. She remembered +him always in the midst of it all, and now her remembrance was of a +different kind; there was more pain in it, more unrest, more longing and +strength. She had ripened wonderfully since that last night in Broome +street. + +Among the circle of Lady Throckmorton's friends, and even beyond its +pale, she was a goddess this winter. Her dark _viante_ face, with its +innocence and freshness of beauty, carried all before it, and this her +first season was a continuation of girlish triumphs. The chief +characteristic of her loveliness was that it inspired people with a sort +of enthusiasm. When she entered a room a low murmur of pleasure followed +her. There was not a man who had exchanged a word with her who would not +have been ready to perform absurdities as well as impossibilities for +her sweet young sake. + +"How kind people are to me!" she would say to Lady Throckmorton. "I can +hardly believe it, sometimes. Oh, how Joanna and Elin would like Paris!" + +They had been two months in Paris, and in the meantime had heard nothing +from Denis Oglethorpe. He had not written to Lady Throckmorton since the +letter dated from Vienna, so they supposed he had lost sight of them and +thought writing useless. There were times when Theo tried to make up her +mind that she had seen him for the last time before his marriage, but +there were times again when, on going out, her last glance at her mirror +had a thrill of expectation in it that was almost a pang. + +She was sitting in their box in the theatre one night, half listening to +Maurien, half to the singers, and wondering dreamily what was going on +in Broome street at the moment, when she suddenly became conscious of a +slight stir among the people in the seats on the other side of the +house. She turned her face quickly, as if she had been magnetized. +Making his way toward their box was a man whom at first she saw mistily, +in a moment more quite clearly. Her heart began to beat faster than it +had ever beaten in her young life, her hand closed upon her +bouquet-holder with a nervous strength; she turned her face to the stage +in the curious, excited, happy, and yet fearing tremor that took +possession of her in a second. By some caprice or chance they had come +to see Faust again, and the Marguerite who had been their attraction, +was at this very moment standing upon the stage, repeating softly her +simple, pathetic little love-spell, + +"_Er lieber mich, er lieber mich nicht._" + +Theo found herself saying it after Marguerite to the beating of her +heart. "_Er lieber mich, er lieber mich nicht. Er lieber mich_,--" and +there she stopped, breathlessly, for the box door opened, and Denis +Oglethorpe entered. + +She had altered so much since they had last met that she scarcely dared +to look at him, even after the confusion of greetings and formalities +was over, and he had answered Lady Throckmorton's questions, and +explained to her the cause of his protracted wandering--for, though she +did not meet his eyes, she knew that he was altered, too. He looked worn +and fatigued, she thought, and there was a new unrest in his expression. + +It was fully a quarter of an hour before he left Lady Throckmorton and +came to her side; but when he did so, something in his face or air, +perhaps, made Victor Maurien give way to his greater need in an impulse +of generosity. + +There was a moment's silence between them after he sat down, during +which, in her excited shyness, Theo only looked at Marguerite with a +fluttering of rich, warm color on her cheeks. It was he who ended the +pause himself. + +"Are you glad to see me, Theodora?" he said, in a low, unsteady voice. + +"Yes," she answered, tremulously. "I am glad." + +"Thank you," he returned. "And yet it was chance that brought me here. I +was not even sure you were in Paris until I saw you from the other side +of the house a few moments ago. I wonder, my dear Theodora," slipping +into the old careless, whimsical manner, "I wonder if I am doomed to be +a rascal?" + +It might be that her excitement made her nervous; at any rate there was +a choking throb in her throat, as she answered him. + +"If you please," she whispered, "don't." + +His face softened, as if he was sorry for her girlish distress. He was +struck with a fancy that if he were cruel enough to persist, he could +make her cry. And then the relapse in the old manner, had only been a +relapse after all, and had even puzzled himself a little. So he was +quiet for a while. + +"And so it is Faust again," he said, breaking the silence. "Do you +remember what you said to me the first time you saw Faust, Theodora--the +night the rose-colored satin came home? Do you remember telling me that +you could die for love's sake? I wonder if you have changed your mind, +among all the fine people you have seen, and all the fine speeches you +have heard. I met one of Lady Throckmorton's acquaintances in Bordeaux, +a few days ago, and he told me a wonderful story of a young lady who was +then turning the wise heads of half the political Parisians--a sort of +enchanted princess, with a train of adorers ready to kiss the hem of her +garment." + +He was endeavoring to be natural, and was failing wretchedly. His voice +was actually sad, and she had never heard it sad in all their +intercourse before. She had never thought it could be sad, and the sound +was something like a revelation of the man. It made her afraid of +herself--afraid for herself. And yet above all this arose a thrill of +happiness which was almost wild. He was near her again! he had not gone +away, he would not go away yet. Yet! there was a girl's foolish, loving +comfort in the word! It seemed so impossible that she could lose him +forever, that for the brief moment she forgot Priscilla Gower and +justice altogether. In three months the whole world had altered its face +to her vision. She had altered herself; her life had altered she knew, +but she did not know that she had been happier in her ignorance of her +own heart than she could be now in her knowledge of it. + +Her little court were not very successful to-night. Denis Oglethorpe +kept his place at her side with a persistence which baffled the boldest +of her admirers, and she was too happy to remember the rest of the +world. It was not very polite, perhaps, and certainly it was not very +wise to forget everything but that she herself was not forgotten; but +she forgot everything else--this pretty Theo, this handsome and +impolitic Theo. She did not care for her court, though she was +sweet-temperedly grateful to her courtiers for their homage. She did +care for Denis Oglethorpe. Ah, poor Priscilla! He went home with them to +their hotel. He stayed, too, to eat of the _petite souper_ Lady +Throckmorton had ordered. Her ladyship had a great deal to say to him, +and a great number of questions to ask, so he sat with them for an hour +or so accounting for himself and replying to numberless queries, all the +time very conscious of Theo, who sat by the fire in a mist of white +drapery and soft, thick, white wraps, the light from the wax tapers +flickering in Pamela's twinkling sapphires, and burning in the great +crimson-hearted rose fastened in the puffs of her hair. + +But Lady Throckmorton remembered at last that she had to give some +orders to her maid, and so for a moment they were left together. + +Then he went to the white figure at the fire and stood before it, losing +something of both color and calmness. He was going to be guilty of a +weakness, and knowing it, could not control himself. He was not so great +a hero as she had fancied him, after all. But it would have been very +heroic to have withstood a temptation so strong and so near. + +"Theo," he said. "The man who ran away from the danger he dared not face +is a greater coward than he fancied. The chances have been against him, +too. I suppose to-night he must turn his back to it again, but--" + +She stopped him all at once with a little cry. She had been so happy an +hour ago, that she could not fail to be weak now. Her face dropped upon +the hands on her lap, and were hidden there. The crimson-hearted rose +slipped from her hair and fell to her feet. + +"No, no!" she cried. "Don't go. It is only for a little while; don't go +yet!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +"PARTING IS SWEET SORROW." + + +He did not go away. He could not yet. He stayed in Paris, day after day, +even week after week, lingering through a man's very human weakness. He +could no longer resist the knowledge of the fact that he had lost the +best part of the battle; he had lost it in being compelled to +acknowledge the presence of danger by flight; he had lost it completely +after this by being forced to admit to himself that there was not much +more to lose, that in spite of his determination, Theodora North had +filled his whole life and nature as Priscilla Gower had never filled it, +and could never fill it, were she his wife for a thousand years. He had +made a mistake, and discovered having made it too late--that was all; +but he blamed himself for having made it; blamed himself for being +blind; blamed himself more than all for having discovered his blindness +and his blunder. Thinking thus, he resolved to go away. Yes, he would go +away! He would marry Priscilla at once, and have it over. He would put +an impassable barrier between himself and Theo. + +But, though he reproached himself, and anathematized himself, and +resolved to go away, he did not leave Paris. He stayed in the face of +his remorseful wretchedness. It was a terrible moral condition to be in, +but he absolutely gave up, for the time, to the force of circumstances, +and floated recklessly with the current. + +If he had loved Theodora North when he left her for Priscilla's sake, he +loved her ten thousand fold, when he forbore to leave her for her own. +He loved her passionately, blindly, jealously. He envied every man who +won a smile from her, even while his weakness angered him. She had +changed greatly during their brief separation, but the change grew +deeper after they had once again encountered each other. She was more +conscious of herself, more fearful, less innocently frank. She did not +reveal herself to him as she had once done. There is a stage of love in +which frankness is at once unnatural and impossible, and she had reached +this stage. Even her letters to Priscilla were not frank after his +reappearance. + +Since the night of their interview after their return from the theatre, +he had not referred openly to his reasons for remaining. He had held +himself to the letter of his bond so far, at least, though he was often +sorely tempted. He visited Lady Throckmorton and Theo as he had visited +them in London, and was their attendant cavalier upon most occasions, +but beyond that he rarely transgressed. It was by no means a pleasant +position for a man in love to occupy. The whole world was between him +and his love, it seemed. The most infatuated of Theodora North's adorers +did not fear him, handsome and popular as he was, dangerous rival as he +might have appeared. Lady Throckmorton's world knew the history of their +favorite, having learned it as society invariably learns such things. +Most of them knew that his fate had been decided for years; all of them +knew that his stay in Paris could not be a long one. A man whose +marriage is to be celebrated in June has not many months to lose between +February and May. + +But this did not add to the comfort of Denis Oglethorpe. The rest of +Theo's admirers had a right to speak--he must be silent. The shallowest +of them might ask a hearing--he dared not for his dishonored honor's +sake. So even while nearest to her he stood afar off, as it were a +witness to the innocent triumph of a girlish popularity that galled him +intolerably. He puzzled her often in these days, and out of her +bewilderment grew a vague unhappiness. + +And yet, in spite of this, her life grew perilously sweet at times. Only +a few months ago she had dreamed of such bliss as Jane Eyre's and +Zulick's, wonderingly; but there were brief moments now and then when +she believed in it faithfully. She was very unselfish in her girlish +passion. She thought of nothing but the wondrous happiness love could +bring to her. She would have given up all her new luxuries and triumphs +for Denis Oglethorpe's sake. She would have gone back to Downport with +him, to the old life; to the mending, and bread-and-butter cutting, and +shabby dresses; she would have taken it all up again cheerfully, without +thinking for one moment that she had made a sacrifice. Downport would +have been a paradise with him. She was wonderfully devoid of calculation +or worldly wisdom, if she had only been conscious of it. An absurdly +loving, simple, impolitic young person was this Theodora of ours; but I, +for one, must confess to feeling some weak sympathy for her very +ignorance. + +Among the many of the girl's admirers whom Denis Oglethorpe envied +jealously, perhaps the one most jealously envied, was Victor Maurien. A +jealous man might have feared him with reason under any circumstances, +and Denis chafed at his good-fortune miserably. The man who had the +honorable right to success could not fail to torture him. + +"It would be an excellent match for Theo," was Lady Throckmorton's +complacent comment on the subject of the _attache's_ visit, and the +comment was made to Denis himself. "M. Maurien is the very man to take +good care of her; and besides that, he is, of course, desirable. Girls +like Theo ought to marry young. Marriage is their _forte_; they are too +dependent to be left to themselves. Theo is not like Pamela or your +Priscilla Gower, for instance; queenly as Theo looks, she is the veriest +strengthless baby on earth. It is a source of wonder to me where she got +the regal air." + +But, perhaps, Lady Throckmorton did not understand her lovely young +relative fully. She did not take into consideration a certain mental +ripening process which had gone on slowly but surely during the last few +months. The time came when Theodora North began to comprehend her +powers, and feel the change in herself sadly. Then it was that she +ceased to be frank with Denis Oglethorpe, and began to feel a not +fully-defined humiliation and remorse. + +Coming in unexpectedly once, Denis found her sitting all alone, with +open book in her lap, and eyes brooding over the fire. He knew the +volume well enough at sight; it was the half-forgotten, long-condemned +collection of his youthful poems; and when she saw him, she shut it up, +and laid her folded hands upon it, as if she did not wish him to +recognize it. + +He was in one of his most unhappy moods, for some reason or other, and +so unreasonable was his frame of mind, that the movement, simple as it +was, galled him bitterly. + +"Will you tell me why you did that?" he asked, abruptly. + +Her eyes fell upon the carpet at her feet, but she sat with her hands +still clasped upon the half-concealed book, without answering him. + +"You would not have done it three months ago," he said, almost +wrathfully, "and the thing is not more worthless now than it was then, +though it was worthless enough. Give it to me, and let me fling it into +the fire." + +She looked up at him all at once, and her eyes were full to the brim. +Lady Throckmorton was right in one respect. She was strengthless enough +sometimes. She was worse than strengthless against Denis Oglethorpe. + +"Don't be angry with me," she said, almost humbly. "I don't think you +could be angry with me if you knew how unhappy I am to-day." And the +tears that had brimmed upward fell upon the folded hands themselves. + +"Why to-day?" he asked, softening with far more reason than he had been +galled. "What has to-day brought, Theodora?" + +She answered him with a soft little gasp, of a remorseful sob. "It has +brought M. Maurien," she confessed. + +"And sent him away again?" he added, in a low, unsteady voice. + +She nodded; her simple, pathetic sorrowfulness showing itself even in +the poor little gesture. + +"He has been very fond of me for a long time," she said, tremulously. +"He says that he loves me. He came to ask me to be his wife. I am very +sorry for him." + +"Why?" he asked again, unsteadily. + +"I was obliged to make him unhappy," she answered. "I do not love him." + +"Why?" he repeated yet again; but his voice had sunk into a whisper. + +"Because," she said, trembling all over now--"because I cannot." + +He could not utter another word. There was such danger for him, and his +perilled honor, in her simple tremor and sadness, that he was forced to +be silent. + +It was not safe to follow M. Maurien at least. But, as might be +anticipated, their conversation flagged in no slight degree. The hearts +of both were so full of one subject that it would have been hard to +force them to another. Theo, upon her low _sultane_, sat mute with +drooped eyes, becoming more silent every moment. Oglethorpe, in +regarding her beautiful downcast face, forgot himself also. It was +almost half an hour before he remembered he had not made the visit +without an object. He had something to say to her--something he had once +said to her before. He was going away again, and had come to tell her +so. But he recollected himself at last. + +"I must not forget that I had a purpose in coming here to-night," he +said. + +"A purpose?" she repeated, after him. + +"Yes," he answered. "I found last night, on returning to my hotel, that +there was a letter awaiting me from London--from my employers, in fact. +I must leave Paris to-morrow morning." + +"And will you not come back again?" she added, breathlessly almost. The +news was so sudden that it made her breathless. This was the last +time--the very last! + +They might never see each other again in this world, and if they did +ever chance to meet, Priscilla Gower would be his wife. And yet he was +standing there now, only a few feet from her, so near that her +outstretched hand would touch him. The full depth of misery in the +thought flashed upon her all at once, and drove the blood back to her +heart. + +"Why?" she gasped out unconsciously, through the very strength of her +pangs. "You are going away forever." + +She scarcely knew that she had uttered the words until she saw how +deathly pale he grew. The beads of moisture started out upon his +forehead, and his nervous hand went up to brush them away. + +"Not forever, I trust," he said, huskily. "Only until--until--" + +"Until July," she ended for him; "until you are married to Miss +Priscilla Gower." + +She held up one little, trembling, dusky hand, and actually began to +tell the intervening months off her fingers. She was trying so hard to +calm herself that she did not think what she was doing. She only knew +she must do or say something. + +"How many months will it be?" she said. "It is February now; March, +April, May, June, July. Five months--not quite five, perhaps. We may not +be here then. Lady Throckmorton intends to visit the Spas during the +summer." + +From the depths of her heart she was praying that some chance might take +them away from Paris before he returned. It would be his bridal +tour--Priscilla's bridal tour. Ah, if some wildly happy dream had only +chanced to make it her bridal tour, and she could have gone with him as +Priscilla would, from place to place; near him all the time, loving and +trusting him always, depending on him, obedient to his lightest wishes. +Miss Priscilla was far too self-restrained to ever be as foolishly, +thrillingly tender and fond, and happy as she, Theodora North, would +have been. She could have given a little sob of despair and pain as she +thought of it. + +As it was, the hopeless, foolish tears rose up to her large eyes, and +made them liquid and soft; and when they rose, Denis Oglethorpe saw +them. Such beautiful eyes as they were; such ignorant, believing, +fawn-like eyes. The eyes alone would have unmanned him--under the tears +he broke down utterly, and so was left without a shadow of control. + +He crossed the hearth with a stride and stood close to her, his whole +face ablaze with the fierceness of his remorseful self-reproach and the +power of his love. + +"Listen to me, Theo," he said. "Let me confess to you; let me tell you +the truth for once. I am a coward and a villain. I was a villain to ask +a woman I did not truly love to be my wife. I am a coward to shrink from +the result of my vanity and madness. She is better than I am--this woman +who has promised herself to me; she is stronger, truer, purer; she has +loved me, she has been faithful to me; and God knows I honor and revere +her. I am not worthy to kiss the ground her feet have trodden upon. I +was vain fool enough to think I could make her happy by giving to her +all she did not ask for--my life, my work, my strength--not remembering +that Heaven had given her the sacred right to more. She has held to our +bond for years, and now see how it has ended! I stand here before you +to-night, loving you, adoring you, worshipping you, and knowing myself a +dishonored man, a weak, proved coward, whose truth is lost forever. + +"I do not ask you for a word. I do not say a word further. I will not +perjure myself more deeply. I only say this as a farewell confession. It +will be farewell; we shall never see each other again on earth perhaps; +and if we do, an impassable gulf will lie between us. I shall go back to +England and hasten the marriage if I can; and then, if a whole life's +strenuous exertions and constant care and tenderness will wipe out the +dishonor my weakness has betrayed me into, it shall be wiped out. I do +not say one word of love to you, because I dare not. I only say, forgive +me, forget me, and good-by." + +She had listened to him with a terrified light growing in her eyes; but +when he finished she got up from her seat, shivering from head to foot. + +"Good-by," she said, and let him take her cold, lithe, trembling hands. +But the moment he touched them, his suppressed excitement and her own +half-comprehended pain seemed to frighten her, and she began to try to +draw them from his grasp. + +"Go away, please," she said, with a wild little sob. "I can't bear it. I +don't want to be wicked, and perhaps I have been wicked, too. Miss Gower +is better than I am--more worth loving. Oh, try to love her, +and--and--only go away now, and let me be alone." + +She ended in an actual little moan. She was shivering and sobbing, hard +as she tried to govern herself. And yet, though this man loved her, and +would have given half his life to snatch her to his arms and rain kisses +of comfort upon her, he let the cold little hand drop, and in a moment +more had left her. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THEO'S FIRST TROUBLE. + + +He had been gone three days, and, in their lapse, Theo felt as if three +lustrums had passed. Their parting had been so unexpected a one, that +she could not get used to it, or believe it was anything else but a +painful dream. After all, it seemed that Fortune was crueller than she +had imagined possible. He was gone, and to Priscilla Gower; and she had +never been able to believe that some alteration, of which she had no +very definite conception, would occur, and end her innocent little ghost +of a love-story, as all love-stories should be ended. It had never been +more than the ghost of a story. Until that last night he had never +uttered a word of love to her; he had never even made the fine speeches +to her which she might have expected, and, doubtless, would have +expected, if she had been anybody else but Theodora North. She had not +expected them, though, and, consequently, was not disappointed when she +did not receive them. But she found herself feeling terribly lonely +after Denis Oglethorpe left Paris. The first day she felt more stunned +than anything else. The second her sensibilities began to revive keenly, +and she was full of sad, desperate wonder concerning him--concerning how +he would feel when he stood face to face with Priscilla Gower; how he +would look, what he would say to her. The third day was only the second +intensified, and filled with a something that was almost like a terror +now and then. + +It was upon this third day that Lady Throckmorton was unexpectedly +called away. A long-lost friend of her young days had suddenly made her +appearance at Rouen, and having, by chance, heard of her ladyship's +presence in Paris, had written to her a letter of invitation, which the +ties of their girlhood rendered almost a command. So to Rouen her +ladyship went, for once leaving Theo behind. Madam St. Etunne was an +invalid, and the visit could not be a very interesting one to a young +girl. This was one reason why she was left--the other was the more +important one, that she did not wish to go, and made her wishes known. +She was not sorry for the chance of being left to herself for a few +days--it would be only a few days at most. + +"Besides," said Lady Throckmorton, looking at her a trifle curiously, +"you do not look well yourself. Theo, you look feverish, or nervous, or +something of the kind. How was it I did not notice it before? You must +have caught cold. Yes, I believe I must leave you here." + +Consequently, Theo was left. She was quiet enough, too, when her +ladyship had taken her departure. It was generally supposed that Miss +North had accompanied her chaperon, and so she had very few callers. She +spent the greater part of her time in the apartment in which Denis +Oglethorpe had bidden her farewell, and, as may be easily imagined, it +did not add to her lightness of spirit to sit in her old seat and ponder +over the past in the silence of the deserted room. She arose from her +ottoman one night, and walked to one of the great mirrors that extended +from floor to ceiling. She saw herself in it as she advanced--a +regal-like young figure, with a head set like a queen's, speechful dark +eyes, and glowing lips; a face that was half child's, half woman's, and +yet wholly perfect in its fresh young life and beauty. Seeing this +reflection, she stopped and looked at it, in a swift recognition of a +new thought. + +"Oh, Pam!" she cried out, piteously. "Oh, my poor, darling, faded Pam. +You were pretty once, too, very dear, pretty and young. And you were +happier than I can be, for Arthur only died. Nobody came between your +love and you--nobody ever could. He died, but he was yours, Pam, and you +were his." + +She cried piteously and passionately when she went back to her seat, +rested her arm upon a lounging-chair near her, and hid her face upon it, +crying as only a girl can, with an innocent grief that had a pathos of +its own. She was so lovely and remorseful. It seemed to her that some +fault must have been hers, and she blamed herself that even now she +could not wish that she had never met the man whose love for her was a +dishonor to himself. Where was he now? He had told Lady Throckmorton +that business would call him to several smaller towns on his way, so he +might not be very far from Paris yet. She was thinking of this when at +last she fell asleep, sitting by the fire, still resting her hand upon +the chair by her side. It was by no means unnatural, though by no means +poetic, that her girl's pain should end so. + +But when the time-piece on the mantle chimed twelve with its silver +tongue, she found herself suddenly and unaccountably wide awake. She sat +up and looked about her. It was not the clock's chime that had awakened +her she thought. It must have been, something more, she was so very wide +awake indeed, and her senses were so clear. One minute later she found +out what it was. There was some slight confusion down-stairs; a door was +opened and closed, and she heard the sound of voices in the +entrance-hall. She turned her head, and listening attentively, +discovered that some one was coming up to the room in which she sat. The +door opened, and upon the threshold stood a servant bearing in his hand +a salver, and upon the salver a queer, official-looking document, such +as she did not remember ever having seen before. + +"A telegram," he said, rapidly in French, "for milady. They had thought +it better to acquaint Mad'moiselle." + +She took it from him, and opened it slowly and mechanically. She read it +mechanically also--read it twice before she comprehended its full +meaning, so great was the shock it gave her. Then she started from her +seat with a cry that made the servant start also. + +"Send Splaighton to me," she said, "this minute, without a moment's +delay." + +For the telegram she had just read told her that in a wayside inn, at +St. Quentin, Denis Oglethorpe lay dying, or so near it that the medical +man had thought it his duty to send for the only friend who was on the +right side of Calais, and that friend, whose name he had discovered by +chance, was Lady Throckmorton. + +It was, of course, a terribly unwise thing that Theodora North decided +upon doing an hour later. Only such a girl as she was, or as her life +had necessarily made her, would have hit upon a plan so loving, so wild +and indiscreet. But it did not occur to her, even for a second, that +there was any other thing to do. She must go to him herself in Lady +Throckmorton's stead; she must take Splaighton with her, and go try to +take care of him until Lady Throckmorton came, or could send for +Priscilla Gower and Miss Elizabeth. + +"Ma'mselle," began the stricken Splaighton, when, as she stood before +the erect young figure and desperate young face, this desperate plan was +hurriedly revealed to her. "Ma'mselle, you forget the imprudence--" + +But Theo stopped her, quite ignorant of the fact, that by doing so, she +forfeited her reputation in Splaighton's eyes forever. + +"He is going to die!" she said, with a wild little sob in her voice. +"And he is all alone-and--and he was to have been married, Splaighton, in +July--only a few months from now. Oh, poor Priscilla Gower! Oh, poor +girl! We must save him. I must go now and try to save him for her. Oh, +if I could just have Pamela with me." + +The woman saw at once that remonstrance would be worse than useless. +Theo was slowly revealing to her that this despairing, terrified young +creature would not understand her resistance in the slightest degree. +She would not comprehend what it meant; so, while Splaighton packed up a +few necessary articles, Theo superintended her, following her from place +to place, with a longing impatience that showed itself in every word and +gesture. She did not dare to do more, poor child. She had never overcome +her secret awe of her waiting-woman. In her inexperienced respect for +her, she even apologized pathetically and appealingly for the liberty +she was taking in calling upon her. + +"I am sorry to trouble you," she said, humbly, and feeling terribly +homesick as she said it; "but I could not go alone, you know--and I must +go. There is a lace collar in that little box that you may have, +Splaighton. It is a pretty collar, and I will give you the satin bow +that is fastened to it." + +Scarcely two hours later they were on their way to St. Quentin. It never +occurred to Theo, in the midst of her fright and unhappiness, that she +was now doing a very unwise and dangerous thing. She only thought of one +thing, that Denis was going to die. She loved him too much to think of +herself at all, and, besides, she did not, poor innocent, know anything +about such things. + +It was a wonderful trial of the little old French doctor's calmness of +mind, when, on his next visit to his patient, he found himself +confronted by a tall, young creature, with a pale, desperate face, and +lovely tear-fraught eyes, instead of by the majestic, elderly person, +the perusal of Lady Throckmorton's last letter to Denis had led him to +expect. It was in the little inn parlor that he first encountered +Theodora North, when she arrived, and on seeing her he gazed over his +spectacles, first at herself, and then at the respectable Splaighton, in +a maze of bewilderment, at seemingly having made so strange a blunder. + +"Lady Throckmorton?" he said, at last, in English, or in a broken +attempt at it. "Oh! _Oui_--I understand. The sister of monsieur? Ah, +milady?" + +Theo broke in upon him in a passionate impulse of fear and grief. + +"No," she said. "I am not Lady Throckmorton. I am only her niece, +Theodora North. My aunt was away when your telegram arrived, and--and I +knew some one must come--so I came myself. Splaighton and I can take +care of Mr. Oglethorpe. Oh, monsieur, is it true that he is dying?--will +he never get well? How could it happen? He was so strong only a few days +since. He must not die. It cannot be true that he will die--he has so +many friends who love him." + +Monsieur, the doctor, softened perceptibly under this; she was so young +and innocent-looking, this girlish little English mademoiselle. Monsieur +up-stairs must be a lucky man to have won her tender young heart so +utterly. Strange and equivocal a thing as the pretty child (she seemed a +child to him) was doing, he never for an instant doubted the ignorant +faith and love that shone in the depths of her beautiful agonized eyes. +He bowed to her as deferentially as to a sultana, when he made his +answer. + +"It had been an accident," he commenced. "The stage had overturned on +its way, and monsieur being in it, had been thrown out by its falling +into a gully. His collar-bone had been broken, and several of his ribs +fractured; but the worst of his injuries had been a gash on his head--a +sharp stone had done it. Mademoiselle would understand wherein the +danger lay. He was unconscious at present." + +This he told her on their way to the chamber up-stairs; but even the +gravity of his manner did not prepare her for the sight the opening of +the door revealed to her. Handsome Denis Oglethorpe lay upon the narrow +little bed with the face of a dying man, which is far worse than that of +a dead man. There were spots of blood on his pillow and upon his +garments; he was bandaged from head to foot, it seemed, with ghastly +red, wet bandages; his eyes were glazed, and his jaw half dropped. + +A low, wild cry broke from the pale lips of the figure in the door-way, +and the next instant Theodora North had flown to the bedside and dropped +upon her knees by it, hiding her deathly-stricken young face upon her +lover's lifeless hand, forgetting Splaighton, forgetting the doctor, +forgetting even Priscilla Gower, forgetting all but that she, in this +moment, knew that she could not give him up, even to the undivided quiet +of death. + +"He will die! He will die!" she cried out. "And I never told him. Oh, my +love! love! Oh, my dearest, dear!" + +The little, old doctor drew back, half way, through a suddenly stranger +impulse of sympathy. He was uneasily conscious of the fact, that the +staid, elderly person at his side was startled and outraged +simultaneously by this passionate burst of grief on the part of her +young mistress. He had seen so many of these unprepossessing English +waiting-women that he understood the state of her feelings as by +instinct. He turned to her with all the blandness possible under the +circumstances, and gave her an order which would call for her presence +down-stairs. + +When she departed, as she did in a state bordering on petrification, he +came forward to the bedside. He did not speak, however; merely looking +down at his patient in a silence whose delicacy was worthy of honor, +even in a shrivelled little snuff-taking, French, village doctor. The +pretty young mademoiselle would be calmer before many minutes had +elapsed--his experience had taught him. And so she was. At least, her +first shock of terror wore away, and she was calm enough to speak to +him. She lifted her face from the motionless hand, and looked up at him +in a wild appeal for help, that was more than touching. + +"Don't say he will die!" she prayed. "Oh, monsieur, only save him, and +he will bless you forever. I will nurse him so well. Only give me +something to do, and see how faithful I shall prove. I shall never +forget anything, and I shall never be tired--if--if he can only live, +monsieur," the terrified catching of her breath making every little +pause almost a sob. + +"My child," he answered her, with a grave touch of something quite like +affection in his air. "My child, I shall save him, if he is to be saved, +and you shall help me." + +How faithfully she held to the very letter of her promises, only this +little, shrivelled village doctor could say. How tender, and watchful, +and loving she was, in her care of her charge, only he could bear +witness. She was never tired--never forgetful. She held to her place in +the poor little bedroom, day and night, with an intensity of zeal that +was actually astonishing. Priscilla Gower and Pamela North might have +been more calm--certainly would have been more self-possessed, but they +could not have been more faithful. She obeyed every order given to her +like a child. She sat by the bedside, hour after hour, day and night, +watching every change of symptom, noting every slight alteration of +color, or pulse. + +The friendship between herself and monsieur, the doctor, so strengthened +that the confidence between them was unlimited. She was only disobedient +in one thing. She would not leave her place either for food or rest. She +ate her poor little dinners near her patient, and, if the truth had been +known, scarcely slept at all for the first two or three days. + +"I could not sleep, you know," she said to the doctor, her great +pathetic eyes filling with tears. "Please let me stay until Lady +Throckmorton comes, at least." + +So she stayed, and watched, and waited, quite alone, for nearly a week. +But it seemed a much longer time to her. The poor, handsome face changed +so often in even those few days, and her passions of despair and hope +were so often changed with it. She never thought of Priscilla Gower. Her +love and fear were too strong to allow of her giving a thought to +anything on earth but Denis Oglethorpe. Perhaps her only consolation had +something of guilt in it; but it was so poor and desperate a comfort, +this wretched one of hearing him speak to and of her in his fever and +delirium. + +"My poor, handsome Theo," he would say. "Why, my beauty, there are tears +in your eyes. What a scoundrel I am, if I have brought them there. What! +the rose-colored satin again, my darling! Don't wear the rose-colored +satin, Theo. It hurts my eyes. For God's sake, Priscilla, forgive me!" + +And yet, even while they added to her terror, these poor ravings were +some vague comfort, since they told her that he loved her. More than +once her friend the doctor entered the room, and found her kneeling by +the bedside, holding the unresponsive hand, with a white face and wide, +tearless eyes; and seeing her thus, he read clearly that his pretty, +inexperienced _protege_ had more at stake than he had even at first +fancied. + +It was about six days after Theodora North had arrived at St. Quentin, +when, sitting at her post one morning, she heard the lumbering stage +stop before the inn door. She rose and went to the window, half +mechanically, half anxiously. She had been expecting Lady Throckmorton, +for so long a time, that it seemed almost impossible that it could be +she. But strangers had evidently alighted. There was a bustle of +servants below, and one of them was carrying a leathern trunk into the +house immediately under her window. It was a leathern trunk, rather +shabby than otherwise, and on its side was an old label, which, being +turned toward her, she could read plainly. She read it, and gave a faint +start. It bore, in dingy black letters, the word "Downport." + +She had hardly time to turn round, before there was a summons at the +door, and without waiting to be answered, Splaighton entered, looking at +once decorous and injured. + +"There are two ladies in the parlor, mademoiselle," she said (she always +called Theo mademoiselle in these days), "two English ladies, who did +not give their names. They asked for Miss North." + +Theo looked at the woman, and turned pale. She did not know how or why +her mother and Pamela should come down to this place, but she felt sure +it was they who were awaiting her; and for the first time since she had +received the telegram, a shock of something like misgiving rushed upon +her. Suppose, after all, she had not done right. Suppose she had done +wrong, and they had heard of it, and came to reproach her, or worse +still (poor child, it seemed worse still to her), to take her away--to +make her leave her love to strangers. She began to tremble, and as she +went out of the room, she looked back on the face upon the pillow, with +a despairing fear that the look might be her last. + +She hardly knew how she got down the narrow stair-case. She only knew +that she went slowly, in a curious sort of hysterical excitement. + +Then she was standing upon the mat at the parlor-door; then she had +opened the door itself, and stood upon the threshold, looking in upon +two figures just revealed to her in the shadow. One figure--yes, it was +Pamela's; the other not her mother's. No, the figure of Priscilla Gower. + +"Pamela!" she cried out. "Oh, Pam, don't blame me!" + +She never knew how the sight of her standing before them, like a poor +little ghost, with her white, appealing eyes, touched one of these two +women to the heart. + +There was something pathetic in her very figure--something indescribably +so in her half-humble, half-fearing voice. + +Pamela rose up from the horse-hair sofa, and went to her. + +Each of the three faces was pale enough; but Pamela had the trouble of +these two, as well as her own anxiousness in her eyes. + +"Theo," she said to her, "what have you done? Don't you understand what +a mad act you have been guilty of?" + +But her voice was not as sharp as usual, and it even softened before she +finished speaking. She made Theo sit down, and gave her a glass of water +to steady her nervousness. She could not be angry even at such +indiscretion as this--in the face of the tremulous hands and pleading +eyes. + +"Where was Lady Throckmorton?" she said. "What was she doing, to let you +come alone?" + +"She was away," put in Theo, faintly. "And the telegram said he was +dying, Pam, and--I didn't come alone quite. I brought Splaighton with +me." + +"You had no right to come at all," said Pam, trying to speak with +asperity, and failing miserably. "Mr. Oglethorpe is nothing to you. They +should have sent for Miss Gower at once." + +But the fact was the little doctor had searched in vain for the exact +address of the lady whose letters he found in his patient's portmanteau, +when examining his papers to find some clue to the whereabouts of his +friends, and it was by the merest chance that he had discovered it in +the end from Theo's own lips, and so had secretly written to Broome +street, in his great respect and admiration for this pretty young nurse, +who was at once so youthful and indescribably innocent. In her trouble +and anxious excitement, Theo had not once thought of doing so herself, +until during the last two days, and now there was no necessity for the +action. + +"And Mr. Oglethorpe," interposed Miss Gower. + +"He is up-stairs," Theo answered. "The doctor thinks that perhaps he may +be saved by careful nursing. I did what I could," and she stopped with a +curious click in her throat. + +The simple sight of Priscilla Gower, with her calm, handsome face, and +calm, handsome presence, set her so far away from him and she had seemed +so near to him during the few last days--she felt so poor and weak +through the contrast. And Pamela was right. She was nothing to him--he +was nothing to her. This was his wife who had come to him now, and +she--what was she? + +She led them up-stairs to the sick-room, silently, and there left them. +It had actually never occurred to her to ask herself how it was that the +two were together. She was thinking only about Denis. She went to her +own little bedroom at the top of the house--such a poor, little bare +place as it was, as poor and bare as only a bedroom in a miserable +little French road-side inn can be--only the low, white bed in it, a +chair or two, and a barren toilet-table standing near the deep window. +This deep, square window was the only part of the room holding any +attraction for Theo. From it she could look out along the road, where +the lumbering stages made their daily appearance, and could see miles of +fields behind the hedges, and watch the peasant women in their wooden +sabots journeying on to the market towns. She flung herself down on the +bare floor, in the recess formed by the window, and folded her arms upon +its broad ledge. She looked out for a minute at the road, and the +fields, and the hedges, and then gave vent to a single, sudden desperate +sob. Nobody knew her pain--nobody would ever know it. Perhaps everything +would end, and pass, and die away forever, and it would be her own pain +to the end of her life. Even Denis himself would not know it. He had +never asked her to tell him that she loved him, and if he died, he would +die without having heard a word of love from her lips. What would they +do with her now--Priscilla and Pamela? Make her go back to Paris, and +leave him to them; and if he got well they might never meet again, and, +perhaps, he would never learn who had watched by his bedside, when no +one else on earth was near to try to save him. + +She dropped her face upon her folded arms, sobbing in a great, +uncontrollable burst of rebellion against her fate. + +"No one cares for us, my darling, my angel, my love!" she cried. "They +would take me from you, if they could; but they shall not, my own. If it +was wrong, how can I help it? And, oh! what does it matter, if all the +world should be lost to me, if only you could be left? If I could only +see your dear face once every day, and hear your voice, even if it was +ever so far away, and you were not speaking to me at all." + +She was so wearied with her watching and excitement, that her grief wore +itself away into silence and exhausted quiet. She did not raise her +head, but let it rest upon her arms as she knelt, and before many +minutes had passed, her eyes closed with utter weariness. + +She awoke with a start, half an hour later. Some one was standing near +her. It had been twilight when she fell asleep, and now the room was so +gray, that she could barely distinguish who it was. A soft, thick shawl +had been dropped over her, evidently by the person in question. When +Theo's eyes became accustomed to the shadows, she recognized the erect, +slender figure and handsome head. It was Priscilla Gower, and Priscilla +Gower was leaning against the window, and looking down at her fixedly. + +"You were cold when I found you," were her first words, "and so I threw +my shawl around you. You ought not to have gone to sleep there." + +"I fell asleep before I knew that I was tired," said Theo. "Thank you, +Miss Gower." + +There was a pause of a moment, before she summoned courage to speak +again. + +"I have not had time yet," she hesitated, at last, "to ask you how Miss +Elizabeth is. I hope she is well?" + +"I am sorry to say she is not," Priscilla replied. "If she had been +well, she would have accompanied me here. She has been very weak of +late. It was on that account that I applied to your sister when the +doctor's letter told me I was needed." + +"I have been expecting Lady Throckmorton for so long, that I am afraid +something has gone wrong," said Theo. + +To this remark, Priscilla made no reply. She was never prone to be +communicative regarding Lady Throckmorton. But she had come here to say +something to Theodora North, and at last she said it. + +"You have been here--how long?" she asked, suddenly. + +"Nearly a week," said Theo. + +"Is Mr. Oglethorpe better, or worse, than when you saw him first?" + +"I do not know exactly," answered the low, humble voice. "Sometimes +better--though I do not think he is ever much worse." + +Another pause, and then: + +"You were very brave to come so far alone." + +The beautiful, dark, inconsistently, un-English face was uplifted all at +once, but the next moment it dropped with a sob of actual anguish. + +"Oh, Miss Gower!" the girl cried. "Don't blame me; please don't blame +me. There was no one else, and the telegram said he was dying." + +"Hush," said Priscilla Gower, with an inexplicable softness in her tone. +"I don't blame you; I should have done the same thing in your place." + +"But you--" began Theo, faintly. + +Priscilla stopped her before she had time to finish her sentence; +stopped her with a cold, clear, steady voice. + +"No," she said. "You are making a mistake." + +What this brief speech meant, she did not explain; but she evidently had +understood what Theodora was going to say, and had not wished to hear +it. + +But brief speech as it was, its brevity held a swift pang of new fear +for Theo. She could not quite comprehend its exact meaning, but it +struck a fresh dread to her heart. Could it be that she knew the truth, +and was going to punish him? Could she be cruel enough to think of +reproaching him at such an hour as this, when he lay at death's door? +Some frantic idea of falling at her stern feet and pleading for him +rushed into her mind. But the next moment, glancing up at the erect, +motionless figure, she became dimly conscious of something that quieted +her, she scarcely knew how. + +The dim room was so quiet, too; there was so deep a stillness upon the +whole place, it seemed that she gained a touch of courage for the +instant. Priscilla was not looking at her now; her statuesque face was +turned toward the wide expanse of landscape, fast dying out, as it were, +in the twilight grayness. Theo's eyes rested on her for a few minutes in +a remorseful pity for, and a mute yearning toward this woman whom she +had so bitterly, yet so unconsciously wronged. She would not wrong her +more deeply still; the wrong should end just as she had thought it had +ended, when Denis dropped her hand and left her standing alone before +the fire that last night in Paris. This resolve rose up in her mind with +a power so overwhelming, that it carried before it all the past of +rebellion, and pain, and love. She would go away before he knew that she +had been with him at all. She would herself be the means of bringing to +pass the end she had only so short a time ago rebelled against so +passionately. He should think it was his promised wife who had been with +him from the first. She would make Priscilla promise that it should be +so. Having resolved this, her new courage--courage, though it was so +full of desperate, heart-sick pain, helped her to ask a question bearing +upon her thoughts. She touched the motionless figure with her hand. + +"Did Pamela come here to bring me away?" she asked. + +Priscilla Gower turned, half starting, as though from a reverie. + +"What did you say?" she said. + +"Did Pamela come to take me away from here?" Theo repeated. + +"No," she said. "Do not be afraid of that." + +Theo looked out of the window, straight over her folded arms. The answer +had not been given unkindly, but she could not look at Priscilla Gower, +in saying what she had to say. + +"I am not afraid," she said. "I think it would be best; I must go back +to Paris or to--to Downport, before Mr. Oglethorpe knows I have been +here at all. You can take care of him now--and there is no need that he +should know I ever came to St. Quentin. I dare say I was very unwise in +coming as I did; but, I am afraid I would do the same thing again under +the same circumstances. If you will be so kind as to let him think +that--that it was you who came----" + +Priscilla Gower interrupted her here, in the same manner, and with the +same words, as she had interrupted her before. + +"Hush!" she said. "You are making a mistake, again----" + +She did not finish what she was saying. A hurried footstep upon the +stairs stopped her; and as both turned toward the door, it was opened, +and Pamela stood upon the threshold and faced them, looking at each in +the breathless pause that followed. + +"There has been a change," she said. "A change for the worse. I have +sent for the doctor. You had better come down-stairs at once, Theodora, +you have been here long enough to understand him better than we can." + +And down together they went; and the first thing that met their eyes as +they entered the sick-room, was Oglethorpe, sitting up in bed, with wild +eyes, haggard and fever-mad, struggling with his attendants, who were +trying to hold him down, and raving aloud in the old strain Theo had +heard so often. + +"Why, Theo, my beauty, there are tears in your eyes. Good-by! Yes! +Forgive me! Forget me, and good-by! For God's sake, Priscilla, forgive +me!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +WHAT COMES OF IT ALL. + + +The hardest professional trouble the shrivelled little French doctor +had, perhaps, ever encountered, was the sight of the white, woe-stricken +young face, turned up to his when Theodora North followed him out of the +chamber upon the landing that night, and caught his arm in both her +clinging hands. + +"He will die now, doctor," she said, in an agonized whisper. "He will +die now; I saw it in your face when you let his hand drop." + +It would have been a hard-hearted individual who would have told the +exact truth in the face of these beautiful, agonized eyes--and the +little doctor was anything but hard of heart. + +He patted the clinging hands quite affectionately, feeling in secret +great apprehension, yet hiding his feelings admirably. + +"My little mademoiselle," he said (the tall young creature at his side +was almost regal, head and shoulders above him in height). "My dear +little Mademoiselle Theodora, this will not do. If you give way, I shall +give way too. You must help me--we must help each other, as we have been +doing. It is you only who can save him--it is you he calls for. You must +hope with me until some day when he awakes to know us, and then I shall +show you to him, and say, 'here is the beautiful young mademoiselle who +saved you.' And then we shall see, Miss Theodora--then we shall see what +a charm those words will work." + +But she did not seem to be comforted, as he expected she would be. + +"No," she said. "The time will never come when you can say that to him. +If he is ever well enough to know me, I must go away, and no one must +tell him I have been here." + +Monsieur, the doctor, looked at her over his spectacles, sharply. + +The pale face at once touched and suggested to him the outline of a +little romance--and he had all a Frenchman's sympathy for +romance--monsieur, the doctor. It was _une grande passion_, was it, and +this tractable, beautiful young creature was going to make a sacrifice +of all her hope of love, upon the altar of stern honor. But he made no +comment, only patted her hand again. + +"Well, well," he said. "We shall see, mademoiselle, we shall see. Only +let us hope." + +The days and nights of watching, in companionship with Priscilla Gower, +were a heavy trial to Theo. Not that any unusual coldness in the +handsome face was added to her troubles as an extra burden. Both +Priscilla and Pamela were very mindful of her comfort--so very mindful +that their undemonstrative care for her cut her to the heart, sometimes. +Yet, somehow, she felt herself as a stranger, without the right to watch +with them. It was so terrible a thing to stand near the woman she had +innocently injured, and listen with her to the impassioned adjurations +of the lover who had been false, in spite of himself. It seemed his mind +was always upon the one theme, and in his delirium his ravings wandered +from Priscilla to Theo, and from Theo to Priscilla, in a misery that was +not without its pathos. Sometimes it was that last night in Paris--and +he went over his farewell, word for word; sometimes it was his wedding +day--and he was frantically appealing to Priscilla for forgiveness, and +remorsefully anathematizing himself. + +They were both together in the room, one evening, when he was raving +thus, when he suddenly paused for an instant and began to count slowly +upon his fingers, + +"January, February, March, April, May, June, July. My pretty Theo, what +a mistake it was--only seven months, and then to have lost you. Good +God, my darling!" and his voice became a low, agonized cry. "Good God, +my darling! and I cannot give you up!" + +Theo glanced up at Priscilla Gower, mute with misery for a moment. The +erect, black-robed figure stood between herself and the fire, +motionless, but the fixed face was so white that it forced a low cry +from her. She could not bear it a second longer. She slipped upon her +knees on the hearth rug, and caught the hem of the black dress in her +hands, in a tumult of despair and remorse. + +"He does not know what he is saying," she cried, breathlessly. "Oh, +forgive him, forgive him! I will go away now, if you think I ought. He +knows that you are better than I am. I will go away, and you will make +him happy. Oh! I know you will make him happier than I ever could have +done, even if he had really loved me as--as he only thought he did." + +A moment before, Priscilla had been gazing into the fire in a deep +reverie. But the passionate voice stirred her. She looked down into the +girl's imploring eyes, without a shadow of resentment. + +"Get up," she said, a trifle huskily. "You have done no wrong to me. Get +up, Theodora, and look at me." + +Unsteadily as she spoke, there was so strange a power in her voice that +Theo obeyed her. Wonderingly, sadly and humbly she rose to her feet, and +stood before Priscilla as before a judge. + +"Will you believe what I say to you?" she asked. + +"Yes," answered Theo, sorrowfully. + +"Well, then, I say this to you. You have not sacrificed me, you have +saved me!" + +It was perhaps characteristic of her that she did not say anything more. +The subject dropped here, and she did not renew it. + +It was a hard battle which Denis Oglethorpe fought during the next +fortnight, in that small chamber of the wayside inn at St. Quentin; and +it was a stern antagonist he waged war against--that grim old enemy, +Death. + +But, with the help of the little doctor, the _vis medicatrix natural_, +and his three nurses, he gained the victory at length, and conquered, +only by a hair's breadth. The fierce fire of the brain wearing itself +out, left him as weak as a child, and for days after he returned to +consciousness, he had scarcely power to move a limb or utter a word. + +When first he opened his eyes upon life again, no one was in the room +but Priscilla Gower; and so it was upon Priscilla Gower that his first +conscious glance fell. + +He looked at her for a minute, before he found strength to speak. But at +last his faltering voice came back to him. + +"Priscilla," he whispered weakly. "Is it you? Poor girl!" + +She bent over him with a calm face, but she did not attempt to caress +him. + +"Yes," she said. "Don't try your strength too much yet, Denis. It is I." + +His heavy wearied eyes searched hers for an instant. + +"And no one else?" he whispered again. "Is no one else here, Priscilla?" + +"There is no one else in the room with me," she answered, quietly. "The +rest are up-stairs. You must not talk, Denis. Try to be quiet." + +There was hardly any need for the caution, for his eyes were closing +again, even then, through sheer exhaustion. + +Theo was in her room lying down and trying to rest. But half an hour +later, when Pamela came up to her bedside, the dark eyes flew wide open +in an instant. + +"What is it, Pam?" she asked. "Is he worse again?" + +Pam sat down on the bedside, and looked at her with a sort of pity for +the almost haggard young face drooping against the white pillow. + +"No," she said. "He is better. The doctor said he would be, and he is. +Theo, he has spoken to Priscilla Gower, and knows her." + +Theo sat up in bed, white and still--all white, it seemed, but her large +hollow eyes. + +"Pamela," she said. "I must go home." + +"Where?" said Pam. + +The white face turned toward her pitifully. + +"I don't know," the girl answered, her voice fluttering almost as weakly +as Denis' had done. "I don't know--somewhere, though. To Paris again--or +to Downport," with a faint shudder. And then, all at once she flung up +her arms wildly, and dropped upon them, face downward. + +"Oh, Pam," she cried out, "take me back to Downport, and let me die. I +have no right here, and I had better go away. Oh, why did I ever come? +Why did I ever come?" + +She was sobbing in a hysterical, strained way, that was fairly terrible. +Pamela bent over her, and touched her disordered hair with a singularly +light touch. The tears welled up into her faded eyes. Just at the moment +she could think of nothing but the day, so far away now, when her own +heart had been torn up by the roots by one fierce grasp of the hand of +relentless fate--the day when Arthur had died. + +"Hush, Theo," she said to her, "don't cry, child." + +But the feverish, excited sobs only came the faster, and more wildly. + +"Why did I ever come?" Theo gasped. "It would have been better to have +lived and died in Downport--far better, I can tell you now, Pam, now +that it is all over. I loved him, and he loved me, too; he loved me +always from the first, though we both tried so hard, so hard; yes, we +did, Pamela, to help it. And now it is all ended, and I must never see +him again. I must live and die, grow old--old, and never see him again." + +There was no comfort for her. Her burst of grief and despair wore itself +away into a strained quiet, and she lay at length in silence, Pamela at +her side. But she was suffering fearfully in her intense girlish way. + +She did not say much more to Pamela, but she had made up her mind, +before many hours had passed, to return to Paris. She even got up in the +middle of the night, in her feverish hurry to make her slight +preparations for the journey. She could go to Paris and wait till Lady +Throckmorton came back, if she had not got back already, and then she +could do as she was told as to the rest. She would either stay there or +go to Downport with Pamela. + +Fortune, however, interposed. A carriage made its appearance, in the +morning, with a new arrival--an arrival no less than Lady Throckmorton +herself, bearing down upon them in actual excitement. + +An untoward accident had called her friend from home, and taken her to +Caen, and there, at her earnest request, her ladyship had accompanied +her. The blunder of an awkward servant had prevented her receiving the +letters from St. Quentin, and it was only on her return to Paris that +she had learned the truth. + +Intense as was her bewilderment at her protege's indiscretion, she felt +a touch of admiration, at the simple, faithful daring of the girl's +course. + +"It is sufficiently out of the way for Priscilla Gower to be here, and +she is his promised wife; and Pamela is nearly thirty-two years old and +looks forty; but you, Theodora--you to run away from Paris, with no one +but a maid; to run away to nurse a man like Denis Oglethorpe. It +actually takes away my breath. My dear, innocent little simpleton, what +were you thinking about?" + +It would be futile to attempt to describe her state of mind when she +discovered that Denis had not learned of Theo's presence in the house. + +But, being quick-sighted, and keen of sense, she began to comprehend at +last, and it was Priscilla Gower who assisted her to a clearer state of +mind. + +Two days later, when, after a visit to his patient, the little doctor +was preparing to take his departure, Priscilla Gower addressed him +suddenly, as it seemed, without the slightest regard to her ladyship's +presence. + +"You think your patient improves rapidly," she said. + +"Very rapidly," was the answer. "Men like him always do, mademoiselle." + +She bent her head in acquiescence. + +"I have a reason for asking this," she said. "Do you think he is strong +enough to bear a shock?" + +"Of what description, mademoiselle? Of grief, or--or of joy?" + +"Of joy, monsieur," she answered, distinctly. + +"Mademoiselle," said the doctor, "joy rarely kills." + +She bent her erect head again. + +She had not regarded the fact of her old enemy's presence ever so +slightly while she spoke, but when the doctor was gone she addressed +her. + +"I have been thinking of returning to London at once, if possible," she +said. "Miss Gower's ill-health renders any further absence a neglect. If +I go, would it be possible for you to remain here, with Miss North?" + +"Pamela?" suggested Lady Throckmorton. + +"Theodora," was the calm reply. + +An odd silence of a moment, and then the eyes of the two women met each +other, in one long, steady look; Lady Throckmorton's profoundly +searching, wonderingly questioning; Priscilla Gower's steadfast, calm, +almost defiant. + +Then Lady Throckmorton spoke. + +"I will stay," she said, "and she shall stay with me." + +"Thank you," with another slight bend of the handsome head. "I am going +now to speak to Mr. Oglethorpe. When I open the door will you send Miss +North, Theodora, to me?" + +"Yes," answered her ladyship. + +So Priscilla Gower crossed the narrow landing, and went into the +sick-room, and her ladyship summoned Theodora North, and bade her wait, +not telling her why. What passed behind the closed doors only three +people can tell, and those three people are Denis Oglethorpe, his wife, +and the woman who, in spite of her coldness, was truer to him than he +dared be to himself. There was no sound of raised or agitated voices, +all was calm and seemingly silent. Fifteen minutes passed--half an hour; +nearly an hour, and then Priscilla Gower stepped out upon the landing, +and Lady Throckmorton spoke to Theo. + +"Go to her," was her command. "She wants you." + +The poor child arose mechanically and went out. She did not understand +why she was wanted--she scarcely cared. She merely went because she was +told. But when she looked up at Priscilla Gower, she caught her breath +and drew back. But Priscilla held out her hand to her. + +"Come," she commanded. And before Theo had time to utter a word, she was +drawn into the chamber, and the door closed. + +Denis was lying upon a pile of pillows, and pale as he was, she saw, in +one instant, that something had happened, and that he was not unhappy, +whatever his fate was to be. + +"I have been telling Mr. Oglethorpe," Priscilla said to her, "all that +you have done, Theodora. I have been telling him how you forgot the +world, and came to him when he was at the world's mercy. I have told +him, too, that five years ago he made a great mistake which I shared +with him. It was a great mistake, and it had better be wiped out and +done away with, and we have agreed what it shall be. So I have brought +you here--" + +All the blood in Theodora North's heart surged into her face, in a great +rush of anguish and bewilderment. + +"No! no!" she cried out. "No! no! only forgive him, and let me go. Only +forgive him, and let him begin again. He must love you--he does love +you. It was my fault--not his. Oh--" + +Priscilla stopped her, smiling, in a half-sad way. + +"Hush!" she said, quietly. "You don't understand me. The fault was only +the fault of the old blunder. Don't try to throw your happiness away, +Theodora. You were not made to miss it. I have not been blind all these +months. How could I be? I only wanted to wait and make sure that this +was not a blunder, too. I have known it from the first. Theo, I have +done now--the old tangle is unravelled. Go to him, Theo, he wants you." + +The next instant the door closed upon Priscilla, as she went out, and +Theodora North understood clearly what she had before never dared to +dream of. + +There was one brief, breathless pause, and then Denis Oglethorpe held +out his arms. + +"My darling," he said. "Mine, my own." + +She slipped down by his side, beautiful, tremulous, with glowing cheeks +and tear-wet eyes. She remembered Priscilla Gower then. + +"Oh, my love!" she cried. "She is better than I am, braver and more +noble; but she can never love you better, or be more faithful and true +than I will be. Only try me; only try me, my darling." + + * * * * * + +Three months subsequently, when Pamela and Priscilla had settled down +again to the routine of their old lives, there was a quiet wedding +celebrated at Paris--a quiet wedding, though it was under Lady +Throckmorton's patronage. + +In their tender remembrance of Priscilla Gower, it was made a quiet +wedding--so quiet, indeed, that the people who made the young English +beauty's romance a topic of conversation and nine days' wonder, scarcely +knew it had ended. + +And in Broome street, Priscilla Gower read the announcement in the +paper, with only the ghost of a faint pang. + +"I suppose I am naturally a cold woman," she wrote to Pamela North, with +whom she sustained a faithful correspondence. "I will acknowledge, at +least, to a certain lack of enthusiasm. I can be faithful, but I cannot +be impassioned. It is impossible for me to suffer as your pretty Theo +could, as it is equally impossible for me to love as she did. I have +lost something, of course, but I have not lost all." + +Between these two women there arose a friendship which was never +dissolved. Perhaps the one thing they had in common, drew them toward +each other; at any rate, they were faithful; and even when, three years +later, Priscilla Gower married a man who loved her, and having married +him, was a calmly happy woman, they were faithful to each other still. + +THE END. + + + + +Advertisements + + +Reasons why you should obtain a Catalogue of our Publications + +_A postal to us will place it in your hands_ + +1. You will possess a comprehensive and classified list of all the best +standard books published, at prices less than offered by others. + +2. You will find listed in our catalogue books on every topic: Poetry, +Fiction, Romance, Travel, Adventure, Humor, Science, History, Religion, +Biography, Drama, etc., besides Dictionaries and Manuals, Bibles, +Recitation and Hand Books, Sets, Octavos, Presentation Books and +Juvenile and Nursery Literature in immense variety. + +3. You will be able to purchase books at prices within your reach; as +low as 10 cents for paper covered books, to $5.00 for books bound in +cloth or leather, adaptable for gift and presentation purposes, to suit +the tastes of the most critical. + +4. You will save considerable money by taking advantage of our SPECIAL +DISCOUNTS, which we offer to those whose purchases are large enough to +warrant us in making a reduction. + + * * * * * + +The Famous Alger Books + +By Horatio Alger, Jr. The Boy's Writer + +A series of books known to all boys; books that are good and wholesome, +with enough "ginger" in them to suit the tastes of the younger +generation. The Alger books are not filled with "blood and thunder" +stories of a doubtful character, but are healthy and elevating, and +parents should see to it that their children become acquainted with the +writings of this celebrated writer of boys' books. We publish the titles +named below: + + Adrift in New York. + Andy Gordon. + Andy Grant's Pluck. + Bob Burton. + Bound to Rise. + Brave and Bold. + Cash Boy. + Chester Rand. + Do and Dare. + Driven from Home. + Erie Train Boy. + Facing the World. + Hector's Inheritance. + Helping Himself. + Herbert Carter's Legacy. + In a New World. + Jack's Ward. + Jed, the Poor House Boy. + Julius, the Street Boy. + Luke Walton. + Making His Way. + Only an Irish Boy. + Paul the Peddler. + Phil the Fiddler. + Ralph Raymond's Heir. + Risen from the Ranks. + Sam's Chance. + Shifting for Himself. + Sink or Swim. + Slow and Sure. + Store Boy. + Strive and Succeed. + Strong and Steady. + Tin Box. + Tony, the Tramp. + Tom the Bootblack. + Try and Trust. + Young Acrobat. + Young Outlaw. + Young Salesman. + + * * * * * + +A BOOK OF THE HOUR + +The Simple Life + +By CHARLES WAGNER + +Translated from the French by H. L. WILLIAMS + +The sale of this book has been magnetic and its effect far-reaching. It +has the endorsement of public men, literary critics and the press +generally. + +_This is the book that President Roosevelt preaches to his countrymen._ + +The price is made low enough to be within the reach of all. Don't fail +to purchase a copy yourself and recommend it to your friends. + + * * * * * + +Helen's Babies + +By John Habberton + + Interesting! + Entertaining! + Amusing! + +A Book with a famous reputation. It is safe to say that no book, +illustrating the doings of children, has ever been published that has +reached the popularity enjoyed by "HELEN'S BABIES." Brilliantly written, +Habberton records in this volume some of the cutest, wittiest and most +amusing of childish sayings, whims and pranks, all at the expense of a +bachelor uncle. The book is elaborately illustrated, which greatly +assists the reader in appreciating page by page, Habberton's +masterpiece. + +We guarantee that you will not suffer from "the blues" after reading +this book. + + * * * * * + +Mirthful Books Worth Reading! + +Peck's Books of Humor + +No author has achieved a greater national reputation for books of +genuine humor and mirth than GEORGE W. PECK, author of "Peck's Bad Boy +and His Pa." + +We are fortunate to be able to offer, within everyone's reach, three of +his latest books. The titles are + + Peck's Uncle Ike, + Peck's Sunbeams, + Peck's Red-Headed Boy. + +By failing to procure any one of these books you lose an opportunity to +"laugh and grow fat." When you get one you will order the others. + + * * * * * + +Elegant Gift Books + +Hurst's Presentation Series + +A beautiful series of Young People's Books to suit the tastes of the +most fastidious. The publishers consider themselves fortunate in being +able to offer such a marvelous line of choice subjects, made up into +attractive presentation volumes. Large type, fine heavy paper, numerous +pictures in black, inserted with six lithographic reproductions in ten +colors by eminent artists, bound in extra English cloth, with three ink +and gold effects. + + Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. + Andersen's Fairy Tales. + Arabian Nights. + Black Beauty. + Child's History of England. + Grimm's Fairy Tales. + Gulliver's Travels. + Helen's Babies. + Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare. + Mother Goose, Complete. + Palmer Cox's Fairy Book. + Peck's Uncle Ike and the Red-Headed Boy. + Pilgrim's Progress. + Robinson Crusoe. + Swiss Family Robinson. + Tales from Scott for Young People. + Tom Brown's School Days. + Uncle Tom's Cabin. + +Books sure to be a delight to every boy and girl who becomes the proud +possessor of any or all of them. + + * * * * * + +The Works of Mary J. Holmes + +This popular novel writer has written a large number of successful books +that have been widely circulated and are constantly in demand. We issue +twenty of them as below: + + Aikenside, + Bad Hugh, + Cousin Maude, + Darkness and Daylight, + Dora Deane, + Edith Lyle's Secret, + English Orphans, + Ethelyn's Mistake, + Family Pride, + Homestead on the Hillside, + Leighton Homestead, + Lena Rivers, + Maggie Miller, + Marian Grey, + Mildred, + Millbank, + Miss McDonald + Rector of St. Marks, + Rose Mather, + Tempest and Sunshine. + + * * * * * + +Celebrated Religious Books + +_Stepping Heavenward_ + +By MRS. ELIZABETH PRENTISS. + +A religious book with a world-wide reputation, that has no equal +anywhere. Formerly published at a price many times higher than now +asked, this book is offered, postpaid, in cloth at 30 cents, and in +paper, 15 cents. + + +_In His Steps; Or, What Would Jesus Do?_ + +By REV. CHARLES M. SHELDON. + +A remarkable book with a remarkable sale. Over 2,000,000 copies of this +famous work have been sold, and yet the sale does not diminish. + +Other books by the same author are + + _The Crucifixion of Philip Strong_ + _Robert Hardy's Seven Days_ + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Theo, by Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEO *** + +***** This file should be named 27990.txt or 27990.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/7/9/9/27990/ + +Produced by David Garcia, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/27990.zip b/27990.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5061b6d --- /dev/null +++ b/27990.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. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..29cacc7 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #27990 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27990) |